Gangland news 30th December 2017

[Hailbritain]

By Jerry Capeci

Feds Make 'Junior' Daniel Marino Pay For His Father's Sins

Gang Land Exclusive!Daniel MarinoThe son of Gambino capo Daniel Marino didn't take or place any bets, and he didn't win or lose any money. But that didn't stop him — after a long and twisting account of his actions — from pleading guilty to illegal gambling, even after a federal judge urged him not to. The plea means that Daniel A. Marino became a felon at the age of 50. Not because he's a criminal, but because of who his father is.

No one connected to this case would talk about it. But make no mistake about it: If Marino wasn't the son of a powerful mob capo, he wouldn't be awaiting sentence in February for illegal gambling. It's also highly unlikely he would have even been indicted, let alone on racketeering charges as a member of a made up entity called the East Coast LCN Enterprise.

But rather than go to trial as a codefendant of Philadelphia mob boss Joseph (Skinny Joey) Merlino, Marino pleaded guilty on November 9 before Manhattan Federal Judge Richard Sullivan. He did so even after Judge Sullivan pointedly asked if he really wanted to say he was a felon in front of a dozen family members and friends who were in court to support him and whom the judge had warmly recognized. "Yes, your Honor," responded the junior Marino sadly.

Daniel MarinoThe first time Marino, in the words of Judge Sullivan, tried "desperately to plead guilty" was on October 19. That time, however, he couldn't find the right words to convince the judge he was guilty of illegal gambling, despite the counsel of defense attorney Seth Ginsberg, and prosecutor Max Nicholas. A couple of weeks later, he found a way to say it.

The saga of Danny Marino's son, the felon, began about four or five years ago in Boca Raton, Florida. He lives in New Jersey, but his father bought a house in Florida years ago. That's also where Skinny Joey Merlino moved when he got out of prison in 2012. And that's where, by hook or by crook, they met up with mob associate-turned-informer John (J.R.) Rubeo, at the Prime Cigar & Wine Bar in Boca.

When Marino showed up in Sullivan's court prepared to plead guilty the first time, the Judge, who prides himself on being well prepared when he takes the bench, knew more than a little about the Marino family. That was obvious when prosecutor Nicholas told Sullivan that for more than a year, the government had mistakenly identified the defendant as Marino Jr.

"You are not a junior," the judge asked Marino.

Joseph MerlinoWhen he responded that he wasn't, Sullivan said: "Oh. I always thought you were a junior."

When the judge asked Marino what he had done to break the law, he stated that in 2014, he "had lunch with a person who operated an illegal sports betting business, and he explained that a close friend of mine owed a gambling debt, and I agreed that I would speak to my friend to see if the debt could be resolved. By discussing my friend's gambling debt and agreeing to help work out his debt, I knowingly aided the gambling business."

As Gang Land reported last year, Rubeo, the sports betting operator, Marino, and someone who was not mentioned in court, Genovese capo Daniel Pagano, a pal of his father, were at lunch discussing the "gambling debt" that Marino's "close friend" Anthony Cirillo, owed Rubeo. As it turns out, Cirillo, a stockbroker who has pled guilty to illegal gambling, had paid the $24,000 debt. (Gang Land wrote, incorrectly, that the debt was $14,000.) But Rubeo, wearing a wire for the feds, was eager to nail Marino and Pagano for a crime, either illegal gambling, or extortion if someone were to utter a threat, without much success.

After Sullivan questioned Marino and determined that he had not agreed to take over a gambling debt for his friend, Sullivan said: "Explain to me what the deal is."

Again, without mentioning any names, Marino said various people "reached out to me to see if I could help resolve my friend's debt."

Daniel PaganoSullivan: So they wanted you to pay his debt or they wanted you to impress upon your friend that he better pay his debt?
Marino: No, not better, to look into it to see if it could be paid.
Sullivan: So your friend had a debt.
Marino: Yes. Sullivan: People to whom he owed money in the sports betting business reached out to you. Marino: Right. Sullivan: And they wanted you to impress upon your friend that he should pay the debt. Marino: Not impress upon him, just to help him.

At this point, Marino identified Rubeo as the operator of the illegal gambling business, and referred obliquely to Pagano. "John Rubeo had reached out to someone (Pagano) that I had known, and that's how I got involved in that," said Marino.

