MICHAEL J. GARCIA, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that Acting Boss of the Genovese Organized Crime Family, DANNY LEO, a/k/a “The Lion,” 66, and his primary lieutenant and nephew, JOSEPH LEO, 45, pleaded guilty today to charges of extortion. DANNY and JOSEPH LEO pleaded guilty in Manhattan federal court before United States Magistrate Judge ANDREW J. PECK.
According to the Indictment and statements made during bail hearings and the guilty pleas:
From 2002 to November 30, 2006, DANNY LEO and JOSEPH LEO agreed to extort a business owner ("Victim-1") by threatening Victim-1 with physical violence and other harm if he did not make prompt repayment of various loans and debts. Also, from about January 2003 to January 2006, DANNY LEO agreed to extort the owners and operators of an illegal gambling business involved in interstate commerce ("Victim-2" and "Victim-3"). DANNY LEO and other members and associates of the Genovese Organized Crime Family, agreed to use threats of economic harm and violence to force Victim-2 and Victim-3 to make payments to a member of the Genovese Organized Crime Family.
DANNY LEO pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiring to commit extortion. Magistrate Judge PECK ordered both defendants to continue to be detained. JOSEPH LEO pleaded guilty to one count of extortion. DANNY LEO faces a maximum sentence of 40 years’ imprisonment and a maximum fine of $250,000. JOSEPH LEO faces a maximum sentence of 20 years’ imprisonment and a maximum fine of $250,000.
Mr. GARCIA praised the work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the New York City Police Department, and the New York State Police in this investigation. Assistant United States Attorneys ERIC SNYDER and BENJAMIN GRUENSTEIN are in charge of the prosecution.
Friday, November 02, 2007
FBI Made "Deal with the Devil"
A former FBI agent accused of conspiring in a mob murder spree has been cleared of the sensational charges, but the vaunted law enforcement agency received a scathing rebuke from a judge in the process.
In a four-page decision that brought the trial of ex-agent Lindley DeVecchio to a stunning end Thursday, state Supreme Court Justice Gustin Reichbach said the FBI violated its own rules by allowing DeVecchio to court a known killer as an informant for well over a decade.
"In the face of the obvious menace posed by organized crime, the FBI was willing ... to make a deal with the devil," Reichbach said in a hushed Brooklyn courtroom. "At best, the FBI engaged in a policy of self-deception, not wanting to know the true facts about this informant-murderer whom they chose to employ."
The judge also referred to testimony by Linda Schiro, informant Gregory Scarpa's longtime girlfriend, that Scarpa had assisted the FBI in finding the bodies of slain civil rights workers in Mississippi. In 1964, she said, Scarpa shoved a gun into the mouth of a Mississippi Klansman — a threat that persuaded the man to reveal where the trio's bodies were buried.
"That a thug like Scarpa would be employed by the federal government to beat witnesses and threaten them at gunpoint to obtain information ... is a shocking demonstration of the government's unacceptable willingness to employ criminality to fight crime," the judge said.
Prosecutors had built their case on the word of Schiro, a mob mistress since she met Scarpa at age 16. Their hopes imploded Tuesday when two reporters surfaced with decade-old interviews showing that back then, she implicated DeVecchio in only one murder — not the four she testified about under oath.
District Attorney Charles Hynes said Thursday prosecutors would not have brought the case if they had heard the tapes beforehand. "It's that simple. We would not have prosecuted because it would have been so damaging to the central part of our case that it would have been unthinkable to proceed," he told reporters.
The judge threw out the case mid-trial, and DeVecchio walked out a free man to the applause of friends and former colleagues. "After almost two years, this nightmare is over," said DeVecchio, referring to the time since his indictment. "My question is, `Where do I go to get back my reputation?'"
Allegations about leaks from DeVecchio to the ruthless mobster known as "The Grim Reaper" began after Scarpa's 1994 death in a prison in Minnesota. A Department of Justice internal investigation found no reason to prosecute DeVecchio, who retired to Florida in 1996. But in March 2006, Brooklyn prosecutors announced DeVecchio's indictment on four murder counts, alleging the FBI agent had cooperated with the Colombo capo between 1987 and 1992 in exchange for cash, stolen jewelry, liquor — even prostitutes.
It wasn't until Schiro began testifying this week that the case reached its unexpected conclusion. The key prosecution witness was the lone direct link between DeVecchio and the murders.
