Reputed Mafia associate Arthur Gianelli of Lynnfield headed a sprawling criminal enterprise whose members were involved in gambling, money laundering, loan sharking, arson, and extortion, a federal prosecutor said this morning.
Gianelli, 51, and his three co-defendants "committed hundreds of crimes between 1999 and 2005," Assistant US Attorney Fred Wyshak Jr. said during opening statements at their racketeering trial in federal court.
Millions of dollars flowed through the organization's gambling operation, which took bets on football games and later shifted its operation from Massachusetts to an Internet operation in Costa Rica. The organization also created phony companies to hide profits, Wyshak said.
Wyshak said Gianelli had ties to the Mafia, making weekly payments to reputed New England underboss Carmen "Cheese Man" DiNunzio. "It was that association between this organization and organized crime that allowed Gianelli to flex his muscle, that allowed Gianelli to make people pay money that didn't want to pay," Wyshak said. "Gianelli is under the umbrella of the Mafia."
But Gianelli's lawyer, Robert Sheketoff, told jurors that, based on the government's theory of the case, Gianelli would have been a victim of DiNunzio because of the payments he was forced to make. Also on trial are Dennis Albertelli, 56, and his wife, Gisele, 54, of Stow, and Frank Iacoboni, 65, of Leominster.
Gianelli is accused of using threats and intimidation in an unsuccessful bid to force the owners of two Boston bars to sell their businesses to him between 1998 and 2002.
Gianelli, Dennis Albertelli, and Iacoboni are also charged with arson for allegedly plotting to burn down the Big Dog Sports Grille in North Reading in 2003 in an attempt to intimidate the owners into selling them another bar that they were poised to open in Lynnfield.
Defense lawyers told jurors that the most serious charges in the case involve the extortion and arson, and urged them to be skeptical of those allegations and the witnesses who testify about them.
"This is not some extortion that took place in some back room," said Sheketoff, telling jurors that there was a legal dispute between Gianelli and the Big Dog owners after he invested heavily in their financially troubled business.
Calling one of the owners, Mark Colangelo, "a swindler and a thief,'' Sheketoff said "he took my client for $1 million and my client took him to court to get it back. The suggestion that he is a victim in this case is almost laughable.''
Gianelli's wife, Mary Ann, pleaded guilty yesterday to 19 counts of racketeering, money laundering, filing false tax returns, and illegally structuring cash transactions, just as she was about to stand trial with the others.
Thanks to Shelley Murphy
Monday, March 09, 2009
Saturday, March 07, 2009
Mafia Cops, Louis Eppolito and Stephen Caracappa, to "Rot!" in Prision for Life
The murderous "Mafia Cops," sentenced to die behind bars for eight mob-ordered executions, received a venomous sendoff Friday from the son of one victim: "Rot!"
A packed Brooklyn federal courtroom erupted in cheers as Vincent Lino unloaded on Louis Eppolito and Stephen Caracappa - the corrupt detective duo convicted of selling their badges to the Luchese crime family.
"These two lowlifes shot and killed my father," roared an angry Lino, whose mobbed-up dad, Edward, was killed for $65,000 in 1990. "May youse have a long life in prison," he said in a thick Brooklyn accent.
The portly Eppolito and his gaunt ex-partner sat quietly at the defense table for the final installment of their sordid career as cops-turned-contract-killers.
They earned $4,000 a month on the payroll of Luchese underboss Anthony (Gaspipe) Casso from 1986 to 1990 to orchestrate murders and pass along confidential police information, prosecutors said.
The daughter of victim Israel Greenwald, a jeweler kidnapped and killed by the pair, addressed her father as she stood before his murderers. "This evil crime robbed us of a lifetime of memories of you," said an emotional Yael Perlman, her eyes closed tight. "Daddy, I can't even bring myself to imagine the anguish you felt."
Eppolito - sporting a sprawling white mustache - turned red as Perlman spoke, while a scowling, unshaven Caracappa betrayed no reaction.
Eppolito, the son of a mobster, was sentenced to life plus 100 years; Caracappa received life plus 80 years. Each was fined more than $4 million.
Both declared their innocence despite a Brooklyn jury's resounding April 2006 verdict that established the pair as the most corrupt cops in NYPD history.
"I am innocent of all these charges," said the 67-year-old Caracappa. "And you'll never take away my will to prove how innocent I am."
Eppolito, 60, apologized to the families of the dead, but denied any role in killing them.
