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News and Features about Organized Crime, Mafia and La Cosa Nostra taken from National and Local News Sources. In an attempt to get you this type of coverage in a timely manner we can not be responsible for the content of the following material. |
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12-7-99 15 Islanders charged with racketeering. Murder, extortion, robbery, loansharking and illegal gambling among crimes alleged in federal indictment. December 7, 1999
By ROBERT GAVIN They were guys who went by names like "Vinny Ocean" and "Joey Cars," who allegedly strong-armed businesses, reeled in loanshark money and sold everything from hot U.S. savings bonds to stolen Due Torrio pino grigio wine. Now, these 41 reputed mobsters face serious time behind bars -- including 15 so-called wiseguys who call Staten Island their home. The men were arrested Thursday in a federal indictment targeting the New Jersey-based Decavalcante crime family's activities in New York. Authorities attribute a host of other crimes to the various suspects, including murder, murder conspiracy, extortion, robbery, mail fraud, loansharking, illegal gambling, and trafficking in stolen property, goods and U.S. savings bonds. At least 33 of the suspects were arrested last week and six more were being sought. While the Decavalcante family was at the center of the allegations, reputed members of the New York-based Gambino, Colombo, Bonanno and Luchese crime families were also arrested, according to the U.S. attorney's office for the Southern District of New York, which handed up the indictments. The suspects were identified in three indictments. The first one, which included 42 counts, alleges 23 acts of racketeering, including the Oct. 10, 1998 murder of Joseph (Joey O) Massella, who was reportedly found dumped on a Brooklyn golf course. There was also, among the wide-ranging charges, an alleged attempted robbery of a payroll office in the Tishman Building in Times Square. The racketeering indictment identifies Vincent (Vinny Ocean) Palermo, also known as "the Uncle" and "Oscar," as one of the three members of the ruling panel of the Decavalcante family. Among the other suspects named are Joseph Sclafani, 62, of the 500 block of St. George Road, Richmond, who is identified as a solider in the Decavalcante family. Sclafani, also known as "Little Joey" and "Tin Ear," is charged with 15 counts of various racketeering charges, including murder conspiracy, and faces up to 125 years in prison. Sclafani and others allegedly tried to sell stolen truckloads of merchandise, including cases of Due Torri pino grigio wine, Nucci clothing, Centrum vitamins, Minolta digital copiers, pallets of toner and a refrigerated truck of Kraft goods, authorities said. Reporters were asked to leave when they knocked on Sclafani's door last Friday. Other Staten Islanders identified with Sclafani include Westley (The Kid) Paloscio, 31, of Jerome Avenue, South Beach, who is charged with six counts of racketeering, including murder, and is eligible for the death penalty, according to federal authorities, and Anthony Capo, 62, of the 200 block of Norway Avenue, South Beach, who faces charges of racketeering, murder conspiracy and mail fraud and faces 35 years or more. The indictment also alleges that a reputed Decavalcante captain, Anthony Rotondo, 42, of the 100 block of Barlow Avenue, Great Kills, along with alleged mob soldiers and associates, extorted businesses -- including Manti's Transportation, a Staten Island bus company. Another Staten Islander, Philip Caracappa, 63, of Prol Place, Eltingville, is charged in the indictment with trying to sell stolen U.S. savings bonds. In a separate indictment, federal authorities allege members and associates of the Gambino and Colombo families ran an illegal bookmaking network in conjunction with the Decavalcante family. Two alleged Gambino associates, Vincent Romano, 62, of the 100 block of Bridgetown Street, New Springville, and Ralph Castore, 53, of the 900 block of West Fingerboard Road, Grasmere, were among the suspects arrested, as were Salvatore Borgonone, 39, of Francis Place, Dongan Hills, and Peter Kaminski, 28, of Jerome Avenue, South Beach. The third indictment charges various defendants with operating a stolen property ring with the Decavalcante family. Staten Islanders named in that indictment include reputed Luchese associate Vincent Cerchio, 46, of the 100 block of Old Town Road, Grasmere; John Maggio, 38, of Shotwell Avenue, Annadale; Robert Pinsky, 30, of Legion Place, Arrochar; Robert Volpe, 31, of the 800 block of Father Capodanno Boulevard, Midland Beach; and Anthony Antoniello, 54, of the 100 block of Rensselaer Avenue, Annadale. Another Island man identified in one of the indictments was Ralph Desantis, 61, of Wadsworth Avenue, Fort Wadsworth. Federal authorities did not say what charges he faces. The arrested suspects have been arraigned, with some expected to be held and others released on bail, a spokesman for the Southern District said yesterday.
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