Career criminal linked to Genovese family admits role in planning home invasion posing as NYPD detective
A career criminal from the Bronx with ties to the Genovese crime family admitted this month that he helped plan a home invasion in which his fellow crooks posed as NYPD detectives, then robbed a New Jersey family of cash and jewelry.
Dominick “Shakes” Memoli, 57, of Mace Avenue, pleaded guilty to first-degree armed robbery for the Nov. 17, 2022 raid on a house in the town of Fair Lawn, NJ, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said in a Wednesday press release.
Members of the criminal crew flashed NYPD-esque badges that morning to convince the residents to let them in their quiet suburban home, about 20 miles northwest of the Big Apple.
But once inside, they pulled a gun, bound the homeowner with zip-ties and made off with the family’s valuables, Musella said.
Memoli — who has a long history of robbery and home invasions — helped plan the sortie and acted as a lookout once it kicked off, authorities said.
Detectives from the prosecutor’s office and special agents from an FBI task force caught up with the crew in May and arrested Memoli and five other New York men: Michael D’Angelo, Daniel Ruggiero, Bruno Simonetti, Erion Beshiri and Sian Stafford.
Authorities charged them with a litany of crimes, including kidnapping, robbery, armed burglary, conspiracy and weapons offenses.
Memoli pleaded guilty Dec. 18, Musella said. He will be sentenced Feb. 9, 2024.
But it wasn’t Memoli’s first brush with the law.
In October 2007, the feds busted him alongside several reputed Genovese associates for a string of shakedown schemes and a pair of home invasions in New York and New Jersey.
The four-year crime spree netted at least $1 million for Memoli, John “Rocky” Melicharek, Michael Iuni and four other accomplices, authorities said.
The wannabe-mobsters were also blamed for breaking into the Montgomery, NY home of Paul Teutul, of Orange County Choppers fame, according to the Times Herald-Record.
Melicharek allegedly orchestrated the violent heists, which used an Albanian crew as hired muscle to target business owners who kept lots of cash, federal prosecutors said at the time.
They were charged with extortion, conspiracy, robbery and weapons possession.
Melicharek later pleaded guilty to robbery, extortion and firearms charges, the outlet said.
Memoli had already been serving a sentence from an earlier conviction when the feds arrested him in 2007, Manhattan federal prosecutors said at the time.
For his crimes, Memoli was sentenced to 16 years in prison, according to federal court records, but was released early.
https://nypost.com/2023/12/28/metro/bronx-career-criminal-admits-planning-new-jersey-robbery-where-crooks-posed-as-nypd-detectives/
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