Gangland - 6/21/18

[Chucky]

This Week in Gang Land By Jerry Capeci

Boobsie Got His Trucking Job; Joe C Got His Hair Trimmed. But They Will Wait Til Next Year To Go To Trial

Since the last time we looked in on the six-month-old prosecution of ten wiseguys from three crime families based on the say so of turncoat mob capo Peter (Petey B.S.) Lovaglio, Luchese mobster Eugene (Boobsie) Castelle got the job he wanted as a truck driver.

That's thanks to sympathetic notes for the working man sounded by the judge. And while no one wants to talk about it, Gang Land noticed that acting Bonanno boss Joseph (Joe C) Cammarano got himself the nice haircut he was seeking.

But at an unusual pre-trial conference on Monday, Boobsie, Joe C and eight friends of theirs didn't get what they really wanted: a fast faceoff against Lovaglio, the violent mob defector with the tell-tale nickname and a shaky record who has them awaiting trial for mob activity they allegedly committed during the last six years.

Prosecutor Jason Swergold, who lost his effort to keep Castelle among the unemployed earlier this month, was the big winner in the proceeding before Manhattan Federal Judge Alvin Hellerstein.

Swergold, who is still waiting for approval from Justice Department officials in Washington to add bid rigging and illegal gambling allegations he got from state prosecutors in Brooklyn to his extortion case against Castelle so he can turn it into a racketeering indictment, now has until November to get that done.

The prosecutor came out on top by keeping his mouth shut, and letting the lawyers mess up their plan to get Petey B.S. into court before prosecutors can find another witness or new evidence to shore up Lovaglio, whose only testimony so far — against Philadelphia mob boss Joseph (Skinny Joey) Merlino — was a dud.

At the session, lawyers for all ten wiseguys initially asked for a July 9 trial date. Boobsie and five Bonannos, including Cammarano, are charged with a 25-year-long extortion conspiracy. Joe C, seven Bonannos and a Genovese soldier are also charged with racketeering between 2012 and this year. Castelle is not charged with racketeering, something Swergold wants to change.

The hearing began with lawyer John Meringolo, whose client, Bonanno soldier John (Porky) Zancocchio is the only defendant behind bars, citing his client's incarceration, and asking the judge for the early trial date — asserting that all 10 defendants and their lawyers agreed to it at a meeting last week.

Lawyer Joseph Corozzo chimed in that his client, Joseph (Joe Valet) Sabella, who is under strict home confinement, was also looking for a speedy trial. He told Hellerstein that all the defense lawyers agreed to forego filing any pre-trial motions to preclude any tapes or other evidence that prosecutors intended to use at trial in return for the July date.

But the unusual defense cooperative fell apart when Hellerstein, following a whispered talk with his law clerk, declared that he was unable to preside over a trial in July, and suggested a date in October.

This prompted Castelle's lawyer, Gerald McMahon, who has disparaged Lovaglio in court papers and has been pushing for a speedy trial since January, to suggest "with all due respect," that maybe the judge could farm the case out to another judge, whose calendar wasn't as full as Hellerstein's.

This in turn caused Cammarano's attorney Elizabeth Macedonio to promptly object that moving the case to a different judge was not something that the lawyers had agreed to at last week's meeting, indicating that she and others were against that idea.

Following a private meeting among the lawyers in the jury room, Macedonio, whose client is also confined to his home, stated that the defendants were not going to seek a new judge. By the time everyone's respective calendars were consulted the soonest everyone could be together for trial was February 15 of next year. So much for a speedy trial.

On the good news side for the defendants, however, Joe C, apparently worked out an arrangement for a barber to cut his hair at home. In April, Hellerstein refused to let him stop for a haircut en route to his lawyer's office. Macedonio still won't talk about it, but Joe C didn't look shaggy Monday. In fact, he looked pretty spiffy, and was the only defendant wearing a suit, on the hottest day of the year.

Prosecutor Swergold also failed to convince Hellerstein to stop Castelle from taking a $1500 a week, Sunday to Friday job as a truck driver for World Wide Plumbing Supply, of Borough Park, Brooklyn.

