Gangland news 28th sept 2017

[Hailbritain]

By Jerry Capeci

Sources Say Turncoat In Huge Mob Case Is Behind Bars

Gang Land Exclusive!John RubeoWe know that mob restaurateur Pasquale (Patsy) Parrello is now locked up behind bars, thanks to the seven-year sentence he pulled in the huge Mafia case in which he was the lead defendant. And we know that many of the more than 40 defendants in the case are there too, or will be, after they face the music in the courtroom of Manhattan Federal Judge Richard Sullivan.

But the question that has been buzzing around Gang Land for two months now is this: Where, oh where, is John (JR) Rubeo, the Genovese crime family associate who flipped and wore a wire for the FBI for five years, helping to snare Patsy and a passel of others?

While no one is offering conclusive evidence, the word on the street is that JR is now in the same place as his old buddy Patsy, and the others: locked up and behind bars.

The rumors about Rubeo's status began swirling hot and heavy after a late Friday afternoon pretrial conference on August 25 before Judge Sullivan for Philadelphia mob boss Joseph (Skinny Joey) Merlino and three other defendants. That quartet — two wiseguys and two lowly associates — are the lone holdouts in the case who have so far refused to take plea deals. They are slated for trial on racketeering conspiracy charges in January.

Pasquale ParrelloDuring the session, Merlino attorney John Meringolo asked Sullivan to compel prosecutors to preserve "the phone calls, and the emails" that Rubeo used to communicate with relatives and friends "if his bail was revoked" because of the FBI's internal inquiry into the dealings that three FBI agents had with Rubeo during the investigation.

As Gang Land reported last week, the investigation cleared one agent in the case, Joy Adam, of any wrongdoing, but resulted in a suspension for agent William Inzerillo for "technical violations" of FBI rules in documenting Rubeo's undercover work. Sources say the inquiry into FBI supervisor William Vredenburgh, who was re-assigned right after the Parrello case to a sleepy suburban mob squad to breathe new life into it a year ago, is still continuing.

"We don't know if he's incarcerated," Merlingolo told Sullivan, stating he was making the request without mentioning Rubeo's name, "just in the abundance of caution that because of his conduct there's a possibility that his bail was revoked."

John MeringoloYet this pretty basic defense request precipitated a somewhat testy back and forth between Sullivan and assistant U.S. attorney Jonathan Rebold when the prosecutor declined to inform the judge whether Rubeo's bail had been revoked. Rebold went on to argue that the government was not required to preserve any recordings — even if Rubeo were behind bars.

"Without addressing whether the cooperating witness is or ever was in prison or not," said Rebold, "until the government orders those calls, they're not in the possession of the government. Certainly there is no onus on the government to ask the Department of Corrections or MCC or MDC or Bureau of Prisons or wherever a person is being housed to maintain phone recordings that we don't presently possess."

That non-answer didn't sit too well with Sullivan. First, the judge asked whether Rebold was encouraging Meringolo "to subpoena the records from the BOP." When the prosecutor began each of two responses by saying that he was "not encouraging" the defense lawyer to do anything, Sullivan interrupted him twice, and cut to the chase:

Joseph Merlino"But you are saying that you are going to allow these things to get wiped," said Sullivan. "You're not going to take any steps to prevent that from happening. So if between now and trial there are recordings that end up being destroyed in the ordinary course, that relate to your witness, you're not going to do anything about it."

"I will certainly let him inquire about that on cross," the judge continued. "I'll let him call a witness from the Bureau of Prisons to say what happened and what didn't happen, that nothing was preserved. And I'll let him read from this transcript to the jury as well."

"We're certainly on notice, then, your Honor," said Rebold, apparently deciding it was best to give Sullivan the last word. But the judge wasn't done just yet.

"Yes," said Sullivan, stressing that if tapes and emails of a cooperating witness existed and were not saved, the "fair thing" was to let jurors know "there was no attempt made to preserve any of the potential material" that the defense should have available during cross-examination.

Abigail KurlandAs usual, the FBI and U.S. Attorney's Office declined to discuss the developments in the prosecution of 46 defendants from five crime families that they announced with a flourish back in August of last year. Meringolo, as well as the other lawyers in the case, were also mum.

