Ten alleged mafiosos from the Gambino crime family have been indicted by the feds over their alleged violent attempts to take over the Big Apple’s trash hauling and demolition industry — which included a hammer attack that sent a worker to the hospital and a grim threat to cut the owner’s business in half with a knife.
The defendants — who include men and mob associates — have been charged with racketeering conspiracy, extortion, witness tampering, fraud and embezzlement, according to an indictment unsealed Wednesday in Brooklyn federal court.
They each face between 20 and 180 years in prison for a laundry list of crimes they’re accused of — many so heinous they’d make Tony Soprano grin.
“As alleged, over the years, the defendants committed violent extortion, assault, arson, witness retaliation and other crimes in an effort to dominate New York’s transportation and demolition industries,” Breon Peace, US Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said in a statement.
Ten people indicted in the Gambino crime family are expected to appear in Brooklyn federal court after being charged with a series of racketeering charges. Photo by KENA BETANCUR/AFP via Getty Images
The 16-count indictment lists the defendants as Joseph “Joe Brooklyn” Lanni, 52, of Staten Island; Diego “Danny” Tantillo, 48, of Freehold, New Jersey; Robert Brooke, 55, of New York; Salvatore DiLorenzo, 66, of Oceanside, New York; Angelo “Fifi” Gradilone, 57, of Staten Island; Kyle “Twin” Johnson, 46, of the Bronx; James LaForte, 46, of New York; Vincent “Vinny Slick” Minsquero, 36, of Staten Island; Vito “Vi” Rappa, 46, of East Brunswick; and Franceso “Uncle Ciccio” Vicari, 46, of Elmont, New York.
Some of the defendants paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to Lanni — a man-made man who was a “caporegime,” or crew captain — through a complex network of payments made by companies they owned, according to federal prosecutors.
“The investigation has revealed that, since at least 2017, the defendants have profited from extorting individuals in the New York carting and demolition industry, including through actual and threatened violence, stealing and embezzling from union employee benefit plans and conspiring to rig favorable bids . demolition work,” according to the US Attorney’s office.
A photo released by prosecutors allegedly shows suspects Joseph Lanni and Vincent Minsquero at a gas station after threatening a restaurant. USAO Franceso Vicari of Elmont is among the alleged accomplices. USAO
Most of the allegations centered on the group’s attempts to extort money from an unidentified waste hauling company and an unidentified demolition company, beginning in late 2017.
At the time prosecutors said Tantillo demanded monthly extortion payments from the owner of the garbage company — identified in court papers as “John Doe 1.”
To express their friendly demands, Tantillo, Johnson, Rappa and Vicari regularly threatened and intimidated their victims by setting fire to the steps of her home, damaging her truck and threatening to seriously injure her, the newspaper said.
For example, the man paid Tantillo $1,000 one day when Tantillo broke a metal baseball bat and told him it was for him, court documents said. Police said they later found the bat in Tantillo’s car.
Another time, Rappa allegedly sent photos of his business to the victim late at night — just to let her know they had been there.
It got worse when the men stopped making payments, the feds said.
The bat allegedly used by the suspect to threaten the victim. USAO Suspects Diego Tantillo and Angelo Gradilone pictured together. USAO
On Sept. 22, 2020, someone set fire to his front steps while his wife and children were inside, court papers said. About a month later, someone broke into his business and tried to slash the tires on his garbage truck.
They somehow messed it up, though. So instead, they let the air out, according to the feds.
Two weeks later, on Oct. 29. 2020, a man allegedly attacked an unidentified demolition company worker with a hammer as a message to the owner of the garbage company — the two companies often share business, and hitting the man with the hammer scared both firms away in one fell swoop, the indictment states.
The attacker only stopped when another employee broke up the attack, and the bleeding victim was sent to hospital.
Vicari also forced the man’s father-in-law to take a knife and threatened to cut his son-in-law in half if he did not continue to make payments.
“Get this ax and you do him – two,” Vicari allegedly told the man, according to Rappa’s testimony captured on the intercepted phone call.
The money started flowing again, according to court papers. And when it did, Rappa sent the man a picture of Vicari toasting him with a small bottle of champagne.
Tantillo, Brooke and Johnson also tried to blackmail the demolition company and its unidentified owner, prosecutors said.
Tantillo and Brooke allegedly wanted $40,000 in payment — but when they didn’t pay, Brooke attacked one of them on a Midtown Manhattan street corner.
He beats the man until his face bleeds and his eyes are black – which convinces them to pay Tantillo $50,000 and a $3.9 million discount for using the facility they own.
The defendants also gave each other absentee jobs so they could get union benefits they weren’t eligible for, tried to cheat on offers for lucrative demolition jobs and embezzled from benefit plans by violating collective bargaining agreements, prosecutors said.
Arson allegedly committed by suspect.USAO
In February 2021, LaForte and Minsquero also allegedly beat a man known as “John Doe 6” who they thought was talking to police about the gang — right at a Midtown restaurant.
“That evening, John Doe 6, his girlfriend, and their friends went to Sei Less, a restaurant near West 38th Street and Broadway in Manhattan,” according to the indictment. “According to witnesses, while the group was waiting to pay their bill, LaForte and Minsquero approached their table.”
“LaForte called John Doe 6 a ‘rat,’ and hit [him] in the face with a bottle,” the allegation continued. “LaForte and Minsquero also overturned John Doe 6’s tables, sending drinks and broken glasses everywhere.”
The indictment outlines other attacks – some charged and some not – including Lanni and Minsquero’s aborted attempt to set fire to a restaurant in Toms River, New Jersey, after they were kicked out.
All 10 alleged masterminds were arrested on Wednesday — with Italian police arresting six more members of organized crime in a multi-continental sting.
“Today’s arrests reflect the commitment of this Office and our law enforcement partners, here and abroad, to keep our communities safe by thoroughly dismantling organized crime,” Peace said.
Nine of the defendants pleaded not guilty to the charges on Tuesday, according to a spokesman for the US Attorney’s Office.
Only one, Dilorenzo, was released on $500,000 bond Wednesday night.
Lanni, Johnson, Tantillo and Gradilone are all being held without bond after prosecutors argued they were violent and potentially intimidated witnesses.
Brooke, Rappa, Vicari, and Minsquero were each released on $1 million bond — but their release was put on hold for 24 hours so the government could appeal.
Louis Gelormino, Minsquaro’s defense attorney, told The Post his client “completely denies these allegations and expects a full investigation of the facts and hopes for a full exoneration.”
Laforte was not arraigned Wednesday because he is currently in prison in Pennsylvania and will be arraigned at a later date.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