Once she finished her first day of testimony, veteran reporter Tom Robbins came forward with tapes made in 1997, when he and fellow journalist Jerry Capeci interviewed Schiro for a never-published book.
Her account "was so disturbingly different, we couldn't sit on it," Robbins said outside court after the dismissal.
Schiro now faces possible perjury charges, said Assistant District Attorney Michael Vecchione. Because of the double jeopardy rule that a person can't be tried twice for the same crime, DeVecchio is free and clear of the charges.
A court-appointed attorney for Schiro said she stood by her recent sworn testimony, despite the discrepancies raised by the book interview. "She told the truth in court under oath," said the lawyer, Gary Farrell.
To celebrate the case's collapse, DeVecchio went to Sparks Steak House, the site of a notorious 1985 mob murder. Mafia boss "Big Paul" Castellano was gunned down outside the Manhattan eatery in a hit that eventually led to John Gotti's ascension as boss of the Gambino crime family.
"The food is good," DeVecchio said as he, his wife, lawyers and friends popped a bottle of champagne, according to the New York Post.
Thanks to Tom Hays
In a four-page decision that brought the trial of ex-agent Lindley DeVecchio to a stunning end Thursday, state Supreme Court Justice Gustin Reichbach said the FBI violated its own rules by allowing DeVecchio to court a known killer as an informant for well over a decade.
"In the face of the obvious menace posed by organized crime, the FBI was willing ... to make a deal with the devil," Reichbach said in a hushed Brooklyn courtroom. "At best, the FBI engaged in a policy of self-deception, not wanting to know the true facts about this informant-murderer whom they chose to employ."The judge also referred to testimony by Linda Schiro, informant Gregory Scarpa's longtime girlfriend, that Scarpa had assisted the FBI in finding the bodies of slain civil rights workers in Mississippi. In 1964, she said, Scarpa shoved a gun into the mouth of a Mississippi Klansman — a threat that persuaded the man to reveal where the trio's bodies were buried.
"That a thug like Scarpa would be employed by the federal government to beat witnesses and threaten them at gunpoint to obtain information ... is a shocking demonstration of the government's unacceptable willingness to employ criminality to fight crime," the judge said.
Prosecutors had built their case on the word of Schiro, a mob mistress since she met Scarpa at age 16. Their hopes imploded Tuesday when two reporters surfaced with decade-old interviews showing that back then, she implicated DeVecchio in only one murder — not the four she testified about under oath.
District Attorney Charles Hynes said Thursday prosecutors would not have brought the case if they had heard the tapes beforehand. "It's that simple. We would not have prosecuted because it would have been so damaging to the central part of our case that it would have been unthinkable to proceed," he told reporters.
The judge threw out the case mid-trial, and DeVecchio walked out a free man to the applause of friends and former colleagues. "After almost two years, this nightmare is over," said DeVecchio, referring to the time since his indictment. "My question is, `Where do I go to get back my reputation?'"
Allegations about leaks from DeVecchio to the ruthless mobster known as "The Grim Reaper" began after Scarpa's 1994 death in a prison in Minnesota. A Department of Justice internal investigation found no reason to prosecute DeVecchio, who retired to Florida in 1996. But in March 2006, Brooklyn prosecutors announced DeVecchio's indictment on four murder counts, alleging the FBI agent had cooperated with the Colombo capo between 1987 and 1992 in exchange for cash, stolen jewelry, liquor — even prostitutes.
It wasn't until Schiro began testifying this week that the case reached its unexpected conclusion. The key prosecution witness was the lone direct link between DeVecchio and the murders.
Once she finished her first day of testimony, veteran reporter Tom Robbins came forward with tapes made in 1997, when he and fellow journalist Jerry Capeci interviewed Schiro for a never-published book.
Her account "was so disturbingly different, we couldn't sit on it," Robbins said outside court after the dismissal.
Schiro now faces possible perjury charges, said Assistant District Attorney Michael Vecchione. Because of the double jeopardy rule that a person can't be tried twice for the same crime, DeVecchio is free and clear of the charges.
A court-appointed attorney for Schiro said she stood by her recent sworn testimony, despite the discrepancies raised by the book interview. "She told the truth in court under oath," said the lawyer, Gary Farrell.
To celebrate the case's collapse, DeVecchio went to Sparks Steak House, the site of a notorious 1985 mob murder. Mafia boss "Big Paul" Castellano was gunned down outside the Manhattan eatery in a hit that eventually led to John Gotti's ascension as boss of the Gambino crime family.
