Lawyer who faked past guilty of conspiracy and forgery
2/15/13 REUTERS LEGAL 23:46:15
REUTERS LEGAL
Copyright © 2013 Thomson Reuters
February 15, 2013
Lawyer who faked past guilty of conspiracy and forgery
By Joseph Ax
NEW YORK, Feb 15 (Reuters) - A woman whose rise through the legal profession from law school to an English courtroom
was paved with forged letters of reference, inaccurate resumes and a fake birth certificate was convicted Friday in state court
in Manhattan of conspiracy and forgery charges.
Soma Sengupta, 52, was found guilty by Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Thomas Farber after a bench trial. She faces up to
seven years in prison at her sentencing, scheduled for next month.
"One could not help but be struck by the sheer magnitude, intensity and breadth of the defendant's lies, schemes and behavior,"
Farber said in delivering his verdict.
Her defense lawyer, James Kousouros, said he would appeal.
In 2000, she applied for a paralegal position with the Manhattan district attorney's office, despite having graduated from
Georgetown Law School and having been admitted to the New York bar.
The DA's office does not employ admitted attorneys as paralegals, and so she claimed she had not completed her degree,
prosecutors said. Kousouros said Sengupta wanted to work in public service but may have felt she couldn't get a job as an
assistant district attorney.
She lost her job in 2003 when the DA's office became aware that she was an attorney and volunteered with the Legal Aid
Society for several years.
In 2007, she set her sights on becoming a barrister in London. According to prosecutors, Sengupta and her husband, Manuel
Soares, manufactured letters of reference from various people, including Assistant District Attorney Melissa Paolella, who had
previously provided her with such letters when she was seeking jobs in New York.
One of the letters purported to come from a Georgetown professor, Robert Drinan, who had died before the date on the letter,
according to the district attorney's office.
Sengupta also created websites and false email addresses to help back up her references and forged a birth certificate and a law
school transcript to reflect her doctored resume, prosecutors said. She also claimed she had worked as a Manhattan prosecutor
and as a staff attorney at Legal Aid, prosecutors said.
Sengupta was accepted by one of four Inns of Court in London, a necessary step to gain admission to the English bar. She was
also accepted to a training program for prospective lawyers with the firm 1 Inner Temple Lane.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
1
Lawyer who faked past guilty of conspiracy and forgery
She was charged in 2010 with conspiracy, filing false instruments and possessing forged documents after the Manhattan district
attorney's office learned that she had claimed to be a former prosecutor and that the forged documents passed through Manhattan.
Prosecutors leveled the same charges against Sengupta's husband.
'LIE UPON LIE'
"For 10 years, this defendant piled lie upon lie, until the tower of deception she built finally fell in upon itself," Manhattan
District Attorney Cyrus Vance said in a statement following the verdict.
During the six-week trial, Kousouros did not dispute that Sengupta had forged documents and lied about her professional
experience.
Instead, he argued that the case should be thrown out on technical grounds, including whether letters of reference fall within
the definition of false instruments under the law and whether prosecutors improperly conflated multiple separate conspiracies
into a single charge.
He said after the verdict that he would base his appeal on those arguments.
"It has always been our position that notwithstanding the facts, the charges brought were simply legally untenable," Kousouros
said.
The case against Sengupta's husband, Soares, is pending. Soares' lawyer, Allan Brenner, could not be reached for comment
Friday afternoon.
The case is People v. Sengupta, New York State Supreme Court, New York County, No. 5819-2010.
For the prosecution: Assistant district attorneys Tracy Conn and Craig Ascher.
For Sengupta: James Kousouros of The Law Offices of James Kousouros.
---- Index References ---News Subject: (Crime (1CR87); Criminal Law (1CR79); Social Issues (1SO05); Legal (1LE33); Government Litigation
(1GO18); Judicial Cases & Rulings (1JU36); Fraud (1FR30))
Region: (USA (1US73); Americas (1AM92); New York (1NE72); U.S. Mid-Atlantic Region (1MI18); North America
(1NO39))
Language: EN
Other Indexing: (Tracy Conn; Craig Ascher; Manuel Soares; Cyrus Vance; Catherine Benson; Allan Brenner; Melissa Paolella;
James Kousouros; Thomas Farber; Robert Drinan; Soma Sengupta)
Keywords: criminal law; forgery; conspircy (MCC:OEC); (N2:US); (N2:USANY); (N2:AMERS); (MCCL:OVR)
Word Count: 630
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
2
Lawyer who faked past guilty of conspiracy and forgery
End of Document
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
3
MOB CELL A $#!%HOUSE, 2006 WLNR 14964192
8/29/06 N.Y. Post 17
2006 WLNR 14964192
New York Post
Copyright © 2006 The New York Post. All Rights Reserved
August 29, 2006
Section: News
MOB CELL A $#!%HOUSE
Zach Haberman
He's gone from "Vinny Gorgeous" to Vinny Nauseous.
Former Bonanno crime-family acting boss Vincent Basciano was moved from general population at a federal lock-up in
Brooklyn into a solitary-confinement cell that had "feces and urine" all over the walls, his lawyer charged yesterday.
He was moved amid allegations that he had threatened violence against people when he was on trial. Basciano faces a retrial
next year for murder.
He was moved into a cell that previously had housed an inmate who "had issues," said his lawyer James Kousouros. He claimed
that prisoner "had deposited feces and urine all over the walls."
---- Index References ---News Subject: (Violent Crime (1VI27); Crime (1CR87); Social Issues (1SO05))
Language: EN
Other Indexing: (MOB) (Basciano; James Kousouros; Vincent Basciano)
Word Count: 124
End of Document
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
1
'GORGEOUS' FRAME: JAILBIRD, 2007 WLNR 407224
1/9/07 N.Y. Post 15
2007 WLNR 407224
New York Post
Copyright © 2006 The New York Post. All Rights Reserved
January 9, 2007
Section: News
'GORGEOUS' FRAME: JAILBIRD
Stefanie Cohen
Bonanno boss Vincent "Vinny Gorgeous" Basciano isn't a criminal - he's the victim, according to a fellow inmate who says the
mobster's alleged plot to kill a judge and a prosecutor was a frame-up.
Metropolitan Correctional Center inmate Danny Reyes told Basciano's lawyer that the gangster was set up by two fellow cons
who wanted to get in good with the feds.
Basciano was placed in restrictive housing after his alleged five-name hit list was turned over to the feds by an informant last
summer.
The informant said Basciano handed it to him with instructions to murder those named - including prosecutor Greg Andres and
Brooklyn federal Judge Nicholas Garaufis.
The lawyer, James Kousouros, said he uncovered the alleged plot while interviewing inmates about the hit list.
---- Index References ----
Language: EN
Other Indexing: (GORGEOUS) (Basciano; Bonanno boss Vincent; Danny Reyes; Greg Andres; James Kousouros; Nicholas
Garaufis.; Vinny Gorgeous)
Word Count: 154
End of Document
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
1
'GORGEOUS' FRAME: JAILBIRD, 2007 WLNR 407224
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
2
Convicted mobster to get holiday visit with son, 2007 WLNR 25016660
12/19/07 Newsday (Pg. Unavail. Online)
2007 WLNR 25016660
Newsday (NY)
Copyright © 2007 Newsday, Melville, N.Y.
December 19, 2007
Convicted mobster to get holiday visit with son
Anthony M. Destefano
Newsday, Melville, N.Y.
Dec. 19--Christmas is coming a little early for mobster Vincent Basciano.
In an unusual ruling, a federal judge is allowing the Bonanno crime captain to visit with his son Anthony, 6, whom he hasn't
seen in 17 months, at the federal courthouse in Brooklyn.
The visit tomorrow will be supervised by federal marshals, Judge Nicholas Garaufis said. Anthony will be accompanied by his
mother, Deborah Kalb, Basciano's girlfriend, the judge said.
Garaufis said Anthony has suffered because of the lack of contact.
"He feels that the judge is very compassionate, he appreciates it and he is aching to see both Debbie Kalb and his son," Basciano's
defense attorney, Ephraim Savitt of Manhattan, said.
"This is a very, very welcomed development for him," said Basciano's former attorney, James Kousouros, of Kew Gardens.
"One of the tragic aspects of this case has been his inability to see his child."
In a three-page order issued Friday, Garaufis explained that he was allowing the "one-time holiday visit" because while Anthony
is considered part of Basciano's "immediate family," neither he nor his mother can visit him under the strict security measures
at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Sunset Park, Brooklyn.
Basciano, 48, known as "Vinny Gorgeous," is being held under so-called "special administrative measures" because in the
summer of 2006, federal prosecutors alleged that he crafted a hit list while in jail. One of the names on the list was Garaufis,
as was prosecutor Greg Andres.
Basciano's attorneys deny the document was a murder list and claimed instead that it was prepared as part of a Santeria-like
ritual to assure Basciano good luck during his trials.
Basciano remains in solitary confinement following his conviction earlier this year on racketeering murder charges, for which
he faces life in prison when he is sentenced early next year.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
1
Convicted mobster to get holiday visit with son, 2007 WLNR 25016660
He was found guilty of orchestrating the 2001 Bronx murder of Frank Santoro, a reputed drug dealer and mob associate.
Basciano also faces a death penalty trial that is slated to begin in August.
---- Index References ---News Subject: (Social Issues (1SO05); Crime (1CR87); Murder & Manslaughter (1MU48); Violent Crime (1VI27); Death
Penalty (1DE04); Racketeer Influenced & Corrupt Organizations (RICO) (1RI18))
Region: (USA (1US73); U.S. Mid-Atlantic Region (1MI18); Americas (1AM92); North America (1NO39); New York
(1NE72))
Language: EN
Other Indexing: (Deborah Kalb; Vincent Basciano; Frank Santoro; James Kousouros; Nicholas Garaufis; Greg Andres;
Anthony; Ephraim Savitt; Debbie Kalb)
Word Count: 335
End of Document
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
2
Former British paralegal guilty of lying in NYC
2/15/13 AP Alert - NY 22:42:16
AP Alert - New York
Copyright © 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This
material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
February 15, 2013
Former British paralegal guilty of lying in NYC
NEW YORK_A British woman was convicted Friday of forging her birth certificate and college and law school diplomas _
even reference letters _ to get work as a paralegal in New York City.
Soma Sengupta, 52, was convicted by a judge in New York state Supreme Court of possession of forged instruments and
conspiracy, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr. said. She faces seven years in prison on the most serious charge
and is expected to be sentenced March 22.
"This defendant piled lie upon lie, until the tower of deception she built finally fell in upon itself," Vance said in a statement.
Sengupta lied on job applications that allowed her to work in the legal industry in New York for more than a decade, including
as a paralegal in the Manhattan District Attorney's office for three years. She later volunteered at The Legal Aid Society for
four years.
Sengupta was found to have forged documents including a birth certificate, college and law school diplomas, reference letters
and even a law school transcript. In one instance, she penned a false recommendation letter and signed the name of a deceased
Georgetown University Law Center professor.
In her more recent quest to become a lawyer in her native country, Sengupta lied to a British law chamber, saying she had been
employed as an assistant district attorney in the Manhattan District Attorney's office, prosecutors said.
Sengupta's lawyer, James Kousouros, said his client was disappointed by the court's decision and planned to appeal. He said
the case was more a question of legal interpretation than of material facts.
"Many of the facts were not disputed," he said. "It was a question of whether the acts constituted the charges and we very
strongly believe that they don't."
The case against a co-defendant is pending.
---- Index References ---News Subject: (Legal (1LE33); Judicial Cases & Rulings (1JU36); Crime (1CR87); Fraud (1FR30); Government Litigation
(1GO18); Social Issues (1SO05); Criminal Law (1CR79))
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
1
Former British paralegal guilty of lying in NYC
Region: (USA (1US73); New York (1NE72); Americas (1AM92); North America (1NO39); U.S. Mid-Atlantic Region
(1MI18))
Language: EN
Other Indexing: (Cyrus Vance Jr.; James Kousouros; Soma Sengupta) (United States; USA; North America) (StateDistribution)
Keywords: (n); (Legal); (Crime); (Education)
Word Count: 301
End of Document
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
2
New York lawyer guilty of fraud over U.K. law firm post, 2013 WLNR 3971684
2/18/13 Int'l Herald Trib. 2
2013 WLNR 3971684
International Herald Tribune
Copyright © 2013 The New York Times
February 18, 2013
New York lawyer guilty of fraud over U.K. law firm post
RUSS BUETTNER
NEW YORK
A New York lawyer who lied about her work experience and shaved nearly 20 years off her age in an effort to gain admittance
to the British bar has been convicted of all counts she faced by a judge in New York City.
The lawyer, Soma Sengupta, graduated from the law school of Georgetown University in 1998 and passed the bar exam in
New York State in 2000. She worked as a paralegal for the Manhattan district attorney's office and as a volunteer for the Legal
Aid Society.
Ms. Sengupta never appeared in court or wrote court briefs in either job. But when she applied for admission to the British bar,
she claimed to have been an accomplished trial lawyer in both posts, which allowed her to avoid one year of class work. She
also forged reference letters, transcripts from Georgetown that inflated her academic achievements and a birth certificate.
Ms. Sengupta won a competitive training slot at a British chamber, which is similar to a law firm in the United States. Her
scheme began to unravel after a clerk in the firm doubted a claim on her application that she was 29. She was actually then
in her late 40s.
When the British firm began checking her New York references, Ms. Sengupta asked her former employers in New York not
to give out any information because she feared that she had been the victim of identity theft.
"It's pretty scary, especially in this time of terrorism," she wrote in a 2009 e-mail to the Manhattan district attorney's office.
The deception led to charges in Manhattan, where Justice Thomas Farber of State Supreme Court decided the case without a
jury at Ms. Sengupta's request.
"One could not help but be struck by the sheer magnitude and the intensity and breadth of the defendant's lies and schemes and
deceitful behavior," Justice Farber said on Friday.
Ms. Sengupta, 52, who now lives in New Jersey, was convicted of eight felony forgery and false instrument counts and one
misdemeanor conspiracy charge. The most serious count carries a maximum prison sentence of seven years. Justice Farber
scheduled her sentencing for March 22.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
1
New York lawyer guilty of fraud over U.K. law firm post, 2013 WLNR 3971684
Cyrus R. Vance Jr., the Manhattan district attorney, said in a statement after the verdict, "For 10 years, this defendant piled lie
upon lie until the tower of deception she built finally fell in upon itself."
During the trial, Ms. Sengupta's lawyer, James Kousouros, acknowledged that his client had forged documents, but he
challenged the case on technical legal issues. He said Ms. Sengupta would appeal the verdict.
---- Index References ---News Subject: (Crime (1CR87); Legal (1LE33); Social Issues (1SO05); Government Litigation (1GO18); Fraud (1FR30);
Judicial Cases & Rulings (1JU36); Criminal Law (1CR79))
Region: (North America (1NO39); New York (1NE72); U.S. Mid-Atlantic Region (1MI18); USA (1US73); Americas
(1AM92))
Language: EN
Other Indexing: (James Kousouros; Cyrus Vance Jr.; Soma Sengupta; Thomas Farber)
Word Count: 424
End of Document
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
2
United States Courts Opinions: Supreme Court of New York: People v Sengupta
10/24/14 US Official News (Pak.) 00:00:00
US Official News (Pakistan)
Copyright (c) 2014 Plus Media Solutions Private Limited Pakistan
October 24, 2014
United States Courts Opinions: Supreme Court of New York: People v Sengupta
Staff Reporter
Albany: Supreme Court of New York has issued the following order:
People v Sengupta 2014 NY Slip Op 07278 Decided on October 23, 2014 Appellate Division, First Department Published by
New York State Law Reporting Bureau pursuant to Judiciary Law § 431. This opinion is uncorrected and subject to revision
before publication in the Official Reports.
Decided on October 23, 2014 Friedman, J.P., Sweeny, Acosta, Saxe, Manzanet-Daniels, JJ.
5819/10
[*1]13285 The People of the State of New York, Respondent,
v
Soma Sengupta, Defendant-Appellant.
Law Offices of James Kousouros, New York (James Kousouros of counsel), for appellant.
Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., District Attorney, New York (Alan Gadlin of counsel), for respondent.
Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (Thomas Farber, J.), rendered March 27, 2013, convicting defendant, after a
nonjury trial, of criminal possession of a forged instrument in the second degree (three counts), offering a false instrument
for filing in the first degree (two counts) and conspiracy in the fifth degree, and sentencing her to an aggregate term of five
years' probation, unanimously modified, on the law, to the extent of reducing the forged instrument convictions to third-degree
criminal possession of a forged instrument, and remanding for resentencing on those convictions, and otherwise affirmed.
The evidence was legally insufficient to support the convictions of second-degree criminal possession of forged instrument
under Penal Law § 170.25, which requires proof of possession of a forged instrument of a kind specified in Penal Law §
170.10. None of the forged reference letters defendant submitted in support of her application to become a barrister in the
United Kingdom was a "[a] deed, will, codicil, contract, assignment, commercial instrument, credit card ... or other instrument
which does or may evidence, create, transfer, terminate or otherwise affect a legal right, interest, obligation or status" (Penal
Law § 170.10(1)). Although a phrase such as "other instrument" is "susceptible of a wide interpretation," under the ejusdem
generis canon of construction, it "becomes one limited in its effect by the specific words which precede it" (People v Illardo,
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
1
United States Courts Opinions: Supreme Court of New York: People v Sengupta
48 NY2d 408, 416 [1979] [construing phrase "other similar justification" contained in Penal Law § 235.15[1]). Nevertheless,
the evidence established the lesser included offense of third-degree possession, and we reduce the conviction accordingly (see
CPL 470.15[2][a]).
The remaining convictions were based on legally sufficient evidence and were not against the weight of the evidence (see People
v Danielson, 9 NY3d 342, 348—349 [2007]). There is no basis for disturbing the court's determination that defendant acted
with the requisite intent to commit first-degree offering a false instrument for filing (see Penal Law § 175.35). The evidence
supports the inference that when defendant, who was then a New York attorney, knowingly submitted attorney registration
statements to the Office of Court Administration containing false information, she did so with the intent to defraud that agency,
within the meaning of the statute. The intent requirement was satisfied by defendant's intent to cause the agency to maintain
incorrect information in its files, notwithstanding that this was intended, in turn, to further her [*2]ultimate goal of defrauding
the British bar admission authorities. The court's explanation of its verdict on these charges was entirely consistent with this
conclusion, and defendant's argument to the contrary is unavailing.
We have considered and rejected defendant's remaining arguments, including those addressed to the proof of conspiracy, the
territorial jurisdiction of New York, and the court's alleged constructive amendment of the indictment.
THIS CONSTITUTES THE DECISION AND ORDER
OF THE SUPREME COURT, APPELLATE DIVISION, FIRST DEPARTMENT.
ENTERED: OCTOBER 23, 2014
CLERK
In case of any query regarding this article or other content needs please contact: [email protected]
---- Index References ---News Subject: (Crime (1CR87); Criminal Law (1CR79); Fraud (1FR30); Government Litigation (1GO18); Judicial Cases &
Rulings (1JU36); Legal (1LE33); Property Crime (1PR85); Social Issues (1SO05))
Region: (Americas (1AM92); New York (1NE72); North America (1NO39); U.S. Mid-Atlantic Region (1MI18); USA
(1US73))
Language: EN
Other Indexing: (Thomas Farber; James Kousouros; Cyrus Vance Jr.; Alan Gadlin)
Keywords: National
Word Count: 587
End of Document
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
2
Woman 'faked references to work in court as barrister', 2013 WLNR 3792789
2/15/13 Daily Telegraph (London) (Pg. Unavail. Online)
2013 WLNR 3792789
Daily Telegraph (UK)
Copyright © 2013 The Telegraph Group Limited, London
February 15, 2013
Section: News
Woman 'faked references to work in court as barrister'
Scores of criminal cases could be re–examined as she was not fit to practise
Mark Hughes in New York and Tom Whitehead
SCORES of criminal cases that passed through the court system are to be investigated after it was claimed that a barrister
working at a leading legal chambers was not qualified to practise.
.Soma Sengupta, an American who won a highly coveted pupillage at One Inner Temple Lane, handled 80 criminal cases in
three months before it emerged that she was not qualified to do so.
.Her pupillage was suspended and she flew back to New York, where she was arrested. She is on trial this week at a Manhattan
court.
.The disclosure could pave the way for scores of convicted criminals to make appeals on the basis that the person defending
their case was not a qualified barrister.
.Miss Sengupta, 52, is said to have produced forged references and qualifications in order to dupe her way into the Bar of
England and Wales.
.She is alleged to have used a similar fraud to secure a job at One Inner Temple Lane. She claimed to have been an assistant
district attorney who had prosecuted serious cases in America.
.She was caught when a clerk at the chambers noted that Miss Sengupta, who had lied that she was 29 in order to carry out her
fraud, had an impossibly impressive CV for someone so young.
.It is understood that the Legal Services Commission, the body that awards legal aid, will investigate cases she handled to
establish whether public funds were misused.
.Miss Sengupta is charged in New York with several counts of fraud relating to the documents she allegedly forged in order to
dupe legal bodies, including the Bar Standards Board, One Inner Temple Lane and the New York County District Attorney's
Office.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
1
Woman 'faked references to work in court as barrister', 2013 WLNR 3792789
.While she denies the allegations, her lawyer, James Kousouros, told the court: "We are conceding that some of this conduct,
in fact, did occur."
.After being dismissed as a paralegal in New York, Miss Sengupta applied to Middle Temple to be called to the Bar, claiming:
"I have over six years of advocacy experience in a common law system and I am in court on an almost daily basis."
.She also forged a letter from Georgetown University, but the letter of reference was purportedly written by a professor who
had died.
.Miss Sengupta was admitted to the Bar and applied for a pupillage at One Inner Temple Lane. The indictment says she presented
the firm with a forged birth certificate, forged college and law school diplomas and forged references.
She was given the job and was due to start in October 2007 but repeatedly failed entrance tests, according to the New York
Times. She hid the failures from the firm and instead successfully appealed to the Bar Standards Board, who waived the part
of the exam she had twice failed. After being called to the Bar in 2008, she began representing clients in court.
.Edmund Blackman, a barrister at One Inner Temple Lane said there were concerns about Miss Sengupta's performance, but it
was discrepancies over her date of birth that led to her being exposed.
.When asked whether One Inner Temple Lane verified pupillage applicants' prior employment claims, Mr Blackman said:
"Stupidly, we did not. We do now." The case continues.
---- Index References ---News Subject: (Fraud (1FR30); Legal (1LE33); Crime (1CR87); Social Issues (1SO05); Judicial Cases & Rulings (1JU36);
Criminal Law (1CR79); Civil Rights Law (1CI34); Government Litigation (1GO18))
Language: EN
Other Indexing: (Soma Sengupta; Edmund Blackman; James Kousouros)
Edition: 01
Word Count: 530
End of Document
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
2
Filipino kid's NY $$ eyed, 2013 WLNR 51495
1/1/13 N.Y. Post 9
2013 WLNR 51495
New York Post
Copyright © 2009 The New York Post. All Rights Reserved
January 1, 2013
Section: News
Filipino kid's NY $$ eyed
Bruce Golding
The feds are looking to drain the coffers of a crooked Philippine general's son, just weeks after stripping him of his swanky Park
Avenue apartment. Timothy Mark Garcia, a former publicity intern for Marc Jacobs, stashed more than $200,000 of his dad's
dirty money in a Citibank account, prosecutors say. A Manhattan federal court suit seeks to seize the dough on grounds that it
was "derived from offenses against the Philippines." Timothy Garcia, 29, has been fighting extradition since he was charged
in the Philippines in connection with the crimes of his father, ex-Maj. Gen. Carlos Garcia, who plea-bargained to bribery after
being charged with plundering more than $6 million while serving as comptroller of that country's armed forces.
The fashion-conscious son infamously posed for photos wearing an electronic ankle bracelet during Fashion Week in 2009
after he was arrested by immigration agents. In October, the younger Garcia surrendered ownership of a $765,000 condo in
the Trump Park Avenue building after the feds said it was bought with his father's loot. Defense lawyer James Kousouros said
Garcia would not challenge the latest suit because "he did not generate or claim ownership of the funds."
---- Index References ---Company: CITIGROUP INC
News Subject: (Financial Fraud (1FI18); Corruption, Bribery & Embezzlement (1EM51); Crime (1CR87); Fraud (1FR30);
Social Issues (1SO05); Emerging Market Countries (1EM65))
Industry: (Apparel & Textiles (1AP20); Consumer Products & Services (1CO62); Retail (1RE82); Fashion Industry (1FA88))
Region: (Far East (1FA27); Eastern Asia (1EA61); Philippines (1PH56); Southeast Asia (1SO64); Asia (1AS61))
Language: EN
Other Indexing: (Carlos Garcia; James Kousouros; Marc Jacobs; Timothy Mark Garcia)
Edition: All Editions
Word Count: 197
End of Document
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
1
Filipino kid's NY $$ eyed, 2013 WLNR 51495
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
2
NY 'Taxi King' in 'forgery' probe, 2015 WLNR 19520530
7/1/15 N.Y. Post 8
2015 WLNR 19520530
New York Post
Copyright 2009, The New York Post. All Rights Reserved
July 1, 2015
Section: News
NY 'Taxi King' in 'forgery' probe
Rebecca Rosenberg
Manhattan prosecutors are investigating whether so-called "Taxi King" Gene Freidman, who owns some 900 yellow cabs,
forged his estranged wife's signature on medallion loans on which he has since defaulted.
Freidman, 44, who owns more medallions than anyone in the city, might have 90 of them yanked for failing to pay Citibank
more than $30 million in loans.
The value of his medallions have plummeted with the rise of app-boosted livery services like Uber.
It's unclear whether the Citibank loans overlap with those in the name of his wife, Sandra Freidman.
"She's a very smart girl. She went to every single closing," he said as he left Manhattan Supreme Court on Tuesday.
"There was nothing forged ever, and she's fully aware of all of her medallion ownership. They're her loans, not mine."
Sandra, 25, who strutted into the courtroom in 4-inch heels, wearing a sleek black suit and Chanel earrings with a matching
handbag, claims her credit has been wrecked by his failure to pay back the loans.
The embattled taxi king's defense lawyer, James Kousouros, countered that Sandra can't find an apartment because she's looking
only at lavish $15,000-a-month rentals, which require a year of payment up front.
She is supposed to move out of their $4.5 million marital home on East 65th Street by next Tuesday.
---- Index References ---Company: CITIGROUP INC; UBER TECHNOLOGIES INC
News Subject: (Crime (1CR87); Fraud (1FR30); Social Issues (1SO05))
Industry: (Banking (1BA20); Financial Services (1FI37); Loans (1LO12); Passenger Transportation (1PA35); Retail Banking
Services (1RE38); Taxis (1TA13); Transportation (1TR48))
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
1
NY 'Taxi King' in 'forgery' probe, 2015 WLNR 19520530
Region: (Americas (1AM92); New York (1NE72); North America (1NO39); U.S. Mid-Atlantic Region (1MI18); USA
(1US73))
Language: EN
Other Indexing: (James Kousouros; Gene Freidman; Sandra Freidman)
Edition: Sports+Late City Final
Word Count: 220
End of Document
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
2
Juror's letter in mob case draws call for review, 2007 WLNR 15807488
8/15/07 Newsday (Pg. Unavail. Online)
2007 WLNR 15807488
Newsday (NY)
Copyright © 2007 Newsday, Melville, N.Y.
August 15, 2007
Juror's letter in mob case draws call for review
Anthony M. Destefano
Newsday, Melville, N.Y.
Aug. 15--A letter purportedly written by a conscience-stricken juror in the recent trial of Bonanno crime captain Vincent
Basciano has prompted a request by defense attorneys for a hearing about last month's conviction of the Bronx gangster for
racketeering murder.
Attorney James Kousouros of Kew Gardens caused the latest stir in the Basciano case when he requested that U.S. District
Judge Nicholas Garaufis look into an anonymous letter alleging problems in the jury deliberation concerning the 2001 murder
of Frank Santoro.
Basciano, 46, known as "Vinny Gorgeous," was found guilty last month in Brooklyn by a jury of three women and nine men
of Santoro's killing, as well as gambling and marijuana trafficking, after about only six hours of deliberation. He faces life in
prison when he is sentenced in November. The jury in Basciano's case was anonymous.
In the unsigned letter received by Kousouros, a copy of which is available in the court file, a person claiming to have been a
juror said, "I didn't completely agree with the rest of the group when we were in the deliberation process."
The letter writer said prosecutors did a good job but that while Basciano was proved guilty of some crimes, the proof on the
Santoro murder wasn't so convincing. A 2006 trial on the same charge ended in a mistrial.
"Due to the fact that I felt that some of the government witnesses were lying and dancing around certain questions to cover
their -- and a number of other factors, I came to my final conclusion that Mr. Basciano was guilty of all charges except the
murder," the anonymous letter stated. "After I got home, the more I thought about it, the more I felt I should have gone against
the grain of the other jurors."
"We are disturbed at the tone and substance of this juror's revelations, particularly with regard to the outcome of the Santoro
murder count," said Kousouros in his letter to Garaufis. "As a result, we are asking that the court schedule a conference to
discuss this matter, so that we may then make an intelligent, good-faith decision on how best to proceed."
