COVID-19 outbreak in NJ prison sickens numerous mobsters

COVID-19 outbreak in NJ prison sickens numerous mobsters

  November 18, 2020    Dapper_Don

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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

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Jury finds acting Bonanno boss and his consigliere not guilty in under a day

Jury finds acting Bonanno boss and his consigliere not guilty in under a day

  March 13, 2019    Dapper_Don

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He may look like a mobster — but he’s not guilty of being one.
Two reputed mobsters, including Joseph “Joe C” Cammarano Jr., the dapper reputed acting Bonanno crime family boss, were acquitted on all charges in a racketeering and extortion case on Wednesday.
Cammarano and his reputed consigliere John “Porky” Zancocchio were acquitted on two counts of conspiracy.
Zancocchio was also acquitted on one count of attempted assault in aid of racketeering for allegedly beating up a Bonanno associate.
Jurors were apparently persuaded by defense arguments including that the jury shouldn’t convict Cammarano just because he looks like a stereotypical goodfella.
“Looking like you stepped out of a central casting in a mob movie doesn’t make you a part of one of these groups,” Jennifer Louis-Jeune said in opening statements.
Prosecutors argued at trial that the men directed others to carry out loansharking, drug dealing and violent extortions of Staten Island and Long Island businesses from 2002 through 2018.
“Together Cammarano and Zancocchio ran the Bonanno crime family overseeing the family’s illegal activities and lining their pockets with illegal proceeds,” Assistant US Attorney Jason Swergold said in closing arguments Monday, adding that the pair “are responsible for the actions of the lower-level members even when they sat back and kept their hands clean.”
After the two-week trial the jury began deliberating on Tuesday afternoon, reaching the unanimous acquittal in just under a day.
At trial jurors heard from over 30 witnesses, including from four cooperating witnesses, one of whom is the man prosecutors say Zancocchio beat up for the mob.
Former Bonanno associate Stephen Sabella took the stand to recount the day that Zancocchio, and two other made men, came to the strip club Sabella co-owned with Zancocchio and attacked him in a back room.
“He punched me in the face. He continued to punch and kick me. I just tried to fend off the blows,” Sabella said.
Zancocchio’s lawyer, John Meringolo, didn’t deny that the incident happened but argued that Zancocchio assaulted Sabella not for the mob but to defend his family over racist comments that Sabella made on Facebook about Zancocchio’s biracial grandkid.
“[He] didn’t do it for the Bonanno crime family, he did it for the Zancocchio family,” Meringolo said during his opening statements.
The prosecution’s star witness, Bonanno turncoat Peter “Pug” Lovaglio, testified about a 2015 meeting where he said Cammarano was elected acting boss of the crime family.
“That was the day we had the meeting to vote Joe in,” Lovaglio said as the jury was shown photos of the reputed wise guys entering a garage.
But the defense argued that both Lovaglio and Sabella are lying criminals whose testimony can’t be trusted.
Cammarano’s lawyer, Elizabeth Macedonio, said outside court that she wasn’t surprised by the jury’s verdict.
“The government brought a case that should never have been brought,” Macedonio said. “There was very thin evidence and clearly the jury quickly saw its way to the only true verdict.”
Meringolo said, “The jurors were as diligent as I’ve ever seen. They took their oath very seriously.”
“The government should evaluate their use of cooperation of Mr. Sabella and Mr. Lovaglio before they bring more cases,” Meringolo said.
The pair were arrested last year alongside eight other quirky nicknamed reputed wise guys, including George “Grumpy” Tropiano, Eugene “Boobsie” Castelle, Albert “Al Muscles” Armetta, Joseph “Joey Blue Eyes” Santapaola and Ernest “Butch” Montevecchi. Six of the men have taken guilty pleas and two more are expected to go to trial.
The Manhattan US Attorney’s office declined to comment.

https://nypost.com/2019/03/13/reputed-mobsters-acquitted-in-racketeering-and-extortion-case/

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Feds send Bonanno consigliere back to jail for violating parole restrictions by visiting restaurants

Feds send Bonanno consigliere back to jail for violating parole restrictions by visiting restaurants