"The food is good," DeVecchio said as he, his wife, lawyers and friends popped a bottle of champagne, according to the New York Post.
Thanks to Tom Hays
Thursday, November 01, 2007
Mafia Presidential Candidate Polling Results
Las week, Rudy Giuliani was reported to have been saved from assassination by the Mafia twenty years ago by a vote of the five crime family bosses. Two voted to have him killed and three voted to let him live. That's a sixty percent approval rating anyway you cut it.
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Timeline: key figures, dates in 2000 Winnebago County jail lawsuit
The following are key events in the ongoing alleged jail overcrowding lawsuit in Winnebago County:
1976
* Winnebago County jail on State Street opens with 394 beds.
1989
* Timothy Chatmon imprisoned on alleged murder charges that were ultimately dropped years later. He currently awaits pardon from governor on the charge.
1993
* Voters reject proposed property tax increase to pay for 300-bed addition to existing jail.
1994
* Chatmon said attorney John F. Heckinger Jr. approached him to be a plaintiff in an alleged jail overcrowding lawsuit with inmate James Thomas.
* Heckinger files a similar lawsuit in nearby Stephenson County.
1995
* State Sen. Dave Syverson (R-34, Rockford) sponsors a bill that would allow certain counties to impose a sales tax for “public safety purposes.” In effect, the bill would switch funding sources for changes to the jail from property taxes to sales taxes.
* Winnebago County Board Chairman Gene Quinn (R) testifies in Springfield in support of Syverson’s bill.
* Chatmon is released from jail in February on appeals bond, only to be re-imprisoned about four months later by local officials on disputed drug and weapon charges.
1996
* Syverson’s bill becomes Illinois law.
1997
* Winnebao County agrees to settle first jail lawsuit, which includes a three-year moratorium on jail lawsuits. Chatmon said he received nothing from the settlement.
2000
* Jail lawsuit moratorium expires, and soon after a new jail lawsuit is filed in March.
* Chatmon said Heckinger asked him in March to be a plaintiff in a second alleged jail overcrowding lawsuit. Chatmon said the lawsuit was supposed to be about unsanitary conditions in the jail, but it devolved into a lawsuit about building a large, new jail.
* Chatmon earns parole, and is released from prison in December. He and his wife move to Texas after his release about one year later.
2001
* Winnebago County State’s Attorney Paul Logli chooses private practice attorney Paul R. Cicero to represent the county’s interests in the jail lawsuit.
* Chatmon’s son, Timothy C. Chatmon Jr., is jailed on robbery and weapons charges.
* Chatmon’s son is added as a plaintiff to the jail lawsuit because “there was a threat that the suit would be thrown out because I was out of jail,” Chatmon said.
2002
* Voters approve referendum for county-wide, one percentage-point, sales tax increase to be used for “public safety purposes.” The referendum campaign capitalized on citizen fears of criminals being released into the community, due to lack of jail beds.
2003
* Heckinger is charged by the state with unauthorized use of his clients’ money “for his own business or personal purposes,” and commingling one of his client’s funds.
* Winnebago County sales tax increases from 6.25 to 7.25 percent to pay for new jail and other public safety programs.
County agrees in federal court to build new jail.
* Winnebago County Board approves paying Chatmon’s attorneys $152,707.
2004
* Chatmon files a motion to “nullify” the agreement that stipulated building the jail. He begins search for new legal representation. Chatmon said he was not aware and did not approve of the agreement to build the new jail.
* Chatmon’s motion is denied by Federal District Court Judge Philip G. Reinhard on grounds his petition was untimely.
Heckinger has his law license suspended for 60 days.
* Chatmon received a letter from Heckinger that said the issue of compensation “will be” addressed “in 2007 or later.”
* County begins buying property and destroying structures to make way for the 80-foot high, 588,000 square-foot facility.
* Construction work begins to build the 1,212-bed jail.
2006
*Chatmon’s attorneys file a motion to drop his personal claims, but want to continue to represent the “classes” in the lawsuit. The court grants Heckinger’s request to drop Chatmon’s personal claims from the lawsuit in early 2007.
2007
* New jail opens
* Heckinger and his lawsuit partner, Attorney Thomas E. Greenwald, seek an additional $185,711 to the $152,707 they have already been paid from Winnebago County taxpayers for a total of $343, 418.
* Meanwhile, Cicero’s private law firm Cicero and France, P. C., have already been paid $356,865 from 2001 to 2007 for their legal services.
