New York, NY – The FBI announced today the unsealing of an indictment charging 46 defendants for their alleged roles in a sprawling and long-running racketeering conspiracy composed of leaders, members, and associates of the Genovese, Gambino, Luchese, Bonanno, and Philadelphia Organized Crime Families of La Cosa Nostra (“LCN”), who worked together to engage in a multitude of criminal activities throughout the East Coast of the United States between Springfield, Massachusetts, and Southern Florida (the “East Coast LCN Enterprise” or the “Enterprise”).
- The defendants are charged with racketeering conspiracy, arson, illegal trafficking in firearms, and conspiracy to commit assault in aid of racketeering
- Thirty-nine of the defendants charged were taken into custody today
- During the arrests, law enforcement officers recovered, among other items, three handguns, a shotgun, gambling paraphernalia, and more than $30,000 in cash
- The evidence includes thousands of hours of consensual recordings obtained by a cooperating witness (“CW-1”) and an FBI Special Agent working in an undercover capacity (“UC-1”). CW-1 worked under Pasquele Parrello, a/k/a “Patsy,” believed to be a Genovese Capo in charge of a crew based out of a restaurant that bears his name in the Bronx, New York (Pasquale’s Rigoletto, hereinafter “Rigoletto”)
- At one point, with Parrello’s approval, CW-1 began working under Joeseph Merlino, a/k/a “Joey,” believed to be the Boss of the Philadelphia Crime Family, who resided in southern Florida for part of the year
- UC-1 worked under Eugene O’Nofrio, a/k/a “Rooster,” a Genovese Acting Capo in charge of crews on Mulberry Street in New York, New York, and Springfield, Massachusetts
- As evidenced by the consensual recordings made by CW-1 and UC-1, the myriad criminal schemes pursued by Parrello, Merlino, O’Nofrio, and their underlings were in many respects intertwined
- The Enterprise charged in the Indictment is composed of leaders, members, and associates of the Genovese, Gambino, Luchese, Bonanno, and Philadelphia Crime Families of LCN, who worked together and coordinated with each other to engage in a multitude of criminal activities throughout the East Coast of the United States, including in Springfield, Massachusetts, the Bronx and Manhattan, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Southern Florida
- The members of the Enterprise have been involved in gambling, extortionate collection of loans, other extortion activities, arson, conspiracies to commit assaults in aid of racketeering, trafficking in unstamped and cigarettes, gun trafficking, access device fraud, and health care fraud
- Members and associates of the Enterprise promoted a climate of fear in the community through threats of economic harm and violence, as well as actual violence, including assault and arson
- Members and associates of the Enterprise conducted meetings surreptitiously, typically using coded language to make arrangements for meetings, and meeting at rest stops along highways and at restaurants
“[C]ut his [Victim-5’s] fuckin’ tire. That way he has to change the tire. So then you know you can catch up with him. Give him a flat. Take the air out of the tire, whatever the fuck you got to do. Then you catch up with him because then he’s there, ya know, he’s got to get it fixed, he can’t go nowhere, and then you surround the mother fucker. That’s how yous do it.” Parrello stated in a recorded conversation
- Assistant U.S. Attorneys Amanda Kramer, Abigail Kurland, Jessica Lonergan, and Jonathan Rebold, along with Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Lauren Abinanti of the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office, are in charge of the prosecution
- The case is being handled by the Office’s Violent and Organized Crime Unit
- The charges contained in the Indictment are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty