Five Families of New York City

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

Showing posts with label Thomas Orefice. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Thomas Orefice. Show all posts

Friday, May 13, 2011

6 Staten Islanders sentenced in wide-ranging mob case

  May 13, 2011    Dapper_Don

Some of the mobsters extorted victims, beating one with a baseball bat and another into unconsciousness. 
Others loansharked, ran illegal gambling rackets or trafficked in sex involving a 15-year-old girl.
Six Staten Islanders were among nine members and associates of the Gambino crime family sentenced in Manhattan federal court on convictions for wide-ranging criminal activities, said Preet Bharara, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York.
Sentenced yesterday were Thomas Orefice, 34, of Huguenot; Dominick DiFiore, 31, of Willowbrook; Anthony Manzella, 32, of Pleasant Plains; Michael Scotto, 25, of Charleston; Michael Scarpaci, 35, of Prince's Bay, and Keith Dellitalia, 34, of Great Kills.
Orefice, a Gambino soldier, received the most time -- eight years in prison -- and was ordered to forfeit $100,000, stemming from convictions for racketeering conspiracy, including extortion, loansharking and gambling, said prosecutors.
Prosecutors said the crew used violence to collect debts.
Orefice, DiFiore and Dellitalia beat an extortion victim with a baseball bat, Orefice and DiFiore assaulted another victim on the street, while Scotto beat a victim unconscious to collect an extortion payment for DiFiore, said authorities.
In the summer of 2009, Orefice, DiFiore, Manzella, Thomas Scarpaci, 36, of Bay Terrace, and Anthony Vecchione, 41, of Dongan Hills, plotted to extort the owner of a Staten Island financial services business, prosecutors said.
DiFiore was sentenced yesterday to 92 months in prison and ordered to forfeit $25,000 for convictions on extortion conspiracy and conspiracy to distribute narcotics.
Manzella was sentenced to four years behind bars for convictions on racketeering conspiracy, including mail fraud and gambling. Scotto received 37 months in prison for racketeering, including extortion and gambling, Michael Scarpaci got 18 months for racketeering, including gambling and Dellitalia was sentenced to 21 months for extortion.
The six defendants sentenced yesterday were among nine borough residents nabbed in April of last year in a mob sweep.
Previously convicted and sentenced were Richmond resident Steve Maiurro, 32, to 21 months for sex trafficking; Thomas Scarpaci, to 30 months for racketeering, including extortion and gambling, and Vecchione, to 15 months for extortion.
Prosecutors said Maiurro and others advertised a prostitution ring on Craigslist and other Web sites.
Between 2008 and 2009, the women were driven to Manhattan, Brooklyn, New Jersey and Staten Island to have sex with clients, while mobsters pocketed half the money paid to the girls.
Feds said one of the girls was 15 years old at the time.
The girls also were made available for sex to gamblers at a weekly high-stakes poker game run by mobsters.
Mob boss Daniel Marino, 70, of Brooklyn, also arrested in April 2010, was previously sentenced to five years in prison and ordered to forfeit $1.25 million.
Prosecutors said Marino admitted to green-lighting the 1998 hit on his nephew, New Springville resident Frank Hydell, 31, in front of the former Scarlett's nightclub in South Beach. Hydell had been co-operating with authorities.
Also sentenced yesterday was Gambino soldier, Onofrio Modica, 47, of Manalapan, N.J., to 100 months in prison.
In August 1987, Modica's motorcycle was used in connection with the drive-by murders of James DiGuglielmo and Richard Sbarra on Staten Island, prosecutors said.
Modica and other Gambino members also tried to tamper with jurors in the 1992 trial of mob don John Gotti in Brooklyn federal court, said prosecutors.

http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2011/05/6_staten_islanders_sentenced_i.html
Related articles

   / /

  No Comments

Nine Gambino Crime Family Members Sentenced in Manhattan Federal Court for Racketeering, Murder Conspiracy, Extortion, Sex Trafficking, and Other Crimes

