Gangland April 4th 2024

[Dr031718]

Steve Crea Seeks Release On Bail Pending Appeal Due To 'Exceptional Circumstances' — A Deadly Disease

Imprisoned Luchese underboss Steve (Stevie Wonder) Crea is trying to overturn the life sentence he says he wrongly received for the 2013 gangland-style slaying of Purple Gang leader Michael Meldish.

At the same time, Crea admits he faces a much tougher sentence, one he can't beat: Stage IV lung cancer. His health status is so dire that he was recently transferred to a federal prison hospital, Gang Land has learned.

A once swaggering Gang Land figure with deep ties to the construction industry in the Bronx and his Yonkers base and throughout the metro area, Stevie Wonder is unlikely to live out the year, according to his lawyers.

But as he deals with his ailment he is asking to go home while he awaits a decision on his appeal.

In a court filing, Crea, 76, has asked the Second Circuit Court of Appeals to grant him bail while it considers his "substantial" claim that he was wrongly convicted of the Meldish murder. He says it is likely that the Court, which has scheduled oral arguments for next month, will not be able to issue a final decision before he succumbs to the disease.

"He poses no risk of flight or danger to the community, and raises numerous substantial issues on appeal that are likely to lead to reversal or a new trial," write lawyers Anthony DiPietro and Brendan White, noting that Crea's appeal "has been fully briefed and is scheduled for oral argument on May 8.

Crea alleges that White Plains Federal Judge Cathy Seibel "sabotaged" his defense by reversing a pre-trial ruling three weeks after trial began, on October 22, 2019. That day, his lawyers wrote, Seibel allowed prosecutors to use an alleged jailhouse confession that linked Stevie Wonder to the murder that she had earlier ruled was inadmissible because she was "not convinced" of the "truth of the statement."

The lawyers say that his appeal is not "frivolous" or a delaying tactic. They argue that the Court "must grant" bail to Crea because "the appeal raises a substantial question" that would lead to "a reversal, new trial, or a (lesser) sentence" if it is successful, and because their client "can show by clear and convincing evidence that he is not likely to flee or pose a danger to others."

Crea, who was sentenced to life without parole in 2020, was diagnosed with Stage IV lung cancer in September after he "collapsed in his cell" at the federal prison in Waymart, PA, the lawyers wrote.

At the time, they stated, Crea had "a life expectancy of eighteen (18) months or less." But since then, they wrote, despite his transfer in February to the federal prison hospital in Butner, North Carolina, "his condition has worsened to the point at which the prospect of receiving end-of-life treatment in confinement would be inhumane."

"Crea has already been rushed to the local hospital on at least three occasions due to his worsening medical condition" and "on at least one occasion, emergency medical care was needed to resuscitate (him,)" they wrote.

In addition, the lawyers wrote, Crea "has dental implants" and that has prevented Butner from administering the drugs that its physicians have prescribed for Stevie Wonder. That's because the dental implants "cause complications" with the prescribed cancer drugs and the hospital "does not have the appropriate tools" that are needed to remove them, they wrote.

"Granting (his) release on bail would allow Mr. Crea to visit an outside specialist who could perform the necessary dental work" that has to be performed in order for him to receive the prescribed drugs he needs, the lawyers wrote.

If released on bail, they wrote, "Crea would remain at his family home, under the care of his wife" of 57 years, Diane, and their "grown children, all of whom are ready, willing, and able to care for him upon his release, as well as make arrangements for whatever professional care is needed" to care for him.

In papers filed last week, Crea's lawyers laid out an emphatic argument for their client's appeal.

The attorneys stressed in their filing that according to prior Second Circuit rulings, "A defendant seeking bail pending appeal is not required to prove that he is likely to succeed, only that if the appeal does succeed, it would likely result in reversal."

"Although we are confident as to the merit of our arguments," they wrote, "it appears likely that, whatever the outcome, Mr. Crea will not live to see the final outcome of the case." In May, the appeals court will also hear arguments from lawyers for Christopher Londonio and Terrence (Ted) Caldwell, the convicted hit team, as well as acting boss Matthew (Matty) Madonna.

"In light of the numerous issues raised in the various appeals, the size of the record, and the complexity of several of the issues raised," attorneys DiPietro and White wrote, "several months may pass from the date of oral argument for the Court to decide the appeal."

