Gangland 9/2/21

[Dr031718]

Waterfront Watchdog Trumps Family Ties; Keeps Wiseguy's Son Off The Docks

Gang Land Exclusive!Nearly 20 years ago, longshoremen's union boss Harold Daggett got the 18-year-old son of Genovese capo Pasquale (Uncle Patty) Falcetti a nice job right after he graduated high school. Pasquale Falcetti Jr. began his job as a truck inspector, in February of 2002, working for a Newark-based subsidiary of Maher Terminals. The job came with a membership in Local 1804-1 of the International Longshoremen's Association.

The new job must have eased the mind of Patty Falcetti Sr. Since, at the time, the wiseguy was awaiting trial along with mob boss Vincent (Chin) Gigante on waterfront racketeering charges that would cost the elder Falcetti a seven year prison term in 2003. And Daggett was himself under investigation for racketeering charges for which he would be indicted in 2004, and acquitted at trial in 2005.

But there's just so much that even a powerful union chief can do for his pals. Daggett, who was president of Local 1804-1 when he helped Falcetti Jr. get his job, and who has been president of the powerful 45,000 member ILA since 2011, just lost a long court battle for Falcetti's dockworker's job, along with a request for back pay going back to 2012, Gang Land has learned.

A state appeals court ruled last week that the Waterfront Commission had not violated Falcetti Jr.'s rights by conducting a 27-month-long investigation that ended when his company, Apexel, which had supported his application for a position as a maintenance man, dropped its support, and cost him a high-paying longshoreman's job, even though he was an ILA member.

Pasquale FalcettiA three judge Appellate Division panel ruled that the lengthy probe and background check of Falcetti Jr. was justified because the younger Falcetti had a criminal record, and he had involved himself in the investigation that had led to the 2005 racketeering case against Daggett. (The panel also blamed the son for associating with an organized crime member, that being his father, something it's hard to understand how he could've avoided. )

The Commission's investigation of Falcetti Jr. began in April of 2012 when he had to re-apply for the job he'd gotten with help from Daggett, a "friend" of the elder Falcetti, when Apexel moved its facility onto the New Jersey waterfront and Apexel's "employees moved into the Commission's jurisdiction," according to the ruling by the appeals court.

In his appeal, Falcetti was represented by attorney George Daggett, a cousin of the ILA leader. In 2005, George won an acquittal for his cousin, an impressive win. But he's got his work cut out for him in this case.

In its 33-page decision, the panel dismissed attorney Daggett's legal arguments as "oblique hints and assertions" that Commission officials had "threatened, coerced, or directed" Apexel officials to withdraw its sponsorship of Falcetti's job in July of 2014 without citing "any evidence" that proved it.

Vincent GiganteDaggett alleged that Commission attorney Paul Babchik had "threatened, coerced, or directed" Apexel's general counsel Jay Ruble to drop the company's support of Falcetti's application. But Ruble testified, the panel wrote, that Apexel withdrew its sponsorship "because (the investigation) was going to take a long period of time and Apexel didn't want to wait any longer."

"Plaintiff appears to fail to understand that repeating a purported factual assertion numerous times in a brief does not make it true, and does not create a factual issue" that would enable the court to rule in Falcetti's favor. "Plaintiff was required to support his factual assertions with citations to competent evidence, and he failed to sustain that burden," the court wrote.

George Daggett insists the fight for Falcetti Jr's right to work the docks will continue.

"I am working on my motion for reconsideration right now," Daggett told Gang Land when we reached him this week about the appeals court's ruling. "The theme of my motion is the son was wrongly punished for the sins of the father," said Daggett, stating that "the thrust of my argument is that the Waterfront Commission forced Apexel to withdraw its sponsorship of the job for Falcetti."

George Daggett"Nobody was carrying a sign that said, 'We force Apexel to withdraw the job offer,' but if you put all the circumstances together, that's the conclusion," said Daggett, adding that he intends to file his motion to reconsider tomorrow and it will contain "circumstantial evidence" that will back up his claim for a reversal of last week's ruling.

The court's ruling states that the Commission had already found "reasons to disqualify" Falcetti from working on the waterfront when Apexel dropped its support of Falcetti Jr., but the Commission's reasons are not spelled out in the decision.