In response, Assistant U.S. Attorney John Buretta told Garaufis there was no need for a hearing and that the law barred disturbing
jury verdicts except in extreme cases of impropriety.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
1
Juror's letter in mob case draws call for review, 2007 WLNR 15807488
Buretta said a hearing would only generate sympathy for Basciano and taint the jury pool for his death penalty trial next year.
---- Index References ---News Subject: (Social Issues (1SO05); Judicial Cases & Rulings (1JU36); Crime (1CR87); Legal (1LE33); Violent Crime
(1VI27); Death Penalty (1DE04); Murder & Manslaughter (1MU48); Criminal Law (1CR79))
Region: (U.S. Mid-Atlantic Region (1MI18); Americas (1AM92); North America (1NO39); New York (1NE72); USA
(1US73))
Language: EN
Other Indexing: (Vincent Basciano; Frank Santoro; James Kousouros; Nicholas Garaufis; John Buretta)
Word Count: 411
End of Document
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
2
Charges upgraded for 4 drivers in LIE racing case, 2008 WLNR 24030396
12/16/08 Newsday (Pg. Unavail. Online)
2008 WLNR 24030396
Newsday (NY)
Copyright © 2008 Newsday, Melville, N.Y.
December 16, 2008
Charges upgraded for 4 drivers in LIE racing case
John Valenti
Newsday, Melville, N.Y.
Dec. 16--Charges against four drivers police said were racing at more than 100 mph on the Long Island Expressway in October
have been upgraded from misdemeanors to felonies, Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice said Monday.
One of the cars involved, a 2001 BMW, had a license plate that read: "HEYOFFCR."
The incident took place at about 1:30 a.m. Oct. 1 and involved six cars, according to Nassau police. The chase began near Exit
48 on the Nassau-Suffolk border and ended near Exit 37 in Roslyn, where police managed to stop four of the cars.
Two others fled.
The arrested drivers, identified by police as Anil Isaac, 22, of Richmond Hill; Rajesh Prashaud, 21, of South Ozone Park,
and brothers Ziad Mohamed, 21, and Riad Mohamed, 19, of South Ozone Park, had the charges against them upgraded in an
indictment returned by a Nassau grand jury yesterday.
According to Rice, the four now face charges of first-degree and second-degree reckless endangerment, as well as third-degree
unlawful fleeing of a police officer and what were described as "numerous traffic and equipment violations." Each of the four
now faces a maximum of seven years in prison if convicted.
"Driving like this on the Long Island Expressway is essentially vehicular Russian roulette," Rice said in a statement. "When
you drive like this, at some point someone is going to get killed, and it's usually an innocent driver just going to work or out
to dinner."
Rice noted that in addition to driving at "a high rate of speed," the defendants were observed "weaving in and out of lanes and
creating a dangerous situation for other motorists."
The attorney for Riad and Ziad Mohamed, James Kousouros of Kew Gardens, said to be convicted in felony reckless
endangerment cases, defendants must be found to have exhibited "depraved indifference" to human life.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
1
Charges upgraded for 4 drivers in LIE racing case, 2008 WLNR 24030396
"It is our position that the conduct that is being alleged in this case does not by any standard rise to the standards of reckless
endangerment in the first degree," Kousouros said. Speeding, even at 100 mph, he said, "has been repeatedly found not to satisfy
that extreme burden, and we believe we will be victorious on this issue."
He said all the defendants are college graduates from good families. "They are all good kids," he said.
Prashaud's attorney, Anthony Martone of Kew Gardens, said he was "very confident" Prashaud would be exonerated.
In addition to the BMW, the cars involved were a 2006 Mazda RX8, a 2004 Nissan, a 2004 Infiniti.
The four defendants are free on bail. They are scheduled to be back in court on Jan. 16.
Isaac's attorney, Edward Gallison, could not be reached for comment.
Staff writer Carl MacGowan contributed to this story.
---- Index References ---Company: NISSAN MOTOR CO LTD; MAZDA MOTOR CORP; BAYERISCHE MOTOREN WERKE AG
News Subject: (Legal (1LE33); Violent Crime (1VI27); Criminal Law (1CR79); Automobile Crime (1AU99); Social Issues
(1SO05); Crime (1CR87); Government Litigation (1GO18))
Industry: (Energy & Fuel (1EN13); Oil & Gas (1OI76); Automotive Fuels (1AU95); Automotive Alternative Fuels (1AU34);
Automotive Environmental Initiatives (1AU68))
Region: (Americas (1AM92); Caribbean (1CA06); Latin America (1LA15); Bahamas (1BA90))
Language: EN
Other Indexing: (Ziad Mohamed; Riad Mohamed; Anthony Martone; Edward Gallison; Rajesh Prashaud; Carl MacGowan;
Kathleen Rice; Anil Isaac; James Kousouros)
Ticker Symbol: XETRA:BMW; NASDAQ-SMALL:NSANY
Word Count: 446
End of Document
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
2
Debonair mobster on trial again in New York for brutal 2001 gangland hit
6/19/07 AP Worldstream 18:30:13
AP Worldstream
Copyright © 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This
material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
June 19, 2007
Debonair mobster on trial again in New York for brutal 2001 gangland hit
TOM HAYS
Associated Press Writer
NEW YORK_A fashion-conscious former beauty salon owner known as Vinny Gorgeous doubled as a ruthless killer determined
to rise through the ranks of the Mafia, a prosecutor said Tuesday at opening arguments of the reputed mob boss' murder retrial.
The gangland hit in 2001 on one of Vincent Basciano's rivals "was just one crime in a life of crime committed by this defendant,"
Assistant U.S. Attorney Winston Chan told an anonymous jury in federal court in Brooklyn.
Basciano, 47, sought to rub out mobster Frank Santoro because he believed Santoro wanted to kidnap one of his sons, Chan said.
"Using a 12-guage shotgun, the defendant shot Frank Santoro, not stopping even after Frank Santoro collapsed to the ground."
Defense attorney James Kousouros countered by accusing the government of building its case on the testimony of mob turncoats
who "are admitted degenerate liars."
Basciano, wearing an olive suit, his gray hair combed into a pompadour, looked fit despite months of maximum-security
captivity. U.S. District Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis had granted a request by the one-time owner of the Hello Gorgeous beauty
salon for four suits, four pairs of shoes and four ties to wear throughout the trial.
A jury convicted Basciano last year of racketeering, attempted murder and gambling, but deadlocked over murder charges in
Santoro slaying and a retrial was ordered.
Authorities say Basciano became the acting boss of the Bonanno organized crime family following the arrest of Joseph Massino,
who was sentenced in 2005 to life in prison for orchestrating a quarter-century's worth of murder, racketeering and other crimes.
Massino dodged a possible death sentence by agreeing to cooperate with the government and provide evidence against Basciano
and other mobsters.
While imprisoned together, Massino secretly recorded Basciano pitching a plot to kill a prosecutor, authorities said. The alleged
scheme resulted in new charges against Basciano; if convicted at another trial next year, he could face the death penalty.
Last year, Basciano also was accused of drawing up a list of people he wanted killed _ including Garaufis _ and giving it
to another unidentified inmate, not knowing he was a cooperator. Prosecutors offered no evidence that the scheme went any
further, and no charges were brought.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
1
Debonair mobster on trial again in New York for brutal 2001 gangland hit
---- Index References ---News Subject: (Racketeer Influenced & Corrupt Organizations (RICO) (1RI18); Death Penalty (1DE04); Crime (1CR87);
Murder & Manslaughter (1MU48); Violent Crime (1VI27); Social Issues (1SO05))
Region: (North America (1NO39); USA (1US73); New York (1NE72); U.S. Mid-Atlantic Region (1MI18); Americas
(1AM92))
Language: EN
Other Indexing: (Winston Chan; Vincent Basciano; James Kousouros; Joseph Massino; Frank Santoro; Nicholas Garaufis)
(United States; USA; NorthAmerica)
Keywords: (i); (WorldInternational); (Law)
Word Count: 372
End of Document
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
2
Prosecutors say New York crime group wanted to rival mob families
1/5/06 AP Alert - NJ 02:38:08
AP Alert - New Jersey
Copyright © 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This
material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
January 5, 2006
Prosecutors say New York crime group wanted to rival mob families
By LARRY NEUMEISTER
Associated Press Writer
NEW YORK_A federal jury convicted six men of racketeering and other charges Wednesday in a case that prosecutors said
unearthed a violent Albanian organized crime syndicate that wanted to rival traditional mob families.
The jury in U.S. District Court in Manhattan also exonerated two members of the organization, dubbed The Corporation, of
attempted murder charges that would have carried mandatory life prison sentences.
During a three-month trial, prosecutors described the organization led by Alex Rudaj, 38, of Yorktown Heights, N.Y., as a crime
syndicate with dozens of members and associates running a network of illegal gambling parlors and bookmaking operations.
The government said the organization was founded in the early 1990s by Rudaj and a former associate of the Gambino crime
family.
Throughout the 1990s, the fledgling organization seized and exercised control over illegal gambling operations in the Bronx,
Queens and Westchester County, the government said.
Rudaj and the five other men were convicted of racketeering charges involving extortion, firearms offenses, loan-sharking,
extortionate debt collection and operation of large-scale illegal gambling businesses.
Prosecutors said the defendants face maximum sentences of life in prison when they are sentenced April 7.
Rudaj's defense lawyer, James Kousouros, said it was a major victory that charges of attempted murder did not stick against
his client and one other defendant.
"That was what we tried the case for," he said. "That acquittal avoids a life sentence."
He said the case on appeal raises legal issues with no prior history, including whether someone can be convicted of extortion
when it involves an illegal business such as a gambling den. He said prosecutors had described a "far-fetched scheme" to the jury.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
1
Prosecutors say New York crime group wanted to rival mob families
As law enforcers closed in on the organization, its members appeared to grow increasingly violent, severely beating a member
of the Astoria gambling community in June 2001 as they muscled in on territory formerly controlled by the Lucchese family,
prosecutors said.
In August 2001, members of the organization were armed with guns when they stormed a rival gambling establishment opened
by a Gambino family associate and shut it down, prosecutors said.
Trial evidence showed the organization met with the Gambino family at a New Jersey gas station, where one member of the
Albanian crime group pointed a gun at the gas pumps and threatened to blow everyone up.
In October 2004, several members and associates of the organization were charged with illegal gambling and other offenses.
Eight defendants have pleaded guilty to gambling and attempted extortion; five face trial on gambling charges.
---- Index References ---News Subject: (Crime (1CR87); Social Issues (1SO05))
Industry: (TV (1TV19); TV Programming Syndication & Distribution (1TV80); Entertainment (1EN08); TV Marketing &
Promotion (1TV57); Smuggling & Illegal Trade (1SM35))
Region: (Albania (1AL95); Europe (1EU83); USA (1US73); Southern Europe (1SO59); Americas (1AM92); Eastern Europe
(1EA48); New York (1NE72); North America (1NO39))
Language: EN
Other Indexing: (ASTORIA; US DISTRICT COURT) (Alex Rudaj; James Kousouros; Lucchese; Rudaj) (Albania; ALB;
Europe; United States; USA; NorthAmerica)
Keywords: (n); (Crime); (Gambling); (Legal); (Law)
Word Count: 536
End of Document
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
2
Indian-origin woman convicted of lying, forgery in New York,..., 2013 WLNR 3889855
2/16/13 Samay Live (India) (Pg. Unavail. Online)
2013 WLNR 3889855
Samay Live (India)
Copyright © 2013 Sahara India Tele Vision, distributed by Contify.com
February 16, 2013
Indian-origin woman convicted of lying, forgery in New York, faces 7yrs in prison
An Indian-origin woman, accused of lying extensively about her age and educational qualifications to get employment as a
lawyer in New York and England, has been convicted of forgery and conspiracy and faces upto seven years in prison.
London resident Soma Sengupta, 52, was found guilty following a six-week bench trial in New York State Supreme Court of
all charges in the indictment including criminal possession of a forged instrument and conspiracy.
An attorney admitted to practice in New York state, she was convicted of falsifying documents containing information on her
educational and professional qualifications in order to obtain employment and professional accreditation.
She would be sentenced on March 22, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance said in a statement yesterday."For ten years,
this defendant piled lie upon lie, until the tower of deception she built finally fell in upon itself,"Vance said.
Sengupta "forged a birth certificate, college and law school diplomas, a law school transcript, even reference letters from former
employers and a Massachusetts state representative. In doing so, she went against the very tenets of the legal profession she so
wished to join in England, and violated the rules of the Bar in New York," he added.
Sengupta's lawyer James Kousouros did not dispute that Sengupta had forged documents and lied about her professional
experience but said his client planned to appeal."Many of the facts were not disputed," he said."It was a question of whether
the acts constituted the charges and we very strongly believe that they don't."
According to information presented during the trial, from July 2000 to March 2010, Sengupta forged numerous application
materials and lied on forms submitted to various organisations, including the Manhattan District Attorney?s Office, The Legal
Aid Society and the Bar Standards Board in London.
She had served as a paralegal in the Manhattan District Attorney's Office from July 2000 to January 2003.Sengupta was however
not eligible to work as a paralegal with the district attorney's office, since she was already an attorney and had been admitted
to the New York bar.
The district attorney's office does not employ admitted attorneys as paralegals and to gain employment Sengupta claimed she
had not completed her degree and was not an attorney admitted to practice law in New York state.
Copyright 2013 Sahara India Tele Vision, distributed by Contify.com
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
1
Indian-origin woman convicted of lying, forgery in New York,..., 2013 WLNR 3889855
---- Index References ---News Subject: (Emerging Market Countries (1EM65); Social Issues (1SO05); Fraud (1FR30); Civil Rights Law (1CI34); Crime
(1CR87); Legal (1LE33); Criminal Law (1CR79); Judicial Cases & Rulings (1JU36); Government Litigation (1GO18))
Region: (Asia (1AS61); India (1IN24); Indian Subcontinent (1IN32); North America (1NO39); U.S. Mid-Atlantic Region
(1MI18); New York (1NE72); USA (1US73); Americas (1AM92); Southern Asia (1SO52))
Language: EN
Other Indexing: (James Kousouros; Soma Sengupta; Cyrus Vance)
Word Count: 387
End of Document
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
2
WISEGUY'S NEW MOUTHPIECE, 2005 WLNR 23223673
2/4/05 N.Y. Post 23
2005 WLNR 23223673
New York Post
Copyright © 2005 The New York Post. All Rights Reserved
February 4, 2005
Section: News
WISEGUY'S NEW MOUTHPIECE
Carl Campanile
Reputed Gambino soldier Michael Yannotti has a new lawyer.
Yannotti hired James Kousouros after federal Judge Shira Scheindlin disqualified Joseph Corozzo amid accusations that he's
the "house counsel" to the Gambino crime family.
Corozzo's father, Joseph "Jo Jo" Corozzo, has been identified as a family consigliere. And his uncle, Nicky Corozzo, is a
Gambino captain, according to the feds.
Scheindlin said the blood ties potentially compromised Corozzo's ability to vigorously represent his client.
---- Index References ----
Language: EN
Other Indexing: (MOUTHPIECE; WISEGUY) (Corozzo; James Kousouros; Joseph Corozzo; Michael Yannotti; Nicky
Corozzo; Reputed Gambino; Scheindlin; Shira Scheindlin)
Word Count: 100
End of Document
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
1
NY hit-run arrest leads to woman's murder charge
3/6/09 AP Alert - NY 15:57:31
AP Alert - New York
Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This
material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
March 6, 2009
NY hit-run arrest leads to woman's murder charge
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y._A woman who allegedly ran down two people just seconds apart, killing one of them, has been indicted
on a murder charge.
Westchester District Attorney Janet DiFiore says 37-year-old Sheldene Campbell of Pomona has been charged with murder,
attempted murder, assault, attempted assault and leaving the scene of an accident.
DiFiore says Campbell was driving on the wrong side of a White Plains street on Oct. 19 when she hit a woman who was
walking her dog. The D.A. says the woman's leg was broken, but Campbell continued driving, hit and killed another woman,
and still kept going.
Campbell was found mentally competent after a hearing. But defense lawyer James Kousouros said Friday she was a very sick
woman at the time of the incident.
---- Index References ---News Subject: (Social Issues (1SO05); Violent Crime (1VI27); Crime (1CR87))
Language: EN
Other Indexing: (WHITE PLAINS) (Campbell; DiFiore; James Kousouros; Janet DiFiore; Sheldene Campbell; Westchester
District) (StateDistribution)
Keywords: (n)
Word Count: 151
End of Document
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
1
MOBSTER'S WIFE LOYAL EVEN IF HE'S NOT, 2007 WLNR 15186856
8/7/07 N.Y. Daily News 9
2007 WLNR 15186856
New York Daily News
Copyright © 2007 Daily News, L.P.
August 7, 2007
Section: NEWS
MOBSTER'S WIFE LOYAL EVEN IF HE'S NOT
John Marzulli
HE MAY be a convicted murderer and admitted philanderer, but that doesn't mean convicted mob boss Vincent (Vinny
Gorgeous) Basciano has to suffer in prison, says his long-suffering spouse.
Basciano claimed at his recent trial that he was too busy vacationing with his girlfriend in Florida to be plotting murder.
That, and references in Brooklyn Federal Court to his goumada and their love child, was too much for Basciano's wife.
After a brief appearance the day the trial opened, Angela Basciano was a no-show during six weeks of testimony that ended
with a conviction July 31.
But that didn't stop her from writing to Judge Nicholas Garaufis in an effort to get her husband's jail stay made easier.
The Bonanno family boss, who is facing life without parole, is in 23-hour lockdown - a state usually reserved for terrorists. It's
been that way since he allegedly compiled a hit list in which he targeted the judge and a prosecutor.
"I am not very fond of my husband right now for personal reasons," Angela told Garaufis in a July 26 letter, adding the
compilation of names was no hit list.
"He was to put all these names in his right shoe and stomp on it," she wrote. "It was just an immature, silly formula for warding
off evil and bad luck."
Vincent Basciano's lawyer James Kousouros wouldn't say whether his client's next stop was divorce court.
---- Index References ----
Language: EN
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
1
MOBSTER'S WIFE LOYAL EVEN IF HE'S NOT, 2007 WLNR 15186856
Other Indexing: (BROOKLYN FEDERAL COURT; LOYAL; MOBSTER) (Angela; Angela Basciano; Basciano; Garaufis;
James Kousouros; Nicholas Garaufis; Vincent Basciano)
Keywords: VINCENT BASCIANO; MURDER; TRIAL; ORGANIZED CRIME; WIFE
Edition: SPORTS FINAL
Word Count: 269
End of Document
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
2
$1M BOND FREES T-MOBILE ROBBERY SUSPECT, 2015 WLNR 9768717
4/3/15 Newsday A25
2015 WLNR 9768717
Newsday (USA)
Copyright (c) 2015 Newsday, Inc.
April 3, 2015
Section: NEWS
$1M BOND FREES T-MOBILE ROBBERY SUSPECT
NICOLE FULLER [email protected]
The alleged gunman who was shot by Lake Success police after robbing a Flower Hill T-Mobile store and attempting a
carjacking as he tried to flee earlier this month was ordered released on $1 million bond yesterday.
Felquin Piedra, 41, of Queens, who was shot three times by police, appeared in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn yesterday
afternoon in a wheelchair before Judge Viktor V. Pohorelsky. The judge ordered Piedra to home detention, though he can be
taken to doctor's appointments by either his mother, Anna Piedra, a registered nurse, or his girlfriend, Isabel Acosta, a Jet Blue
flight attendant. He also must wear an electronic monitoring device.
Piedra's attorney, James Kousouros of Manhattan, told the judge his client was not being provided with proper medical care in
the Queens detention facility where he's been held since the March 4 incident. Kousouros successfully argued for Acosta, 32,
and a friend - Louis Siquencia - to put their homes up for collateral to cover the bond.
Piedra, who lives with his mother in Bayside's Oakland Gardens and has worked as a print screener, is "still in excruciating
pain," Kousouros told the judge.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Mathew Miller argued against the bond, saying that Piedra's injuries happened when he fled police and
releasing him would essentially be a reward for the bad conduct.
"He was fleeing from an armed robbery ... [and] jumped off the Long Island Expressway" Miller said.
While the judge said Piedra's actions were "extreme acts of desperation," he said the bond was sufficient.
Piedra was charged with robbery, using a firearm in a robbery and attempted carjacking in the March 4 holdup at the Flower
Hill T-Mobile and carjack attempt in Lake Success, authorities said.
According to an indictment filed in federal court Monday, Piedra and his alleged accomplice, Alexis Escobar, also robbed a
T-Mobile store on Walt Whitman Road in Huntington Station on Nov. 4, 2014 and a T-Mobile store on Astoria Boulevard in
Queens on Jan. 9, 2015. Escobar's attorney could not be reached for comment.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
1
$1M BOND FREES T-MOBILE ROBBERY SUSPECT, 2015 WLNR 9768717
Piedra was tracked down the same night of the alleged Flower Hill heist on the LIE through a GPS tracker in a stolen item, then
he jumped off an overpass and was shot by police during an attempted carjacking, according to an FBI complaint.
---- Index References ---News Subject: (Burglary & Theft (1BU41); Crime (1CR87); Property Crime (1PR85); Social Issues (1SO05); Violent Crime
(1VI27))
Region: (Americas (1AM92); New York (1NE72); North America (1NO39); U.S. Mid-Atlantic Region (1MI18); USA
(1US73))
Language: EN
Other Indexing: (James Kousouros; Mathew Miller; Isabel Acosta; Anna Piedra; Felquin Piedra; Alexis Escobar; Louis
Siquencia; Viktor Pohorelsky)
Edition: ALL EDITIONS
Word Count: 380
End of Document
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
2
'LOCKED'-UP MOB BOSS: JAILERS DEPRIVE MY 'DO, 2007 WLNR 14439636
7/27/07 N.Y. Post 15
2007 WLNR 14439636
New York Post
Copyright © 2006 The New York Post. All Rights Reserved
July 27, 2007
Section: News
'LOCKED'-UP MOB BOSS: JAILERS DEPRIVE MY 'DO
PATRICK GALLAHUE
You can lock up "Vinny Gorgeous" - just don't mess with his hair. Reputed Bonanno boss Vincent Basciano, whose nickname
comes from the Hello Gorgeous hair salon he once owned, complained to a federal judge that jail was cramping his style.
In a letter revealed yesterday, the whiny wiseguy griped to Judge Nicholas Garaufis that his lawyers' phone numbers weren't
on his list of approved calls from jail and that he wasn't being provided dashing duds and haircuts.
"I know the government wants me to suffer," he wrote from the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Brooklyn. "I'll handle
that, judge.
"But by me having my suits, getting my lawyers' cellphone numbers approved, and having my haircuts every two weeks isn't
going to make me feel like I'm in Disney World!"
The letter was revealed shortly before the prosecution made its closing arguments against Basciano for the 2001 murder of
Frank Santoro.
"The last trial, your honor signed an order for five suits and for legal calls as I needed them while I was on trial," Basciano
said in the letter.
He argued that prosecutors agreed to remind the jail guards of his hairstyling schedule and clothing requirements but that the
warden claimed not to have heard from the government on the matter.
The letter was postmarked July 23, a few days after he had to borrow a shirt and tie from Garaufis when his jailers failed to
deliver clean clothes.
Basciano's lawyer, James Kousouros, told Garaufis, "Most of the issues have been resolved."
---- Index References ----
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
1
'LOCKED'-UP MOB BOSS: JAILERS DEPRIVE MY 'DO, 2007 WLNR 14439636
Language: EN
Other Indexing: (DEPRIVE; LOCKED; METROPOLITAN CORRECTIONAL CENTER) (Basciano; Garaufis; James
Kousouros; Nicholas Garaufis; Reputed Bonanno; Vincent Basciano)
Word Count: 297
End of Document
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
2
'VINNY' VERDICT SHOCKER, 2007 WLNR 15806870
8/15/07 N.Y. Post 11
2007 WLNR 15806870
New York Post
Copyright © 2006 The New York Post. All Rights Reserved
August 15, 2007
Section: News
'VINNY' VERDICT SHOCKER
STEFANIE COHEN
Call it juror's remorse.
A juror says his decision to send Bonanno boss Vincent "Vinny Gorgeous" Basciano to prison for life is "eating away at me
like acid" and he wants the convict to be retried, according to a letter filed in Brooklyn federal court yesterday.
Basciano was convicted July 31 of murder and racketeering. The anonymous letter was mailed to Basciano's defense lawyer,
James Kousouros, a few days after the verdict. Kousouros said it contains no proof that it is actually from a member of Basciano's
jury.
"I came to the conclusion that Mr. Basciano was guilty of all charges except the murder," the purported juror states.
"The aftermath of this whole thing is eating away at me like acid," the letter's author laments.
But "there is no basis . . . to inquire into the validity of the verdict, even assuming the letter is from a juror," prosecutor John
Buretta wrote to Judge Nicholas Garaufis in response to Kousouros' plea for a conference to discuss the issue.
---- Index References ---News Subject: (Violent Crime (1VI27); Crime (1CR87); Social Issues (1SO05))
Language: EN
Other Indexing: (BASCIANO; VINNY) (Basciano; James Kousouros; John Buretta; Kousouros; Nicholas Garaufis)
Word Count: 196
End of Document
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
1
'VINNY' VERDICT SHOCKER, 2007 WLNR 15806870
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
2
The 'grin' reaper Hit-run slay suspect is all smiles, 2013 WLNR 3118199
2/7/13 N.Y. Post 14
2013 WLNR 3118199
New York Post
Copyright © 2009 The New York Post. All Rights Reserved
February 7, 2013
Section: News
The 'grin' reaper Hit-run slay suspect is all smiles
Matt Abrahams and Kirstan Conley
He's got a sick sense of humor. The trucker accused of killing a 69-year-old woman in a Hell's Kitchen hit-and-run Tuesday
night shamelessly smiled yesterday as cops led him into Central Booking. Jack Montelbano, 47, of Bayonne, NJ, was charged
with leaving the scene after allegedly striking Shu Ying Liu. But that didn't stop the dump-truck driver from grinning at the
media. Defense lawyer James Kousouros said his client wasn't being disrespectful. "Everybody reacts to stress and panic in
different ways. I can assure you he is absolutely and utterly devastated," Kousouros said. Montelbano drove off even though
a witness alerted him that he had hit someone, prosecutors said.
Cops tracked him down through his license plates, sources said. Prosecutor Patricia Collins claimed Montelbano was involved
in a fatal car crash at that same spot several years ago, although the suspect has no criminal record in New York. Montelbano
was held in lieu of $25,000 cash bail. Liu, a Chinese immigrant who lived in low-income housing for seniors on West 54th
Street, was walking up Ninth Avenue on Tuesday morning when Montelbano hit her as he turned right onto 41st Street, cops
said. "He killed someone and he left a scene," said Liu's 101-year-old widow, Joseph Muldavin. "If it was a real accident,
he would have called the police himself." Liu, who moved to the United States 15 years ago, loved to read and was learning
English, Muldavin said. The couple met through a friend and enjoyed dancing. "Oh, she danced day and night," he said of his
wife of 10 years. Muldavin said she leaves behind two grown sons. [email protected]
---- Index References ---News Subject: (Social Issues (1SO05); Health & Family (1HE30); Violent Crime (1VI27); Crime (1CR87); Accidents & Injuries
(1AC02))
Industry: (Automotive Environmental Initiatives (1AU68); Automotive Alternative Fuels (1AU34); Dance (1DA68); Energy
& Fuel (1EN13); Automotive Fuels (1AU95); Entertainment (1EN08); Oil & Gas (1OI76))
Language: EN
Other Indexing: (Shu Ying Liu; James Kousouros; Jack Montelbano; Joseph Muldavin; Patricia Collins)
Edition: Late City Final
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
1
The 'grin' reaper Hit-run slay suspect is all smiles, 2013 WLNR 3118199
Word Count: 277
End of Document
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
2
Prosecutors: Video shows guards assaulting inmate, 2008 WLNR 608598
1/11/08 Newsday (Pg. Unavail. Online)
2008 WLNR 608598
Newsday (NY)
Copyright © 2008 Newsday, Melville, N.Y.
January 11, 2008
Prosecutors: Video shows guards assaulting inmate
Anthony M. Destefano
Newsday, Melville, N.Y.
Jan. 11--A security video of an incident two years ago at the federal Metropolitan Detention Center in Sunset Park showed
excessive use of force by jail guards against an inmate, an assistant warden testified yesterday morning in federal court in
Brooklyn.
Justin Andrews testified for the prosecution that he also believed the video raised questions about the accuracy of written
statements prepared by the officers involved in the incident on April 11, 2006.
The tape depicts inmate Kenneth Howard, who was being held on marriage fraud charges, being taken to a jail elevator, where
prosecutors say he was assaulted. The tape shows one of the guards, Glen Cummings, dropping a weapon known as a "pepper
ball" gun and then rushing into the elevator, where he appeared to stomp something four times. The video didn't show Cummings'
foot actually striking Howard, whose hands had been restrained earlier and was seen falling down in the elevator after being
tripped by a different guard.
