Gangland 4/27/2023

[Dr031718]

The DEA & NY State Troopers Spoil The Blue Jeep Caper From Breezy Point To Schenectady

A plan by two longtime mob associates of the Genovese, Gambino and Bonanno families to transport nine kilograms of cocaine from Breezy Point to Fort Lee to Schenectady in a blue Jeep Grand Cherokee "was like something out of a movie," said prosecutor Dustin Segovia. The feds, unfortunately for the duo, were onto them from the get-go. They rewrote the ending of their script and put them on opposite sides of a federal courtroom in Albany.

The government's version of the modern-day movie begins with Christopher (Pickles) Kelly exclaiming, "Holy Shit," as he hears that a state trooper pull the Jeep over on the New York State Thruway. It's April 2, 2021. "Maybe it's just a ticket," says longtime partner-in-crime Richard (Richie Rich) Sinde, with little conviction, as the oft-arrested duo drive slowly past the Jeep and its $360,000 load of coke.

In the next scene, above a caption, 48 Hours Earlier in Schenectady, Kelly and Sinde are seen in a parking lot working out their plan for the Grand Cherokee with suspected drug dealers Jeffrey Civitello Sr. 51, and his son, Jeffrey Jr., 23. Kelly gets behind the wheel of the Jeep and drives to a nearby gas station where he and Richie Rich meet the blue Jeep driver who had been pulled over and arrested in the opening scene — Robert (Bobby) Ingrao.

Minutes later, as the trio drive off in separate cars for their 150 mile drive back to the New York Metro area, DEA agents who had affixed a GPS tracking device to the Jeep that was owned by the younger Civitello, moved quickly to learn that Sinde was the suspected drug supplier for the Civitellos who was driving the Jeep, according to a filing about the next 48 hours in the movie.

The drug agents asked a state trooper to pull the Jeep over if the driver "committed a traffic violation," according to an outline of the movie filed by prosecutors Segovia and Michael Barnett. "The trooper let Sinde go with a warning" after he clocked him speeding, pulled him over, and checked his license and registration, the filing said.

The Grand Cherokee arrived in Fort Lee, New Jersey, where Sinde, a Bonanno associate and longtime crony of Ingrao and Genovese wiseguy Ernest (Butch) Montevecchi, has lived for years, and was parked near Richie Rich's home until about 7:15 the following night. Then it started up and "traveled" over the George Washington and Maine Parkway Bridges until it gets to Breezy Point at 8:13 PM, where it remains for about a half hour, the filing stated.

The next scene shows Kelly, who lived in Breezy Point with his mother, loading nearly 20 pounds of cocaine into a secret compartment in the trunk of the Jeep, and fades quickly to Sinde driving the Grand Cherokee back to Fort Lee and parking it near his house where it sat "until the morning of April 2, 2021," the filing continued.

At 11:46 AM, a trooper who had been asked by the DEA to pull the Jeep over if he saw "a traffic infraction" in the Northern District of New York notices a "window-tint violation" and pulls the Grand Cherokee over as it travels "north on Interstate 87" in the government version of the flick that was forecasted in the opening scene by Kelly's "Holy Shit" outburst to Sinde.

The feds then strike gold when Ingrao, the blue Jeep's aging 74-year-old driver who was seen briefly in the second scene, tells trooper John Kollach that he doesn't have a driver's license.

This enables Kollach to perform "a roadside inventory" of the car since he's going to arrest Ingrao for driving without a license and have the Jeep towed off the Thruway. He finds a Patagonia jacket with "rolled-up U.S. currency bills with a white-powder residue" in the left breast pocket that looks like cocaine and he calls for "the canine unit" to conduct "an evidentiary search of the blue Jeep."

Sure enough, according to the government-script, "the dog alerted" its handler "of an odor of drugs" in the "trunk area" and troopers "pried open" a secret compartment and find nine kilograms of cocaine that enabled the feds to arrest Ingrao for drug trafficking. He pleaded guilty last fall to conspiracy charges carrying a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years.

Sinde, who was arrested six months later, and the Civitellos, who were indicted in May of last year after Kelly flipped and fingered them for the feds, went to trial last week on drug conspiracy charges. If convicted, they face 10-year mandatory minimum sentences and a maximum of life.

Kelly testified that he had delivered six kilograms of cocaine to the Civitellos in the days before the feds seized the nine kilos of coke from the blue Jeep, and that he'd been supplying marijuana and cocaine for nearly a decade to the elder Civitello, according to an account by Albany Times Union reporter Robert Gavin.

The turncoat testified that he took his girlfriend and his mother with him to Schenectady when he brought coke to Civitello. "Nobody's going to pull over (a car with) an 80-year-old woman" and another woman in it, he testified, insisting that "if something happened, I would have taken the blame."

