Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, George C. Venizelos, the Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and George N. Longworth, the Commissioner of the Westchester County Police Department today announced the unsealing of charges against 32 individuals as part of a multi-year investigation into organized crime’s alleged continuing control of large aspects of the commercial waste-hauling industry in the greater New York City metropolitan area and in parts of New Jersey.
The main Indictment charges 12 defendants under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (“RICO”) for conspiring to participate in a racketeering enterprise that asserted illegal and extortionate control over commercial waste-hauling companies, and 17 other defendants with individual acts of extortion, loansharking, and other crimes associated with those activities.
The charges are contained in three Indictments, United States v. Franco, et al., United States v. Giustra, et al., and United States v. Lopez. Thirty of the defendants were arrested this morning in connection with today’s charges, and will be presented and arraigned in Manhattan federal court before U.S. Magistrate Judge Kevin N. Fox later this afternoon.
Two defendants are expected to surrender this week.
Mario Velez, 44, a retired state Trooper and Peekskill resident, was arrested and charged with extortion. Pasquale P. Cartalemi, 27, and Pasquale P. Cartalemi Jr., 50, both of Cortlandt Manor, were also charged with extortion.
The probe included Westchester and Rockland counties, along with Nassau County on Long Island and Bergen and Passaic counties in New Jersey.
“As alleged, organized crime still wraps its tentacles around industries it has fed off for decades, but law enforcement continues to pry loose its grip," Bharara said. "Here, as described in the indictments, organized crime insinuated itself into the waste disposal industry throughout a vast swath of counties in New York and New Jersey, and the tactics they used to exert and maintain their control come right out of the mafia playbook – extortion, intimidation, and threats of violence. And while these accused mobsters may have hidden themselves behind seemingly legitimate owners of waste disposal businesses, law enforcement was able to pierce that veil through its painstaking, multi-year investigation. Organized crime has many victims – in this case small business owners who pay for waste removal, potential competitors, and the communities infected by this corruption and its cost. Organized crime is in a losing battle and we and our law enforcement partners remain committed to its extinction.”
In addition to the 12 defendants charged as members of the illegal waste disposal enterprise, 17 of the defendants are charged with carrying out various illegal activities in relation to the waste hauling industry. These illegal activities include: extortion, mail and wire fraud conspiracy, and interstate transportation of stolen property.
“The indictments show the ongoing threat posed by mob families and their criminal associates," said FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge George C. Venizelos. "In addition to the violence that often accompanies their schemes, the economic impact amounts to a mob tax on goods and services. The arrests – the culmination of a long and thorough investigation – also show the ongoing determination of the FBI to diminishing the influence of La Cosa Nostra.”
Westchester County Police Department Commissioner George N. Longworth said, “The long-term partnership between the Westchester County Police and federal law enforcement is an important means of combating organized crime and ensuring that businesses in Westchester are free to operate without fear of extortion or undue influence.”
The indictments contend that members of the racketeering effort avoided any official connection to the waste disposal businesses they controlled because they were either officially banned from the waste hauling industry, or unlikely to be granted the necessary licenses required to do business in the waste hauling industry because of their affiliations with organized crime. Leaders of the criminal operation concealed themselves behind waste disposal businesses that were officially owned and operated by others who were able to obtain the necessary licenses because they had no known affiliations with organized crime.
Ultimately, officials say mobsters exerted control over these waste disposal businesses by, among other things, dictating which trash pick-up stops that a particular hauling company could use and extorting payments in exchange for protection by individuals associated with organized crime. By asserting and enforcing purported “property rights” over the trash pick-up routes, the members of the racket excluded any competitor that might offer lower prices or better service, in effect imposing a criminal tax on businesses and communities.
Separately, some of involved operators were also committing crimes, including stealing property of competing waste disposal businesses and defrauding customers of their customers.
The operation of the racket was coordinated by and among factions of organized crime families through the use of “sit-downs” to determine which faction would control a particular waste disposal company and established the financial terms upon which control of that company could be transferred from one faction to another in return for payment.