"It was, in my opinion, that the video depicted excessive use of force and did not support the memorandum [prepared by
officers]," Andrews testified during questioning by Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Raddick.
After viewing the video and talking to his superiors, Andrews said he referred the matter to the inspector general and internal
affairs offices for the Bureau of Prisons.
The video, which was entered into evidence Wednesday at the trial of five federal jail officials, was made available to Newsday
and other news media yesterday by Judge Carol B. Amon.
In memos prepared after the incident, a number of the guards said Howard initially assaulted and injured a guard and said, "I am
a cop killer, what," before he was wrestled to the floor of the cell and placed in hand restraints. Howard then became combative
as he was taken to an elevator for removal to solitary confinement, according to the memorandum.
However, the video didn't appear to show any fighting or resistance by Howard, who isn't expected to testify in the case. The
guards' memos also didn't appear to mention Cummings' actions.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
1
Prosecutors: Video shows guards assaulting inmate, 2008 WLNR 608598
Later yesterday, former jail guard Scott Rosebery testified for the government that while he was holding Howard down in the
elevator, he felt Howard shake. Asked by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah Coyne if he knew why Howard was moving, Rosebery
said he didn't know and didn't see Cummings. Rosebery did say that he didn't think Howard was moving on his own.
Cummings and another guard, Jamie Torro, are accused of using excessive force, obstruction of justice and making false
statements. Three other defendants -- Lt. Elizabeth Torres and guards Frank Maldonado and Angel Perez -- are charged with
being accessories, obstruction of justice and making false statements.
Cummings retired after he was indicted. Torres was fired, according to her attorney, James Kousouros of Kew Gardens. All
of the other defendants had left their jobs, Kousouros said.
---- Index References ---News Subject: (Government Litigation (1GO18); Social Issues (1SO05); Crime (1CR87); Violent Crime (1VI27); Assault &
Battery (1AS33); Prisons (1PR87); Legal (1LE33); Criminal Law (1CR79); Civil Rights Law (1CI34))
Language: EN
Other Indexing: (Carol Amon; Scott Rosebery; Sarah Coyne; Robert Raddick; Glen Cummings; Frank Maldonado; Angel Perez;
James Kousouros; Kenneth Howard; Elizabeth Torres; Jamie Torro; Justin Andrews)
Word Count: 481
End of Document
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
2
Bell case's Judge Arthur Cooperman to retire, 2008 WLNR 7780528
4/26/08 Newsday (Pg. Unavail. Online)
2008 WLNR 7780528
Newsday (NY)
Copyright © 2008 Newsday, Melville, N.Y.
April 26, 2008
Bell case's Judge Arthur Cooperman to retire
Anthony M. Destefano
Newsday, Melville, N.Y.
Apr. 26--Justice Arthur Cooperman isn't leaving the job quietly.
The 74-year-old jurist, slated for mandatory retirement at the end of next year, issued what is certain to be the most memorable
decision of his career Friday, with the verdict acquitting detectives in the Sean Bell case.
"Obviously this is the case that is going to define him," said Kew Gardens attorney James Kousouros, who has appeared often
before Cooperman.
A 1960 graduate of New York University School of Law, Cooperman was a state assemblyman from Queens from January
1969 to December 1979, in a district where the Kalua Cabaret, the scene of Bell's fateful bachelor party, is located. He also
served two years as a civil court judge in the city before being made an acting State Supreme Court justice in 1982. He was
elected for the first time as a regular justice of the State Supreme Court in Queens in November 1982.
Though Cooperman was castigated by some protesters for his decision clearing officers in the Bell case, prosecutors and defense
attorneys alike sung his praise.
"Judge Cooperman is one of this county's most experienced and respected judges," said Queens District Attorney Richard
Brown, whose office prosecuted the case, after the verdict.
"He was aware of the law, the facts and circumstances you wouldn't expect other trial judges to know," said defense attorney
Paul Martin, who represented Det. Marc Cooper.
With a poker face that rarely cracked a smile, Cooperman didn't telegraph his impressions about the evidence from the bench
during the seven-week, nonjury trial. But he so closely watched proceedings he would sometimes catch attorneys in small slips
of the tongue -- describing a road incorrectly, for instance -- that lawyers privately marveled at his attention to detail.
"At all times he is a no-nonsense guy, scrupulously adhering to the rule of law and calls a case as he ... [sees] it, unaffected
by the emotion," Kousouros said.
Bronx attorney Murray Richman agreed. "He is a judge in his last term," said Richman, "so the pressure wasn't on."
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
1
Bell case's Judge Arthur Cooperman to retire, 2008 WLNR 7780528
While the Bell case may define his career, Cooperman presided over other big cases. Notable was the 1986 case in which two
officers were convicted of torturing a teen suspect with an electric stun gun; and the trial of Stoney Harrison, convicted of
killing two detectives transporting him to Rikers Island along the Grand Central Parkway in 1989.
---- Index References ---News Subject: (Social Issues (1SO05); Judicial Cases & Rulings (1JU36); Crime (1CR87); Government Litigation (1GO18);
Legal (1LE33); Death Penalty (1DE04); Criminal Law (1CR79))
Region: (U.S. Mid-Atlantic Region (1MI18); Americas (1AM92); North America (1NO39); New York (1NE72); USA
(1US73))
Language: EN
Other Indexing: (Marc Cooper; Murray Richman; Richard Brown; Arthur Cooperman; Paul Martin; James Kousouros)
Word Count: 393
End of Document
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
2
It'll take plea bargain to keep Plax out of prison, 2008 WLNR 23193281
12/3/08 Newsday (Pg. Unavail. Online)
2008 WLNR 23193281
Newsday (NY)
Copyright © 2008 Newsday, Melville, N.Y.
December 3, 2008
It'll take plea bargain to keep Plax out of prison
Anthony M. Destefano
Newsday, Melville, N.Y.
Dec. 3--While there is a chance that Giants receiver Plaxico Burress could avoid prison after getting charged with carrying a
loaded gun, most defense attorneys think he is destined for a stretch behind bars if convicted of illegal weapons possession.
Burress has been charged with two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, a felony that carries a maximum
sentence of 15 years in prison.
"If Plaxico Burress pleads guilty to felony possession of a loaded firearm he is going to jail, period. There is no question in my
mind," said Brooklyn defense attorney James DiPietro, who handles a number of illegal gun possession cases.
State statistics bear out DiPietro. Last year 98.2 percent of defendants convicted of felony weapons possession -- which covers
unlicensed firearms in New York -- served time, according to data from the Division of Criminal Justice Services. So far in
2008 the result is identical, with all Manhattan defendants convicted of felony gun possession behind bars.
One ray of hope for Burress is that state records show that in 2007, of 986 people arrested in the city for the same charge, fewer
than 10 percent pleaded guilty as charged. Most get plea bargains that drop the charges down to lower felonies, misdemeanors
and even violations, records show.
Burress is charged with two theories of the same crime -- that he intended to use the gun unlawfully and that he simply unlawfully
possessed it. The first seems like overzealous prosecution to some lawyers.
"To me that is an overcharge," Manhattan attorney Steven K. Frankel said. "How are they going to prove he intended to use
it at all?"
But the fact that the gun discharged in a crowded club is trouble for Burress, Frankel said.
"I really don't see him getting away with no jail time," he said.
Attorney James Kousouros of Kew Gardens said that despite the tough provisions of the law there is a section in the sentencing
law that allows Burress some hope if he were to be convicted of a lesser felony. That section allows a judge to keep a defendant
out of prison if there are "mitigating circumstances" bearing on the way the crime was committed.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
1
It'll take plea bargain to keep Plax out of prison, 2008 WLNR 23193281
DiPietro has tried using that mitigation provision without success and doesn't think that it will help Burress. But a misdemeanor
plea might give him a chance to stay free, he said.
Burress defense attorney Benjamin Brafman declined to comment on the case, as did a spokesman for Manhattan District
Attorney Robert Morgenthau.
Crime & time
NYC sentences for persons convicted of criminal possession
of a weapon in the second degree:
2006 2007 2008 (thru September)
Behind bars 100% 98.2% 98.2%
Probation 0.0% 1.3% 1.2%
Other 0.0% 0.6% 0.6%
Source: State Division of Criminal Justice Services
---- Index References ---News Subject: (Crime (1CR87); Social Issues (1SO05); Murder & Manslaughter (1MU48); Criminal Law (1CR79); Violent
Crime (1VI27); Legal (1LE33); Prisons (1PR87); Gun Rights & Regulations (1GU97); Death Penalty (1DE04))
Region: (Americas (1AM92); U.S. Mid-Atlantic Region (1MI18); USA (1US73); North America (1NO39); New York
(1NE72))
Language: EN
Other Indexing: (Plaxico Burress; Robert Morgenthau; Steven Frankel; Benjamin Brafman; James DiPietro; James Kousouros)
Word Count: 443
End of Document
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
2
'Vinny Gorgeous' juror questions deliberations, 2007 WLNR 16225910
8/21/07 Newsday (Pg. Unavail. Online)
2007 WLNR 16225910
Newsday (NY)
Copyright © 2007 Newsday, Melville, N.Y.
August 21, 2007
'Vinny Gorgeous' juror questions deliberations
Anthony M. Destefano
Newsday, Melville, N.Y.
Aug. 21--Girlfriends on the side, gambling junkets and crude sex talk may be fodder for an episode of "The Sopranos," but such
things apparently did not go over well with jurors in the recent racketeering murder trial that led to the conviction of Bronx
gangster Vincent Basciano.
Defense attorneys for the Bonanno crime captain, known as "Vinny Gorgeous," said an anonymous juror has made more claims
of wrongdoing in the deliberations and indicated that the federal jury that convicted Basciano was biased against his "lifestyle."
Basciano, 46, was convicted last month in Brooklyn of orchestrating the murder of a reputed mob associate and taking part in
gambling and marijuana trafficking. During the trial, government witnesses testified at length about how the married Basciano
fathered a son with girlfriend Debra Kalb and ran off to Las Vegas on a mob gambling junket.
A surveillance tape captured Basciano and cronies joking about how he tried to deflect his wife's suspicions about the gossip
about his sexual adventures.
Since the verdict, a man claiming to have been a juror contacted defense attorney James Kousouros of Kew Gardens to complain
that he felt forced by other jurors to convict Basciano on the murder. The juror believed Basciano was guilty of the other
charges, but didn't buy the testimony of witnesses such as gangster Dominick Cicale, who gave evidence on the homicide
charge, Kousouros said last week in a court filing.
In a follow-up letter to the court filed last Friday, Kousouros said the juror then called him last week to complain that news
stories cast doubt about whether he was in fact a juror.
"He expressed again that the verdict on the Santoro murder count did not reflect his true assessment of the evidence and made
a marked reference to 'that idiot Cicale,'" wrote Kousouros.
Although the man offered to meet with the attorney to prove he was in fact on the anonymous jury panel, Kousouros said he
declined to do so.
The purported juror "made representations regarding what had transpired during the deliberative process, and intimated that
there had been some articulated bias against the 'lifestyle' led by Mr. Basciano."
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
1
'Vinny Gorgeous' juror questions deliberations, 2007 WLNR 16225910
Government prosecutors haven't responded to the latest Kousouros letter, but earlier said in court filings that the allegations
aren't serious enough to warrant disturbing the jury verdict.
However, Kousouros wants Judge Nicholas Garaufis to at least hold a hearing about something the lawyer believes could
"potentially" mar the jury verdict.
Basciano is being held in jail and faces life in prison when he is sentenced in November. Basciano also faces the death penalty
in a federal trial next year.
---- Index References ---News Subject: (Crime (1CR87); Murder & Manslaughter (1MU48); Social Issues (1SO05); Violent Crime (1VI27); Racketeer
Influenced & Corrupt Organizations (RICO) (1RI18); Death Penalty (1DE04))
Region: (Americas (1AM92); New York (1NE72); USA (1US73); U.S. Mid-Atlantic Region (1MI18); North America
(1NO39))
Language: EN
Other Indexing: (James Kousouros; Vincent Basciano; Dominick Cicale; Debra Kalb; Nicholas Garaufis)
Word Count: 439
End of Document
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
2
Suite revenge Squatters occupy house of mortgage fraudster, 2014 WLNR 11680005
4/27/14 N.Y. Post 5
2014 WLNR 11680005
New York Post
Copyright 2009, The New York Post. All Rights Reserved
April 27, 2014
Section: News
Suite revenge Squatters occupy house of mortgage fraudster
Kate Briquelet
'
He took our money, and he tricked us into believing things that weren't true. [He's getting] what he deserves.
Karma's a bitch.
A Queens man convicted of defrauding distressed homeowners in a mortgage scam is seeing his own Howard Beach home
overrun by squatters while he's sitting in the clink.
Neighbors of the two-story house worth $562,000 on 90th Street say the brazen interlopers have been bounced and arrested
- but they keep coming back.
"Who are they, and where did they come from?" fumed one resident, adding that one squatter laughed when police cuffed him
last week. "When the cops came, he had no shame."
The house's owner, Isaak Khafizov, 27, was sentenced to nine years in federal prison last month for bilking people out of
hundreds of thousands of dollars after promising to get their mortgages modified and lower their monthly payments. Instead,
he just pocketed their cash, according to court papers, and many of his victims subsequently lost their homes to foreclosure.
Vicki Tepper, a victim of the scheme, said that with his new home woes, Khafizov was getting "what he deserves."
"He messed with a bunch of people's lives," said Tepper, who owns a pet shop in New Jersey. "He took our money, and he
tricked us into believing things that weren't true."
But neighbors care less about the poetic justice than about getting the bums out. Last week, one vigilante cut electricity to the
home, and a front window was smashed.
Before that, one alleged squatter, Peter Zephyrin, sat in a lawn chair to taunt neighbors after he was arrested and released.
"These people are going nuts. Cuckoo!" Zephyrin, 35, said. "Calm down, relax. I work! I am not a criminal."
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
1
Suite revenge Squatters occupy house of mortgage fraudster, 2014 WLNR 11680005
Zephyrin claims he legally moved into the home in December, shortly after he supposedly responded to a Craigslist ad and
met with Khafizov at a local Dunkin Donuts.
He presented The Post with what he said was a lease. The document was dated Dec. 1, 2013, and appeared to bear Khafizov's
signature.
It lists the monthly rent as $800, but Zephyrin said he paid $2,000 upfront and stays rent-free in exchange for fixing up the home.
Such an arrangement would have been impossible, since Khafizov has been locked up since May 2012, according to his lawyer
and Federal Bureau of Prisons officials.
"I can categorically tell you there's no way on earth that [Khafizov] was out of jail in December 2013," said attorney James
Kousouros.
Neighbors say that Khafizov and his girlfriend lived in the home until he was sent to prison and that the house has been vacant
as far back as Hurricane Sandy, which hit five months later.
Assemblyman Phillip Goldfeder (D-Queens) said a bank has repossessed the home and plans to take legal action to remove
the squatters.
"The most ironic part is the guy went to prison for mortgage fraud, and now his home has been a hub for criminal activity,"
Goldfeder told The Post.
Khafizov's company, American Home Recovery, promised to reduce people's mortgage payments, but he disappeared after
taking their money, which he spent on his own mortgage, a Mercedes and credit-card bills, documents show.
[email protected]
---- Index References ---Company: AMERICAN HOME RECOVERY FUND
News Subject: (Crime (1CR87); Criminal Law (1CR79); Financial Fraud (1FI18); Fraud (1FR30); Legal (1LE33); Prisons
(1PR87); Social Issues (1SO05))
Industry: (Banking (1BA20); Consumer Finance (1CO55); Financial Services (1FI37); Mortgage Banking (1MO85); Retail
Banking Services (1RE38))
Language: EN
Other Indexing: (James Kousouros; Peter Zephyrin; Isaak Khafizov; Phillip Goldfeder; Vicki Tepper)
Edition: All Editions
Word Count: 532
End of Document
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
2
Suite revenge Squatters occupy house of mortgage fraudster, 2014 WLNR 11680005
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
3
New York prosecutors say Albanian crime group wanted to rival mob families
1/5/06 AP Worldstream 02:40:25
AP Worldstream
Copyright © 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This
material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
January 5, 2006
New York prosecutors say Albanian crime group wanted to rival mob families
NEW YORK_A federal jury convicted six men of racketeering and other charges in a case that prosecutors said unearthed a
violent Albanian organized crime syndicate that wanted to rival traditional mob families.
The jury in U.S. District Court in Manhattan on Wednesday exonerated two members of the organization, dubbed The
Corporation, of attempted murder charges that would have carried mandatory life prison sentences.
During a three-month trial, prosecutors described the organization led by Alex Rudaj, 38, of Yorktown Heights, New York,
as an organized crime syndicate with dozens of members and associates running a network of illegal gambling parlors and
bookmaking operations.
Throughout the 1990s, the organization seized and exercised control over illegal gambling operations in the Bronx, Queens
and Westchester County, the government said.
Rudaj and the five other men were convicted of racketeering charges involving extortion, firearms offenses, loan-sharking,
extortionate debt collection and operation of large-scale illegal gambling businesses.
Prosecutors said the defendants face maximum sentences of life in prison when they are sentenced April 7.
Rudaj's defense lawyer, James Kousouros, said it was a major victory that charges of attempted murder did not stick against
his client and one other defendant.
"That was what we tried the case for," he said. "That acquittal avoids a life sentence."
---- Index References ---News Subject: (Crime (1CR87); Social Issues (1SO05))
Industry: (TV (1TV19); TV Programming Syndication & Distribution (1TV80); Entertainment (1EN08); TV Marketing &
Promotion (1TV57); Smuggling & Illegal Trade (1SM35))
Region: (Albania (1AL95); Europe (1EU83); USA (1US73); Southern Europe (1SO59); Americas (1AM92); Eastern Europe
(1EA48); New York (1NE72); North America (1NO39))
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
1
New York prosecutors say Albanian crime group wanted to rival mob families
Language: EN
Other Indexing: (US DISTRICT COURT; YORKTOWN HEIGHTS) (Alex Rudaj; James Kousouros; Rudaj)
Keywords: (i)
Word Count: 282
End of Document
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
2
Judge to stay on mob racketeering case, 2006 WLNR 20734755
12/1/06 Newsday A24
2006 WLNR 20734755
Newsday (USA)
Copyright © 2006 Newsday, Inc.
December 1, 2006
Section: NEWS
Judge to stay on mob racketeering case
ANTHONY M. DESTEFANO. STAFF WRITER
A federal judge whose name was on an alleged hit list prepared by a mobster has decided not to stop handling the case against
the suspect, reputed Bonanno crime captain Vincent Basciano.
In a five-page ruling, Brooklyn federal judge Nicholas Garaufis agreed with prosecutors that his continued handling of the case
did not create the appearance of partiality that would require his recusal.
Although prosecutors maintained that Basciano prepared the list, which contained the name of Garaufis, a federal prosecutor
and three witnesses, in an effort to solicit murder, defense attorneys said the document was actually part of a Santeria rite to get
Basciano, known as "Vinny Gorgeous," good luck at trial. Basciano is facing federal racketeering charges.
But Garaufis appeared to debunk the Santeria explanation and the seriousness of the hit list by saying that it appeared Basciano
provided the document to another inmate in an effort to engineer an ethical issue that would have required the court's recusal.
"Such a thinly disguised effort to manipulate the judicial process cannot be sanctioned by this court," wrote Garaufis.
Defense attorney James Kousouros said he strongly disagreed with the decision, which he said "seemed to hold" that the list
was a pretext when the facts indicated otherwise. Kousouros was weighing legal options.
---- Index References ---News Subject: (Legal (1LE33))
Language: EN
Other Indexing: (SANTERIA) (Basciano; Brooklyn; Garaufis; James Kousouros; Kousouros; Nicholas Garaufis; Vincent
Basciano; Vinny Gorgeous)
Keywords: BROOKLYN.JUDGE.RACKETEERING.TRIAL.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
1
Judge to stay on mob racketeering case, 2006 WLNR 20734755
Edition: CITY
Word Count: 267
End of Document
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
2
Tells lies in Britain, gets convicted in US, 2013 WLNR 5290848
3/1/13 DayAfter (India) (Pg. Unavail. Online)
2013 WLNR 5290848
DayAfter (India)
Copyright (c) 2013 dayafter, distributed by Contify.com
March 1, 2013
Tells lies in Britain, gets convicted in US
An Indian-American lawyer, Soma Sengupta, 52, was convicted of nine charges of deception in a Manhattan court.Judge
Thomas Farber of State Supreme Court decided the case without a jury at her request.
Sengupta lied about her work experience and shaved nearly 20 years off her age in an effort to be admitted to the British bar.
Farber said: "One could not help but be struck by the sheer magnitude and the intensity and breadth of the defendant's lies and
schemes and deceitful behaviour."
The most serious count carries a maximum prison sentence of seven years.
The sentence will be pronounced on March 22.
Lawyer James Kousouros, who pleaded Sengupta's case, said his client would appeal against the verdict.He however conceded
that Sengupta had forged the documents.
Copyright 2013 dayafter, distributed by Contify.com
---- Index References ---News Subject: (Crime (1CR87); Death Penalty (1DE04); Fraud (1FR30); Social Issues (1SO05))
Language: EN
Other Indexing: (Thomas Farber; James Kousouros; Soma Sengupta)
Word Count: 132
End of Document
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
1
Tells lies in Britain, gets convicted in US, 2013 WLNR 5290848
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
2
THUGS GUILTY IN 'MOB' WAR, 2006 WLNR 6495323
1/5/06 N.Y. Post 27
2006 WLNR 6495323
New York Post
Copyright © 2005 The New York Post. All Rights Reserved
January 5, 2006
Section: News
THUGS GUILTY IN 'MOB' WAR
By KATI CORNELL SMITH
A federal jury convicted a gang of Albanian-led mobsters of a string of violent racketeering crimes carried out in their bid to
take over the Mafia's turf - but cleared the group's leader of attempted murder, the most serious charge in the case.
Taking their marching orders from gang leader Alex "Allie Boy" Rudaj, 38, the group raked in up to $4 million a year from an
illegal gambling business run out of social clubs in The Bronx and Astoria, Queens, prosecutors said in the three-month trial.
The Albanian gangsters waged violent battles over gambling spots controlled by the Italian mob - pistol-whipping, beating and
threatening rivals and extortion victims who tried to get in their way.
In a dramatic show-down, former Gambino acting boss Arnold Squitieri called a meeting at a New Jersey gas station to resolve
a dispute and tried to flex his muscles by pulling out a gun.
But one of Rudaj's thugs upstaged the Gambino big, aiming a gun at a gas pump and threatening to blow up the service station.
When Rudaj's crew couldn't get dinner reservations at Rao's, a group of 20 turned up at the famed East Harlem eatery and
bullied their way into seats once held for the late Gambino godfather John "Dapper Don" Gotti, prosecutors alleged.
Manhattan federal jurors convicted Rudaj and five members of his gang of illegal gambling, extortion, assault and other
racketeering charges that could send them to prison for life.
But the jury stopped short of finding that Rudaj and his cohort Nardino "Leonardo" Colotti had tried to whack a reputed Bonanno
associate in December 1993, acquitting the pair of attempted-murder charges.
"The attempted murder was the only crime charged that carries a mandatory life sentence," said Rudaj's lawyer, James
Kousouros. "We're very pleased. That was a huge focus for us."
Colotti hugged his attorney, Joseph Tacopina, following the verdict.
Rudaj, Colotti and a third cohort, Nikola "Nicky Nails" Dedaj, were convicted of a brutal assault on one bar owner who owed
them a loan-sharking debt but refused their demands to hand over his business.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
1
THUGS GUILTY IN 'MOB' WAR, 2006 WLNR 6495323
Colotti bit the victim's ear as he beat and cursed at him, while Dedaj waved a gun in his face, threatening to shoot.
[email protected]
---- Index References ---News Subject: (Violent Crime (1VI27); Crime (1CR87); Social Issues (1SO05))
Region: (Albania (1AL95); Europe (1EU83); Southern Europe (1SO59); USA (1US73); Americas (1AM92); Eastern Europe
(1EA48); North America (1NO39); New York (1NE72))
Language: EN
Other Indexing: (BRONX; GAMBINO; RUDAJ) (Arnold Squitieri; Bonanno; Colotti; Dedaj; James Kousouros; Joseph
Tacopina; Nikola "Nicky Nails; Rudaj; THUGS GUILTY)
Word Count: 443
End of Document
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
2
MAFIA TURNS SCAREDY-CAT, 2005 WLNR 25275700
10/9/05 N.Y. Daily News 32
2005 WLNR 25275700
New York Daily News
Copyright © 2005 Daily News, L.P.
October 9, 2005
Section: NEWS
MAFIA TURNS SCAREDY-CAT
THOMAS ZAMBITO DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
FIRST, JUNIOR GOTTI pens a children's book in prison. Then the mob scion shows up at Sunday mass.
Now, federal prosecutors are claiming the Gambinos and the Lucheses - among the most bloodthirsty crime families the city
has ever known - are just a bunch of pansies.
What's the Mafia come to?
Consider the trial going on in courtroom 26A of Manhattan Federal Court. There a group of Albanian-led mobsters are accused
of crimes committed as they wrested control of Astoria's gambling clubs - and the protection money they generated - from
the Luchese family.
Federal prosecutors say gang leader Alex Rudaj, 38, had Gottiesque visions of heading a sixth crime family. They claim on
one occasion, he and some pals even pushed their way into Rao's, the exclusive East Harlem eatery, demanded John Gotti's
old table - and got it.
"The Gambino crime family simply could not stand in the way of the Rudaj organization, and the Rudaj organization took great
pride in that," prosecutor Benjamin Gruenstein said.
He told a jury that when the Gambinos tried to head off the Albanians in a showdown at a New Jersey gas station, they were
sent away cowering.
One of Rudaj's henchmen pulled a gun and pointed it at a gas pump, threatening to blow them all away. The leader of the
Gambinos, Arnold (Zeke) Squitieri, backed off.
After that, the Rudaj organization moved into Astoria, branching out from their base in the Bronx and Westchester, where they
got their start forcing their "Joker Poker" machines on bar owners.
Attorneys for Rudaj and his five co-defendants have mocked the prosecution's theory during the opening weeks of an expected
three-month trial. Rudaj's lawyer, James Kousouros, says his client was a legitimate businessman, owner of Morris Park Games,
which sells foosball games, pool tables and gambling machines to bars and clubs throughout the city. "The Lucheses and the
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
1
MAFIA TURNS SCAREDY-CAT, 2005 WLNR 25275700
Gambinos are comprised of hundreds of members who shoot and kill anybody that stands before them and takes a nickel from
them," Kousouros told jurors. "The reality is that these six gentleman did not displace two of the most powerful crime families
in the world."
Among those on trial is Rudaj's alleged chief enforcer, Nikola Dedaj, gang members Ljusa (Louie) Nuculovic, Prenka (Frankie)
Ivezaj and Nardino Colotti, a protégé of the late Gambino family soldier Phil (Skinny Phil) Loscalzo.
All are charged with racketeering, gambling, extortion and loansharking.
[email protected]
---- Index References ---Company: ARNHOLD S BLEICHROEDER ADVISERS L L C; ARNHOLD S BLEICHROEDER HOLDINGS INC
News Subject: (Legal (1LE33))
Region: (Albania (1AL95); Europe (1EU83); Southern Europe (1SO59); USA (1US73); Americas (1AM92); Eastern Europe
(1EA48); North America (1NO39); New York (1NE72))
Language: EN
Other Indexing: (ARNOLD; ASTORIA; BRONX; GAMBINOS; GOTTI; JUNIOR; MANHATTAN FEDERAL COURT;
MORRIS PARK GAMES) (Alex Rudaj; Benjamin Gruenstein; James Kousouros; John Gotti; Kousouros; MAFIA; Nardino
Colotti; Nikola Dedaj; Rudaj; Westchester)
Keywords: ORGANIZED CRIME; ALBANIAN AMERICAN; TRIAL
Edition: SPORTS FINAL
Word Count: 491
End of Document
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
2
GUILT WEIGHS ON MOBSTER'S JUROR, 2007 WLNR 15810117
8/15/07 N.Y. Daily News 14
2007 WLNR 15810117
New York Daily News
Copyright © 2007 Daily News, L.P.
August 15, 2007
Section: NEWS
GUILT WEIGHS ON MOBSTER'S JUROR
Scott Shifrel
AN ANGST-RIDDEN letter purporting to be from one of the jurors who convicted Bonanno crime boss Vincent (Vinny
Gorgeous) Basciano of murder and racketeering and pleading for "a new trial and a fresh jury" was filed in federal court
yesterday.
"The aftermath of this whole thing is eating away at me like acid," said the letter, which was filed by Basciano's lawyer.
"I needed to get this off my chest and to also let Vinny know that he had one juror that felt he was innocent of the murder charge."
Jurors last month took about 10 hours to convict Basciano, 47, of the 2001 murder of Bronx drug addict Frank Santoro after
a kidnapping scheme gone wrong.
Basciano, who got his nickname as the owner of a Throgs Neck beauty shop called Hello Gorgeous, was found guilty of
shotgunning Santoro after he threatened to kidnap Basciano's son.