Several usually reliable sources say that Rubeo is being held under a different name in a local facility in the metropolitan area where FBI agents and the three prosecutors currently handling the case, Abigail Kurland, Max Nicholas, and Andrew Chan, can have ready access to him, if they deem it necessary.

So at least for the time being, Rubeo, a member of the Professional Bowlers Association, and a bowler of some note, as Gang Land detailed back in February, won't be able to take his 190 average to upstate Liverpool NY next month for the PBA's 2017 U.S. Open, or to Reno in November to compete in the annual PBA World Series of Bowling IX.

And while Rubeo's under the thumb of his federal handlers, he'll need doctor's prescriptions for any painkillers, tranquilizers, or mood elevators he has been known to use, according to the transcript of the August 25, 2017 session before Sullivan.

Judge Richard Sullivan"During the entire cooperation and consensual recordings he was on various narcotics, including OxyContin and Xanax," said Meringolo, stating that he wanted the government to let the defense know whether they were doctor-prescribed or illegally obtained.

Sullivan said that was "impeachment material" that the government had an obligation to provide before the witness testified, but he did not have the power to order them to furnish it earlier, even though he would prefer that, so that the trial would move smoothly, without interruption.

Stating that he would be "very unhappy" if he had to tell jurors to "come back in a week because defense counsel need that kind of time to review materials that are necessary for the cross," the judge underscored how unhappy he would be by recalling for prosecutors what a trial judge told him when he was in their shoes: "I can't make you do it, but I can make you wish you had."

Feds Nail San Gennaro Slugger For Another Brutal Assault That Was Caught On Video

Thomas LeonessaLaw enforcement officials have identified Thomas (Tommy Stacks) Leonessa, a Genovese gangster with a long rap sheet, as the slugger who delivered a brutal and very public beating to a mob informer during last year's San Gennaro street festival, Gang Land has learned.

The beating took place in October a few blocks from the 90th annual Mulberry Street festival and sent the victim, Bonanno turncoat soldier Joseph (Joe Mook) D'Amico to the hospital. Leonessa, 56, a member of the mob-tied newspaper truck drivers' union, hasn't been charged in that attack. In fact, he may never be charged with the incident.

But he has been cited for an earlier nearby assault against a D'Amico cousin, Joseph Campanella, a couple of months earlier, as a violation of supervised release (VOSR) following his most recent prison term. Leonessa faced up to two years behind bars at his sentencing yesterday.

In his prior conviction for stealing $21,000 in wages from the New York Post, Tommy Stacks got a nice break, receiving just four months despite facing more than a year in prison for the theft. But the hot-headed Stacks didn't waste any time violating his release terms: he cold-cocked and pummeled Campanella on June 29, 2016.

Joseph D'Amico"That was the same day when I got out of jail," Leonessa told Magistrate Judge James Orenstein two months ago when he pled guilty to the violation. Under questioning by the judge, Leonessa admitted that he had punched and kicked his victim.

That incident took place at an entrance gate to Knickerbocker Village on the Lower East Side where both men live. It was captured on a security video. Leonessa is seen flooring Campanella with a vicious right hand punch to the face, and then kicking him and punching him several times while he was on the ground — while holding two bags of groceries in his left hand.

At the end of the 30 second video, Leonessa picks up the victim's cell phone, smashes it on the ground, and calmly strolls away from his battered victim and into the housing complex — without losing a single item from the two bags of groceries.

Knickerbocker Village GateLeonessa's attorney, Vincent Licata, doesn't contest what's on the video, but argued in court papers — which he repeated in court yesterday — that it doesn't show what triggered the incident when his client ran into Campanella for the first time in many months 15 minutes earlier at a local grocery store.

The men were childhood friends, and have known each other for decades, but there has been bad blood between them for years, Licata wrote. The cause of the feud stemmed from Campanella's drug dealing, the lawyer alleged, calling the beating victim "a drug user and dealer and the scourge" of the neighborhood. The lawyer added that Campanella had allegedly sold drugs to Leonessa's teenaged daughter, after having been warned by Leonessa to stay away from her.

