For those unaware the Masecchia has DEA case files in Vegas and Buffalo going back to 2004.
Buffalo/Ontario Mob Acitivity
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NickleCity
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Re: Buffalo/Ontario Mob Acitivity
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NickleCity
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Re: Buffalo/Ontario Mob Acitivity
No one was looking at Bongiovanni. And then one investigator noticed Ron Serio starting to squirm
Buffalo News | Patrick Lakamp
A federal agent’s question, asked again and again, changed the course of an investigation in a way nobody saw coming with a Drug Enforcement Administration special agent ending up in handcuffs.
This question jolted the investigation: What does it mean to be connected?
Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent Curtis Ryan put that question to Ron Serio, an Amherst drug trafficker who had been caught by FBI agents and sheriff’s investigators in April 2017 with a large amount of marijuana in a duffel bag and some cocaine.
During a meeting more than a year after his arrest between Serio and federal agents and prosecutors, Ryan’s initial focus was to glean details about Serio’s distribution network, motorcycle club members at Pharaoh’s Gentlemen’s Club and Serio’s relationship with Peter Gerace Jr. and his brother Anthony Gerace.
It was only when Ryan asked about the Geraces that Serio’s demeanor changed.
“He was particularly uncomfortable when I asked him about Peter and Anthony Gerace,” Ryan testified last week in U.S. District Court, recalling Serio said the two “carried a lot of weight in the community.”
Ryan picked up on Serio’s discomfort, so he zeroed in on what it means to be connected.
“He was trying to evade answering that question,” Ryan recalled. “I continued to ask him the same question. And I was going to ask it until he answered it.”
Then came the answer that changed everything. Serio uttered a name: Joseph Bongiovanni.
The onetime DEA agent had provided him information about informants and investigations as a way to shield Serio’s drug operation, Serio said.
Not a single member of law enforcement was investigating Bongiovanni before the Serio interview on July 20, 2018.
“It never entered my mind,” Ryan said.
For the whole article see: https://buffalonews.com/news/local/crim ... user-share
Buffalo News | Patrick Lakamp
A federal agent’s question, asked again and again, changed the course of an investigation in a way nobody saw coming with a Drug Enforcement Administration special agent ending up in handcuffs.
This question jolted the investigation: What does it mean to be connected?
Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent Curtis Ryan put that question to Ron Serio, an Amherst drug trafficker who had been caught by FBI agents and sheriff’s investigators in April 2017 with a large amount of marijuana in a duffel bag and some cocaine.
During a meeting more than a year after his arrest between Serio and federal agents and prosecutors, Ryan’s initial focus was to glean details about Serio’s distribution network, motorcycle club members at Pharaoh’s Gentlemen’s Club and Serio’s relationship with Peter Gerace Jr. and his brother Anthony Gerace.
It was only when Ryan asked about the Geraces that Serio’s demeanor changed.
“He was particularly uncomfortable when I asked him about Peter and Anthony Gerace,” Ryan testified last week in U.S. District Court, recalling Serio said the two “carried a lot of weight in the community.”
Ryan picked up on Serio’s discomfort, so he zeroed in on what it means to be connected.
“He was trying to evade answering that question,” Ryan recalled. “I continued to ask him the same question. And I was going to ask it until he answered it.”
Then came the answer that changed everything. Serio uttered a name: Joseph Bongiovanni.
The onetime DEA agent had provided him information about informants and investigations as a way to shield Serio’s drug operation, Serio said.
Not a single member of law enforcement was investigating Bongiovanni before the Serio interview on July 20, 2018.
“It never entered my mind,” Ryan said.
For the whole article see: https://buffalonews.com/news/local/crim ... user-share
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AntComello
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Re: Buffalo/Ontario Mob Acitivity
Was Serio cooperating at this time? Why was he even answering questions for the feds.
That’s the guy, Adriana. My Uncle Tony. The guy I’m going to hell for.
