Alleged Mob Jewelry thief ring busted

https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/loc...geted-nyc-jewelers-to-the-stars/4399409/

Alleged mafia robbery crew posing as construction workers targeted NYC jewelers to the stars
By Jonathan Dienst and Courtney Copenhagen • Published June 6, 2023 • Updated on June 6, 2023 at 7:22 pm



An alleged robbery crew that police and the FBI have linked to the Luchese and Gambino crime families was arrested Tuesday morning in connection with $2 million jewel heists in Manhattan.

One alleged ring-leader, Luchese crime family associate Frank "Skip" Dipietro, 65, is accused of helping scheme one robbery plan. NYPD officials said crew members dressed as construction workers to rob a Madison Avenue jewelry store in broad daylight.

Bayco Jewels located at Madison Ave near East 61st Street was the target, investigators said. The store serves celebrities like Beyoncé and Rihanna. The shop requires a credit check before an appointment to go to the penthouse showroom can been made.

The FBI said DiPietro and three other men held a clerk at gunpoint on Jan. 3 as he attempted to open and set up the storefront window display. DiPietro allegedly yelled “give it to me” as another alleged associate, Michael Sellick, 67, allegedly told the worker to "turn around and get in the closet.”

Another heist linked to the alleged crew took place in May, downtown at a jewelry store along Elizabeth Street.

Vincent Spagnuolo, Vincent Cerchio and Samuel Sorce were also among those charged with federal robbery-related counts.

Five men arrested Tuesday morning in connection to a high-end robbery heist.
As he was led away in handcuffs at the 13th precinct, Sorce joked to NBC New York's camera about the early morning raid: “Don’t show my feet - I got no socks on.”

NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell said the gunpoint holdups showed "a callous disregard for life."

US Attorney Damian Williams said his office estimates the robberies netted about $2 million worth of jewels in all.

Video camera footage from inside the store is not the only evidence investigators have obtained. Police said they have images of the men getting dressed in the construction gear nearby before heading to the Madison Avenue location.

Major Case Squad detectives who helped lead the investigation said there are cell phone records linking several of the suspects to one another before, during and after the Madison Avenue holdup.

DiPietro previously served 19 years in federal prison related to the mob killing of a witness. All five suspects appeared in court and were ordered held without bail. Two defense lawyers reached by phone had no comment, and two others did not immediately return calls.

A defense attorney for Sellick called the situation a case of mistaken identity.

"There is no way my client can be on Madison Avenue when he is busy painting the underbelly of the Verrazano Bridge," Gerald McMahon told NBC New York. "He makes $55 an hour painting bridges. He doesn't need to be doing these little heists on Madison Avenue."

No references to LCN here:

https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/p...armed-robberies-manhattan-jewelry-stores

Five Defendants Arrested For Daytime Armed Robberies Of Manhattan Jewelry Stores
Tuesday, June 6, 2023 — U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of New York

Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Michael J. Driscoll, the Assistant Director in Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), and Keechant L. Sewell, the Commissioner of the New York City Police Department (“NYPD”), announced today the unsealing of two Complaints charging five defendants with the armed robberies of two Manhattan jewelry stores on the mornings of January 3, 2023, and May 20, 2023, in which approximately $2 million of jewelry was stolen at gunpoint. The five defendants were arrested this morning in New York and New Jersey. FRANK DIPIETRO, VINCENT CERCHIO, VINCENT SPAGNUOLO, and MICHAEL SELLICK were charged by Complaint in connection with the January 3, 2023, robbery of a jewelry store on Madison Avenue in Midtown Manhattan. SAMUEL SORCE was charged by Complaint in connection with the May 20, 2023, robbery of a jewelry store on Elizabeth Street in lower Manhattan. DIPIETRO, CERCHIO, SPAGNUOLO, SELLICK, and SORCE will be presented in Manhattan federal court later today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn.

U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “These five defendants allegedly carried out brazen and dangerous daylight robberies of jewelry stores in Manhattan, stealing about $2 million in jewelry at gunpoint. Dressed as construction workers, the defendants allegedly sought to blend into the busy streets around them before pointing guns at the jewelry stores’ employees and carrying out about $2 million in stolen diamonds and other valuable pieces. Thanks to the career prosecutors from my Office and our partners at the NYPD and the FBI, the defendants’ alleged armed robbery spree has been shut down.”

