Gangland February 29th 2024

[Dr031718]

Gemini Twins Win Parole After 34 years; For Cohort Dirty Henry, It's 37 Years And Counting

Gang Land Memo to Henry (Dirty Henry) Borelli: The US Parole Commission (USPC) has ordered the release from prison of mobster Joseph Testa. Like Anthony Senter, another convicted member of the notorious Roy DeMeo crew of killers who butchered dozens of New Yorkers, Testa will be home soon, after 34 years behind bars — three years less than you. And the USPC says you can apply for parole at any time.

That does not mean that you'll get it, as ex-Westie James Coonan learned, as Gang Land reported last month. Like you, Coonan, 77, is older than the Gemini Twins, has spent more time behind bars, and was not convicted of as many murders. Yet he's been denied twice for release.

Still, given that your last parole hearing was nine years ago, the USPC seems like your best option. Who knows, you might get lucky like the Gemini Twins. End of memo.

Here are the facts behind the memo: Borelli has been serving a 150 year sentence for his 1986 conviction for stealing 15 cars. During that time, the feds have played hardball, opposing two court filings for compassion by the 75-year-old Borelli. Yet, Manhattan U.S. Attorney Damian Williams has raised no objection to parole for Senter, 68, and Testa, 69, whom the office convicted of 10 murders in 1989.

This is not to say that Borelli was not a "contract killer" who deserved to spend the rest of his life behind bars as his trial judge declared at his sentencing. His sole murder conviction for violating the civil rights of two rival car thieves was overturned on a technicality on the slim basis that the government did not establish that either of the victims was a U.S. citizen.

In a ruling that affirmed Judge Loretta Preska's denial of his most recent motion for a compassionate release under the First Step Act, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals noted that "Borelli’s moral culpability" for the two murders "was not diminished" by the reversal of his conviction since it "was based solely on the nationalities of the victims."

But the appeals court also noted that the First Step Act "applies only to persons whose offenses occurred on or after November 1, 1987" and that it is "inapplicable to old-law prisoners" like Borelli. He was convicted for crimes committed before then, and like Senter and Testa, the incarceration of Dirty Henry remains under the jurisdiction of the USPC.

The USPC denied a motion for parole by Borelli in 2005, but this week a USPC spokeswoman told Gang Land: "He remains eligible to apply for a parole hearing at any time."

Several members of the task force of cops and agents who voiced anger about the USPC's decision to release Senter on parole were also unhappy that it ordered Testa's parole — he'll be released on April 30. They told Gang Land they hope the Commission doesn't make the same mistake it made with the Gemini Twins if Borelli files a motion for parole with the USPC.

Senter and Testa grew up on the same street in Canarsie and were regulars at the Gemini Lounge, the bar that served as the DeMeo crew's meeting place. They often arrived together and left at the same time and became known as the "Gemini Twins." Borelli was often referred to as "Dirty Henry," in a play off the Dirty Harry character that Clint Eastwood played in the 1971 movie.

Borelli was found guilty in the first trial of the monster case. It included then-Mafia boss Paul (Big Paul) Castellano, who had ordered the 1982 execution of Gambino soldier DeMeo in a failed effort to block the feds from charging him as the ultimate leader of a car theft ring that stole and exported thousands of gas guzzlers to oil-rich Kuwait in the 1970s and 80s.

Trial was delayed for three weeks when Big Paul fell victim to the same bloody end in December of 1985 at the hands of John Gotti & Company that DeMeo had three years earlier. Months later, in March of 1986, the jury convicted Borelli of murder, but hung on Testa and Senter. Borello was sentenced to life, plus 150 years.

At the end of their 17-month trial, as Gene Mustain and yours truly wrote in Murder Machine, our 1992 book about the DeMeo crew, Judge Vincent Broderick stated that "the story of systematic murder that has come before the jury in this case is something that I assume was beyond the ken of any member of the jury. It certainly was beyond my previous ken.''