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NickleCity
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Re: Buffalo/Ontario Mob Acitivity
His residences were raided in April 2017. As the team was surveilling his home in prep for the raid the caught Anthony Gerace (Peter’s brother) going in and out and meeting with Serio. The 2018 line of questioning was meant to get info on Peter and the Outlaws. So very interesting he brings Bongiovanni up. Earlier testimony agents indicate Serio asked to speak to Bongiovanni when his mansion was raided-upset because his protection didn’t come thru. So I wonder when when he started cooperating. Was it just a slip when he was first arrested and the started the he started cooperating in 2018? Or did he just get upset again and bring Bongi back up cause he got mad again and then started cooperating?AntComello wrote: ↑Mon Mar 18, 2024 12:11 pm Was Serio cooperating at this time? Why was he even answering questions for the feds.
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NickleCity
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Re: Buffalo/Ontario Mob Acitivity
WGRZ News
5 pm newscast: https://www.wgrz.com/video/news/crime/b ... fa93133ed9
6 newscast: https://www.wgrz.com/video/news/local/a ... 82217e7620
5 pm newscast: https://www.wgrz.com/video/news/crime/b ... fa93133ed9
6 newscast: https://www.wgrz.com/video/news/local/a ... 82217e7620
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NickleCity
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Re: Buffalo/Ontario Mob Acitivity
Gerace's ex-wife says she handed Bongiovanni envelopes full of cash at strip club
Patrick LaKamp | The Buffalo News
The ex-wife of Peter Gerace Jr. testified Tuesday that she twice gave onetime Drug Enforcement Administration agent Joseph Bongiovanni envelopes "thick" with cash at Pharaoh's Gentlemen's Club in Cheektowaga.
Katrina Nigro also said Gerace gave Bongiovanni a 50th birthday card containing $5,000 in cash.
Nigro, 41, called the birthday present "over the top."
"I never got a gift like that," she said.
"The evidence will show that those were rewards for a job well done," Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Tripi told jurors earlier in Bongiovanni's bribery and corruption trial.
...SNIP...
Tripi has said Nigro "was intimately placed in that club."
"She knows who got brought upstairs to have sex with dancers," Tripi said. "She knows how many overdoses there were. She knows Gerace's cocaine distribution and who was involved.
"And one thing that she'll also know is that this defendant would come for his envelopes of cash every so often, he would come to a side door and enter where there were no cameras, and she would provide the envelopes of cash to the defendant," Tripi told jurors earlier in the trial. "And then she'll tell you about another time when she and Peter Gerace were at the defendant's birthday party at a restaurant on Hertel Avenue, and Gerace's gift to the defendant was a card stuffed with cash."
...SNIP...
She previously told The Buffalo News she had a ringside seat to Buffalo Mafia activities during her four years as Gerace’s wife. They divorced in 2018.
The News has previously reported Nigro has served as a witness for federal law enforcement authorities investigating suspected organized crime activities involving her ex-husband and others, but Tripi on Tuesday did not focus on Italian organized crime.
Tripi asked her about the Outlaws Motorcycle Club members at Pharaoh's.
The club's members were at Pharaoh's every Wednesday, she said.
"It was like their church day," she said.
...SNIP...
For the whole article see: https://buffalonews.com/news/local/crim ... -top-story
Patrick LaKamp | The Buffalo News
The ex-wife of Peter Gerace Jr. testified Tuesday that she twice gave onetime Drug Enforcement Administration agent Joseph Bongiovanni envelopes "thick" with cash at Pharaoh's Gentlemen's Club in Cheektowaga.
Katrina Nigro also said Gerace gave Bongiovanni a 50th birthday card containing $5,000 in cash.
Nigro, 41, called the birthday present "over the top."
"I never got a gift like that," she said.
"The evidence will show that those were rewards for a job well done," Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Tripi told jurors earlier in Bongiovanni's bribery and corruption trial.
...SNIP...
Tripi has said Nigro "was intimately placed in that club."
"She knows who got brought upstairs to have sex with dancers," Tripi said. "She knows how many overdoses there were. She knows Gerace's cocaine distribution and who was involved.
