Wednesday, July 12, 2006
Overheard: Mafia Senate Subcommittees
Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig denied Jose Canseco's charge that Major League Baseball is run like the Mafia. Appearances are deceiving. It's just a coincidence that everyone in baseball has developed a short neck from shrugging in front of Senate subcommittees.
Mafia Detectives Risks Mafia Cops Case
Friends of mine: Louis Eppolito, Stephen Caracappa
Louis Eppolito may have written the book on being a "Mafia Cop" - but a soon-to-be released book could help write his ticket to freedom.
Michael Vecchione, chief of the Brooklyn district attorney's rackets bureau, has quietly signed a book contract touting "the full inside story of the investigation" into Eppolito and Stephen Caracappa, the so-called Mafia cops. But there's one problem: Law enforcement and legal sources say Vecchione's book could jeopardize any state prosecution of Eppolito and Caracappa.
Right now, the case remains in federal court, as the feds are appealing Brooklyn Federal Judge Jack Weinstein's decision to throw out racketeering convictions against the duo. If the feds lose the appeal, the ex-cops could be prosecuted in Brooklyn under state law.
Hofstra University law Prof. Monroe Freedman, an expert on legal ethics, said the American Bar Association's code of standards forbids prosecutors from entering into any media deal before a case is completely done. "It's really egregious judgment, because it's the kind of thing every prosecutor should know," Freedman said yesterday. "It clearly puts the prosecutor's personal interest in self-promotion and making money ahead of his obligations as a public official."
He added, "In my view, if this case is going to be prosecuted by the state, it would have to be by a different prosecutor's office or an independent prosecutor."
Vecchione's book, "Mafia Detectives," due out in January, promises to deliver "never-before-released documents and information" about the case, according to publisher Harper Collins' foreign rights guide.
A spokesman for Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes refused to say when Vecchione inked the deal or how much he's getting paid. "It's a personal matter," said spokesman Jerry Schmetterer.
Vecchione is doing the book with retired Detective Tommy Dades, who broke the case as an investigator for Hynes' office and still works there.
Asked yesterday whether Hynes approved the book deal, Schmetterer replied, "Absolutely."
Thanks to John Marzulli
Louis Eppolito may have written the book on being a "Mafia Cop" - but a soon-to-be released book could help write his ticket to freedom.
Michael Vecchione, chief of the Brooklyn district attorney's rackets bureau, has quietly signed a book contract touting "the full inside story of the investigation" into Eppolito and Stephen Caracappa, the so-called Mafia cops. But there's one problem: Law enforcement and legal sources say Vecchione's book could jeopardize any state prosecution of Eppolito and Caracappa.
Right now, the case remains in federal court, as the feds are appealing Brooklyn Federal Judge Jack Weinstein's decision to throw out racketeering convictions against the duo. If the feds lose the appeal, the ex-cops could be prosecuted in Brooklyn under state law.Hofstra University law Prof. Monroe Freedman, an expert on legal ethics, said the American Bar Association's code of standards forbids prosecutors from entering into any media deal before a case is completely done. "It's really egregious judgment, because it's the kind of thing every prosecutor should know," Freedman said yesterday. "It clearly puts the prosecutor's personal interest in self-promotion and making money ahead of his obligations as a public official."
He added, "In my view, if this case is going to be prosecuted by the state, it would have to be by a different prosecutor's office or an independent prosecutor."
Vecchione's book, "Mafia Detectives," due out in January, promises to deliver "never-before-released documents and information" about the case, according to publisher Harper Collins' foreign rights guide.
A spokesman for Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes refused to say when Vecchione inked the deal or how much he's getting paid. "It's a personal matter," said spokesman Jerry Schmetterer.
Vecchione is doing the book with retired Detective Tommy Dades, who broke the case as an investigator for Hynes' office and still works there.
Asked yesterday whether Hynes approved the book deal, Schmetterer replied, "Absolutely."
Thanks to John Marzulli
Tuesday, July 11, 2006
What College Does Meadow Soprano Attend?
Several of you have emailed me that question in the last 24 hours and others have been searching for the answer. Since this gives me an excuse to run a photo of Jamie-Lynn Sigler, the correct answer is Columbia University.
Monday, July 10, 2006
DeNiro Scares Stardust Actors
Director Matthew Vaughn had no need to instruct Charlie Cox and Claire Danes to "act scared" of Robert DeNiro's intimidating character in new movie STARDUST - because they were genuinely terrified of the star. Vaughn urged the stars to conjure an atmosphere of terror in a scene where De Niro takes the pair hostage, and this inspired the veteran actor to click straight into Mafia mode. Cox says, "Bob's a pirate and he has us tied up. He's doing his Mafioso intimidating stuff, and Matthew's going to us: 'This is scary, this is really scary.' "But by this time we're scared of Bob for real, so there's no need to act."I had thought that this might be a movie about the soon to be extinct Stardust in Las Vegas. Instead it is about the award-winning fantasy novel Stardust by Neil Gaiman. The book tells the story of a young man who promises his beloved that he will bring her a fallen star. He goes into a magical realm and encounters all manners of mythic creatures.
