The reputed underboss of the New England mob has pleaded guilty to federal bribery charges in a plea deal that will send him to prison for six years.
Carmen "The Cheeseman" DiNunzio pleaded guilty Wednesday to bribing an undercover FBI agent posing as a state highway department official in an attempt to win a $6 million contract on the Big Dig highway project.
DiNunzio is expected to plead guilty next week to separate state gambling and extortion charges.
Prosecutors have agreed to wrap both cases together under one plea agreement and to recommend a sentence of six years in federal prison. Sentencing was scheduled for Sept. 24.
Authorities say the 51-year-old DiNunzio has been underboss of the New England branch of the Mafia since 2004
Friday, July 03, 2009
Mob Hit on Reputed Bonanno Crime Family Solider Anthony Seccafico?
A man identified by a law enforcement official as a soldier in the Bonanno crime family who was under federal investigation was shot to death early Thursday morning near a bus stop on Staten Island, the authorities said.
The man, Anthony Seccafico, was waiting for a bus near his town house on Ilyssa Way about 4:30 a.m. when an unknown number of attackers opened fire, law enforcement officials said.
Witnesses told the police that they heard seven shots and passers-by discovered Mr. Seccafico bleeding in the street about 100 feet from the bus stop, on Arthur Kill Road, the authorities said. Mr. Seccafico, 46, who was waiting for the X17 bus to take him to work in Manhattan, was shot several times and apparently tried to flee his attackers, investigators said. He was taken to Staten Island University Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival, the police said.
On Thursday, detectives were trying to determine the motive behind the killing. A police official said it was possible that it was related to Mr. Seccafico’s criminal history, including a 1996 case in Coney Island in which he was charged with four counts of assault and illegal possession of a weapon.
The medical examiner’s office has scheduled an autopsy for Friday morning.
In November 2002, Mr. Seccafico was arrested with 19 others on charges of participating in a $2.5 million-a-year gambling ring as part of a Bonanno crew.
Mr. Seccafico pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges, and received a three-month sentence. Also involved in that case was Salvatore Montagna, who had been elevated to the head of the Bonanno family and was recently deported.
A federal law enforcement official said Mr. Seccafico had been under federal investigation when he was killed, though the official would not describe the nature of the investigation. When Mr. Seccafico was arrested in 2002, he was in the mobster Patrick DeFilippo’s crew, the official said. Mr. DeFilippo, who lived in Manhattan, operated out of the Bronx, and Mr. Seccafico “spent a little time in the Bronx,” the official said. Mr. DeFilippo is serving 40 years in federal prison for racketeering conspiracy, gambling and loan sharking. Mr. Seccafico became a “made” member of the Bonanno crime family after 2003, the official said.
The official said that according to a list obtained by federal authorities, Mr. Seccafico was proposed for membership in the family by Mr. DeFilippo.
An investigator familiar with Mr. Seccafico said he had been a laborer and a member of Local 79 of the Construction and General Building Laborers’ Union. That investigator said Mr. Seccafico was “just a runner” for the 2002 gambling operation.
Before his arrest in connection with the organized crime ring, Mr. Seccafico had a criminal record dating to 1984, when he was arrested on drug and gun charges. He served less than a year for selling a controlled substance. After his 1996 arrest in Coney Island, Mr. Seccafico pleaded guilty to criminal possession of a weapon and served eight days in jail and three years’ probation.
In stark contrast to his life as a soldier for the New York mob, Mr. Seccafico was described by neighbors as a blue-collar family man who worked to support his wife and two young children. “They’re very, very nice people,” said Mona Gaber, a neighbor of the Seccafico family. Ms. Gaber said she would often see Mr. Seccafico come home still dirty from his job as a construction worker.
Thanks to Dominick Tao
The man, Anthony Seccafico, was waiting for a bus near his town house on Ilyssa Way about 4:30 a.m. when an unknown number of attackers opened fire, law enforcement officials said.
Witnesses told the police that they heard seven shots and passers-by discovered Mr. Seccafico bleeding in the street about 100 feet from the bus stop, on Arthur Kill Road, the authorities said. Mr. Seccafico, 46, who was waiting for the X17 bus to take him to work in Manhattan, was shot several times and apparently tried to flee his attackers, investigators said. He was taken to Staten Island University Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival, the police said.
