Gangland 5/19/2022

[Dr031718]

Feds Say Colorado Realtor Charged In We Build The Wall Scheme Has Mafia Connections

Stephen BannonGang Land Exclusive!The feds have found a mob link in the fraud scheme in which they say $1.4 million was illegally funneled to pardoned Donald Trump pal, Stephen Bannon and several associates who claimed to be raising funds to build a wall on the southern border of the U.S. a few years ago, Gang Land has learned.

They say it's Timothy Shea, a Colorado realtor who is due to go on trial in Manhattan next week for playing a key role in a fraud scheme by We Build The Wall, the organization that the feds say was involved in a bogus plan to build a barrier on the U.S. Mexico border to keep the illegals out of the country.

In their filing, federal prosecutors have stated that a witness told them that Shea said he "believed" that Andrew Badolato, a longtime Bannon pal who had been indicted with them, "was cooperating" and that he should "watch his back" because Shea "knows people in a New York Mafia crime family."

The prosecutors didn't say that Shea, 51, threatened Badolato. But they argued that his remarks to the unidentified witness "demonstrate (Shea's) consciousness of guilt" and was "admissible as direct proof" of the charge that he illegally pocketed $750,000 of the $25 million that was donated to WeBuildtheWall, Inc. in an online "crowdfunding campaign" in 2018 and 2019.

Timothy SheaDefense lawyer John Meringolo says the mob-connection allegation against Shea is "a fantasy allegation" created by "government investigators who failed to perform their due diligence" in the case. The attorney told Gang Land that the last time his client was in New York was 43 years ago when he was eight years old and his father took him to a Yankee game.

In their filing, prosecutors Alison Moe, Nicolas Roos, and Robert Sobelman argued that the proposed testimony by the unidentified witness was also "direct proof" of an additional "obstruction of justice" charge they planned to lodge against Shea and was also admissible "to establish" the defendant's intention to knowingly engage in a crime.

The prosecutors filed their motion with Judge Analisa Torres last month in an apparent effort to convince Shea to follow the lead of We Build The Wall founder Brian Kolfage, a disabled Air Force veteran who lost three limbs serving in Iraq, and Badolato, whose Casey Key Florida home Bannon stated was his residence in 2016, a few days after they each copped a plea deal to a wire fraud conspiracy.

John MeringoloKolfage, 40, agreed to forfeit $19.1 million that was donated to We Build The Wall and make restitution of "no less than $143,000" in taxes that he failed to pay on more than $350,000 that he received from the non-profit organization that he founded. Kolfage faces a recommended prison term up to 63 months in prison, and a fine up to $200,000, according to his plea agreement.

"I induced donors to opt to the new project in part through the misrepresentation that I would not profit from We Build the Wall or take a salary or compensation," Kolfage stated in admitting his guilt. "I knowingly and willingly conspired to receive money from the donations."

Badolato, 58, agreed to forfeit $1.4 million which represents the "traceable proceeds" of the money that the defendants illegally obtained, and faces sentencing guidelines calling for a maximum of 51 months behind bars. He also faces a fine up to $150,000 when he is sentenced, according to his plea deal.

Donald TrumpIn announcing the guilty pleas last month, the U.S. Attorney's office did not mention Bannon, who was pardoned by Trump on his last day in office. But the indictment and the August 2020 news release state that Bannon, the chief strategist in Trump's successful route from builder to POTUS, received more than $1 million from a non-profit company that he controlled.

But Shea, who allegedly created shell companies that were used to funnel cash to all four defendants, has hung tough. And as they promised, the feds hit him with a new charge of obstructing their investigation into the scam by falsifying business records in 2019. And while he might catch a game with the surging Yankees while in town, he will be returning to New York for the first time since 1979 to fight the charges.

Shea pleaded not guilty to the new charges and he attended a final pretrial status conference through a remote hookup from his home in Castle Rock, a suburb of Denver. It's the procedure that Judge Torres has used since the case was indicted 21 months ago.

