Officials Deny Misconduct in Sex-Trafficking Inquiry

Federal prosecutors in Manhattan have sharply criticized a defense lawyer’s claim that the government engaged in misconduct by allowing a cooperating witness in a Mafia case to run a sex- trafficking ring that involved a 15-year-old girl.
The government said it ended the operation as soon as it discovered that the under-age girl was involved. The [...]

Attorney’s Ties to Mob Family Presents No Conflict, Says Judge

A federal judge has refused to disqualify on conflict of interest grounds a defense attorney with deep ties to the Gambino organized crime family.
Attorney Joseph R. Corozzo Jr. is defending Michael Scarpaci against a multi-felony racketeering indictment and prosecutors attempted to have him disqualified because of four alleged potential conflicts, including that his father and [...]

Feds Play Hardball With Capo Charged in Mob Sex Case

The feds are playing hardball with aging Gambino family capo Daniel Marino. The offer on the table for him last week was to plead guilty to a 13-year-old hit that took place while Marino was in prison, and take another 13 years behind bars. Or go to trial.
Marino’s longtime pal, Joseph Watts, another Gambino family [...]

Prison is bad for our health, Daniel Marino and other accused Gambino mobsters whine to court

These are the tough guys?
Nearly half of the 14 accused Gambino mobsters rounded up in a recent bust are whining to the court about their weak hearts, bad backs and other aches and pains.
The chief complainer: reputed boss Daniel Marino, who insists his bum ticker should be his ticket out of prison.
Marino’s lawyers argued last [...]

Lawrence Taylor bust shines spotlight on abuse of teen hookers

The skinny 16-year-old allegedly raped by Lawrence Taylor is just one of hundreds of brutalized underage girls working as prostitutes in the region.
Like the runaway Hispanic girl in the Taylor case, they are typically beaten, held captive and otherwise abused by their pimps in a macabre world of violence and isolation, law enforcement officials said.
And [...]

Charges Called ‘New Low’ for Gambinos

When members of the Gambino crime family correctly suspected in the late 1990s that a nephew of one of their most powerful captains was cooperating with the government, they plotted to kill him, the authorities say.
But before carrying out the plot, they sought permission from the captain, who was in prison at the time.
The [...]

Gambino Indictment Includes Female Defendant

New York’s Gambino crime family might have hit a new low by allegedly introducing underage prostitution into its operations, authorities say, but just as shocking to some was the appearance of a female among the list of defendants in a federal indictment unsealed Tuesday.
Suzanne Porcelli, 43, was the only female among 14 reputed Gambino crime [...]

Feds charge 14 reputed Gambino family members

NEW YORK — A reputed boss of the Gambino organized crime family and 13 other people were arrested on Tuesday on an array of charges, including what prosecutors called new criminal territory for the mob: sex trafficking of a minor.
Papers filed in federal court in Manhattan allege that Gambino soldiers and associates recruited prostitutes at [...]

FBI puts crime boss Mogilevich on Ten Most Wanted list

The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation has put Ukrainian-born businessman Semion Mogilevich, an alleged organized crime boss also known as Sergei Shnaider, on its Ten Most Wanted list.
Mogilevich, who holds several citizenships including Russian, was arrested in central Moscow in early 2008 but released this year.
“Semion Mogilevich, a Ukrainian businessman, is [...]