On Thursday, detectives were trying to determine the motive behind the killing. A police official said it was possible that it was related to Mr. Seccafico’s criminal history, including a 1996 case in Coney Island in which he was charged with four counts of assault and illegal possession of a weapon.
The medical examiner’s office has scheduled an autopsy for Friday morning.
In November 2002, Mr. Seccafico was arrested with 19 others on charges of participating in a $2.5 million-a-year gambling ring as part of a Bonanno crew.
Mr. Seccafico pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges, and received a three-month sentence. Also involved in that case was Salvatore Montagna, who had been elevated to the head of the Bonanno family and was recently deported.
A federal law enforcement official said Mr. Seccafico had been under federal investigation when he was killed, though the official would not describe the nature of the investigation. When Mr. Seccafico was arrested in 2002, he was in the mobster Patrick DeFilippo’s crew, the official said. Mr. DeFilippo, who lived in Manhattan, operated out of the Bronx, and Mr. Seccafico “spent a little time in the Bronx,” the official said. Mr. DeFilippo is serving 40 years in federal prison for racketeering conspiracy, gambling and loan sharking. Mr. Seccafico became a “made” member of the Bonanno crime family after 2003, the official said.
The official said that according to a list obtained by federal authorities, Mr. Seccafico was proposed for membership in the family by Mr. DeFilippo.
An investigator familiar with Mr. Seccafico said he had been a laborer and a member of Local 79 of the Construction and General Building Laborers’ Union. That investigator said Mr. Seccafico was “just a runner” for the 2002 gambling operation.
Before his arrest in connection with the organized crime ring, Mr. Seccafico had a criminal record dating to 1984, when he was arrested on drug and gun charges. He served less than a year for selling a controlled substance. After his 1996 arrest in Coney Island, Mr. Seccafico pleaded guilty to criminal possession of a weapon and served eight days in jail and three years’ probation.
In stark contrast to his life as a soldier for the New York mob, Mr. Seccafico was described by neighbors as a blue-collar family man who worked to support his wife and two young children. “They’re very, very nice people,” said Mona Gaber, a neighbor of the Seccafico family. Ms. Gaber said she would often see Mr. Seccafico come home still dirty from his job as a construction worker.
Thanks to Dominick Tao
Thursday, July 02, 2009
Mafia Drama, Brotherhood, Cancelled
Showtime has confirmed that the drama Brotherhood, about two Irish brothers on opposite sides of the law, has been cancelled.
After three seasons on TV the show, set in Providence, will not be renewed. Brotherhood's story was one told many times before, but with a New England mafia twist: Tommy (Jason Clarke) and Michael (Jason Isaacs) Caffee, Irish-American brothers, find themselves on enemy fronts, the first being a policeman and the second a mafia professional.
E! Online's Watch With Kristin reports that, "News that the ax had officially dropped was first reported when TVShowsonDVD.com discovered that the season-three discs were to be branded 'the final season.' The cancellation news might have been surprising even for the show's own cast since, according to the same article on E!, actress Fionnula Flanagan was awaiting news from Showtime regarding the show's "on hiatus" status in February.
Thanks to Romina Massa
After three seasons on TV the show, set in Providence, will not be renewed. Brotherhood's story was one told many times before, but with a New England mafia twist: Tommy (Jason Clarke) and Michael (Jason Isaacs) Caffee, Irish-American brothers, find themselves on enemy fronts, the first being a policeman and the second a mafia professional.
E! Online's Watch With Kristin reports that, "News that the ax had officially dropped was first reported when TVShowsonDVD.com discovered that the season-three discs were to be branded 'the final season.' The cancellation news might have been surprising even for the show's own cast since, according to the same article on E!, actress Fionnula Flanagan was awaiting news from Showtime regarding the show's "on hiatus" status in February.
Thanks to Romina Massa
Wednesday, July 01, 2009
Reputed Chicago Outfit Informant Battles Cook County State's Attorney for Child Custody
A politically connected Cook County state's attorney's office employee threatened to use her position to expose her ex-boyfriend as a federal informant against the Outfit, voice mail messages played in court suggest.