But a transcript of Falcetti Jr.'s testimony before the Commission established that after his mobster dad was hit with racketeering charges in April of 2001, he used a longtime friendship with Harold Daggett — a corrupt relationship is how the feds described it at Daggett's trial — to get his son a $75,000 a year union job with Apexel.

In late 2001, Falcetti Jr. testified, his father told him to go see Harold Daggett's son Dennis, who was then a delegate for Local 1804-1 and has since succeeded his dad as president of the largest and most powerful ILA local, about getting a job on the waterfront. When he got to his office, Dennis brought him up to see Harold, whom young Falcetti had known for years, he testified.

Pasuqale Falcetti Jr.The elder Daggett was "a friend of my father's" whom young Falcetti had seen numerous times when he "was a kid," he explained in short, often confusing, phrases and half-sentence answers to questions during his September of 2012 testimony.

"Sometimes, I'd just take rides to go to work with my father" and see Harold Daggett, he testified, although he couldn't recall where his dad would meet Daggett.

But back in 2001, Dennis took him to Harold's office and after Falcetti told them he was looking for a job, Harold Daggett said that "if there is, (he would) give me a call back, and that's how he did it. If there was something open, then he called me back."

"Within a couple of months," he testified, "Harold" called him back and told him "that there was a spot that he had open for me as a TIR inspector, a truck inspector" for "Maher Terminals," although he ended up being paid by "Apexel."

During the next several years, while his father "was away" serving his prison sentence, Falcetti testified that he often attended union meetings. During one session, which occurred sometime after November 9, 2005, Harold Daggett talked to him about the racketeering trial that ended in his acquittal, Falcetti Jr. testified.

Harold pulled him aside and told him that Falcetti's name had come up during the racketeering trial, stating, Falcetti testified, that "it has to do with my father and not me" and that Dennis Daggett"somebody shouldn't be involved for someone else's, you know crimes, or whatever."

At this point, attorney George Daggett couldn't restrain himself, and in an effort to explain his client's answer, stated the theme of his motion to reconsider the appeals court's ruling that he is filing tomorrow.

"The exact words were, 'The son should not carry the sins of the father,'" said Daggett, noting that cousin Harold's words were an answer to a question from the prosecutor who wanted to know if Harold had given Patty Falcetti's son a job.

Even though Commission lawyer Babchik told George Daggett he would get the transcript of Harold's testimony, there was no stopping George Daggett when Babchik asked, "Was Harold on the stand?"

"On the stand," said George Daggett, who added that when Harold was asked, "Didn't you give a job to Pat Falcetti's son?," he answered, "Yes, because the sins of the father should not be borne by the son."

It's debatable, but those words may have helped carry the day in Brooklyn Federal Court for Harold Daggett back in November of 2005. But they didn't help Pasquale Falcetti Jr. with the Waterfront Commission in 2012, or with the Appellate Division of the New Jersey Superior Court in 2021.

Editor's Note: Gang Land's November 17, 2005 account of the conclusion of the racketeering trial of Harold Daggett is reprinted as the third item today.
Drug Dealing Pal Of The Dapper Don & Mr. Untouchable Seeks Compassion

Mark ReiterMark Reiter, an aging John Gotti pal who was also a partner of the notorious Harlem heroin merchant Leroy (Nicky) Barnes, is seeking compassion after spending nearly 34 years behind bars. And he has caught the eye of a Manhattan Federal Court Judge who made short shrift of a get-out-of-jail motion the imprisoned drug dealer filed back in 2016.

Last time, when Reiter claimed he was wrongly convicted in 1988 of a "kingpin" drug charge and sentenced to life, Judge Vernon Broderick wasn't impressed. Broderick wrote that even if Reiter's conviction and sentence "were illegal," his convictions for dealing "substantial" quantities of heroin and "three predicate acts of murder" warranted a life sentence. The judge refused to modify his prison term.

But this year, after Reiter filed two pro se compassionate release motions, Broderick took a different tack. He assigned noted appeals lawyer Harlan Protass to represent Reiter and ordered the attorney to "specifically address" not only the health issues that Reiter had raised as "risk factors" for COVID-19, but also his "post-offense conduct and rehabilitation" while behind bars.

