Gangland news 19th October 2017

[Hailbritain]

October 19, 2017 This Week in Gang Land
By Jerry Capeci

Coke-Snorting, Facebook-Loving Turncoat Flips On Ronnie G

Ricky KesslerGang Land Exclusive!Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn have signed up a coke-snorting, Facebook-loving Howard Beach hoodlum named Ricky Kessler to help them with their monstrous racketeering case against Bonanno capo Ronald (Ronnie G) Giallanzo, Gang Land has learned.

The feds' case focuses on a massive loan sharking and extortion scheme that Ronnie G has allegedly run for the past 17 years, resulting in an estimated haul of some $26 million, according to the government.

Sources say Kessler, a 47-year-old childhood friend of Giallanzo, secretly began cooperating with the FBI in the summer of 2014. That was more than a year before a gun-toting one man crime wave from Howard Beach named Gene Borrello turned on Ronnie G and his capo uncle Vincent Asaro after the NYPD nailed Borrello for a slew of home invasions from New York to Florida.

Ronald GiallanzoThe sources say that Kessler, who has several convictions on his rap sheet and even more violations of his post-prison supervised release (VOSR) for drug use, bonded with the unsuspecting Ronnie G during two recent prison stays — one last year and a second one early this year — that Kessler did after he was violated

Over the last three years, the sources say, Kessler has tape recorded numerous conversations about several loans in the $3 million "loanshark book" that Giallanzo, also 47, allegedly has had on the street since 2000.

Late last year, during the same time frame when sources say Kessler was again tape recording conversations for the FBI against Giallanzo & Company, he was promoting himself as a bon vivant neighborhood guy on Facebook while running card games geared to Monday and Thursday Night football games.

Angelo MocciaBut Kessler never had the courage to wear a wire against his old pal. Sources say he did gather important evidence for Uncle Sam about Ronnie G's loans though, by tape recording talks with several of his loanshark customers regarding the amounts of their loans and interest payments they owed Giallanzo and his cronies.

Kessler didn't need any FBI help in identifying and locating the loanshark customers the feds wanted him to tape. Sources say they were all friends or associates of Kessler who knew about their indebtedness because he had sent them to Ronnie G when they were having money problems.

Kessler also allegedly recorded loansharking conversations with a Bonanno associate named Angelo Moccia, one of two Giallanzo underlings whom the feds arrested last month and added to what is now a 55-count racketeering conspiracy indictment against a dozen Bonanno mobsters and associates based in Howard Beach.

Kessler & Friends At Don Peppe Moccia is charged with several loansharking counts from 2013 to March of 2017. The second newly charged defendant, Anthony (Cubo) Cuminale, a nephew of indicted mobster Nicholas (Pudgie) Festa, is charged with loansharking and illegal gambling activities with his Uncle Nick going back to 2007.

Unlike Giallanzo and Festa, who are both detained without bail, Moccia, 43, and Cuminale, 27, were both released on $750,000 bail secured by properties owned by friends and relatives.

Despite Kessler's persistent use of drugs, his longtime friendship with Giallanzo — a tough-hardnosed wiseguy with a well-earned fearsome reputation — enabled him to work as an informer without raising any suspicions that he was an FBI snitch.

For the record, Giallanzo is the unidentified Bonanno wiseguy Gang Land wrote about in January who forced the Gambinos to induct a whining mob associate into the crime family to protect him from getting pummeled whenever he ran into Ronnie G. Sources say Giallanzo "really got upset" and punched him senseless when he heard that the mob associate had badmouthed him as "gutless" behind his back while he was doing time for extortion in 2013.

Anthony CuminaleSources say Kessler tape recorded numerous talks about loansharking and other criminal activities from August through October of 2014 — a few months after he served 90 days of home confinement for a "domestic violence" VOSR, according to court papers. At the time, he was on supervised release following 21 months behind bars for theft of goods from interstate commerce.

A few months later, in March of 2015, Kessler was cited for cocaine use four times, and ordered to spend 60 days in a drug rehab, court papers say. He refused, and that October, he began a 10 month sentence for VOSR. This enabled him to earn brownie points with the feds in early 2016 by chatting up his old pal when Ronnie G was nailed for his own violation after he was spotted attending a Bonanno family Christmas party with other wiseguys.

Giallanzo was behind bars almost all of last year, but Kessler got out in September, and sources say he quickly began wearing a wire again, tape recording conversations with mob associate Moccia as well as with Ronnie G's loanshark customers, seemingly without a care in the world.

Judge Dora IrizarryIn November, Kessler posted a photo on Facebook of him and Nick Giovanelli, a nephew of longtime Genovese mobster Federico (Fritzy) Giovanelli, and two others, at Don Peppe, the legendary Ozone Park restaurant where the late Genovese wiseguy Ciro Perrone often held court at the big round table in the back that was bugged by the FBI back in 2004.

The bubble burst again for Kessler this February, when he was busted again for violating his supervised release. The reason for the violation was — what else? — using cocaine. When that happened in 2015, Chief Judge Dora Irizarry gave him 10 months behind bars, three months more than what the probation department had recommended.