"As the court can see, the juror did little on the face of the correspondence to reveal his/her identity," wrote defense lawyer
James Kousouros in a letter to the trial judge, U.S. District Judge Nicholas Garaufis, seeking a conference on the letter.
"Nevertheless, we are disturbed at the tone and substance of this juror's revelations."
Kousouros will likely ask that the jurors, who have remained anonymous throughout the trial, be interviewed. Prosecutors
declined to comment.
Basciano is in jail under conditions usually reserved for terrorists after the feds found a hit list he wrote containing the names
of a federal judge, a prosecutor and cooperating witnesses.
---- Index References ----
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
1
GUILT WEIGHS ON MOBSTER'S JUROR, 2007 WLNR 15810117
Language: EN
Other Indexing: (ANGST; JUROR; RIDDEN; THROGS NECK) (Basciano; Frank Santoro; GUILT WEIGHS; James
Kousouros; Jurors; Kousouros; Nicholas Garaufis)
Keywords: JURY; LETTER; VINCENT BASCIANO; MURDER; RACKETEER; CONVICTION; ORGANIZED CRIME;
BONANNO CRIME FAMILY
Edition: SPORTS FINAL
Word Count: 301
End of Document
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
2
Two more 'Vinny Gorgeous' attorneys released, 2007 WLNR 19836933
10/10/07 Newsday (Pg. Unavail. Online)
2007 WLNR 19836933
Newsday (NY)
Copyright © 2007 Newsday, Melville, N.Y.
October 10, 2007
Two more 'Vinny Gorgeous' attorneys released
Anthony M. Destefano
Newsday, Melville, N.Y.
Oct. 10--Bronx gangster Vincent "Vinny Gorgeous" Basciano certainly knows how to use up lawyers.
In federal court in Brooklyn yesterday, a judge relieved from duty two attorneys who represented Basciano, 47, in a July
racketeering trial after it became clear that there was a complete breakdown in talks between them and the Bonanno crime
family captain.
Four other attorneys for Basciano were relieved previously in the case over various issues, including conflicts over scheduling
and fees.
Yesterday's court hearing revealed that things got so bad between Basciano and his lead attorney, James Kousouros of Kew
Gardens, that they have not spoken in weeks.
"The client does not want us to represent him," said Stephanie Carvlin, a co-counsel on the case.
Carvlin told Judge Nicholas Garaufis that Basciano at one point wanted to meet Kousouros in jail without any other witnesses
present, a request the attorney refused.
Basciano, who has a reputation among some lawyers for being a demanding and nettlesome client, has alleged that Kousouros
had a conflict of interest during his recent racketeering trial. In that case, Basciano was convicted of racketeering murder and
other charges, for which he faces life in prison when he is sentenced next year.
What apparently angered Basciano was the claim that before Kousouros began representing him, the attorney had told another
defendant to cooperate against him. At yesterday's hearing, Basciano piped up to say Kousouros didn't tell him about that
conversation until the trial was well under way.
As a result, Garaufis yesterday relieved Kourouros and Carvlin from the case. Both, who had been retained, shook hands with
their old client before leaving the courtroom.
Garaufis then appointed Ephraim Savitt of Manhattan to represent Basciano in the racketeering case. Savitt is already
representing Basciano in a different racketeering indictment that could lead to the death penalty.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
1
Two more 'Vinny Gorgeous' attorneys released, 2007 WLNR 19836933
Garaufis also stated that federal prosecutors have filed sealed documents in the case, which he said raised issues with "security
consequences" that he didn't disclose.
A year ago, prosecutors alleged that Basciano had made a "hit list," which named Garaufis and four others. Basciano claimed
it was only a list for a Santeria ritual, made up to get good luck.
---- Index References ---News Subject: (Government Litigation (1GO18); Criminal Law (1CR79); Murder & Manslaughter (1MU48); Social Issues
(1SO05); Legal (1LE33); Violent Crime (1VI27); Racketeer Influenced & Corrupt Organizations (RICO) (1RI18); Death
Penalty (1DE04); Crime (1CR87))
Region: (Americas (1AM92); USA (1US73); New York (1NE72); North America (1NO39); U.S. Mid-Atlantic Region
(1MI18))
Language: EN
Other Indexing: (James Kousouros; Ephraim Savitt; Basciano; Nicholas Garaufis; Stephanie Carvlin)
Word Count: 365
End of Document
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
2
Reputed mobster preens as accusations mount
9/23/06 AP Worldstream 16:32:28
AP Worldstream
Copyright © 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This
material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
September 23, 2006
Reputed mobster preens as accusations mount
By TOM HAYS
Associated Press Writer
NEW YORK_The note looks innocuous enough _ five names written in a childlike scrawl.
But federal prosecutors alleged last week that a reputed gangster nicknamed Vinny Gorgeous scribbled the list while behind
bars and wanted those on it, including a federal judge, killed. The mobster insists the list was about mysticism, not murder _
part of a religious ritual to bring him good luck.
So far, it is not working.
The debate over the list was the latest twist in the colorful but largely overlooked career of Vincent Basciano, the one-time
acting boss of the Bonanno organized crime family.
While his more prominent contemporary John Gotti Jr. sought to dodge publicity and jail time by reinventing himself as a
devoted family man disenchanted with La Cosa Nostra, Basciano has adopted an unrepentant swagger more reminiscent of
Junior Gotti's crime boss father, the late Dapper Don _ though some argue the list episode shows he is clearly not as savvy as
the notorious Gambino crime family boss.
"His name should be changed to 'Vinny Knucklehead,'" said James Walden, a former organized crime prosecutor.
Basciano, 46, began attracting attention at a Brooklyn racketeering trial earlier this year by sporting finely tailored suits, a smirk
on his face and a healthy glow that defied months of maximum-security captivity. He annoyed prosecutors during jury selection
by joining lawyers at sidebars before Nicholas G. Garaufis _ the judge he is now suspected of plotting to kill.
Defense attorneys tried to portray the one-time owner of the Hello Gorgeous beauty salon in the Bronx as the Mafia's version
of an empty suit.
"Look at him," his then-lawyer, Barry Levin, told jurors. "He's well-dressed. His hair's groomed. He's a handsome guy. He
plays the role. He plays it to the hilt."
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
1
Reputed mobster preens as accusations mount
But authorities insist Basciano was not merely role-playing. Known within the Bonanno family as an egomaniac with an
explosive temper, the defendant quickly rose to acting boss after a series of successful prosecutions decimated its leadership,
Walden said.
"He's a rash person who lucked into the job," the ex-prosecutor said.
A jury heard testimony that in 2001, Basciano allegedly used a 12-gauge shotgun to kill a low-level mobster from another crime
family, believing he wanted to kidnap one of his sons. Jurors failed to reach a verdict on the murder charge, but found him
guilty in May of racketeering, attempted murder and gambling. He is awaiting sentencing and faces up to 20 years in prison.
Because of a turncoat mob boss and jailhouse snitch, the earlier conviction is now the least of Basciano's troubles.
The boss, Joseph Massino, broke ranks and began cooperating with investigators after his 2004 conviction for orchestrating
a quarter-century's worth of murder, racketeering and other crimes. While imprisoned together last year, the former Bonanno
boss secretly recorded Basciano pitching a plot to kill a prosecutor, authorities said.
The alleged scheme resulted in new charges against Basciano. If convicted at a trial next year, he could face the death penalty.
In July, Basciano got burned again, inside the same lockup, after he scrawled the list naming the judge, the prosecutor and three
mobsters who testified against him. He gave it to another unidentified inmate, not knowing he was a cooperator, prosecutors said.
Basciano "indicated to the inmate ... that he sought the murder of the listed individuals," according to court papers filed by the
government. An FBI handwriting analysis compared the note to a letter _ sprinkled with clumsy sexual innuendoes and smiley
faces _ written to a girlfriend by the married defendant. It concluded that Basciano was the author of both, the papers said.
Prosecutors offered no evidence that the scheme went any further. But they had Basciano placed in solitary confinement over
the protests of his attorney.
Defense attorney James Kousouros claimed that the cooperating inmate set up Basciano by telling him that his mother was a
priestess of Santeria, a faith blending African and Roman Catholic traditions.
Basciano was promised good luck if he could "make a list of everyone involved, put it in your right shoe (and) stamp five times
everyday during the trial," the lawyer said.
Judge Garaufis declared himself "agnostic" on the issue.
"I don't have a point of view as to whether it's a threat or not a threat, whether someone is praying for me or somebody is out
there gunning for me," he said.
---- Index References ---News Subject: (Murder & Manslaughter (1MU48); Racketeer Influenced & Corrupt Organizations (RICO) (1RI18); Crime
(1CR87); Social Issues (1SO05); Violent Crime (1VI27); Death Penalty (1DE04))
Region: (North America (1NO39); Americas (1AM92); U.S. Mid-Atlantic Region (1MI18); USA (1US73); New York
(1NE72))
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
2
Reputed mobster preens as accusations mount
Language: EN
Other Indexing: (Barry Levin; Joseph Massino; Nicholas Garaufis; Vincent Basciano; James Walden; James Kousouros; John
Gotti Jr.)
Keywords: (i); (WorldInternational); (Law)
Word Count: 736
End of Document
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
3
Campus shootings: parents' worst nightmare, 2007 WLNR 27670305
4/17/07 Journal News (Westchester, N.Y.) B1
2007 WLNR 27670305
Journal News, The (Westchester, NY)
Copyright © 2007 Gannett
April 17, 2007
Section: NEWS
Campus shootings: parents' worst nightmare
April 17, 2007
James Kousouros and his son, Christopher, recently completed a rite of spring for high school seniors and their parents: a visit
to the college campus that the imminent graduate is considering.
The quality of the academic programs and campus life were priorities for the Briarcliff Manor father and son on their trip to
the University of Wisconsin campus in Madison. The possibility that the school could be the site of a rampage like the one
yesterday at Virginia Tech was not.
STAFF
"It just stops you in your tracks," the elder Kousouros said from his law office in the Bronx yesterday after hearing about the
shooting spree on the college campus that left 33 dead and two dozen injured. "It's just so unsettling."
The violent scenes from the bucolic Virginia Tech campus sent shivers down the spines of parents throughout the Lower Hudson
Valley yesterday. Virginia Tech, they know, could have been any campus. Next time, it could be their kid's college.
"It's just so frightening that such a thing would happen at a university where you expect your kid to be safe," Kousouros
said. Christopher Kousouros, a Fordham Prep student, is mulling a choice between Boston University and the University of
Wisconsin. James Kousouros said that until yesterday, he, like most parents worried about the dangers of too much college
partying, not violence.
"You think about the drinking and all the silliness that went on when we were kids," Kousouros said. "You certainly don't think
about such a danger befalling your child."
Suzanne Speiser of Armonk had just stepped off a golf course in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., yesterday when she read an alert
on her Blackberry about the Virginia Tech shootings. Her thoughts immediately went to her daughter, Amanda, 21, a student
at Syracuse University who is studying in Australia this semester.
"People asked us if we were worried about her safety studying abroad," she said, "and this happens right here. It's just a
horrendous, horrible event."
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
1
Campus shootings: parents' worst nightmare, 2007 WLNR 27670305
As a parent, she said, you worry any time your child is away from you, whether they are infants or adults.
"You want to believe they're going to be safe," she said. "But when you hear something like this, you worry all over again."
Jory Probber, whose son Ben is a sophomore at Tulane University in New Orleans, was busy pumping out his flooded basement
yesterday afternoon in White Plains when he was told about the shootings. At the time, officials put the death toll at 22. "It's
just ridiculous," he said. "What a horrible, horrible tragedy."
For Probber, the shootings drive home the need for tighter gun control.
"It again illustrates one of the paradoxical facts of life in this country," he said. "With all our freedoms and the right to bear
arms, we have this incredible amount of seemingly random gun violence."
He has worried about his son's safety at Tulane since the 2005 hurricane and the security issues that remain in New Orleans.
"But I can't imagine what it's like for these 22 sets of parents who have very proudly sent their children off to Virginia Tech,
to get that phone call," he said.
Reach Timothy O'Connor at [email protected] or 914-694-3523.
---- Index References ---Company: BOSTON UNIVERSITY; SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY; UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN; TULANE
UNIVERSITY
News Subject: (Education (1ED85); Higher Education (1HI55))
Region: (Wisconsin (1WI54); North America (1NO39); Louisiana (1LO72); New York (1NE72); Americas (1AM92); USA
(1US73))
Language: EN
Other Indexing: (BOSTON UNIVERSITY; BRIARCLIFF MANOR; FORDHAM PREP; LOWER HUDSON VALLEY;
STAFF; SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY; TULANE; TULANE UNIVERSITY; UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN; VIRGINIA
TECH) (Amanda; Christopher; Christopher Kousouros; James Kousouros; Jory Probber; Kousouros; Probber; Reach Timothy
O'Connor; Suzanne Speiser)
Edition: GWPR
Word Count: 631
End of Document
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
2
They carry blame, will repay $5M: Islander and associate..., 2013 WLNR 20707314
8/20/13 Staten Island Advance (Staten Island, NY) A08
2013 WLNR 20707314
Staten Island Advance (Staten Island, NY)
Copyright © 2013 Staten Island Advance. All Rights Reserved.
August 20, 2013
Section: Crime
They carry blame, will repay $5M: Islander and associate who
squandered beverage-tote investments also get prison time
FRANK DONNELLY
STATEN ISLAND ADVANCE
A Staten Island man and an associate who pocketed millions of dollars of investors' hard-earned cash will pay it back by serving
a two-year prison sentence and forking over more than $5 million in restitution, prosecutors said.
Angelo Cuomo, 64, and his partner, George Garcy of Suffolk County, L.I., bilked about 200 investors through a business that
proposed to market and manufacture new beverage and food carriers, said prosecutors.
The pair spent the cash on private-school tuition for Cuomo and Garcy's children, an upstate bed-and-breakfast inn that Garcy
owned, and mortgage and renovation payments for properties owned by Garcy and the men's relatives, authorities allege.
Last year, the defendants pleaded guilty in Brooklyn federal court to tax-evasion charges, said a spokesman for Loretta E.
Lynch, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York.
They were sentenced Friday.
A law enforcement source previously said Cuomo lives in Grant City. Court papers said Garcy lives in Suffolk County. He
previously resided in Florida and is also known as Jorge Garcia.
In court filings, Cuomo's lawyer, James Kousouros, said his client "fully accepted responsibility" for his actions.
He said Cuomo, who had no prior contact with the law, realized he needed to make restitution.
Prosecutors said the scheme ran between 2003 and 2009.
The defendants owned E-Z Media Inc., with offices in Manhattan and Brooklyn, and the Brooklyn-based Atlas Carriers, court
papers said.
Both companies have since been dissolved.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
1
They carry blame, will repay $5M: Islander and associate..., 2013 WLNR 20707314
According to authorities, Cuomo and Garcy fleeced investors by telling them E-Z Media owned several patents for new beverage
and food carriers and had contracts to sell them to major companies, such as Heineken, Anheuser-Busch and Aramark Corp.
No deals were in place, allege authorities.
The defendants said the carriers could be used at concession stands at stadiums, arenas and movie theaters.
Federal authorities contend Cuomo and Garcy enticed investors by saying they planned to sell shares of E-Z Media stock
through an initial public offering (IPO). They projected the shares would trade between $7 and $20, and would double in value,
allege authorities.
E-Z Media's stock never went public; instead, the defendants looted the funds for their personal benefit, authorities said.
In entering their guilty pleas, Cuomo admitted he owed over $235,000 in taxes for the years 2006 and 2007, court documents
said. Garcy admitted to owing more than $183,000 in taxes for those years, court papers show.
The defendants were originally charged with conspiracy, securities and wire fraud and money laundering stemming from
fraudulent securities offerings in E-Z Media, said officials.
Their pleas covered all charges against the defendants, who have agreed to pay back taxes and restitution totaling more than
$5 million, Ms. Lynch's spokesman said.
Earlier this year, 18 of the defendants' former clients obtained a judgment for $5.2 million in compensatory and punitive damages
against them in state Supreme Court, St. George, said lawyer Daniel C. Marotta, who represented the clients.
Frank Donnelly is a news reporter for the Advance. He may be reached at [email protected].
---- Index References ---Company: HEINEKEN NV; ARAMARK CORP; ANHEUSER BUSCH INBEV SA
News Subject: (Legal (1LE33); Social Issues (1SO05); Judicial Cases & Rulings (1JU36); Crime (1CR87); Taxation (1TA10);
Fraud (1FR30); Criminal Law (1CR79); Financial Fraud (1FI18); Tax Law (1TA64))
Industry: (Accounting, Consulting & Legal Services (1AC73))
Region: (New York (1NE72); USA (1US73); Americas (1AM92); U.S. Mid-Atlantic Region (1MI18); North America
(1NO39))
Language: EN
Other Indexing: (EZ MEDIA INC) (Daniel Marotta; James Kousouros; Angelo Cuomo; Loretta Lynch; Frank Donnelly; George
Garcy; Jorge Garcia)
Word Count: 509
End of Document
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
2
7-YR. DEAL TAKEN IN MURDER, 2002 WLNR 13835345
4/3/02 N.Y. Daily News 1
2002 WLNR 13835345
New York Daily News
Copyright © 2002 Daily News, L.P.
April 3, 2002
Section: SUBURBAN
7-YR. DEAL TAKEN IN MURDER
SCOTT SHIFREL DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
A 28-year-old Far Rockaway man charged in the murder of a tenant patrol leader pleaded guilty to gun possession yesterday
in exchange for a seven-year-sentence.
Johnathon Whitmore, 28, could have faced 25 years to life for his part in a March 10, 2000, gun battle at the Redfern Houses.
Tenant activist Maria Medina, 45, died when a stray bullet went through a metal door and hit her as she crouched near an
elevator. She and Whitmore lived in the same Redfern building where she was shot.
Last month, Tullie Hyman was convicted of second-degree murder and weapons charges after prosecutors told a jury he drove
to the housing project and tried to kill Whitmore. A second man, Osimba Ramsatt, was acquitted.
"It was a just plea," Assistant District Attorney Robert Schwerdt said. "He [Whitmore] wasn't firing toward the building [where
Medina was], he was firing away from the building."
Three guns used in the shootout were found in Whitmore's car, but defense attorney James Kousouros said ballistics evidence
showed that those weapons were not used by his client.
Whitmore, who admitted to possessing a .380-caliber handgun found outside his apartment window, would have told a jury
that he fired in self-defense, Kousouros said.
"But in putting forth the self-defense claim, Johnathon would have convicted himself of possession of a weapon," he said.
"Johnathon did well" in taking the plea, he said.
Whitmore is scheduled to be sentenced April 18. Hyman, who faces a possible 25 years to life in prison, is slated to be sentenced
next week. The case against a fourth defendant, Derrick Harris, is pending.
---- Index References ---News Subject: (Violent Crime (1VI27); Crime (1CR87); Social Issues (1SO05))
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
1
7-YR. DEAL TAKEN IN MURDER, 2002 WLNR 13835345
Language: EN
Other Indexing: (DEAL; MURDER; REDFERN; REDFERN HOUSES) (Derrick Harris; Hyman; James Kousouros; Johnathon;
Johnathon Whitmore; Kousouros; Osimba Ramsatt; Robert Schwerdt; Tullie Hyman; Whitmore)
Keywords: QUEENS; CRIME; MURDER; PLEA BARGAINING; SENTENCE
Edition: SPORTS FINAL
Word Count: 321
End of Document
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
2
SNAG ON GUNMAN ID HALTS MOB SLAY TRIAL, 2003 WLNR 16659102
1/7/03 N.Y. Daily News 26
2003 WLNR 16659102
New York Daily News
Copyright © 2003 Daily News, L.P.
January 7, 2003
Section: NEWS
SNAG ON GUNMAN ID HALTS MOB SLAY TRIAL
JOHN MARZULLI DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
A mob murder trial was put on hold yesterday when an NYPD report surfaced fingering a different gunman for a double shooting
in a Brooklyn social club.
Federal Judge Leo Glasser postponed the case after defense lawyers told him that prosecutors turned over the evidence on Dec.
18, nearly a year after arrests were made.
Three associates of the Genovese crime family are charged with killing reputed loanshark Sabatino Lombardi and wounding
his cousin Michael D'Urso, who later became a major mob turncoat, in 1994.
In the indictment, defendant John (Giancarlo) Imbrieco is identified as one of the gunmen along with Anthony Bruno, who is
now cooperating with the government. Imbrieco is on trial with Carmine (Carmine Pizza) Polito and Mario Fortunato.
In the police report, a confidential NYPD informant implicates Bruno and another man - believed to be Vincent Guardino as the gunmen.
Law enforcement officials say the informant is mistaken and there is no evidence that Guardino was in the social club the night
of the shooting.
But Polito's attorney, Gerald McMahon, told the judge yesterday that he might want to call Guardino as a witness.
That raises a serious problem because Imbrieco's lawyer, James Kousouros, represented Guardino in a prior case and would
be legally barred from cross-examining a former client.
Guardino, 31, a reputed member of a violent crew of Queens thugs called the Giannini Crew, is serving time for robbery.
The judge ordered federal marshals to bring him to Brooklyn today so he can meet with a court-appointed lawyer and decide
whether he will speak with McMahon.
It was not clear why the NYPD report did not turn up earlier.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
1
SNAG ON GUNMAN ID HALTS MOB SLAY TRIAL, 2003 WLNR 16659102
But McMahon said outside court: "Everybody recognizes that the defense did not receive this material in the timely fashion
we should have."
---- Index References ---News Subject: (Violent Crime (1VI27); Crime (1CR87); Social Issues (1SO05))
Region: (USA (1US73); Americas (1AM92); North America (1NO39); New York (1NE72))
Language: EN
Other Indexing: (BROOKLYN; GUARDINO; MARIO FORTUNATO; NYPD; SNAG) (Anthony Bruno; Bruno; Gerald
McMahon; Guardino; Imbrieco; James Kousouros; Leo Glasser; Michael D'Urso)
Keywords: ORGANIZED CRIME; MURDER; TRIAL; SABATINO LOMBARDI
Edition: SPORTS FINAL
Word Count: 359
End of Document
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
2
Albanians convicted of muscling in on NY mob
1/4/06 Reuters News 22:54:34
Reuters
Copyright © 2006 Reuters Limited
January 4, 2006
Albanians convicted of muscling in on NY mob
NEW YORK, Jan 4 (Reuters) - A U.S. federal jury convicted six Albanians of a host of racketeering and extortion charges on
Wednesday in a case where prosecutors alleged the defendants aspired to become New York's sixth Mafia family.
But the accused leader, Alex Rudaj, and another defendant were acquitted of attempted murder, which a defense lawyer called
a victory because it would have meant a mandatory life sentence. Sentencing was set for April 7.
During the three-month trial, prosecutors alleged the Albanians attempted to muscle in on illegal gambling operations run by
the traditional mob, known as the five families of New York.
The defendants faced a total of 15 counts including illegal gambling, firearms use, brandishing a weapon, bank fraud and several
racketeering and extortion charges for operations in The Bronx, Queens and Westchester County.
Guilty verdicts were returned on nearly all of them, though Rudaj and Nardino Colotti were cleared of attempted murder, and
some extortion charges were rejected by the jury.
"That (attempted murder) was the biggest charge because it was the one with the mandatory life sentence," defense lawyer
James Kousouros, who represented Rudaj, told reporters.
Albanians in large numbers have moved into The Bronx and other New York areas over the last two decades.
---- Index References ---News Subject: (Violent Crime (1VI27); Social Issues (1SO05); Legal (1LE33); Financial Fraud (1FI18); Legislation (1LE97);
Fraud (1FR30); Funding Instruments (1FU41); Judicial (1JU36); Government (1GO80); Criminal Law (1CR79); Racketeer
Influenced & Corrupt Organizations (RICO) (1RI18); Investment Banking (1IN86); Crime (1CR87); Corruption, Bribery &
Embezzlement (1EM51); Extortion & Blackmail (1EX95); Municipal Bonds (1MU39); New York Municipal Bonds (1MU72);
Business Management (1BU42); Finance Management (1FI66); Murder & Manslaughter (1MU48))
Industry: (Investment Management (1IN34); Securities Investment (1SE57); Notes (1NO81); Financial Services (1FI37))
Region: (Albania (1AL95); New York (1NE72); Americas (1AM92); USA (1US73); Europe (1EU83); U.S. Mid-Atlantic
Region (1MI18); North America (1NO39); Southern Europe (1SO59); Eastern Europe (1EA48))
Language: EN
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
1
Albanians convicted of muscling in on NY mob
Other Indexing: (Albanians; Alex Rudaj; Guilty; James Kousouros; Nardino; Rudaj)
Word Count: 210
End of Document
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
2
White Plains pharmacist admits illegally doling out painkiller, 2008 WLNR 26507694
5/8/08 Journal News (Westchester, N.Y.) A13
2008 WLNR 26507694
Journal News, The (Westchester, NY)
Copyright © 2008 Gannett
May 8, 2008
Section: NEWS
White Plains pharmacist admits illegally doling out painkiller
May 8, 2008
WHITE PLAINS - A White Plains pharmacist faces up to 20 years in prison after admitting he illegally distributed a highly
addictive painkiller.
Ivan Romero, 39, of Mohegan Lake, the former head pharmacist at Broadway Pharmacy, pleaded guilty yesterday in U.S.
District Court to one count of dispensing the drug oxycodone without valid written or oral prescriptions.
STAFF
Romero admitted that between April and December 2005 he illegally doled out 348 grams of the drug, marketed under the
brand name OxyContin. The drug comes in doses ranging from 10 milligrams to 160 milligrams, according to manufacturer
Purdue Pharma. That means Romero illegally distributed at least 2,175 doses of the drug. Oxycodone is an opioid, a painkiller
in the same class as morphine.
"As this case underscores, the narcotics laws apply not just to individuals who sell drugs on street corners and in back alleys,
but also to those who use their education, training and professional licenses to profit from the illegal distribution of prescription
narcotics," U.S. Attorney Michael Garcia said.
Romero has been a licensed pharmacist in New York since February 2003, according to state records.
A representative of Broadway Pharmacy did not return calls seeking comment.
James Kousouros, Romero's lawyer, said that Romero is facing a sentence of at least 87 months according to federal sentencing
guidelines.
Kousouros said he planned to argue for a non-guidelines term when Romero is sentenced in July.
"He's a young man who made a mistake, admitted it, and accepted responsibility," Kousouros said. "At sentencing, we hope to
demonstrate this was aberrational conduct in an otherwise unblemished history."
Reach Timothy O'Connor at [email protected] or 914-694-3523.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
1
White Plains pharmacist admits illegally doling out painkiller, 2008 WLNR 26507694
---- Index References ---Company: PURDUE PHARMA LP
News Subject: (Legal (1LE33); Health & Family (1HE30))
Industry: (Pain Management (1PA72); Analgesics (1AN10))
Language: EN
Other Indexing: (PURDUE PHARMA; STAFF; US DISTRICT COURT) (Ivan Romero; James Kousouros; Kousouros;
Michael Garcia; Reach Timothy O'Connor; Romero; White Plains)
Edition: GWP
Word Count: 350
End of Document
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
2
MOB, ALBANIANS IN SURF-AND-TURF WAR, 2004 WLNR 21465100
12/10/04 N.Y. Daily News 31
2004 WLNR 21465100
New York Daily News
Copyright © 2004 Daily News, L.P.
December 10, 2004
Section: NEWS
MOB, ALBANIANS IN SURF-AND-TURF WAR
THOMAS ZAMBITO DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
WHEN ALBANIAN MOBSTERS moved in on the Mafia's turf, they took everything - even the tables at the fabled Italian
restaurant Rao's, prosecutors said yesterday.
Unable to get regular reservations at the East Harlem eatery, 20 Albanian mobsters demanded to be seated at the late mob
boss John Gotti's table. They got it, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy Treanor, who said the incident happened
in the past year.
The Rao's showdown, detailed this week at a bail hearing for reputed Albanian crime boss Alex Rudaj, demonstrates the boldness
of a power grab in a city long dominated by the five Italian crime families, Treanor said.
Rudaj and his alleged cohorts are charged with racketeering conspiracy in what prosecutors describe as a violent power play
for control of Queens gambling clubs.
Rudaj's organization battled with the Gambinos for clubs once controlled by the Luchese family, prosecutors say. After a violent
confrontation over one club taken over by the Gambinos, acting boss Arnold Squitieri asked for a meeting with Rudaj and
associates at a New Jersey gas station, Treanor said.
When Squitieri pulled out a gun at the meeting, a Rudaj henchman pointed his firearm at a gas pump, threatening to blow them
all to pieces if Squitieri and the others didn't back away. They did.
"The Rudaj organization then operated without retribution in Astoria after that," Treanor said.
Despite putting up a $4 million bail package, Rudaj was denied release after Judge Denise Cote said he remained a danger
to the community.
Rudaj's attorney, James Kousouros, denied his client ever fought the Mafia for turf - or a table at Rao's.
"He never complained to anybody about the frequency of his seating," Kousouros told Cote. "He didn't eat there that frequently."
