Gangland news 25th jan 2018

[Hailbritain]

By Jerry Capeci

Chin's Nephew Is The Snitch Who Brought Down His Son

Vncent EspositoGang Land Exclusive!Vincent (Chin) Gigante, the late so-called Oddfather-Godfather, was long accused of faking his crazy act in a bid to stay out of jail. But were he alive today, the Chin would need a battery of shrinks to help him cope with the latest news.

In a truly stunning development in the world of organized crime, Gang Land has learned that a nephew of the legendary Genovese mob boss wore a wire for the feds and helped them make a brand new racketeering case against the Mafia.

Not only did Gigante's nephew, Vincent Fyfe, secretly bug his uncle's mob pals, but he also supplied key evidence that prosecutors used to indict Gigante's youngest son, Vincent Esposito, on labor racketeering charges earlier this month.

Fyfe, the son of Gigante's sister Yolanda and her husband, Robert Fyfe Jr., is a powerful union leader who got his current $300,000 a year job as President of Local 2D of the United Food & Commercial Workers Union through his late uncle.

Sources say Vincent Fyfe, 44, is the cooperating witness whom Esposito allegedly shook down for an annual $10,000 tribute for the union post he's had since 2001. Fyfe took over the 1500-member local of workers in the liquor industry in New York and several other states in January, 2001, following the death of former president Vincent D'Acunto Sr., a longtime Gigante crony.

Vincent FyfeIronically, the $10,000 annual payoff, which Esposito allegedly used a Genovese soldier and another Local 2D official to collect from Fyfe, was "chump change" to Vincent Esposito, the 50-year-old son Chin had with his paramour Olympia Esposito. According to court papers, the feds seized $3.8 million in cash at the Upper East Side townhouse where Esposito lives with his 84-year-old mom.

In the 1990s, before Fyfe gravitated to Local 2D — he was its vice president in 2000, the earliest year for which union records could be obtained from the U.S. Department of Labor — he got a job on the docks like his dad, brothers, and many other Gigante relatives. He became a Maintenance & Repair Longshoreman in 1992, when he was attending Wagner College, where he earned a Bachelor's Degree in Sociology in 1995. He was a card carrying member of Local 1804-1 of the International Longshoremen's Association until 2009.

His dad, a shop steward, who earned $224,000 last year, and his brothers Christopher, and Robert Jr., who each earned $293,000 as Maintenance & Repair Longshoremen in 2017, are still ILA members in good standing, according to Waterfront Commission records.

Vincent GiganteFor many years, Esposito used longtime mobster Steven (Mad Dog) Arena and Local 2D secretary-treasurer Vincent D'Acunto Jr., the son of the late union leader, "to collect money and convey threats to (Fyfe) on Esposito's behalf," according to a letter filed by prosecutors last week appealing a Magistrate Judge's order to release Esposito on $6 million bail.

In court, prosecutor Jared Lenow stated that Arena, 60, a convicted bank robber, served as a key enforcer for Esposito. Arena "is involved in the union business as it pertains to extortions," said Lenow, adding that whenever Arena "is out and about, he's interfering with interstate commerce, he's shaking people down, and he's threatening people's lives."

D'Acunto Jr., 50, has been Local 2D's secretary-treasurer since the 1990s, when his dad, Vincent D'Acunto Sr., a Genovese soldier and longtime Gigante pal, was president of Local 2D. Fyfe, who was the union's vice president, took over in January of 2001, shortly after the elder D'Acunto was felled by a heart attack at the union's Christmas party a few weeks earlier.

In asking Manhattan Federal Court Judge Victor Marrero to detain Esposito as a danger to the community, prosecutors wrote that authorities had "secretly recorded" several discussions in which Esposito used codefendant D'Acunto Jr. to threaten Fyfe, identified as Official-1 in court papers, to come up with his "annual payment."

Steven Arena"For example," the prosecutors wrote, "on March 6, 2014, D'Acunto passed along a message to Official-1 that Esposito wanted to know when that year's extortion payment would be made, and warned that Official-1 was 'gonna be in for a big surprise' if the payment was not made."

Sources say that Fyfe ultimately sent along his "annual extortion payment" in 2014. But the following year, Fyfe was late again with his $10,000 tribute payment, wrote prosecutors Lenow, Kimberly Ravener, and Jason Swergold.

And in February of 2015, the prosecutors wrote, when D'Acunto pressed Fyfe for the dough, the union leader wondered aloud what would happen if he didn't fork it over: "Do I get killed? Do I get shot? Do I get hit?"

D'Acunto, who was obviously well-schooled in things Genovese, responded: "They never say or else."