On the surface, things didn't look good for him. But Giallanzo prosecutors Lindsey Gerdes and Keith Edelman quickly came to his aid, according to court records. And on April 18, a week after Kessler pleaded guilty to four drug charges, Irizarry, who is also the Giallanzo case judge, ordered his sentence "held in abeyance," and ordered him to enter, under supervision by probation officials, "a residential substance abuse treatment program" for six months.

Kessler & Friends At SapienzaDetails about the program aren't public, and probation officials, as well as Kessler's lawyers, and his prosecutors, declined to discuss where it is located, or its rules and regulations.

None of them are saying how Kessler's doing. But he seemed to be doing just fine two weeks later on May 3, based on a Facebook photo of him and a few card-playing buddies having "Breakfast At Sapienza" a popular Howard Beach eatery on Cross Bay Boulevard. Kessler's in the white shirt; second from the left is restaurant owner Angelo (The Pastrami King of Queens) Sapienza.

In a Facebook message to a friend, however, Kessler did complain that the "no cell phones allowed" rule at his drug rehab facility was cramping his style somewhat. But he boasted that he overcame it by smuggling his cell phone into the joint in his underwear "under my balls."

Lindsay GerdesTechnically, Kessler's still faces sentencing when he successfully completes his drug abuse treatment — his six month stay should have ended yesterday. But his status hasn't been updated on the court docket sheet yet, and mum's still the word for the officials who should know it.

Meanwhile, sources say prosecutors and defense lawyers have begun discussing plea deals that would include single digit years behind bars for Giallanzo and his cohorts but only if Ronnie G agrees to a large forfeiture.

"The feds are obsessed with that house Ronnie built; they want him to sell it," said an attorney who isn't involved in the discussions but is plugged into the situation. The lawyer was referring to the gangster's pride and joy, the gorgeous two-story $1.5 million home with brown brick turrets and terraces that he created out of a modest one story ranch house he bought in 2015.

Sallie D's Not Running Away From Tax Fraud Charges

Salvatore DeMeoIn 2001, Genovese mobster Salvatore (Sallie D) DeMeo had good reason to run — and did — when he was out for a stroll and spotted FBI agents near his home: They were set to arrest him for a $382,000 bank robbery. But those days are long since gone, his lawyer declared last week when DeMeo was hit with evading $367,000 in taxes, and the feds said he was a flight risk.

Brooklyn Federal Judge Kiyo Matsumoto agreed with Sallie D's mouthpiece, and released the 77-year-old wiseguy on $2 million bail, secured by three properties put up by his relatives. She also ordered him to avoid meeting with a list of mobsters and associates that the government would give him.

Back in 2001, DeMeo stayed away for 17 months before turning himself in to face the music. He pleaded guilty to racketeering, was sentenced to 57 months in prison and ordered to pay $382,000 in restitution. Like many defendants, he forgot about the restitution.

Judge Kiyo MatsumotoAssistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth Geddes argued that DeMeo had absconded before, and since the geezer gangster was facing up to 41 months in prison for tax fraud, he might decide to use about $1.5 million he made selling real estate a few years ago, and disappear for good. Sallie D was also a danger to the community, Geddes argued, noting that despite his age, his "decades-long membership" in the powerful Genovese family enabled him to "rely on his subordinates to carry out his criminal activities."

According to a four count tax fraud indictment, DeMeo failed to file tax returns in 2013 and 2014, when he should have declared his $2.3 million share of seven properties in Downtown Brooklyn that he and his siblings inherited from his father and sold for $18 million. In addition, DeMeo may also owe taxes on $43,776 he got those years from Social Security and his pension from the NYC Department of Sanitation, where he toiled a few years.

The only money the government got from DeMeo, said Geddes, was $409,737 in restitution and interest he owed for his $382,000 bank robbery. And the only reason he paid that was because he couldn't sell his property unless he cleared up the judgment the government had against him.

Salvatore AparoAttorney Gary Farrell assured Judge Matsumoto that Demeo's "social club days are over" and that he would steer clear of any reputed organized crime figures provided by the government. "That's the old Sal," he told the judge.

Farrell told Gang Land that the tax fraud charges against DeMeo, "a retired sanitation guy," stem from his client's obviously mistaken belief that all the capital gains taxes he owed had been paid before he saw any money from the sales of the Brooklyn properties.

"Lawyers gave him the checks," said Farrell. "He knew the government got their judgment from his last case, the Sammy Meatballs case," said the attorney, using the nickname for Salvatore Aparo, the lead defendant in the case. "So he figured any taxes due were taken out. He never thought that a lawyer would give him a check without all the taxes being taken out, and being paid. That's where he's coming from in terms of this case."

Luchese Hierarchy Getting Battered By Family Relatives

Vittorio AmusoOld-school mob tough guy Vittorio (Vic) Amuso, the 82-year-old Luchese chieftain, has to be shaking his head in disgust at the number of relatives of his wiseguys who have turned on the hierarchy of the crime family he left behind 26 plus years ago.