"The federal government can take my life," Eppolito said. "I'm a man. They can't take my soul. They can't take my pride. They can't take my dignity.
"I was a hardworking cop. I never hurt anybody. I never kidnapped anybody. ... I never did any of this."
Although the duo was jailed after their convictions, the sentencing was delayed. Brooklyn Federal Judge Jack Weinstein overturned the convictions on a technicality in 2006, but was reversed by an appeals court last September.
Weinstein handed down the lengthy terms after prosecutor Mitra Hormozi said the pair's "heinous offense" merited the life sentences.
Thanks to John Marzulli
A packed Brooklyn federal courtroom erupted in cheers as Vincent Lino unloaded on Louis Eppolito and Stephen Caracappa - the corrupt detective duo convicted of selling their badges to the Luchese crime family.
"These two lowlifes shot and killed my father," roared an angry Lino, whose mobbed-up dad, Edward, was killed for $65,000 in 1990. "May youse have a long life in prison," he said in a thick Brooklyn accent.
The portly Eppolito and his gaunt ex-partner sat quietly at the defense table for the final installment of their sordid career as cops-turned-contract-killers.
They earned $4,000 a month on the payroll of Luchese underboss Anthony (Gaspipe) Casso from 1986 to 1990 to orchestrate murders and pass along confidential police information, prosecutors said.
The daughter of victim Israel Greenwald, a jeweler kidnapped and killed by the pair, addressed her father as she stood before his murderers. "This evil crime robbed us of a lifetime of memories of you," said an emotional Yael Perlman, her eyes closed tight. "Daddy, I can't even bring myself to imagine the anguish you felt."
Eppolito - sporting a sprawling white mustache - turned red as Perlman spoke, while a scowling, unshaven Caracappa betrayed no reaction.
Eppolito, the son of a mobster, was sentenced to life plus 100 years; Caracappa received life plus 80 years. Each was fined more than $4 million.
Both declared their innocence despite a Brooklyn jury's resounding April 2006 verdict that established the pair as the most corrupt cops in NYPD history.
"I am innocent of all these charges," said the 67-year-old Caracappa. "And you'll never take away my will to prove how innocent I am."
Eppolito, 60, apologized to the families of the dead, but denied any role in killing them.
"The federal government can take my life," Eppolito said. "I'm a man. They can't take my soul. They can't take my pride. They can't take my dignity.
"I was a hardworking cop. I never hurt anybody. I never kidnapped anybody. ... I never did any of this."
Although the duo was jailed after their convictions, the sentencing was delayed. Brooklyn Federal Judge Jack Weinstein overturned the convictions on a technicality in 2006, but was reversed by an appeals court last September.
Weinstein handed down the lengthy terms after prosecutor Mitra Hormozi said the pair's "heinous offense" merited the life sentences.
Thanks to John Marzulli
Friday, March 06, 2009
Mario Rainone, Reputed Former Mob Enforcer, Arrested
A man once known as an enforcer for the Chicago mob has been indicted on a charge of illegal possession of a gun.
Fifty-four-year-old Mario Rainone was arrested on a charge of residential burglary on Feb. 13 and is currently being held by Lake County authorities in lieu of $500,000 bond.
The one-count federal indictment charged Rainone with being a career criminal in possession of a firearm. Police found the gun when they searched his home following his arrest.
Rainone was sentenced to 17 1/2 years in 1992 after pleading guilty to a racketeering charge. Prosecutors said he told a restaurant owner he would end up in his own walk-in freezer if he didn't pay $2,000 a month.
Fifty-four-year-old Mario Rainone was arrested on a charge of residential burglary on Feb. 13 and is currently being held by Lake County authorities in lieu of $500,000 bond.
The one-count federal indictment charged Rainone with being a career criminal in possession of a firearm. Police found the gun when they searched his home following his arrest.
Rainone was sentenced to 17 1/2 years in 1992 after pleading guilty to a racketeering charge. Prosecutors said he told a restaurant owner he would end up in his own walk-in freezer if he didn't pay $2,000 a month.
Thursday, March 05, 2009
Wife of Reputed Mafia Associate, Arthur Gianelli, Pleads Guilty
The wife of reputed Mafia associate Arthur Gianelli pleaded guilty to federal racketeering, money laundering, and other charges just as she was about to stand trial with him and three other people.
Mary Ann Gianelli, a 52-year-old nurse from Lynnfield and the sister-in-law of convicted former FBI agent John J. Connolly Jr., admitted that she helped her husband run his illegal gambling business after he was indicted on federal racketeering charges in 2005 and placed under house arrest.