The government's problem, the prosecutor said, was Castelle's history of "illegitimate activity related to employment," not knowing whether this it was "a legitimate job," and how he got it.

In response to Hellerstein's questions, Swergold said that no one from the government had spoken to World Wide, that he didn't know where the company warehouse was located, or where the company's trucks were garaged.

"Where do the trucks come from and where do they go back? Hellerstein asked.
"I don't know, your Honor. I don't work there. This is why I think we need information," said Swergold.
"Don't you think you should have looked?" the judge asked.

"Castelle has just said here that he asked a friend to get him the job," said Swergold, ignoring the judge's question. "We need information, (whether) these are credible people, if they are legitimate people, if this job was obtained through legitimate means and it's not a no-show job."
"If you ask too many questions you will kill the job," said Hellerstein.

"I don't think that's a fair characterization," said Swergold.
"I think it is," said Hellerstein. "What happens if the employer doesn't want to be bothered; he doesn't want pretrial (services) hanging around. I am sure he will be responsive to specific questions, but too much prying on this won't get him the job."

McMahon said that an agent had interviewed Castelle's landlord to verify that he was four months in arrears, and asked why the agent never visited World Wide, "a major plumbing supply company." Swergold claimed ignorance of that. Hellerstein said he was easing Boobsie's house arrest restrictions to allow him to take the job, once the feds interviewed company officials and made sure everything was above board.

The judge wished Boobsie, "Good Luck" with the new job, and advised him to "make sure you stay honest, you do your job, and you don't get into any kind of criminal activity," warning: "If I have to cut you, I will do it immediately."

Turning to the prosecutor, Hellerstein cautioned: "Don't interview with a purpose of trying to kill the job."
"The purpose of the interview is to assure it's a legitimate job that was not obtained through improper means," said Swergold, noting that Castelle "said he had a friend do it."
"It's how most jobs are procured," said the veteran jurist.

The interview apparently went well. At 5 AM yesterday, reports lawyer McMahon, Castelle began his new job as a truck driver.

Queens Pol Says Deli Owner Is An All-American Good Guy

He may be a bookmaker who conspired to collect an illegal debt from a deadbeat gambler. He may even be, as the government claims, a Bonanno crime family associate.

But none of that makes Robert (Rob) Pisani, owner of the popular All-American Deli in Broad Channel, Queens, a bad guy.

Just ask his local city council member.

"He really is a good guy," wrote Eric Ulrich to the federal judge who will soon sentence Pisani for conspiring to collect an illegal debt back in 2013. In a letter on his official City Council stationary, Ulrich says he's known Pisani "for seven years and consider(s) him a personal friend."

"Mr. Pisani is a kind person, devoted family man and a selfless individual," Ulrich wrote, someone who had pitched in to help neighbors after Hurricane Sandy wiped out many homes and businesses in Howard Beach and Broad Channel in 2012.

"On a more personal level," added the councilman, Pisani "never told me" when he sent over bagels and food to the nurses caring for Ulrich's three-year-old daughter who had been injured in an accident. "When I insisted on paying for the food, he told me to donate the money to charity."

The missive from Ulrich to Chief Brooklyn Federal Judge Dora Irizarry is one of 87 letters that Pisani's attorney submitted from relatives, friends and others, including cops, firefighters, doctors, and Pisani's employees attesting to the admitted bookmaker's kind heart.

Pisani attorney Seth Ginsberg is asking Irizarry to give him a break from the 15-months his client faces on the low end of the sentencing guidelines.

Ginsberg insists that Pisani had nothing to do with any alleged threats against the debtor and, in fact, never saw a penny of the $6000 debt that prosecutors say the gambler forked over after he was threatened by Bonanno capo Ronald (Ronnie G) Giallanzo and mob associate-turned-FBI-informer Gene Borrello.

Ginsberg says it's true that Pisani used to be a bookmaker, and he did sell a Howard Beach home that Giallanzo turned into a spectacular Mafia Palace. But Pisani had given up his mob business years before that.

Ginsberg also states that the allegation by prosecutors that Pisani waited more than a year to seek payment so that Ronnie G could threaten the debtor when he got out of prison is flat out wrong. To back up his claim, the lawyer cited the timing of Giallanzo's release — he got out in April of 2013, a month after the conspiracy to collect the debt ended.