It's unclear exactly when Fyfe, who did not respond to repeated emails and calls to his union office, began to cooperate. But as Gang Land has previously reported, Fyfe was linked to corrupt activity by a key prosecution witness at the May, 2012 labor racketeering trial of three leaders of a sister UFCW union, Local 348, who were all found guilty.

Vincent D'Acuto Jr.Sources say the witness told the feds that Fyfe — like former Local 348 president Anthony Fazio Sr. and his nephew John Fazio, a local 348 vice president — used union funds after taking over Local 2D to buy non-existent materials from companies that were formed primarily to launder money. Fyfe "bought" numerous fictitious items from shell companies that were created for the purpose of phonying up invoices for non-existent purchases, the sources said.

"Fyfe used union checks to pay for the phony merchandise," an investigative source told Gang Land back then, adding that Fyfe "received a big chunk of it back" after the money was washed through fraudualent accounts that had been set up.

Gang Land's sources say that Fyfe and John Fazio were close friends, who lived together for a time on Staten Island, often socialized together, and were close associates of Genovese capo John (Johnny Sausage) Barbato. Sources say Barbato, now 83, was the crime family's point man in the UCFW union scams, and received monthly payoffs from the union officials.

Barbato's bodyguard-chauffeur, Raymond Papaleo, who was spotted by FBI agents at several clandestine meetings that Johnny Sausage had with Fazio during the Local 347 investigation, is still a member of Local 2D's clerical staff, according to the union's website.

John FazioIn addition to the tape recorded conversations, prosecutors cited several other extortions that Esposito allegedly participated in, including that of another union official and an insurance agent. The prosecutors also noted that a knife, brass knuckles, an unregistered handgun, and $3.8 million were all seized at his apartment — evidence they said showed that Esposito maintained a "leadership role in the Geonvese Family" and should be detained without bail.

Prosecutors wrote that the huge cash cache shows that Esposito controls "Genovese Family slush funds" which are used for "funding extrotionate loans through loansharking" and to pay "legal fees of incarcerated members." The prosecutors noted that in October, Esposito spoke to a cohort about "providing funds for the legal representation" of a former consigliere who was behind bars.

The prosecutors did not disclose evidence that Esposito is a "made" inducted member of the family, but declared that based on the cash, the weapons, and lists of two mob crews, one of living members, and another of dead mobsters, he is a "high-ranking and influential member of the Genovese family" who would "pose a clear danger to the communiity if he were bailed."

Judge Marrero is slated to conduct Esposito's bail hearing tomorrow. Like prosecutors, defense attorneys Flora Edwards and Elizabeth Macedonio were mum about the matter.

Judge Slams Shoddy Work By Feds, Still Keeps Reputed Capo In The Slammer

Cathy SeibelFor the second time in two months, prosecutors in a major case against Luchese family leaders have been slammed for playing fast and loose with the facts. But this time, it wasn't defense lawyers who ripped them for misstatements, but the judge who reamed them for making three separate mistatements of facts to keep the son of a top mobster behind bars.

Back in December, defense lawyers pointed out numerous false assertions by the government against a reputed soldier charged in the same blockbuster case as Luchese underboss Steven (Stevie Wonder) Crea and his son Steven D. (Stevie Junior) Crea, both of whom have been charged in a wideranging murder and racketeering case.

The latest goofs were raised on January 12 in the White Plains courtroom of Federal Judge Cathy Seibel during the third bail hearing for the younger Crea, a reputed capo in his dad's crime family. Stevie Junior has been detained since last May 31 on charges that include the 2013 murder of Luchese associate Michael Meldish, a former head of a violent gang of East Harlem-based drug dealers known as the Purple Gang.

At the outset, Seibel, who was herself a federal prosecutor for 21 years, grilled assistant U.S. attorneys Scott Hartman and Jacqueline Kelly on why they had erroneously claimed to have three separate tape recordings backing up witness testimony that allegedly tied Crea to the Meldish rubout. The judge also wanted to know why the government wrongly claimed there were two other recordings linking Stevie Junior to a murder plot against a rival gangster.

Jacqueline KellyAt the hearing, Seibel didn't seem happy with many answers she got. Several times she voiced surprise at the less than cogent explanations prosecutors offered for their mistakes.

Despite those slipups, however, the government still won the day. Crea, 45, was still detained without bail, after prosecutors assured Seibel that since the last bail hearing, on July 28, they had developed not one, but two new witnesses who will swear that "Crea the younger" as Seibel refererred to him, was involved in the Meldish murder. But for the first 90 minutes or so, it looked pretty good for Crea, who has no prior arrests.

