Court Officers Fill Gallery to Honor Murdered Colleague at Mob Trial

It was a courtroom, but the court officers seemed out of place. They were not escorting prisoners or guarding a judge, shepherding the family of a defendant or quieting a crowd. They were the crowd.

In federal court in Brooklyn on Tuesday, in a rare rendering of a grim law enforcement rite, court officers filled the rows of the gallery to honor the memory of a colleague killed in the line of duty. The ritual, one that the city’s police officers have become woefully accustomed to, was unusual for the court officers, who, in the last 40 years, have lost only a handful of their number in violent circumstances.

The occasion was the trial of Charles Carneglia, who is accused of murdering Officer Albert Gelb, a decorated court officer, and several others.

Officer Gelb was fatally shot in 1976, and his death remained a mystery for more than three decades. The authorities, who accused Mr. Carneglia last year in a wide-ranging racketeering case in which 61 others were also charged, say the killing was mob related.

Also in court was Emily Gelb, Officer Gelb’s sister, listening as Peter Zuccaro, a burly Gambino family associate who became a government informant, testified about the killing. Ms. Gelb buried her face in her hands as Mr. Zuccaro matter-of-factly talked about beating her brother and of later hearing from his associate, Mr. Carneglia, a reputed Gambino soldier, about his death.

About two dozen court officers, wearing suits rather than uniforms, filled up several rows. They said they knew about Officer Gelb from stories told at the Court Officers’ Academy and from the plaque dedicated to him in criminal court in Brooklyn, where he had worked.

Officer Gelb, 24 when he was killed, was the most decorated court officer in the city at the time, making arrests, both on and off duty, of men with guns and a purse snatcher.

“He didn’t have to get involved,” said Sgt. Tim Smyth, a court officer, outside court. Mr. Zuccaro’s testimony had been tough to watch, he said. “It made it real.”

The state’s 4,000 court officers protect and secure courtrooms and court buildings. They guard defendants and sequestered juries, keep guns out of courthouses and escort judges to their cars (and in some cases, when the judges receive threats, guard them at home). They are authorized to carry weapons when they are off-duty.

In interviews, court officers said their work was not without dangers, although nothing like those faced by police officers. They are not out on the streets alone, or forced to confront heavily armed criminals.

Dennis Quirk, who has been president of one of the two court officers’ unions since 1974, said that he and his colleagues had to master different skills, like subduing attackers in the courtroom without using guns. “The perps we’re dealing with are criminals who we know don’t have a weapon,” he said.

The perils court officers confront are courthouse scuffles and the occasional riot, or the crush of observers at high-profile trials, officers said.

Lt. Jack Sullivan, 49, said in an interview that the trial of John A. Gotti in Manhattan, for example, was a circus. “There were as many people rooting for him as against him,” he said. Lieutenant Sullivan said he had taken his share of knocks, but he did not want to talk about his injuries in detail.

When court officers die in the line of duty, it is usually away from the safety of the courthouse

In 1973, Francis Carroll, an officer in Criminal Court in Manhattan, was shot to death trying to prevent the escape of two men who took $50 from the clerk of a Midtown hotel.

Alphonso B. Deal, another court officer, was also killed while off duty. Mr. Deal, a senior court clerk who worked in Lower Manhattan and lived in Harlem, was fatally shot in 1988 when he came to the aid of a neighbor who had been shot in a robbery attempt.

Senior Court Officers Mitchel Wallace and Thomas Jurgens as well as Capt. William Thompson died after they raced to the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001.

Then there was Officer Gelb, the son of a dry cleaner from Flatbush, Brooklyn, who in three years as a court officer racked up more arrests than many of his colleagues made in a career.

In February 1975, in the Esquire Diner in Brooklyn, he crossed paths with Mr. Carneglia, according to Mr. Zuccaro, who was in the diner at the time.

Officer Gelb wore a leather jacket and a big hat, and Mr. Carneglia wore two guns. Mr. Zuccaro said that he saw Officer Gelb and Mr. Carneglia struggling over a pistol, and that Mr. Carneglia had asked for his help.

Mr. Zuccaro said he had obliged. “I punched him to the side of the head,” he said. “I kicked him a couple of times.”

Mr. Carneglia was arrested on a charge of weapons possession and, Mr. Zuccaro testified that later, Mr. Carneglia told him that he was trying to “straighten it out” with Officer Gelb so that he would not testify against him.