FBI Assistant Director in Charge Michael J. Driscoll said: “The defendants allegedly brazenly robbed Manhattan jewelry stores of approximately $2 million worth of merchandise at gunpoint. Violent robberies, especially those with firearms, will not be tolerated by the FBI and our partners in law enforcement. The arrests today should serve as a warning to anyone willing to engage in armed robberies – you will face the consequences.”

NYPD Commissioner Keechant L. Sewell said: “The swift arrests in this case reaffirm the NYPD’s steadfast commitment, with its law enforcement partners, to hold everyone accused of violent acts accountable. The charges these defendants face reflect a callous disregard for life, and they will now be held accountable. I thank and commend the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District, the New York Field Office of the FBI, and everyone who worked to achieve justice in this case.”

According to the allegations in the Complaints and other publicly filed documents:[1]

On the morning of January 3, 2023, DIPIETRO, CERCHIO, SPAGNUOLO, and SELLICK traveled to Midtown Manhattan together in multiple vehicles. At approximately 10:20 a.m., an employee of a Midtown Manhattan jewelry store was preparing to place pieces of jewelry into the store’s street-level display case when DIPIETRO and SELLICK, dressed in construction vests, entered the building from Madison Avenue. As shown in the image below, DIPIETRO pointed a gun at the employee and said “give it to me,” before SELLICK said, “turn around and get in the closet.”

Picture of defendants entering jewelry store
DIPIETRO and SELLICK fled the store with at least three pieces of high-end diamond jewelry, including an approximately 73-carat necklace (first picture below), an approximately six-carat ring (second picture below), and an approximately 17-carat pair of earrings (third picture below). DIPIETRO, SELLICK, CERCHIO, and SPAGNUOLO then fled Midtown Manhattan. Surveillance footage from the area of the robbery indicates that the defendants, including DIPIETRO and CERCHIO, had prepared for the robbery by “casing” the scene the day before.

On the morning of May 20, 2023, employees of a jewelry store on Elizabeth Street in Manhattan had just opened for business when DIPIETRO and SELLICK — again masked and wearing construction vests — entered the store’s street-level front door. As shown in the image below, SELLICK pointed a gun at the store’s employees and ordered them to the ground, while DIPIETRO gathered jewelry. After DIPIETRO and SELLICK fled the store with the stolen goods, they first got in a getaway car driven by SORCE — who was also dressed like a construction worker — before switching to a second getaway car driven by SPAGNUOLO.

* * *

CERCHIO, 69, of Howard Beach, New York, DIPIETRO, 65, of Red Bank, New Jersey, SELLICK, 67, of Franklin Square, New York, SORCE, 25, of Florham Park, New Jersey, and SPAGNUOLO, 65, of Monmouth Beach, New Jersey, are each charged with one count of Hobbs Act robbery and one count of conspiracy to commit Hobbs Act robbery, each of which carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, and one count of brandishing a firearm during and in connection with a crime of violence, which carries a mandatory minimum sentence of seven years in prison to be imposed in addition to any sentence imposed for the underlying Hobbs Act robbery.

The minimum and maximum potential sentences are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendants would be determined by a judge.

Mr. Williams praised the outstanding investigative work of the NYPD. Mr. Williams also thanked the FBI for its assistance in this matter.

This case is being handled by the Office’s General Crimes Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Alexandra S. Messiter and Justin Horton are in charge of the prosecution.

The charges contained in the Complaints are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

[1] As the introductory phrase signifies, the entirety of the text of the Complaints and the description of the Complaints set forth herein constitute only allegations, and every fact described should be treated as an allegation.

u.s._v._sorce_complaint.pdf (385.28 KB)
u.s._v._dipietro_et_al_complaint.pdf (381.48 KB)

https://nypost.com/2023/06/06/five-men-busted-for-stealing-2m-in-jewelry-in-gunpoint-heists/

NJ youngster Samuel Sorce was charged for a 2022 street fight in Hoboken that went “viral” online

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crim...fight-that-went-viral-update/ar-AA17lisO

Four Charged In Hoboken Street Fight That Went Viral

Four men are in hot water after authorities in Hoboken say they participated in a late-night brawl that went viral on social media in October of last year.

