Arrests that targeted the Gambino crime family
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(
November 2010
)
|
Operation Old Bridge
is the code name for the February 7, 2008 arrests in Italy and the United States that targeted the
Gambino crime family
; among the indicted were the reputed acting bosses
Jackie D'Amico
,
Nicholas Corozzo
and
Joseph Corozzo
. The indictments included murder, drug trafficking, robbery, and extortion.
[1]
Operation
[
edit
]
The
Federal Bureau of Investigation
(FBI) was able to collect the needed information through informant
Joseph Vollaro
, (owner of a truck company on Staten Island) who secretly recorded several conversations with members of the Gambino family.
[1]
More than 80 people were indicted in the
Eastern District of New York
. The case is now referred to as
United States of America v. Agate et al.
It was initially assigned to Judge
Nicholas Garaufis
, but later reassigned to Judge
Jack B. Weinstein
.
Gambino crime family boss Nicholas Corozzo turned fugitive after he was tipped off by his daughter who witnessed her husband and fellow mobster being led away by the US authorities. On May 29, 2008, Corozzo finally couldn't take life on the run anymore and so he turned himself in to authorities with his lawyer by his side. Of the 62 American defendants, 60 pleaded guilty with at least 52 of them facing no more than three years in prison.
[2]
[3]
[4]
The operation broke up a growing alliance between the Gambinos and the
Sicilian Mafia
, who wanted to get further into the
drug trade
. One of those arrested in the raids in the US was
Frank Cali
, a captain in the Gambino family. He was allegedly the "ambassador" in the US for the Inzerillo crime family.
[5]
The name of the police operation, "Old Bridge", refers to the historical ties of an exile group of Sicilian Mafiosi across the Atlantic Ocean. After the
Second Mafia War
in the beginning of the 1980s the surviving members of the
Inzerillo mafia family
had been "allowed" to migrate to New York to avoid extermination by the
Corleonesi
faction and then victorious Sicilian boss of bosses
Salvatore Riina
. The Inzerillo's American relatives and associates of New York's Gambino family intervened on their behalf. They were allowed to settle in the States in exchange for a pledge: neither they nor their offspring would ever again set foot on Sicilian soil. They became known as
gli Scappati
, the Runaways. Two decades later, the Runaways were returning to Palermo. The exiles had good reasons: Riina and his successor
Bernardo Provenzano
were both arrested and are serving life terms in Italy. The runaway Inzerillo clan was allegedly rebuilding the "Old Bridge" between America and Sicily, reestablishing the business and drug trafficking ties between the Sicilian and American mobs.
[6]
Convictions
[
edit
]
The following list contains some of the most notable charged and does not include most of those convicted.
Name
|
Charge
|
Verdict
|
Sentence
|
Release date
[7]
|
Thomas Cacciopoli
|
Extortion
|
|
|
April 4, 2011
|
Frank Cali
|
Racketeering, extortion, and conspiracy
|
Pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges
|
16 months
|
June 4, 2009
|
Charles Carneglia
|
Murder
|
Guilty by jury of four murders
[8]
|
Life imprisonment
[8]
|
N/A
|
Domenico Cefalu
|
Racketeering
|
Pleaded guilty to extortion
[2]
|
Two years
[9]
|
November 3, 2009
|
Joseph Corozzo
|
Racketeering, drug trafficking
[2]
|
Pleaded guilty to a racketeering conspiracy charge
|
46 months
|
June 10, 2011
|
Nicholas Corozzo
|
Enterprise corruption and murder
|
Pleaded guilty to enterprise corruption charge and was found guilty by jury of murder
|
13½ years
|
March 2, 2020
|
Jackie D'Amico
|
Racketeering
[2]
|
Pleaded guilty to extortion
[2]
|
Two years
[10]
|
November 3, 2009
|
Leonard DiMaria
|
|
Pleaded guilty to racketeering, extortion, and conspiracy
|
|
August 31, 2012
|
Richard G. Gotti
|
Attempted murder
[11]
|
Pleaded guilty
|
Eight years
[12]
|
February 22, 2015
|
Vincent Gotti
[11]
|
Attempted murder
|
Pleaded guilty
[11]
|
Eight years
[12]
|
February 22, 2015
|
Richard Ranieri
|
Extortion
[13]
|
|
|
March 1, 2010
|
Vincent Dragonetti
|
Extortion
[14]
|
|
37 months
[14]
|
May 28, 2011
[14]
|
Other indicted Mafiosi
[
edit
]
American Mafiosi indicted
[
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]
Those without a release date listed either weren't sentenced to jail time or weren't imprisoned in a
Federal Bureau of Prisons
.
