January 27, 2011

By Jerry Capeci
Nephew Of Top Mobster Aids
Colombo Family Takedown

A Gang Land Exclusive

The biggest and most damaging of the 16 indictments announced by Attorney General Eric Holder in last week’s blockbuster FBI roundup of more than 120 mob defendants was achieved with lots of help from the nephew of a jailed Colombo family street boss, Gang Land has learned.

Sources say that Thomas McLaughlin, a quick-fisted tough guy who earned his mob stripes by serving 14 years for a mid-1990s drug dealing rap, flipped shortly after he got out of prison in 2008 when he was fingered for a murder he had committed with his uncle, Thomas (Tommy Shots) Gioeli, 17 years earlier.

“He didn’t want to go back to prison, not after doing all that time behind bars with nothing to show for it,” said one knowledgeable Gang Land source.

A Brooklyn native, McLaughlin, who married soon after coming home, was living in Staten Island with a wife and young child until he was relocated by the FBI last week, sources say.

In addition to tape-recording his uncle’s mob cronies – and agreeing to testify at Gioeli’s (left) murder trial – the turncoat convinced his brother-in-law, who was convicted in the same 1996 case as McLaughlin, to join Team America and wear a wire against their Colombo family cohorts, according to the sources.

Sources say that McLaughlin, 41, and Peter Tagliavia, 40, who are identified in court papers as “CW-1” and CW-2,” engaged numerous wiseguys and mob associates in criminal conversations involving gambling, loansharking extortion, bribery, home invasions, assaults – and murder.

Tagliavia, who was released from prison in 2000, was relocated from his Bensonhurst, Brooklyn digs last week.

In one tag-team operation, the brothers-in-law tape-recorded two mobsters, Anthony (Big Anthony) Russo, 51, and Joseph Savarese, and associate Scott Fappiano, talking about a “violent home-invasion robbery” plot in which the schemers planned to use bulletproof vests and two handguns.

In another conversation, McLaughlin and Big Anthony talked and joked about wild shootouts each had survived in car chases during the bloody 1991-to-1993 Colombo war that left 12 people, including two innocent bystanders, dead.

“I got shot,” said McLaughlin in an apparent reference to a June 4, 1992 shooting in which a group of rebels who backed acting boss Victor (Little Vic) Orena, and were later convicted of the assault, ambushed him as he drove along Avenue P in the Flatlands section of Brooklyn.

“I had my hat on. Hat flew off…I jumped out of the car. I was like a fuckin’ mad hatter. I didn’t know what to do,” laughed Big Anthony, as he admitted being part of the hit team in 1993 that murdered Orena faction rival Joseph Scopo, whose brother, Ralph Jr., is a codefendant in the massive 39-defendant indictment.

The defendants include 15 “made men,” including four capos and the family Administration, namely, acting boss, Andrew (Andy Mush) Russo, 76, acting underboss Benjamin (The Claw) Castellazzo, 73, and consigliere Richard Fusco, 74.

Prosecutors cited another Big Anthony Russo conversation to paint Andrew Russo (no relation to Big Anthony) as a dangerous felon. In the snippet, Big Anthony explained Andy Mush’s philosophy about inducting new wiseguys.

“First,” said Big Anthony, “he’s gotta be capable in here,” pointing to his head. “And he’s gotta be capable to do this,” he added, cocking his fingers like a gun. “They gotta be capable to do time. They gotta be capable of everything,” said Big Anthony Russo.

“Tommy was a bit of a surprise,” was the reaction of one underworld source contacted by Gang Land about the latest mob defections. “He had legitimate tough guy credentials. He did his time, came out, was not a stoolie.”

“There was less of a shock about Peter,” the source added. “He was like a news reporter, always asking questions, the kind of questions you’re not supposed to be asking in the mob: ‘Who was on that hit? You getting straightened out?’”

“Unfortunately for the wiseguys, a lot of them answered the questions,” cracked one law enforcement source, who was quite pleased with the work of both cooperating witnesses.