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
1
MOB, ALBANIANS IN SURF-AND-TURF WAR, 2004 WLNR 21465100
But Rao's place in mob lore is secure. Just last December, alleged mobster and Rao's regular Louis (Louie Lump Lump) Barone
fatally shot Albert Circelli after Circelli complained about Broadway singer Rena Strober's rendition of "Don't Rain on My
Parade."
[email protected]
---- Index References ---Company: ELITE INFORMATION GROUP INC; BROADWAY AND SEYMOUR INC
News Subject: (Legal (1LE33))
Region: (Albania (1AL95); Europe (1EU83); Southern Europe (1SO59); Eastern Europe (1EA48))
Language: EN
Other Indexing: (ALBANIANS; BROADWAY; MAFIA; MOB; MOBSTERS; QUEENS; SQUITIERI) (Albert Circelli; Alex
Rudaj; Arnold Squitieri; Denise Cote; James Kousouros; John Gotti; Kousouros; Luchese; Rao; Rena Strober; Rudaj; Timothy
Treanor; Treanor)
Keywords: RAO'S; ORGANIZED CRIME; ALBANIAN AMERICAN
Edition: SPORTS FINAL
Word Count: 408
End of Document
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
2
FEDS LEAN ON MOB BOSS OVER 'HIT LIST', 2006 WLNR 22214336
9/22/06 N.Y. Daily News 19
2006 WLNR 22214336
New York Daily News
Copyright © 2006 Daily News, L.P.
September 22, 2006
Section: NEWS
FEDS LEAN ON MOB BOSS OVER 'HIT LIST'
JOHN MARZULLI DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
THE FEDS ARE TURNING up the heat on Vinny Gorgeous.
Prosecutors investigating an alleged hit list drafted in jail by former Bonanno crime boss Vincent Basciano - which included
the federal judge presiding over his case - have gotten permission from the U.S. attorney general to clamp down further on
the gangster.
Basciano is now under extremely restrictive conditions usually reserved for terrorists. He was already locked up in his cell 23
hours a day, but now the feds are closely monitoring his phone calls, mail and visits.
The special administrative measures, or SAMs, "eliminate the ability of the defendant to pass communications to the outside
world that are illegal," Assistant U.S. Attorney John Buretta said in Brooklyn Federal Court yesterday.
An inmate at the Metropolitan Correctional Center gave the feds a list in which Basciano scrawled the names of Judge Nicholas
Garaufis, who is presiding over the racketeering case, the prosecutor and three mob rats who testified against him.
Defense lawyer James Kousouros said the inmate offered the services of his mother, who practices Santeria, to help Basciano
"cast a spell" over the people on the list.
"[The inmate] told Mr. Basciano to make a list of everybody involved, put it in your right shoe, stamp five times every day
during the trial, and it will help," Kousouros told the judge on Aug. 28 according to a transcript unsealed yesterday.
Garaufis told defense lawyers to decide quickly whether they will seek his recusal from the upcoming trial.
"I don't have a point of view . . . whether somebody is out there praying for me or somebody is out there gunning for me,"
Garaufis said on Aug. 28. "There may be a misunderstanding or it may be real."
[email protected]
---- Index References ----
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
1
FEDS LEAN ON MOB BOSS OVER 'HIT LIST', 2006 WLNR 22214336
News Subject: (Legal (1LE33); Judicial (1JU36); Police (1PO98))
Language: EN
Other Indexing: (BONANNO; BROOKLYN FEDERAL COURT; METROPOLITAN CORRECTIONAL CENTER)
(Basciano; FEDS LEAN; James Kousouros; John Buretta; MOB BOSS; Nicholas Garaufis; Vincent Basciano)
Keywords: ORGANIZED CRIME; VINCENT BASCIANO; BONANNO CRIME FAMILY; PRISON
Edition: SPORTS FINAL
Word Count: 348
End of Document
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
2
RECUSE JUDGE, VINNY ATT'Y SEZ, 2006 WLNR 22231277
10/13/06 N.Y. Daily News 86
2006 WLNR 22231277
New York Daily News
Copyright © 2006 Daily News, L.P.
October 13, 2006
Section: SUBURBAN
RECUSE JUDGE, VINNY ATT'Y SEZ
JOHN MARZULLI DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
HIS ALLEGED PLOT to whack a judge exposed, Bonanno gangster Vincent (Vinny Gorgeous) Basciano is now trying legal
maneuvers to get rid of Brooklyn Federal Judge Nicholas Garaufis.
Defense lawyer James Kousouros filed a motion yesterday seeking the judge's recusal from Basciano's upcoming sentencing
for racketeering and pending trial for allegedly scheming to kill a federal prosecutor.
Basciano, who ran the Bonanno crime family from his Bronx base before his 2002 arrest, has acknowledged he passed a list to
another inmate at the Metropolitan Correctional Center containing the names of the judge, the prosecutor and three mob rats
who testified against him this year.
But Basciano claims he was merely trying to put a hex on those folks with help from the inmate's mother, who practices Santeria.
"We do not and could not aver that [Garaufis] has demonstrated an actual bias or prejudice against Basciano relative to this
matter," Kousouros wrote in papers filed in Brooklyn Federal Court.
He continued, "Instead, armed with the limited information afforded us by the government, we . . . seek recusal because as
the target of an alleged murder plot, which the government officially credits, the court's impartiality might reasonably be
questioned."
After learning of the alleged plot, the feds launched an investigation and have placed Basciano in solitary confinement under
intense monitoring usually reserved for the most dangerous terrorists.
Garaufis previously advised Basciano's legal team that he had not formed an opinion whether it's a hit list or a big
misunderstanding.
"The fact is, that on its face, you've got five names of people, all of whom I know, one of whom I know very well," Garaufis said
at an Aug. 28 hearing. "And why these names are on a list in Mr. Basciano's handwriting, which he allegedly gave to someone
in his unit or somewhere in the prison, that's a matter of some interest to the court."
[email protected]
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
1
RECUSE JUDGE, VINNY ATT'Y SEZ, 2006 WLNR 22231277
---- Index References ---Company: AT&T CORP (OLD)
News Subject: (Legal (1LE33))
Region: (USA (1US73); Americas (1AM92); North America (1NO39); New York (1NE72))
Language: EN
Other Indexing: (ATT; BRONX; METROPOLITAN CORRECTIONAL CENTER; RECUSE; SEZ) (Basciano; Bonanno;
Garaufis; James Kousouros; Kousouros; Nicholas Garaufis.)
Keywords: BROOKLYN; ORGANIZED CRIME; TRIAL; JUDGE; ASSASSINATION; THREAT; VINCENT BASCIANO;
NICHOLAS GARAUFIS
Edition: SPORTS FINAL
Word Count: 389
End of Document
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
2
VICTIM LIKELY HIT WITH WEAPON, SEZ DOC IN MOB..., 2007 WLNR 3862096
2/28/07 N.Y. Daily News 53
2007 WLNR 3862096
New York Daily News
Copyright © 2007 Daily News, L.P.
February 28, 2007
Section: SUBURBAN
VICTIM LIKELY HIT WITH WEAPON, SEZ DOC IN MOB BOSS SON'S TRIAL
CHRISENA COLEMAN DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
A DOCTOR who treated a Throgs Neck man who was allegedly assaulted by the son of gangster Vincent (Vinny Gorgeous)
Basciano testified the victim was likely hit by an object and not a fist.
"Based on the findings and bone broken in several places, it supports a severe blow to the face," said Dr. Charles Herman, who
performed surgery on James Neider at Montefiore Medical Center. "His cheekbone was in a few different pieces, and was put
back together with special plates and screws."
Under cross-examination, Herman said there was a possibility a fist was used, but based on the damage, he believes the weapon
was an object.
The prosecution rested yesterday, but defense attorneys James Kousouros and Alan Brenner did not say whether Stephen
Basciano- would testify in his own defense today.
The attack on Neider came hours after Stephen Basciano's younger brother, Michael, 14, was arrested on a complaint that he
exposed himself to Neider's wife, Aurora.
Michael Basciano was released when authorities found out he was underage. Michael maintained he didn't expose himself, but
that he said he was at a pool party where one of his friends pulled his trunks down as a joke.
Neider testified that Stephen Basciano hit him with an object after Neider told him Michael had been arrested.
If convicted, Stephen Basciano faces five years in prison. Basciano's father is in prison on racketeering charges and awaiting
a murder-conspiracy trial.
[email protected]
---- Index References ----
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
1
VICTIM LIKELY HIT WITH WEAPON, SEZ DOC IN MOB..., 2007 WLNR 3862096
Language: EN
Other Indexing: (DOCTOR; MOB; MONTEFIORE MEDICAL CENTER; NEIDER; THROGS NECK) (Alan Brenner;
Basciano; Charles Herman; Herman; James Kousouros; Michael; Michael Basciano; Stephen Basciano)
Keywords: VINCENT BASCIANO; CHILD; TRIAL; BONANNO CRIME FAMILY; DOCTOR; TESTIMONY; VICTIM;
ASSAULT; INJURY
Edition: SPORTS FINAL
Word Count: 292
End of Document
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
2
MOB BOSS KILLED MY 2 LOVES, WIDOW SEZ, 2007 WLNR 11561603
6/20/07 N.Y. Daily News 17
2007 WLNR 11561603
New York Daily News
Copyright © 2007 Daily News, L.P.
June 20, 2007
Section: NEWS
MOB BOSS KILLED MY 2 LOVES, WIDOW SEZ
JOHN MARZULLI DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
SHE LOST her husband and her dog.
Testifying yesterday at the murder trial of Bonanno crime boss Vincent (Vinny Gorgeous) Basciano, who stands accused of
killing her husband, Maria Santoro recalled the night of Feb. 15, 2001, when her husband was gunned down while walking
their Doberman pinscher in the Bronx.
Santoro said she was on the phone with her mother-in-law discussing a recipe for pork loin when she became worried that her
husband, Frank Santoro, had been gone for about 20 minutes.
"I went out to look for him. . . . He was up the block near the tennis courts, lying down. . . . I saw a trickle of blood in his
nose," Maria Santoro said.
Assistant U.S. Attorney John Buretta then asked her, "Was the dog there?"
"No," she replied.
Frank Santoro was felled by multiple shotgun blasts apparently in retaliation for threatening to kidnap Basciano's son,
prosecutors said.
The government contends Basciano carried out the killing "on the sneak," without approval from his mob superiors, after
returning from a tryst in Florida with his mistress the day before Valentine's Day.
Defense attorney James Kousouros acknowledged that Basciano was a member of organized crime, but denied he whacked
Santoro, suggesting the victim was a mob associate himself and a druggie.
On cross-examination, the widow angrily denied her husband used drugs. "I miss him terribly," Santoro's mother, Grace, said
outside court, wearing a medallion with his photo.
Basciano, 47, faces life in prison if convicted. A trial last year ended in a hung jury on the murder charge.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
1
MOB BOSS KILLED MY 2 LOVES, WIDOW SEZ, 2007 WLNR 11561603
[email protected]
---- Index References ---News Subject: (Violent Crime (1VI27); Crime (1CR87); Social Issues (1SO05))
Language: EN
Other Indexing: (Basciano; Frank Santoro; Grace; James Kousouros; John Buretta; Maria Santoro; MOB BOSS KILLED;
Santoro)
Keywords: BROOKLYN; ORGANIZED CRIME; MURDER; TRIAL; BONANNO CRIME FAMILY; VINCENT
BASCIANO
Edition: SPORTS FINAL
Word Count: 316
End of Document
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
2
Racing charges upgraded, 2008 WLNR 24045312
12/16/08 Newsday A22
2008 WLNR 24045312
Newsday (USA)
Copyright © 2008 Newsday, Inc.
December 16, 2008
Section: NEWS
Racing charges upgraded
JOHN VALENTI. [email protected]; Staff writer Carl MacGowan contributed to this story.
Charges against four drivers police said were racing at more than 100 mph on the Long Island Expressway in October have
been upgraded from misdemeanors to felonies, Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice said yesterday.
One of the cars involved, a 2001 BMW, had a license plate that read: "HEYOFFCR."
The incident took place at about 1:30 a.m. Oct. 1 and involved six cars, according to Nassau police. The chase began near Exit
48 on the Nassau-Suffolk border and ended near Exit 37 in Roslyn, where police managed to stop four of the cars.
Two others fled. The arrested drivers, identified by police as Anil Isaac, 22, of Richmond Hill; Rajesh Prashaud, 21, of South
Ozone Park, and brothers Ziad Mohamed, 21, and Riad Mohamed, 19, of South Ozone Park, had the charges against them
upgraded in an indictment returned by a Nassau grand jury yesterday.
According to Rice, the four face charges of first-degree and second-degree reckless endangerment, as well as third-degree
unlawful fleeing of a police officer and "numerous traffic and equipment violations." The four now face a maximum of seven
years in prison if convicted.
"Driving like this on the Long Island Expressway is essentially vehicular Russian roulette," Rice said in a statement.
The attorney for Riad and Ziad Mohamed, James Kousouros of Kew Gardens, said to be convicted in felony reckless
endangerment cases, defendants must be found to have exhibited "depraved indifference" to human life. "It is our position that
the conduct that is being alleged in this case does not by any standard rise to the standards of reckless endangerment in the
first degree," he said.
Prashaud's attorney, Anthony Martone of Kew Gardens, said he was "very confident" Prashaud would be exonerated.
Isaac's attorney, Edward Gallison, could not be reached for comment.
Staff writer Carl MacGowan contributed to this story.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
1
Racing charges upgraded, 2008 WLNR 24045312
---- Index References ----
Language: EN
Other Indexing: (KEW GARDENS) (Anil Isaac; Anthony Martone; Carl MacGowan; Driving; Edward Gallison; Isaac; James
Kousouros; Kathleen Rice; Prashaud; Rajesh Prashaud; Riad; Riad Mohamed; Rice; Staff; Ziad Mohamed)
Keywords: ARREST.NASSAU COUNTY.POLICE.RECKLESS ENDANGERMENT.
Edition: ALL EDITIONS
Word Count: 373
End of Document
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
2
ALL THE RATS ARE VYING TO BE BIG CHEESE, 2007 WLNR 11565225
6/20/07 N.Y. Post 15
2007 WLNR 11565225
New York Post
Copyright © 2006 The New York Post. All Rights Reserved
June 20, 2007
Section: News
ALL THE RATS ARE VYING TO BE BIG CHEESE
Steve Dunleavy
IF the Mafia isn't dead, then it certainly has one foot in the grave - and the other stepping on a banana peel.
Yet another mob trial, and one might get the impression there are just as many rats as cats trying to catch them.
Vincent "Vinny Gorgeous" Basciano, looking like he stepped out of a GQ photo shoot, will be seeing some of his old pals,
particularly Dominick Cicale, testify against him.
"They met every day, practically 24/7," prosecutor Winston Chan said in Brooklyn federal court yesterday.
According to the prosecution, Cicale was with Vinny Gorgeous the night after St. Valentine's Day in 2001, when the best
friends together popped Frank Santoro. A binding friendship blessed in blood, but friendships in their line of business are not
lifelong commitments.
Defense attorney James Kousouros told the court that Basciano was not with Cicale that night, but noted that Cicale fired five
times at Santoro and missed.
"He made his bones on that one, for a man who missed his target five times," Kousouros said, bringing smiles to those in the
court.
Santoro was killed because he was reportedly plotting to kidnap Vinny's son, Vinny Jr.
"It's all bull. There was no plot. They [the feds] make things up, rely on anyone who wants to say anything, and they are just
coming after us because of our Italian name," Vinny Jr. told me. "I used to be a stockbroker, but because of this, no more."
Kousouros said his client was a victim of rumors and didn't even know what Santoro looked like or even where he lived.
"These guys [the mob] do nothing but talk. These guys do nothing but lie to each other," he said.
Other turncoats you can expect include former Bonanno capos James Tartaglione, Richie Cantarello and veteran mob tenor
Sal Vitale.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
1
ALL THE RATS ARE VYING TO BE BIG CHEESE, 2007 WLNR 11565225
According to the feds, Vinny Gorgeous wanted to kill Vitale, but was stopped by Joe Massino, who was not only Sal's brotherin-law but also the boss of the Bonannos. Maybe Joe should have let Vinny hit Sal - it was Sal who rolled on Joe, which sent
his own brother-in-law to jail for 25 years.
Nothing is sacred in mobdom anymore, where it looks like there are more rats than cats.
---- Index References ---Company: SAL
Language: EN
Other Indexing: (BASCIANO; BONANNO; GQ; RATS; SAL) (Cicale; Dominick Cicale; Frank Santoro; James Kousouros;
James Tartaglione; Joe; Joe Massino; Kousouros; Santoro; Vinny; Vinny Gorgeous; Vinny Jr.; Vitale; Winston Chan)
Word Count: 424
End of Document
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
2
BUNGLERS DESTROYING MYTH OF THE MOB, 2007 WLNR 11659587
6/21/07 N.Y. Post 21
2007 WLNR 11659587
New York Post
Copyright © 2006 The New York Post. All Rights Reserved
June 21, 2007
Section: News
BUNGLERS DESTROYING MYTH OF THE MOB
Steve Dunleavy
ASSISTANT federal prosecutor John Buretta asked mobster and murderer Sal Vitale a simple question: "How would you
describe the Mafia?"
Vitale, now a government witness, answered just as simply: "Treacherous. Not a good organization to be in."
It was but a snapshot of a decades-old saga that couldn't fit into a one-hour crime drama or a Hollywood movie.
The prosecution and defense seemed to ring the same bell as Vitale told of knowing Bonanno crime boss Joe Massino for 49
of his 59 years on Earth.
Defense attorney James Kousouros: "Who raised you?"
Vitale, in reverential terms: "Mr. Massino . . . I was murdering for him."
Eleven murders to be exact, and yet Vitale's misplaced loyalty - and certainly that was mixed with the huge wages of sin they
provided - would get a shock before he turned government witness.
Vitale believed that Massino, for no reason at all, was setting him up for a hit. He had no more use for his No. 1 capo.
Kousouros: "He took the life he gave you entirely away from you. Whatever love he had for you was gone."
Vitale: "I thought he'd use me at his beckoning."
Massino even banned him from his restaurant with a phony excuse: "We shouldn't be seen together in case someone is plotting
to kill us."
Yesterday, in testimony before Judge Nick Garaufis in the murder and racketeering trial of Vincent "Vinny Gorgeous" Basciano,
onlookers saw a clear denial of the romanticized version of the mob as a precise organization of men of strength and silence.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
1
BUNGLERS DESTROYING MYTH OF THE MOB, 2007 WLNR 11659587
In fact, the testimony bared a vision of bumbling henchmen who killed the wrong and innocent people, and mobsters who sunk
to the level of water-cooler gossip, back-stabbing and pettiness in an effort to get ahead.
In one instance, a Bonanno hood even took credit for a murder he didn't commit - that of the Bonnie and Clyde couple who
held up mob social clubs.
It was the Gambinos, in fact, who carried out the contract.
---- Index References ---News Subject: (Violent Crime (1VI27); Crime (1CR87); Social Issues (1SO05))
Language: EN
Other Indexing: (ASSISTANT; BONANNO; MOB) (BUNGLERS DESTROYING; Clyde; Eleven; James Kousouros; Joe
Massino; John Buretta; Kousouros; Massino; Nick Garaufis; Vitale)
Word Count: 379
End of Document
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
2
Experts: Prosecution struggling in Bell case, 2008 WLNR 4685747
3/10/08 Newsday (Pg. Unavail. Online)
2008 WLNR 4685747
Newsday (NY)
Copyright © 2008 Newsday, Melville, N.Y.
March 10, 2008
Experts: Prosecution struggling in Bell case
Anthony M. Destefano
Newsday, Melville, N.Y.
Mar. 10--Murray Richman is considered one of the deans of the criminal defense bar in New York City.
With nearly 45 years' experience trying and handling cases, Richman, 70, thought there was strong evidence of guilt against
the detectives accused in the Sean Bell shooting -- at least until their trial started two weeks ago.
Now, he isn't so sure.
Richman is among a number of defense attorneys contacted by Newsday -- none of whom have any connection to the case -who believe that so far the charges against the three cops are facing some serious headwind. The trial resumes today in Queens
State Supreme Court.
"The early impression thus far, to my satisfaction, they [prosecutors] have not made a case beyond a reasonable doubt," Richman
said after court adjourned last week.
Richman was commenting in particular about the most serious first-degree manslaughter charge lodged against Detectives
Michael Oliver, 36, and Gescard Isnora, 29. They are also accused of assault. Det. Marc Cooper, 40, faces misdemeanor reckless
endangerment charges.
Bell, 23, was killed and his friends Joseph Guzman and Trent Benefield wounded on Nov. 25, 2006, in a 50-shot fusillade after
they partied at the Kalua Cabaret.
More evidence to come
Richman and the other attorneys stressed that there was still more evidence to come for the prosecution and they could change
their minds. But all agreed that witnesses called by the Queens district attorney's office so far seemed to bolster the police
officers' self-defense argument.
"The prosecution is putting everything out there and what appears to be happening is that witnesses are, at least in part,
supporting the defense case," said attorney James Kousouros of Kew Gardens, who has attended some of the trial.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
1
Experts: Prosecution struggling in Bell case, 2008 WLNR 4685747
"The [prosecution] witnesses were making it clear there was a perceived danger, that there was more than ample basis to think
weapons were possessed during the context of a heated argument," Kousouros said.
Witnesses testified that Bell and friends argued with a man in an SUV outside the Kalua who acted like he had a gun. Det.
Hispolito Sanchez testified he told Isnora about a possible weapon and about Guzman yelling out "Yo, go get my gun." No
gun was found on Bell or his friends.
If the cops thought they risked being fired upon, that belief would undercut the top manslaughter charge because the police
action would be seen as justified, said former federal prosecutor Steven K. Frankel. Judge Arthur Cooperman is hearing the
case without a jury.
"I would think [first-degree manslaughter] is out; I don't think the judge will show intent on the part of any officer to cause
Sean Bell serious physical injury," which is a necessary element of the crime, said former state prosecutor and defense attorney
James DiPietro of Brooklyn.
DiPietro thinks the evidence so far shows that the police officers' conscious objective that night wasn't to go out and cause
serious physical harm, but rather to defend themselves. The prosecution must disprove self-defense -- or justification -- beyond
a reasonable doubt and DiPietro doesn't think that has been done yet.
If Cooperman finds the officers were justified, the defendants would be acquitted of all charges, DiPietro said.
Unhappy with prosecution?
Some media reports stated that Bell's family, including his fiancee, Nicole Paultre Bell, were displeased with prosecutors. But
lawyers Sanford Rubenstein and Michael Hardy, who represent Paultre Bell, Guzman and Benefield, said that wasn't so.
"Our clients have confidence in the prosecutors and understand all of the evidence is not in yet," Rubenstein said.
Hardy said that prosecutors had to call Sanchez even though he has a sense of loyalty to old police colleagues. But he thought
evidence supporting the first-degree manslaughter charge was still strong.
Attorneys for Oliver, Cooper and Isnora declined to comment Friday.
Through a spokesman, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown also declined to comment.
ON THE WITNESS STAND
Highlights of week two in the Sean Bell trial:
Dancer Marseilles Payne, who was working at the Kalua Cabaret on Nov. 25, 2006, looked up by her auto when she heard
a collision on Liverpool Street to see police fire the first shots at Bell and his friends Joseph Guzman and Trent Benefield.
Payne said she saw a man get out of the van that collided with Bell's Nissan Altima and fire three shots. She than ran back
to the Kalua as the shooting continued. Payne said she didn't hear any commands or shouts of "police" in the instant before
the shooting started.
Larenzo Kinred, who had been partying with Bell and others at the Kalua, said he overheard Bell and the driver of an SUV
exchange angry words outside the club after its closing. "I can take that from you," Bell said to the man, apparently referring
to what some onlookers thought may have been a weapon. Kinred didn't witness the shooting.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
2
Experts: Prosecution struggling in Bell case, 2008 WLNR 4685747
Lt. Gary Napoli, the commander of the undercover unit probing suspected prostitution at the Kalua, said he got a frantic
telephone call from Det. Gescard Isnora that "it is getting hot, getting hot" and that there might be a gun among some of those
arguing outside the club. Napoli said he ordered his units to move in and that after his vehicle turned onto Liverpool Street
he saw Bell's car speed away. The next instant, Napoli heard a collision and then shooting. Napoli said he didn't hear any
commands shouted before the shots.
Det. Hispolito Sanchez, who was working undercover with Isnora at the Kalua, said that he witnessed an argument between
Bell, Joseph Guzman and the SUV driver outside the club. Guzman said "Yo, go get my gun," according to Sanchez. He also
said he heard shouts of a command on Liverpool Street, followed by a crash and then shooting. It was Sanchez whose voice
was heard on a 911 call reporting "shots fired, shots fired."
Source: Proceedings in People v. Michael Oliver, et al., State Supreme Court, QUEENS
---- Index References ---Company: NISSAN MOTOR CO LTD
News Subject: (Social Issues (1SO05); Legal (1LE33); Violent Crime (1VI27); Murder & Manslaughter (1MU48); Criminal
Law (1CR79); Government Litigation (1GO18); Crime (1CR87); Judicial Cases & Rulings (1JU36))
Region: (North America (1NO39); Italy (1IT70); USA (1US73); Southern Europe (1SO59); Eurozone Countries (1EU86); New
York (1NE72); Europe (1EU83); Americas (1AM92); Western Europe (1WE41); U.S. Mid-Atlantic Region (1MI18))
Language: EN
Other Indexing: (Murray Richman; Gescard Isnora; Hispolito Sanchez; Joseph Guzman; Richard Brown; Michael Hardy; James
DiPietro; Larenzo Kinred; Trent Benefield; Sean Bell; Gary Napoli; Steven Frankel; Arthur Cooperman; Sanford Rubenstein;
Michael Oliver; Marseilles Payne; Marc Cooper; James Kousouros)
Word Count: 979
End of Document
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
3
Judge lends accused mob boss Vinny Gorgeous shirt and tie to wear at NYC murder trial
7/20/07 AP DataStream 13:26:46
AP DataStream
Copyright © 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This
material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
July 20, 2007
Judge lends accused mob boss Vinny Gorgeous shirt and tie to wear at NYC murder trial
NEW YORK_He didn't get the nickname Vinny Gorgeous for nothing.
The accused mob boss and former beauty salon owner was ruffled when he ran out of fresh dress shirts to wear at his murder
trial, so the trial judge offered one from his closet.
"I'm not sure if it's color-coordinated," said Judge Nicholas Garaufis, who came through with a blue shirt and yellow tie that
he keeps on hand for just such occasions.
Vinny Gorgeous, whose real name is Vincent Basciano, gave the get-up high praise.
"I would do my shopping here," he told the judge.
Basciano had been forced to pair his gray suit jacket with a T-shirt after a jail dress-shirt drop-off went awry. He told Garaufis
the informal ensemble made him feel "uncomfortable."
"I know what's appropriate to wear in court," explained Basciano, 47, the one-time owner of the Hello Gorgeous salon.
Basciano was convicted last year of racketeering, attempted murder and gambling. The jury deadlocked over murder charge,
though, leading to the retrial now unfolding in a federal court in Brooklyn.
Prosecutors allege that Basciano in 2001 killed Frank Santoro, said to be one of his rivals, because he believed Santoro wanted
to kidnap one of his sons.
Basciano's attorney, James Kousouros, has said prosecutors built the case on untruthful testimony from mob turncoats.
Authorities say Basciano became the acting boss of the Bonanno organized crime family after the arrest of Joseph Massino,
who was sentenced in 2005 to life in prison for orchestrating a quarter-century's worth of murder, racketeering and other crimes.
Massino dodged a possible death sentence by agreeing to provide evidence against Basciano and other mobsters.
---- Index References ---News Subject: (Violent Crime (1VI27); Crime (1CR87); Social Issues (1SO05))
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
1
Judge lends accused mob boss Vinny Gorgeous shirt and tie to wear at NYC murder trial
Region: (USA (1US73); Americas (1AM92); North America (1NO39); New York (1NE72))
Language: EN
Other Indexing: (BONANNO; NYC) (Basciano; Frank Santoro; Garaufis; Gorgeous; James Kousouros; Joseph Massino;
Massino; Nicholas Garaufis; Vincent Basciano; Vinny Gorgeous)
Keywords: (a)
Word Count: 333
End of Document
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
2
Doctor Free on Bail / Accused of injecting girlfriend in abortion try, 1998 WLNR 594507
9/3/98 Newsday A32
1998 WLNR 594507
Newsday (USA)
Copyright © 2003 Newsday Inc. All rights reserved.
September 3, 1998
Section: NEWS
Doctor Free on Bail / Accused of injecting girlfriend in abortion try
Karen Freifeld and Pete Bowles. STAFF WRITERS
Dr. Mark Redeker, a second-year resident at Jamaica Hospital charged with injecting his girlfriend with a sedative to induce an
abortion, was released on $6,000 bail Tuesday night following his arraignment in Queens Criminal Court.
Redeker, 32, of 83-80 118th St. in Richmond Hill, was charged with assault and a violation of the state law governing medical
practice.
His attorney, James Kousouros, said his client denies the charges. "You have here a 32-year-old doctor who successfully
completed medical school and a one-year residency in Louisiana, and he is devastated over this," he said.