His lawyers, Marc Fernich and Robert Caliendo, had asked Seibel to rescind her prior ruling since she had cited the tapes, especially three non-existent ones that supposedly tied Crea to the Meldish rubout, to deny him bail because the tapes showed he was a danger to the community.

Scott Hartman"My first question," the judge told the prosecutors, "Is how did this happen? These are serious overstatements. It's important for me, and it's important for the government, to know how they happened. Going forward, if the government wants me to rely on its representations, it's going to have to explain to me what happened here."

Until she went along with the government's latest representations, Seibel, who's been on the federal bench since 2008, shot down numerous feeble-sounding attempts by Kelly and Hartman to justify the importance of the tapes.

At one point, on an issue about a tape recording that was raised last month by another lawyer, Seibel said: "I'm kind of stunned that you today are not better prepared to explain this tape."

When the prosecutor said she had spoken to their witness and that he had confirmed what he had stated on the tape, Seibel told the prosecutor that what her witness said on tape wasn't important. "It's what the other guy says that may or may not have some value," said the judge. "So show me how what the other guy says has value, and do be very careful. That's your obligation."

Steven D. CreaKelly wasn't able to. Neither was Hartman, the senior prosecutor with four years and 11 months on the job, who jumped in to try and save the day for Kelly, who's been an AUSA less than two years. In the process, Hartman seemed to get on the wrong side of Seibel a few times.

At one point, when Hartman told the judge that if she listened "to the recording," Seibel stopped him with, "Well, you might be 100 percent right, but I'm not taking your word for it on this and you don't have the recording."

A few minutes later, when Hartman said, "That's why I think that means . . ." Seibel interjected, "I understand the witness is going to say that, but then this recording contradicts the witness. It doesn't corroborate the witness."

After Hartman fumbled a few more efforts, Seibel put an end to the discussion. "All right," she said. "I'm not going to take up everybody's time with you trying to put together an argument that should have been put together beforehand."

Seibel zeroed in on prosecutor Kelly for misleading her at the last bail hearing that the government had three tape recordings that implicated Crea the younger in the Meldish murder.

Marc Fernich"You told me quite specifically that they're discussing the defendant's role in this murder, and that it's not idle gossip, it's coconspirators," Seibel said. "And they're not — they don't mention him at all, let alone discuss his role in the murder."

Kelly took the blame for that screwup, but neither she nor Hartman ever gave Seibel an explanation of how the mixup occurred. (Kelly probably got the bad info from an FBI agent she protected, said more than one defense lawyer.)

In the end, though, Hartman saved the prosecution's day by convincing Seibel to keep Crea the younger behind bars by asserting, without mentioning any tapes, that the government has two new witnesses who put him in the Meldish murder plot.

Hartman sounded especially sheepish as he tried to walk back the feds' claims about the import of the tapes. "Judge, I think our argument — and look, maybe the answer is it's not a very good one — is that the recordings have taken on a prominence in this bail proceeding that we did not intend for them to take on."

Fernich, who made the recordings prominent by showing them to be gibberish, told Gang Land he and his client "are likely to appeal" Seibel's ruling. "Even according to the government's allegations," the lawyer said, "he's only accused of committing crimes against accused reputed mobsters, and we're confident that there are conditions of bail that can mitigate that alleged risk."

Petey Bullshit Set To Testify Against Skinny Joey

Peter LovaglioThe woman's voice mail message repeated what was "first and foremost," the most important fact in the letter she sent Gang Land about turncoat Bonanno capo Peter Lovaglio. She insisted that the nickname "Pug" that this column had bestowed upon him last year, after a usually reliable law enforcement source had told us about it, was wrong. Turns out she was right.

The woman, a long-suffering "fiance" of the violent wiseguy-turned-government snitch, had written that his name on the streets was "Petey Bulls**t." OK, that's how Gang Land used to spell it too.

Now that we have a President who uses language like this in the Oval Office, with every news outlet in the country quoting him accurately, we should tell you exactly how she put it on the phone. "It's Petey Bullshit," she said, "not Pug. I should know. I've been with him, on and off for 16 years, and I've got the bruises to prove it."

That second part of her remark is what editors call "burying the lead of your story" — a familiar taunt that Gang Land often heard over the years from the news desk.

Joseph MerlinoThe woman, who later detailed numerous beatings she suffered from Lovaglio, does have an explanation why using Lovaglio's correct nickname was important. We'll get to that after relating some of the abuse she told Gang Land about. It won't be mentioned when Petey Bullshit testifies at the trial of Philadelphia mob boss Joseph (Skinny Joey) Merlino that's set to begin next week. That's because Judge Richard Sullivan has precluded the defense from grilling Lovaglio about it.