Brian KolfageIn opposing what he called "false allegations" of mob ties that "Mr. Shea vehemently denies," Meringolo charged that the government had offered them "not for any proper purpose but with the sole intention of inflaming the jury and frightening the jurors with the mention of 'mafia crime families' into convicting Mr. Shea on an improper basis."

The allegations "would be laughable" if they were "not so consequential" to his client, Meringolo wrote. He is a "Colorado resident who has never set foot in New York but for a family vacation" and he "is not charged with an offense even tenuously associated with any sort of violence, much less any violence related to any type of 'New York mafia crime family,'" the lawyer wrote.

"He is unequivocally and definitively unrelated to, and unassociated with, any individual or group that could even conceivably be described as such," said Meringolo, who knows of what he speaks. The animated Brooklyn-born barrister won an acquittal for a Bonanno consigliere in one Manhattan racketeering case and helped engineer a hung jury of a Mafia boss in another one.

Judge Analisa Torres"In this instance, there is no logical explanation for how such an unsupported statement could be related to any factual issue in dispute at trial," Meringolo declared, since it is "not based on even a modicum of truth and cannot be considered 'direct evidence' of anything, much less direct proof of the charged conduct."

He won that argument before Judge Torres, but prosecutors prevailed on her to prohibit Meringolo from telling the jury that Bannon was pardoned by President Trump for siphoning more than $1 million from We Build The Wall. But the lawyer has informed the Court that he may call Bannon as a defense witness.

If you add up the money the feds say was stolen from We Build The Wall — the $1.4 million that is called the "traceable proceeds" of the wire fraud conspiracy in Badolato's plea agreement — it's hard to figure out how Shea was able to reap $750,000 for himself by using fake invoices and phony vendor contracts when they say Bannon got $1 million and Kolfage reaped $350,000.

Meringolo wasn't too helpful. "Tim Shea is innocent," he said. "We think they're mis-interpreting how money was earned and where the funds went."

The U.S. Attorney's office, as per its standard posture these days with Gang Land, declined to comment.

From Witness To Domestic Abuse Suspect: Feds Look To Keep Turncoat Gangster Behind Bars

Frank Pasqua IIIWith failed government mob witness Frank Pasqua III, confusion is catching.

Pasqua is the would-be federal witness who got confused about who rubbed out mob hit man Michael Meldish. The 42-year old former drug dealer originally told the feds that his own father whacked Meldish as he sat in a parked car on a Bronx street in 2013. Later, his memory improved and he realized he was mistaken.

Now, Pasqua's confusion has spread to Gang Land which earlier this month reported that he had been arrested in Staten Island for throttling his own son.

That was wrong and Gang Land regrets the error. In fact, it was Pasqua's wife who allegedly got a painful throttling. The son, a grown man, received only the threat of a backhanded slap that would have sent the son "into next week," according to a police complaint of the incident.

Gang Land was correct about the result though. The nasty family fight has sent Pasqua to jail. Worse, he is now facing a possible five years in federal prison.

Michael MeldishThe U.S. Attorney's Office made it pretty clear last month in White Plains Federal Court that it is fed up with the violence prone gangster who engaged in separate incidents of domestic abuse against two family members after he was specifically warned about that by his sentencing judge, according to a transcript of Pasqua's arraignment that was obtained by Gang Land.

In convincing Magistrate Judge Andrew Krause to detain him without bail for violating his post prison conditions of supervised release, assistant U.S. attorney Michael Maimin argued that a slew of crimes that Pasqua has committed over the years in violation of "court orders and court supervision," proves he would be a "danger to the community" if he were released on bail.

The latest incident seems especially grievous: His wife suffered "substantial pain and bruising to (her) neck" when Pasqua "grabbed" her at 3 AM in front of the Richmond University Medical Center and "squeezed (her) neck while pushing (her) body into a motor vehicle, causing (her) physical injuries," according to an arrest complaint by NYPD detective Jeffrey Aust.

