Major Bonanno Takedown Follows FBI Reduction

By Ed Scarpo 0 Comments
Nicky Mouth, at his arrest.

According to published reports, indictments were rolled out yesterday for nine reputed Bonanno gangsters.The Manhattan District attorney, who unveiled them, noted that they were the tender fruits of a two-year investigation into a $10 million scheme involving organized crime's infiltration of a labor union.

It seems the lead defendant is none other than brokester/former underboss Nicholas "Nicky Mouth" Santora, who is still linked to Donnie Brasco in nearly every newspaper article in which his name appears.

Santora and the others were charged with enterprise corruption, the state version of the federal crime of racketeering. The charge carries a maximum prison sentence of 25 years. Only eight names were released (full list of names at end of article); it turns out one arrest hasn't gone down yet. Someone's in the wind tonight. Godspeed to ya, sir, but you can't spend the rest of your life on the run...



Making up the corruption charge was a host of traditional mob rackets: extortion, loan sharking, and gambling in New York City -- as well as the selling of prescription drugs ranging from oxycodone pain killers to Viagra.

Bunch of Bonannos hanging in Manhattan Supreme Court.

Investigators used court-ordered wire taps and search warrants in the probe.

Another key defendant is former Teamsters union president/reputed Bonanno associate Nicholas Bernhard, who made it up the ladder thanks to his friends to helm Teamsters 917 on Long Island.

The union represents about 1,900 workers in liquor, automotive, parking and other industries; members of the union local borrowed money and placed bets in the crew’s loan-sharking and gambling operations, the indictment says.

According to the Times, the crew also ran a multimillion-dollar online sports betting operation in Costa Rica. And some of them were recorded making plans to sell hundreds of thousands of pills to treat erectile dysfunction, for at least $5 each.

Nearly 30 guns were recovered as part of the operation, with some reports describing the crew as "well armed."

Santora, 71, pleaded guilty to a federal extortion charge in Brooklyn last year and was sentenced to 20 months in prison. He is serving his sentence in the Federal Correctional Institution in Loretto, Pa., and did not appear in court on Tuesday.

The ninth man is expected to be apprehended soon. (What else they gonna say?)

The NYTimes.com noted that seven of the accused were arraigned at State Supreme Court in Manhattan. "As police officers led them into a courtroom in handcuffs, several made profane remarks about the wives and mothers of news photographers. Sitting in the front row with large, tattooed arms protruding from T-shirts, they laughed out loud, elbowed each other and smiled at family members in court."

A lot of action going on, right on the heels of the announcement a couple of weeks ago that the Feds were cutting by more than half the number of agents assigned to eyeball the Mafia in its historic stronghold of the tri-state area.

Cyrus R. Vance Jr., the Manhattan district attorney, said at a news conference that the F.B.I. had been so successful at breaking up organized crime families “that many mistakenly believe that the mob has disappeared entirely.”

He added, “Times have changed since Jimmy Hoffa disappeared, but organized crime still exerts a corrupting influence in our city.”

Santora and several other defendants were also charged with second-degree grand larceny and usury. Other accusations in the 158-page indictment include the sale of weapons.

Each of the seven men who were arraigned on Tuesday pleaded not guilty. Justice Melissa C. Jackson ordered three defendants — including Santoro, of Staten Island — to be held without bail.

Justice Jackson set bail for the rest, a $500,000 bond for Bernhard being the highest amount.



The charges contained in the indictment are merely allegations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
ERNEST AIELLO, D.O.B. 6/8/79
Bronx, NY
Charges:
• Enterprise Corruption, a class B felony, 1 count
• Grand Larceny in the Second Degree, a class C felony, 1 count
• Criminal Usury in the First Degree, a class C felony, 1 count

VITO BADAMO, D.O.B. 8/1/62
Brooklyn, NY
Charges:
• Enterprise Corruption, a class B felony, 1 count
• Grand Larceny in the Second Degree, a class C felony, 1 count
• Criminal Usury in the First Degree, a class C felony, 1 count

NICHOLAS BERNHARD, D.O.B. 9/13/61
Congers, NY

Charges:
• Enterprise Corruption, a class B felony, 1 count
• Grand Larceny in the Second Degree, a class C felony, 1 count
• Criminal Usury in the First Degree, a class C felony, 1 count
• Perjury in the First Degree, a class D felony, 2 counts

SCOTT O’NEILL, D.O.B. 1/20/65
Howard Beach, NY
Charges:
• Enterprise Corruption, a class B felony, 1 count
• Grand Larceny in the Second Degree, a class C felony, 1 count
• Criminal Usury in the First Degree, a class C felony, 1 count
• Perjury in the First Degree, a class D felony, 1 count

NICHOLAS SANTORA, D.O.B. 6/21/42
Deer Park, NY

Charges:
• Enterprise Corruption, a class B felony, 1 count
• Grand Larceny in the Second Degree, a class C felony, 1 count
• Criminal Usury in the First Degree, a class C felony, 1 count

ANTHONY SANTORO, a/k/a “Skinny,” D.O.B. 7/28/63
Staten Island, NY

Charges:
• Enterprise Corruption, a class B felony, 1 count
• Grand Larceny in the Second Degree, a class C felony, 1 count
• Criminal Usury in the First Degree, a class C felony, 1 count

DOMINICK SIANO, D.O.B. 4/25/90
Howard Beach, NY

Charge:
• Enterprise Corruption, a class B felony, 1 count

ANTHONY URBAN, D.O.B. 7/25/63
Staten Island, NY

Charge:
• Enterprise Corruption, a class B felony