The defections may be proof that the FBI's much-depleted squad of mob busters is doing something right. Or that the Luchese family is doing something very wrong.

Either way, Gang Land has learned that there are at least three relatives — two brothers and a son — of Luchese family mobsters who are cooperating with the feds against family Administration and 16 other members and family associates awaiting trial on a litany of racketeering charges including murder, drug dealing, labor racketeering, loan sharking, money laundering as well as firearms offenses.

The latest relative of a made man to flip is James (Anthony Bianco) Pasqua III, the 37-year-old son of Luchese soldier James Pasqua Jr., 63. Sources say Pasqua III began cooperating sometime after he was busted for smuggling drugs into the local Putnam County jail in Carmel, NY on March 16 of last year.

Chris LondonioIt's not a coincidence that the assistant U.S. attorney in Pasqua III's case is Scott Hartman, the lead prosecutor of the racketeering indictment of the 19 Luchese gangsters and that White Plains Federal Judge Cathy Seibel is the jurist in both cases.

Sources say Pasqua III used his father's name and status as a wiseguy to get close to Luchese soldier Christopher Londonio while both were housed at the Metropolitan Correctional Center. Pasqua subsequently tape recorded several conversations with Londonio, one of five defendants charged with the 2013 murder of former Purple Gang leader Michael Meldish.

It's unclear whether Pasqua tape recorded conversations with Londonio in phone calls or during visits to Londonio, who has been behind bars in both federal lockups in New York as well as the Brooklyn House of Detention since he was first arrested in May of 2015.

Pasqua III's cooperation with the feds is double distressing for Pasqua Jr. Sources say that his late dad, Frank Pasqua Sr. was a Gambino soldier and that Junior was slated to be made back in the 1980s but that option disappeared when his brother Richard flipped after he was implicated in the lucrative heroin smuggling operation that involved Gambino mobsters John Carngelia and John Gotti's brother Gene.

Robert SpinelliRichard Pasqua didn't testify against Gene Gotti or Carneglia, but he did take the stand against two New Jersey-based soldiers who were part of the same conspiracy, Alphonse (Funzi) Sisca and Arnold (Zeke) Squitieri. Richard Pasqua testified that the duo sold him a kilogram of heroin in 1982. Both were convicted.

In June, Gang Land disclosed that mob associate Joseph Foti, whose brother Guy is a Luchese wiseguy, began wearing a wire for the FBI before the Meldish murder and continued taping talks with potential defendants after Meldish was killed.

And in August, Gang Land reported that Luchese soldier Michael (Baldy Mike) Spinelli's brother Robert, who was part of the hit team that Amuso dispatched to kill the sister of turncoat mob capo Peter (Fat Pete) Chiodo in 1992, began cooperating with the FBI back in 2012 and had tape recorded hundreds of hours of conversations from then until this year.

[Pogo The Clown]

Looks like the Lucchese guys are screwed with all these tapes.


Good column this week. Thanks for posting.

[HairyKnuckles]

Pasqua III's cooperation with the feds is double distressing for [James] Pasqua Jr. Sources say that his late dad, Frank Pasqua Sr. was a Gambino soldier

How can they be father and son (Sr and Jr) if they don´t share the same name? I´d say James is a nephew of Frank, the deseased Gambino member.

Thanks for posting

[Cheech]

who was the Gambino member that got made cause Ronnie was busting him up?

[NickyEyes1]

Wow crazy Kessler and the bonnano guy were buddies since they were kids. They were interviewed in an article in the 80s.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/ ... efc9ed235e

[gohnjotti]

Wow crazy Kessler and the bonnano guy were buddies since they were kids. They were interviewed in an article in the 80s.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/ ... efc9ed235e

"said Ronnie Giallenzo, 16, who said he dropped out of high school because he didn't like blacks."

[SonnyBlackstein]

I take back every bad word I ever said about you Jerry.

Great column. Appreciate the post.

There appear to be a lot of interesting photos. Can anyone post?
Cheers.

[Pogo The Clown]

"said Ronnie Giallenzo, 16, who said he dropped out of high school because he didn't like blacks."

Just occasionally these guy's act in a socially conscious way.


Pogo

[SonnyBlackstein]

Wow crazy Kessler and the bonnano guy were buddies since they were kids. They were interviewed in an article in the 80s.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/ ... efc9ed235e

It states Ronnie is half Jewish.

Is that commonly known?

[AG777]

lmao

[Stroccos]

Looks like the Lucchese guys are screwed with all these tapes.


Good column this week. Thanks for posting.

"I think this fucking outfit of ours is like the old Communist party in this country. It's getting so that there's more fucking spies in it than members. "

[Bklyn21]

Frank Radice is the Gam member

[Cheech]

Frank Radice is the Gam member

are you sure?

[tbone]

Bklyn 21. It was not frank radice, it was frank guidice who they are talking about, frank radice would not be getting knocked out by anyone

[Bklyn21]

Your right Tbone ,My mistake I get those two names confused sometimes