Frank Pasqua Jr"In addition to causing (his wife) to experience annoyance and alarm," Aust wrote, Pasqua "did impede the normal breathing" of his wife.

"Pasqua is a very longtime criminal" who often commits "serious acts of violence" and should not be released on bail because he "has shown himself to be noncompliant" numerous times, said Maimin. He noted that at Pasqua's sentencing in 2020, Judge Nelson Román "specifically discussed the concept of domestic violence and warned Mr. Pasqua not to engage in it again."

As detailed by Maimin, Pasqua's rap sheet includes a 2006 conviction for witness tampering. The conviction stemmed from "forcible rape" accompanied by a threat to the woman that she should refuse to testify against him. Pasqua threatened to "cause physical injury to her or another person," Maimin said.

It is also not the first time Pasqua's wife has been on the receiving end of his short temper: In 2011, "he grabbed his wife's arm and cut her with a bottle that he had just broken," the prosecutor stated. In each case, Maimin said, Pasqua violated an order of protection, and argued that if he were released, he would likely violate the "orders of protection that have been entered" to protect "both his wife and his son" from Pasqua.

Judge Nelson RomanEven after he wrongly fingered his mobster father for the murder of Meldish, the former Purple Gang leader, Pasqua was still being carried by prosecutors as a cooperating witness. During that time, the prosecutor said, "he started violating the conditions of bail" and was remanded by Judge Roman.

There was more confusion after Pasqua received a sweet time served sentence and feared he would be whacked by the mob.

After Pasqua voiced "concern that he would be retaliated against," Maimin said, "the FBI gave him a $44,000 relocation payout" as well as "a new name and a new identity." But Pasqua "either spent the money" or "gave it to his family and moved right back to the neighborhood" that "he was so afraid to return to because he was pretty sure that he was going to get killed," the prosecutor said.

Pasqua doesn't follow the rules, he "simply manipulates the system," said Maimin. "He has done this in order to get money out of the FBI. He's done it in order to get out of jail over and over again."

In seeking his detention, Maimin noted that he "barely touched the surface" of the "extraordinary level of nonstop violence in Mr. Pasqua's life" as he toiled for the Bonanno and Luchese crime families while "showing his utter disregard for the rules of the court," the prosecutor said.

"A lot of his crimes were even committed in prison, where," Maimin continued, "among other things, (he) attacked other prisoners while inside, often on behalf of La Cosa Nostra," proving "himself to be a nonstop violent actor, whether in prison or outside of prison, whether under the supervision of courts or not."

As Gang Land reported two weeks ago, Judge Roman has scheduled a July 6 hearing on the supervised release violations, for which Pasqua faces up to five years in prison.

From Public Menace to Government Witness: Frankie Russo Wins Bail

Frangesco RussoHe spent more than 20 months detained behind bars as a danger to the community. But since he's agreed to testify against co-defendants charged in the $100 million lottery winners ripoff, the feds no longer view Frangesco (Frankie) Russo as a dangerous guy. He was quietly released from the Metropolitan Detention Center earlier this month, Gang Land has learned.

It's no surprise that federal prosecutors in Manhattan moved to get their witness against the self-described Lottery Lawyer, Jason (Jay) Kurland and Genovese wiseguy Christopher Chierchio out of the MDC and into more comfortable surroundings as he prepares for his new public role as a government witness.

But it would be very surprising if they did so, as sources say they did, before Russo, the grandson of the late Colombo family boss Andrew (Mush) Russo, pleaded guilty to the charges in his indictment.

Frangesco Russo was released by Brooklyn Magistrate Judge Sanket Bulsara on a $1.5 million bond that was cosigned by his wife, his mother and his brother on May 6. The bond was also secured by a $50,000 payment from his wife, and the Colorado home of his mom, who each attended the proceeding through a telephone hookup.