Joseph Cosenza was arrested and charged with two counts of aggravated assault, while an arrest warrant was issued for Samuel Sorce, 25, of Florham Park, in the Oct. 23 street fight on Hudson Street and Hudson Place, Hoboken police spokesperson Marci Rubin said.

Sorce is accused of conspiracy, aggravated assault, and endangering an injured person, police said.

Meanwhile, summonses were issued for Robert Ferrarelli, 23, of Nutley, and Christopher Greco, 27, of Lyndhurst. The pair are each accused of conspiracy and aggravated assault, per Hoboken police.

Police were called to the corner of Hudson Street and Hudson Place near the PATH station for a reported fistfight at 2 a.m. on Oct. 23, Daily Voice has reported.

The group had dispersed by the time officers arrived, the department said, but the staggering melee was captured in a video clip that went viral on social media.

"Everybody down!" one person yells repeatedly in the 20-second video shared by HudPost. The clip appears to show several men lobbing punches while others lie on the sidewalk, apparently unconscious.

But the short video proved a valuable lead for Hoboken police, who asked for the public's help in identifying the people involved.

Good articles.

And I think it shows the current state of OC that 5 guys (4 of whom were between 65 and 69 years old), are so hard up financially, that they have to stoop to armed robberies of jewelry stores to turn a buck.

By the way, if I'm not mistaken, I think Vincent Spagnuolo is reputed to be a Lucchese associate formally aligned with deceased soldier Vincent (Jimmy Jones) Potenza. I know there was an Americo Spagnuolo "with" him. So this could be a relation

LCN has always had older guys pulling off scores like this. Nothing new nor shocking. Quite common actually. We can’t assume their financial situation based on it. At least one of them had a regular front job, profitable even, according to his lawyer.

Exactly Luan, nothing new about this at all. Not to mention that none of them are even made men. Let's not forget that even Carlo Gambino himself got caught up in that big hijacking case. There are other examples of really wealthy mobsters getting into petty shit, in fact it's not even exclusive to the mob. Millionaires shoplift all the time.

I completely disagree. At that age, if you're still pulling scores like this, (not withstanding a few diehard whackos), you generally got a money problem.

The Gambino case was fake, a bunch of drug addicts said he had them rob an armored car. There are rich people who steal, but the overwhelming majority are not rich. I think the guys were broke. To do that type of robbery is not a frivolous decision.

Agree.

The fact remains that these weren't even made men, and we can find plenty of mob-tied cases like this in the 1960s. Matter of fact, this actually reads like an article from that time period. Let's not forget the busting up parking meters scene from Donnie Brasco. That was a very realistic scene and, like I said, it's nothing new.

I forgot the details but there was a case where Detroit mob boss Perter Licavoli, who owed lots of nice property in Arizona, was caught up doing some pente-ante shit. There are lots of cheap, wealthy cocksuckers out there who would just as sure chop their dicks off than pay for anything. I'm not saying that they're not broke, I'm just saying that this case isn't indicative of that.

Yeah, because Lefty Guns was broke! Lol

I know one of those guys. 100% serious.

I think there's always going to be your huge earners and your nickel and dime guys, like this crew. The mob has different class sets too you know.

Capeci wrote it today, no made guys. He does point out that one was an associate years ago, like 33 years ago.

I thought the same thing...God thing they didn't lose their teeth at the scene of the crime !!

You need to go read it again because Jerry Capeci said Frank DiPietro was inducted in the Genovese Family and that Michael Sellick is Anthony Romanello's son in law.

I think this is similar to what we saw in Chicago with Art Rachel and Jerry Scalise. Legendary jewel thieves in their 80s trying to rob a bank. I personally don't think its about the money - its about the adrenaline of a score in some cases. It's really funny to see these older guys doing violent work - this was far from breaking parking meters, this was expensive shit and you can bet your ass these guys made a lot of other scores they got away with.