- Joseph Agate
- Vincent "Elmo" Amarante
- Jerome "Jerry" Brancato (released September 3, 2010)
- Nicholas Calvo (released January 12, 2010)
- Joseph "Joe Rackets" Casiere
- Mario "Lanza" Cassarino (released September 15, 2010)
- John Cavallo
- Gino Cracolici
- Sarah Dauria
- Vincent "Vinny Hot" Decongilio (released January 22, 2010)
- Salvatore DeGrazia
- Vincent Donnis
- Robert Francis "Bobby the Jew" Epifania (released June 6, 2010)
- Cody Farrell
- Louis Faustino
- Russell "One Eye" Ferrisi (released December 5, 2008)
- Louis Filippelli (released December 9, 2008)
- Ronald Flam
- Joseph "Joe Gag" Gaggi
- Abid "Han" Ghani (released February 14, 2008)
- Anthony "Buckwheat" Giammarino
- Ernest "Ernie" Grillo (released April 13, 2010)
[15]
- Christopher Howard
- Steven Francis "Stevie I" Iaria (released March 31, 2009)
- Eddie James
- John Kasgorgis (released April 4, 2008)
- William Kilgannon
- Michael King
- Anthony Licata (released February 1, 2011)
- Joseph Marsilio
- De facto Morganelli
- Anthony O'Donnell
- James Outerie (released June 25, 2010)
- Vincent "Vinny Basile" Pacelli (released May 5, 2010)
- John "Johnny Red Rose" Pisano (released September 30, 2008)
- Todd Polakoff
- Giulio "Gino" Pomponio
- John "Reeg" Regis (released October 3, 2008)
- Jerry Romano
- Angelo "Little Ang" Ruggiero, Jr. (release date: May 2, 2013)
- Steven Sabella
- Jimmy Scalzo
- Anthony John Scibelli (released January 26, 2011)
- Augustus "Gus" Sclafani
- Joseph Scopo (released July 27, 2010)
- William "Billy" Scotto
- Edward "Eddie" Sobol
- Joseph Spinnato (released January 30, 2009)
- Michael "Mike the Electrician" Urciuoli (released June 24, 2008)
- Frank "Frankie" Vassallo
- Tara "Big Tara" Vega
- Arthur Zagari
Sicilian mafiosi indicted
[
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]
- Francesco Adelfio (66)
- Salvatore Adelfio (42)
- Giuseppe Brunettini (37)
- Filippo Casamento (82) (Bocadifalco clan member, Bonanno family associate, former Catalano-Ganci Consortium member and Pizza Connection defendant) (released May 7, 2010)
- Antonino Chiappara (42)
- Sergio Corallo (42)
- Giovanni De Simone (46)
- Maurizio Di Fede (40)
- Salvatore Emanuele Di Maggio (59) (
Torretta
clan member)
- Nicola Di Salvo (70)
- Melchiorre Guglielmini (49)
- Giovanni Inzerillo
(36) (son of
Salvatore Inzerillo
)
- Tommaso Lo Presti (33)
- Giovanni Lo Verde (69)
- Stefano Marino (36)
- Gianni Nicchi
(27) (Pagliarelli capo-mafia, successor to Rotolo, Sicilian emissary to New York)
- Pietro Pipitone (54)
- Gaetano Savoca (41) (Brancaccio)
- Vincenzo Savoca (77) (Brancaccio)
Sicilian mafiosi already in prison who were indicted
[
edit
]
- Andrea Adamo (46) (Brancaccio capo-mafia, ally of
Salvatore Lo Piccolo
)
- Calogero Di Gioia (60)
- Lorenzo Di Fede (83)
- Benedetto Graviano (50)
- Tommaso Inzerillo (59)
- Cesare Carmelo Lupo (47)
- Antonio Rotolo
(62) (Pagliarelli capo-mafia, Palermo Federation leader, rival of
Salvatore Lo Piccolo
)
- Giuseppe "Pino" Savoca (74) (Brancaccio capo-mafia)
- Salvatore Sorrentino (43)
Sicilian mafiosi on the run
[
edit
]
Sicilian mafiosi indicted who turned pentito
[
edit
]
- Giovanni Adelfio (70) (Villagrazia clan member)
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
"Feds bust Gambino bigs"
.