Assistant US Attorney Michael Tabak told the judge that Arthur Gianelli used to personally collect cash from various locations where his bookmaking and video poker businesses operate, but hired another man to do it after his arrest. When that man was called to a federal grand jury in 2006, he revealed that he collected more than $10,000 a month for Gianelli, according to Tabak.
The man told the grand jury he stuffed the cash in a shoebox, then drove to a North End garage at lunchtime on the 16th of each month and left the box inside an unattended silver Mercedes parked in a predetermined spot.
Tabak said investigators conducted surveillance at the garage on the 16th of one month and "in came a silver Mercedes and Mrs. Gianelli was driving it."
The prosecutor said that if Mary Ann Gianelli had gone to trial the government would have proved she collected illegal proceeds from her husband's business, filed IRS returns in 2002 and 2003 falsely claiming that she drew legitimate income from a trucking company, and was involved in other wrongdoing.
Mary Ann Gianelli pleaded guilty to 19 counts of racketeering, money laundering, filing false tax returns, and illegal structuring of cash transactions. Under a plea agreement, the government dropped an additional 141 money laundering counts against her.
US District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton allowed her to remain free on bail and set sentencing for June 5. Prosecutors said they would recommend an 18-month jail term. Her lawyer said he would recommend probation with a period of house arrest.
"Mary Ann Gianelli played a minuscule role in the grand scheme of this case," said Boston attorney E. Peter Parker. "Her crimes consist solely of handling money in the wrong way. Her criminal conduct is out of character with the way she has lived her life."
He said she and her husband were high school sweathearts who have been married for 28 years and have two children.
Mary Ann Gianelli's sister, Elizabeth, is married to Connolly. Connolly is the once-decorated former FBI agent who was convicted of federal racketeering charges for protecting long-time informants James "Whitey" Bulger and Stephen "The Rifleman" Flemmi from prosecution. He was also convicted of murder in Florida in November for plotting with the two gangsters to orchestrate the 1982 slaying of a Boston businessman.
The Connolly and Gianelli families have had homes next to each other in Lynnfield for many years.
Jury selection is continuing today in the trial of her husband; Dennis Albertelli, 56, and his wife, Gisele, 54, of Stow; and Frank Iacoboni, 65, of Leominster. A dozen codefendants previously pleaded guilty. Opening statements in the trial are expected Thursday.
Thanks to Shelley Murphy
Mary Ann Gianelli, a 52-year-old nurse from Lynnfield and the sister-in-law of convicted former FBI agent John J. Connolly Jr., admitted that she helped her husband run his illegal gambling business after he was indicted on federal racketeering charges in 2005 and placed under house arrest.
Assistant US Attorney Michael Tabak told the judge that Arthur Gianelli used to personally collect cash from various locations where his bookmaking and video poker businesses operate, but hired another man to do it after his arrest. When that man was called to a federal grand jury in 2006, he revealed that he collected more than $10,000 a month for Gianelli, according to Tabak.
The man told the grand jury he stuffed the cash in a shoebox, then drove to a North End garage at lunchtime on the 16th of each month and left the box inside an unattended silver Mercedes parked in a predetermined spot.
Tabak said investigators conducted surveillance at the garage on the 16th of one month and "in came a silver Mercedes and Mrs. Gianelli was driving it."
The prosecutor said that if Mary Ann Gianelli had gone to trial the government would have proved she collected illegal proceeds from her husband's business, filed IRS returns in 2002 and 2003 falsely claiming that she drew legitimate income from a trucking company, and was involved in other wrongdoing.
Mary Ann Gianelli pleaded guilty to 19 counts of racketeering, money laundering, filing false tax returns, and illegal structuring of cash transactions. Under a plea agreement, the government dropped an additional 141 money laundering counts against her.
US District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton allowed her to remain free on bail and set sentencing for June 5. Prosecutors said they would recommend an 18-month jail term. Her lawyer said he would recommend probation with a period of house arrest.
"Mary Ann Gianelli played a minuscule role in the grand scheme of this case," said Boston attorney E. Peter Parker. "Her crimes consist solely of handling money in the wrong way. Her criminal conduct is out of character with the way she has lived her life."
He said she and her husband were high school sweathearts who have been married for 28 years and have two children.