When they met at the grocery, Licata wrote, Campanella "brandished a knife" and threatened "to stab" Leonessa after he again warned him to refrain from even talking to his daughter.

Recognizing that Campanella "appeared to be 'high' and under the influence of drugs," Leonessa walked away in the "opposite direction," but as fate would have it, when his client got to the housing complex and was going through the gate, Campanella was "exiting at the exact same time," the attorney wrote.

Glenn LaChance"Mindful of what just transpired, with bags in his hand, knowing that Campanella was under the influence of drugs and had just threatened him with a weapon, Mr. Leonessa felt that he had no choice but to defend himself against a possible physical assault," wrote Licata. "Mr. Leonessa's actions were completely reactionary (to) the confrontation that took place moments before."

Following his conviction last year, Leonessa, a former official of the scandal-tarred Newspaper Mail Deliverers Union, was fired by the Post for stealing $21,000 in wages he didn't earn. Leonessa is now employed by the New York Daily News.

While his four month sentence was half of the low end of his recommended number, his prison term was the only one meted out to any of the six defendants in the case. In 2014, Leonessa was charged along with five others, including Glenn LaChance, the son of the NMDU's corrupt former president Doug LaChance, of conspiring to defraud the union.

Leonessa's VOSR sentencing guidelines were up to 11 months, the prison term that assistant U.S. Attorney Nadia Moore asked Brooklyn Federal Judge Edward Korman to impose yesterday, after playing the security video, which we have queued up for you HERE, as evidence that the attack by Tommy Stacks was brutal, and clearly unprovoked.

Judge Edward KormanIn addition to his contention that Leonessa's actions were reactionary, Licata cited his client's gainful employment at The News, the fact that he has tested negative for drug use in the 15 months since his prison release, and asked Korman to find a way not to send him back to prison.

Even a term of home detention, which allowed Leonessa to work, would be preferable to incarceration, said the lawyer, since Tommy Stacks is the sole support for his 81-year-old mother, his four children, and an infant grandchild.

Korman sent Leonessa back to prison for three months, but allowed him spend Thanksgiving with his family, ordering him to self-surrender on December 4.

As for Leonessa's assault against turncoat D'Amico, sources say all concerned parties, including the NYPD, the FBI, and the Bonanno family defector, have opted to forget about it.

Frankie Boy Won't Be Delivering Messages For Uncle Mikey Nose Any Time Soon

Frank SalernoTwo years ago, Bonanno soldier Frank (Frankie Boy) Salerno escaped unscathed when he was caught delivering messages from his imprisoned mob boss to his troops in the field. But Salerno paid dearly this week for relaying a different kind of message — this one to a man he thought was a drug dealer eager to buy Salerno's cocaine.

The message, conveyed by Frankie Boy's own messenger — reputed Gambino associate Anthony Saladino — was that the dealer would have "no reason to complain about the quality" of the merchandise.

As it turned out, the complaints would all come from the wiseguys.

Salerno, a nephew of imprisoned Bonanno boss Micheal (Mikey Nose) Mancuso, and Saladino were indicted Monday on charges of possessing and conspiring to distribute more than five kilograms of cocaine on Long Island in 2015 and 2016. The charges carry a mandatory minimum prison term of 10 years upon conviction, and a maximum of life.

Anthony SaladinoAccording to the charges, Salerno, 43, allegedly used the 67-year-old Saladino to make a dozen deliveries of coke to the man he believed to be a drug dealer. The pair's drug dealing caper began in November of 2015, court papers allege, about seven months after federal prosecutors in Brooklyn had publicly exposed Salerno as a mobster-messenger whom Mancuso was using to run the crime family from the federal prison in Danbury.

That's when an undercover law enforcement officer — it's unclear if he was a police officer or a federal agent — who was posing as a mob-friendly dealer began talking to Saladino about buying narcotics, in particular cocaine, for $1250 an ounce, according to an arrest complaint by Homeland Security Investigations agent Matthew Shook.