Feds: Indictment Targets Genovese Crime Family
Friends of ours: Genovese Crime Family, Renaldi "Ray" Ruggiero, Albert "Chinky" Facchiano, Liborio S. "Barney" Bellomo
Friends of mine: Joseph Dennis Colasacco, Francis O'Donnell, Charles Steinberg, Mitchell Weissman
A federal judge considered Friday whether five reputed South Florida members of the Genovese crime family should remain in jail pending trial on charges of extortion, robbery, money laundering and other acts of racketeering.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Barry Seltzer was expected to decide whether Renaldi "Ray" Ruggiero, 72, whom federal prosecutors identified as a Genovese capo or captain, and four of his co-defendants should be released before trial.
Ruggiero and Joseph Dennis Colasacco, 54, Francis O'Donnell, 47, Charles Steinberg, 30, Mitchell Weissman, 54, and Genovese "soldier" Albert "Chinky" Facchiano, 96, were arrested June 30. Facchiano, of Miami, was released on a $100,000 bond on Friday.
The case, considered the latest blow to New York's most powerful Mafia family, deals with 10 years of alleged criminal activity, including murder. The family's reputed acting boss, Liborio S. "Barney" Bellomo, and 31 others were arrested in February in New York.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Kaplan told the court the investigation of the group began in 2001 and lasted mainly through 2003, when Internal Revenue Service agents searched Ruggiero's home. More than 130 undercover recordings of the men's conversations "bought out the violent nature of the defendants," Kaplan said.
Prosecutors alleged that Colasacco beat a man with a gun while Weissman held a baseball bat over him. The victim eventually escaped, covered in blood, Kaplan said. The men later met the victim at Ruggiero's Palm Beach restaurant, aptly named Soprano's, to again threaten him, prosecutors said.
Ruggiero's attorney, Michael Salnick, repeatedly stopped prosecutors who claimed his client was connected to the Mafia or that he was a dangerous person. Salnick asked the court that his client be released before trial, noting that Ruggiero suffers from serious health problems. Salnick noted that Ruggiero has no passport and has left the country only once in 20 years.
The indictment covered alleged illegal enterprises from 1994 to the present, with a few specific examples. In one instance in 2003, Ruggiero allegedly gave approval to Colasacco to extort a man identified as "Victim-1."
Prosecutors claimed the victim was lured to O'Donnell's office, where a gun was held to his head and he was ordered to pay $1.5 million. Prosecutors said Ruggiero feigned innocence when confronted by the victim and promised to intercede, but later agreed to split the money with other defendants.
The group is also accused of laundering money through as many as six companies. An undercover agent gave O'Donnell $250,000 in cash to launder and "made it clear the cash was from drugs," Kaplan alleged.
If convicted under the racketeering charges, Ruggiero could face up to 120 years in prison and fines of up to $1.75 million. Convictions would result in slightly lower maximum sentences for the other defendants.
Friends of mine: Joseph Dennis Colasacco, Francis O'Donnell, Charles Steinberg, Mitchell Weissman
A federal judge considered Friday whether five reputed South Florida members of the Genovese crime family should remain in jail pending trial on charges of extortion, robbery, money laundering and other acts of racketeering.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Barry Seltzer was expected to decide whether Renaldi "Ray" Ruggiero, 72, whom federal prosecutors identified as a Genovese capo or captain, and four of his co-defendants should be released before trial.
Ruggiero and Joseph Dennis Colasacco, 54, Francis O'Donnell, 47, Charles Steinberg, 30, Mitchell Weissman, 54, and Genovese "soldier" Albert "Chinky" Facchiano, 96, were arrested June 30. Facchiano, of Miami, was released on a $100,000 bond on Friday.
The case, considered the latest blow to New York's most powerful Mafia family, deals with 10 years of alleged criminal activity, including murder. The family's reputed acting boss, Liborio S. "Barney" Bellomo, and 31 others were arrested in February in New York.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Kaplan told the court the investigation of the group began in 2001 and lasted mainly through 2003, when Internal Revenue Service agents searched Ruggiero's home. More than 130 undercover recordings of the men's conversations "bought out the violent nature of the defendants," Kaplan said.
Prosecutors alleged that Colasacco beat a man with a gun while Weissman held a baseball bat over him. The victim eventually escaped, covered in blood, Kaplan said. The men later met the victim at Ruggiero's Palm Beach restaurant, aptly named Soprano's, to again threaten him, prosecutors said.
Ruggiero's attorney, Michael Salnick, repeatedly stopped prosecutors who claimed his client was connected to the Mafia or that he was a dangerous person. Salnick asked the court that his client be released before trial, noting that Ruggiero suffers from serious health problems. Salnick noted that Ruggiero has no passport and has left the country only once in 20 years.
The indictment covered alleged illegal enterprises from 1994 to the present, with a few specific examples. In one instance in 2003, Ruggiero allegedly gave approval to Colasacco to extort a man identified as "Victim-1."
Prosecutors claimed the victim was lured to O'Donnell's office, where a gun was held to his head and he was ordered to pay $1.5 million. Prosecutors said Ruggiero feigned innocence when confronted by the victim and promised to intercede, but later agreed to split the money with other defendants.
The group is also accused of laundering money through as many as six companies. An undercover agent gave O'Donnell $250,000 in cash to launder and "made it clear the cash was from drugs," Kaplan alleged.
If convicted under the racketeering charges, Ruggiero could face up to 120 years in prison and fines of up to $1.75 million. Convictions would result in slightly lower maximum sentences for the other defendants.
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