Showing posts with label John Castellucci. Show all posts
Showing posts with label John Castellucci. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 18, 2020
COVID-19 outbreak in NJ prison sickens numerous mobsters
A massive coronavirus outbreak has turned a New Jersey federal prison
into a house of horrors, with quarantined inmates bedridden, coughing
and vomiting, according to harrowing inmate accounts.
At least five New York City mobsters have been sickened at FCI Fort Dix,
in Burlington County, N.J., about 30 miles east of Philadelphia.
In one unit, 217 out of 230 prisoners — 94% — tested positive for
COVID-19 on Nov. 5, say court filings. The prison’s 232 confirmed
COVID-19 cases exceeds those of any other federal prison or jail in the
country.
“I woke up at 3:00 a.m. Friday morning, drenched in sweat, unable to
breath, I vomited for two hours, my entire body ached,” wrote Felix
Morales — who is incarcerated at Fort Dix — in a Nov. 10 email obtained
by the Daily News.
“Twenty minutes my breathing was constricted in little gasp, it felt like I was being suffocated.”
Fort Dix Unit 5812 has accounted for nearly all the COVID-19 cases in
the prison, which — counting its adjacent prison camp — last week housed
2,774 inmates, more than any other federal lockup.
“I’ve been bedridden since I first got my symptoms on Monday,” inmate
Robert Speed said between coughs during a recorded Nov. 8 phone call
shared with The News. “I don’t see them [staff] doing anything but
temperature checks.”
The outbreak has renewed calls from inmates for compassionate release
from judges. Many of those seeking compassionate release are members of
La Cosa Nostra in New York City.
One of the sick wiseguys at Fort Dix is Bonnano family member Daniel
Mongelli, who was convicted of taking part in a mob rubout. Mongelli was
ordered released by a Brooklyn federal judge Nov. 5.
Bonnanno soldier Michael Padavona caught the bug. “He is currently alone
in his cell with a fever and an extremely irregular blood pressure,”
wrote Padavona’s lawyer in a Nov. 4 request for release from prison for
his client,
“To be sure, the government understands that the defendant has
contracted COVID-19 and is currently in isolation suffering from the
disease, and does not mean to downplay that fact,” the feds wrote in
opposition to Padavona’s request for release.
But they argued that Padavona’s minor symptoms, fever, body aches, loss
of smell, headaches and coughs do not merit compassionate release for
the made man.
Other mobsters with COVID-19 are 75-year-old Genovese family member
Ernest Montevecchi, Lucchese capo John Castelucci and Colombo associate
Michael Spataro.
Lawyers, inmates and prison union officials say the outbreak began after
numerous groups of men — some who ended up testing positive for
COVID-19 — were transferred to Fort Dix from the minimum-security
federal prison in Elkton, Ohio.
“It’s clearly a huge outbreak and it’s clear it happened because BOP
screwed up and transferred people from another facility that had a huge
outbreak — from Elkton,” said David Patton, attorney-in-chief of the
Federal Defenders in Manhattan.
The Bureau of Prisons did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
https://www.nydailynews.com/coronavirus/ny-coronavirus-mobsters-sick-prison-new-jersey-fci-fort-dix-20201115-mjxnzqxvlva2lf4dwjiwxyzpvy-story.html
Wednesday, June 5, 2019
Lucchese family used Staten Island to conduct secret mafia initiation rituals
The Lucchese crime family established a
strong presence on Staten Island over the years, with the Mafia clan
holding a clandestine initiation ritual here and numerous members of its
so-called Brooklyn crew operating on the borough, a mob snitch said
last week.
During detailed testimony in
Manhattan federal court, John Pennisi, a family member turned FBI
informant, explained to prosecutors how many of the family’s members
migrated to Staten Island from Brooklyn, establishing a stronghold here.
“We were the Brooklyn faction of the
Lucchese family, but we operated out of Staten Island,” said Pennisi,
49, according to a transcript of his testimony obtained by the Advance.
Pennisi testified during the trial of family soldier Eugene "Boobsie" Castelle, 59, of Annadale, who was charged in a massive bust involving several mob families early last year.
During his testimony, Pennisi explained how about seven or eight people were part of each crew.
Crews were spread all over the New York City area, including two in the Bronx, two on Long Island and one in Manhattan.
Each crew was run by a captain, Pennisi explained.
“There
was no real Staten Island crew,” said Pennisi. “Although we were in
Staten Island, we were the Brooklyn part of that family.”
“If
you live on Staten Island why are you considered Brooklyn?” asked
Assistant U.S. Attorney Hagan Scotten, of the Southern District of New
York.