Broderick noted in an 18-page ruling that prosecutors had argued "strongly against any reduction in his sentence." But the judge wrote that he wanted "more information concerning Reiter's post-conviction rehabilitation" and other information about his years of confinement before deciding the motion.

Leroy BarnesThe judge also instructed the lawyer to inform the Court of the "documentary evidence of (Reiter's) completion of Bureau of Prison courses and letters in support of his release from BOP officials."

Protass, who has earned a rep as an accomplished appeals lawyer by winning freedom for several defendants serving life without parole prison terms, got right to work.

In a 55-page legal brief he filed Tuesday, the lawyer stressed that The First Step Act of 2018 gave judges wide latitude in reducing lengthy prison terms of aging and ailing inmates. The law, Protass noted, was enacted "more than a year before the COVID-19 pandemic began" and "was not intended to address only needed sentence reductions arising from that pandemic."

The lawyer also submitted letters from five BOP employees who supported a compassionate release from prison for Reiter. Each of the writers noted that Reiter, who has been behind bars since his arrest in November of 1987, had mentored or aided numerous other inmates at several prisons where he has been assigned over the years.

Harlan Protass"I have been a correctional office for 29 years, and this is the first letter I ever wrote for an inmate," wrote Dana Van Scheider, a senior officer at the low security prison in Allenwood, Pennsylvania, where Reiter is currently housed. "That tells you the respect I have for him," she wrote.

"If Mark were returned to any community especially at his age it would be as a law abiding citizen," wrote Dennis Lentini, a correction officer at the prison in Schuylkill, Pennsylvania, where Reiter was confined for 11 years. "After observing Mark and interacting with him I would have no qualms seeing him return to society," he wrote.

"Mark has an extensive family support system," wrote BOP employee Michele Gottshall. "I do know that his son, daughter and (five) grandchildren are ready, willing and able to support him should he be granted your mercy," she told Broderick.

"When I met him the first time I thought he deserved a second chance," said BOP employee M. Gemberling, who first encountered Reiter in 2017 at Schuylkill. "After meeting him a second time (in Allenwood in 2019,) I knew I was right," Gemberling continued. "If given the opportunity to re-enter society, I am sure he will be a productive member and an example for others to follow," he wrote.

Gene GottiAn even stronger endorsement came from BOP employee Desiree Muench. "I consider my life blessed to have crossed paths with Mark," wrote Muench."Should Mark be bestowed the opportunity to reenter society, he would do so with the forever promise to simply do it right this time using the skill set and life lessons he learned while incarcerated," she wrote.

Protass also noted that Reiter is the only defendant charged in his indictment still in prison and urged the judge to consider that factor as well in reducing his sentence to time served.

As it turns out, Reiter's codefendants in a controversial 1983 Gambino crime family heroin smuggling case, mobsters Gene Gotti and John Carneglia, have each maxed out of the 50 year prison terms they received for their convictions in 1989. Gotti was released in 2018; Carneglia got out in 2017.

Among Reiter's accomplishments behind bars, wrote Protass, has been his concern for "the people with whom he has lived for the past 33-plus years" as a member of the BOP's "Suicide Watch Companion Team." Protass also noted that Reiter received a BOP award for saving an inmate's life and had only one serious disciplinary infraction while serving his life sentence, a fight 22 years ago that "did not result in any injuries."

"Reiter has demonstrated through his actions over the past 33-plus years," wrote Protass, "that he presents no danger to any individual or the community at large and that he is fully rehabilitated."

He "makes no excuses for his criminal conduct" and "does not seek to justify, diminish or detract from the seriousness of his offenses," he wrote. But Reiter "is fully rehabilitated and presents no danger to any individual or the community at large" and "is worthy and deserving of a 'second look' and a 'second chance' in the form of a reduced sentence of time-served," Protass wrote.

ILA Big Sings Praises To Mafia Prince

Andrew GiganteA son of the most feared Mafia boss in New York, the mob prince who was convicted of using his old man's clout to rule the docks from here to Miami, is actually a hell of a great guy — regardless of what the feds say about him.

That's what Harold Daggett, the longshoremen's union leader who was acquitted last week of labor racketeering charges, told the jury about Andrew Gigante, whom he met 30 years ago when they worked together on the New Jersey docks.