"And one thing that she'll also know is that this defendant would come for his envelopes of cash every so often, he would come to a side door and enter where there were no cameras, and she would provide the envelopes of cash to the defendant," Tripi told jurors earlier in the trial. "And then she'll tell you about another time when she and Peter Gerace were at the defendant's birthday party at a restaurant on Hertel Avenue, and Gerace's gift to the defendant was a card stuffed with cash."
...SNIP...
She previously told The Buffalo News she had a ringside seat to Buffalo Mafia activities during her four years as Gerace’s wife. They divorced in 2018.
The News has previously reported Nigro has served as a witness for federal law enforcement authorities investigating suspected organized crime activities involving her ex-husband and others, but Tripi on Tuesday did not focus on Italian organized crime.
Tripi asked her about the Outlaws Motorcycle Club members at Pharaoh's.
The club's members were at Pharaoh's every Wednesday, she said.
"It was like their church day," she said.
...SNIP...
For the whole article see: https://buffalonews.com/news/local/crim ... -top-story
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Newyorkempire
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Re: Buffalo/Ontario Mob Acitivity
So he is Mafia?NickleCity wrote: ↑Tue Mar 19, 2024 9:43 am Gerace's ex-wife says she handed Bongiovanni envelopes full of cash at strip club
Patrick LaKamp | The Buffalo News
The ex-wife of Peter Gerace Jr. testified Tuesday that she twice gave onetime Drug Enforcement Administration agent Joseph Bongiovanni envelopes "thick" with cash at Pharaoh's Gentlemen's Club in Cheektowaga.
Katrina Nigro also said Gerace gave Bongiovanni a 50th birthday card containing $5,000 in cash.
Nigro, 41, called the birthday present "over the top."
"I never got a gift like that," she said.
"The evidence will show that those were rewards for a job well done," Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Tripi told jurors earlier in Bongiovanni's bribery and corruption trial.
...SNIP...
Tripi has said Nigro "was intimately placed in that club."
"She knows who got brought upstairs to have sex with dancers," Tripi said. "She knows how many overdoses there were. She knows Gerace's cocaine distribution and who was involved.
"And one thing that she'll also know is that this defendant would come for his envelopes of cash every so often, he would come to a side door and enter where there were no cameras, and she would provide the envelopes of cash to the defendant," Tripi told jurors earlier in the trial. "And then she'll tell you about another time when she and Peter Gerace were at the defendant's birthday party at a restaurant on Hertel Avenue, and Gerace's gift to the defendant was a card stuffed with cash."
...SNIP...
She previously told The Buffalo News she had a ringside seat to Buffalo Mafia activities during her four years as Gerace’s wife. They divorced in 2018.
The News has previously reported Nigro has served as a witness for federal law enforcement authorities investigating suspected organized crime activities involving her ex-husband and others, but Tripi on Tuesday did not focus on Italian organized crime.
Tripi asked her about the Outlaws Motorcycle Club members at Pharaoh's.
The club's members were at Pharaoh's every Wednesday, she said.
"It was like their church day," she said.
...SNIP...
For the whole article see: https://buffalonews.com/news/local/crim ... -top-story
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NickleCity
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Re: Buffalo/Ontario Mob Acitivity
^^^
I’ve heard it both ways from people. Hopefully more info comes out at his trial, but according to this it appears they are focusing on the Outlaws angle with him. Rightly so after what allegedly happened to Quinn.
I’ve heard it both ways from people. Hopefully more info comes out at his trial, but according to this it appears they are focusing on the Outlaws angle with him. Rightly so after what allegedly happened to Quinn.
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Newyorkempire
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Re: Buffalo/Ontario Mob Acitivity
Any word on anyone from the 2000 gambling bust?NickleCity wrote: ↑Tue Mar 19, 2024 11:35 am ^^^
I’ve heard it both ways from people. Hopefully more info comes out at his trial, but according to this it appears they are focusing on the Outlaws angle with him. Rightly so after what allegedly happened to Quinn.