When Broderick, a former NYPD Police Commissioner, sentenced Testa and Senter to life plus 20 years, he stated that their crimes were "so horrendous and so inhuman and so unbelievable that the only sane course that I can see is to sentence you for as long as could be possible."

That turned out to be 34 plus years for Testa and Senter. Sources say both were inducted into the Luchese crime family years before their trial in a deal that Big Paul made with Anthony (Gaspipe) Casso after the former Luchese underboss agreed to whack DeMeo when Castellano was unable to get anyone to get the job done.

Former NYPD detective Frank Pergola, whose work investigating the trio of convicted DeMeo crew killers began in 1979, and other sources, tell Gang Land that Casso got Testa and Senter and the late Luchese capo Frank (Big Frank) Lastorino to kill DeMeo at a garage in Brooklyn, and that Gaspipe's payoff was getting the Gambino family to release Testa and Senter to the Luchese family.

"Psychopaths don't change their spots," Pergola said. "Everything I said about Senter goes for Testa and Borelli. How can they let any one of these guys out of jail. They were part of a group that we can prove killed 79 people."

"Henry Borelli was a contract killer," said former FBI agent Marilyn Lucht. "Testa and Senter were scheming serial killers. It's unlikely these malicious butchers — devoid of empathy or shame — have changed their ways," she said. "The only reason more people weren't killed is that these guys were locked up. And it's heart-wrenching to think of them being allowed to walk out of jail when their many, many victims will never see the light of day."

"It's disgraceful to let any one of them out," said Pergola. Like Lucht, and other task force members, Pergola said he was speaking for their late colleagues, including FBI agent Arthur Ruffels, NYPD detective Kenneth McCabe, and NYPD auto crimes cop John Murphy, who spent many years of their lives bringing the mob crew of serial killers to justice.

The retired detective again told Gang Land that he was sure he was echoing the outrage of the families of the dozens of victims, many of whom disappeared without a trace and were dismembered and buried in city garbage dumps.

"It's more than 40 years ago, but I still can see the women who lost their husbands, or boyfriends, or sons and hear their sobs of grief," said Pergola. "We charged them with killing 25 people, but they said that was too much, so we only proved ten at the trial (of Testa and Senter.) You'd think that would be enough to send a guy to prison for life."

Following a hearing last year, the USPC decided that while behind bars, Senter had "observed the rules of the institutions and that his release in June 2024 would not jeopardize the public welfare" and granted him parole. The Bureau of Prisons placed Senter in a halfway house on November 30. He is now serving the balance of his sentence under home confinement.

After the USPC granted Senter parole, Testa, whose next date for a parole hearing had been scheduled in June, followed the lead of his old Canarsie pal and hired Atlanta-based attorney Linda Sheffield, a "post-conviction law" specialist who had convinced the USPC to parole Senter.

Sheffield told Gang Land that she "asked the Commission to advance his June (hearing) to the January 2024 docket" at his prison because "Joey, who has experienced his share of medical challenges in the last 35 years, was having some health issues of late." She added that "after reviewing his medical records, the Commission agreed to an April parole date."

"After letting Senter and Testa out," said retired FBI agent Anthony Nelson, "I don't know how the federal government can justify keeping any inmate in prison for more than 30 years when you consider that very few, if any of them, could possibly have committed crimes worse than those of Senter and Testa."

So why did the feds twice object to Borelli's release from prison, but not contest the parole requests that Senter and Testa filed with the USPC? Your guess is as good as ours. This was not something that the Manhattan U.S. Attorney's office would discuss with Gang Land.

The Battle Over The One-Punch Assault Of A Prominent Manhattan Restaurant Owner By An Aging Wiseguy Continues In Brooklyn Federal Court

In early February, aging Genovese wiseguy Anthony (Rom) Romanello wanted to be sentenced as soon as possible for the punch he threw at a prominent Manhattan restaurateur. That, he said, would allow him to escape the "horrific" conditions at the Metropolitan Detention Center and allow him to begin doing his bid at a federal prison far from the MDC.

But he'll have to endure the MDC for a while longer as his lawyers press for a new trial. This week, the judge put off Romanello's sentencing for two months so his attorneys can investigate alleged misconduct by prosecutors for withholding helpful defense evidence until after his trial.