"I was Andrew's best friend," said Daggett, a $480,000-a-year executive of the International Longshoremen's Association and the president of its most powerful local union, Local 1804-1, of North Bergen, NJ.

Harold DaggettAnd Daggett wasn't the only person who thought highly of Gigante, a son of imprisoned Genovese boss Vincent (Chin) Gigante.

"He was the most popular guy on the piers," Daggett said.

For good reason: Each year, said Daggett: "Andrew threw a barbecue for his men and invited management. They came, all the people on the pier came . . . and he would pay for that out of his own pocket."

Unlike other mob scions such as John A. (Junior) Gotti, Andrew Gigante was never inducted into the Mafia. Instead, he used his money and influence for much more than just to maintain good working relations on the waterfront, Daggett claimed.

Gigante raised money for orphanages in Jersey City, Hoboken and North Bergen and arranged for a toy company to match funds contributed by longshoremen and others. The donations produced "beautiful gifts, bicycles for the boys and carriages for the girls," at Christmastime, said Daggett.

"It became a ritual every year," he said. "They got a tractor trailer and on Christmas Eve me and him and a few men gave out all the gifts to the orphanages."

George Daggett SignOne year, with prodding by the mayor of North Bergen and Daggett's encouragement, Gigante hired a Santa Claus and a professional photographer and used an ILA hiring hall for a full blown Christmas party for children with terminal cancer. "Andrew would pick them up and put them in Santa's Claus's lap to take a picture," said Daggett.

"That's the Andrew that we know," said the union big, not the man who pleaded guilty to extortion and agreed to a plea bargain that cost him two years in prison and $2 million in funds he obtained through labor racketeering.

Daggett, 59, was so eager to sing Gigante's praises that he kept at it even after his lawyer, George Daggett, had moved to another topic. The lawyer quickly reframed his question, enabling the ILA official to recall that on Thanksgiving, Andrew "would work in a soup kitchen for two or three hours with his uncle," the Rev. Louis Gigante.

It's unclear whether Andrew Gigante will resume his soup kitchen duty on Turkey Day next week — his lawyer did not respond to Gang Land's call for comment — but he might. He was released from prison in July and such work isn't prohibited by the terms of his plea bargain, unless the soup kitchen happens to be on the waterfront. That's off limits, according to his plea deal.

George Daggett — praised as the "World's Greatest Trial Attorney" on a large hand-painted sign placed outside his Sparta, NJ office last week — also declined to comment.

Arthur CoffeyMeanwhile, Brooklyn federal prosecutors are downplaying the impact the stunning acquittal will have on a massive civil racketeering suit that seeks to oust ILA's president John Bowers, and other top executives for alleged corrupt activities among 31 ILA officers listed in a federal complaint. In addition to Daggett, ILA vice president Arthur Coffey and a mobster who disappeared during the trial, Larry Ricci, were acquitted of all charges.

Coffey's lawyer, Gerald McMahon, said the "verdict puts a huge hole in the civil case" and might prevent the government from even seeking injunctive relief against the union or its officials before a trial, as it often does in a civil racketeering case.

Even the lower threshold of proof needed in civil cases — a preponderance of evidence as opposed to evidence beyond a reasonable doubt — will not help the feds, he said.

"There was plenty of evidence of extortion and fraud in the case, but it was committed by the prosecution's witnesses, not the defendants," said McMahon

[Pmac2]

Pretry sure both of gigantes sons were inducted. Think its been confirmed by a few rats

[eboli]

Neither of his sons were indicted as made members in their respective indictments. In his 2001, Andrew was listed as an associate, while Vincent's status in the 2018 indictment was left ambiguous. Multiple sources claim that both of them are made. John Pennisi was the most recent one.

Thanks for posting.

[CornerBoy]

Neither of his sons were indicted as made members in their respective indictments. In his 2001, Andrew was listed as an associate, while Vincent's status in the 2018 indictment was left ambiguous. Multiple sources claim that both of them are made. John Pennisi was the most recent one.

Thanks for posting.

When/Where did pennissi say that?

Esposito definitely is in my opinion AG is not in my opinion.