In March 1976, before he was scheduled to testify against Mr. Carneglia, Officer Gelb was found dead in his car with four bullets in his body.

In court on Tuesday, Mr. Zuccaro testified about another conversation with Mr. Carneglia. “He told me that the guy couldn’t be reached,” Mr. Zuccaro said, “and that he wouldn’t back off and that he had to go.”

Thanks to Kareem Fahim

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Joe Pistone - Legendary Lawman

Past issues of Legendary Lawmen have been key figures from our past. This month features a bit more recent individual. Many of you may already know him by his alias but may not know the story behind the man. Here is an individual that put his life on the line and his family on hold in an effort to bring down key figures within the mafia.

In 1969 Joe Pistone became an undercover FBI agent. In September 1976 he volunteered to infiltrate the Bonnano family and shortly there after, Donnie Brasco was born. Pistone would spend six years as a low-level jewel thief informing on the goings on inside the mob during some of the most volatile power struggles in organized crime. His story has been told in books, articles and in a major motion picture.

Joseph Dominick Pistone was born 1939 in Erie, Pennsylvania. Growing up in Paterson, New Jersey he graduated from Paterson State in 1965, receiving a degree in anthropology. Following a year as a teacher at Paterson School No. 10, Pistone secured a job at the Office of Naval Intelligence. From 1969 thru 1974 Pistone worked various jobs within the Bureau. In 1974 he was transferred to New York to work in the truck hijacking unit.

It was his ability to drive 18-wheeler and bulldozers that led him to work undercover infiltrating a vehicle theft ring. This assignment resulted in over 30 arrests and cemented Pistone's legend within law enforcement. Pistone was not only handy behind the wheel, he was also of Sicilian heritage and spoke Italian fluently. Of course growing up in Paterson, New Jersey didn't hurt matters either; he was already accustomed to the Mafia's idiosyncrasies.

During the 1970s there was a major influx of Sicilian mobsters coming to the United States which caused a great deal of tension with their U.S. counterparts. Pistone entered into the family while this rift was occurring. Many accusations and much finger-pointing went on during this time and Pistone soon found himself in the middle of being called out for stealing a quarter million dollars from the family. The penalty for such an infraction was death. After three sit-downs with the accuser (Tony Mirra) and his representatives, Pistone (Brasco) was found innocent of the theft.

Pistone was taken into the fold by Bonanno family capo Dominick "Sonny Black" Napolitano. He would eventually be tutored by Benjamin "Lefty Guns" Ruggiero, a Bonanno soldier. Ruggiero would eventually provide the FBI agent with details on the activities of other crews outside of the Bonanno family. Pistone was eventually invited into the family as a "made man". To accomplish this Pistone would have to kill someone at the order of Napolitano. Once again the agent got lucky; his target, Anthony Indelicato, would vanish before Pistone/Brasco would be able to carry out the killing. The year was 1981.

Following the order to kill Indelicato, Anthony's father Alphonse Indelicato, together with Phillip "Philly Lucky" Giaccone and Dominick "Big Trin" Trinchera were found murdered. Two days later, Napolitano and Ruggiero were informed that their longtime associate was in fact an undercover FBI agent. Ruggiero was arrested by the FBI and served 20 years in prison. Napolitano was subsequently murdered for allowing an undercover agent to infiltrate the family. On august 12, 1982, his body was found with several gunshot wounds and his hands were cut off. Pistone's testimony would help uncover an extensive drug distribution network that was being run out of New York City pizzerias. His relationship with Napolitano and Ruggiero would eventually lead to more than 200 indictments and over 100 convictions of mafia members.

In 1986 Pistone retired from the FBI and currently does lectures and training. Pistone would go on to write Donnie Brasco: My Undercover Life in the Mafia (1987). This would eventually develop into the major motion picture staring Johnny Depp (as Brasco) and Al Pacino (as Ruggiero). Two subsequent books would later detail his experiences; The Way of the Wiseguy (2004) and Donnie Brasco: Unfinished Business (2007).

Thanks to Charles Bennett

Charles Bennett was born in our Nation's Capital and grew up in the Maryland suburbs. Mr. Bennett has been working in all aspects of the publishing industry since the late 1980s primarily in the fields of commercial photography and magazine production. Moving to California in 1992 to attend college resulted in B.F.A and Masters degrees. California also supplied Mr. Bennett with his wife. The two of them are avid sports persons and participate in shooting, scuba diving, surfing, running and bicycling. As a long time hobby Mr. Bennett has studied the legends of American law enforcement which led to his writing these columns.