  May 13, 2011    Dapper_Don

PREET BHARARA, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced the sentencing of nine members and associates of the Gambino organized crime family of La Cosa Nostra (the “Gambino Family”) who were charged, along with five others, in Manhattan federal court in April 2010 with crimes including racketeering, murder, sex trafficking, extortion, and wire fraud. THOMAS OREFICE, DAVID EISLER, SALVATORE BORGIA, ANTHONY MANZELLA, ONOFRIO MODICA, DOMINICK DIFIORE, MICHAEL SCOTTO, MICHAEL SCARPACI, and KEITH DELLITALIA were sentenced yesterday and today by JUDGE LEWIS A. KAPLAN based on their convictions on various federal charges. The other five defendants were sentenced over the past several months. They are: DANIEL MARINO, THOMAS SCARPACI, STEVE MAIURRO, SUZANNE PORCELLI, and ANTHONY VECCHIONE.
Manhattan U.S. Attorney PREET BHARARA said: “The successful prosecutions of Daniel Marino and his cronies dealt a significant blow to the Gambino Family—a “family” that will stop at nothing to wield power, extract illegal profits, and exact revenge against its enemies. But we are far from finished, and our goal of disrupting and dismantling organized crime throughout the City of New York and beyond its borders will continue unabated.”
According to the indictment, the guilty plea proceedings, and the record of the case:
DANIEL MARINO, a longtime member of the Gambino crime family, was a boss who presided over at least 200 fully inducted, or “made,” mafia members, as well as hundreds of associates who committed crimes on behalf of the family. THOMAS OREFICE and ONOFRIO MODICA were soldiers of the Gambino Family, acting under MARINO’s supervision. OREFICE and MODICA each supervised crews that included DOMINICK DIFIORE, ANTHONY MANZELLA, MICHAEL SCOTTO, MICHAEL SCARPACI, THOMAS SCARPACI, DAVID EISLER, and SALVATORE BORGIA. The indictment also charges other individuals who committed crimes with and for the Gambino Family, including STEVE MAIURRO, KEITH DELLITALIA, SUZANNE PORCELLI, and ANTHONY VECCHIONE.
In addition to racketeering charges, the defendants were charged and have pled guilty to the following crimes:
Murder of Frank Hydell
In 1997, suspicion arose within the Gambino Family that FRANK HYDELL, MARINO’s nephew, was cooperating with law enforcement, which he was. Based on these suspicions, various Gambino Family members and associates plotted to kill HYDELL and sought MARINO’s approval for the hit. In his guilty plea, MARINO admitted that he gave his co-conspirators the “green light” for the murder to proceed. Upon MARINO’s authorization to kill HYDELL, various Gambino Family members and associates lured him to a strip club in Staten Island where he was shot three times in the face and back. HYDELL, 31, died in the strip club’s parking lot.
Accessory to Murder of James DiGuglielmo and Richard Sbarra
On August 22, 1987, MODICA’s motorcycle was used in connection with the drive-by shooting of two individuals in Staten Island, JAMES DIGUGLIELMO and RICHARD SBARRA. After the murders occurred, MODICA made false statements to the police and helped to hide and destroy evidence in an effort to protect the individuals who killed DIGUGLIELMO and SBARRA from being arrested and convicted.
Sex Trafficking and Sex Trafficking of a Minor
From 2008 to 2009, numerous defendants, including OREFICE, DIFIORE, MANZELLA, SCOTTO, EISLER, MAIURRO, and PORCELLI, operated a prostitution business where young women and girls were exploited and sold for sex. The defendants first recruited various young women and girls to work as prostitutes. They then advertised the prostitution business on Craigslist and other websites. The defendants drove the women to appointments in Manhattan, Brooklyn, New Jersey, and Staten Island to have sex with clients. They then took approximately 50 percent of the money paid to the young women. They also made the women available for sex to gamblers at a weekly, high-stakes poker game.
Jury Tampering
In 1992, then-boss JOHN J. GOTTI was on trial for federal racketeering and murder charges in the Eastern District of New York. MODICA, along with various other Gambino Family members, took part in a plot to locate the anonymous, sequestered jurors sitting on that trial. MODICA and the others eventually penetrated various security measures, and located the jury at the hotel where it was sequestered. The plan to tamper with the jury was called off, however, when GOTTI came to believe that the jury would not convict him, even without outside interference.