A criminal complaint outlining the allegations charges that Redeker made a statement admitting that he injected his girlfriend
four times with Phenergan, a central nervous system depressant, in his home on Sunday.
According to the complaint, Redeker injected the drugs after the woman, in her 20s, told him she was going to get a prenatal
checkup because she was pregnant with his baby. Redeker told her he did not want the baby, the complaint said.
In his statement, Redeker described what he called a sexual fantasy, saying he tied up the woman's feet and hands, blindfolded
her and placed a bandage over her mouth before injecting the drugs, said the complaint. The woman lost consciousness, it
charged.
Kousouros said it was too early to discuss a possible trial defense but asserted: "It is a far jump now to say, even if the injections
were given, that somehow they induced an abortion."
Police said lab tests determined that the woman was pregnant but that the pregnancy was not viable. The woman was admitted
to Jamaica Hospital Center on Monday and a procedure was performed to clear her womb, police said.
PD:
---- Index References ----
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
1
Doctor Free on Bail / Accused of injecting girlfriend in abortion try, 1998 WLNR 594507
News Subject: (Health & Family (1HE30))
Industry: (Women's Health (1WO30); Contraception (1CO66); Healthcare Practice Specialties (1HE49))
Region: (West Indies (1WE90); Americas (1AM92); Jamaica (1JA89); Caribbean (1CA06); Latin America (1LA15))
Language: EN
Other Indexing: (JAMAICA HOSPITAL; JAMAICA HOSPITAL CENTER; PD; QUEENS CRIMINAL COURT) (James
Kousouros; Kousouros; Mark Redeker; Redeker)
Edition: QUEENS
Word Count: 346
End of Document
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
2
Widow recounts '06 Bronx shotgun death, 2007 WLNR 11531518
6/20/07 Newsday A14
2007 WLNR 11531518
Newsday (USA)
Copyright © 2007 Newsday, Inc.
June 20, 2007
Section: NEWS
Widow recounts '06 Bronx shotgun death
ANTHONY M. DESTEFANO. [email protected]
Maria Santoro remembered that on the evening of February 15, 2001, it seemed that her husband, Frank, was taking a long time
to walk the family Doberman pinscher in their Throgs Neck neighborhood.
After talking with her mother-in-law on the telephone about a special recipe for pork loin, Santoro said she walked out of the
house to look for her husband and the dog.
It was then, Santoro told a Brooklyn federal court jury yesterday, that she found her husband of 21 years lying in the road.
"I saw a trickle of blood in his nose and brain matter surrounding him," Santoro told jurors. The dog, she said, was nowhere
in sight.
Santoro, who has one son from her marriage, testified as one of the first government witnesses in the retrial of reputed Bonanno
crime family captain Vincent Basciano. The 47-year-old Basciano, known by the moniker of "Vinny Gorgeous," is on trial,
charged with Santoro's racketeering murder as well as other crimes. A 2006 trial on the Santoro killing ended in a mistrial.
In the government's opening statement, assistant U.S. attorney Winston Chan told jurors that Basciano orchestrated Frank
Santoro's shotgun killing because of rumors the dead man wanted to kidnap one of Basciano's sons.
"He was a shooter and he was an earner," Chan said, referring Basciano's prowess with the gun and alleged moneymaking
rackets.
"The defendant sought to personify the mob and in a sense the Bonanno crime family became his true family," Chan said.
The owner of a now-closed Bronx hair salon and a Bronx construction company, Basciano is also on trial on charges of soliciting
the murder of former Bonanno underboss Salvatore Vitale, as well as running marijuana and gambling businesses. He faces
life in prison if convicted.
Three of Basciano's five sons - Vincent, Joseph and Michael - as well as his wife, Angela, were in court yesterday.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
1
Widow recounts '06 Bronx shotgun death, 2007 WLNR 11531518
Conceding that his client is tied to the Bonanno crime clan, attorney James Kousouros in his opening statement derided the
prosecution's chief witness Dominick Cicale as nothing more than a liar who spins tales of "unmitigated lunacy" in order to
save his own neck from prison.
Kousouros indicated to jurors that Frank Santoro was an associate of the Genovese crime family.
---- Index References ---News Subject: (Violent Crime (1VI27); Crime (1CR87); Social Issues (1SO05))
Region: (USA (1US73); Americas (1AM92); North America (1NO39); New York (1NE72))
Language: EN
Other Indexing: (BONANNO; BRONX; BROOKLYN) (Angela; Basciano; Chan; Conceding; Dominick Cicale; Frank; Frank
Santoro; James Kousouros; Kousouros; Maria Santoro; Salvatore Vitale; Santoro; Vincent; Vincent Basciano; Widow; Winston
Chan)
Keywords: BROOKLYN.TRIAL.MURDER. SHOOTING.
Edition: CITY
Word Count: 444
End of Document
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
2
7 YRS. FOR FATAL SHOOTOUT Man in gunfight that killed..., 2002 WLNR 13828887
4/19/02 N.Y. Daily News 3
2002 WLNR 13828887
New York Daily News
Copyright © 2002 Daily News, L.P.
April 19, 2002
Section: SUBURBAN
7 YRS. FOR FATAL SHOOTOUT Man in gunfight that killed tenant leader
SCOTT SHIFREL DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
A Far Rockaway man was sentenced to seven years in prison yesterday for his part in a shootout that resulted in the death of
tenant patrol leader Maria Medina.
Johnathon Whitmore, 28, who was sentenced after pleading guilty to a weapons charge, didn't speak during the Kew Gardens
Supreme Court appearance, but his lawyer and his mother said he was sorry for his part in the shootout.
"He is extremely remorseful for what happened," lawyer James Kousouros said, suggesting that Whitmore fired in self-defense
in the March 10, 2000, gun battle with three other men.
"The evidence has clearly shown that Johnathon was shooting because he was being shot at," the lawyer said.
Medina, 45, was crouching near an elevator in a building in the Redfern Houses during the shootout when a stray bullet pierced
a metal door and hit her in the chest.
Prosecutors said that Tullie Hyman, who was convicted of second-degree murder and weapons charges in the case, was firing
at Whitmore as Whitmore ran into the building, where he and Medina lived.
More court action due
Hyman is awaiting sentencing. He faces as much as 25 years to life in prison. A third man was acquitted, and a fourth is awaiting
trial in the killing.
Three guns were found in Whitmore's car, but Kousouros contended that ballistics evidence showed those weapons were not
used by his client.
"That's my baby, he looked so sad in there," Whitmore's mother, Edna Heard, said after the sentencing.
"But Johnathon is happy that this is finally over," she said. "He knew her [Medina], and he's really sorry the lady's dead."
Whitmore already has served two years and is likely to be eligible for parole in three or four, lawyers said.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
1
7 YRS. FOR FATAL SHOOTOUT Man in gunfight that killed..., 2002 WLNR 13828887
---- Index References ----
Language: EN
Other Indexing: (JOHNATHON; KEW GARDENS SUPREME COURT; WHITMORE) (Edna Heard; James Kousouros;
Johnathon; Johnathon Whitmore; Kousouros; Tullie Hyman; Whitmore)
Keywords: MARIA MEDINA; VICTIM; SENTENCE; SHOOTING; DEATH
Edition: SPORTS FINAL
Word Count: 335
End of Document
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
2
White Plains fatal hit-run case adjourned, 2008 WLNR 26518237
11/4/08 Journal News (Westchester, N.Y.) A3
2008 WLNR 26518237
Journal News, The (Westchester, NY)
Copyright © 2008 Gannett
November 4, 2008
Section: NEWS
White Plains fatal hit-run case adjourned
November 4, 2008
The new lawyer for a Pomona woman arrested in a double hit-and-run incident that left one woman dead in White Plains said
yesterday that both he and the Prosecutor's Office were seeking to learn what happened.
Speaking after a brief appearance in White Plains City Court, James Kousouros said Sheldene Campbell was still being held in
the psychiatric unit of the Westchester County jail on $200,000 bail and, for the time being, he would not seek her release.
staff
"We're not focused on bail right now," Kousouros said. "I think that, at this point, both myself and the District Attorney's Office,
commendably so, are focused on trying to find out what happened here, and why. You know what happened, but for someone
like Sheldene Campbell, it's such an inexplicable thing."
Campbell, 37, was charged with leaving the scene of a fatal accident a short time after she is accused of hitting and killing
65-year-old Marie Bucci, who was taking her daily walk, on Havilands Lane on Oct. 19. Moments earlier, Campbell, in her
Acura sport-utility vehicle, is accused of striking and injuring Roseanne Schiavone, 45, and her dog, who also were walking
on Havilands Lane. The case is still under investigation, and more charges are possible.
The incident took place almost three weeks after Campbell was arrested in Woodcliff Lake, N.J., accused of driving over a
lawn, almost hitting a jogger, abandoning her 10-year-old son and assaulting a police officer. During that incident, Campbell,
a court reporter for the Workers Compensation Board in New York City, is accused of driving with her 3-year-old daughter
sitting freely in the car without a car seat or seat belt.
Campbell was hospitalized for a week afterward at Bergen (County) Regional Medical Center in Paramus, N.J.
Kousouros said Campbell's family "is devastated over this tragedy. Their hearts go out to the other families."
He said he was hired by the family to replace court-appointed lawyer David Rich.
At Kousouros' request, City Judge Brian Hansbury adjourned the case until Nov. 19.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
1
White Plains fatal hit-run case adjourned, 2008 WLNR 26518237
Reach Richard Liebson at [email protected]
or 914-694-3534.
---- Index References ---Company: CITY
Language: EN
Other Indexing: (CITY; PROSECUTOR; REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER; WHITE PLAINS CITY COURT; WORKERS
COMPENSATION BOARD) (Brian Hansbury; Campbell; David Rich; James Kousouros; Kousouros; Marie Bucci; Plains;
Reach Richard Liebson; Roseanne Schiavone; Sheldene Campbell; White Plains)
Edition: GWPR-Westchester and Putnam and Rockland
Word Count: 422
End of Document
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
2
HIT-LISTED JUDGE NOT BUDGING, 2006 WLNR 22254014
12/1/06 N.Y. Daily News 25
2006 WLNR 22254014
New York Daily News
Copyright © 2006 Daily News, L.P.
December 1, 2006
Section: NEWS
HIT-LISTED JUDGE NOT BUDGING
JOHN MARZULLI DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
A BROOKLYN JUDGE allegedly targeted for death by Bonanno crime boss Vincent (Vinny Gorgeous) Basciano, won't recuse
himself from the gangster's upcoming murder trial.
Federal Judge Nicholas Garaufis suggested it is mighty suspicious that his name appeared on a "hit list" drawn up by Basciano
last May after the mobster was convicted of racketeering, and told his wife he wanted a different judge for his next trial.
The feds obtained the list from an inmate who said Basciano wanted to kill Garaufis, a federal prosecutor and three prosecution
witnesses.
"Such a thinly disguised effort to manipulate the judicial process cannot be sanctioned by this court," Garaufis wrote in a
decision released yesterday.
Defense lawyer James Kousouros insists Basciano drew up the list on the advice of the inmate's mother, a Santeria priestess
who recommended he place the list in his shoe and stamp his feet five times a day.
Kousouros, joined by lawyers for five other Bonannos awaiting trial, had asked the judge to disqualify himself from the case
to avoid any appearance of impartiality against the defendants because of the hit list.
But the judge noted there is no evidence he is biased against Basciano, pointing out that even after the alleged threat was
disclosed he granted the mobster's request to allow his mistress and their love child to visit him in prison.
"We have reviewed and respect the court's decision and are considering the appropriate course of action," Kousouros said last
night.
[email protected]
---- Index References ---News Subject: (Violent Crime (1VI27); Crime (1CR87); Legal (1LE33); Social Issues (1SO05); Criminal Law (1CR79))
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
1
HIT-LISTED JUDGE NOT BUDGING, 2006 WLNR 22254014
Language: EN
Other Indexing: (BROOKLYN; LISTED; SANTERIA) (Basciano; Garaufis; HIT; James Kousouros; Kousouros; Nicholas
Garaufis)
Keywords: BROOKLYN; JUDGE; ORGANIZED CRIME; DEATH; THREAT; VINCENT BASCIANO; NICHOLAS
GARAUFIS
Edition: SPORTS FINAL
Word Count: 303
End of Document
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
2
PRETTY QUICKLY, GORGEOUS FOUND GUILTY IN '01 SLAY, 2007 WLNR 14760973
8/1/07 N.Y. Daily News 4
2007 WLNR 14760973
New York Daily News
Copyright © 2007 Daily News, L.P.
August 1, 2007
Section: NEWS
PRETTY QUICKLY, GORGEOUS FOUND GUILTY IN '01 SLAY
JOHN MARZULLI DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
GOODBYE, Gorgeous.
A federal jury yesterday convicted Bonanno crime boss Vincent (Vinny Gorgeous) Basciano of murder and racketeering,
ensuring him a mandatory life sentence without parole.
The verdict clearly shocked Basciano, 47, who had boasted he would "never get convicted in a million years" of the fatal 2001
shooting of a Bronx junkie named Frank Santoro.
The victim's mother wasn't surprised.
Grace Santoro, 77, said her son's address popped up as the winning number in Monday's Win 4 lottery game, a sure sign
Basciano would get his due.
"I am so thrilled," she said. "It won't bring my boy back, but it's justice."
Basciano, whose nickname stems from his days as the owner of a Throgs Neck beauty shop called "Hello Gorgeous," shotgunned
Santoro after he threatened to kidnap Basciano's son.
When the jury returned after only 10 hours of deliberations, Basciano was heard telling defense lawyer James Kousouros, "It
doesn't look good."
Basciano's face grew redder as the jury forewoman pronounced him guilty of all charges.
"He was obviously upset," Kousouros said. "The man has been in solitary confinement for almost a year now, which doesn't
make it any easier."
Basciano was jailed under conditions usually reserved for terrorists after the feds found a hit list he wrote containing the names
of a federal judge, a prosecutor and cooperating witnesses.
[email protected]
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
1
PRETTY QUICKLY, GORGEOUS FOUND GUILTY IN '01 SLAY, 2007 WLNR 14760973
---- Index References ----
Language: EN
Other Indexing: (BRONX; THROGS NECK) (Basciano; Grace Santoro; James Kousouros; Kousouros; PRETTY; Santoro)
Keywords: ORGANIZED CRIME; MURDER; VINCENT BASCIANO; CONVICTION
Edition: SPORTS FINAL
Word Count: 277
End of Document
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
2
HIT MAN'S CRY: DAD DID NOT BEAT ME, 2011 WLNR 10253233
5/21/11 N.Y. Post 4
2011 WLNR 10253233
New York Post
Copyright © 2011 The New York Post. All Rights Reserved
May 21, 2011
Section: News
HIT MAN'S CRY: DAD DID NOT BEAT ME
MITCHEL MADDUX
Vincent "Vinny Gorgeous" Basciano wants to suck it up and be a man - even if it kills him.
The former crime boss's macho mentality was evident in court yesterday when he shouted out his refusal to be portrayed as
a helpless victim.
His life may hang in the balance when the penalty phase of his capital-murder trial starts and his defense lawyer yesterday
suggested his legal team wants the jury to hear that as a boy, Basciano was beaten by his father.
That might make jurors more sympathetic and wonder whether childhood traumas may have led the mobster to a life of crime.
But the former Bonanno crime family boss dug in his heels against becoming a touchy-feely victim.
"It never happened, judge!" he bellowed during the Brooklyn federal court hearing about what lawyers will be able to tell the
jury.
The defense team brought up the issue because the jury returns Tuesday to begin the penalty phase to decide whether Basciano
should be executed by lethal injection or sentenced to life in prison after his conviction for ordering the murder of a mob
associate.
"I want to note for the record that Mr. Basciano objects to it - he's making all kinds of hand gestures in that regard," Judge
Nicholas Garaufis remarked.
It wasn't the first time during Basciano's murder trial that the mobster has played an unusually active role in his own defense.
The month-long proceedings have produced countless examples of Basciano jotting notes to his attorneys, whispering about
witness testimony, and clashing with his lawyers about issues he believes are important.
Inmates who become so-called jailhouse lawyers are nothing new, but observers of the Basciano trial say the mobster has taken
the art to an unusually high level.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
1
HIT MAN'S CRY: DAD DID NOT BEAT ME, 2011 WLNR 10253233
"He's fighting for his life - literally - in this trial," said James Kousouros, a veteran defense attorney who represented Basciano
at a previous trial for a different mob murder.
"Here's a guy who has been in [prison] isolation for the past four years. He's very heavily invested," Kousouros said.
---- Index References ---News Subject: (Social Issues (1SO05); Violent Crime (1VI27); Criminal Law (1CR79); Legal (1LE33); Crime (1CR87);
Racketeer Influenced & Corrupt Organizations (RICO) (1RI18); Murder & Manslaughter (1MU48))
Language: EN
Other Indexing: (VINCENT "VINNY GORGEOUS) (Basciano; HIT MAN; James Kousouros; Kousouros; Nicholas Garaufis)
Word Count: 344
End of Document
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
2
Observers: Bell prosecutors have yet to prove case:..., 2008 WLNR 6458368
4/6/08 Newsday (Pg. Unavail. Online)
2008 WLNR 6458368
Newsday (NY)
Copyright © 2008 Newsday, Melville, N.Y.
April 6, 2008
Observers: Bell prosecutors have yet to prove case: Testimony in Sean Bell shooting case
Anthony M. Destefano
Newsday, Melville, N.Y.
Apr. 6--The testimony in the Sean Bell trial has been dramatic and heartbreaking, particularly when the dying man's last words
to a friend -- "I love you, too" -- were retold last week.
But it's unclear if four weeks of such evidence will be enough to convince a Queens Supreme Court judge that three detectives are
guilty of manslaughter and other charges in the Nov. 25, 2006, police shooting that killed Bell and wounded two of his friends.
A group of defense attorneys, none with any connection to the case, believe that so far, Queens prosecutors have not proved
their case against the cops.
The lawyers said they've seen nothing that would disprove the cops' central assertion -- that they acted with legal justification
when they fired 50 shots at Bell and his friends after the pals had spent the night partying at the Kalua Cabaret strip club.
"I clearly feel that the prosecution has not proven a case beyond a reasonable doubt," said Murray Richman, a top defense
attorney from the Bronx who concedes he is not "pro-cop."
"The case should be tried in the courtroom and not on the courthouse steps," Queens District Attorney Richard Brown responded
Friday through a spokesman.
Richman is one of four defense attorneys who have been following the case against detectives Michael Oliver, 36, Gescard
Isnora, 29, and Marc Cooper, 40. The case is being heard without a jury by Justice Arthur J. Cooperman. The defense will
continue to present evidence this week.
Most of the attorneys wouldn't try to predict how Cooperman will rule. Oliver and Isnora are charged with first and
second-degree manslaughter, assault and second-degree reckless endangerment. Cooper faces just reckless endangerment, a
misdemeanor. But the attorneys all agreed that the prosecution hasn't shown enough evidence to beat back the key element of
the defense -- that the detectives fired with justification at Bell's Nissan Altima as it pulled away on Liverpool Street.
Under state law, the prosecution has to disprove justification -- commonly called self-defense -- beyond a reasonable doubt.
According to Manhattan defense attorney Steven K. Frankel, a former federal prosecutor, the evidence in the Bell case "leads
to an absolute self-defense argument for police," particularly for manslaughter and assault.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
1
Observers: Bell prosecutors have yet to prove case:..., 2008 WLNR 6458368
James DiPietro, a former Brooklyn prosecutor, agreed.
"The prosecution cannot prove beyond a reasonable doubt that these officers' conduct was not justified," said DiPietro, who
predicted an acquittal.
In Frankel's opinion, the testimony two weeks ago of Bell's friend, Jean Nelson, was crucial.
"Nelson is the most important witness at the trial. He had no agenda," Frankel said.
He discounted the testimony of Bell's wounded friends who are suing the city, Joseph Guzman and Trent Benefield, as well as
the grand jury testimony of the cops out to save themselves. That leaves Nelson, who wasn't in the car and wasn't wounded,
as the most disinterested witness, Frankel said.
Nelson helped police when he said he saw Isnora on Liverpool Street standing in front of Bell's Altima with a drawn gun,
saying, "Yo, I want to holler at you," slang for "I want to talk to you."
Bell then drove straight at Isnora, an undercover cop, who jumped onto the hood to get out of the way before the vehicle
slammed into a police van being driven by Oliver, according to Nelson. That version of events supports the argument that the
car was being used as a deadly weapon against Isnora, Frankel said.
Nelson also buttressed the argument that the cops believed someone had a gun during an argument outside the Kalua, Frankel
said. Nelson testified that he believed the driver of a sport utility vehicle had a gun during a faceoff with Bell outside the Kalua.
Even though Nelson said he didn't hear any police commands or see any shields, those are red herrings: It is the perceptions of
the cops about a possible gun or use of deadly force -- not Bell's perceptions -- that are critical, Frankel said.
James Kousouros, a defense attorney in Kew Gardens, said prosecution witnesses have given useful ammunition to the defense.
He is referring in part to the testimony of undercover Det. Hispolito Sanchez, who said someone in Bell's group remarked, "Yo,
go get my gun" during the argument outside the Kalua.
Oliver and Isnora told the grand jury they thought Guzman or someone else in the car had a gun. It remained unclear Friday
if any of the detectives would take the stand.
What they said
Key testimony of prosecution witnesses in Sean Bell trial:
Marseilles Payne (ex-Kalua Cabaret dancer): Saw collision between Bell's car and police van on Liverpool Street, saw man exit
van and fire three shots. Didn't hear any police commands shouted.
Lt. Gary Napoli (commander of undercover unit): Telephoned by undercover detectives that someone with a White Sox baseball
cap appeared to have a gun in Kalua. Heard crash and then shooting, never fired his weapon and didn't hear shouted police
commands.
Det. Hispolito Sanchez (member of undercover unit): Heard Bell's friend Joseph Guzman say, "Yo, go get my gun," during
argument with SUV driver outside Kalua. Didn't see the shooting, but heard shouted police commands coming from Liverpool
Street.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
2
Observers: Bell prosecutors have yet to prove case:..., 2008 WLNR 6458368
Larenzo Kinred (friend of Bell): Overheard someone in Bell's group argue with SUV driver and tell the man, Fabio Coicou,
"I can take that from you," referring to a possible gun.
Jean Nelson (friend of Bell): Heard someone in Bell's group tell Coicou, "We are going to take that gun from you." Saw Det.
Gescard Isnora approach Bell's car with gun and say, "I want to holler at you." Saw Bell's car run into Isnora on Liverpool.
Didn't hear any police commands.
Trent Benefield (friend of Bell): Noticed man -- Isnora -- standing in front of Bell's car with a gun. Heard an impact as Altima
tried to drive away, followed by shooting. Didn't hear any police commands.
Joseph Guzman (friend of Bell): Denied saying anything about getting a gun outside Kalua. Saw Isnora start shooting after
Bell's car collided with police van. Didn't hear any police commands.
Police Officer Michael Carey (member of police unit): Was driving with Oliver in police van when it collided with Bell's car.
Heard fellow officers yell, "Police! show your hands," before firing. Heard Isnora yell, "He's got a gun."
---- Index References ---Company: NISSAN MOTOR CO LTD; ALTIMA RESOURCES LTD
News Subject: (Social Issues (1SO05); Police (1PO98); Violent Crime (1VI27); Criminal Law (1CR79); Crime (1CR87);
Murder & Manslaughter (1MU48); Legal (1LE33); Gun Rights & Regulations (1GU97))
Region: (Europe (1EU83); New York (1NE72); Americas (1AM92); U.S. Mid-Atlantic Region (1MI18); Western Europe
(1WE41); USA (1US73); England (1EN10); United Kingdom (1UN38); North America (1NO39))
Language: EN
Other Indexing: (James DiPietro; Gary Napoli; Sean Bell; Murray Richman; Michael Carey; Michael Oliver; James Kousouros;
Arthur Cooperman; Jean Nelson; Marc Cooper; Hispolito Sanchez; Gescard Isnora; Steven Frankel; Trent Benefield; Fabio
Coicou; Joseph Guzman; Richard Brown)
Ticker Symbol: Helsinki:RMR1V
Word Count: 1042
End of Document
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
3
2 plead not guilty in Albany home shooting: Downstate pair..., 2007 WLNR 16515675
8/24/07 Times Union (Alb.) (Pg. Unavail. Online)
2007 WLNR 16515675
Times Union (Albany, NY) (KRT)
Copyright © 2007 Albany Times Union, N.Y.
August 24, 2007
2 plead not guilty in Albany home shooting: Downstate
pair charged with attempting to kill Michael Brown May 26
Robert Gavin
Albany Times Union, N.Y.
Aug. 24--ALBANY -- Two downstate men who allegedly shot and robbed a man at his Albany home then escaped down the
Thruway pleaded not guilty to attempted murder charges Thursday in Albany County Court.
Nakia Rose, 24, of the Bronx, and Damion Tyrell, 23, of Mount Vernon, were arraigned on an eight-count indictment that
accuses them of trying to kill the victim, Michael Brown, on Beverly Avenue about 7:30 p.m. on May 26.
If convicted, they face up to 40 years in prison.
Prosecutors allege the pair drove to Albany from New York City, shot Brown several times at point-blank range and robbed
him of about $15,000. They did not describe the incident as a random home invasion, indicating Brown knew at least one of
his alleged attackers.
Brown suffered wounds to his stomach and shoulder that were not believed to be life-threatening, police said.
After the shooting, prosecutors say Rose and Tyrell drove down the Thruway before being stopped in the Poughkeepsie area.
Police initially didn't find any evidence in the suspects' car. A later search revealed two 9 mm semiautomatic guns in a
compartment, one of which was used in the shooting, prosecutors said.
"The proof in this case is overwhelming," Assistant District Attorney David Rossi told acting Supreme Court Justice Dan
Lamont.
Rose and Tyrell are charged with attempted murder, first-degree assault and robbery, weapons counts and possession of stolen
property.
Rose, a Jamaica native, must surrender his passport at Lamont's request but will remain free on $100,000 bail. His attorney,
James Kousouros, had told the judge his client was not a flight risk. Tyrell is being held in the Albany County jail on $85,000
bail. His attorney, Anthony Martone, said neither defendant shot or robbed the victim. The lawyers, both based in Queens,
would not say why their clients were in the Capital Region.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
1
2 plead not guilty in Albany home shooting: Downstate pair..., 2007 WLNR 16515675
Rose and Tyrell return to court Sept. 6.
---- Index References ---News Subject: (Violent Crime (1VI27); Crime (1CR87); Property Crime (1PR85); Legal (1LE33); Social Issues (1SO05);
Criminal Law (1CR79))
Region: (USA (1US73); Americas (1AM92); North America (1NO39); New York (1NE72))
Language: EN
Other Indexing: (JUSTICE DAN LAMONT; LAMONT; SUPREME COURT) (Anthony Martone; Aug; Brown; Damion
Tyrell; David Rossi; James Kousouros; Michael Brown; Nakia Rose; Rose; Tyrell)
Word Count: 388
End of Document
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
2
JUDGE TURNS CHEEK - SOFT SPOT FOR MOBSTER, 2006 WLNR 16466159
9/22/06 N.Y. Post 19
2006 WLNR 16466159
New York Post
Copyright © 2006 The New York Post. All Rights Reserved
September 22, 2006
Section: News
JUDGE TURNS CHEEK - SOFT SPOT FOR MOBSTER
ZACH HABERMAN
The judge allegedly targeted for murder by mobster Vincent "Vinny Gorgeous" Basciano turned the other cheek yesterday and
recommended the acting Bonanno boss be allowed to spend time with his 5-year-old son.
But Judge Nicholas Garaufis - one of five names Basciano allegedly scribbled on a hit list handed to a fellow inmate to be
passed off to his mob pals - signed off on the feds' request to further restrict his communications with the outside world.
Basciano's lawyers, meanwhile, claimed the judge never had anything to worry about.
They said their client simply had written down the names as part of a black-magic ceremony to chase away the bad vibes the
five people brought to him.
The mother of inmate Basciano handed his list to is a Santeria priestess "who was going to wave this magic wand," his lawyer,
James Kousouros, said in court yesterday.
"His mother will cast a spell and good things will happen," he said.
The priestess "told Mr. Basciano to make a list of everybody involved, put it in [his] right shoe, stamp five times during the
trial, and it will help [him]," Kousouros added in newly unsealed court transcripts.
Despite the hit list, Garaufis asked prison officials to allow Basciano to see the love child he had with his goumada.
"I'm agnostic about this situation," the judge said, apparently indicating that he wasn't sure if he believed in magic spells or
not. Nevertheless, Basciano, who is already on 23-hour-a-day lockdown, with his mail and phone calls monitored, will now
have a limit on the number of visitors.
The tighter restrictions - usually reserved for terror suspects - are intended to make sure he is not passing messages to other
people, officials told the judge.
Basciano is now limited to visits from his lawyers and immediate family members - with the specific exception of his adult son
Vincent Jr., who is suspected of passing notes for him in the past.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
1
JUDGE TURNS CHEEK - SOFT SPOT FOR MOBSTER, 2006 WLNR 16466159
Prosecutors say Basciano - who was convicted of racketeering in March and is currently behind bars preparing for two separate
trials next year - allegedly marked Garaufis, prosecutor Greg Andres and three mob rats who testified against him for death.
