The Chicago Syndicate
The Mission Impossible Backpack

Wednesday, April 19, 2017

Reputed Mafia Leader Denied Bail

The alleged leader of a clan within the Montreal Mafia was denied bail in a cocaine trafficking case along with one of his co-accused.

Andrea (Andrew) Scoppa, 53, a resident of Île Bizard, registered little reaction as Quebec Court Judge Serge Boisvert listed off the reasons Scoppa was being denied a release in Project Estacade, an investigation into drug trafficking in Montreal and Laval conducted by the Regional Integrated Squad. On Feb. 1, eight people, including Scoppa, were charged in Project Estacade at the Montreal courthouse, and another small group of men were charged in Laval.

Fazio Malatesta, 48, was also denied bail as part of the same hearing where Boisvert heard evidence over the course of three days in April. A publication ban has been placed on the evidence. Because of the seriousness of the charges the men face, they were required to prove they merited a release, as opposed to the normal standard where the Crown is required to prove they should be detained. One reason Boisvert cited in his decision was that a well informed member of the public, aware of the evidence gathered in the case, would lose faith in the justice system if the men were released at this point in their case.

Scoppa and Malatesta are both charged with conspiring to traffic in drugs, drug trafficking and possession of cocaine with the intent to traffic in cocaine.

Pizzeria Owner Gets 18 Years Prison in Mafia-Linked Drug Case

A New York pizzeria owner was sentenced to 18 years in prison for trafficking more than 50 kg (110 lb) of cocaine into the United States from Costa Rica, in a case born out of a probe into an Italian organized crime group.

Gregorio Gigliotti, 61, and his son Angelo were convicted by a federal jury in Brooklyn in July of crimes including conspiracy to import cocaine. The elder Gigliotti was also found guilty of two firearms offenses.

The pair were arrested in March 2015, two months before U.S. and Italian authorities said they arrested 13 people on related charges for taking part in a drug trafficking ring in Italy's southern Calabria region.

Calabria is home to 'Ndrangheta, Italy's richest and most powerful criminal organization, which U.S. authorities say has conducted drug smuggling and trafficking in New York with members in Calabria and Toronto, Canada.

Federal prosecutors said Gigliotti and his son used their family-run Italian restaurant Cucino Amodo Mio in Corona, Queens, as well as a produce importation company, Fresh Farm Export Corp, to provide cover for drug trafficking for 'Ndrangheta.

Gigliotti's son is awaiting sentencing and faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years in prison. Gigliotti's wife Eleonora, who has admitted conspiring to import cocaine, faces a minimum of five years behind bars, prosecutors said.

A lawyer for the elder Gigliotti did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Joe McMahon, an attorney for Gigliotti's son, said he was working with U.S. authorities to try to reduce his client's mandatory minimum sentence.

Between October and December of 2014, police seized approximately 55 kg (121 lbs) of cocaine that had been hidden in cardboard boxes containing cassava and sent to the family by co-conspirators in Costa Rica.

Some of the drugs imported to the United States were destined to be exported for distribution in Italy, according to prosecutors.

When Gigliotti and his son were arrested, police who searched their restaurant seized items including seven firearms, ammunition, brass knuckles, and a handwritten ledger listing transactions of hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Reported by Gina Cherelus.

Tuesday, April 18, 2017

Expo on @Border_Security Discussed Priorities in Security, Enforcement, and Organized Crime #BSE17

Industry leaders and government officials came together last week for the annual Border Security Expo, where they discussed new priorities and opportunities in border security and immigration enforcement.

This was the second time the three-day expo has been held in San Antonio, and the second time the Border Patrol Foundation has hosted a demo day where everyone gets to test some of the latest equipment and weapons.

“This year’s expo is especially relevant since there is a new administration in place and a new approach to managing our borders,” said Thomas Winkowski, advisory board chairman for the Border Security Expo.

Days after President Donald Trump took office, he issued two executive orders targeting border security and illegal immigration. These orders redefined border security and elevated the standards and expectations from those tasked with securing the border to levels higher than they’ve ever been.

Trump not only wants the Department of Homeland Security to build a border wall but wants to end all illegal immigration, something many here see as a new business opportunity. The expo this year attracted some 200 attendees from 37 states and 14 countries, most with hopes of networking with local, state, federal and international government decision-makers.

More than 100 vendors selling anything from armored vehicles to drones showcased their products at the convention center’s exhibit hall, while panelists discussed biometrics, cyber security and ways to counter transnational organized crime.