During closing arguments Tuesday, Kelly was painted by lawyers for all the defendants as a lying, duplicitous schemer whose testimony should be ignored. Gavin wrote that Sinde's lawyer, Stacey Richman, likened the snitch to Lord Voldemort, the evil villain in the Harry Potter novels, adding that Kelly was "like a child molester" who ruins the lives of his victims, and moves on.

Kelly, who had taken the blame and stood tall in four prior drug arrests, including one in 2016 that charged him, his brother John, Singe, and Gambino consigliere Michael (Mickey Boy) Paradiso as members of a ring that distributed hundreds of pounds of marijuana, was charged in the Blue Jeep Caper a week before Christmas in 2021.

But the charges in the Blue Jeep Caper were unlike any he had faced before. In the 2016 case, Kelly had gotten three years probation. Even his brother John and Sinde, who were the ringleaders in the indictment of 20 defendants that was triggered by the Waterfront Commission and obtained by the Manhattan District Attorney's office, received low ball sentences of a year in prison.

Kelly caved in five months later, after he began serving time for another federal drug rap and opted not to risk spending the rest of his life behind bars. That's when he agreed to testify against his old pals Richie Rich and Bobby Ingrao, and the father and son Civitellos, who were indicted after Kelly flipped.

As Kelly awaits a final decision by Albany Federal Judge Mae D'Agostino regarding the reward he hopes to get for not only taking the blame but for agreeing to testify for the government, a dozen denizens of New York's capital city quickly decied the fate of the three other accused members of the Blue Jeep Caper.

The jury, which began deliberating yesterday, completed its work in less than six hours. Result: All defendants found guilty. This line will run just before the credits for the Blue Jeep Caper, that was produced and directed by DEA agents, New York State Troopers, and assistant U.S. attorneys in Albany, and based on an original screenplay by Christopher Kelly and Richard Sinde.

He Didn't Get Away With Murder; But Fat Anthony May Have Gotten Away With A Fortune

Gambino gangster Anthony (Fat Anthony) Pandrella was convicted last year of killing Luchese loanshark Vincent Zito. It helped that the burly 350-pound killer was videotaped entering and leaving the locked Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn home where the murdered Zito was found dead hours later. But it now looks like he did get away with the $750,000 he allegedly stole from his old pal five years ago.

Brooklyn Federal Court Judge Margo Brodie, who presided over Pandrella's trial and sentenced him to 40 years in prison last year, has made that official.

As Brodie had indicated during a full-blown hearing on the issue earlier this year, the chief judge ruled this month that Fat Anthony only owes $30,000 in restitution to Zito's children. That's the value of the premium high-end watches that Pandrella was convicted of stealing during the robbery-murder of his friend for 30 years back in October of 2018.

Brodie rejected the government's argument that Zito's son Joseph and his daughters Erica and Samantha were "victims" of the crime who were entitled to another $241,900 for medical expenses and lost income they claimed to have incurred as a result of their dad's murder.

Under the applicable laws, Brodie decided in a 14-page opinion, Zito's children were not "victims" of the crime who were entitled to restitution from Pandrella since they had not received any "bodily injuries" from Fat Anthony.

But Joseph Zito and one of his sisters, whose name is blacked out but is most likely Samantha, who like her brother, testified at the trial, were entitled to restitution for the expenses they incurred in connection with the joint FBI-NYPD investigation of their father's death and the prosecution of his killer, Brodie ruled. She awarded Joseph $500 and Samantha $5000, amounts that were based on affidavits they submitted.

But as for the big wad — the three-quarters of a million dollars of Zito's cash that the feds claim Fat Anthony kept after he killed the 77-year-old loanshark — there's no sign. The FBI searched every inch of his Brooklyn home looking for the $750,000. They came up empty.

The dough the judge awarded the family may also never surface.

Collecting any part of the award from Fat Anthony Pandrella, even the $500, which is tantamount to a civil judgment, is much easier said than done.

The 63-year-old gangster has little incentive to pay. For one thing, it's doubtful he'll live out his sentence, since he's due to max out in 30 years at age 93. If he does live to see that day, Pandrella has three years of post-prison supervised release to serve.

And Fat Anthony, who is housed these days at a federal prison in central Florida, is officially a brokester.

And while Pandrella is listed as the co-owner of the Sheepshead Bay home where he lived with his wife until his arrest in 2019, it's hard to imagine that the U.S. Attorney's office would try to force her to sell it, and pay off her husband's debt, even if it could.

Drug Dealer's Worries Were Very Real; The Blue Jeep Caper Was Doomed From The Start

Turncoat mob associate Christopher (Pickles) Kelly testified last week that even before the feds seized the load of cocaine that he had placed into the "very, very cool" secret compartment of the 2018 blue Jeep Grand Cherokee, he was leery about using his customer's vehicle to transport the $360,000 load of coke from Fort Lee to Schenectady.

The idea was the brainchild of his longtime customer, Jeffrey Civitello, and Kelly quizzed him and his son Jeffrey Junior about the propriety of using it to deliver the nine kilogram load of coke to him. Kelly's concerns grew when he learned that a state trooper had pulled over cohort Richard (Richie Rich) Sinde when he was driving the blue Jeep home to use it for the delivery.