Three years ago, she said, he "pulled me down a flight of stairs and I broke my foot. And of course I lied, and told everyone I tripped taking laundry down to the basement." She said that "cops were called numerous times" during these incidents but she never pressed charges because invariably "he'd promise me he'd never do it again and begged me not to get him arrested."

But after Lovaglio was arrested for blinding the owner of a sushi bar in November of 2015, he began to take out his growing frustrations with the case on her, beating her even more than usual, she said. Pug, we mean Petey Bullshit, got eight years in prison for the assault on the restaurant owner. The incident also affected his cooperation with the NYPD's Organized Crime Investigation Division, another apparent reason for taking it out on a woman.

In July, 2016, after Lovaglio had made himself scarce after a court appearance, detectives contacted her looking for him. "Pete's phone was broken, so one of them texted me, and asked me where he was," she said.

Anthony Perretti"I told him I didn't know, and that if he touches me again, 'I'm going to have him arrested because I'm bruised from head to toe.' He said being that you mentioned it to us, you have to go to the precinct, and make a report. 'But do not press charges,'" she said the detective warned her. "'Because if you do, he'll get arested and chances are he'll be killed in jail.' This is what they told me: If I press charges he might get killed and it would be my fault."

After being so informed, the girlfriend/punching bag visited the 123 Precinct. But she didn't seek to press charges against Petey Bullshit, because of what the detectives told her.

But back to the incorrect nickname: "Pugs," the caller said, "was the nickname of Anthony Perretti," a longtime Lovaglio associate "who was fatally stabbed back in 2016. It's disgusting how he assumed the name of a dead man when his nickname is Petey Bullshit."

Gang Land now stands corrected and officially regrets using the nickname "Pug" to refer to Lovaglio for the past year. From now on, it's Peter (Petey Bullshit) Lovaglio. And he knows why.

[Camo]

Good article this week, thanks for posting Halibritain.

Here's Fyfe in that link i posted a few weeks back - http://www.local2d.com/id5.html

Pretty funny that i was concentrating on D'acunto when Gigante's nephew who is the informant was sitting right there.

Also from the link posted in the FBI Files section which Capeci summarizes at the end it sounds like the feds aren't sure of Esposito's position, just that he's "high ranking".

[Hailbritain]

Fyfe

[jimmy_beans8]

Shiiiitttt, think he WASN'T wired when asking if he was gonna get clipped or not??!!!!!

[Villain]

They seized 3.8 mil in his home and everyone says the mob is on the downfall

[TommyGambino]

Petey bullshit

Crea Jr never been arrested before this, and he's going to get life, he could flip. Sounds like Chin's kid is at least a capo.

Good column this week

[gohnjotti]

So Esposito maintains the Genovese family's slush fund and is described as "high-ranking and influential" in the Genovese family. Sounds like underboss or consigliere material definitely.

[handy]

Thanks, Most informative one he has written in a while

[moneyman]

It's weird that prosecutors did not provide evidence that Esposito is a made. Especially if they are trying to prove he is a danger to the community and not let him post bail. I guess the brass knuckles and cash is all the prosecution needs.

[SonnyBlackstein]

“Fyfe and John Fazio were close friends, who lived together for a time on Staten Island, often socialized together, and were close associates of Genovese capo John (Johnny Sausage) Barbato. Sources say Barbato, now 83, was the crime family's point man in the UCFW union scams...”

It would appear that Esposito is now the ‘crime families point man in the UCFW union scams’ and I would therefor suggest has replaced Barbato as acting or official Capo of his crew.

Barbato being 83, previously his union, not being mentioned in this indictment and Esposito being mentioned as a high ranking member and now controlling UFCW.

Great article this week.

Could someone kindly post all the photos in this weeks article. Thank you.

[SonnyBlackstein]

One of the worst rats.
His two brothers and father work for the union, he gets given a 300k a year job for which he only has to kick up 10k and instead of saying thank you, tries to embezzle union funds, gets caught, rolls and rats on his cousin and screws his brothers and father.
What a guy.

[Fughedaboutit]

One of the worst rats.
His two brothers and father work for the union, he gets given a 300k a year job for which he only has to kick up 10k and instead of saying thank you, tries to embezzle union funds, gets caught, rolls and rats on his cousin and screws his brothers and father.
What a guy.

Greed my friend. The downfall of many.

[handy]

These sort of Union roles, is there much work actually involved?

[bronx]

they first rob that salary, 6k a week , not enough..? 6k to do what.. he only had to kick up 3% a year..how many want that job. .the other genius .3.8 mil in his house lol

[TommyGambino]

And how long would he have actually got in jail? A couple of years?