The lawyers note that Crea, who has been jailed since his 2017 arrest, was found guilty of ordering the murder "mostly on the theory that, as part of the chain of command," Stevie Wonder, as the alleged underboss of the Luchese family, "would necessarily have been involved in the decision" to kill Meldish.

The "alleged confession" by Londonio that jailhouse informer David Evangelista testified about "was the Government's only direct evidence linking Crea to the Meldish murder," the lawyers wrote." They argued that Seibel's ruling to allow it, "undermined Crea's constitutional rights to a fair trial."

"Thirty-nine days after" Seibel had barred the testimony, they wrote, she "granted an untimely prosecution request to reconsider" her "denial of the government's earlier motion to admit a statement that Mr. Evangelista is going to testify Mr. Londonio made to the effect of 'I can't believe the father and son, meaning Crea Sr. and Jr., got bail when they're the ones who gave me the order to kill Meldish.'"

"Moreover," the lawyers wrote, "by the time the purported jailhouse confession was admitted in evidence, the defense had established that Londonio" had agreed to testify as a defense witness for Stevie Wonder and refute Evangelista's testimony that he had linked Crea to the murder.

"The midtrial reversal by the district court was legally incorrect at every juncture," DiPietro and White wrote, noting that Seibel had stated, "I'm not convinced, however, that there are sufficient corroborating circumstances clearly indicating the truth of the statement."

"Most notably," they wrote, Seibel "committed reversible error, first by reversing (her) pretrial ruling and allowing into evidence Londonio's unreliable 'jailhouse confession' to an informant in which Crea was implicated," and then by refusing to sever Stevie Wonder's trial to enable Londonio to testify as a defense witness and "deny the informant's account."

"He therefore asks that reasonable bail be set, subject to home confinement or any other necessary conditions, pending determination of the appeal so that he may receive needed medical care in what are likely to be his final months," the lawyers wrote.

They note that the government's lead prosecutor, assistant U.S. attorney Hagan Scotten has advised them that "the Government opposes the motion for bail and intends to file a response."

DiPietro and White counter that their client's continued incarceration, "with a life expectancy at this point of less than a year" when combined "with the fundamental lack of evidence that Crea was involved in the murder of Michael Meldish" are "exceptional circumstances under which detention is inappropriate."

The FBI Tried To Get a Turncoat Wiseguy To Help Nail An Old Pal For a 1990 Murder. He Turned Them Down.

His take from two armed robberies of $1.6 million in gems last year netted Genovese wiseguy Frank (Skip) DiPietro just "three loose diamonds." And he didn't have them for long. The feds seized them, and arrested him two weeks later. He's now doing 10 years for the heists.

Despite all that, Gang Land has learned, DiPietro, 66, is a pretty lucky guy these days as he does his bid in a federal prison in Minersville, PA.

That's because while DiPietro was rejecting a 15-year-plea deal and awaiting trial, sources say the feds were also trying to send him to prison for life for a gruesome May 14, 1990 execution murder of a Staten Island marijuana dealer whose parents were standing over their dying 23-year-old son when police responded to the scene of the shooting in New Springville.

An anonymous caller had phoned the home of Louis Albarano and told his younger brother Damian: "Your bother has been shot at 80 Richmond Hill Road," police told the Staten Island Advance. The family drove there and found Albarano lying in the parking lot of the Springville Heights Condominiums, according to the Advance.

The slaying took place shortly after Albarano had left his brother's apartment, police said. The victim had been shot at least six-times at point-blank range, according to police, who recovered six spent .25 caliber shells and one .25 caliber bullet near his body.

"He saw it coming," NYPD Detective Sgt. Richard Bracken told Advance reporter Dean Balsamini. "He has a defense wound. A bullet went through his palms," said Bracken.

Police told the Advance a week later that they were "confident" they would be able to prove that "drugs played a role" in the hit. But no one has ever been charged, or publicly implicated in the killing, until now.

Sources tell Gang Land that the FBI and NYPD had developed info linking Skip DiPietro along with two other gangsters with the Luchese family's so-called Port Richmond Crew, Michael (Smurf) Bloome, and Salvatore (Sally P) Palmieri, to the killing of Albarano. DiPietro already has one murder conviction during that time: He was charged in 1998 with the 1990 murder of a witness and copped a plea deal for 19 years in that killing.