NY Daily News
. New York. February 8, 2008
. Retrieved
17 September
2014
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
"Supposed mob KO falls apart"
.
NY Daily News
. New York. May 29, 2008
. Retrieved
17 September
2014
.
- ^
"Alleged hit man, fugitive capo out of plea deals for bigs in Gambino round up"
.
NY Daily News
. New York. February 28, 2008
. Retrieved
17 September
2014
.
- ^
"Sixty Gambino Mobsters, Associates Plead Guilty - National Legal and Policy Center"
. Archived from
the original
on 13 June 2014
. Retrieved
17 September
2014
.
- ^
"BBC News - 'Mafiosi' held in US and Sicily"
. February 7, 2008
. Retrieved
17 September
2014
.
- ^
"The Case of the Exiled Mobsters"
.
TIME.com
. 7 February 2008. Archived from
the original
on February 10, 2008
. Retrieved
17 September
2014
.
- ^
"Inmate Locator"
. Archived from
the original
on 11 September 2013
. Retrieved
17 September
2014
.
- ^
a
b
"Smirking Gambino 'acid' killer gets life"
.
New York Post
. 18 September 2009
. Retrieved
17 September
2014
.
- ^
"Reputed Mafia underboss sentenced to 2 years in jail"
.
NY Daily News
. New York. August 12, 2008
. Retrieved
17 September
2014
.
- ^
"Broke Gamibino crime boss gets 2 years"
.
NY Daily News
. New York. August 19, 2008
. Retrieved
17 September
2014
.
- ^
a
b
c
"Two Gotti gang members plead guilty"
.
UPI
. Retrieved
17 September
2014
.
- ^
a
b
"Gotti Bro Jailed For Failed Hit"
.
New York Post
. 6 December 2008
. Retrieved
17 September
2014
.
- ^
"School bus driver arrested for molesting 3-year-old girl with speech impediment"
.
NY Daily News
. New York. March 9, 2008
. Retrieved
17 September
2014
.
- ^
a
b
c
Gang Land News.
Jerry Capeci
. March 3, 2011
[1]
- ^
Maddux, Mitchel (2 March 2012).
"Thug must pay back NASCAR - New York Post"
.
New York Post
. Retrieved
17 September
2014
.
Further reading
[
edit
]
- De Risi, Giuliano.
79 Arresti Tra Sicilia e USA
,
Mafia, Stroncato L'Asse Palermo-New York
, AGI News On. February 7, 2008.
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Bosses
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Current members
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Past members
| Made men
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Associates
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Informants
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Factions and crews
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Family events
| FBI operations
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Hearings
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Social clubs
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Trials
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Wars
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Relation to other groups
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Families
| Five Families
of
New York City
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East Coast
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Midwestern/Western
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Mostly defunct
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Structure
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Events
| Meetings
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Hearings
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Wars
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Trials
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Closely related
and affiliated
organizations
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Other topics
| Government
operations
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Crimes
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Related articles
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