The answer was simple.
“Because everybody from Staten Island came from Brooklyn,” Pennisi testified.
Pennisi said that, at the time, he was living on Long Island and traveled to Staten Island for family business.
“It’s just wherever they put you," he said. "It doesn’t mean that you have to come from Brooklyn.”
His testimony didn’t specify exactly where the crew was operating, but the New York Post reported it was mostly based in Tottenville.
Pennisi, himself, lived on Staten Island for a short time after getting out of prison in 2007.
He
started cooperating with the Federal Bureau of Investigation sometime
after October 2018, when he walked into the Bureau’s office to share his
“concerns and basically crimes that [he] committed,” he said under
oath.
He has been sharing information about the inside operations of the Mafia family since then.
SECRET INITIATION
Pennisi
said he became a member of the Lucchese family in 2013, during a secret
initiation ceremony at a house on Staten Island on his wife’s birthday.
Matty Madonna, the acting boss of the Lucchese family, presided over the ceremony, he said.
In the darkness of a basement, Pennisi sat in front of a table.
“There
was a gun, a knife, there was a picture of a saint, an ashtray, a
lighter, and like a diabetic pin, needle to check your blood,” said
Pennisi.
Madonna, from the Bronx, asked
Pennisi what his trigger finger was and shortly after, John "Big John" Castellucci, a Staten Island resident and crew captain, who was sitting
next to him, poked his finger with the needle, according to his
testimony.
“They took the saint, and they poured
blood drops onto the saint, and then he said to me we're going to light
the saint on fire, and you're going to put your hands out and you're
going to move the paper of the saint back and forth in your hands and
repeat after me,” said Pennisi.
“Matty
[Madonna] said if I was ever to betray any member of the family, that my
soul would burn like the saint is burning,” he said.
He did not specify where on Staten Island the ritual took place.
The feds have struck back hard against the family in recent years.
Both Madonna and Castellucci were among those charged in a massive Lucchese bust in 2017, which included several Staten Islanders. Madonna was 81 at the time and Castellucci 57.
'BOOBSIE’ VERDICT
After a two-week trial, Castelle was found guilty on one count of attempted extortion and one count of illegal gambling on Friday.
He remains out on bail after his brother put up his New Brighton home in January of 2018, according to court documents.
Pennisi is currently under FBI protection.
(Both
court filings and officials from the U.S. attorney’s office spell the
family name as “Luchese.” Many outlets, however, spell the family name
as “Lucchese.”)
https://www.silive.com/news/2019/06/how-luccheses-turned-staten-island-into-mob-stronghold-down-to-secret-initiation-ritual.html
Wednesday, May 31, 2017
Five Staten Island men charged in Lucchese family bust
Five Staten Islanders were among 19 individuals, including the entire administration of the Luchese organized crime family, charged Wednesday with an array of crimes including murder, attempted murder, racketeering, gambling, witness tampering and narcotics trafficking, said officials.
The borough residents named in a superseding indictment unsealed in federal court in White Plains are John "Big John" Castellucci, 57; Tindaro "Tino" Corso, 56; and Dominic Truscello, 83, who were alleged captains or acting captains in the family, authorities said.
Also indicted were Staten Island residents Joseph "Big Joe/Joey Glasses" Datello, 66, a reputed solider and "made man" in the family and Richard O'Connor, 63, an alleged Luchese associate, said authorities.
In addition, the Luchese's top brass was indicted: Matthew Madonna, 81, the reputed street boss; Steven Crea Sr., 69, the alleged underboss, and Joseph DiNapoli, 81, the reputed consigliere, officials said.
Among the allegations, Datello and Crea attempted to murder a witness who previously provided information about mob activities to state and local law enforcement, said officials.
Madonna, Crea and three others are accused of murdering or arranging the murder of Michael Meldish in the Bronx in November 2013, to maintain or increase their status in the gang, authorities said.
"As today's charges demonstrate, La Cosa Nostra remains alive and active in New York City," said Joon H. Kim, acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. "... The defendants allegedly used violence and threats of violence, as the mob always has, to make illegal money, to enforce discipline in the ranks, and to silence witnesses."
Kim announced the indictment along with officials from the FBI New York Field Office, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations, the Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor and Police Commissioner James P. O'Neill.
Said O'Neill, "The allegations and extent of the criminal behavior are extraordinary. The Luchese Family operated with seeming impunity, allegedly carrying out murder, robberies, extortion, among a myriad of other charges unsealed today."
