Gangland:6/23/16

[Dellacroce]

June 23, 2016 This Week in Gang Land
By Jerry Capeci

Heroin-Dealing John Gotti-Pal Hopes Illegal Sentence Shall Set Him Free

As a major league drug dealer who hung out at the Bergin Hunt & Fish Club with John Gotti when the Dapper Don was a rising mob star, Mark Reiter earned a sentence of life in prison back in 1988.

That was supposed to be a prison term from which the only exit is in a body bag. Just to be absolutely sure Reiter never again saw Ozone Park, or any other place outside of prison walls, he was given two life sentences plus 60 years (that included 20 years for a racketeering conviction for the murders of two potential witnesses that Reiter was convicted of ordering back in Gotti Prime Time in 1982).

But a very smart lawyer has come up with an intriguing legal argument on the subject. He points out in a new court filing that, in their rush to judgment, both the sentencing judge and the government forgot to dot some very important i's and cross some equally vital t's. What the feds and the judge forgotti, says attorney Harlan Protass, was to get the jury to cite the amount of drugs Reiter was convicted of peddling. Why would that matter, you might ask?

It matters very much, argues Protass, because the life sentence Reiter received for one count of his conviction was for distributing more than 100 grams of heroin in a large-scale heroin conspiracy. That count carries a mandatory life sentence, but only if either the judge or the "jury finds that the offense involved more than 100 grams of heroin," Protass wrote in his motion.

The lawyer goes on to point out that neither the jury, when it rendered its verdicts, nor the late trial judge, Richard Owen, at sentencing, "made any finding on the record concerning the weight of heroin involved in Reiter's offence."

In addition, Protass wrote, Owen specifically told jurors in two places that the amount of heroin involved in the drug conspiracy was irrelevant:

"If you find the material involved was either heroin or cocaine," Owen stated, "you need not be concerned with the quantity; that is, you need not find that the amount of the narcotic drug involved in the particular act or Count which you are considering is the amount as is set forth therein."

"So long as you find that the defendant you are considering knowingly distributed or possessed with intent to distribute, as the case may be, a narcotic drug," Owen added, "I observe to you the amount involved is not material. [Owen did not actually say these things in italics, but it sometimes helps to underscore points in legal documents, which is what Protass did.]

Summing up his weighty argument, Protass adds that since Judge Owen told the "jury it did not have to make any finding concerning the weight of heroin involved in any of the offenses," then the newly assigned current judge, Vernon Broderick should resentence Reiter on all counts. Why all counts? As Protass notes, many federal appeals courts maintain that a final judgment "in every multi-count criminal case represents a single 'sentencing package.'"

This Houdini-like legal escape may seem far-fetched, but Protass has made similar arguments before on behalf of defendants — and prevailed. He got life sentences tossed for two-drug dealing codefendants of Bonanno mobster Vincent (Vinny Gorgeous) Basciano in the 1991 Blue Thunder heroin case.

And legal experts consulted by Gang Land agree that it just might work. If so, what then?

Well, Reiter, who is 68, is currently in his 29th year of imprisonment. And if the judge did resentence him to what Protass says is the rightful maximum term for his drug conviction — 30 years — then Reiter would get out right now. That's because the mega-drug dealer has already spent about 343 months behind bars. That's about 30 months more than he would be required to serve by the current "good time" credit that all federal prison inmates receive, according to Protass.

In court papers filed yesterday, the attorney asked Broderick to vacate what Protass terms an illegal sentence in the more than 100 grams of heroin count — and the prison terms Reiter got for other crimes at the same time — and impose a "fair, just and reasonable sentence" of 30 years. That would be "sufficient, but not greater than necessary" to satisfy the goals of the justice system, he wrote.

Having made his heavy-duty legal arguments, much of the rest of the filing consists of lots of great things that friends, family and even prison officials have to say about Reiter in letters of support. The letters paint Reiter as a completely changed man from the high-flying drug dealer who made millions in heroin deals with legendary Harlem drug merchant Leroy (Nicky) Barnes and with Gambino wiseguys in the 1970s and 1980s.