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Kick-Ass - Comic About Mafia Boss Made Good is Heading to the Big Screen

In one of the quickest turnarounds from comic book series to film of all time, the comics world has barely had a year to familiarize itself with Mark Millar and John Romita Jr.’s “Kick-Ass.” Nevertheless, the film about a young kid inspired by comics to take on crime is uppercutting its way into theaters this year, and actor Mark Strong offered MTV some insight into how the movie is shaping up.

“The character I play in the comic is Genovese,” Strong told MTV News from the “Sherlock Holmes” set. The character took on a new name for the movie, but is still based on one from the comics. “He’s a mafia boss. And in the film, he’s called Frank D’Amico.”

“Kick-Ass” is still in production, however, as Strong pointed out, indicating that some elements of the comic book’s story may change as filming proceeds.

“The film is following the comic very closely, but I think by the time the film comes out it’s going to match the comic,” he explained. “For now, he’s a mafia boss made good. And he realizes that part of his world is collapsing because of a superhero on the street.”

As for starring alongside headliner Nicolas Cage, Strong hasn’t had any onscreen time together with him to comment on his performance, but he did share some insight.

“Nick and I don’t have any scenes together,” Strong said, describing Cage’s role as Damon Macready. “He basically becomes a man capable of handling himself and he’s basically out to clean up the streets and I’m responsible for cleaning up the mess.”

That’s a mess, which, if you’ve read the Marvel Comics series, you know is one sloppy and hilariously violent undertaking.

Thanks to Brian Warmoth

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30 Arrested Charged with Organized Crime Activities Including Racketeering, Narcotics, Extortion, Bookmaking and Firearms.

The state police say their break came nine months ago when leaders of a West Warwick-based racketeering enterprise decided they needed to “teach a lesson” and hurt someone who owed them money.

Their target, however, was a low-ranking associate of mobster Nicholas Pari, who has since died of natural causes. They felt it their duty to inform Pari in advance as a matter of criminal courtesy. Pari objected, and asked ranking members of the Patriarca crime family to intervene. They did, siding with Pari in getting the assault called off. But the little exchange alerted the police to an enterprise they knew little about.

Yesterday, in simultaneous raids at 25 locations in Rhode Island and one in Massachusetts, the state police, working with officers from West Warwick, Warwick, Cranston and Coventry, arrested 30 people they say were active conspirators in an organized criminal enterprise managed by Donald St. Germain, 54, of West Warwick, and Adolf “George” Eunis, 67, of South Kingstown, on a range of offenses, including racketeering, narcotics, extortion, bookmaking and firearms.

St. Germain, whose criminal record goes back 20 years and includes interstate highjacking and stolen goods, is being held without bail pending a hearing on Feb. 19. He asked for a public defender.
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Eunis’ bail was set at $50,000, with surety, yesterday in District Court. Neither entered a plea, as felony charges are handled in Superior Court. A screening date of April 10 was set.

Yesterday afternoon, as court personnel discussed how to handle the influx of defendants being bused in for arraignment, friends and relatives perused a seven-page list of those arrested and the charges against them.

“Joe Montouri, they got,” commented one of the men. “They just shut West Warwick down,” said another of the men.

For the next hour, as the clerks divided the list into two, people chatted about the charges, those who had been arrested, and who knew whom. Friends waved at each other. Cell phones kept going off.

Shortly before 3 p.m. –– an hour after the scheduled time –– court personnel called the names of those defendants whose cases would be heard by District Court Judge Jeanne E. LaFazia. The rest would be handled by Judge Anthony Capraro next door, they said.

The defendants were brought out, in shackles, in groups of three.

Lt. Col. Stephen O’Donnell, second in command at the Rhode Island State Police, and Col. Brendan Doherty, the state police superintendent, credited the arrests to troopers and detectives who monitored more than a thousand phone conversations among members of the group, and to the work of an undercover state police detective, Christopher Zarrella, who managed to infiltrate the group. “It takes a lot of intestinal fortitude to do what he did,” O’Donnell said of Zarrella. “He’s a unique guy.”

In the wake of the aborted assault, in June 2008, Zarrella, a member of the intelligence unit, ingratiated himself with the two leaders and gradually gained their trust, O’Donnell said. Over the next several months he was seen as one of the regular members of the group, buying drugs and firearms and establishing himself as one of the guys.