Marino: Your Honor, there was a dispute as far as the money went, and I was asked to help resolve the dispute.
Sullivan: But who asked to you help?
Marino: John Rubeo.
Sullivan: And so the guy who was collecting asked you to help resolve the dispute between him and your friend who owed the money.
Marino: Correct.
John RubeoSullivan: Okay. And so what did you do then to help resolve the dispute?
Marino: I told him I would look into it and see what I could do to get it done.
Sullivan: And did you do anything else after that?
Marino: I spoke to my friend to resolve it.

After Marino told Sullivan he got "nothing out of this" but stated that he "wanted the gambling business to succeed," the judge said that Marino just might be guilty of "aiding and abetting, but it sure is scraping the bottom of the aiding and abetting barrel, if you ask me. So I want to think about it before I accept it."

Two weeks later, after thinking about it, Sullivan decided that Marino hadn't touched the barrel because he didn't establish that he had the "specific intent" to commit the crime of illegal gambling, and the judge scheduled the November 9 session to try again.

This time, Marino said he got "involved when a mutual friend of mine and Rubio's (Pagano) contacted me to see if I could help resolve" his friend's gambling debt and that his "specific intent" in doing so was to help Cirillo "maintain his involvement in the gambling business."

Richard SullivanMarino explained that he agreed to speak to Cirillo, who was fronting for professional gamblers who were helping him make winning picks, "to help resolve it, because I wanted my friend to be able to continue to have access to professional gamblers from Rubeo."

Sullivan said he was "skeptical" that by advising his friend to pay the debt "you joined this venture, you shared in it, and you contributed to its success. You really think that? You think all these people here," said the judge, looking over at Marino's mom, his wife and a dozen other supporters, "think that you were involved in this gambling business?"

"You wanted him to succeed," Sullivan continued. "You thought, well, it's important that his gambling business be a thriving enterprise and I want it to succeed, so I'm going to do what I can to strike a blow for illegal gambling businesses everywhere by encouraging my friend to pay this debt. It sounds silly. But that's what you're telling me you did."

Anthony Cirillo"You're basically pleading with me to take this plea, because you are determined that I should say, 'Yes, you're a felon, you're indistinguishable from your friend basically under the law,' and then I should sentence you somewhere between zero and five years. That's what you're saying, to a roomful of your friends and family members."

Despite all Sullivan's seeming efforts to cajole, embarrass, mock or appeal to his common sense, Marino held fast. In the end, he stated that he was pleading guilty because he was. Even though the Judge and everyone in the courtroom, including the prosecutors, most likely didn't believe it, Sullivan said Marino had probably managed to plead guilty — but he still had to think about it.

In between Judge Sullivan's numerous remarks and questions about Marino's guilt, lawyer Ginsberg came close to spelling out what had really gone on, but not quite. He came close to saying that it was better for an innocent man to plead guilty to illegal gambling, than for him to be convicted of racketeering at trial. That can happen even if a jury hears no evidence that you committed a crime, but believes that you were involved with others who did, even if you weren't.

Seth GinsbergMarino's guilty plea didn't "occur in a vacuum," Ginsberg said. "The superseding information to which Mr. Marino is pleading guilty, or attempting to plead guilty to, is not the initial charge in this case. The bigger picture here is a RICO trial, with codefendants from whom the Court has determined he shouldn't be severed. So there are substantial risks in not accepting responsibility for his conduct."

Last week, after thinking about it for a dozen days, Sullivan filed notice that he had accepted Marino's guilty plea, and reminded him that his sentencing day, when he technically faces up to five years in prison, is February 9.

Some small solace for the Marino family. Prosecutors state in his plea agreement that his role in the crime was "minor," and his sentencing guidelines are zero to six months. But as Sullivan reminded Marino at their last meeting, "Mr. Marino, you understand that if I sentence you to six months, or to anything less than six months of imprisonment, you can't even appeal this."

Louie Sunoco Gets Three-Year Deal For Murder Plot Against Gas Station Thief

Luigi RomanoLuigi (Louie Sunoco) Romano, a mob-linked businessman who faced life in prison if found guilty of a murder-for-hire plot, has landed a sensational plea deal that will cap his sentence at no more than three years.

Romano, 40, was indicted lasted year and charged with agreeing to pay $5000 to a Crips hit-team to whack a mob associate named Joseph Bonelli. He was slated for trial in February along with three reputed Genovese gangsters charged with the aborted 2014 rubout of Bonelli, a longtime Louie Sunoco antagonist.