Last summer, as he played out his undercover role, McLaughlin’s temper got the best of him outside a popular Bay Ridge nightclub, Capri. McLaughlin became increasingly annoyed at the way a valet driver for the club was treating customers, according to court records filed in Brooklyn Federal Court. It’s not clear whether McLaughlin was wired-up and working for the FBI, just having fun, or both, during the brouhaha.

It happened on July 2, at 4:20 AM, when a “verbal altercation” between McLaughlin and the valet escalated into a physical one. McLaughlin “punched the valet driver in the head” and was arrested by police on misdemeanor assault charges, according to court records. McLaughlin, who is under supervised release until 2013, was ordered to attend anger management classes.

Sources say McLaughlin agreed to cooperate after capo Dino (Big Dino) Calabro (left) flipped and implicated him in the murder of Frank (Chestnut) Marasa, who was shot to death in front of his Bensonhurst, Brooklyn home on June 12, 1991.

In addition to the brother-in-law turncoats, who are identified in court papers only as CWs, it appears that an unidentified Colombo mobster has also broken his vow of omerta and tape recorded several wiseguys during the probe, including Andy Mush Russo, even though the court papers are silent about that scenario.

In one section of their court papers, in which prosecutors assert that they have heard the acting boss make it “clear that he will not hesitate to personally engage in violence,” they cite Andrew Russo’s tape recorded words that were overheard during an otherwise unidentified “consensual recording.”

“Andrew Russo commented, ‘I don’t hesitate. I’ve never hesitated’ to hurt an individual who stepped out of line,” wrote prosecutors Elizabeth Geddes, James Gatta and Allon Lifshitz. “He also made clear that he has no intention of disassociating himself from the Colombo family,” they wrote. “He stated, ‘I can’t walk away…. I can’t rest.’”

In another “consensually-made recording,” Andrew Russo was said to “admonish” Anthony Russo for taking part in a sitdown with the Gambino family over the stabbing of a Colombo associate. First, “Andrew Russo observed,” the prosecutors wrote, the Colombos should have “got even” with their mob rivals. Then, he added, they should have looked to settle the dispute.

Meanwhile, Russo, who assumed the acting boss slot last March after he completed three years of supervised release following a long stretch behind bars, will have plenty of rest time while he awaits trial. On Tuesday, he was held without bail as a danger to the community.


Feds Indict 21 Gambinos Despite Big FBI Blunder

Despite a major FBI screwup that exposed a trusted mob associate as a turncoat, the feds were able to hit seven Gambino mobsters, including the family’s imprisoned consigliere, and 14 associates with racketeering charges that include the murder of a double-dealing gangster.

It turns out that Howard Santos, a longtime crony of Queens-based Gambino family members, had managed to tape record 140 conversations with numerous FBI targets, including capos Alphonse Trucchio and Bartolomeo (Bobby Glasses) Vernace, before his cover was blown a year ago.

As Gang Land disclosed last month, Trucchio spotted Santos sitting in a car on Queens Blvd. not far from the FBI’s Kew Gardens office with a non-crew member who turned out to be his control agent, veteran G-man Robert Herbster.

It didn’t take Trucchio, who is described by prosecutors in court papers as “something of a mafia prodigy” who has nonetheless “made his way in the mob largely on his own merits,” long to confirm his worst fears. The FBI, alerted by Alphonse TrucchioSantos of inquisitive calls that he had gotten from his old pal, quickly pulled the plug on Santos’s undercover work and relocated him. Sources say he wore a wire from June 17, 2009 to January 11, 2010.

Trucchio, 34, and his alleged mob superior, family consigliere Joseph (JoJo) Corozzo, who had been scheduled to be released later this year, could spend the rest of their lives behind bars if prosecutors can convict them of drug trafficking charges in the 18-count racketeering indictment. The charges also include extortion, loansharking, and various types of illegal gambling.

Nine other defendants, including reputed wiseguys, Louis Mastrangelo, Michael (Roc) Roccaforte, and Anthony Moscatiello, also face life if convicted of drug trafficking charges lodged by Manhattan federal prosecutors Elie Honig, John Zach and Peter Skinner.