What turned Pisani away from his criminal ways, the lawyer asserts, was Superstorm Sandy slamming Broad Channel and Howard Beach on October 29, 2012 "with a brutal force that destroyed Pisani's home and businesses."

"Thereafter," writes Ginsberg, "Pisani made a conscious decision to mend his ways" and "made no efforts to collect the debt for a considerable period of time."

The lawyer's memo also points out that the feds didn't hear Pisani talking to any of his 11 codefendants "on any consensual recordings or wiretap recordings" after 2013.

In their sentencing letter, prosecutors asked for a 21-month sentence, the maximum in Pisani's plea agreement. In making their case, they emphasized Pisani's sale of the house that Ronnie G razed and built into a luxurious five-bedroom mansion with a full bar, a gym and a swimming pool. They cited seemingly minor differences about the specifics of the $700,000 sale by Pisani to Giallanzo: whether Pisani was owed a $410,000 "mortgage," or had been forgiven a $350,000 debt for the property.

Ginsberg used two sentences of his 20-page filing to dismiss that. He wrote that "an extensive grand jury investigation did not result in any charges being brought" against anyone involved in the sale and that "the government's claims" on that issue were based on "the word of a cooperating witness (Borrello) without personal knowledge of the facts."

Based on what Pisani told probation officials who prepared a Pre-Sentence Report for Irizarry, and what dozens of letter-writers told the judge, in the end, the lawyer wrote, Superstorm Sandy inspired Pisani to turn his life around and give up his organized crime activities.

It is clear, wrote Ginsberg, that by early 2013, "some four years prior to his arrest and more than five years prior to the date of sentencing," his client had "ceased his involvement in the charged criminal conduct as the result of a catastrophic loss that sparked a life-altering change in him."

Since then, wrote Ginsberg, "Pisani's character of kindness, support of others, and his devotion to his community have flourished" and he deserves a sentence that also recognizes the good that he did for years before his arrest, and not because of it.

Pisani rose to the occasion after Hurricane Sandy, the lawyer wrote: "He provided food and other goods from his stores to community members in need, including first responders and FEMA personnel; he engaged in fundraising efforts to assist in the rebuilding of the community; and he was simply there for many people who needed him. He did all of these things while being displaced from his own home and sifting through the wreckage in his businesses."

Ginsberg wrote that Pisani, 45, is not running away from his crime. "Pisani accepts responsibility for having engaged in a serious violation of the law and is deeply remorseful for having done so," wrote the lawyer, who noted that scores of letter-writers whose "life experiences" vary greatly but whose "experience of Pisani is consistent" with the fact that "he is a caring, devoted friend who consistently extends himself when people are in need, in both large ways and small."

Those claims are echoed by Urlich who wrote that Pisani was a "very good friend to many in his community, and was extremely helpful to his Broad Channel neighbors following Hurricane Sandy. Although his own home and business were devastated by the storm," stated the councilman, Pisani "went out of his way to help those around him rebuild and recover."

Victims Of $20 Million Bank Heist Want Their Cash Back; Insurance Company Wants Their Baseball Cards

Robbing banks, it turns out, may be easier than giving the money back.

Mob associate Michael Mazzara and three cohorts who got away with $20 million in cash and loot in two spectacular bank heists in 2016, are cooling their heels in prison. But $588,000 they left behind in one bank, and two dozen collectors' item baseball cards of Hall of Famers that Mazzara gave back to the feds, are bones of contention in the city's two federal courts.

Dozens of Queens residents who lost more than $3.3 million in cash from safety deposit boxes they had at the Maspeth Federal Savings and Loan branch in Rego Park have put in claims for a fair share of the cash that was taken from the Maspeth bank. Those claims are being weighed in federal court in the Eastern District of New York in Brooklyn.

The problem, attorney Mark Cortegiano told Judge Carol Amon, is this: After the heist, the bank found the stacks of U.S. currency in a room that was "essentially full of safe deposit boxes." But bank officials had no way "to figure out who it belongs to," so it decided to ask the court "to distribute it some way that is proper."

