Updated news on the Gambino, Genovese, Bonanno, Lucchese and Colombo Organized Crime Families of New York City.

Tuesday, October 8, 2019

Federal judge releases one and holds another Colombo mobster citing safety risk to Staten Island residents


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A federal judge released one tough-talking Colombo crime family associate from custody Tuesday, but decided his seasoned wiseguy co-defendant was too dangerous to let loose.
Daniel Capaldo, 54, an alleged Colombo gangster, was held in custody at his Brooklyn federal court bail hearing, with U.S. Magistrate Judge Peggy Kuo citing his criminal record in deciding his release would pose a danger to Staten Island residents.
“It’s almost as if Mr. Capaldo can’t help but get himself in trouble — even if he’s being watched by the government,” she said. “So I find that I cannot release him under those circumstances.”
Prosecutors said career criminal Capaldo, who was sentenced to 14 years in federal lockup on drug trafficking and tax fraud charges in the late 90s and another three years for financing and extortion a few years after his release, used his larger-than-life presence to “intimidate and extort” victims in loansharking schemes.
“He’s committed crime after crime after crime,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth Geddes.
The alleged mobster’s younger co-defendant, Anthony Silvestro, 28, was released on a $500,000 surety bond. Citing the Bail Reform Act and Silvestro’s clean record, Judge Kuo placed him on home detention with an ankle monitor, which she ordered him to pay for.
Geddes said an eager-to-please Silvestro was heard bragging about beatings and making “a grown man cry” in wiretapped calls, adding that he signed himself up for violent shakedowns without ever questioning their purpose.
“If you say you need me, I’m there,” she quoted Silvestro as saying on one call.
Silvestro’s mother, brother, aunt and uncle, who were all present in court Tuesday, co-signed the mammoth bond amount.
“That’s half a million dollars — that’s a lot of money,” the judge warned them.
Capaldo and Silvestro are two of 20 suspects charged with extortion by violent means, loansharking, racketeering and other offenses in three sweeping federal indictments unsealed Oct. 3.
The investigation started in November 2016 after workers at an MTA bus depot in New Springville, Staten Island, discovered a GPS tracking device planted on the oil pan of a city bus.
Prosecutors connected the device to alleged Colombo captain Joseph Amato — who they allege was stalking his then-girlfriend — and began wiretapping his calls.
During the back-to-back hearings, lawyers for the two men said the government failed to prove either man engaged in violent or criminal acts.
“Can you detain someone for talking tough?” Silvestro’s attorney Mathew Mari said. “Maybe he’s got the wrong friends . . . but I don’t think that’s enough to convict someone of these crimes.”
Capaldo’s lawyer, Vincent Romano, said Geddes’ arguments were “cut and pasted” from a 2011 detention memo filed against Capaldo in the same courthouse. The lawyer said his client has given the court no reason to believe he won’t abide by certain conditions under release.
“He’s got a 4-year-old at home. He’s got a wife,” Romano told reporters. “We’ll deal with the charges in court and hopefully he’ll be granted bail in the near future.”

https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/brooklyn/ny-colombo-crime-family-bail-hearing-20191008-vjgbjrg6r5hjnijst3pq6lnoxq-story.html


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