I gotta wonder what you would actually 'take home' from a $2M score after fencing the jewels - perhaps a few hundred K each - that's a full year salary for most Americans.

Back when a was a powerful and very wealthy capo, Paul Vario would use fake credit cards when he was taking his wife out to dinner. These guys love the hustle.

Tony Bananas, who was a millionaire, would always collect the money guys owed him after a small time card game. Fresolone mentioned a time when he owed 50 $ to Tony Bananas and Bananas told him to come the next day and give him the 50 bucks.

No doubt. But thats why Paulie spent decades in the can, and ended up dying behind bars. The same goes for Caponigro (but only worse). They killed him! Both were millionaires and didn't need the BS, so they were two idiots, if you ask me.

But these fellas are different. At almost 70 years old, all five of them are brokesters! Thats why THEY did what they did.

There's no way to know that they were brokesters, NYM, but I see your point.

In the old days they would get away though, nowadays only real pros like the Pink Panthers get away with it.

Though there's no way to know for sure, I can almost guarantee you that they got away with several other scores. And there were several busts in the old days, newspapers were chalk full of cases like this. But hey, sometimes you lose, sometimes you win.

Sure, a good heist never gets old lol. This one was pretty high profile because of the celebrities buying the jewelry.

Not one of these fellas even comes close to having accumulated the wealth of a Vario or Caponigro. Not even close! At almost 70 years old, all of them are still grinding out there on the street. With guns committing armed robberies in broad daylight of retail jewelry stores no less. With surveillance cameras on every corner and iPhone cameras in everyones hands....that represents just plain stupidity or financial desperation, or both (I dare say, it is hardly the stuff of mob stardom)

And although neither one of us are their accountant, IMO, this type of wild "cowboy" style criminal behavior, at their age, usually points to them being in desperate in need of funds. Thats my point.

I find it funny that when a case like this comes out we can use it as an example of the mob's decline but when cases come out showing mob involvement in huge multimillion dollar schemes we can't use it as an example that the mob is still strong. A bit hypocritical if you ask me. And as I've said, I was reading about cases like this in the 1980s and 90s, so it's nothing new.

Liggio,

The Mob once had 26 Families spread out across the United States. Today, it’s well documented that less than 10 of those same Families still exist, and aside from the Five Families and Philadelphia, the ones that do exist in other cities are literally shells of their former selves.

Since at least the 1980s and 1990s the Mob has seen its key rackets and sources of revenue stripped away over the last decades. Las Vegas Casinos, Caribbean Casinos, the mob’s stranglehold over the “Big Four;” International Brotherhood of Teamsters, International Longshoremen Union, International Laborers Union, and the Hotel, Restaurant & Bartenders Union International has all been take away from them.

Add to that the legalization of liquor, off-track betting, state lotteries, legalized casinos in more than half of the states in America, the decriminalization or legalization of marijuana, etc., etc., etc., and you have the “recipe” that killing the mob.

Add to all of that the fact that nowadays the Mob doesn’t have the ability to bribe entire neighborhood precincts and police departments like years ago, can’t rely on rigged courts and corrupt judges, has no national influence over politics like back in the days of a Frank Costello, Tony Accardo, or Carlos Marcello, and there ya have it….slowly the Mob is dying off.

Do hoodlums remind? Definitely! Will the Mob continue for several decades to come in the future? Definitely! But they aren’t the same Mob that we research and talk about here….And they AIN’T making a comeback anytime soon! And it ain't a "growth industry," thats for sure!

Logic, research, common sense, intelligence, and the raw facts clearly demonstrate that…But hey, what do I know, right? Lol
-
Like the man once said, “Everyones free to believe what they want to believe. Thats what makes the world go round and round.”

To be honest, Richard Martino's internet porn scam brought in more loot in the early 2000s than any scheme I read about in the mob's so-called heyday. Then you have Chris Chierichio's lottery ripoff, the schemes of the 60s and 70s were peanuts by comparison.

There is a famous phrase that says, "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink!"

What can I tell ya, other than, believe whatever it is that you need to believe Liggio.

I agree with a lot of what you say about the Mafia and its current state. But I also believe to an extent its decline has been exaggerated as well.