Gambino Mafia Crew Leader Gets Life

Friends of ours: Ronald J. Trucchio, Steven Catalano

A man authorities said was the leader of a Gambino crime-family crew was sentenced to life in prison Friday.

Ronald J. Trucchio was sentenced in federal court after a member of his crew, Steven Catalano, received a 16-year prison sentence. Both were convicted in November of conspiracy and racketeering.

Prosecutors said Trucchio formed a crew in Queens, N.Y., in the 1980s that reported to the Gambino crime family. They said the group committed a string of crimes -- including murder, robbery and extortion -- from New York to Miami.

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Four Gambinos Convicted in Tampa

Friends of ours: Gambino Crime Family, Ronald "Ronnie One-Arm" Trucchio, Steven Catalano, Kevin McMahon, Terry Scaglione

A federal jury in Tampa has found four men guilty of various crimes related to the Gambino Mafia family.

Ronald J. Trucchio (Ronnie One-Arm), Steven Catalano, Kevin M. McMahon, and Terry L. Scaglione were found guilty of conspiracy to violate the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations ("RICO") statute.

The jury also found Scaglione guilty of one count of extortion. Trucchio and Catalano each face a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. McMahon and Scaglione each face a maximum sentence of twenty years' imprisonment.

Trucchio, Catalano, and McMahon are now in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service. Scaglione remains free on bond pending his sentencing hearing.

Sentencing hearings for all four defendants have been set for March 2, 2007.

The US Attorney's Office says during the last 20 years, Catalano, McMahon, Scaglione, Trucchio were under the control of the Gambino Organized Crime Family of La Cosa Nostra in Tampa. The Gambino Crime Family is one "family" in a nationwide criminal organization commonly referred to as "La Cosa Nostra," or the "Mafia."

Federal officials say Trucchio was a captain in Family and he supervised the wide-ranging criminal activities of the crew. The crew's principal purpose was to generate money for its members and associates through the commission of various criminal acts.

The jury felt Trucchio supervised the crew that engaged in multiple acts and threats involving murder, robbery, extortion, dealing in controlled substances, interference with commerce by threats and violence, interstate travel in aid of racketeering enterprises, making extortionate extensions of credit, collection of extensions of credit by extortionate means, and interstate transportation of stolen property.

The Pinellas Resident Agency of the Tampa Field Office of the FBI, the Miami and Brooklyn-Queens Metropolitan FBI offices, the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office, the Tampa Police Department, the New York City Police Department, the Queens County District Attorney's Office, the FBI Legal Attache to Brazil, the Brazilian federal police, and Interpol coordinated this investigation.

Thanks to WTSP

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