  February 24, 2018    Dapper_Don

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Reputed Bonanno crime family mobster John “Porky” Zancocchio let his appetite get the best of him.
The 60-year-old accused goodfella was allowed out of his house — where he had been on electronically monitored home incarceration — strictly to attend a family funeral but couldn’t control himself and visited two restaurants and a bakery as well, according to court documents.
Prosecutors claim this was a violation of the conditions of his bail and Zancocchio was tossed back behind bars for the move, pending his case.
Zancocchio — who was arrested last month with nine other alleged wise guys on racketeering charges — was allowed out of his home for his aunt’s wake, Mass and burial on Feb. 11 and 12.
But Zancocchio — who had been out of jail on a $1 million bond — was caught violating his furlough both days visiting three joints on Staten Island — including a restaurant he co-owned with Gambino family captain Frank Camuso called Bella Mama Rose, according to court documents.
On the evening of his aunt’s wake, Zancocchio was seen sitting at the bar of his restaurant chatting with customers, prosecutors claim in court papers. The next day after the burial he was spotted at another restaurant called Denino’s, they charge.

And before heading home from his two days of freedom, Zancocchio allegedly stopped into a bakery.
The accused mobster’s lawyer, John Meringolo said, “The FBI surveillance team uncovered my client having dinner with his 80-year-old cousins. It’s customary for Catholics to have a meal with their family in between the wake.
“He wasn’t with any felons or anyone alleged with organized crime,” Meringolo added.
Zancocchio is accused alongside other quirky-nicknamed alleged mobsters including Lucchese crime family mobster Eugene “Boobsie” Castelle; Albert “Al Muscles” Armetta; alleged acting capo George “Grumpy” Tropiano; Joseph “Joey Blue Eyes” Santapaolo; and alleged Genovese mobster Ernest “Butch” Montevecchi.
The men are accused of crimes including violent extortion, loansharking, mail fraud, drug dealing and conspiracy to commit murder.
Zancocchio faces up to 20 years in federal custody if convicted.
In 2002, Zancocchio was convicted in another case alongside his then-wife, Lana, on extortion and fraud charges and served over six years in prison for those crimes.
Zancocchio, an alleged bookie, had MLB player Pete Rose as one of his gambling clients, a source confirmed.

https://nypost.com/2018/02/23/hungry-mobster-violates-furlough-for-a-staten-island-food-tour/

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Feds bust Bonanno crime family leadership in devastating takedown

Feds bust Bonanno crime family leadership in devastating takedown

  January 12, 2018    Dapper_Don

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The acting boss of the Bonanno crime family and other top-echelon leaders were among 10 mobsters busted Friday on racketeering charges, the Daily News has learned.
A 16-page federal indictment charged leader Joseph "Joe C" Cammarano Jr. and the rest with a variety of charges, including conspiracy to commit murder, extortion and drug dealing.
Charged along with Cammarano were Bonanno consiglieres John "Porky" Zancochio and Simone Esposito, as well as capos Joseph "Joe Valet" Sabella and George "Grumpy" Tropiano.
The Bonanno family also “met with leaders, members and associates of other La Cosa Nostra Families to resolve disputes over their criminal activities,” the indictment said.
And paranoid family members and associates tried to ferret out possible informants within their ranks — a major concern for the Bonannos.
The mob family was famously infiltrated for six years by FBI agent Joe Pistone, and its boss Joseph "Big Joey" Massino flipped after a 2003 arrest to become the highest-ranking Mafia turncoat ever.
Cammarano, the son of a mob underboss who died in prison, reportedly took over in 2015 as the decimated family tried to rebuild itself.
The Brooklyn native is a Navy veteran who served on a nuclear submarine in an elite patrol unit.
The Manhattan Federal Court indictment comes just two days after five accused Genovese family mobsters — including late boss Vincent "Chin" Gigante's son, Vincent Esposito — were nabbed on racketeering charges.
In the Friday court filing, Bonanno soldier Albert "Al Muscles" Armetta was charged with beating an unidentified victim on Halloween 2015 “for the purpose of gaining entrance to” the crime family.
The 10th defendant was identified as Eugene "Boobsie" Castelle, a Lucchese family soldier who teamed with the Bonannos on “one or more criminal schemes,” the indictment charged.

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-crime/suspected-bonanno-mobsters-busted-racketeering-related-charges-article-1.3753152

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