Extortions and Assaults
Between 2005 and 2009, OREFICE, DIFIORE, MANZELLA, SCOTTO, THOMAS SCARPACI, DELLITALIA, EISLER, and VECCHIONE extorted payments from various businesses and individuals through the use of violence and threats. The defendants targeted businesses in the construction, home heating oil, and financial services industries, as well as various individuals in and around New York City.
Several of the extortions resulted in serious beatings. For example:
  • In December 2005, after an extortion victim failed to make a payment, OREFICE, DIFIORE, and DELLITALIA used a baseball bat to beat the victim, causing the victim’s hospitalization.
  • In 2008, OREFICE and DIFIORE tracked down another extortion victim who failed to make a payment, beat him viciously, and left him on the street. The victim was hospitalized and received emergency surgery.
  • In the summer of 2009, OREFICE, DIFIORE, MANZELLA, THOMAS SCARPACI, and VECCHIONE plotted to extort the owner of a financial services business in Staten Island. Members of OREFICE’s crew went to the victim’s office in an attempt to shake him down, demanded to see the victim, and, ultimately, threatened the victim’s office staff.
  • In the summer of 2009, SCOTTO assaulted an individual to collect an extortion payment for DIFIORE, leaving the individual unconscious.
Wire Fraud
OREFICE and MANZELLA defrauded various high-end restaurants in New York City by inflating invoices for meat orders placed with MANZELLA’s company and paying kickbacks to the chefs responsible for ordering the meat. The invoices were sometimes inflated by as much as 40 percent of actual costs. To ensure that the chefs at the restaurants would continue ordering meat from MANZELLA’s company, and to encourage them to turn a blind eye to the scam, MANZELLA kicked back about five percent of the proceeds to them.
Narcotics Trafficking
OREFICE, DIFIORE and BORGIA trafficked in narcotics—including cocaine, marijuana, and oxycodone—for and on behalf of the Gambino Family.
Gambling
OREFICE, MODICA, DIFIORE, MANZELLA, MICHAEL SCARPACI, THOMAS SCARPACI, EISLER, BORGIA, and DELLITALIA ran various illegal gambling operations for the Gambino Family. These operations included an Internet-based sports betting, or “bookmaking,” operation and a regular, high-stakes card game.
The charges contained in the indictment against each defendant, and the corresponding sentences, are contained in charts attached to this press release.
Mr. BHARARA praised the investigative work of the FBI.
The case is being handled by the office’s Organized Crime Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys ELIE HONIG, NATALIE LAMARQUE, DANIEL CHUNG, and JASON HERNANDEZ are in charge of the prosecution.
United States v. Daniel Marino et al.
Defendant  Charges of Conviction  Sentence 
DANIEL MARINO  Conspiracy to murder Fran kHydell  60 months in prison;$1.25 million forfeiture 
THOMAS OREFICE  Racketeering conspiracy, with objects including extortion, sex trafficking, loansharking, gambling  96 months in prison; $100,000 forfeiture 
ONOFRIO MODICA  Racketeering conspiracy, with objects including accessory to murder, jury tampering, extortion, gambling  100 months in prison; $11,490 in forfeiture 
DOMINICK DIFIORE  Extortion conspiracy,narcotics distribution  92 months in prison;$25,000 in forfeiture 
ANTHONY MANZELLA  Racketeering conspiracy, with objects including extortion, mail fraud, sex trafficking, gambling  48 months in prison 
MICHAEL SCOTTO  Racketeering, with underlying acts including extortion and gambling  37 months in prison 
MICHAEL SCARPACI  Racketeering, withunderlying acts includinggambling  18 months in prison 
DAVID EISLER  Racketeering, with underlying acts including sex trafficking, extortion, and gambling  33 months in prison 
THOMAS SCARPACI  Racketeering, with underlying acts including extortion and gambling  30 months in prison 
SALVATORE BORGIA  Racketeering, with underlying acts including narcotics distribution and gambling  21 months in prison 
STEVE MAIURRO  Sex trafficking  21 months in prison 
KEITH DELLITALIA  Extortion  21 months in prison 
SUZANNE PORCELLI  Sex trafficking  3 years of supervised release 
ANTHONY VECCHIONE  Extortion  15 months in prison 