It's the second time this year that the Manhattan U.S. Attorney's office has quietly given a super sweet deal to a defendant facing the rest of his life behind bars if convicted at trial of his alleged involvement in a murder plot in which a Crips gangstas from the Bronx admitted to being hired by Genovese family gangsters to whack Bonelli in his Queens home.

Bertram DukeIn June, Bertram (Birdy) Duke pled guilty under a rarely used statute, misprision of a felony. Basically, Duke admitted to knowing about the murder plot but not reporting it. He served 15 months behind bars. Duke contended that he learned about the scheme after it occurred, and that his only involvement was helping his brother, a major player in the plot, evade apprehension for months. Prosecutors had no contrary evidence, and a witness has told the government that Birdy had nothing to do with the plot.

Unlike Duke, however, Romano had admitted to being the alleged instigator in the murder plot. As a result, he needed some complicated legal gymnastics to win the sweet deal. According to court records, the murder plot was first hatched in May of 2014 and ended on June 8, when Nassau County detectives who had picked up info about the plot while investigating a Genovese bookmaking operation arrested the hit-team near Bonelli's home.

Joseph BonelliTechnically, the sentencing guidelines for Romano's crime, paying others to "assault and murder" Bonelli, are between 151 and 188 months, according to the plea agreement worked out by lawyer Eric Franz and prosecutor Samson Enzer. But the longest sentence Louis Sunoco can get, the agreement also states, is 36 months because he was permitted to plead guilty to conspiring to commit an assault that would cause "serious bodily injury," not murder.

Manhattan Federal Court Judge Katherine Forrest stressed that point when the college-educated Romano, who owns a car wash/gas station/mini-market complex in Whitestone, Queens, pleaded guilty to committing his crime along with others as part of a racketeering conspiracy.

Under questioning by Judge Forrest, Romano admitted to his "great regret" setting the murder plot in motion against Bonelli, without naming his intended victim, or his co-conspirators.

"As part of the conspiracy, I agreed to pay some men to attack a third party, a violent and dangerous individual from my neighborhood" who had been "stealing money from my gas station" and "harassing me, eventually threatening and assaulting me," he said.

Kelvin Duke"Instead of reporting the third party to the police," Romano continued, "I foolishly paid others to harm him, understanding that they would seek to humble the man by beating him up. A co-conspirator later informed me that it had been decided at a meeting, which I did not attend, that an assault would not suffice and at that time the third party would have to be killed so he wouldn't retaliate. To my great regret I reluctantly went along with this suggestion."

As part of his plea deal, Romano agreed to pay a minimum fine of $50,000 and not to appeal any fine that Judge Forrest imposes that is $175,000 or less. He is slated to be sentenced on March 2.

Meanwhile, lawyers for the three remaining defendants, mobster Robert (Old Man) DeBello, and mob associates Salvatore (Fat Sal) Delligatti and Ryan (Baldy) Ellis have asked Judge Forrest to limit the evidence the government can use against them at their trial.

Salvatore DelligattiAttorney Jeremy Schneider has asked Forrest to suppress tape recordings the government has of Delligatti talking to Birdy Duke's brother, Kelvin, while Kelvin Duke was en route to whack Bonelli with the Crips gangstas. In his court papers, Schneider argues that the tapes were illegally obtained by the Nassau County detectives who arrested the hit-team a few blocks from Bonelli's home.

Lawyer James Froccaro wants a separate trial for DeBello on the grounds that the Delligatti tapes and other evidence against Fat Sal and Ellis will prejudice Old Man DeBello since there are no tapes or other electronic evidence linking his client to the murder plot. The lawyer also asked the judge to delete a mention of a 2000 assault conviction from the indictment as old, irrelevant, and extremely prejudicial against his client since he is not charged with the crime in this case.

Ronnie G And His Bonanno Crew Looking For Plea Deals

Ronald GiallanzoFederal prosecutors in Brooklyn say they are "optimistic" that Bonanno wiseguy Ronald (Ronnie G) Giallanzo and his entire crew of Howard Beach cohorts who allegedly shot up the streets of Queens in recent years will be pleading guilty to charges stemming from the $26 million racketeering scheme that he has allegedly headed for the last 19 plus years.