From Sammy the Bull to the 'Mafia Cops' -- Staten Island's most notorious mob incidents
According to the indictment, the five Staten Island defendants and others extorted loan-collection money, property and employment opportunities by threatening victims with physical or economic harm.
Corso, Datello and others assaulted and abetted physical attacks on Luchese members and associates to enforce rules and also intimidated victims of the racketeering enterprise with similar force, alleges the indictment.
In other criminal actions, Datello, O'Connor and others conspired to distribute cocaine, heroin, oxycodone and marijuana, the indictment alleges. Datello also allegedly colluded to import cocaine from South America.
Those two defendants, along with Corso and others, promoted gambling, including "Joker Poker"-type machines, the indictment said.
Datello, Corso, O'Connor and Castellucci also allegedly trafficked in contraband cigarettes.
The five borough residents, who were to be arraigned Wednesday afternoon, potentially face up to life in prison if convicted, authorities said.
Their lawyers' names were not immediately available.
Both the indictment and officials from the U.S. Attorney's office spell the family name as "Luchese." Many outlets spell the family name as "Lucchese."
Advance records show Datello, back in November 2009, was part of a major mob bust.
He and his brother, Frank Datello, were accused of running an illegal gambling and money-lending operation from Frank Datello's bar, the Night Gallery, on New Dorp Plaza, from October 2007 through July 2009, according to then-state Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo.
The brothers often loaned some gamblers thousands of dollars at an interest rate exceeding the criminal usury rate of 25 percent, authorities said.
The crew paid a "tribute" from the earnings to alleged Luchese capo Anthony Croce of Manhattan, who allegedly spearheaded the operation with Joseph Datello.
The brothers each pleaded guilty in April 2010 in state Supreme Court, St. George, to a felony count of attempted first-degree usury.
Joseph Datello was sentenced in May of that year to 21 months to 42 months in state prison.
http://www.silive.com/news/2017/05/la_cosa_nostra_alive_official.html
Feds bust leaders of the Lucchese crime family in massive takedown
The Lucchese family’s ruling hierarchy and 16 mob associates were charged Wednesday with murder, drug-dealing, extortion and gambling in a massive federal indictment.
Named in the 30-page racketeering case were Lucchese street boss Matthew Madonna, his underboss Steven "Wonder Boy" Crea Sr., and consigliere Joseph DiNapoli.
The indictment also charged various mobsters with the murder of a longtime mob hitman and three attempted killings, including a Crea-ordered hit of a Bonanno family associate who disrespected him.
The venerable crime family, in between shootings, peddled cocaine, heroin, prescription opiates and marijuana, charged the indictment — which covered a 17-year stretch beginning in 2000.
And accused No. 2 Crea — convicted in 2004 of conspiracy to rig bids on three Manhattan construction projects — was charged with mail and wire fraud in connection with the $25 million expansion of a New York City hospital.
Madonna, Crea, and the underboss’ namesake son Steven Jr. were charged as co-conspirators in the gruesome November 2013 murder of notorious mob killer Michael Meldish.
The victim was executed gangland-style, shot once in the head while sitting behind the wheel of a rusty Lincoln LS sedan in the Bronx. Meldish, 62, was suspected in at least 10 mob hits in the 1970s and 1980s.
As the man who ran the drug trade in the Bronx, Meldish had ties with the Lucchese, Bonanno and Genovese crime families.
He was killed “to enforce the rules of the enterprise among its members and associates,” the indictment charged. His body, with blood leaking from both ears, was discovered in a leafy section of Throgs Neck.
The younger Crea was identified as a crime family capo, along with three co-defendants. His father had served as the family’s acting boss just after the turn of the century.
Crea Sr.’s reign was cut short by his conviction and subsequent jail term. In addition to the state charges, he was found guilty on federal charges of construction industry extortion.
Among the other mobsters charged in the Meldish murder were Joseph "Joey Glasses" Datello, Paul "Paulie Roast Beef" Cassano and Terrence "T" Caldwell.
Caldwell was identified as the shooter in the failed May 2013 hit on a Bonanno family member in East Harlem. The victim was wounded but survived the murder try.
According to the indictment, a Bonanno family associate was targeted for death one year earlier “in retaliation for a showing of disrespect to Crea Sr.”
Defendants Cassano and Vincent Bruno went to the man’s home with the intention of exacting the elder Crea’s revenge, but never completed the murder contract, authorities said.
And last October, Crea gave his blessing to Datello to take a New Hampshire road trip and track down a mob snitch, authorities charged.
The murder was planned “in retaliation for the decision by (the target) to provide information to law enforcement,” the indictment charged.
The reputed wiseguys are reportedly due to appear later Wednesday in federal court in White Plains.