Defendant  Residence  Age 
DANIEL MARINO  Brooklyn, New York  70
THOMAS OREFICE  Staten Island, New York  34
ONOFRIO MODICA  Manalapan, New Jersey  47
DOMINICK DIFIORE  Staten Island, New York  31
ANTHONY MANZELLA  Staten Island, New York  32
MICHAEL SCOTTO  Staten Island, New York  25
MICHAEL SCARPACI  Staten Island, New York  35
DAVID EISLER  Brooklyn, New York  24
THOMAS SCARPACI  Staten Island, New York  36
SALVATORE BORGIA  Brooklyn, New York  32
STEVE MAIURRO  Staten Island, New York  32
KEITH DELLITALIA  Staten Island, New York  34
SUZANNE PORCELLI  Brooklyn, New York  44
ANTHONY VECCHIONE  Staten Island, New York  41
Related articles

   / / /

  No Comments

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Mob lawyer cleared in marijuana case, scores plea deal for Gambino family client

  January 11, 2011    Dapper_Don


A mob lawyer nabbed for bringing marijuana into a federal lockup had a double dose of good news Monday: he was cleared in the pot case - and scored a plea deal for his Gambino family client.
Attorney Seth Ginsberg was caught Oct. 12 with reefer in his bag while visiting mobster Thomas Orefice at the Metropolitan Correctional Center.
Ginsberg blamed it all on his brother, who he told authorities had borrowed the bag - and left the narcotics in it.
"It was a difficult experience," he said of sweating out a 6-week probe before the U.S. Attorney's office declined to prosecute. 
"I'm glad to have it behind me," said Ginsburg, whose thrre-month ban from the federal prison ends tomorrow.
The brother he blamed for the  drug drop also won't be charged.
Ginsberg revealed his good news as he also secured a deal yesterday for Orefice, who agreed to a 7-9 year sentence in exchange for pleading guilty to gambling and racketeering charges.
Orefice, was one of 14 Gambino mobsters  charged in April with racketeering, loansharking, extortion, murder and sex trafficking.
Ginsberg insisted his client had nothing to do with the murder and prostitution charges but did, in fact, run a high-stakes Manhattan poker game.
Orefice, 34, admitted loaning out money at more than 45% interest under the threat of violence if his customers didn't pony up the dough.
His wife, who had a baby nine days ago, sat in court watching.
 

   /

  No Comments

Monday, January 10, 2011

Guilty Pleas From Last Two Defendants In Gambino Round-Up

  January 10, 2011    Dapper_Don


Two mob goons pleaded guilty this afternoon to charges that they viciously beat deadbeat gamblers during what prosecutors called a "staggering" spree of crimes.
Reputed Gambino crime-family soldier Thomas Orefice and the alleged right-hand man in his crew, Dominick Difiore, both face nine or more years in the slammer under terms of their deals with the feds.
The pleas closed the book on last year's massive crackdown on the Gambinos, in which 12 other reputed gangsters have already pleaded guilty.
Those cases included an admission from reputed mob boss Daniel Marino that he authorized a 1998 hit on his own nephew, Frank Hydell, for becoming a government snitch.
"As the result of our prosecution, one of the Mafia's preeminent leaders and many of its rising stars will now serve significant prison sentences," Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said.
"We are, however, far from finished with the Gambino family and will continue working with our law enforcement partners to put their members and associates out of business and behind bars."
Prosecutors said Orefice and Difiore were both caught blabbing about their criminal exploits on secretly made recordings, one of which captured Orefice administering a beating as his victim begged him to stop.
The hulking 34-year-old -- who spent time in the nuthouse as a teen -- allegedly became a "made" member of the Mafia in 2008 after befriending reputed Marino behind bars.
During his appearance in Manhattan federal court, he admitted loansharking, extortion and helping run a sports-betting ring and a weekly, high-stakes poker game.
Orefice was represented in court by lawyer Seth Ginsberg, who recently ran afoul of the law himself when guards at the downtown Metropolitan Correctional Center found a small bag of pot hidden in his briefcase.
Ginsberg, whose musician brother insisted the weed was his, said the feds recently told him he wouldn't be charged over the incident.
DiFiore -- already a two-time felon -- admitted that he also sold more than 1,000 potent oxycodone pills to a cooperating witness in 2009.
The heavily tattooed 31-year-old was promised full-fledged membership in the mob "as a reward for his criminal conduct," court papers say.