"Dont leave me alone with your wife, ask your fellow poster"
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NickleCity
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Re: Buffalo/Ontario Mob Acitivity
No… but I know at least one person pleaded guilty in the Rochester bust a few years back.
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NickleCity
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NickleCity
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Re: Buffalo/Ontario Mob Acitivity
HUNTER: Buffalo Mob trial has bent DEA agent, a judge, peeler bars and a dead stripper
Author of the article: Brad Hunter
Published Mar 19, 2024
See: https://torontosun.com/news/world/hunte ... f89ea/amp/
Author of the article: Brad Hunter
Published Mar 19, 2024
See: https://torontosun.com/news/world/hunte ... f89ea/amp/
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NickleCity
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Re: Buffalo/Ontario Mob Acitivity
Here is one of the relevant sections of the indictment.NickleCity wrote: ↑Mon Jan 15, 2024 4:28 am Gerace Attorney 1' under investigation by feds in Pharaoh's strip club case
Dan Herbeck
“Federal prosecutors are investigating one of the region’s most high-profile attorneys in connection with a conspiracy that reportedly caused the death of a witness in the Pharaoh’s strip club case to prevent her from testifying.
“Although he is referred to as “Gerace Attorney 1” in an indictment made public on Tuesday, the indictment makes clear that attorney Steven M. Cohen is a subject of an investigation being conducted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office.”
For the rest of the story see: https://buffalonews.com/news/local/crim ... -top-story
The whole indictment is quite the read. Here is the link to it on Courtlistener: https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap ... 1.24.0.pdf
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NickleCity
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Re: Buffalo/Ontario Mob Acitivity
Former DEA agent and Bongiovanni partner takes stand
WGRZ-TV
Mar 20, 2024
Anthony Cazzulo testified that Joseph Bongiovanni got in the way of his investigation of key suspects Bongiovanni is accused of protecting.
YouTube link to 6pm newscast: https://youtu.be/AVFUDiQpGW0?feature=shared
WGRZ-TV
Mar 20, 2024
Anthony Cazzulo testified that Joseph Bongiovanni got in the way of his investigation of key suspects Bongiovanni is accused of protecting.
YouTube link to 6pm newscast: https://youtu.be/AVFUDiQpGW0?feature=shared
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NickleCity
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Re: Buffalo/Ontario Mob Acitivity
Cash deposits seen as bribes by prosecutors called 'life raft' for accused ex-DEA agent
Patrick LaKamp
Ballooning credit card balances. Borrowing money to pay off previous loans. Bouncing a child support check.
Federal prosecutors say Joseph Bongiovanni was under financial pressure as a special agent for the Drug Enforcement Administration, piling up debt while splurging on a Cabo San Lucas destination wedding, buying a classic Buick Electra convertible and spending thousands of dollars with a new wife on clothing, furniture and jewelry.
Five weeks into Bongiovanni’s bribery and corruption trial, prosecutors say unexplained cash deposits enabled him to break even financially over a period of years they contend he received a quarter of a million dollars or more in cash bribes from a drug-trafficking organization as well payments from a Cheektowaga strip club owner.
See: https://buffalonews.com/news/local/crim ... -top-story
Patrick LaKamp
Ballooning credit card balances. Borrowing money to pay off previous loans. Bouncing a child support check.
Federal prosecutors say Joseph Bongiovanni was under financial pressure as a special agent for the Drug Enforcement Administration, piling up debt while splurging on a Cabo San Lucas destination wedding, buying a classic Buick Electra convertible and spending thousands of dollars with a new wife on clothing, furniture and jewelry.
Five weeks into Bongiovanni’s bribery and corruption trial, prosecutors say unexplained cash deposits enabled him to break even financially over a period of years they contend he received a quarter of a million dollars or more in cash bribes from a drug-trafficking organization as well payments from a Cheektowaga strip club owner.
See: https://buffalonews.com/news/local/crim ... -top-story