Mary Ann Gianelli's sister, Elizabeth, is married to Connolly. Connolly is the once-decorated former FBI agent who was convicted of federal racketeering charges for protecting long-time informants James "Whitey" Bulger and Stephen "The Rifleman" Flemmi from prosecution. He was also convicted of murder in Florida in November for plotting with the two gangsters to orchestrate the 1982 slaying of a Boston businessman.
The Connolly and Gianelli families have had homes next to each other in Lynnfield for many years.
Jury selection is continuing today in the trial of her husband; Dennis Albertelli, 56, and his wife, Gisele, 54, of Stow; and Frank Iacoboni, 65, of Leominster. A dozen codefendants previously pleaded guilty. Opening statements in the trial are expected Thursday.
Thanks to Shelley Murphy
The Chinese Mafia/The Black Society/Hei Shehui within China Underground
How big is China? Bigger than you can wrap your mind around. Really. 1.3 billion people are hustling, trying to figure out what to do with themselves in a booming 21st century China. It’s a place that makes New York look boring, according to one author. A place where endless business opportunities come up against a stonewall, ironfisted government. A country where the only place to be different — a punk, a poet, a prostitute — is underground.
Taking months to research and travel around and hang out, Zachary Mexico executes in his first book what most merely wonder about. "China Underground" explores the untold stories of young, on-the-fringes Chinese men and women.
Drug dealers, wannabe rock stars, and even the Chinese mafia make an appearance in this fascinating collection of 16 true-life essays.
Here’s what Mexico had to say about his first effort:
JC: What was your initial fascination with China?
Mexico: I guess I started studying the language when I was 15. I went to boarding school in Massachusetts. I went there [China] the next year in 1995. And I guess I just found it to be a crazy, amazing place.
JC: Were these stories hard to find?
Mexico: Yes and no. I had twice as many and I took out the ones that I didn’t think were as good. Some people were hard to find. A couple of people I had known before. And I found a couple of people on the Internet. Some I met by chance.
JC: Which of the chapters was most difficult to research? Let me guess, was it the gay culture?
Mexico: That really was quite difficult. The city I had heard was a huge, gay hotbed. But it wasn’t or it was a complete lie. I went out to all these gay clubs and it was really difficult to get people to talk about it especially.
Another one that was difficult was the mafia guy and the drug dealer. Neither of those guys knew I was writing about them.
JC: Anything you wanted to include in the book, but didn’t make the cut?
Mexico: There were these guys who were making fake everything. Fake passports, fake bags, fake ID cards. In China, there’s fake everything. Even fake beer ... I went there [an area where they make the fake items] with a friend and they wouldn’t let me back in. And there were all these Chinese Rastafarians I was hanging out with, but at some point I couldn’t find them anymore.
JC: So, let’s talk about the mob. The Chinese mafia, the Black Society, or 'hei shehui.' What was most surprising about the Black Society? Anything you didn’t expect?
Mexico: I expected it to be this huge organized system where it’s secrets handed down from generation to generation, but it’s not. There’s no brotherhood. It’s not like the Sopranos. It’s not guys sitting down talking about territory. It’s more like gangs.
JC: You befriended a Chinese mafia member named Wang Dalong. You described his birthday party as an event filled with Mandarin pop love songs, cake fights, and lambshank barbecues. It sounds so magical. But then you talk about Dalong’s confession that he wants to go straight. And yet he cruises away from the scene just like a gangster. Part of him seems innocent and others seem well ... just like a gangster. He seems to be a bunch of contradictions. What was Dalong really like?
Mexico: I think anyone who is doing that kind of thing for a living is like that. He was a very nice guy. The kind of guy who wouldn’t hurt a fly, unless you [mess] with him. Then he’d probably kill you.
JC: Do you keep in touch with him? Do you think he has/will choose the straight life?
Mexico: Yeah, I’ll see him in a couple of weeks. I don’t know what he’s doing. I know he opened a smoothie shop and it closed.
JC: In your chapter called 'The Chickens,' about Chinese prostitutes, you describe young women of various ages (some as young as 15) who sleep with countless men. Prostitution is illegal in China but also very common. There’s also a seven-tier system of prostitution that the Chinese government has established. Tell me more about that world.
Mexico: There’s prostitutes all over the place. It is certainly not surprising. When I was 16, I stayed at the Holiday Inn and there were prostitutes there. In China, it is socially more acceptable for a guy to go to a prostitute than it is here.
JC: You also delved deeper into Chinese gay society. Nine Dragons, the gentleman in your essay whom you profiled pretty carefully, sounds like he leads a horribly oppressed and hidden life. Is this typical of gay men in China? What is it like to live that life?