Giallanzo, along with a trio of "made men" — Nicholas (Pudgie) Festa and the Two Mikes, Michael Palmaccio and Michael Padavona — are currently detained as dangers to the community. They are among the seven gangsters whose lawyers are currently involved in plea negotiations, Gang Land has learned.

So far, five Ronnie G crew members, including the owner of a popular Broad Channel deli who gave Giallanzo a job there and who collected loanshark payments for him, have all copped plea deals in the 55-count indictment, according to court records.

Gene BorrelloAt a status conference last week, the government told Chief Judge Dora Irizarry that "significant progress" toward resolving the eight-month old case had been made, and that prosecutors and the lawyers for the seven defendants "are optimistic that all the remaining defendants will likely plead guilty" rather than go to trial, according to the official court docket sheet.

The case was put over until January.

There are no guarantees, of course. But all indications are that, like Bonanno capo Vincent Asaro and the namesake grandson of John Gotti, who each pleaded guilty to arson, none of the defendants are eager to challenge turncoat Gene Borrello in court. Borrello, 32, is the one-man crime wave who used to pal around with them but is now waiting in the wings to take the stand against them.

Vincent AsaroAs always, the recommended prison terms in official plea agreements, called "sentencing guidelines," which are only "advisory" but important yardsticks that judges must use to mete out sentences, are important considerations for both sides.

But sources say that in the cases of Ronnie G and the trio of mobster co-defendants, the U.S. Attorney's office, which noted in the headline of its news release that it was seeking $26 million in forfeitures upon conviction, is demanding "substantial" forfeitures along with the guilty pleas. The amount of those forfeitures, as well as when they have to be paid, and whether payment plans could be worked out, are all "sticky" points in the ongoing plea discussions, said one source.

Of the five defendants who've copped plea deals so far, Robert (Rob) Pisani, the owner of the All American Diner at 925 Cross Bay Boulevard, has the lowest recommended prison term (16-to-21 months) and the highest agreed-upon forfeiture ($50,000.) Pisani, 44, who pleaded guilty to collecting an illegal debt, must fork over the cash on the day he is sentenced.

Robert PisaniIn return, the government has agreed to drop gambling and loansharking charges against Pisani and forego forfeiture of the building that is home to the diner where Ronnie G "worked" for four months in 2013 while he was on supervised release. That's a $502,000 net gain for Pisani since the market value of the building, according to propertyshark.com, is $552,000.

Christopher (Bald Chris) Boothby, 37, pleaded guilty to home invasion and loansharking. His sentencing guidelines call for 46-to-57 months. He is also required to forfeit $30,000 in a little less than two months, specifically, according to his plea agreement, 60 days after he pleaded guilty to both charges.

The other guilty defendants, Evan (The Jew) Greenberg, 46, Robert (Chippy) Tanico, 50, and Richard Heck, 45, all copped plea deals to loansharking charges with recommended prison terms between 27 and 33 months. All five defendants face maximum fines of $250,000.

[Stroccos]

Thanks for posting

[B.]

The Marino story is truly bizarre. Has the younger Marino been suspected of being involved in Gambino family business before? This entire Rubeo case has been a disaster for an already struggling FBI.

[Attaboi 1]

So was Pagano indicted?

[gohnjotti]

Don't mobsters get less time if everyone in the case reaches a "global plea agreement?" Maybe Marino thought he could win but was pressured by his buddies to plead guilty. I know Merlino's still going to trial but just a thought.

[SonnyBlackstein]

Marino plead guilty to a gambling charge to avoid a rico charge. One will get him probation or house arrest, the other a Rico conviction of 5yrs plus. Easy call.

Thanks for the post. Good GL this week.

[Teddy Persico]

Don't mobsters get less time if everyone in the case reaches a "global plea agreement?" Maybe Marino thought he could win but was pressured by his buddies to plead guilty. I know Merlino's still going to trial but just a thought.

No, only 30-something of the 46 had to accept a plea deal. I think only Merlino and Onofrio are left.

[gohnjotti]

Don't mobsters get less time if everyone in the case reaches a "global plea agreement?" Maybe Marino thought he could win but was pressured by his buddies to plead guilty. I know Merlino's still going to trial but just a thought.

No, only 30-something of the 46 had to accept a plea deal. I think only Merlino and Onofrio are left.

Thanks. Did Onofrio ever get his trial severed from Merlino liked he requested?