The government, in the indictment, announced plans to seek forfeiture of the mobsters’ ill-gotten profits, including “all property and any proceeds” acquired through the criminal enterprise.
Named in the 30-page racketeering case were Lucchese street boss Matthew Madonna, his underboss Steven "Wonder Boy" Crea Sr., and consigliere Joseph DiNapoli.
The indictment also charged various mobsters with the murder of a longtime mob hitman and three attempted killings, including a Crea-ordered hit of a Bonanno family associate who disrespected him.
The venerable crime family, in between shootings, peddled cocaine, heroin, prescription opiates and marijuana, charged the indictment — which covered a 17-year stretch beginning in 2000.
And accused No. 2 Crea — convicted in 2004 of conspiracy to rig bids on three Manhattan construction projects — was charged with mail and wire fraud in connection with the $25 million expansion of a New York City hospital.
Madonna, Crea, and the underboss’ namesake son Steven Jr. were charged as co-conspirators in the gruesome November 2013 murder of notorious mob killer Michael Meldish.
The victim was executed gangland-style, shot once in the head while sitting behind the wheel of a rusty Lincoln LS sedan in the Bronx. Meldish, 62, was suspected in at least 10 mob hits in the 1970s and 1980s.
As the man who ran the drug trade in the Bronx, Meldish had ties with the Lucchese, Bonanno and Genovese crime families.
He was killed “to enforce the rules of the enterprise among its members and associates,” the indictment charged. His body, with blood leaking from both ears, was discovered in a leafy section of Throgs Neck.
The younger Crea was identified as a crime family capo, along with three co-defendants. His father had served as the family’s acting boss just after the turn of the century.
Crea Sr.’s reign was cut short by his conviction and subsequent jail term. In addition to the state charges, he was found guilty on federal charges of construction industry extortion.
Among the other mobsters charged in the Meldish murder were Joseph "Joey Glasses" Datello, Paul "Paulie Roast Beef" Cassano and Terrence "T" Caldwell.
Caldwell was identified as the shooter in the failed May 2013 hit on a Bonanno family member in East Harlem. The victim was wounded but survived the murder try.
According to the indictment, a Bonanno family associate was targeted for death one year earlier “in retaliation for a showing of disrespect to Crea Sr.”
Defendants Cassano and Vincent Bruno went to the man’s home with the intention of exacting the elder Crea’s revenge, but never completed the murder contract, authorities said.
And last October, Crea gave his blessing to Datello to take a New Hampshire road trip and track down a mob snitch, authorities charged.
The murder was planned “in retaliation for the decision by (the target) to provide information to law enforcement,” the indictment charged.
The reputed wiseguys are reportedly due to appear later Wednesday in federal court in White Plains.
The government, in the indictment, announced plans to seek forfeiture of the mobsters’ ill-gotten profits, including “all property and any proceeds” acquired through the criminal enterprise.
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-crime/luchese-bosses-19-cuffed-massive-new-york-mob-takedown-article-1.3209306
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Cart Co. probed for Mob Ties: City looks into moonlighting owner's brothers, suspicious fire
Anthony Castelle appears to be the only sanitation worker in the city with permission to run a private carting company on the side.
That may not have been the best idea.
Now city investigators are probing whether Castelle's moonlighting company, Coney Island Container, is tied to the mob - and fire marshals are looking into a recent fire that destroyed all the company's trucks.
"There's a pending background investigation into this company," Business Integrity Commissioner Michael Mansfield said.
Mansfield refused to elaborate but, over the years, the agency has raised issues about Castelle's two mobbed-up brothers.
In a 2005 permit to operate Coney Island that's now up for renewal, Castelle, 40, was warned that the mob and his kin, Eugene "Boobsie" Castelle, 49, and John "Big John" Castellucci, 50, should have nothing to do with the firm.
The FBI says Eugene Castelle is a capo in the Lucchese crime family and Castellucci is affiliated with the mob's Bensonhurst crew. Both were jailed after a 2000 racketeering case. At the time, the city's Business Integrity Commission allowed Coney Island to operate, but made Castelle promise he wouldn't "associate with any member or associate of organized crime or any racketeer."
Records show he was told he could not "employ, retain the services of, or do business with Eugene Castelle or John Castellucci, either directly or indirectly."
By then Anthony Castelle and a partner had operated Coney Island for three years at the Castelle family's home address with a temporary license. Castelle did not yet have permission to moonlight with Coney Island. Awaiting a permanent license, the firm removed construction and demolition debris from commercial sites and residences, records show.
In 2004, Castellucci was released from prison, followed by Eugene Castelle in July 2008.