With the information gathered by Zarrella, the state police obtained warrants to tap the phones of St. Germain and Eunis. The wiretaps, according to O’Donnell, helped show “a clear pattern” of an organized criminal enterprise operating out of St. Germain’s second-floor apartment at 47 Phenix Ave., in West Warwick.

“On a daily basis, numerous individuals in the organization would buy and sell marijuana” and various prescription drugs that were obtained illegally, O’Donnell said. “We also learned that they were managing partners in a gambling and loan-sharking operation.”

The police said that the two had enlisted, as part of their strong-arm operation, Terrell Walker, who in 1973 was charged with murdering a Boston police officer during a botched robbery of a pawn shop; witnesses recanted and the charge was reduced to manslaughter, for which he was sentenced to 18 to 20 years.

According to the state police, a decision to close in on the group was made a short time ago after St. Germain and Eunis decided they needed to deal harshly with Daniel Louth, 48, another individual who owed them a large amount of money.

They decided they would “teach him a lesson” and went to several people, including Zarrella, for help in tracking him down.

The assault, without Zarrella’s help, occurred Jan. 19 at a Shell station on Quaker Lane in Warwick. Michael Sherman, 35, and Michael Lillie, 33, both of West Warwick, carried out the assault, according to O’Donnell, with Jeremy Lavoie, 36, of West Warwick, as a lookout.

Louth –– who was brought in for arraignment yesterday with Eunis –– was held as a violator due to his extensive criminal record, which includes drug, extortion and bookmaking convictions. He faces racketeering, organized criminal gambling, bookmaking and drug charges.

Lillie and Sherman were ordered held without bail pending a hearing on Feb. 19.

At a news conference yesterday at state police headquarters , troopers displayed some of the items seized during yesterday’s early morning raids — including 2 pounds of marijuana, large quantities of prescription drugs, cell phones, scales, grinding tools and $10,000 cash.

Thanks to Richard C. Dujardin and Maria Armental

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Did "Sammy the Bull" Spare Junior Gotti to Save His Own Son?

John A. (Junior) Gotti's role in a 1990 rubout at the World Trade Center was a gangland secret for years because of a "son for a son" deal between his father and a Mafia turncoat, a government witness revealed Monday.

Before federal prosecutors charged Junior last year with the murder of Gambino soldier Louis DiBono, the mob scion's name had never surfaced in connection with the hit ordered by John Gotti Sr.

That's because infamous turncoat Salvatore (Sammy Bull) Gravano - who implicated the Dapper Don, underboss Frank Locascio and others in the murder conspiracy - never fingered Junior, and apparently with good reason, according to former capo Michael (Mikey Scars) DiLeonardo.

"Guys were going away for a long time and others were being left out. It was a mystery," DiLeonardo said Monday at the racketeering trial of reputed soldier Charles Carneglia in Brooklyn Federal Court.

Gambino capo Edward Garafola - Gravano's brother-in-law - provided the answer about a year after the murder, DiLeonardo said.

Although Gravano sent scores of Gambinos to prison, he spared Junior in a "son for a son" deal with Gotti Sr. in the hope that his own son, Gerard, would not be punished for his father's decision to break the Mafia oath of silence.

"It was the first time I learned that John Jr. was involved in the [DiBono] hit," DiLeonardo said.

Gotti Sr. was convicted in 1992 of ordering the murder of DiBono because he had ignored an order to meet with the crime boss when called.

Junior - who faces his own upcoming murder trial - assembled the hit team, prosecutors contend in court papers.

Carneglia is charged with sneaking up behind DiBono in the World Trade Center garage and pumping seven bullets into his head and body.

The reason Gravano did not implicate Carneglia at the time he fingered Gotti Sr. was not disclosed.

Although DiLeonardo has testified in 10 previous trials, he had not previously revealed the alleged son for a son deal. "It is implausible that after testifying against John [Jr.] three times, DiLeonardo suddenly remembered information about a murder charge," said Junior's attorney, Seth Ginsberg.

At the time he took the stand against the Teflon Don, Gravano was the highest ranking member of a Mafia family ever to cooperate with the feds.

Prosecutors ripped up Gravano's deal after he was caught trafficking Ecstasy pills with his wife, son and daughter in the witness protection program in Arizona. He is serving a 19-year sentence in the federal Supermax prison in Colorado. Gerard Gravano has nearly completed a nine-year term.

Thanks to John Marzulli

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