---- Index References ---News Subject: (Legal (1LE33))
Language: EN
Other Indexing: (Basciano; Garaufis; Greg Andres; James Kousouros; Nicholas Garaufis; Vincent Jr.)
Word Count: 430
End of Document
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
2
CRIME, 2004 WLNR 23051079
11/4/04 Journal News (Westchester, N.Y.) B3
2004 WLNR 23051079
Journal News, The (Westchester, NY)
Copyright © 2004 Gannett
November 4, 2004
Section: News
CRIME
November 4, 2004
Lawyer:Yorktown man not a gangster
U.S. alleges group led by Albanian was involved in rackets
The Journal News
Timothy O'Connor
The Journal News
The lawyer for accused mob kingpin Alex Rudaj yesterday denied his client was the leader of a ruthless organized-crime group,
saying he was a hardworking family man and philanthropist.
Rudaj, 37, of Sunset Place in Yorktown, is accused in a 44-page federal indictment of being the leader of the Rudaj Organization,
an Albanian-led crime group that began in Westchester County and spread its turf to the Bronx and Queens. The group is
accused of being a violent organization that used beatings and intimidation to push out rival mob factions, including members
of New York's notorious Five Families, as it took over illegal gambling in Astoria, Queens.
Twenty-six people, including 10 from Westchester, were charged in two indictments last week with crimes that include
racketeering, extortion, attempted murder and robbery. Two remain at large.
At a hearing yesterday for 20 of the men charged in one indictment, the court was packed with defendants who were out on
bail, as well as family members and supporters of the accused. Eight of the defendants who were ordered held without bail,
including Rudaj, entered the courtroom in handcuffs, smiling, waving and blowing kisses to well-wishers in the crowd.
After a battery of lawyers fanned out to meet with their clients seated in the jury box and the first two rows of the gallery, U.S.
District Judge Denise Cote set Sept. 26 as the first trial date in the case.
A federal prosecutor laid out some of the evidence investigators compiled in the four-year investigation that was started by
Westchester District Attorney Jeanine Pirro's office.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
1
CRIME, 2004 WLNR 23051079
Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy Treanor said prosecutors had recordings from 12 wiretaps, accumulated 150 taped
conversations, as well as surveillance video, photographs, statements from defendants, gambling records and alleged victims'
hospital records. But, after the hearing, Rudaj's lawyer, James Kousouros, said his client was not guilty of anything.
"My client vehemently denies the charges that he is some sort of mob kingpin," he said. "He's a family man. He's got a wife
and two children. He's worked at a variety of jobs. He paid his taxes."
Kousouros declined to elaborate on Rudaj's background, saying he would offer more details at a bail hearing next week. But
he did say say that Rudaj, an ethnic Albanian from Yugoslavia, had done many "philanthropic deeds" in his native country,
including donating money to help build a church.
Reach Timothy O'Connor at [email protected] or 914-694-3523.
---- Index References ---Company: JOURNAL NEWS
News Subject: (Social Issues (1SO05); Crime (1CR87); Racketeer Influenced & Corrupt Organizations (RICO) (1RI18))
Region: (North America (1NO39); New York (1NE72); Americas (1AM92); USA (1US73))
Language: EN
Other Indexing: (BRONX; CRIME; JOURNAL NEWS) (Alex Rudaj; Denise Cote; James Kousouros; Jeanine Pirro;
Kousouros; Queens; Reach Timothy O'Connor; Rudaj; Timothy O'Connor; Timothy Treanor; Twenty)
Word Count: 532
End of Document
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
2
Albanian mobster sentenced to 27 years, 2006 WLNR 25237258
6/17/06 Journal News (Westchester, N.Y.) A3
2006 WLNR 25237258
Journal News, The (Westchester, NY)
Copyright © 2006 Gannett
June 17, 2006
Section: News
Albanian mobster sentenced to 27 years
June 17, 2006
Head of `Corporation' to share prison term with 3 co-defendants
Timothy O'Connor
The Journal News
The Journal News
NEW YORK - Alex Rudaj knew what was coming. His lawyer knew it. Everyone in the courtroom knew it.
The convicted head of an Albanian-led organized crime group dubbed "The Corporation" had sat through nearly five hours of
rulings and sentences. He had seen three of his co-defendants get socked with stiff sentences in U.S. District Court in Manhattan
by Judge Denise Cote.
Twenty-seven years for Nardino Colotti of the Bronx.
Twenty-six years for Nick Dedaj of Yonkers.
Twenty-two years for Prenka Ivezaj of Queens.
So, when it came time for Rudaj to speak on his own behalf, the Yorktown man rose and thanked everyone from the judge, to
his lawyer, to the deputy U.S. marshals, to his wife, Maria.
"The same way I am locked in that jail," he said, "she is locked in my heart."
Then he stopped. And waited for what was coming.
Cote sentenced Rudaj, 38, to 27 years in federal prison for racketeering, extortion and gambling offenses.
"It's just tragic for your family and for you personally that you made the choices you made," Cote said.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
1
Albanian mobster sentenced to 27 years, 2006 WLNR 25237258
Those choices included forming The Corporation in the early 1990s with Colotti after the two men split off from the Gambino
crime family. Their goal was to build an organized crime outfit that could take its place alongside New York's notorious Five
Families of the Mafia, federal prosecutors said.
Along the way, they pushed two of those families out of Astoria, Queens, taking over illegal gambling operations in that area.
The group threatened, extorted, and beat rivals and gamblers as they built a crime family.
"The litany of violence and threats can only be described as shocking, depraved and morally repugnant," assistant U.S. attorneys
Timothy Treanor, Jennifer Rodgers and Benjamin Gruenstein wrote in a sentencing memorandum.
The Corporation ran gambling dens and bookmaking wire rooms in the Bronx, Queens and Westchester. The group's members
forced their gambling machines upon unwilling bar owners in Westchester, according to testimony at the 14-week trial that
ended Jan. 4 with convictions on almost all counts. Rudaj and Colotti were acquitted of the most serious charge, attempting
to kill a rival gangster.
Twenty-two reputed members of The Corporation were indicted by a federal grand jury in November 2004. The other 16
defendants pleaded guilty.
Rudaj's lawyer, James Kousouros, said they planned to appeal, that Rudaj knew his best hopes were with the appeals court
rather than the sentencing judge.
"We expected this," Kousouros said after the sentence was handed down.
Reach Timothy O'Connor at [email protected] or 914-694-3523.
---- Index References ---Company: JOURNAL NEWS
News Subject: (Social Issues (1SO05); Crime (1CR87); Racketeer Influenced & Corrupt Organizations (RICO) (1RI18))
Region: (Southern Europe (1SO59); Europe (1EU83); North America (1NO39); Albania (1AL95); New York (1NE72);
Americas (1AM92); USA (1US73); Eastern Europe (1EA48))
Language: EN
Other Indexing: (BRONX; JOURNAL NEWS; US DISTRICT COURT; YORKTOWN) (Benjamin Gruenstein; Colotti; Cote;
Denise Cote; James Kousouros; Kousouros; Maria; Reach Timothy O'Connor; Rudaj; Timothy O'Connor; Timothy Treanor;
Twenty)
Word Count: 541
End of Document
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
2
6 reputed Albanian mobsters convicted, 2006 WLNR 25238416
1/5/06 Journal News (Westchester, N.Y.) A1
2006 WLNR 25238416
Journal News, The (Westchester, NY)
Copyright © 2006 Gannett
January 5, 2006
Section: News
6 reputed Albanian mobsters convicted
January 5, 2006
2 from Westchester among those who ran gambling empire
Timothy O'Connor
The Journal News
The Journal News
NEW YORK - Six reputed members of an Albanian organized crime family that prosecutors said muscled the Mafia out of
Astoria while establishing a gambling empire in Queens, the Bronx and Westchester were convicted yesterday of racketeering
by a federal jury in Manhattan.
The outfit, dubbed "the Corporation" by its members, was led by Alex "Allie Boy" Rudaj, 38, of Sunset Street in Yorktown,
federal prosecutors said.
Rudaj was convicted yesterday of multiple racketeering counts but acquitted of trying to kill a rival mobster during a spectacular
car chase in the Bronx more than a decade ago.
Rudaj and Nardino "Lenny" Colotti, 43, of the Bronx formed the Corporation in the early 1990s after serving an underworld
internship under Gambino crime family soldier Phil "Skinny Phil" Loscalzo in the Bronx, prosecutors said. They set out on their
own after Loscalzo's death, determined to build a group that would rival the Five Families of New York's traditional Italianorganized crime world, prosecutors said.
They brought in Nikola "Nicky Nails" Dedaj, 42, of Danby Place, Yonkers, who was the "main dispenser of violence" in the
organization, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Rodgers said during closing arguments of the three-month trial.
The three men formed the leadership of the group and hired others to work for them, prosecutors said. Three of their mosttrusted hired hands were convicted as well. Angelo DiPietro, 49, of Hopewell Junction, the former owner of Sue's Rendezvous,
a strip joint in Mount Vernon, was convicted of racketeering along with Prenka "Big Frank" Ivezaj, 40, of Queens and Ljusa
"Louie" Nuculovic, 47, of Hopewell Junction.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
1
6 reputed Albanian mobsters convicted, 2006 WLNR 25238416
Lawyers for the men admitted their clients were involved in illegal gambling but denied they were part of a ruthless crime
organization.
"This grandiose and violent impression that the government tried to portray with them taking over territory from the mob
families is just ridiculous," Rudaj's lawyer, James Kousouros, said after yesterday's verdict.
Jurors, however, were presented with a different view of Rudaj and the other defendants during the trial in U.S. District
Court. They heard secretly taped conversations in which Rudaj could be heard boasting about a beating he and the other men
administered to a worker at a Gambino gambling joint in Astoria, Queens, as they violently shut it down after just one night of
operation. Rudaj complained that the man's blood had stained his new off-white pants.
In addition to the Queens gambling dens, the Corporation ran gambling operations in Mount Vernon and Port Chester. Rudaj's
group had a gambling joint on Adee Street in Port Chester and forced bar owners in Mount Vernon to install their illegal
gambling machines. In one instance, Rudaj's group tried to force Salvatore Misale, the owner of Puerto Roja in Mount Vernon,
to hand over his bar to the Corporation. Misale went to law enforcement authorities in 1999 after he endured a beating at a
Bronx cafe over his refusal to hand over the keys to the bar.
The jury reached its verdict on the fifth day of deliberations. Each defendant faces a possible life sentence. All six defendants
will remain held without bail until they are sentenced by U.S. District Judge Denise Cote on April 7.
Reach Timothy O'Connor at [email protected] or 914-694-3523.
---- Index References ---Company: JOURNAL NEWS
News Subject: (Social Issues (1SO05); Crime (1CR87); Racketeer Influenced & Corrupt Organizations (RICO) (1RI18))
Region: (Southern Europe (1SO59); Europe (1EU83); North America (1NO39); Albania (1AL95); New York (1NE72);
Americas (1AM92); USA (1US73); Eastern Europe (1EA48))
Language: EN
Other Indexing: (BRONX; GAMBINO; JOURNAL NEWS; PRENKA; PUERTO ROJA; SUE; US DISTRICT; US DISTRICT
COURT) (Angelo DiPietro; Chester; Denise Cote; James Kousouros; Jennifer Rodgers; Jurors; Misale; Nardino; O'Connor;
Port Chester; Rudaj; Salvatore Misale; Timothy; Timothy O'Connor; Westchester; Yonkers)
Word Count: 687
End of Document
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
2
Hit-and-run suspect's lawyer may challenge competency finding, 2008 WLNR 26505306
12/13/08 Journal News (Westchester, N.Y.) A3
2008 WLNR 26505306
Journal News, The (Westchester, NY)
Copyright © 2008 Gannett
December 13, 2008
Section: NEWS
Hit-and-run suspect's lawyer may challenge competency finding
December 13, 2008
WHITE PLAINS - The lawyer for a Pomona woman accused of leaving the scene of a fatal hit-and-run accident in White
Plains said yesterday that he may challenge findings by two psychiatrists that his client is competent to continue participating
in the legal case against her.
"I am somewhat skeptical of the reports," James Kousouros said in a phone interview after appearing with Sheldene Campbell
before White Plains City Judge Eric Press. "There appear to be some contradictions, in terms of her current mental state."
staff
He would not elaborate, but said he would decide whether to challenge the reports before Campbell's Jan. 24 court appearance.
Campbell was evaluated by two psychiatrists at the Westchester County jail's forensic unit, where she continues to be held
on $200,000 bail.
Campbell, 37, was charged with leaving the scene, a felony, a short time after police said she struck and killed 65-year-old
Marie Bucci, who was taking her daily walk, on Havilands Lane on Oct. 19.
Moments earlier, Campbell, in her Acura sport utility vehicle, is accused of striking and injuring another woman and her dog,
who also were walking on Havilands Lane. The case is still under investigation, and more charges are possible.
The incident took place almost three weeks after Campbell was arrested in Woodcliff Lake, N.J., accused of driving over a
lawn, almost hitting a jogger, abandoning her 10-year-old son and assaulting a police officer. During that incident, Campbell,
a court reporter for the Workers Compensation Board in New York City, is accused of driving with her 3-year-old daughter
sitting freely in the car without a car seat or seat belt.
Campbell was hospitalized for a week afterward at Bergen Regional Medical Center in Paramus, N.J.
Hinting at a possible insanity defense if the case goes to trial, Kousouros noted yesterday that the psychiatric evaluations done
at the jail "only relate to her condition now - not to her condition at the time the incident occurred."
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
1
Hit-and-run suspect's lawyer may challenge competency finding, 2008 WLNR 26505306
Assistant Westchester District Attorney John Thomas, who is prosecuting the case, had no comment.
Reach Richard Liebson at [email protected] or 914-694-3534.
---- Index References ---Company: BERGEN REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER
News Subject: (Legal (1LE33))
Region: (North America (1NO39); New York (1NE72); Americas (1AM92); USA (1US73))
Language: EN
Other Indexing: (BERGEN REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER; WORKERS COMPENSATION BOARD) (Assistant
Westchester; Campbell; Eric Press; Hinting; James Kousouros; John Thomas; Kousouros; Marie Bucci; Reach Richard Liebson;
Sheldene Campbell)
Edition: GWPR-Westchester and Putnam and Rockland
Word Count: 431
End of Document
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
2
VINNY VICIOUS - 'GORGEOUS' STOPPED AT NOTHING: FEDS, 2007 WLNR 11565268
6/20/07 N.Y. Post 15
2007 WLNR 11565268
New York Post
Copyright © 2006 The New York Post. All Rights Reserved
June 20, 2007
Section: News
VINNY VICIOUS - 'GORGEOUS' STOPPED AT NOTHING: FEDS
STEFANIE COHEN
Bonanno crime boss Vincent "Vinny Gorgeous" Basciano was a double-threat mobster - an "earner" who brought in big bucks,
and a "shooter" unafraid to kill in pursuit of profit, prosecutors said yesterday.
The silver-haired Basciano had "the two skills prized above all else" in the Mafia, Assistant U.S. Attorney Winston Chan said
yesterday at the start of the dapper mob boss' murder and racketeering trial in Brooklyn.
"He was a shooter and an earner. [He] sought to personify the mob . . . his one true family."
Chan told jurors Basciano put his shooting skills to work in February 2001 when he allegedly ambushed Genovese crime-family
associate Frank Santoro while the man walked his Doberman pinscher in the Throgs Neck section of The Bronx.
"Using a 12-gauge shotgun, the defendant shot Frank Santoro once, twice, three times, four times, not stopping even after [he'd]
collapsed to the ground, leaving behind [his] lifeless, shotgun-riddled body just steps away from his home and his family,"
Chan said.
"He's the devil," seethed Santoro's mother, Grace, as she watched the trial from the front row of the gallery.
Prosecutors said Basciano clipped Santoro because he'd heard a rumor that Santoro was planning to kidnap one of the mobster's
sons.
The debonair mobster, who once owned a salon in The Bronx called "Hello Gorgeous," scribbled notes, whispered with his
attorneys, and exchanged quick smiles with his wife and three of his sons - who each bear a striking resemblance to their dad.
Basciano's lawyer, James Kousouros, told jurors that to convict his client of Santoro's murder they'd have to believe the word
of a "deranged" mob stool pigeon, Basciano's former best friend and protg, Dominick Cicale.
Cicale has told the feds he and Basciano shot Santoro together. "The government will lay much of its case on the doorstep of
Dominick Cicale," said Kousouros. "A doorstep you will want to run from as fast as you can."
He told the jury not to listen to word of Cicale's "unmitigated lunacy" and lies.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
1
VINNY VICIOUS - 'GORGEOUS' STOPPED AT NOTHING: FEDS, 2007 WLNR 11565268
That tactic worked a year ago when Basciano stood trial on the same murder charge and walked away with a mistrial when one
juror refused to believe the cooperating witnesses who testified against Basciano.
He was convicted of a slew of racketeering charges, however, and is currently in solitary confinement in the Metropolitan
Detention Center.
---- Index References ----
Region: (USA (1US73); Americas (1AM92); North America (1NO39); New York (1NE72))
Language: EN
Other Indexing: (BASCIANO; CICALE; DOBERMAN; DOMINICK CICALE; METROPOLITAN DETENTION CENTER;
SANTORO) (Bonanno; Chan; Frank Santoro; Grace; James Kousouros; Kousouros; Santoro; Winston Chan)
Word Count: 471
End of Document
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
2
Fraud, lies and résumé, 2013 WLNR 3712773
2/15/13 Int'l Herald Trib. 2
2013 WLNR 3712773
International Herald Tribune
Copyright © 2013 The New York Times
February 15, 2013
Fraud, lies and résumé
Lawyer's deceptions won her an excellent post but also led to a forgery trial
RUSS BUETTNER
NEW YORK
In a stately, old London courtroom, Soma Sengupta was finally living her dream.
She had been admitted to a selective British law firm's training program, wowing them with her credentials: honors at the
law school of Georgetown University; former prosecutor for the Manhattan district attorney; defense lawyer for the Legal Aid
Society. There were glowing reference letters.
She had been called to the bar in a formal ceremony at Middle Temple Hall. With her dark hair covered by a barrister's foppish
white wig, she signed the registry of barristers.
She began to handle criminal cases, nearly one a day over three months. In 90 more days, she would become a full-fledged
barrister, the apex of a carefully curated career.
And then it all collapsed, undone by the chance discovery of a simple lie that led to many more. A clerk for the British firm
that had accepted Ms. Sengupta stumbled upon her application file, and noticed that she had listed a date of birth that put her
age at 29.
"Seriously?" the clerk thought, according to Edmund Blackman, a barrister with the firm, One Inner Temple Lane. "There is
no way she's as young as she's saying on this form."
Questions were asked, which Ms. Sengupta, who was, in fact, in her late 40s at the time, declined to answer. Eventually,
it became clear that she had not only shaved nearly two decades off her age but that nearly everything about her work and
education history was not as she had claimed.
Ms. Sengupta had, in fact, submitted many phony documents. The fraud was so comprehensive that the Bar Standards Board of
England and Wales threw out an element of the application process that presumed a certain level of honor among its applicants;
the board now requires that college transcripts come directly from the schools in a sealed envelope, without passing through
an applicant's hands.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
1
Fraud, lies and résumé, 2013 WLNR 3712773
"The more information I obtained, the less clear the whole thing became," said Andrea Clerk, the Bar Standards Board official
who investigated the case. "It was a very serious matter, indeed."
Ms. Sengupta, 52, is on trial in State Supreme Court in Manhattan, where she faces forgery and other charges, the most severe
of which carries a maximum prison sentence of seven years. Her boyfriend, Manuel Soares, a former vice president of the
investment company BNY Mellon, faces the same charges in a coming trial.
Her lawyer has argued the case on technical legal issues and has not challenged prosecutors' assertions that Ms. Sengupta forged
documents and misrepresented her work history and age.
"We are conceding that some of this conduct, in fact, did occur," the lawyer, James Kousouros, told Justice Thomas Farber,
who will decide the case without a jury.
A few facts about Ms. Sengupta's life seem certain. She was born in India and grew up mostly in Jersey City, New Jersey,
the daughter of an engineer. She did indeed graduate from Georgetown's law school in 1998. And though she overstated other
achievements, she passed the New York State bar exam and became a licensed lawyer in 2000.
The deceptions described in the criminal case against her began the same year. She applied for a job as a paralegal for the
Manhattan district attorney's office, even though the office does not allow lawyers to work as paralegals. Ms. Sengupta claimed
that she had left law school before graduating and wrote that she was born in 1969, making her eight years younger than she
actually was, according to trial testimony.
In the prosecutor's office, she handled somewhat more challenging work than most paralegals because her supervisor, Melissa
Paolella, then an assistant district attorney handling white-collar fraud cases, knew that Ms. Sengupta had taken classes in a
law school.
In 2003, Ms. Sengupta was fired from the office after it became known that she was, in fact, a lawyer. She asked Ms. Paolella
to write reference letters to help her apply for several staff lawyer positions, including with the American Civil Liberties Union
in New Jersey and the Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem. Ms. Paolella did so, knowing that Ms. Sengupta longed to
practice public interest law.
"Absolutely, I knew what her passion as a lawyer was," she testified.
None of the jobs materialized. In 2004, Ms. Sengupta began doing volunteer work two days a week for the Prisoners' Rights
Project, part of the Legal Aid Society. She did not appear in court or write briefs, her supervisor, Dori Lewis, testified.
But when Ms. Sengupta applied for admission to the British bar, she transformed her work after passing the bar into a remarkable
story of courtroom derring-do.
She claimed that she had been an assistant district attorney and had prosecuted "gang and white-collar fraud cases," which
included working to convict 27 gang members who had controlled a section of East Harlem, in Upper Manhattan.
Ms. Sengupta wrote that as a staff lawyer at the Legal Aid Society she had defended "all felonies including murder and sexual
offences," including handling the defense of a "man charged with commissioning the murder of a judge."
"I have over six years of advocacy experience in a common law system and I am in court on an almost daily basis," she wrote
in her application to the Bar Standards Board for England and Wales.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
2
Fraud, lies and résumé, 2013 WLNR 3712773
Ms. Sengupta also claimed that she had graduated in the top 1 percent of her class at Georgetown's law school, which prosecutors
have suggested was not true. She filed a reference letter from Robert F. Drinan, a former U.S. representative from Massachusetts
and Georgetown law professor; it was dated a year after his death.
Other reference letters, supposedly written by Ms. Paolella and Ms. Lewis, called Ms. Sengupta an accomplished trial lawyer.
Both testified that the letters had been forged.
Her overstatements went undetected, and she won a highly competitive spot in a one-year training program, known as a pupilage,
in which a prospective barrister works with a law firm, or chamber. She was scheduled to start in October 2007, but she
repeatedly failed a battery of tests that had to be passed before her pupilage could begin. She hid the failures from the firm,
saying she could not begin because she had been injured in a car accident.
"Given that we have over 100 applicants for each place," Mr. Blackman, the One Inner Temple Lane barrister, said in court,
"the likelihood is that had we known that, we would have withdrawn the offer."
Rather than pass all elements of the test, Ms. Sengupta successfully appealed to the Bar Standards Board to waive one part,
which she had failed twice. She began training with barristers in the firm. Halfway through her training, in July 2008, Ms.
Sengupta was formally called to the bar by the Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, one of the four Inns of Court entitled
to call members to the Bar of England and Wales.
After six months, Ms. Sengupta began handling cases on her own. She was assigned some 80 criminal cases over three months,
defending people accused of minor crimes.
Mr. Blackman testified that his firm grew somewhat reluctant to assign more difficult cases to Ms. Sengupta, but she continued
to practice.
"In a general manner, her performance would not be what you would expect from someone with the experience she claimed
to have," he said.
But it was Ms. Sengupta's age, not her job performance, that proved to be her undoing. After the clerk first aroused his suspicion
of her, Mr. Blackman found that she had entered different years of birth on several forms.
"In the absence of an explanation as to why she had four different dates of birth, she was done," Mr. Blackman said during
the trial. He added: "We had suffered a financial loss, but more importantly, she had been appearing in court when unqualified
to do so."
His firm suspended her pupilage and reported its concerns to the Bar Standards Board, which opened an investigation. But Ms.
Sengupta, aided by Mr. Soares, who had transferred to BNY Mellon's London office, pushed on.
According to prosecutors, the two obtained a phony Georgetown seal from a Web-based business, rubberstamp.com, and created
a fake diploma to match the misstatements on her application, including one that she had earned an undergraduate degree from
Georgetown, a falsehood. They e-mailed one another drafts of forgeries, one with "My Masterpiece" written in the subject
line. They forged an Indian birth certificate. They created a Web site for a fictional law firm in the name of a fictional former
prosecutor, and submitted a reference letter in his name.
They forged a letter, according to prosecutors, from the office of Eliot L. Spitzer, then the New York State attorney general,
attesting to how Ms. Sengupta "exercised rights of audience" in New York, using a term associated with British courts. Ms.
Sengupta's lawyer, Mr. Kousouros, said the document was authentic.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
3
Fraud, lies and résumé, 2013 WLNR 3712773
In December 2010, the Manhattan district attorney obtained indictments of Ms. Sengupta and Mr. Soares after learning that their
former paralegal had claimed to be a prosecutor for the office and that the forged documents had passed through Manhattan.
Three months later, the two were arrested at Kennedy Airport, where they had flown from London, as they awaited a connecting
flight to Puerto Rico.
Citing the criminal trials here and an open disciplinary case in Britain, bar officials in London declined to discuss the matter,
or to say whether it has caused other policy changes.
When Mr. Blackman was asked during the trial whether One Inner Temple Lane verified pupilage applicants' earlier
employment claims, he answered dryly.
"Stupidly, we did not," he said. "We do now."
---- Index References ---Company: BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON CORP (THE)
News Subject: (Fraud (1FR30); Crime (1CR87); Legal (1LE33); Government Litigation (1GO18); Social Issues (1SO05);
Criminal Law (1CR79); Judicial Cases & Rulings (1JU36))
Region: (Caribbean (1CA06); North America (1NO39); USA (1US73); Latin America (1LA15); Americas (1AM92); West
Indies (1WE90); New York (1NE72); U.S. Mid-Atlantic Region (1MI18); New Jersey (1NE70))
Language: EN
Other Indexing: (ONE INNER TEMPLE LANE) (Manuel Soares; Soma Sengupta; Melissa Paolella; Andrea Clerk; Eliot
Spitzer; James Kousouros; Robert Drinan; Edmund Blackman; Thomas Farber; Dori Lewis)
Word Count: 1610
End of Document
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
4
Trial this on for size: Clothes crunch in NYC court
7/20/07 AP Alert - NYC 10:47:31
AP Alert - New York City
Copyright © 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This
material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
July 20, 2007
Trial this on for size: Clothes crunch in NYC court
NEW YORK_He's known as Vinny Gorgeous, so an accused mob boss was understandably ruffled when he ran out of fresh
dress shirts to wear during his murder trial.
Fortunately for the fashion-conscious former beauty salon owner, the judge agreed to help him out.
The defendant, whose real name is Vincent Basciano, was forced to pair his gray suit jacket with a T-shirt Thursday, after a jail
dress-shirt drop-off went awry. He told Judge Nicholas Garaufis the informal ensemble made him feel "uncomfortable."
"I know what's appropriate to wear in court," explained Basciano, 47, who was convicted last year of racketeering, attempted
murder and gambling. The jury deadlocked over murder charges in the 2001 slaying of a man said to be one of Basciano's rivals,
leading to the retrial now unfolding in a federal court in Brooklyn.
After inquiring about Basciano's size, the judge lent him a spare blue shirt and yellow tie he said he kept for such situations.
"I'm not sure if it's color-coordinated," the judge said, but Basciano gave the get-up high praise.
"I would do my shopping here," said Basciano, the one-time owner of the Hello Gorgeous salon.
Prosecutors say Basciano rubbed out Frank Santoro because he believed Santoro wanted to kidnap one of his sons. But
Basciano's attorney, James Kousouros, has said prosecutors built the case on untruthful testimony from mob turncoats.
Authorities say Basciano became the acting boss of the Bonanno organized crime family after the arrest of Joseph Massino,
who was sentenced in 2005 to life in prison for orchestrating a quarter-century's worth of murder, racketeering and other crimes.
Massino dodged a possible death sentence by agreeing to provide evidence against Basciano and other mobsters.
While they were imprisoned together, Massino secretly recorded Basciano pitching a plot to kill a prosecutor, authorities said.
The alleged scheme resulted in new charges against Basciano; if convicted at another trial set for next year, he could face the
death penalty.
