Gangland:12/15/16

[Dellacroce]

December 15, 2016 This Week in Gang Land
By Jerry Capeci

Septuagenarian Ex-Cons Are An Odd Couple In Five-Family Mob Case

Gang Land Exclusive!Amthony ZinziThey are both ex-cons who did time together in Green Haven state prison some 40 years ago. One was involved in a double homicide at a Bronx bar; the other was a junkie who stole whatever he could to score heroin. Now they've been brought back together thanks to a recent massive federal racketeering conspiracy case against 46 reputed members and associates of five mob families.

They are the oddest odd couple that Gang Land has come across while covering cops and robbers of all stripes spanning the same 40 years. Here's why:

Anthony (Anthony Boy) Zinzi, 72, is one of the defendants in that case. Slight and ailing, he is currently behind bars awaiting trial on charges that he served as an enforcer for powerful Genovese capo Pasquale (Patsy) Parrello. Allan Paul Haber, 76, is ex-con number two. Haber isn't a defendant, he's a lawyer. In fact, he's the attorney representing Zinzi in his latest battle with the law during a lifetime of criminal activity.

Haber is a high school dropout and self-described "three-time loser." He is the ex-junkie of the duo. His is a truly extraordinary story, one that was first reported by The New York Times last year.

Allan Haber, circa 1970Years after getting out of prison, in 1984, Haber earned a law degree at NYU's School of Law. He was admitted to the state bar, and worked for nine years as a Legal Aid lawyer. Since 1993, when he opened his own criminal defense practice, he has represented 276 clients in Manhattan Federal Court, including Zinzi.

A product of several foster homes, Haber was first arrested in 1957 at age 17, after he joined an Irish youth gang in Hell's Kitchen. He earned a high school diploma in state prison, where he spent about a dozen years for convictions on numerous crimes, including burglary, larceny and three felony drug dealing raps from the mid-1960s to 1974.

The watershed day in Haber's life arrived a month after his 34th birthday, on March 18, 1974. That's the day he began an indeterminate prison term of up to seven years, following a conviction for the attempted criminal possession of a dangerous drug (heroin) in Manhattan Supreme Court, according to Rachel Heath, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision. (DOCCS)

Allan HaberIn the preceding years, Haber, who first dabbled in heroin as a teenaged inmate at Riker's Island and became addicted when he got out, had become a successful heroin entrepreneur. He was doing so well in the early 70s that he was flush with cash and riding high in a flashy red Cadillac Eldorado convertible, according to Times reporter Benjamin Weiser, who broke the story about Haber's rise from "three-time loser" to successful defense attorney in October of 2015.

"Using an apartment on the East Side of Manhattan as a stash house," Weiser wrote, "Haber bought high-quality heroin, which he diluted with quinine and milk sugar, weighed and placed in bags to be sold for $5 on the street. His most lucrative work was as a wholesaler for other distributors, and the money flowed."

Haber, who was released on parole from Fishkill state prison in Beacon, NY, on December 29, 1976, made excellent use of the 33 months he spent behind bars. He got a Regents diploma at Clinton, "took community college classes at Green Haven state prison" and while finishing up his incarceration at Fishkill, "was allowed to study at a nearby college," Weiser wrote.

While on parole, he was a counselor for ex-convicts, obtained his college degree, and met an attorney, Emily Goodman, who tutored him and helped him tremendously, Haber told The Times. "She said, 'Nothing is impossible.' She really motivated me," Haber recalled.

Pasquale ParrelloThe Times quoted Goodman, who would later become a State Supreme Court Justice as saying: "He kind of became my project. I didn't plan to fall in love with him." They were married in 1983, have an adult daughter, and were divorced in the mid-1990s, Weiser wrote.

Haber, who took over Zinzi's representation after his initial bail hearing, declined to discuss the extensive charges against his client with Gang Land, or the timing or circumstances of their first meeting. "I don't think an interview about how I met Anthony will help get him a decent disposition, which is my only goal," said Haber.

His client's route to the monstrous mob racketeering case is the antithesis of the long and difficult road that Haber traveled to end up as Zinzi's attorney.

Before his 1969 arrest for a double murder at the Glass Post Bar in the Bronx, Zinzi had been an "aide to Mayor Lindsay," a City Hall spokesman said at the time. After earning $110-a-week to "keep things cool" during the summer at a youth center in the Tremont section of the Bronx, Zinzi worked as a $666-a-month "utility restoration inspector" keeping tabs on work projects done by Con Edison.

John RubeoConvicted of first degree assault in the double slaying, Zinzi served six and a half years in state prison before he was released on parole from Green Haven, according to the DOCCS spokeswoman.

In 1969, detectives seized a loaded .38 caliber revolver at Zinzi's home when they arrested him. On August 4 of this year, arresting law enforcement officers recovered a shotgun and handgun from his home, facts which helped Federal Judge Richard Sullivan order him detained as a danger to the community while he awaits trial.