Prosecutors are investigating two cell phone messages that narcotics unit administrator Patti Simone left the father of her children, Nicky Rosales, during a bitter split earlier this year, Cook County State's Atty. Anita Alvarez's spokeswoman Sally Daly said. The tapes were played by Rosales on Friday for a family court judge handling the couple's custody battle.
In the first message, Simone refers to several alleged Outfit-connected suburbs and neighborhoods, threatening to expose Rosales unless he moves out of their Palos Hills apartment. "Everyone will know that you are working with the government," she warns. "Do you understand?"
In the second, Simone tells Rosales, "There are several investigators who will be more than happy to let certain people know you are cooperating with the Feds -- do you understand?"
Simone left the messages April 4 after Rosales told her he had a gun and implied he would abduct the couple's daughter and son, evidence showed.
Rosales had sent a series of "scary" text messages to her before she responded by recording the voice mail messages, an emotional Simone on Friday told Judge Martha Mills. "I thought he was capable of anything," Simone added, saying Rosales had held a gun to her head in 2008.
She and Rosales, who had been together on-and-off for 10 years, finally separated this spring. Mills on Friday awarded Simone a protection order against Rosales, saying she found his claims that he hadn't threatened Simone "incredible."
Rosales denies pending charges of violating an earlier interim protection order.
Daly said the state's attorney could still bring "disciplinary or criminal" charges against Simone over the voice mail messages.
Simone works in Alvarez's narcotics unit. She has continued to work at the Criminal Court building since the tapes surfaced. She is the daughter of Palos Township Democratic Committeeman Sam Simone.
The godfather to her children is Richie "The Cat" Catazone, reputed to run the Chicago Outfit's 26th Street gambling operation, while Rosales' cousin is convicted mob hit man Harry Aleman, Rosales said.
Speaking outside court, he denied being a federal informant.
Simone declined to comment. Her attorney, Joseph Parisi, said the judge's decision to grant an order of protection showed Simone was in the right.
FBI spokeswoman Virginia Wright declined to comment.
Thanks to Kim Jannsen
Prosecutors are investigating two cell phone messages that narcotics unit administrator Patti Simone left the father of her children, Nicky Rosales, during a bitter split earlier this year, Cook County State's Atty. Anita Alvarez's spokeswoman Sally Daly said. The tapes were played by Rosales on Friday for a family court judge handling the couple's custody battle.
In the first message, Simone refers to several alleged Outfit-connected suburbs and neighborhoods, threatening to expose Rosales unless he moves out of their Palos Hills apartment. "Everyone will know that you are working with the government," she warns. "Do you understand?"
In the second, Simone tells Rosales, "There are several investigators who will be more than happy to let certain people know you are cooperating with the Feds -- do you understand?"
Simone left the messages April 4 after Rosales told her he had a gun and implied he would abduct the couple's daughter and son, evidence showed.
Rosales had sent a series of "scary" text messages to her before she responded by recording the voice mail messages, an emotional Simone on Friday told Judge Martha Mills. "I thought he was capable of anything," Simone added, saying Rosales had held a gun to her head in 2008.
She and Rosales, who had been together on-and-off for 10 years, finally separated this spring. Mills on Friday awarded Simone a protection order against Rosales, saying she found his claims that he hadn't threatened Simone "incredible."
Rosales denies pending charges of violating an earlier interim protection order.
Daly said the state's attorney could still bring "disciplinary or criminal" charges against Simone over the voice mail messages.
Simone works in Alvarez's narcotics unit. She has continued to work at the Criminal Court building since the tapes surfaced. She is the daughter of Palos Township Democratic Committeeman Sam Simone.
The godfather to her children is Richie "The Cat" Catazone, reputed to run the Chicago Outfit's 26th Street gambling operation, while Rosales' cousin is convicted mob hit man Harry Aleman, Rosales said.
Speaking outside court, he denied being a federal informant.
Simone declined to comment. Her attorney, Joseph Parisi, said the judge's decision to grant an order of protection showed Simone was in the right.