Whitey FordSo far, 26 deposit box holders have filed affidavits claiming losses from a low of $8000 to a high of $900,000. That near-million-dollar claim is from a former Rego Park resident who says it was taken from two boxes he maintained at the branch. Five other victims reported losing more than $200,000 in the burglary; five others claimed losses greater than $100,000.

None of the lawyers, or victims that Gang Land reached, would discuss the case, but according to court filings, the money is expected to be distributed pro rata, so each victim is likely to receive about 15 cents on each dollar that was stolen.

Claimants have until the end of the month to file affidavits with the court, so the total cash losses could grow. But so far, the 26 former box holders say the burglars stole $3,370,000 from them. The total haul, which includes cash, jewelry and other valuables from an HSBC bank in Brooklyn, stands at $21 million, according to court filings.

Meanwhile, in Manhattan, where Mazzara, and cohorts Anthony Mascuzzio and brothers Charles and Christopher Kerrigan were all convicted and sentenced, the Colonial American Insurance Company of Maryland has put in a claim for more than two dozen Topps baseball cards that the government has recovered, mostly from Mazzara.

The claim was filed this month with Judge Katherine Forrest, who presided over the criminal case, and is handling the forfeiture and restitution aspects, which include cash and valuables that were recovered during the investigation and in plea deals with Mazzara and Mascuzzio.

Through its attorney, Joseph Oliva, the company, which insured property that was stolen from the boxes, says it has settled claims with 133 box holders whose goods were stolen. Colonial put in a claim for more than two dozen baseball cards of 21 Hall of Famers and top New York baseball legends that the company believes the government has so far recovered.

The superstars include Ted Williams, Hank Aaron, Bob Feller, Willie Mays and Sandy Koufax, as well as other New York favorites including Gil Hodges, Joe Pepitone, Elston Howard, Whitey Ford, Billy Martin, Duke Snider, Pee Wee Reese, and Don Larsen, who hurled the only World Series perfect game back in 1956.

Noting that the items "were stored in their respective safe deposit boxes on the day of the burglary," Oliva wrote that since the company has settled claims with the cards' former owners, "Colonial has a legal right and a specific possessory interest in" the cards that were recovered by the government.

The lawyer declined to discuss how much the company paid to settle the claims for the cards, whether they would seek to return them to their former owners, or whether they were going to try and sell them — maybe on eBay or Craig's List — and make a profit for their trouble.

Maybe the next owners will steer clear of safe deposit boxes and keep them safely in a shoebox at the top of the closet. Or do what Gang Land did, glue them in a big picture album where they remain today, totally visible, but virtually worthless.

[Cheech]

Thanks Chucky

[SILENT PARTNERZ]

[SILENT PARTNERZ]

[slimshady_007]

i dont blame joe c for goin to trial. Petey bs sounds, no pun intended, full of shit. If he testfies which almost certain, he’s gunna end up fuckin up the governments case since he seems quite unreliable. Joe c could walk away along with the other codefendants. However if he’s convicted he’s fucked. He’s got a murder conspiracy charge which could lead to a long sentence. Hope he beats the wrap.

[Angelo Santino]

i dont blame joe c for goin to trial. Petey bs sounds, no pun intended, full of shit. If he testfies which almost certain, he’s gunna end up fuckin up the governments case since he seems quite unreliable. Joe c could walk away along with the other codefendants. However if he’s convicted he’s fucked. He’s got a murder conspiracy charge which could lead to a long sentence. Hope he beats the wrap.

All do respect but why? Having an interest in the mob is one thing but rooting for them to evade justice is another. If that's how you feel a salut, I'm not coming at you from a position of moral superiority, it's just... I don't know. I'm getting old I guess.

No disrespect intended, carry on.

[Stroccos]

i dont blame joe c for goin to trial. Petey bs sounds, no pun intended, full of shit. If he testfies which almost certain, he’s gunna end up fuckin up the governments case since he seems quite unreliable. Joe c could walk away along with the other codefendants. However if he’s convicted he’s fucked. He’s got a murder conspiracy charge which could lead to a long sentence. Hope he beats the wrap.