In addition to the Santos tapes, prosecutors plan to use tape recordings made by onetime John Gotti-pal Lewis Kasman, who also worked for agent Herbster when he wore a wire from 2005 to 2007 against numerous Gambino wiseguys, including JoJo Corozzo. (left)

“He’s as innocent today as he was in 2008 when the Eastern District (federal prosecutors in Brooklyn) filed and then dismissed drug charges against him,” said Corozzo’s indefatigable attorney, his son Joseph, who added: “We’re ready to fight the case.”

Said Trucchio’s attorney, Seth Ginsberg: “Al Trucchio is not a drug dealer. The government is trying to dump someone else’s garbage at his door. But when the dust settles that truth will come out.”


Feds: Nine ILA Union Biggies Are Waterfront Racketeers

Among the Genovese mobsters grabbed in last week’s mega-mob bust was a wiseguy who allegedly ran the waterfront rackets for feared powerhouse capo Tino Fiumara. Along with nine current and former longshoremen’s union officials, the gangster, Stephen Depiro, is charged with extorting millions of dollars from dock workers going back to 1982.

Depiro, 55, was held without bail as the hands-on rackets boss whose “systemic use of actual and threatened force, violence and fear” terrorized thousands of longshoremen from two New Jersey-based unions. He has managed the New Jersey piers for the late Fiumara since 2005, according to court papers filed in Newark Federal Court.

Fiumara, who allegedly ordered the 2005 murder of Depiro’s predecessor, wiseguy Lawrence Ricci, and who was the main target of a joint waterfront probe conducted by federal prosecutors in Brooklyn and Newark, died of pancreatic cancer in September, at age 69.

Two ousted International Longshoremen’s Association executives, Albert Cernadas, 75, and Nunzio LaGrasso, 60, the former key officials of Local 1235 and Local 1478 respectively, were previously charged, but last week’s indictment tags six more ILA officials as corrupt, including the present head of Local 1235, Thomas Leonardis, 53. (left)

Also indicted on various labor racketeering charges, including the shakedown of thousands of dollars a year in “Christmas tributes” from longshoremen, are Local 1235 vice president Michael Trueba, 75; former 1235 president Vincent Aulisi, 78; his son, Edward, 51, a Local 1 member, and two Local 1235 foremen, Ramiro Quintans, 52, and Salvatore LaGrasso, 60.

Like Cernadas and Nunzio LaGrasso, the previously arrested Local 1235 delegate, Robert Ruiz, 52, was also named in the 53-count indictment, which includes numerous allegations of extortion, as well as loansharking and illegal gambling on the waterfront.

The defendants were also well paid in their union jobs. The top three ILA “earners,” based on their last year’s salary, were Cernadas, at $502,719; Trueba, at $403,756, and Salvatore LaGrasso, a cousin of both Depiro and Nunzio LaGrasso, who made $274,790. LaGrasso, 60, is the brother of Regina Queli, the Jersey Shore grandma who was indicted on money laundering charges by a state grand jury two weeks ago following a probe by the Waterfront Commission and the New Jersey Attorney General’s office.

Richard (Dickie) Dehmer, an aging but still violent longtime Genovese enforcer, who, according to prosecutors Taryn Merkl, Jacqueline Rasulo and Anthony Mahajan, was frequently heard threatening to “break every bone” of delinquent debtors with a “bat,” was also charged with racketeering.

After agreeing to post a $500,000 bond, Dehmer, 75, was ordered released under home detention provisions that include electronic monitoring.


Joe Watts Takes 13 Years For 1989 Hit For John Gotti

In his last Village Voice column on mob doings, award-winning newsman Tom Robbins makes it personal as he takes a look at the life and times of longtime mob associate Joe Watts, who copped a plea deal to murder charges on the same day that the feds orchestrated the biggest mob takedown in history in a piece that's appropriately entitled, “Why the Mafia still matters.” Check it out. It's a keeper.