Francis SmooklerThe transcript of the proceeding does not say whether or not Russo, who was charged with extortion along with his partner-in-crime and fellow cooperator Francis (Frank) Smookler, has pleaded guilty in the case. Russo's attorney and the Manhattan U.S. Attorney's office declined to comment.

What is unquestionably surprising about the case, which has a July 11 trial date, is that attorney Gerald McMahon has asked for permission to withdraw from the case, citing irreconcilable differences between him and his client. McMahon previously told Gang Land that Chierchio was innocent, and boldly predicted that he would win an acquittal at trial.

In his motion to Judge Nicholas Garaufis, McMahon stated that his departure should not delay the trial since attorneys John Meringolo and Thomas Harvey joined Chierchio's defense team last month. But Gang Land expects Meringolo and Harvey to seek an adjournment so they can review the "tens of thousands of pages" of discovery and the "thousands of hours of recordings" that McMahon has reviewed.

The status of lawyer McMahon and that of defendant-cooperating witness Russo are among the many items that Garaufis is slated to thrash out tomorrow during a previously scheduled pre-trial conference.

Gerald McMahonManhattan federal prosecutors Olga Zverovich and Louis Pellegrino, who are handling the case because Kurland's lawyer is married to a top official of the Brooklyn U.S. Attorney's office, were at Russo's bail hearing. But other than note their appearance for the record, they didn't speak during the session. They deferred to Russo's lawyer, Florian Miedel, who guided his client's family members in their interactions with the judge.

Under questioning by Magistrate Bulsara, Russo's wife, Valerie, a hospital worker, his mom, Lucretia, and his brother Andrew, who runs a car dealership, all agreed to cosign the $1.5 million bond to assure that Russo would not flee or violate any of the relatively lenient restrictions that the prosecutors agreed to for their witness.

Russo must remain home between 10 PM and 7 AM each day but otherwise is free to travel wherever he wants in the Eastern and Southern Districts of New York, which encompasses New York City and its eastern and northern suburbs.

[Jbravo]

The DON 2024 !! Make liberals cry again !!!

[Tonyd621]

So, Mush passes and Frangesco flips? Do I have it right?

[OcSleeper]

Well he flipped and then Russo died.

[newera_212]

Wow... a crowdfunding campaign scam to get the wall built...LMAO. Genius. Don't really want to get political but it is a great scheme, a lot of supporters of "Donald Boogeyman" as the article called him are classic rubes who would happily give money to something like this. Just like the "Let's Go Brandon" crypto-coin that ended up being a blatant pump and dump scheme. I love it. What's next... someone selling MS-13 Insurance to scared Boomers?

On another note, Dom Crea did a great podcast episode about the Pasqua situation this past week. Pasqua might be one of the most deplorable and degenerate cooperators we have ever seen, a total garbage can. I knew his old Witness Tampering charges didn't have anything to do with LCN, but I didn't know they were against a rape victim ... that HE forcibly raped . What a POS

[Southshore88]

Thanks for posting

[Waingro]

Thanks for posting.

[SonnyBlackstein]

thanks for posting dr!

[Hired_Goonz]

Wow... a crowdfunding campaign scam to get the wall built...LMAO. Genius. Don't really want to get political but it is a great scheme, a lot of supporters of "Donald Boogeyman" as the article called him are classic rubes who would happily give money to something like this. Just like the "Let's Go Brandon" crypto-coin that ended up being a blatant pump and dump scheme. I love it. What's next... someone selling MS-13 Insurance to scared Boomers?

On another note, Dom Crea did a great podcast episode about the Pasqua situation this past week. Pasqua might be one of the most deplorable and degenerate cooperators we have ever seen, a total garbage can. I knew his old Witness Tampering charges didn't have anything to do with LCN, but I didn't know they were against a rape victim ... that HE forcibly raped . What a POS

Lol it's not the article that calls him Donald Boogeyman, his name gets converted to that on this forum. Just try to type in the former president's last name on here and see how it comes out.