COUNT
CHARGE
DEFENDANTS
MAXIMUM PENALTY
One
RICO Conspiracy
Carmine Franco Anthony Pucciarello Howard Ross Anthony Cardinalle Peter Leconte
Frank Oliver Charles Giustra Dominick Pietranico Joseph Sarcinella William Cali
Scott Fappiano Anthony Bazzini
20 years in prison
Two
Extortion
Carmine Franco
20 years in prison
Three
Mail and Wire Fraud Conspiracy
Carmine Franco Pasquale Carbone Sr. Gail Iorio
Dominick Rao
30 years in prison
Four
Interstate Transportation of Stolen Property
Carmine Franco Stephen Moscatello Robert Franco
Five years in prison
Five
Interstate Transportation of Stolen Property
Carmine Franco Robert Franco
Five years in prison
Six
Extortion Conspiracy
Anthony Pucciarello Howard Ross Anthony Cardinalle Peter Leconte
Frank Oliver
Five years in prison
Seven
Extortion Conspiracy
William Cali William Rivera
20 years in prison
Eight
Extortion Conspiracy
Scott Fappiano, Anthony Bazzini
20 years in prison
Nine
Conspiracy to Make Extortionate Extensions of Credit
Dominick Pietranico, Joseph Sarcinella
20 years in prison
Ten
Making Extortionate Extensions of Credit
Dominick Pietranico, Joseph Sarcinella
20 years in prison
Eleven
Conspiracy to Collect Extensions of Credit by Extortionate Means
Dominick Pietranico, Joseph Sarcinella
20 years in prison
Twelve
Collecting Extensions of Credit by Extortionate Means
Dominick Pietranico, Joseph Sarcinella
20 years in prison
Thirteen
Extortion Conspiracy
Mario Velez,
Pasquale P. Cartalemi Jr., Pasquale L. Cartalemi, Andrew McGuire
20 years in prison
Fourteen
Extortion
Mario Velez,
Pasquale P. Cartalemi Jr., Pasquale L. Cartalemi
20 years in prison
Fifteen
Interstate Transportation of Stolen Property
Joseph Bertolino, Brian Petroll, Robert Zarzuela, Jonathan Greene
Five years in prison
Sixteen
Interstate Transportation of Stolen Property
Thomas Giordano, Michael Russo, Louis Dontis
Five years in prison
COUNT
CHARGE
DEFENDANTS
MAXIMUM PENALTY
One
Trafficking in Contraband Cigarettes
Charles Giustra, Vincent Dimino, Joseph Antico
Five years in prison
Two
Narcotics Conspiracy
Charles Giustra
40 years in prison
Three
Interstate Transportation of Stolen Property
Charles Giustra
Five years in prison
COUNT
CHARGE
DEFENDANTS
MAXIMUM PENALTY
One
Felon-in-Possession of a Firearm
Kenneth Lopez
10 years in prison
NAME
AGE
RESIDENCE
Carmine Franco
77
Ramsey, NJ
Anthony Pucciarello
77
Bloomfield, NJ
Howard Ross
53
Brooklyn, NY
Anthony Cardinalle
60
Saddle River, NJ
Peter Leconte
42
Lodi, NJ
Frank Oliver
46
North Haledon, NJ
Charles Giustra
51
Staten Island, NY
Dominick Pietranico
82
Mahopac, NY
Joseph Sarcinella
78
Scarsdale, NY
William Cali
59
Queens, NY
Scott Fappiano
51
Staten Island, NY
Anthony Bazzini
53
Glen Head, NY
Pasquale Carbone, Sr.
70
White Plains, NY
Gail Iorio
49
Succasunna, NJ
Dominick Rao
76
Suffern, NY
Stephen Moscatello
52
Piermont, NY
Robert Franco
50
Hartsdale, NY
William Rivera
47
Queens Village, NY
Mario Velez
44
Peekskill, NY
Pasquale P. Cartalemi, Jr.
50
Cortlandt Manor, NY
Pasquale L. Cartalemi
27
Cortlandt Manor, NY
Andrew McGuire
29
Hawthorne, NY
Joseph Bertolino
46
Wantage, NJ
Brian Petroll
47
Columbia, NJ
Robert Zarzuela
38
North Bergen, NJ
Jonathan Greene
47
Teaneck, NJ
Thomas Giordano
42
North Arlington, NJ
Michael Russo
50
Staten Island, NY
Louis Dontis
58
Staten Island, NY
Vincent Dimino
50
Brooklyn, NY
Joseph Antico
65
Staten Island, NY
Kenneth Lopez
39
Bronx, NY