Meanwhile, Rom answered the judge's call for a "meaningfully more robust" bail package by offering up $5 million in property owned by relatives and friends in an effort to get out of the MDC before his new sentence date.

The 86-year-old mobster still maintains his innocence and is pushing for a new trial on charges that he assaulted Bruno Selimaj in his Manhattan steakhouse nearly seven years ago in May of 2017 in order to collect an $86,000 gambling debt that the restaurant owner's relatives owed to a Queens-based bookmaker for whom Rom was an enforcer.

Attorney Gerald McMahon told Gang Land that Romanello has also hired appeals specialist Brendan White to file a so-called "Rule 33" motion seeking a new trial based on "the government's dereliction of duty in suppressing Brady Material and the Court’s shocking dereliction of duty in failing to hold the government to account."

Although it is likely to arrive much sooner, White will have up to three years in which to file his motion, which will have to be based on "newly discovered evidence," since a time limit of 14 days after the verdict applies to all other reasons for a Rule 33 motion for a new trial.

Brooklyn Federal Judge Eric Komitee put off the sentencings of Romanello and codefendant Joseph Celso until April 29 to give McMahon and co-counsel Gerard Marrone the time they told the judge they needed to properly investigate tape-recorded allegations the government told the defense about on February 2 which indicate that Selimaj was a member of the Albanian Mafia.

In a court filing, prosecutors Dana Rehnquist, Irisa Chen, and Rebecca Schuman wrote that the material they turned over on February 2 wasn't Brady Material. Even if it was, they argued, the defense knew of allegations that Selimaj had ties to the Albanian mafia, and had quizzed him about it. They asked Komitee to reject the defense push for bail, and for time to investigate the matter.

But at a court session last week Komitee criticized the prosecutors for not turning the Brady Material over before trial, and suggested they needed "training" on the issue. The judge rejected the request for bail, but put off the sentencing date. He stated this week that he would consider "meaningfully more robust" packages for bail for the defendants.

Defense attorneys told Komitee that they learned after February 2 that the unidentified Albanian gangster who was tape recorded stating that Selimaj was a member of the Albanian Mafia was Abduraman (Diamond) Iseni. Iseni, 58, who had been charged with racketeering along with 15 other Albania gangsters three years ago, was released from prison in January, after serving a-51 month sentence.

During the taped talk, the defense lawyers assert, Iseni told an unidentified woman that Rom had punched Selimaj after the restaurant owner had yelled at the mobster and told him that he was with the Albanian Mafia. McMahon and Marrone have told the judge they have spoken to Iseni's lawyer and that he has agreed to allow the defense attorneys to question him.

They also needed to learn the identities of the two persons Iseni had been speaking to, and question them, as well as any of the cooperating witnesses in that case who knew Selimaj and may have any information about his ties to the Albanian Mafia.

"Looking back at some trial testimony," Marrone wrote, "it is very likely that this fact is true — that Bruno Selimaj is in, or associated with the Albanian Mafia — especially in light of (testimony that) Bruno and his brother Nino were running 2 or 3 very popular restaurants for decades and a super bowl gambling box operation in the hundreds of thousands 'without paying any Italians.'"

In addition, Marrone wrote, "Counsel would request any evidence in that case where Bruno Selimaj was mentioned in any capacity especially as being associated with Albanian Organized Crime . . . in the United States or abroad."

Since they have so much to do, it's likely that Komitee will sentence Romanello for extortion and Celso for conspiring with Rom on April 29, unless the defense investigation comes up with enough "newly discovered evidence" of their clients' innocence to enable White to file — and win — a reversal of their convictions in a Rule 33 motion before then.

Until then, McMahon has asked Komitee to release his client from the "horrific" conditions at the MDC as the defense investigates the so-called Brady Material that tends to exonerate their clients of any guilt. The lawyer noted the $5 million in property was "ten times greater" than the bond that secured Rom's appearance in court from May of 2022 until his conviction, and argued that there was no way his 86-year-old client would run away at this stage of the game.

