Reporting from New York - Filled with descriptions of pipe attacks and old-fashioned “whackings,” a federal indictment unveiled Thursday accused 46 reputed mobsters of a conspiracy that included loan-sharking, extortion, gun-running and violent acts of retribution.
You get Buddy and let Buddy go there and choke him, choke him,” one alleged Genovese crime family “capo” was quoted as saying on a wiretap - telling his crew how to deal with an associate who refused to hand over illegal gambling winnings.
And tell him, ‘Listen to me … next time I’m not gonna stop choking … I’m gonna kill you,’ ” he said on the wiretap.
Adding to the colorful depiction of this alleged organized crime operation were the nicknames of the defendants - among them John “Tugboat” Tognino, Anthony “Tony the Cripple” and Nicholas “Nicky the Wig” Vuolo - any of which could have been lifted straight from a Martin Scorsese movie.
Atty. Atty. Preet Bharara of New York said investigators had uncovered a very real criminal enterprise that operated up and down the East Coast, including in Little Italy in the Bronx, Philadelphia, Massachusetts and Florida.
He said the indictment showed that the country’s organized crime families, many of whose leaders were imprisoned after aggressive racketeering prosecutions in the 1980s and 1990s, continued to wield power.
“Today’s charges against 46 men, including powerful leaders, members and associates of five different La Cosa Nostra families, demonstrate that the mob remains a scourge on this city and around the country,” Bharara said.
The indictment said the defendants - all alleged members of the Genovese, Gambino, Luchese, Bonanno and Philadelphia organized crime families - had engaged in wide-ranging criminal activity.
“From loan-sharking and illegal gambling, to credit card and healthcare fraud, and even firearms trafficking, today’s mafia is fully diversified in its boundless search for illegal profits,” Bharara said.
“And as alleged, threatening to assault, maim and kill people who get in the way of their criminal schemes remains the go-to play in the mob’s playbook.”
One particularly brutal attack described in the indictment happened in 2011, allegedly ordered by Pasquale “Patsy” Parrello, a reputed Genovese family capo who ran a crew out of a restaurant in the Bronx called Pasquale’s Rigoletto.
According to the indictment, one of the men who allegedly carried out the beating, Ronald “The Beast” Mastrovincenzo, was later recorded on a wiretap saying: “[R]emember the old days in the neighborhood when we used to play baseball? … A ballgame like that was done.”
Prosecutors said evidence in the case came from thousands of hours of secretly recorded conversations made by a cooperating witness, who was not identified, and an undercover FBI agent.
According to the indictment, the cooperating witness worked with Parrello and the two other alleged ringleaders of the criminal conspiracy: Joseph “Joey” Merlino, reputed boss of Philadelphia’s crime family; and Eugene “Rooster” O’Nofrio, another reputed Genovese capo who allegedly ran crews in Manhattan and Springfield, Mass.
The charges allege that the leaders of the various crime families were in touch and planned crimes together, meeting at restaurants and highway rest stops and speaking in code to avoid detection.
In another crime described in the indictment, members of Parrello’s crew allegedly agreed to assault a man who had stabbed one of their associates, Anthony “Muscles” Vazzano, during a bar fight in the Bronx on Jan. 22, 2013.
One of the associates was recorded on a wiretap saying he would “whack” the man, while Parrello was allegedly recorded saying, “keep the pipes handy and pipe him, pipe him, over here [gesturing to the knees], not on his head.”
The defendants are charged with racketeering conspiracy, arson, illegal trafficking in firearms, and conspiracy to commit assault in aid of racketeering.
White police officer who shot unarmed black man to death found guilty of manslaughter in Virginia More to Read I don’t want to alarm you, but you may be living among Mobsters.
I know. I know. You’ve got Zika-carrying mosquitoes, hurricane season and an election year to worry about. You don’t need anything else on your plate.
But this month, federal investigators in New York unsealed a sweeping indictment charging 46 alleged members of the Geneovese, Gambino, Luchese, Bonanno, and Philadelphia organized crime families.
And it turns out that a bunch of the goombahs live among us.
Starting with reputed Philadelphia Mob boss Joseph “Skinny Joey” Merlino, who celebrated the end of a 12-year prison stretch for racketeering by taking residence in a three-story Boca Raton home close to the restaurant that bears his name.
Merlino works there as the maitre d’.
I know what you’re thinking. A skinny guy in an Italian restaurant? Inconceivable.
But what you should be worried about is how many other maitre d’s in South Florida restaurants might also be crime family associates.
This may explain the prevailing attitude of superiority and haughtiness that runs rampant in the job.
So as a practical tip for South Florida dining, you may want to lower your expectations.
In other words, if the maitre d’ says you can’t have the table you want, just be grateful you still have all your fingers.
It might also be a good idea to pay special attention to grown men with silly nicknames.
For some reason, Mobsters never seem to be content with their birth names.
I think they’d be indicted less often if they could just control themselves more in this regard.
It just makes the feds’ job easier. Just start rounding up guys with multiple nicknames.
For example, one of those named in the current sweep is a 67-year-old West Palm Beach man named Pasquale Capolongo.
OK, “Pasquale” is a mouthful. So maybe going with “Pat” would be an understandable alternative.
But according to the 30-page indictment, Capolongo went by the nicknames “Patsy,” “Pat C.,” “Fish” and “Mustache Pat” - even though he’s got a full beard, not just a mustache.
Having that many nicknames is like walking through life with Speak Softly Love playing on the violin wherever you go.
And to make things worse, Mustache Pat was allegedly involved in a sports gambling ring that included guys known as “Tony the Cripple,” “Big Vinny” and “Mike Polio,” who apparently earned his unfortunate nickname because his last name is “Poli.”
I guess it could have been worse for Michael Poli if his last name was “Gonorrita.”
Or he could have ended up like Nicholas Vuolo, one of the other arrestees, whose hair issues were highlighted by his “Nicky the Wig” moniker.
But you see the problem here. Excessive nicknaming. And not clever nicknaming either. It usually has something to do with a play on words for a name, like John “Tugboat” Tognino in the current case.
The feds also reeled in Francesco “Sammy Shark” Depergola, an alleged Genovese associate who was simultaneously charged in federal court in Massachusetts - for, wait for it, loan-sharking.
He allegedly told his goons, including one named Vincent “Big Vinny” Terracciano, “Choke him . . . actually choke the motherf- -ker. And tell him, ‘Listen to me . . . next time I’m not gonna stop choking . . . In June 2011, Parrello allegedly ordered Anthony “Anthony Boy” Zinzi and Ronald “The Beast” Mastrovincenzo to take care of a panhandler that was hanging out near the restaurant.
“Remember the old days in the neighborhood when we used to play baseball?” he allegedly said.