Zinzi is charged with several extortion attempts, as well as an assault on a Bronx panhandler believed to be annoying patrons of Pasquale's Rigoletto, the Bronx restaurant that served as the Parrello crew's headquarters, and a plan to fire-bomb the car owned by the operator of a rival casino-style gambling club. In court filings, the feds have cited many taped talks Zinzi had with cooperating witness John (JR) Rubeo that paint Anthony Boy as a violent thug who should be locked up.

Zinzi, who spent six years in prison for a 1989 drug conviction in Bronx Supreme Court was on lifetime parole when he was indicted in August.

Richard SullivanLast year, after closely guarding his criminal past for decades, Haber stated in a videotaped interview that accompanies the online version of Weiser's story, that he decided to speak out in an effort to convince ex-cons like himself that you can turn your life around, if you work at it.

"It's important now," he said, "because over the years, I've come across so many people that have given up hope. They think that because of their criminal records they can't make something out of their lives. I think that particular message of hope is more important than my need for non-disclosure."

Unfortunately the old adage of "You're never too old to learn," may not apply to Haber's 72-year-old client, Anthony Boy Zinzi, who faces heavy time in federal prison if convicted of the current charges, as well as a return to state prison if he overcomes that hurdle.

Feds Charge Mob-Linked Union Leader With Extortion

Roland BedwellFederal prosecutors in Brooklyn fired their first shot last week in a long-running effort to oust the Gambino crime family from its alleged control of an independent union of nearly 600 workers who pave roads and do landscaping work in the metropolitan area.

Target Number One for the feds is Roland Bedwell, the union's top official who was hit with a two-count extortion indictment.

Bedwell, 57, the business agent for Local 175 of the United Plant & Production Workers Union, was charged with using "actual and threatened force, violence and fear" in order to obtain wages and other benefits that his workers were not entitled to from the owner of a construction company, identified only as John Doe, back on December 5, 2011.

U.S. Attorney Robert Capers declined to provide any details about the charges in the barebones indictment, but law enforcement sources say they stem from a beating that Bedwell gave the company owner in Queens that day. The feds, however, seem to have taken their sweet time: The indictment, obtained by prosecutor Andrey Spektor, was filed four days before the five-year statute of limitations would have expired for that crime.

Robert CapersThe sources say the grand jury investigation into the Gambino family's control of Local 175, which began during the reign of Attorney General Loretta Lynch, has made the union's alleged behind-the-scenes leader, Gambino mobster Anthony Franco, a major target of the labor racketeering probe.

Franco, 35, a former vice president of Local 1018 of the Laborers International Union of America (LIUNA), allegedly helped form Local 175 in 2003 after he was ousted from his union post in 2002 for a host of allegations, including his familial ties to the Gambino family. Franco allegedly succeeded his father Salvatore, also a Gambino soldier, and their wiseguy uncle before them, the late capo Joseph Arcuri, who controlled those locals during John Gotti's reign.

The Gambino crime family's control of LIUNA Locals 1018 and 1010, and now with Local 175, began during Carlo Gambino's reign, according to FBI reports and testimony in the early 1990s by turncoat underboss Salvatore (Sammy Bull) Gravano.

The current indictment against Bedwell, who earned $191,000 as a Local 175 business agent last year, according to his union's filing with the Department of Labor, alleges that the union big used violence in his role as chief of Local 175, with offices in Roslyn Heights, LI.

Anthony FrancoBut Bedwell has already beaten similar charges in state court.

In the Bronx, Bedwell was indicted for an October 17, 2013 incident in which he allegedly bashed a rival union official in the face with a hardhat and threatened to "fuck him up." The altercation took place after the rival complained that workers in Bedwell's union were installing pavers and cobblestones in violation of a contract that his union members had with the construction company, according to court filings in Manhattan and the Bronx.

In a Manhattan civil suit, the victim of that alleged assault, Lowell Barton, a vice president of Local 1010 of LIUNA claimed in 2014 that Bedwell had a "propensity for violent physical assaults" and "ties to organized crime."

Bedwell was charged with assault, menacing and criminal possession of a weapon for the 2013 attack against Barton that took place at a jobsite at 501 Zerega Avenue in the Castle Hill section of the Bronx. Neither Bedwell nor his attorney responded to a request for comment. At his trial in April, according to a spokesman for Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark, Bedwell was acquitted of all charges.

FBI agents on the squad that investigates the Gambinos arrested Bedwell without incident Friday at his Fresh Meadows, Queens home. He was released on a $200,000 personal recognizance bond after his arraignment in Brooklyn Federal Court.

Judge Overrules Prosecutor; Lets Defendant Attend Wiseguy Wake

Abigail KurlandFederal mob busters have been playing hardball with wiseguys — as they should — ever since J. Edgar Hoover finally acknowledged that the Mafia really existed and that its members and associates deserved the full attention of the law enforcement community. Sometimes, though, the feds tend to go a little overboard.