Kelly told prosecutor Michael Barnett that he asked "Jeff Senior" if the Jeep was safe to use "because I didn't want to have any trouble" with the law. "I asked him numerous times if there's anything wrong with" the car or "if they had got pulled over with the car or did they get pulled over in any of the other cars."

Kelly testified that he also asked Civitello and his son "if they were hot or" if they got "pulled over for speeding or anything out of the ordinary and they both said absolutely not. Absolutely not. Everything's fine."

Kelly and Sinde didn't know it, and neither did the Civitellos, but they were hot, and so was their 2018 blue Jeep Grand Cherokee. The DEA had placed a court-approved GPS tracking device on the blue Jeep on February 3, and had renewed the court order to keep it in place in March for another 45 days.

The turncoat testified that another red flag popped into his head when he, Sinde, and their designated driver to bring the nine kilo load of coke to Schenectady, Robert (Bobby) Ingrao were driving home. Richie Rich told Kelly "that he got pulled over, and the police officer said it was his lucky day; he could go."

Q Did that cause you any concern?
A Yeah.
Q Why?
A Because it's unusual.
Q What about that's unusual?
A He was speeding a little. It's just unusual to get pulled over and not get a ticket, that's all.

Gassing up for the Blue Jeep CaperAnother sign that things weren't going well, Kelly testified, was when Bobby Ingrao called and told Sinde "that he was feeling sick and he wanted to stop at the rest area."

Richie told Ingrao "something like, then pull over at the next rest stop," Kelly testified. But the next time they saw Bobby, he had been pulled over by state troopers.

Kelly testified that he got off at the next exit and backtracked twice to see whether the blue Jeep was still pulled over and he also did a "big 360 to see if Bobby was okay."

Q Okay. What did you notice each time you did the 360 and passed Mr. Ingrao in the blue Jeep?
A More and more police cars.
Q Okay. What was your reaction?
A I can't believe this.
Q What was Mr. Sinde's reaction?
A Same thing.
Q Did you ever consider just going home at that point?
A Yes.

But they didn't. They went to Schenectady "to try and find out what's going on with Bobby," Kelly testified. And when they learned that he had been arrested, and that the load of cocaine had been seized, they returned home and hoped for the best, but feared for the worst.

That came yesterday, for Richie Rich, and the father and son Civitellos, who were each found guilty of drug charges carrying sentences of life behind bars. The elder Civitello's bail, as well as Sinde's, were revoked and they were ordered held to await sentencing, along with Jospeh Civitello Jr., who was already detained.

[TommyGambino]

Kelly, who had taken the blame and stood tall in four prior drug arrests, including one in 2016 that charged him, his brother John, Singe, and Gambino consigliere Michael (Mickey Boy) Paradiso as members of a ring that distributed hundreds of pounds of marijuana, was charged in the Blue Jeep Caper a week before Christmas in 2021.


Does Capeci mean Paradiso was Consigliere in 2016? He has Mannino in that position now as we know

[nizarsoccer]

Thank you.

[Tonyd621]

Is his nickname "Pickles" because he seems to be constantly getting himself into "pickles?" Kelly had multiple priors for drugs he is bringing heat from LE wherever he goes.

[NYNighthawk]

Phuck them - hope they get high double digit sentences! That's when the real fun will start as we will see who plays - "Queen for a Day".

[Ivan]

Phuck them - hope they get high double digit sentences! That's when the real fun will start as we will see who plays - "Queen for a Day".

[newera_212]

Phuck them - hope they get high double digit sentences! That's when the real fun will start as we will see who plays - "Queen for a Day".

Whatever sentences they get, I'm sure they are already thinking up an appeal strategy with their lawyers

[AustraliaSteve]

Good articles this week, thanks for sharing.

Which crew did Panarella belong to? And it sounds like Zito wasn’t made, right?

[OcSleeper]

Both men were not made.

It looks like he might be on record with Lombarozzi's crew. He phoned him an hour before the murder and several times after it from what I remember.

According to court documents, Pandrella has been a Gambino crime family associate since as early as 2002, when law enforcement say they first saw him attending meetings with known Gambino family captains Daniel Marino and George Lombardozzi in Manhattan restaurants.

[AntComello]

I still don’t understand how Pandrella thought he had ANY chance whatsoever with getting away with this.

[CornerBoy]

well put, comello.

no shot!

typical genius brklyn criminals

[AntComello]

well put, comello.

no shot!

typical genius brklyn criminals

It’s almost like we’re missing something lol like is there more to this or is Pandrella just that stupid.

[AntComello]

Going in to murder a guy and rob him KNOWING you are being caught on his security camera coming in and out of the house. At least TRY to destroy the security footage Jesus lol

[AustraliaSteve]

Yeah that jumped out at me. A US mob murder in 2018, the perpetrator isn’t gonna have a good time.