Whoever the officer was, he apparently put on a convincing act. Salerno's first move was to check out the buyer himself. On January 26, 2016 Salerno and Saladino both went to take a good look at the dealer. At the meeting, Shook wrote, "Saladino stated that he could provide the UC [undercover] with an ounce of 'blow' — or cocaine — as a sample, as well as marijuana for approximately $2,800-$2,900 per pound."

A few days later, in February, Saladino made his first cocaine delivery. Frankie Boy Salerno also accompanied Saladino for a coke sale on March 30 of last year, Shook wrote, and took part in the transaction when the UC gave Saladino $1300 as payment for an ounce of cocaine and "Salerno gave the UC $50 cash as change."

Michael MancusoDuring that sale, Salerno again vouched for the top-quality of his drugs, explaining "that the prices were high because he didn't 're-press the bricks,' or dilute the quality of cocaine with a cutting agent," the HSI agent wrote. Salerno also stated that drug "seizures by law enforcement were driving prices higher, and that the UC could get a better deal if he purchased larger amounts."

Each gangster was arrested two weeks ago on a separate complaint filed in Central Islip Federal Court. Both were detained at their arraignments after assistant U.S. attorney Artie McConnell detailed their mob ties, the violent crimes they've been convicted of in the past, and the extensive taped and videotaped evidence the government has tying them to 12 drug sales last year.

According to court and state prison records, Salerno was arrested as part of a Bronx murder plot in 1997, but copped a plea deal to a conspiracy charge and served about a year in prison. Saladino was tried and convicted of a 1978 Long Island murder and received a 25-years-to-life sentence. He was released in 2010.

[Fughedaboutit]

Case looking better and better for Merlino

[SonnyBlackstein]

Thanks for the post HB.

[Mukremin]

thanks for posting this weeks GL

[The Greek]

"Leonessa's VOSR sentencing guidelines were up to 11 months, the prison term that assistant U.S. Attorney Nadia Moore asked Brooklyn Federal Judge Edward Korman to impose yesterday, after playing the security video, which we have queued up for you HERE, as evidence that the attack by Tommy Stacks was brutal, and clearly unprovoked."

Any way to post the video link?

[chubby]

Doesn't surprised me rubeo was loaded on oxy and bars.. makes him even less credible... man starting to seem like every guy in the life under the age of 45 is on pills

[joeycigars]

Phone evidence erased "prosecutor declined to inform the judge whether Rubeo's bail had been revoked" witness high on pills, Feds wont be saving evidence ,

I hate to be the prosecutor on this East Coast LCN Enterprise cluster fuck

[bronx]

happy to see a judge make take a firm position against these out of control persecutors.they should lose their law license's

[NJShore4Life]

There's a major opioid pills crisis here in NJ/NY/Philly in my age group (I'll be 33 next week) and it's mainly amongst the White kids. I'm in Jersey and the pills crisis is at what they call an epidemic level here. That's why it seems like majority of young Associates are all pill heads.

[TommyGambino]

Leonessa beating up rats and degenerate drug addicts, he's fine by me

[Teddy Persico]

Phone evidence erased "prosecutor declined to inform the judge whether Rubeo's bail had been revoked" witness high on pills, Feds wont be saving evidence ,

I hate to be the prosecutor on this East Coast LCN Enterprise cluster fuck

The judge isn't cutting the prosecution any slack either. GA reported months ago that Merlino was betting that the prosecution didn't want to reveal what's on some of those tapes. This sketchy behavior by the DA would indicate so.

[Teddy Persico]

Leonessa beating up rats and degenerate drug addicts, he's fine by me

He beat up a rat and isn't being charged for it. He's walking tall among his peers.

[SonnyBlackstein]

The Feds are fucking morons if they don't charge/pursue Leonessa with assaulting D'Amico.
What sort of message does that send? Repercussions against rats is fine by us? Will what encourage or discourage future incidents? What next, clip one?
The Feds usually view an assault on someone in their protection as an assault on the Feds themselves. And for a reason. Why this is the exception is beyond me.

[jimmy_beans8]

Without even spilling groceries.

[Fughedaboutit]

Without even spilling groceries.

where is the video?