Sister Of The Genovese Godfather's Sweetheart Cops A Sweet Plea Deal

Lisa Rossi, whose sister is the sweetheart of Genovese Godfather Liborio (Barney) Bellomo, copped a sweet no jail guilty plea this week to satisfy an enterprise corruption charge carrying a maximum penalty of 25 years in prison. Rossi admitted heading a phony woman-owned business that enabled a mob-tied contractor to steal millions of dollars in city and state funds.

Rossi pleaded guilty to offering a false instrument for filing, a minor felony carrying a maximum penalty of four years. But according to an agreement approved by Supreme Court Justice Althea Drysdale, the felony charge she pleaded guilty to, like all the major charges in the case, will be dismissed if she doesn't have any troubles with the law for the next three years.

Rossi, 52, will not be fined or required to pay any restitution when she is sentenced on April 16, according to the agreement her lawyers worked out with assistant district attorney James Hanley, the lead prosecutor in the case. LNR Construction, the entity that Rossi owned with her sister Nancy, the N in LNR, also pleaded guilty to the same fraud charges. Nancy Rossi is not charged with any wrongdoing in the case.

According to court filings, LNR Construction was "created to be a certified women-owned business enterprise" in order to enable longtime Genovese associate Lawrence (Larry) Wecker to get city and state subsidies for numerous building projects between 2015 to 2022 by falsely stating that it was a woman owned company that was doing work for him.

During the investigation by the DA's office, Wecker and Rossi were heard discussing a so-called "pass through scheme" that Wecker used during his seven-year-long scheme. In one taped talk, Rossi was heard telling Wecker, "Stop telling people I'm an owner. I'm a pass-through."

Wecker, whose ties to the Genovese crime family go back 40 years to the days when he hung out in East Harlem at the Palma Boys Social Club headquarters of former acting boss Anthony (Fat Tony) Salerno, copped a plea deal last month calling for a much stiffer outcome than Rossi when he faces the music in April.

Wecker, 83, pleaded guilty to enterprise corruption and weapons possession charges. He is slated to receive a prison term of two to six years, according to his agreement with the Manhattan District Attorney's office.

Wecker, whose company JM3 Construction pleaded guilty to fraud charges, has also agreed to make restitution of $150,000 to the New York State Insurance Fund and serve three years on probation after his prison term.

[Southshore88]

Thanks for posting.

[AntComello]

So this guy is in the Albanian mob and still pressed charges on Rom. Sounds pussy to me .

[Wiseguy]

Multiple murder counts (on top of other racketeering-related charges) and they get out of prison. Unbelievable.

[Shellackhead]

Thanks for posting.

I thought Henry was sentenced to 1 year per car lol & it was 150 stolen cars

[Ivan]

Borelli will probably be getting out IMHO. There's no way they can keep him in after letting out the other two.

Will these guys be on supervised released? Anyone know how that works.

[Snakes]

Borelli will probably be getting out IMHO. There's no way they can keep him in after letting out the other two.

Will these guys be on supervised released? Anyone know how that works.

If they are getting paroled, they almost certainly will be, but who knows.

[Blunts]

Thanks for posting.

I thought Henry was sentenced to 1 year per car lol & it was 150 stolen cars

You are correct in the fact he has 150 years. He got 10 years for each of the 15 vehicle theft charges running consecutive to the murder life sentence. He is not getting out.

https://casetext.com/case/united-states-v-borelli-6

[Antiliar]

The US Parole Commission has lost its mind.

[Ivan]

Thanks for posting.

I thought Henry was sentenced to 1 year per car lol & it was 150 stolen cars

You are correct in the fact he has 150 years. He got 10 years for each of the 15 vehicle theft charges running consecutive to the murder life sentence. He is not getting out.

I do believe he is eligible for parole though. The judge recommended that he never get it, but don't hink that's binding. Not sure why the other two could be paroled but he couldn't.

The US Parole Commission has lost its mind.

Forget parole, they should have been executed years ago.