Current and former law enforcement officials say that Skip, Smurf and Sally P, who each have been convicted of slayings, drug dealing and other violent crimes over the years, have long been suspected of killing Albarano, a drug dealer who had no ties to any crime family. The killing allegedly stemmed from a "beef" that Palmieri had with him.

Bloome, 61, a DiPietro codefendant in the 1998 case, pleaded guilty to killing Michael Alba, a Staten Island car service owner who refused to pay extortion payments to Smurf in 1994. That was a year after Bloome served a two year stretch behind bars following a wrongful conviction for the 1988 shooting of a cooperating witness. Bloome was sentenced to 16 years for the Alba murder. He was released in 2015.

Palmieri, 68, also has a murder rap. He shot and killed Ronald Peteroy outside a Staten Island bar in September of 1990. He pleaded guilty to the murder in 2008 and served 10 years for it and other crimes. He was released from prison in 2014. DiPietro was an unindicted co-conspirator in the killing.

Skip, who was in the bar and knew that Sally P had wanted to kill Peteroy, "had a few drinks with him to make him feel comfortable" and then called Palmieri, who drove to the bar, "and had a couple of drinks" with them, according to a 1995 FBI report obtained by Gang Land.

"Eventually," said the report, which was based on information that that FBI agents Stephen Byrne and Kevin Hallinan had received from turncoat Luchese mobster Frank Gioia Jr., "they lured (Peteroy) outside the bar where Palmieri shot and killed him."

Gioia helped New York and Boston prosecutors convict more than 70 wiseguys and drug dealers and a cop killer in the 1990s after he flipped. He then relocated to Arizona, where as Frank Capri, he swindled dozens of investors out of $64 million in two bust-out schemes, and as Gang Land reported in January, has done his time, and has been trying to reinvent himself as an honest to goodness car salesman.

As it turns, a few months ago, while Gioia-Capri was being hassled by the feds about getting a job selling cars because it involved "financial transactions" which he was prohibited from engaging in, Paul Tambrino, a veteran mob busting G-man on the FBI's Gambino-Luchese squad, tried to get the mob defector to help the feds convict DiPietro of Albarano's murder.

"He wanted Frank to cooperate against a defendant they had," said John Rhude, a Scottsdale attorney who has known and represented the transplanted New Yorker for years. "They wanted to get him for some additional crimes and wanted Frank to testify against him," the lawyer told Gang Land.

After discussing it with his client, Rhude recalled, "I told him Frank wasn't interested in the slightest. Frank did not have a problem with the guy they were trying to bury. And that was that. He floated the idea and I told him to forget it."

Tambrino declined to comment about case.

Mathew Mari, who represented DiPietro in the jewelry heists and the 1998 case, told Gang Land that both he and his client knew nothing about the Albarano murder.

"I never heard of that guy and I never heard about that investigation," said Mari. "And neither has Frank. As I told his sentencing judge the other day, he got coverage for four killings which he didn't do, that they were investigating him for 20 years ago. But that one is news to us. We never heard of it."

Meanwhile, in Arizona, Gioia-Capri has resolved his problems with the feds and is working in the Scottsdale-Phoenix area as a car salesman who has no financial dealings with his customers.

The specifics, including his salary, and the name of his employer, aren't spelled out in court filings but Judge John Tuchi has approved the ex-gangster's new job. His probation officer and the U.S. Attorney's Office have stated that Capri would have no financial dealings with his customers. His only role will be to bring a customer's credit application to his manager and relay the decision to the car buyer.

19 Years Later, The BOP Does Right By Mikey Spat

Two federal judges and a gaggle of U.S. Attorneys in Brooklyn ignored reams of evidence and hung him out to dry for 19 and a half years, but officials of the much-maligned Bureau of Prisons did right by Michael (Mikey Spat) Spataro last week by releasing him from a federal prison the first chance they could.

Spataro, 57, was placed into a halfway house last Thursday. As Gang Land has reported many times over the years, Mikey Spat was convicted of a crime he could not have committed back in 2001, the attempted rubout of Colombo capo Joseph (Joe Camp) Campanella, according to scads of evidence that were obtained and given to the feds by former U.S. Marshal Michael Pizzi.