* Chatmon continues his quest for compensation for his personal claims in court. However, he is forced into representing himself without an attorney, and prospects for compensation appear dim.
Thanks to Jeff Havens. Mr Havens is a former staff writer and award-winning reporter for The Rock River Times, a weekly newspaper in Rockford, Ill.
1976
* Winnebago County jail on State Street opens with 394 beds.
1989
* Timothy Chatmon imprisoned on alleged murder charges that were ultimately dropped years later. He currently awaits pardon from governor on the charge.
1993
* Voters reject proposed property tax increase to pay for 300-bed addition to existing jail.
1994
* Chatmon said attorney John F. Heckinger Jr. approached him to be a plaintiff in an alleged jail overcrowding lawsuit with inmate James Thomas.
* Heckinger files a similar lawsuit in nearby Stephenson County.
1995
* State Sen. Dave Syverson (R-34, Rockford) sponsors a bill that would allow certain counties to impose a sales tax for “public safety purposes.” In effect, the bill would switch funding sources for changes to the jail from property taxes to sales taxes.
* Winnebago County Board Chairman Gene Quinn (R) testifies in Springfield in support of Syverson’s bill.
* Chatmon is released from jail in February on appeals bond, only to be re-imprisoned about four months later by local officials on disputed drug and weapon charges.
1996
* Syverson’s bill becomes Illinois law.
1997
* Winnebao County agrees to settle first jail lawsuit, which includes a three-year moratorium on jail lawsuits. Chatmon said he received nothing from the settlement.
2000
* Jail lawsuit moratorium expires, and soon after a new jail lawsuit is filed in March.
* Chatmon said Heckinger asked him in March to be a plaintiff in a second alleged jail overcrowding lawsuit. Chatmon said the lawsuit was supposed to be about unsanitary conditions in the jail, but it devolved into a lawsuit about building a large, new jail.
* Chatmon earns parole, and is released from prison in December. He and his wife move to Texas after his release about one year later.
2001
* Winnebago County State’s Attorney Paul Logli chooses private practice attorney Paul R. Cicero to represent the county’s interests in the jail lawsuit.
* Chatmon’s son, Timothy C. Chatmon Jr., is jailed on robbery and weapons charges.
* Chatmon’s son is added as a plaintiff to the jail lawsuit because “there was a threat that the suit would be thrown out because I was out of jail,” Chatmon said.
2002
* Voters approve referendum for county-wide, one percentage-point, sales tax increase to be used for “public safety purposes.” The referendum campaign capitalized on citizen fears of criminals being released into the community, due to lack of jail beds.
2003
* Heckinger is charged by the state with unauthorized use of his clients’ money “for his own business or personal purposes,” and commingling one of his client’s funds.
* Winnebago County sales tax increases from 6.25 to 7.25 percent to pay for new jail and other public safety programs.
County agrees in federal court to build new jail.
* Winnebago County Board approves paying Chatmon’s attorneys $152,707.
2004
* Chatmon files a motion to “nullify” the agreement that stipulated building the jail. He begins search for new legal representation. Chatmon said he was not aware and did not approve of the agreement to build the new jail.
* Chatmon’s motion is denied by Federal District Court Judge Philip G. Reinhard on grounds his petition was untimely.
Heckinger has his law license suspended for 60 days.
* Chatmon received a letter from Heckinger that said the issue of compensation “will be” addressed “in 2007 or later.”
* County begins buying property and destroying structures to make way for the 80-foot high, 588,000 square-foot facility.
* Construction work begins to build the 1,212-bed jail.
2006
*Chatmon’s attorneys file a motion to drop his personal claims, but want to continue to represent the “classes” in the lawsuit. The court grants Heckinger’s request to drop Chatmon’s personal claims from the lawsuit in early 2007.
2007
* New jail opens
* Heckinger and his lawsuit partner, Attorney Thomas E. Greenwald, seek an additional $185,711 to the $152,707 they have already been paid from Winnebago County taxpayers for a total of $343, 418.
* Meanwhile, Cicero’s private law firm Cicero and France, P. C., have already been paid $356,865 from 2001 to 2007 for their legal services.
* Chatmon continues his quest for compensation for his personal claims in court. However, he is forced into representing himself without an attorney, and prospects for compensation appear dim.
Thanks to Jeff Havens. Mr Havens is a former staff writer and award-winning reporter for The Rock River Times, a weekly newspaper in Rockford, Ill.
Chicago-Style Clout in Winnebago County?