Mexico: I think it is certainly weird, especially in the less urban areas. It is not condoned at all.
But in the cities you can get by. I have a friend who’s a dude but just dresses as a woman all the time, and he seems to do okay.
JC: You explore Wuhan, the city that is the capital to underground Chinese punk rock. Tell me how the punk band scene in China compares to that of the U.S.
Mexico: In China, it reminds me of how everyone sounded here in the early 1990s. Everyone sounds like old Green Day.
Thanks to Lori Kozlowski
Taking months to research and travel around and hang out, Zachary Mexico executes in his first book what most merely wonder about. "China Underground" explores the untold stories of young, on-the-fringes Chinese men and women.
Drug dealers, wannabe rock stars, and even the Chinese mafia make an appearance in this fascinating collection of 16 true-life essays.
Here’s what Mexico had to say about his first effort:
JC: What was your initial fascination with China?
Mexico: I guess I started studying the language when I was 15. I went to boarding school in Massachusetts. I went there [China] the next year in 1995. And I guess I just found it to be a crazy, amazing place.
JC: Were these stories hard to find?
Mexico: Yes and no. I had twice as many and I took out the ones that I didn’t think were as good. Some people were hard to find. A couple of people I had known before. And I found a couple of people on the Internet. Some I met by chance.
JC: Which of the chapters was most difficult to research? Let me guess, was it the gay culture?
Mexico: That really was quite difficult. The city I had heard was a huge, gay hotbed. But it wasn’t or it was a complete lie. I went out to all these gay clubs and it was really difficult to get people to talk about it especially.
Another one that was difficult was the mafia guy and the drug dealer. Neither of those guys knew I was writing about them.
JC: Anything you wanted to include in the book, but didn’t make the cut?
Mexico: There were these guys who were making fake everything. Fake passports, fake bags, fake ID cards. In China, there’s fake everything. Even fake beer ... I went there [an area where they make the fake items] with a friend and they wouldn’t let me back in. And there were all these Chinese Rastafarians I was hanging out with, but at some point I couldn’t find them anymore.
JC: So, let’s talk about the mob. The Chinese mafia, the Black Society, or 'hei shehui.' What was most surprising about the Black Society? Anything you didn’t expect?
Mexico: I expected it to be this huge organized system where it’s secrets handed down from generation to generation, but it’s not. There’s no brotherhood. It’s not like the Sopranos. It’s not guys sitting down talking about territory. It’s more like gangs.
JC: You befriended a Chinese mafia member named Wang Dalong. You described his birthday party as an event filled with Mandarin pop love songs, cake fights, and lambshank barbecues. It sounds so magical. But then you talk about Dalong’s confession that he wants to go straight. And yet he cruises away from the scene just like a gangster. Part of him seems innocent and others seem well ... just like a gangster. He seems to be a bunch of contradictions. What was Dalong really like?
Mexico: I think anyone who is doing that kind of thing for a living is like that. He was a very nice guy. The kind of guy who wouldn’t hurt a fly, unless you [mess] with him. Then he’d probably kill you.
JC: Do you keep in touch with him? Do you think he has/will choose the straight life?
Mexico: Yeah, I’ll see him in a couple of weeks. I don’t know what he’s doing. I know he opened a smoothie shop and it closed.
JC: In your chapter called 'The Chickens,' about Chinese prostitutes, you describe young women of various ages (some as young as 15) who sleep with countless men. Prostitution is illegal in China but also very common. There’s also a seven-tier system of prostitution that the Chinese government has established. Tell me more about that world.
Mexico: There’s prostitutes all over the place. It is certainly not surprising. When I was 16, I stayed at the Holiday Inn and there were prostitutes there. In China, it is socially more acceptable for a guy to go to a prostitute than it is here.
JC: You also delved deeper into Chinese gay society. Nine Dragons, the gentleman in your essay whom you profiled pretty carefully, sounds like he leads a horribly oppressed and hidden life. Is this typical of gay men in China? What is it like to live that life?
Mexico: I think it is certainly weird, especially in the less urban areas. It is not condoned at all.
But in the cities you can get by. I have a friend who’s a dude but just dresses as a woman all the time, and he seems to do okay.
JC: You explore Wuhan, the city that is the capital to underground Chinese punk rock. Tell me how the punk band scene in China compares to that of the U.S.
Mexico: In China, it reminds me of how everyone sounded here in the early 1990s. Everyone sounds like old Green Day.
Thanks to Lori Kozlowski
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