In between, in 2005, Sanitation Commissioner John Doherty gave Anthony Castelle permission to keep his city job from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. while running his side business, Coney Island Container.
The City Conflicts of Interest Board agreed. Board OIB records show several sanitation workers got permission to moonlight as janitors, security guards and even as a TV cameraman, but only Castelle is running his own carting company.
Sanitation spokesman Matthew Lipani said Castelle "followed proper procedure regarding approval for outside employment." He said the department had no record of his business prior to that time.
Asked how the agency monitored his work hours, Lipani said all employees were required to sign in and out. The company's license came up for renewal in August. This time, with the brothers out of jail and a suspicious fire under investigation, the BIC decided to take a closer look at Coney Island.
Recently, concerns arose about at least one brother's continued mob connections. In early April, Eugene Castelle's probation officer ordered him to stay away from organized crime figures, records show.
Then, before dawn on April 25, fire trucks found four dump trucks and a Bobcat loader engulfed in flames in Coney Island's lot, FDNY spokesman Jim Long said. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
In a brief interview outside his Staten Island home, Anthony Castelle made clear what he thinks happened: "Somebody burnt my trucks." He said investigators who swarmed the lot after the fire "treated us like we were the villains...We were the victims."
When cops asked if he had any enemies, he said no. Then they asked what he deemed "the dumb question: 'Did your brothers do it?' "
"My brothers aren't involved in the business," Castelle said. "My brothers work (in construction)."
He insisted he had no idea who started the fire. "Nobody can say nothing unless they can prove otherwise and they can't. It is what it is."
That may not have been the best idea.
Now city investigators are probing whether Castelle's moonlighting company, Coney Island Container, is tied to the mob - and fire marshals are looking into a recent fire that destroyed all the company's trucks.
"There's a pending background investigation into this company," Business Integrity Commissioner Michael Mansfield said.
Mansfield refused to elaborate but, over the years, the agency has raised issues about Castelle's two mobbed-up brothers.
In a 2005 permit to operate Coney Island that's now up for renewal, Castelle, 40, was warned that the mob and his kin, Eugene "Boobsie" Castelle, 49, and John "Big John" Castellucci, 50, should have nothing to do with the firm.
The FBI says Eugene Castelle is a capo in the Lucchese crime family and Castellucci is affiliated with the mob's Bensonhurst crew. Both were jailed after a 2000 racketeering case. At the time, the city's Business Integrity Commission allowed Coney Island to operate, but made Castelle promise he wouldn't "associate with any member or associate of organized crime or any racketeer."
Records show he was told he could not "employ, retain the services of, or do business with Eugene Castelle or John Castellucci, either directly or indirectly."
By then Anthony Castelle and a partner had operated Coney Island for three years at the Castelle family's home address with a temporary license. Castelle did not yet have permission to moonlight with Coney Island. Awaiting a permanent license, the firm removed construction and demolition debris from commercial sites and residences, records show.
In 2004, Castellucci was released from prison, followed by Eugene Castelle in July 2008.
In between, in 2005, Sanitation Commissioner John Doherty gave Anthony Castelle permission to keep his city job from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. while running his side business, Coney Island Container.
The City Conflicts of Interest Board agreed. Board OIB records show several sanitation workers got permission to moonlight as janitors, security guards and even as a TV cameraman, but only Castelle is running his own carting company.
Sanitation spokesman Matthew Lipani said Castelle "followed proper procedure regarding approval for outside employment." He said the department had no record of his business prior to that time.
Asked how the agency monitored his work hours, Lipani said all employees were required to sign in and out. The company's license came up for renewal in August. This time, with the brothers out of jail and a suspicious fire under investigation, the BIC decided to take a closer look at Coney Island.
Recently, concerns arose about at least one brother's continued mob connections. In early April, Eugene Castelle's probation officer ordered him to stay away from organized crime figures, records show.
Then, before dawn on April 25, fire trucks found four dump trucks and a Bobcat loader engulfed in flames in Coney Island's lot, FDNY spokesman Jim Long said. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
In a brief interview outside his Staten Island home, Anthony Castelle made clear what he thinks happened: "Somebody burnt my trucks." He said investigators who swarmed the lot after the fire "treated us like we were the villains...We were the victims."
When cops asked if he had any enemies, he said no. Then they asked what he deemed "the dumb question: 'Did your brothers do it?' "
"My brothers aren't involved in the business," Castelle said. "My brothers work (in construction)."
He insisted he had no idea who started the fire. "Nobody can say nothing unless they can prove otherwise and they can't. It is what it is."
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