That was the 1990s. Prior the Cagnos were with the Campisis and the Campisis with the Genovese Family. The one Campisis with all the juice was actually made by the Gambinos and murdered. The Cagno brothers were in the mix with the Campisis. Post-prison, Petey Black migrated to the Colombos and the Cagnos followed.
TRENTON, Nov. 29 — Ten reputed members of an organized †crime gang were charged today with five murders and 100 robberies in an indictment that reported such bizarre details of the underworld as gunmen toasting them selves with champagne afterii killing and deploying “crash cars†to head off pursuing po icemen.
The sixâ€count state indict ment was hailed by lawâ€en forcement officials here as the “most complete picture†ever presented of underworld activities because, for the first time the violence was shown to sup port a gambling and narcotic empire. The targets of the indictment are eight members of the Campisi family, all blood relatives, and two other members of their gang.
The grand jury charged them with conspiring to “control, supervise and operate dice games, horse betting and the numbers lottery in Essex, Hudson, Middlesex, Union, Bergen and Burlington Counties.
Bribes and Threats Alleged
Proceeds from the armed robberies went to pay for the gambling operations, and the gang used bribery and threats of violence to influence jurors and witnesses whenever they ran afoul of lawâ€enforcement authorities, according to the indictment.
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The murder victims were described as rivals, “disloyal associates in gambling and narcotics enterprises,†suspected police informants and potential prosecution witnesses. In addition the gang members were charged with plotting to kill three other crime rivals, but these murders were never carried out.
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The indictment reported meticulous care to details. In one case, it said, a murder victim was carefully sprinkled with pepper so that stray dogs would be discouraged from digging up his grave.
The Campisis — two brothers and their sons and nephewsare associated with the Mafia family of the late Vito Genovese, according to lawâ€enforcement officials, although only one, Anthony Campisi, 53 years old, of Newark, is believed to be a Mafia family member.
An Essex County lawâ€enforcement official said the Campisis were used as enforcers and “hit men†by the Mafia but generally were considered “too whacked out†and unreliable to be given full Mafia family membership.
But they also were pictured as “very jealous of their turf†and were accused today of having committed the five murders and more than 100 armed robberies in New York State, New Jersey and Maryland between 1968 and 1971 to underwrite and protect their gambling interests and narcotics operations. The latter allegedly included the manufacture and distribution of cocaine and heroin.
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Payroll Messenger Slain
The state police said that in January, 1971, three gang members, armed with a carbine and a shotgun, robbed the office of Supermarkets General in Woodbridge and escaped with $56,000, A payroll messenger, Nicholas Meo, 67, of Newark was shot and killed in the robbery.
A separate indictment was voted on Nov. 15 in that killing.
Those indicted today besides Anthony Campisi include his brother, Biaggio, 50, pf Irvington; Anthony's sons, Carmen, 22, of Millburn and Peter Anthony, 28, of Little Falls; Maggio's son, Peter Charles, 28, of Lakewood; Peter Richard, 36, of East Orange and Thomas Peter, 34, of Jackson, sons of a deceased brother of the elder Campisis, and Peter Salvatore, 34, an inmate of Rahway State Prison and the son of another deceased brother.
The other gang members indicted today are Aurelio Cagno, 33, of Livingston and John Patrick Tully, 38, formerly of Harrison, All but Tully, who is a fugitive from an earlier indictment, were arrested and ordered held in $750,000 bail by Superior Court Judge George Y. Schoch.
Evan W. Jahos, director of the State Division of Criminal Justice, called the indictment “the most significant in the history of New Jersey law enforcement.â€
100 Witnesses Heard
Edwin H. Steir and Peter R. Richards, deputy attorneys general in charge of the division's organizedâ€crime and specialprosecutions section, reported that more than 100 witnesses had testified thus far. Leads uncovered in the 14â€month investigation, he said, will be “continued and expanded†before a second special jury panel, to be empaneled soon.
The indictment returned today indicated that the most important witness was Ira Pecznick, 27, a member of the Campisi gang who is serving state prison sentence for armed robbery. His involvement in the alleged crimes was spelled out in the indictment, but he was not among those indicted.
Mr. Jahos said the five murders charged to various members of the gang were those of William Foster Kimbrough, 47, on Sept. 30, 1969, in Newark; Dominick Anthony Luciano, 47, on Feb. 12, 1971, in Roseland; Candido Trueba, 27, on Feb. 13, 1971, in Hillside; William Pischedda, 33, on April 24, 1971,1 in Harrison, and Gerald Mass, 43, on July 1, 1971, in Newark.
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The grand jury gave the following account of the gang's activities in the slayings:
In September, 1969, five of the defendants met with Pecznick and discussed a gambling debt owed by Mr. Kimbrough and his alleged “disloyalty†in dealing with a competing gambling enterprise operated by Luciano. It was decided to kill him.
Cagno, Peter Salvatore and Peter Anthony Campisi carried out the Kimbrough murder, according to the indictment, and Pecznick helped them rifle the body and recover $3,000.
Murder Plotting Charged
In September, 1970, the Campisis and Pecznick allegedly plotted at a meeting in Anthony Campisi's home to kill Luciano.
An attempt to lure Luciano to the Marriot Motor Inn in Saddle Brook to kill him failed, according to the indictment, and the Campisis established surveillance on Luciano's home in Roseland. On Feb. 12, 1971, as Luciano left his home to get into his car, he was gunned down by two menâ€Pecznick and Thomas Peter Campisi, the indictment saidâ€who fired from a passing car.
State police investigators uncovered an added motive for the Luciano's killing when they learned that the slain man had been dating the wife of Thomas Campisiâ€one of the two gunmen named in today's indictment. Mrs. Campisi has been missing since November. 1970, according to the police.
The car containing Pecznick and Thomas Campisi was driven by Peter Richard Campisi, the charges stated, and four other gang members were parked nearby in “crash cars,†intended to block the path of any police cars that might come up quickly.
Champagne Celebration Alleged
After the killing, the gang members, with the exception of Cagno, met in Newark and celebrated the Luciano killing with bottles of chilled champagne, according to the indictment.
