Drug and Weapons Indictment Added to Charges Against Reputed Mobster

An alleged mob associate from Staten Island who already faced a slew of federal charges after being nabbed in a massive organized crime sweep weeks ago, was indicted on several drug and weapons charges.

Tottenville resident Michael Urciuoli -- whom federal authorities say is known to his Bonanno family associates as "Mike the Electrician" -- is accused of stowing more than a pound of cocaine and several handguns in his Sprague Avenue home and his car.

During a raid of his home last weekend, police said they found the drugs in a shoebox in the rafters of the garage, in a duffel bag on a workbench and in a dresser, tucked underneath his wife's clothes. They also said they found chemicals to dilute the cocaine, as well as a digital scale, mixing bowls, a plastic spoon and a spatula, all bearing cocaine residue.

A loaded .22 caliber pistol with two boxes of ammo was discovered hidden in a pigeon coop in the garage, police said. When Urciuoli was pulled over in his Lincoln pickup in the 4300-block of Amboy Road, police said they also found four more ounces of cocaine and a loaded .25 caliber pistol in the armrest.

The 43-year-old man's wife, Susan Urciuoli, 40, was also charged.

The top count against both of them, first-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, carries the prospect of 25 years to life in prison if convicted.

The drug bust came just two and a half weeks after Urciuoli was charged in one of the biggest federal organized crime indictments in U.S. history. More than 80 people -- including almost the entire hierarchy of the Gambino crime family, and a few Bonanno crime family associates -- were arrested in the Feb. 6 sweep.

Federal authorities accused Urciuoli of conspiring to extort a granite company.

Urciuoli pleaded not guilty on Feb. 7 to the mob-related charges, and had his wife put up the Sprague Avenue house as collateral so he could make his $1 million bail the next day.

Last Sunday, he was sent back in jail on the new charges -- and, this time, was given no bail. His wife was released on her own recognizance after the couple's arraignment in Stapleton Criminal Court.

Urciuoli was scheduled to make an appearance Thursday in federal court in Brooklyn on the mob charges, but instead was held at Staten Island Supreme Court, possibly to appear before a grand jury.

A notice of indictment was filed with the court clerk today, and Urciuoli is expected back in Staten Island Supreme Court for an arraignment on the new charges this Wednesday.

He remained remanded without bail.

Thanks to Peter N. Spencer

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Genovese Mob Boss Heading to Prison

Danny "The Lion" Leo, acting boss of the Genovese organized crime family, was sentenced to 60 months in prison Thursday following his guilty plea in federal court last October to two counts of extortion, U.S. Attorney Michael Garcia said.

At the same court hearing Thursday, Leo's nephew and chief lieutenant, Joseph Leo, received a 45-month prison sentence. Joseph Leo had pleaded guilty in October to one count of extortion, prosecutors said.

Court documents said between 2002 and 2006 both Danny and Joseph Leo used threats of violence against a business owner to force him to repay loans and debts made to him by the members of the Genovese crime family.

The documents also said Danny Leo extorted the owners and operators of an illegal gambling business by threatening violence and economic harm in order to force them to make payments to the Genovese crime family.

Investigators said the Genovese organized crime family, once led by the late Vincent "The Chin" Gigante, is the most powerful organized crime family in the United States.

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The History of Organized Crime Control of Gay Bars

I had a reader send me a link to the the History of Gay Bars in New York City from 1900 to the present. In addition to the Big Apple, you can also read accounts regarding the history of gay bars in Chicago, Montreal, Philadelphia and Washington DC.

Mob buffs will be most interested in the New York articles which include several accounts of involvement by the Bonannos, Colombos, Gambinos, Genoveses, and Luccheses crime families.

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