Mob Turncoat Allowing State to Bring More Drug Charges

He's the rat who keeps on giving. The state is about to make a raft of new drug arrests courtesy of Mafia turncoat Joseph Vollaro, who has already helped hobble the Gambino crime family, the Daily News has learned.

Picking up where the feds left off, the state attorney general's office will soon start collaring about a dozen suspects on narcotics charges, sources said.

"It's going to be big," said a source with knowledge of the case.

Vollaro was a drug dealer before he began making money hand-over-fist in construction rackets with the Gambinos. When state investigators nailed him with a kilo of cocaine, the mob wanna-be eagerly flipped and began secretly recording mobsters and drug customers.

Several suspects have been approached recently by investigators and warned they face felony charges and long jail sentences. Unlike Joey the Rat, they have refused to cooperate and hired defense attorneys.

Those facing arrest are not tied to organized crime although Vollaro tried to entice Gambino associates into drug deals without success, sources said.

"I'm gonna do what I gotta do," Vollaro is heard saying as a preamble on taped recordings he made for law enforcement as he was about to embark on a drug deal.

Vollaro was en route to a drug sale three years ago when state investigators pulled over his car near Amboy Road on Staten Island. His customers watched from a distance as he was handcuffed and hauled away.

"Then he's back on the street a few hours later and he's trying to explain himself," said another source. "He said he had the drugs hidden in a trap (in his car) and they didn't find it. They (Vollaro's criminal associates) were suspicious but they didn't follow up to see if he was a rat because he was making money for them. It came down to greed."

If Vollaro ever makes his singing debut in a courtroom, there's a lot more dirt known about the shady businessman's activities now - including illegal dumping, money laundering and a previous marriage - than last February when prosecutors dropped a 62-defendant indictment on the Gambinos.

Vollaro's pregnant wife, Trish, hasn't entered the witness protection program with her hubby and their dogs, prompting speculation by the couple's acquaintances about her loyalties and trouble in their marriage.

"Lots of times they make it seem like (the wife) is angry at him and then she eventually goes into the program too," said another source.

Trish Vollaro is to be deposed in a civil case next month relating to the beating of 19-year-old Christopher Costantino outside her Docks Restaurant in Staten Island in 2004 that left him brain-damaged and in a wheelchair.

Several witnesses have claimed Joseph Vollaro was involved although it's unclear if he struck the victim, said Costantino's lawyer Evan Goldberg.

Thanks to John Marzulli

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Did Federal Prosecutor Make Eyes at Mobster in Court?

Reputed mob hitman Frank "The German" Schweihs -- once among the most feared men in the Chicago Outfit -- wasted little time Tuesday showing that the cancer that ravaged his body has not softened his attitude.

"You making eyes at me?" Schweihs said from his wheelchair to a federal prosecutor during a status hearing in his criminal case."Yeah you, you making eyes at me? Do I look like a fag to you?" Schweihs asked.

Prosecutors ignored Schweihs' remarks and continued to take care of the routine business of his upcoming trial, scheduled to begin in October. Schweihs, 78, was originally to be tried along with five other defendants in the historic Family Secrets federal prosecution against the Chicago mob. But a battle with cancer made him too sick to go to trial with the other men, including Joseph "Joey the Clown" Lombardo, Frank Calabrese Sr. and James "Little Jimmy" Marcello, who were convicted.

Schweihs, looking pale and gaunt, first asked his attorneys if they were in a foreign country after apparently noticing that one of the prosecutors wears a turban. Schweihs has a history of making racially insensitive remarks and has shown over the years a disdain for a wide variety of people. Schweihs later referred to another federal prosecutor in court as "another a--hole."

U.S. District Judge James Zagel did not reprimand Schweihs but ended the hearing quickly after his last remark.

One of Schweihs' attorneys, Ellen Domph, said outside court that Schweihs is usually "very polite."

Thanks to Steve Warmbir

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Gotti's Daughter Sued by Book Publisher

A book publisher has sued the daughter of the late Mafia don John Gotti for the return of a $70,000 advance she was paid to write a memoir she never delivered.

HarperCollins Publishers LLC says in court papers filed Thursday in Manhattan that the book was due Nov. 1, 2005.

Last September, Victoria Gotti notified HarperCollins she was terminating the contract.

The publisher's lawsuit filed in Manhattan says did not return the $70,000 advance.

Gotti's literary agent Frank Weiman says he'll get another deal for his client, and then she'll give back the money to the publisher.

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85% of Retailers Have Been Hit by Organized Crime in the Past Year

With growing numbers of retailers falling prey to organized crime rings, the businesses are fighting back by increasing detection and dismantling these groups, according to a survey by the National Retail Federation.

On Wednesday, the NRF released its 2008 Organized Retail Crime report, finding that 68 percent of retailers nationwide reported having identified or recovered stolen merchandise and/or gift cards from a fence location. That's up from 61 percent in 2007.

Movement of stolen merchandise is increasingly occurring online, being sold through third-party auction sites, according to the NRF report, making it easier for crime rings to maintain anonymity. It also found that 85 percent of retailers said they had been victimized by organized crime over the past year, which is up from 79 percent in 2007.

"Law enforcement and retailers alike are fed up with organized retail crime rings and are stepping up efforts to stop them in their tracks," Joseph LaRocca, NRF vice president of loss prevention, said in a statement. "The brazen and unethical behavior of organized retail crime suspects results in possible health risks for consumers, adds unnecessary fees to consumers' purchases and funds criminal enterprises, including the mob and terrorist organizations around the world."

LaRocca said organized retail crime continues to proliferate as retailers that have not been traditional targets are increasingly being victimized.

"Retailers who have been affected by organized retail crime for several years may not be seeing increases, but the problem continues to grow as more retailers are being impacted," he said.

The NRF survey also found that the average retailer is now spending $230,000 a year on labor costs to combat organized retail crime, although some spend far higher amounts. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, organized retail crime accounts for as much as $30 billion in retail losses every year in the United States.

The NRF, based in Washington, D.C., is the world's largest trade association, representing 1.6 million U.S. retail businesses.

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Cruelest Felonies in New York City Committed by Albanian Mafia

The Albanian organized crime groups, operating largely in New York City, are carrying out serious criminal offenses, Manhattan Attorney Michael Garcia said.

"Albanian extremist crime groups have emerged in the city and became more active. So far, we cannot say whether these groups dominate, but they commit the cruelest felonies," Garcia said.

Albanian organized crime penetrated in the European Union countries as well as in the United States since the start of the war in Kosovo, when Albanians were granted a status of ethnic refugees, Russian Ria Novosti news agency said.

A number of experts estimate that Albanian narco-mafia was directly linked with Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), seen by many US experts as terrorist group.

Experts say the Balkan route provides 25-40% of the entire heroine market in the United States.

FBI says in its report that Albanian mafia have emerged as a serious organized crime problem, threatening to displace La Cosa Nostra families as kingpins of U.S. crime.

Official statistical data show that in New York only, there are around 150.000 Albanians - migrants from Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro and Albania.

Thanks to Maxfax

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