Attorneys representing Winnebago County’s interests in the nearly concluded federal jail lawsuit have already been paid $356,865 for legal services by the county from 2001 to 2007.
Attorney Paul R. Cicero of Cicero and France, P.C., also represented the county during Winnebago County’s first jail lawsuit, which spanned from 1994 to 1997. Figures regarding how much the firm was paid for the first jail lawsuit were not available at time of publication.
According to a source familiar with the selection process, Cicero was chosen to represent the county in the current jail lawsuit because of their “expertise,” and due to a lack of adequate staffing, time and resources in the county’s civil litigation division. The source wished to remain anonymous, due to their present occupation.
The source also said no county officials examined Cicero and France’s invoices before payment was made to verify the accuracy of the billings.
Clout counts?
In addition to expertise and lack of staff, clout may have also been a factor in the selection of Cicero as the county’s attorney in the two jail lawsuits.
According to the FBI file for Mob advisor Joseph Zito, Zito likely had interests in restaurant and bar known as the Playroom Lounge at 206 N. Church St. Cicero’s father, Mathew P. Cicero, who was also an attorney, was vice president and secretary of YDZ Corporation, which operated the Play Room.
Zito died in 1981. His funeral was attended by Chicago Mob boss Joseph Aiuppa, who died in 1997.
A July 17, 1969 article in the Rockford Morning Star indicated, Mat Cicero represented Anthony F. Calcione “in legal battles to keep the Play Room open after [former Rockford Mayor Benjamin] Schleicher refused to re-issue the lounge’s city license...until it obtain[ed] a state license.” The article indicated that YDZ’s corporation office was listed as Mat Cicero’s law office.
A different source familiar with the Rockford Mob structure alleged Calcione was a Mob associate who once operated two brothels in the Rockford area in the 1940s. Calcione died March 8, 1993 at age 79. A news article from the June 11, 1949 Rockford Register Republic regarding one of the brothels supports the sources’ assertion.
Paul Cicero did not respond to a question left at his office with his receptionist regarding why he believed the county chose him as their attorney. The receptionist said jail lawsuit questions are normally answered by the Winnebago County State’s Attorney’s office.
Thanks to Jeff Havens. Mr. Havens is a former staff writer and award-winning reporter for The Rock River Times, a weekly newspaper in Rockford, Ill.
Attorney Paul R. Cicero of Cicero and France, P.C., also represented the county during Winnebago County’s first jail lawsuit, which spanned from 1994 to 1997. Figures regarding how much the firm was paid for the first jail lawsuit were not available at time of publication.
According to a source familiar with the selection process, Cicero was chosen to represent the county in the current jail lawsuit because of their “expertise,” and due to a lack of adequate staffing, time and resources in the county’s civil litigation division. The source wished to remain anonymous, due to their present occupation.
The source also said no county officials examined Cicero and France’s invoices before payment was made to verify the accuracy of the billings.
Clout counts?
In addition to expertise and lack of staff, clout may have also been a factor in the selection of Cicero as the county’s attorney in the two jail lawsuits.
According to the FBI file for Mob advisor Joseph Zito, Zito likely had interests in restaurant and bar known as the Playroom Lounge at 206 N. Church St. Cicero’s father, Mathew P. Cicero, who was also an attorney, was vice president and secretary of YDZ Corporation, which operated the Play Room.
Zito died in 1981. His funeral was attended by Chicago Mob boss Joseph Aiuppa, who died in 1997.
A July 17, 1969 article in the Rockford Morning Star indicated, Mat Cicero represented Anthony F. Calcione “in legal battles to keep the Play Room open after [former Rockford Mayor Benjamin] Schleicher refused to re-issue the lounge’s city license...until it obtain[ed] a state license.” The article indicated that YDZ’s corporation office was listed as Mat Cicero’s law office.
A different source familiar with the Rockford Mob structure alleged Calcione was a Mob associate who once operated two brothels in the Rockford area in the 1940s. Calcione died March 8, 1993 at age 79. A news article from the June 11, 1949 Rockford Register Republic regarding one of the brothels supports the sources’ assertion.
Paul Cicero did not respond to a question left at his office with his receptionist regarding why he believed the county chose him as their attorney. The receptionist said jail lawsuit questions are normally answered by the Winnebago County State’s Attorney’s office.
Thanks to Jeff Havens. Mr. Havens is a former staff writer and award-winning reporter for The Rock River Times, a weekly newspaper in Rockford, Ill.
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