Spataro, who was detained as a danger to the community back on October 13, 2004, will be technically assigned to the hallway house until March 27, 2025 but he will most likely be permitted to serve a major block of that time in home confinement.

"Our prayers have been answered," said Pizzi. "We worked hard and we prayed hard, and it took too many years, but our prayers have been answered. Mike got home to see his family and in time to see his dad, who hadn't been able to visit Mike for years. Our prayers have been answered."

Spataro got no help from the courts: Brooklyn Federal Judge LaShann DeArcy Hall refused to grant Mikey Spat's last ditch request for compassion last year. She also declined to recuse herself and transfer his case to a Central Islip Judge who is more familiar with the long, tortured history of his 20-year-old case, in which Spataro was convicted of conspiring to murder Joe Camp with three codefendants who were all acquitted of the crime.

But thanks to the BOP — especially officials at the Fort Dix federal prison complex where he's been housed for years — Spataro was able to see his ailing 90-year-old father, also named Michael, a former professional boxer who is suffering from cancer and debilitating mental illness and in need of the care that Mikey Spat can now provide to help him in the winter of his life.

[TommyGambino]

Still can't believe Crea was convicted with that evidence

[Tonyd621]

Still can't believe Crea was convicted with that evidence

I agree. Idgaf what anybody says about his past crimes. The crime he was actually convicted of and sent to life for is utter and complete bullshit.
This whole narrative of, what about all the crimes he did do but didn't get caught doing. That's not the point of the justice system.

[Cheech]

Still can't believe Crea was convicted with that evidence

That was the oddest trial. The worst type of witnesses. The guy david evnangalista was a weirdo drug addict too. The guy Pasqua admitted to doing it! How they got found guilty is a head scratcher for sure.

[Cheech]

Having a dyke liberal judge couldnt have helped.

[Shellackhead]

Thanks for posting.

[CornerBoy]

Having a dyke liberal judge couldnt have helped.

what a joke. they cannot get him on anything else so they use these junkie rats. lazy cop work

[Brovelli]

Still can't believe Crea was convicted with that evidence

That was the oddest trial. The worst type of witnesses. The guy david evnangalista was a weirdo drug addict too. The guy Pasqua admitted to doing it! How they got found guilty is a head scratcher for sure.

What I did think happened was Londonio got caught on phone calls talking about it with Madonna? Crea’s links definitely seem weak. Did Crea jr plead guilty or didn’t he pass a lie detector on this one?

[SonnyBlackstein]

Appreciate the post.

[Little_Al1991]

Thanks for posting
Crea’s predicament is similar to Jackie DeRoss, not much evidence to link them but if they can prove that they were the Underbosses then they are screwed
Capeci stated “ DeRoss was not shown to have played any role in the actual killing or the plot to whack Wild Bill.”

[slimshady_007]

Thanks for posting. Regarding Crea, I don’t feel any sympathy towards him. The government’s evidence could’ve been stronger, but Crea, as an underboss, was certainly involved in the conspiracy to kill Meldish. What happened to Crea Sr was just another case of LE/FBI getting a known criminal/killer off the streets ‘by any means necessary.’

[bluehouse]

Still can't believe Crea was convicted with that evidence

most likely the jury was filled with white suburban soccer moms who believe everything the government says.So its most likely his lawyers fault for not weeding them out

[Browniety86]

Thanks for posting
Crea’s predicament is similar to Jackie DeRoss, not much evidence to link them but if they can prove that they were the Underbosses then they are screwed
Capeci stated “ DeRoss was not shown to have played any role in the actual killing or the plot to whack Wild Bill.”

This always confused me...I thought DeRoss put feelers out to Joey Caves and others about how they would feel if they took Bill out...

[Pmac2]

Creas son has a website? Whats it about. Anything good?

[Little_Al1991]

Thanks for posting
Crea’s predicament is similar to Jackie DeRoss, not much evidence to link them but if they can prove that they were the Underbosses then they are screwed
Capeci stated “ DeRoss was not shown to have played any role in the actual killing or the plot to whack Wild Bill.”

This always confused me...I thought DeRoss put feelers out to Joey Caves and others about how they would feel if they took Bill out...

That’s right but it was Joe Campanella who he asked. That seems to be his participation in the murder