Reiter, whose bouts with the law began in 1968 when he was busted in Queens at age 21 for being part of a mob-operated stolen car ring, was a codefendant of Gambino mobsters Gene Gotti and John Carneglia in a 1983 heroin trafficking case that ended in a mistrial. In a later trial, Gotti and Carneglia were convicted and sentenced to 50 years in federal prison.

Reiter, wrote Protass, is now a loving grandfather of five with two surviving children. He has taken many rehabilitative and educational programs to better himself. For years, he has served as a counselor for suicide-prone inmates and in 2010 he received a "Monetary Special Award" for helping to save an inmate's life by performing the Heimlich maneuver in a crowded mess hall.

In addition, wrote Lieutenant Dennis Lentini, a correction officer who was Reiter's case manager and who has known him for 11.5 years, "Reiter (has been) a calming influence among other inmates, a voice of reason among the younger inmates."

If Reiter "were returned to any community, especially at his age," added Lentini, "it would be as a law abiding citizen. After observing Mark and interacting with him I would have no qualms seeing him return to society and his family."

Robert Sibilio, a retired Lyndhurst, NJ detective who is married to Reiter's cousin, echoed the correction officer's assessment. "After serving 29 years in confinement, my cousin Mark should be released back into society," wrote Sibilio, adding that Reiter "would never jeopardize his freedom" by running afoul of the law and risk dying in prison away from his family.

His daughter Nicole, and his son Michael, each praised Reiter as a good father who had spent more than enough time behind bars to pay for his crimes.

Nicole was eight when Reiter was imprisoned in 1987. She wrote that her dad "is not the same man who was sent away to prison" and to keep him there "serves no good purpose," since "the only way to truly complete the cycle of repaying a debt to society is to allow him the chance to contribute to that society, before it is too late."

Michael, 47, stated that his father had often voiced remorse about the life he led, and has said many times: "If I were to meet my old self, I would tell him how wrong his thoughts were." Over the years, his dad "used his experiences and maturity" to counsel many "younger prisoners" he met during a "life-long journey through the prison system" that began when he was "full of piss-n-vinegar" at age 39 and hopefully will end when he is "a wizened man at 69 years old," he wrote.

Of course, even if Judge Broderick rules in Reiter's favor, and agrees to order a resentencing on all seven counts in the case, the loving and caring grandfather could still receive a life sentence for being found guilty of a so-called Kingpin drug count involving a vast Continuing Criminal Enterprise that included 26 defendants. But since Reiter was not found to have been involved with more than 100 grams of heroin, a life sentence is not mandatory. He could get a lesser prison term.

If the feds insist on seeking a life sentence for Reiter, Protass has asked for a special sentencing hearing where he will contest any government claims that his client was involved in drug deals involving more than 100 grams, and ask Judge Broderick to impose a "fair, just and reasonable sentence" of 30 years behind bars.

Meanwhile, Reiter's codefendants in his 1983 Brooklyn Federal Court indictment, 69-year-old Gene Gotti and 71-year-old John Carneglia are also still behind bars. They are slated to be released in the summer of 2018.

Danny Persico, Nephew Of Colombo Boss, Succumbs To Cancer, At 54

Daniel (The General) Persico, a nephew of imprisoned Mafia boss Carmine (Junior) Persico, who largely stayed out of the family business, died at the age of 54 last week after fighting a losing seven-year battle with cancer.

Persico's father Teddy Sr., and brother Teddy Jr., are both family capos, but sources say Daniel chose not to follow his father and brother into the crime family. At least not all the way in. He did serve as the Colombo crime family's go-to guy in a three-crime-family stock fraud scheme in the 1990s. That was during a four-year $41 million "pump and dump" scheme with the Bonanno and Genovese families, according to the 2000 stock fraud indictment.

The General, whose commanding nickname stems from his childhood days growing up in Brooklyn — not from any military role — protected the crime family's interests in a Manhattan brokerage, White Rock Partners & Company. The firm was run by the three families for the "primary purpose of earning money through fraud involving the manipulation of the price of securities," according to the indictment.

Persico, who copped a plea deal to engaging in unlawful monetary transactions, served a 21 month stretch for his role. Following his release in 2003, he was not charged with any other crimes. But he was confined to his home for 30 days in 2006 after he was spotted dining with mobster Craig Marino in a Bay Ridge eatery during an FBI probe of Teddy Jr. that led to a gun charge against the capo.