All do respect but why? Having an interest in the mob is one thing but rooting for them to evade justice is another. If that's how you feel a salut, I'm not coming at you from a position of moral superiority, it's just... I don't know. I'm getting old I guess.

No disrespect intended, carry on.

He roots for bad guys in the movies
thanks for posting the article Chucky

[SonnyBlackstein]

i dont blame joe c for goin to trial. Petey bs sounds, no pun intended, full of shit. If he testfies which almost certain, he’s gunna end up fuckin up the governments case since he seems quite unreliable. Joe c could walk away along with the other codefendants. However if he’s convicted he’s fucked. He’s got a murder conspiracy charge which could lead to a long sentence. Hope he beats the wrap.

All do respect but why? Having an interest in the mob is one thing but rooting for them to evade justice is another. If that's how you feel a salut, I'm not coming at you from a position of moral superiority, it's just... I don't know. I'm getting old I guess.

No disrespect intended, carry on.

I also, always root for the mob guys (unless it’s a horrific crime, serious assault/murder/rape against a civilian etc) for the simple reason this is all our hobby and if they all get locked up, well, no more hobby. These guys disappear, I have to take up golf. And i fucking hate golf.

[SonnyBlackstein]

Thanks chucky

[SonnyBlackstein]

Whitey Ford

[Hailbritain]

So zannochio is just a soldier now

[SILENT PARTNERZ]

i dont blame joe c for goin to trial. Petey bs sounds, no pun intended, full of shit. If he testfies which almost certain, he’s gunna end up fuckin up the governments case since he seems quite unreliable. Joe c could walk away along with the other codefendants. However if he’s convicted he’s fucked. He’s got a murder conspiracy charge which could lead to a long sentence. Hope he beats the wrap.

All do respect but why? Having an interest in the mob is one thing but rooting for them to evade justice is another. If that's how you feel a salut, I'm not coming at you from a position of moral superiority, it's just... I don't know. I'm getting old I guess.

No disrespect intended, carry on.

I also, always root for the mob guys (unless it’s a horrific crime, serious assault/murder/rape against a civilian etc) for the simple reason this is all our hobby and if they all get locked up, well, no more hobby. These guys disappear, I have to take up golf. And i fucking hate golf.

Fourrrr!

[slimshady_007]

i dont blame joe c for goin to trial. Petey bs sounds, no pun intended, full of shit. If he testfies which almost certain, he’s gunna end up fuckin up the governments case since he seems quite unreliable. Joe c could walk away along with the other codefendants. However if he’s convicted he’s fucked. He’s got a murder conspiracy charge which could lead to a long sentence. Hope he beats the wrap.

All do respect but why? Having an interest in the mob is one thing but rooting for them to evade justice is another. If that's how you feel a salut, I'm not coming at you from a position of moral superiority, it's just... I don't know. I'm getting old I guess.

No disrespect intended, carry on.

I don’t idolize cosa nostra, but i dont despise them either. My mom always tells me stories about how the mob protected the neighborhood she lived in. Not sayin thier good people, but they aint as bad as other criminals. However i do admire thier intelligence at times.

[newera_212]

I have that same willy mays card, but mine is in shit condition. I got a ton of cards from that era passed on through uncles and my dad. as a kid i thought id cash out and retire off them...they're basically worthless now. I got this "AL BOMBERS" card with mantle, maris, al kaline and someone else...shit is in near mint condtion except for the fuckin dart holes in mantles face. my dad & his brothers grew up giants fans and hated the yankees

[SILENT PARTNERZ]

I have that same willy mays card, but mine is in shit condition. I got a ton of cards from that era passed on through uncles and my dad. as a kid i thought id cash out and retire off them...they're basically worthless now. I got this "AL BOMBERS" card with mantle, maris, al kaline and someone else...shit is in near mint condtion except for the fuckin dart holes in mantles face. my dad & his brothers grew up giants fans and hated the yankees

When a kid, I had a shoe box packed with old cards. I had 8 Yaztrenski
rookie cards. Two Hank Aaron Specials, many others. I used to put them
in the spokes of my Schwinn bike. When I got to about 12/13, I was too cool
for baseball cards and gave them all to a kid down the street.