FBI spokeswoman Virginia Wright declined to comment.
Thanks to Kim Jannsen
FBI Reports on John Dillinger Crossing the Line
An elderly janitor walked into the cell block of the Lake County Jail at Crown Point, Indiana. The date: March 3, 1934. It was a relatively new facility, built onto the back of the sheriff’s house in 1926, easy to clean, impossible to escape from. The addition of a notorious prisoner—John Dillinger—would prove that. Or so the sheriff thought.
As the janitor entered the cell, the prisoner jumped him and jammed a gun—actually a piece of wood carved in the shape of one—into his ribs. Quickly, through a combination of bravado and desperation, Dillinger tricked half a dozen guards back to the cell block, confiscated their weapons, and jailed the jailors.
On that day, Dillinger was 30 years old.
He was of medium build and average height, with brown, thinning hair. His most distinguishing feature was a roguish smile, which he had put to good use in a series of press photos with the prosecuting attorney Robert Estill and the sheriff upon his extradition to Crown Point. The chummy nature of the photos contributed to both these officials losing their jobs that year. And Dillinger’s charm had already begun to captivate the American people, who began to see him as part Robin Hood, part vicious thug.
The notorious gangster had been captured in Arizona two months earlier. He was wanted in connection with the murder of an East Chicago, Indiana police officer named William O’Malley. At the time Dillinger was not on our radar; he had committed no federal crimes. But we had been assisting Ohio law enforcement in their search for him after was freed from a Lima jail by his confederates in the fall of 1933.
Now Dillinger had escaped once more. In making the break, he’d stolen the sheriff’s car and driven it to Chicago, 50 or so miles northwest of Crown Point. In the process, he crossed the Indiana/Illinois border and violated the National Motor Vehicle Theft Act, commonly called the “Dyer Act.” John Dillinger was now a federal fugitive and an FBI subject.
Over the next several months, the Bureau tracked Dillinger and a wide array of violent criminals who worked with him—making mistakes along the way, but ultimately bringing these violent criminals to justice.
This year marks the 75th anniversary of that chase. More importantly, it is the 75th anniversary of the emergence of the FBI as an organization of national and international stature.
The Bureau’s success in dealing with the gangsters led to significant changes in the FBI and law enforcement nationwide.
Thanks to the FBI.
As the janitor entered the cell, the prisoner jumped him and jammed a gun—actually a piece of wood carved in the shape of one—into his ribs. Quickly, through a combination of bravado and desperation, Dillinger tricked half a dozen guards back to the cell block, confiscated their weapons, and jailed the jailors.
On that day, Dillinger was 30 years old.
He was of medium build and average height, with brown, thinning hair. His most distinguishing feature was a roguish smile, which he had put to good use in a series of press photos with the prosecuting attorney Robert Estill and the sheriff upon his extradition to Crown Point. The chummy nature of the photos contributed to both these officials losing their jobs that year. And Dillinger’s charm had already begun to captivate the American people, who began to see him as part Robin Hood, part vicious thug.The notorious gangster had been captured in Arizona two months earlier. He was wanted in connection with the murder of an East Chicago, Indiana police officer named William O’Malley. At the time Dillinger was not on our radar; he had committed no federal crimes. But we had been assisting Ohio law enforcement in their search for him after was freed from a Lima jail by his confederates in the fall of 1933.
Now Dillinger had escaped once more. In making the break, he’d stolen the sheriff’s car and driven it to Chicago, 50 or so miles northwest of Crown Point. In the process, he crossed the Indiana/Illinois border and violated the National Motor Vehicle Theft Act, commonly called the “Dyer Act.” John Dillinger was now a federal fugitive and an FBI subject.
Over the next several months, the Bureau tracked Dillinger and a wide array of violent criminals who worked with him—making mistakes along the way, but ultimately bringing these violent criminals to justice.
This year marks the 75th anniversary of that chase. More importantly, it is the 75th anniversary of the emergence of the FBI as an organization of national and international stature.
The Bureau’s success in dealing with the gangsters led to significant changes in the FBI and law enforcement nationwide.
Thanks to the FBI.
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