Vincent is scary as shit. Before moving downtown i lived within a few blocks of where Chins townhouse is where he stuck his Esposito's. A new owner would probably level it, it's in such bad shape. steel bars on the 1st floor windows-facade but the interior could be like Versailles-who knows i guess. Any way, before Tommy Gambino moved to Beverly Hills, he lived literally 50 yards away. vicent is a mean fuck- I once walked by while the mailman was selivering mail and the door was open so obviously I was trying to get a peak but once I got to the red front door i see this baboon staring at me- i averted my gaze pretty quick and this happened 3 times over ten years

[JohnnyS]

Maybe Capeci's info on Andrew Gigante is outdated? As eboli said there was talk that he was made a few years ago then Pennisi said it too.

[JohnnyS]

Neither of his sons were indicted as made members in their respective indictments. In his 2001, Andrew was listed as an associate, while Vincent's status in the 2018 indictment was left ambiguous. Multiple sources claim that both of them are made. John Pennisi was the most recent one.

Thanks for posting.

When/Where did pennissi say that?

Esposito definitely is in my opinion AG is not in my opinion.

Vincent is scary as shit. Before moving downtown i lived within a few blocks of where Chins townhouse is where he stuck his Esposito's. A new owner would probably level it, it's in such bad shape. steel bars on the 1st floor windows-facade but the interior could be like Versailles-who knows i guess. Any way, before Tommy Gambino moved to Beverly Hills, he lived literally 50 yards away. vicent is a mean fuck- I once walked by while the mailman was selivering mail and the door was open so obviously I was trying to get a peak but once I got to the red front door i see this baboon staring at me- i averted my gaze pretty quick and this happened 3 times over ten years

https://sitdownnews.com/vincent-chin-gigante/

Never wanting his own sons, Andrew and Vincent to become inducted. At the present time, not one but both his sons are made members of the family.

[eboli]

Neither of his sons were indicted as made members in their respective indictments. In his 2001, Andrew was listed as an associate, while Vincent's status in the 2018 indictment was left ambiguous. Multiple sources claim that both of them are made. John Pennisi was the most recent one.

Thanks for posting.

When/Where did pennissi say that?

Esposito definitely is in my opinion AG is not in my opinion.

Vincent is scary as shit. Before moving downtown i lived within a few blocks of where Chins townhouse is where he stuck his Esposito's. A new owner would probably level it, it's in such bad shape. steel bars on the 1st floor windows-facade but the interior could be like Versailles-who knows i guess. Any way, before Tommy Gambino moved to Beverly Hills, he lived literally 50 yards away. vicent is a mean fuck- I once walked by while the mailman was selivering mail and the door was open so obviously I was trying to get a peak but once I got to the red front door i see this baboon staring at me- i averted my gaze pretty quick and this happened 3 times over ten years

At Vincent's townhouse at 67 East 77th Street, the feds found $1 million in cash and the members list. No wonder he might've been stared down random people. Still, Vincent isn't even the most unpleasant person in his immediate family, allegedly.

[SonnyBlackstein]

Thanks for the post.

[Southshore88]

Thanks for the post

[Wiseguy]

Vincent was indicted as a "high ranking member," which suggests he's made but the feds didn't know his exact rank.

I've never seen anything saying Andrew is made.

[eboli]

In the original indictment it's stated:

VINCENT ESPOSITO, STEVEN ARENA, FRANK GIOVINCO, FRANK COGNETTA, and VINCENT D’ACUNTO, JR., each a member or associate of the Genovese Organized Crime Family of La Cosa Nostra, with racketeering conspiracy and related offenses arising out of a multi-year investigation.

Then a prosecutor said he was a high-ranking member, but later another official said he was an associate. Some publications ran with the 'high-ranking associate' headline, but the feds didn't really bother to elaborate further. Based on what I've seen from his charges, because he was described as being a ringleader, who was giving orders to the other names involved, it seems he was likely a captain. At the very least, he was direct with the administration, but for whatever reason, the feds weren't completely sure if this was the case or not.

[JohnnyS]

^ agreed. I also think he could've had a position on the administration. The feds werent exactly sure what position he held so they just went with high ranking member.

[Teddy Persico]

The feds used the cash and list to argue that he was a high ranking guy, but I think that was them just trying to deny him bail.

[Ravens410]

I think Vin Esposito is already out? And any confirmation if Andrew is made?

[Shellackhead]

Vincent is probably a captain or a highly respected made member that reports directly to the administration.