Keynote speakers including Deputy Director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Daniel Ragsdale and Chief of the U.S. Border Patrol Ronald Vitiello spoke about the importance of border experts coming together every year for the expo to share ideas from both the public and private sectors.

“People don’t realize the necessary relationships, the work that we do together,” Vitiello said to a crowd mostly comprised of entrepreneurs and law enforcement officials. “The innovation, the technology, the logistics, the information that you help us with, it’s important because your products help us meet the mission.”

Monday, April 17, 2017

Since Yesterday: The 1930's in America

Heralded by the New York Times as “a shrewd, concise, wonderfully written account of America in the ’30s . . . a reminder of why history matters,” the bestselling sequel to Only Yesterday illuminates the events that brought America back from the brink

Published in 1940, Since Yesterday: The 1930's in America, September 3, 1929 to September 3, 1939, takes up where Lewis’s classic leaves off. Opening on September 3, 1929, in the days before the stock market crash, this information-packed volume takes us through one of America’s darkest times all the way to the light at the end of the tunnel.

Following Black Tuesday, America plunged into the Great Depression. Panic and fear gripped the nation. Banks were closing everywhere. In some cities, 84 percent of the population was unemployed and starving. When Franklin D. Roosevelt took office in 1933, public confidence in the nation slowly began to grow, and by 1936, the industrial average, which had plummeted in 1929 from 125 to fifty-eight, had risen again to almost one hundred. But America still had a long road ahead. Popular historian Frederick Lewis Allen brings to life these ten critical years. With wit and empathy, he draws a devastating economic picture of small businesses swallowed up by large corporations--a ruthless bottom line not so different from what we see today. Allen also chronicles the decade’s lighter side: the fashions, morals, sports, and candid cameras that were revolutionizing Americans’ lives.

From the Lindbergh kidnapping to the New Deal, from the devastating dust storms that raged through our farmlands to the rise of Benny Goodman, the public adoration of Shirley Temple, and our mass escape to the movies, this book is a hopeful and powerful reminder of why history matters.

MS-13 Gangster Pleads Guilty to Attempted Murder of Rival Gang Member

A member of MS-13’s East Boston Loco Salvatrucha (EBLS) clique pleaded guilty in connection with the assault of a rival gang member in East Boston.

Christian Alvarado, a/k/a “Catracho,” 28, of East Boston, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to conduct enterprise affairs through a pattern of racketeering activity, more commonly referred to as racketeering or RICO conspiracy, and conspiracy to distribute 100 grams or more of heroin. U.S. District Court Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV scheduled sentencing for July 6, 2017.

After a three-year investigation, Alvarado was one of 61 persons named in a January 2016 superseding indictment targeting the criminal activities of alleged leaders, members, and associates of MS-13 in Massachusetts. As alleged in court documents, MS-13 was identified as a violent transnational criminal organization whose branches or “cliques” operate throughout the United States, including in Massachusetts. MS-13 members are required to commit acts of violence to maintain membership and discipline within the group. Specifically, MS-13 members are required to attack and murder gang rivals whenever possible.

On May 11, 2008, Alvarado and other MS-13 members, including fellow EBLS member Edgar Pleitez, also known as “Cadejo,” attempted to murder a gang rival by beating him near a soccer stadium in East Boston. Alvarado also allegedly conspired with Santos Portillo-Andrade, also known as “Flaco,” the leader of the EBLS clique, and Pleitez to distribute 100 grams or more of heroin. On several occasions in August 2015, Alvarado and Pleitez were recorded selling heroin to a cooperating witness. In addition, using a court-authorized wiretap, federal agents intercepted telephone calls between Alvarado and Portillo-Andrade in which the two men allegedly discussed selling a half-kilogram of heroin for $26,000. On Oct. 26, 2015, agents followed Alvarado and Portillo-Andrade to the sale, after which, the agents stopped Alvarado and Portillo-Andrade’s car and seized $26,000 in cash as well as a loaded firearm and a machete.

The RICO conspiracy charge provides for a sentence of no greater than 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of $250,000. The charge of conspiracy to distribute 100 grams or more of heroin provides for a mandatory minimum sentence of five years and no greater than 40 years in prison, a minimum of four years and up to a lifetime of supervised release, and a fine of up to $8 million.

Alvarado is the thirteenth defendant to plead guilty in this case. Other defendants have pleaded guilty to RICO conspiracy, drug trafficking, document fraud, and immigration offenses.

Affliction!

Affliction Sale

Flash Mafia Book Sales!