   / /

  No Comments

Saturday, October 23, 2010

Mafia lawyer Seth Ginsberg weeded out; banned from visiting lockup after he's caught with pot

  October 23, 2010    Dapper_Don


A mob lawyer has been banned from a Manhattan federal lockup after he was caught trying to walk in with a bag of marijuana, sources told the Daily News.
Seth Ginsberg - who was visiting a reputed Gambino soldier when guards found the illicit weed - wasn't arrested.
But he is barred from the Metropolitan Correctional Center while the feds probe whether he was trying to smuggle the pot inside.
"I had no idea there was anything illegal in my bag. I had no intention of bringing anything illegal to my client, nor would he ever ask or want me to," Ginsberg said yesterday.
He blamed the dopey incident on his brother - who swears the marijuana was his.
"Anyone who knows Seth knows this is some crazy happenstance," said lawyer Charles Carnesi.
The rare ban followed Ginsberg's Oct. 12 attempt to see reputed Gambino soldier Thomas Orefice, who is accused of recruiting girls for an underage hooker ring.
The lawyer, who once defended mob scion John A. (Junior) Gotti, stopped at the security tent outside the MCC. There, a correction officer asked him to open his bag, a standard procedure.
Tucked inside a pocket was a plastic sandwich bag that held an undetermined amount of marijuana.
Ginsberg blurted out, "How did that get there?" and pointed the finger at his brother, whom he said had used the bag, a source said.
Ginsberg wasn't allowed to enter, but the officers let him leave the screening area. When he returned a short time later, the bag of marijuana was gone, sources said. Still, he was told he could not come in, sources said.
A correction officer later found what officials believe was the same bag of marijuana in a nearby garbage can, sources said.
The U.S. attorney's office in Manhattan was notified of the breach. A spokeswoman declined comment.
A spokesman for the federal Bureau of Prisons said it did not have the specifics of the case.
Ginsberg's younger brother submitted a sworn affidavit acknowledging the marijuana bag was his, and that has been submitted to investigators, Carnesi said.
Carnesi said the amount of pot in the bag was minimal and briefcases and bags are not even allowed into the client area. "Clearly, this does not rise to the level of an attempt to smuggle anything in," Carnesi said.
Under state law, anyone found with trace amounts of marijuana is hit with a citation. Carrying 2 to 8 ounces is a misdemeanor.
Orefice was drug tested after the incident and passed, a source said.


 http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/the_mob/2010/10/23/2010-10-23_jail_weeds_out_mafia_lawyer.html#ixzz13C4e9xAe

   / /

  No Comments

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Feds Bust 14 Gambinos In Including Boss and Soldiers

  April 20, 2010    Dapper_Don


The feds struck a blow against a resurgent Gambino crime family today charging its alleged boss with murder and his crew with a slew of old-standby mob crimes ranging from extortion to prostitution.
"The Mafia is not dead," said Preet Bharara, US Attorney for the Southern District in Manhattan. "It is alive and kicking. Modern mobsters may be less colorful, less flamboyant, and less glamorous than some of their predecessors, but they are still terrorizing businesses, using baseball bats and putting people in the hospital."
Alleged boss Daniel Marino, 69, is accused of leading the 200 made-member strong Gambino family.
G.N. MIller/NY PostPreet Bharara, US Attorney for the Southrern District of New York holds a presser regarding the arrest of Daniel Marino and 13 others.

Preet Bharara, US Attorney for the Southrern District of New York holds a presser regarding the arrest of Daniel Marino and 13 others.
Among other crimes, Marino is accused of ordering the hit of his own nephew, Frank Hydell, who was cooperating with authorities, in 1998.
"When Daniel Marino was faced with that choice, between his own family and the Gambino crime family, he chose the Gambinos," Bharara said.
His trusted soldier, Onofrio Modica, was charged with jury tampering in John Gotti’s 1992 murder and racketeering trial.
Modica, 46, allegedly located the hotel where the jury had been secretly sequestered.
But the late "Teflon Don" canceled the plan to influence the jury because he was confident he’d again be acquitted. That was a mistake, it turned out.
The feds finally got a conviction against him, sending Gotti to prison for what turned out to be a life sentence when he died of cancer behind bars in 1992.
The feds also charged Marino’s soldier Thomas Orefice, 33, with running a prostitution ring that pimped out girls as young as 15.
"This perhaps reflects a new low for the Gambino family," Bharara said.
The 14 accused are expected to be arraigned this afternoon.

Related articles

   / / /

  No Comments

Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)