Teddy Sr., Persico's 78-year-old dad who was released from prison in 2013, and his mother, Pat, adhered to their son's wishes and did not have a traditional wake, but celebrated his life and mourned him at a funeral mass Friday at the Basilica Regina Pacis Church in Bay Ridge.

Many family members, including his imprisoned brother Teddy Jr., cousin Alphonse, and uncle Carmine could not attend. But the mob boss's long suffering wife, Joyce, and hundreds of other relatives and friends attended the mass, alternately crying and laughing as The General was eulogized by his cousins and his friend, attorney Mathew Mari.

"It was an emotional day," Mari told Gang Land. "Danny was unique, one of a kind. He battled an unbeatable enemy for over six years, and he taught his friends the true meaning of toughness and real courage. He knew how to live, and he knew how to die: Always STANDING TALL, no matter what."

Persico's remains were cremated. He was single, and he had no children.

Former Mob-Busting Prosecutor Returns To The Fray

Former mob-busting prosecutor Bridget Rohde, who bested then-Luchese acting underboss Steven (Stevie Wonder) Crea on labor racketeering charges, and brought down Gambino mobster Carmine Agnello on a slew of charges involving his scrap metal businesses more than a decade ago, has returned to her old haunts at the Brooklyn U.S. Attorney's office.

Rohde, who also convicted Russian organized crime boss Vyacheslav (Yaponchik) Ivankov for extortion and immigration fraud, and later oversaw the murder prosecution of Mafia cops Lou Eppolito and Steve Caracappa as chief of the Criminal Division, returns next week as Chief Assistant to U.S. Attorney Robert Capers.

Rohde worked as an assistant U.S. attorney in Brooklyn from 1990 until 2007. She also played a key supervisory role in the first racketeering indictment of Vinny Gorgeous Basciano in 2004 and 2005, which featured the cooperation of turncoat Mafia boss Joseph Massino. She argued several appeals before the Second Circuit Court of Appeals as well.

In the Crea labor racketeering case, Stevie Wonder and members of the Gambino and DeCavalcante families all pleaded guilty to labor racketeering or related extortion charges in a bid rigging scheme involving construction projects by companies and unions controlled by the three crime families.

In the Agnello case, after more than a year of hard-fought pre-trial hearings against a high-powered defense team led by Benjamin Brafman regarding bail and alleged threats against witnesses, all seven defendants copped guilty pleas. Agnello was sentenced to nine years in prison and paid $11 million in fines and restitution.

Ivankov, the Russian thief-in-law who emigrated to the U.S. after serving 10 years in a Soviet Union prison, was convicted along with three codefendants after a six-week trial. They were found guilty of extorting $3.5 million from two Russian emigres who ran an investment company. Ivankov was sentenced to nine years and seven months and was deported after he was released from prison.

Rohde returns to Brooklyn after nine years at the white shoe firm of Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky & Popeo, P.C. where she focused on white collar crime cases and served as counsel to a court-appointed monitor of a labor union in a settlement of a civil racketeering case.

"I am thrilled to return to the EDNY and support U.S. Attorney Capers and his terrific staff in the important work they do," Rohde told Gang Land yesterday. "It is truly an honor."

[Pogo The Clown]

Thanks for posting this weeks column. Looks like Teddy Persico Sr. is a Capo again. Possibly running his sons Crew?


Pogo

[brianwellbrock]

So did Reiter get convicted in a separate case or did he go down in the first Gene Gotti trial?

Also a case like his just shows how fucked up the laws were in the 80's. These vauge Rico and Kingpin statutes that were new and the prosecutors didnt and some still dont know exactly how they work. And now you have these people finally figuring out these loopholes to get out from them. How many drug dealers sent away in the 80's have gotten out since 2010?

If Tick gets out and Persico has a chance than I wouldnt be surprised if Senter and Testa go for it in the coming years. We alreadycknow Borellivis trying.

[Chucky]

Thanks for posting this weeks column. Looks like Teddy Persico Sr. is a Capo again. Possibly running his sons Crew?


Pogo

Didn't Capeci say they were both capos?

[Pogo The Clown]

True but Capeci isn't always clear with his wording. He doesn't always differentiate between former and current Capos or Official and Acting.


Pogo