Take the wake last week of longtime Genovese mobster Salvatore (Sallie) Larca. The one-day affair at the Balsamo Funeral Home in the Bronx was well attended by scores of relatives and friends — including at least a few wiseguys, sources say. Also on hand was a crew of law enforcers headed by federal criminal investigator John Carillo which did the usual: snapped photos of attendees and took down license plate numbers.

But that's all fair play in the cat and mouse games that cops and mobsters play.

The problems began when Michael (Mike Polio) Poli, a 31-year-old Bronx guy who is one of 46 defendants in the huge racketeering conspiracy case, sought permission to attend his old pal's wake and funeral.

Michael PoliPoli did everything the way he should: First, he called his attorney and told him that he knew Sallie and his family all his life and wanted to attend the wake and funeral. Larca's daughter Jennifer, Poli explained, had been his babysitter when he was a toddler.

There was good reason to think Poli's attendance at the services would not be a problem. For one thing, he is not one of the defendants whom the government tried to detain as a violent gangster. It agreed to let him out on a personal recognizance bond so long as he agreed not to speak to any of his codefendants in the case. Accused of illegal gambling, this was Poli's first arrest.

Lawyer Michael Marinaccio also did not think there would be a problem. But when he called assistant U.S. attorney Abigail Kurland, she said no. Even after the lawyer explained the situation, and assured her that his client would not speak to any codefendant at the services, including Larca's son-in-law Ralph Balsamo, a codefendant in the case, who married Jennifer Larca, the hard-headed prosecutor still said no.

Marinaccio got a yes from Pre-Trial Services Officer Erin Cunningham. So then the lawyer filed an official request asking Judge Sullivan to break the tie in his client's favor and grant him permission "to pay his respects" to Larca and family members whom he "has known since he was a child."

Ralph BalsamoSullivan said it was fine by him. The judge's positive ruling came on the afternoon of December 7, after the afternoon session had ended, but the judge ruled early enough to enable Poli to attend the evening session as well as the funeral mass at St. Theresa's Church the following day, said Marinaccio.

Balsamo, whose family owns the funeral home, did not have any problem getting permission to attend his father-in-law's funeral. His attorney, Laurence DiGiansante didn't make the mistake of calling Kurland. He got permission from his client's Pre-Trial Services agent.

"Pre-trial Services was very responsive to my client's family crisis," said DiGiansante, "and both the family and I have nothing but thanks for how quickly they responded to a death in the family with understanding and compassion."

Too bad the feds couldn't muster some of the same sentiments, especially during the holiday season.

[willychichi]

One of the original articles on the Local 175 case for those that haven't seen it.

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/uni ... -1.1981151

[Snakes]

I'm going to start making cash donations to anyone who posts these with bolded headlines.

[TommyGambino]

Didn't know Anthony Franco was made, that families loaded. Anybody know what crew the Franco's are in?

[bronx]

joe arcuri to sal franco crew

[Hailbritain]

Here's the pic of franco

[B.]

Are Sal/Joe/Anthony Franco related to early Gambino members Cosmo or Joseph Franco (not sure if those two are related either)?

[Mukremin]

interesting info thanks for sharing

[SonnyBlackstein]

Are Sal/Joe/Anthony Franco related to early Gambino members Cosmo or Joseph Franco (not sure if those two are related either)?

I was going to inquire whether he/they were related to Carmine 'Papa Smurf' Franco.



Thanks for the Pic HB


Thanks Dell for posting.

[bronx]

no they are not

[bronx]

the franco's and arcuri's go back to the start of cosa nostra..great people.

[Wiseguy]

Franco and Fred Clemenza (a former official with LIUNA LOCAL 1175) formed Production Workers Union Local 175 in response to the government trying to take over Local 1018. Back in 2011 the Brooklyn DA met with LIUNA officials in order to develop ways to remove the LCN from the Pavers & Road Builders District Council, which the Gambinos had controlled since the 1960's. Interesting since the Council was put in trusteeship on 2005. Franco lost his Local 1018 membership in 2003 but continued to control the Local's benefit funds, while collecting a $150k salary, until 2006.

[Angelo Santino]

Ignazio Lupo or as we called him 'Lupo the Wolf' had a piece of the San Giuseppe theatre on Stanton and Eldridge before he got jammed up in 1910. His interests went to Salvatore Mangiapane aka Sam Armone.. he was a great guy, Sam not so much as he would overcharge for tickets, cheap fuck.

[B.]

Ignazio Lupo or as we called him 'Lupo the Wolf' had a piece of the San Giuseppe theatre on Stanton and Eldridge before he got jammed up in 1910. His interests went to Salvatore Mangiapane aka Sam Armone.. he was a great guy, Sam not so much as he would overcharge for tickets, cheap fuck.

For your next chart, let's make a list of "great guys".

[bronx]

Correct wiseguy, that union was gambino's before 60's..