---- Index References ---News Subject: (Violent Crime (1VI27); Crime (1CR87); Legal (1LE33); Social Issues (1SO05); Criminal Law (1CR79))
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
1
Trial this on for size: Clothes crunch in NYC court
Region: (USA (1US73); Americas (1AM92); North America (1NO39); New York (1NE72))
Language: EN
Other Indexing: (BONANNO; NYC) (Basciano; Fortunately; Frank Santoro; James Kousouros; Joseph Massino; Massino;
Nicholas Garaufis; Vincent Basciano)
Keywords: (n); (Crime); (Legal)
Word Count: 401
End of Document
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
2
A move to avert death penalty, 2007 WLNR 4376592
3/7/07 Newsday A14
2007 WLNR 4376592
Newsday (USA)
Copyright © 2007 Newsday, Inc.
March 7, 2007
Section: NEWS
A move to avert death penalty
ANTHONY M. DESTEFANO. [email protected]
In a bid to remove the threat of a death penalty, lawyers for reputed Bonanno crime captain Vincent Basciano are pushing to
have federal officials consider new evidence - including the results of a lie detector test - to show that Basciano wasn't behind
an alleged plot to kill a prosecutor and a judge.
As part of their strategy, defense attorneys have secured an order from Brooklyn federal Judge Nicholas Garaufis to allow a
polygraph test of Basciano in jail. Known as "Vinny Gorgeous," Basciano, 46, is in solitary confinement in Manhattan under
strict security measures awaiting a re-trial of his 2006 racketeering case.
"We think it is very important," defense attorney James Kousouros of Kew Gardens said yesterday of the test.
The attorneys said they also have an affidavit from a jailhouse informant who claims it was Basciano's old mob mentor, former
Bonanno boss Joseph Massino, who earlier came up with the idea to kill the prosecutor. Massino is a cooperating witness
following his 2004 racketeering conviction.
Ephraim Savitt of Manhattan, another Basciano defense attorney, said he disclosed the polygraph order and the allegations about
Massino last week to a special Department of Justice committee that handles death penalty matters. The committee, known as
the Capital Crimes Unit, reviews decisions by local federal prosecutors on capital cases.
Basciano is eligible for the death penalty in a separate 2005 racketeering indictment that accuses him of orchestrating the murder
of mob associate Randolph Pizzolo. The indictment also alleges a plot by Basciano to kill Brooklyn assistant U.S. attorney
Greg Andres, who was never harmed. Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn haven't said if they are recommending the death penalty
in the case.
The latest developments about new evidence come as part of a convoluted series of events from last summer about an alleged
hit list. Prosecutors have said Basciano crafted the list with the names of Andres, Garaufis and three witnesses during his 2006
federal trial at which he was convicted of racketeering but got a mistrial on murder conspiracy.
Debunking the list with a lie detector test is crucial because prosecutors are using it to buttress the argument in favor of the
death penalty for the 2005 case, said Kousouros.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
1
A move to avert death penalty, 2007 WLNR 4376592
Basciano's defense attorneys have argued for months that the list, written in his handwriting, was actually part of a Santeria ritual,
based on a Caribbean religion involving magic. Basciano hoped it would give him good luck during his 2006 trial, they said.
---- Index References ---News Subject: (Legal (1LE33); Government Litigation (1GO18))
Region: (USA (1US73); Americas (1AM92); North America (1NO39); New York (1NE72))
Language: EN
Other Indexing: (BONANNO; DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE; KEW GARDENS; RANDOLPH PIZZOLO; SANTERIA)
(Andres; Basciano; Brooklyn; Ephraim Savitt; Garaufis; Greg Andres; James Kousouros; Joseph Massino; Kousouros; Massino;
Nicholas Garaufis; Vincent Basciano)
Keywords: DEATH PENALTY.EVIDENCE.MURDER.TRIAL.ORGANIZED CRIME.
Edition: CITY
Word Count: 507
End of Document
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
2
Former co-defendant blamed, 2008 WLNR 19671102
10/16/08 Times Union (Alb.) (Pg. Unavail. Online)
2008 WLNR 19671102
Times Union (Albany, NY)
Copyright © 2008 Albany Times Union, N.Y.
October 16, 2008
Former co-defendant blamed
Robert Gavin
Albany Times Union, N.Y.
Oct. 16--ALBANY -- The lawyer for a reputed New York City marijuana supplier accused of trying to kill an Albany distributor
last year is blaming the attempted murder case on his client's former co-defendant.
Nakia Rose of the Bronx faces decades behind bars if convicted of trekking to Albany and shooting Michael Brown inside his
Beverly Avenue apartment on May 25, 2007.
Rose and former sidekick Damion Tyrell of Mount Vernon allegedly drove to Albany after Brown reported losing thousands in
drug profits in a burglary. Instead of merely surveying the damage, Albany County prosecutors contend, they tried to kill Brown.
During opening remarks Wednesday, Rose's attorney, James Kousouros, said it was Tyrell, not his client, to blame for the
gunfire. He scoffed at allegations his client is a drug supplier and questioned the victim's credibility.
He said Rose was guilty of driving to Albany and nothing else. He said Tyrell, whose trial ended in a mistrial earlier this year,
also confessed to an Albany County jail inmate.
Assistant District Attorney Bruce Lennard, told jurors Wednesday that Rose and Tyrell are equally responsible for shooting
Brown and leaving him for dead. He said Rose told Tyrell inside the apartment, "If you're gonna shoot him, shoot him in the
head."
The pair was picked up on the Thruway heading south. Lennard said a pair of 9mm guns were found in the car.
The trial continues today.
---- Index References ----
Region: (North America (1NO39); New York (1NE72); Americas (1AM92); USA (1US73))
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
1
Former co-defendant blamed, 2008 WLNR 19671102
Language: EN
Other Indexing: (BRONX; MOUNT VERNON) (Assistant District; Beverly Avenue; Brown; Bruce Lennard; Damion Tyrell;
James Kousouros; Lennard; Michael Brown; Nakia Rose; Rose; Tyrell)
Word Count: 282
End of Document
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
2
MAN GETS 25 YEARS IN 2007 ALBANY SHOOTING, 2009 WLNR 2584901
2/7/09 Times Union (Alb.) B6
2009 WLNR 2584901
Albany Times Union (NY)
Copyright © 2009 Times Union. All Rights Reserved.
February 7, 2009
Section: Obituaries
MAN GETS 25 YEARS IN 2007 ALBANY SHOOTING
ROBERT GAVIN STAFF WRITER
ALBANY -- A reputed marijuana supplier from the Bronx was sentenced to 25 years in prison Friday for the 2007 shooting
of a local pot dealer who lost thousands of dollars in drug profits.
Nakia Rose, 26, was convicted in October of shooting Michael Brown inside the victim's Beverly Avenue apartment May 25,
2007.
Brown, a Jamaican national, had been dealing pot in the Capital Region and sending proceeds to Rose. But when he reported
losing $20,000 in a burglary, Rose and sidekick Damion Tyrell trekked north to investigate and address the situation.
"In over 30 years in the criminal justice system," Judge Stephen Herrick told Rose during the sentencing, "I don't believe I've
ever experienced such a cold, deliberate premeditated hit."
The pair met Brown at a local Family Dollar store, drove to his home, ordered him the floor and opened fire, leaving a bullet in
his chest. At one point, Rose told Tyrell, "If you're gonna shoot him, shoot him in the head," Albany County Assistant District
Attorney Bruce Lennard noted during the trial.
Rose and Tyrell, a Jamaican national from Westchester County, escaped with money from Brown. After the wounded man
dialed 911 from his phone, the duo were arrested heading south on the Thruway.
Investigators, using an X-ray device from the Army National Guard Counter Drug Task Force, later found semiautomatic
handguns inside Rose's BMW sport utility vehicle. They fit Brown's description of the guns.
Rose was convicted of first-degree assault, robbery and weapon possession, but cleared of attempted murder. Tyrell, whose first
trial ended in a mistrial, was later convicted of attempted murder, felony assault and robbery. He will be sentenced next week.
Rose's lawyer, James Kousouros, asked Herrick to set aside the verdict Friday. He later argued his client was far less to blame
for the incident than Tyrell.
Herrick said both men share equal blame.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
1
MAN GETS 25 YEARS IN 2007 ALBANY SHOOTING, 2009 WLNR 2584901
The judge sentenced Rose to 25 years for the assault conviction. The other convictions will run concurrently. Rose also received
five years' post-release supervision.
---- Index References ---Company: FAMILY DOLLAR STORES INC; BAYERISCHE MOTOREN WERKE AG
Region: (North America (1NO39); Caribbean (1CA06); New York (1NE72); Jamaica (1JA89); West Indies (1WE90); Latin
America (1LA15); Americas (1AM92); USA (1US73))
Language: EN
Other Indexing: (ALBANY; ALBANY COUNTY ASSISTANT DISTRICT; ARMY NATIONAL GUARD; BMW;
COUNTER DRUG TASK FORCE; FAMILY DOLLAR) (Brown; Bruce Lennard; Damion Tyrell; Herrick; James Kousouros;
Michael Brown; Nakia Rose; Rose; Stephen Herrick; Tyrell)
Edition: Final Edition
Word Count: 412
End of Document
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
2
NEW CITY, 2004 WLNR 23076782
1/24/04 Journal News (Westchester, N.Y.) B6
2004 WLNR 23076782
Journal News, The (Westchester, NY)
Copyright © 2004 Gannett
January 24, 2004
Section: News
NEW CITY
January 24, 2004
Third man pleads guilty in botched robbery
Steve Lieberman
The Journal News
The Journal News
A Long Island man has pleaded guilty to trying to rob a Wendy's restaurant with two New York City men and attempting to
sexually abuse a female employee during the aborted heist.
Gary Booker, 39, of Roosevelt faces five years in state prison when sentenced March 31 by County Court Judge William Kelly
on his Thursday guilty plea to second-degree attempted robbery and first-degree attempted sexual abuse.
Booker and two other men attempted to rob Wendy's on Route 303 in Orangetown on July 26. They were armed with a handgun.
The robbery went awry when a drive-through customer saw what was happening inside the closed restaurant. The customer
called police, and an employee made a 911 call to Orangetown police after the robbers left the restaurant without any money.
Booker admitted that during the robbery attempt, he sexually touched a woman employee, 21, whose hands were loosely taped
together in the bathroom, prosecutor Stephen Moore said yesterday.
Two other men, Roland St. Paul, 34, of Brooklyn and Curtis Lucas, 28, of Queens pleaded guilty Jan. 16 to the attempted
robbery charge and face prison terms when sentenced March 31 under plea agreements with prosecutors.
Booker pleaded guilty as part of an agreement between his lawyer, James Kousouros, and Moore.
Lucas had been charged with sexual abuse, but Moore said evidence did not point to his abusing the woman. That charge was
dismissed as part of his guilty plea to second-degree attempted robbery. Lucas faces three years in prison.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
1
NEW CITY, 2004 WLNR 23076782
St. Paul faces five years in prison because he pleaded guilty to two crimes involving Wendy's.
On June 27, a month before the attempted robbery, St. Paul and Wendy's then-night manager, Peppy Simon, 26, of Spring
Valley, stole $3,600 from the fast-food restaurant.
St. Paul, who had a prior relationship with Simon, brought Lucas and Booker up to Rockland.
Simon and St. Paul both pleaded guilty to third-degree grand larceny, admitting separately in County Court that Simon gave
St. Paul the money and then told Orangetown police that she had been robbed.
Simon faces probation when sentenced March 10 on her guilty plea Oct. 1 to third-degree grand larceny, a felony, and thirddegree falsely reporting an incident to police, a misdemeanor. She spent two months in jail after being arrested.
Reach Steve Lieberman at [email protected] or at 845-578-2443.
---- Index References ---Company: JOURNAL NEWS
News Subject: (Social Issues (1SO05); Criminal Law (1CR79); Violent Crime (1VI27); Legal (1LE33); Food & Beverage Laws
(1FO27); Property Crime (1PR85); Crime (1CR87))
Industry: (Food & Beverage Production (1FO79); Fast Food (1FA67); Agriculture, Food & Beverage (1AG53); Restaurants &
Food Service (1RE91); Food & Beverage Distribution & Services (1FO39))
Region: (North America (1NO39); New York (1NE72); USA (1US73); Americas (1AM92))
Language: EN
Other Indexing: (COURT; JOURNAL NEWS) (Booker; Curtis Lucas; Gary Booker; James Kousouros; Lucas; Moore; Paul;
Peppy Simon; Reach Steve Lieberman; Roland St. Paul; Simon; St.; St. Paul; Stephen Moore; Steve Lieberman; Wendy;
William Kelly)
Word Count: 492
End of Document
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
2
ALBANIAN MOBSTER, PALS GUILTY OF RACKET, 2006 WLNR 22246131
1/5/06 N.Y. Daily News 28
2006 WLNR 22246131
New York Daily News
Copyright © 2006 Daily News, L.P.
January 5, 2006
Section: NEWS
ALBANIAN MOBSTER, PALS GUILTY OF RACKET
THOMAS ZAMBITO DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
ALBANIAN MOBSTER Alex Rudaj fancied himself the next John Gotti, and thanks to a federal jury he'll be spending the
next decades as the Dapper Don did in his final days - in a prison cell.
A Manhattan federal jury yesterday found Rudaj and five cronies guilty of racketeering conspiracy charges - including claims
they muscled the Mafia out of social clubs in the Bronx and Queens in a brazen bid to become the city's sixth crime family.
But in a slim victory, Rudaj's attorney said jurors may have spared his client a life sentence by finding prosecutors failed to
prove him and co-defendant Nardino Colotti guilty of the attempted murder of Bonanno crime family associate Gaetano Peduto.
"That was what we tried the case for," attorney James Kousouros said after the verdict.
Colotti triumphantly clapped attorney Joseph Tacopina on the back when the Peduto charge was read.
Peduto identified Rudaj and Colotti as the men who fired on him during a high-speed chase down a Bronx street in 1993, but
pegged someone else as the shooter to the cop who helped him into an ambulance.
Rudaj, 38, and his associates face decades behind bars when they are sentenced by Judge Denise Cote on April 7.
During the three-month trial, prosecutors Benjamin Gruenstein, Jennifer Rodgers and Timothy Treanor recounted how Rudaj
and his associates pulled in more than $4 million a year forcing their Joker Poker machines on club owners and threatening
violence to those who turned them down.
Rudaj's gang nosed into turf once dominated by two of the city's traditional Italian crime families - even demanding Gotti's old
table at the venerable East Harlem eatery Rao's.
And they won a showdown with members of the Gambino crime family at a New Jersey gas station when one of Rudaj's men
pointed a gun at a gas tank and threatened to blow them all away.
Kousouros acknowledged Rudaj ran an illegal gambling ring, but dismissed as "far-fetched" prosecutors' claims that the small
band of associates could have ever rivaled the Luchese and Gambino crime families. [email protected]
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
1
ALBANIAN MOBSTER, PALS GUILTY OF RACKET, 2006 WLNR 22246131
---- Index References ---News Subject: (Violent Crime (1VI27); Crime (1CR87); Legal (1LE33); Social Issues (1SO05); Criminal Law (1CR79))
Region: (USA (1US73); Americas (1AM92); North America (1NO39); New York (1NE72))
Language: EN
Other Indexing: (ALBANIAN MOBSTER ALEX RUDAJ; BRONX; COLOTTI; RACKET; RUDAJ) (Benjamin Gruenstein;
Denise Cote; James Kousouros; Jennifer Rodgers; John Gotti; Joseph Tacopina; Nardino Colotti; Rao; Rudaj; Timothy Treanor)
Keywords: ALBANIAN AMERICAN; ORGANIZED CRIME; RACKETEER; CONVICTION; ALEX RUDAJ
Edition: SPORTS FINAL
Word Count: 412
End of Document
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
2
CASE WITH BRICK-SIZE HOLE? SHOW ME THE WEAPON,..., 2007 WLNR 3555298
2/23/07 N.Y. Daily News 39
2007 WLNR 3555298
New York Daily News
Copyright © 2007 Daily News, L.P.
February 23, 2007
Section: SUBURBAN
CASE WITH BRICK-SIZE HOLE? SHOW ME THE WEAPON,
WISEGUY'S SON DEMANDS OF NEIGHBOR IN ASSAULT TRIAL
CHRISENA COLEMAN DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
JUST CALL HIM STEPHEN BASH.
The son of former acting Bonanno mob boss Vincent (Vinny Gorgeous) Basciano is on trial in Bronx Supreme Court for
allegedly bashing his neighbor, James Neider, in the face with a brick on Sept. 9, 2005, near his Lafayette Ave. home.
Brick? What brick?
According to defense attorneys James Kousouros and Alan Brenner, no brick or weapon of any kind was used in the incident
that landed 22-year-old Basciano behind bars.
During yesterday's trial, Kousouros poked several holes in Neider's testimony and used evidence, including medical records,
to show there was no mention of a brick during the attack.
Kousouros also said no weapon was recovered.
According to a medical form from the ambulance company, Neider said he "was punched in the face."
Neider suffered two fractured facial bones and a fractured eye socket.
Basciano, free on bail, faces five years in jail if convicted of felony assault.
The attack came hours after Stephen Basciano's younger brother, Michael, 14, was arrested on a complaint that he exposed
himself to Neider's wife, Aurora.
Kousouros said yesterday that Michael didn't expose himself but was at a pool party where one of his friends pulled his trunks
down as a joke.
Neider testified yesterday that Stephen Basciano walked up to him and asked what happened to his 14-year-old brother, Michael.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
1
CASE WITH BRICK-SIZE HOLE? SHOW ME THE WEAPON,..., 2007 WLNR 3555298
Neider said he told Basciano that Michael had been arrested.
At that point, Neider said, he was struck in the face with a hard object.
"I turned away and then turned back. Then I was struck," said Neider.
"It was the last thing I saw before the lights went out. I had no time to block or anything."
According to Bronx prosecutor Don Levin and defense attorneys Kousouros and Brenner, there was a long history of friction
between Neider and teens in his neighborhood.
After his court appearance, Neider said, "I had a nice quiet little life before this, and now my name is in the paper more than
John Gotti."
[email protected]
---- Index References ----
Region: (USA (1US73); Americas (1AM92); North America (1NO39); New York (1NE72))
Language: EN
Other Indexing: (BASCIANO; BRONX; BRONX SUPREME COURT; HOLE; WISEGUY) (Alan Brenner; Aurora.; Brenner;
James Kousouros; James Neider; Kousouros; Michael; Michael.; Neider; Stephen Basciano)
Keywords: BRONX; BRICK; ASSAULT; TRIAL; BONANNO CRIME FAMILY; NEIGHBOR; VINCENT BASCIANO;
CHILD
Edition: SPORTS FINAL
Word Count: 393
End of Document
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
2
BX. JURY MULLS FATE OF EX-MOB BOSS' SON, 22, 2007 WLNR 3929082
3/1/07 N.Y. Daily News 1
2007 WLNR 3929082
New York Daily News
Copyright © 2007 Daily News, L.P.
March 1, 2007
Section: SUBURBAN
BX. JURY MULLS FATE OF EX-MOB BOSS' SON, 22
CHRISENA COLEMAN DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
A BRONX JURY will continue deliberations today in the trial of a mobster's son accused of smashing his neighbor in the
head with a brick.
The jury will review a laundry list of evidence they requested from Bronx Supreme Court Justice Michael Gross. The list
includes 911 tapes, photos of the scene, photos of the victim after he was struck and a read-back of testimony by Dr. Charles
Herman, who said James Neider was more than likely hit in the face with an object and not a fist.
Stephen Basciano, the 22-year-old son of former acting Bonanno mob boss Vincent (Vinny Gorgeous) Basciano, is on trial
in the alleged assault.
The attack on Neider came Sept. 9, 2005, hours after Stephen Basciano's younger brother, Michael, 14, was arrested on a
complaint that he exposed himself to Neider's wife, Aurora.
Michael said he didn't expose himself, but was at a pool party and one of his friends pulled his trunks down as a joke.
During closing remarks yesterday, defense attorney James Kousouros pointed out inconsistencies in the testimony of Neider,
his wife and their friend Maryann Duff. Duff said Neider was struck with an object that was round and gray; Neider said it was
square and dark, and his wife said it was rectangular. Kousouros also said the trio's testimony on how they were approached
were not the same.
Bronx Assistant District Attorney Don Levin said his three witnesses said Neider was struck with some kind of object. He said
it's not surprising their testimonies were not exact because the incident was 18 months ago and would be hard for anyone to
remember. [email protected]
---- Index References ----
Region: (USA (1US73); Americas (1AM92); North America (1NO39); New York (1NE72))
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
1
BX. JURY MULLS FATE OF EX-MOB BOSS' SON, 22, 2007 WLNR 3929082
Language: EN
Other Indexing: (BRONX SUPREME COURT; BX; JURY) (Aurora.; Charles Herman; Duff; James Kousouros; James Neider;
Kousouros; Levin; Maryann Duff; Michael; Michael Gross; Neider; Stephen Basciano)
Keywords: BRONX; TRIAL; JURY; VINCENT BASCIANO; CHILD; NEIGHBOR; BRICK; ASSAULT; BONANNO
CRIME FAMILY; ORGANIZED CRIME
Edition: SPORTS FINAL
Word Count: 320
End of Document
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
2
YOU DON'T SCARE ME, GORGEOUS. JUDGE TO..., 2007 WLNR 11432491
6/18/07 N.Y. Daily News 5
2007 WLNR 11432491
New York Daily News
Copyright © 2007 Daily News, L.P.
June 18, 2007
Section: NEWS
YOU DON'T SCARE ME, GORGEOUS. JUDGE TO PRESIDE AT MOB TRIAL DESPITE 'HIT LIST'
JOHN MARZULLI DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
HE'S ONE tough judge.
Federal Judge Nicholas Garaufis will preside this week over the retrial of Bonanno crime boss Vincent (Vinny Gorgeous)
Basciano - even after the jailed gangster allegedly put him on a hit list.
"I certainly don't feel threatened or intimidated," the judge told Basciano's attorney Allan Brenner during jury selection last
week.
"By me?" Brenner asked.
"Certainly not by you," Garaufis shot back. "By your client."
Basciano, 47, who faces life in prison, is already caged under high-security conditions usually reserved for accused terrorists,
thanks to the alleged hit list.
And while Vinny Gorgeous manages to look as good as his nickname in court, his lawyers say he deserves to get out of his
hellhole and face a different judge.
But Garaufis - who in his seven years on the bench has stared down dozens of Bonanno thugs as well as condemned cop killer
Ronell Wilson - isn't budging.
Basciano was convicted of racketeering conspiracy and attempted murder last year, but one holdout juror caused a mistrial on
other charges, including the 2000 fatal shotgunning of Frank Santoro, who allegedly threatened to kidnap the mob boss' son.
Soon after, Basciano made a list of five people - Garaufis, federal prosecutor Greg Andres and three mob snitches who testified
against him. A jailhouse buddy slipped the list to authorities.
Basciano called it a hex list, not a hit list. He said an inmate's mother who is a Santeria priestess recommended he put the names
in his shoe and stamp his feet five times a day.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
1
YOU DON'T SCARE ME, GORGEOUS. JUDGE TO..., 2007 WLNR 11432491
Garaufis, though, suspected Basciano was making a desperate attempt to get the case shifted to another judge - and refused to
do so, even after Brooklyn Magistrate Robert Levy recently said prosecutors' evidence "strongly indicates that the handwritten
list of five names was intended to serve as a hit list."
That has kept Basciano locked down for 23 hours a day, with just one hour for exercise. He has no contact with other prisoners or
the outside world, except for his lawyers. He has books and a radio but no TV, and his windowless cell is kept lit day and night.
Yet the dapper wiseguy, whose retrial gets underway this week, has appeared in court with an inexplicable tan and every hair
on his well-groomed head in place.
Garaufis has granted Basciano's request for four suits, four shirts, four pairs of shoes, four white undershirts, four ties, four
pairs of socks and "three garment bags for the purpose of dressing for the duration of the trial."
"It's not untrue to say the man cares very much about the way he looks," lead defense lawyer James Kousouros said about his
client, who once owned a beauty salon on E. Tremont Ave. in the Bronx called Hello Gorgeous.
But Kousouros revealed one secret about Basciano.
"They don't appear to be custom-made suits," he said. "They look like they're off the rack."
[email protected]
---- Index References ----
Region: (USA (1US73); Americas (1AM92); North America (1NO39); New York (1NE72))
Language: EN
Other Indexing: (BONANNO; BROOKLYN MAGISTRATE ROBERT LEVY; TV; VINNY GORGEOUS) (Basciano;
Brenner; E. Tremont Ave.; Frank Santoro; Garaufis; Greg Andres; James Kousouros; MOB TRIAL; Nicholas Garaufis; Ronell
Wilson)
Keywords: NICHOLAS GARAUFIS; JUDGE; ORGANIZED CRIME; VINCENT BASCIANO; THREAT; TRIAL;
BONANNO CRIME FAMILY; DEATH
Edition: SPORTS FINAL
Word Count: 572
End of Document
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
2
WARDEN'S MOVES DIDN'T SUIT ME - VINNY G., 2007 WLNR 14442114
7/27/07 N.Y. Daily News 22
2007 WLNR 14442114
New York Daily News
Copyright © 2007 Daily News, L.P.
July 27, 2007
Section: NEWS
WARDEN'S MOVES DIDN'T SUIT ME - VINNY G.
JOHN MARZULLI DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
THE ISSUES WERE so pressing to Vincent (Vinny Gorgeous) Basciano that he bypassed his lawyers and wrote a letter directly
to the judge presiding over his racketeering and murder case.
His beef? Apparently the prosecutor hadn't followed through on reminding the warden that Basciano needs a haircut every two
weeks and four fresh suits to wear to court.
Basciano, who was forced to borrow a clean shirt and tie from Federal Judge Nicholas Garaufis last week, noted that the judge
had approved five suits during his trial last year.
"I know the government wants me to suffer," Basciano wrote. "I'll handle that Judge. But by me having my suits, getting my
lawyers' cell-phone numbers approved and having my haircuts every two weeks isn't going to make me feel like I'm in Disney
World!"
Basciano wrote the letter June 10 but it didn't reach Garaufis until yesterday. Basciano's defense lawyer James Kousouros said
most of the concerns had been addressed.
Basciano is unlikely to get the okay for his request that his mistress be allowed to accompany their 6-year-old son on jailhouse
visits. Basciano allegedly plotted the 2001 rubout of Frank Santoro in his goumada's bathroom.
"The government has suggested I should hire someone to bring him up to see me. It's absurd," Basciano groused.
[email protected]
---- Index References ----
Language: EN
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
1
WARDEN'S MOVES DIDN'T SUIT ME - VINNY G., 2007 WLNR 14442114
Other Indexing: (WARDEN) (Apparently; Basciano; Frank Santoro; Garaufis; James Kousouros; Nicholas Garaufis)
Keywords: ORGANIZED CRIME; VINCENT BASCIANO; MURDER; TRIAL; CRIME; CLOTHING
Edition: SPORTS FINAL
Word Count: 262
End of Document
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
2
DON WANNABE - VINNY SHOWED GOTTI-LIKE AMBITION:..., 2007 WLNR 11659640
6/21/07 N.Y. Post 21
2007 WLNR 11659640
New York Post
Copyright © 2006 The New York Post. All Rights Reserved
June 21, 2007
Section: News
DON WANNABE - VINNY SHOWED GOTTI-LIKE AMBITION: STOOL PIGEONSAL
STEFANIE COHEN
Bonanno boss Vincent "Vinny Gorgeous" Basciano drew comparisons to the late Dapper Don John Gotti - not because they
both liked flashy duds, but because they shared a ruthless ambition, a mob witness testified yesterday.
"He's another John Gotti. He has illusions of grandeur," the malaprop-prone mob stool pigeon Salvatore "Good Looking Sal"
Vitale told jurors.
Joe Massino, who preceded Basciano as boss of the family, was told by another mobster to "keep an eye on Vinny" because
he "wouldn't be able to control [Basciano] down the road," said Vitale.
The prediction bore out: In February 2001, Basciano shot Frank Santoro, a low-level wiseguy, while he was walking his dog
in The Bronx, said Vitale.
The shooting - which was not sanctioned by Massino - was done allegedly to keep Santoro from kidnapping Basciano's son,
Vinny Jr., feds said.
Vitale, the former underboss of the family, implicated Basciano in the murder when he recounted to jurors how angry Massino
was when he heard about the unsanctioned hit.
"[Vinny] had no business doing anything like that," Massino supposedly said. "Is he crazy?"
On cross-examination, the defense pointed out that Vitale had only heard about the shooting from Massino, and had no way
of knowing who the shooter was.
"You have no personal knowledge about any shooting in The Bronx, correct?" asked Basciano lawyer James Kousouros.
Vitale agreed.
This is the second trial for Basciano on the Santoro murder charges in Brooklyn federal court. The first jury was deadlocked
last year when one holdout juror said he didn't believe the govern- ment's cooperating witnesses.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
1
DON WANNABE - VINNY SHOWED GOTTI-LIKE AMBITION:..., 2007 WLNR 11659640
Basciano's alleged bloodlust was so strong that when he heard that a Bonanno capo, Gerlando "George from Canada" Sciascia,
had been whacked, he was miffed that he wasn't the whacker, Vitale said.
"Vinnie wanted to kill George. He said it wouldn't have been a pleasure," he misspoke, repeating the words of another gangster.
That comment drew a response from the hothead himself.
"That's not right!" hissed Basciano from the defendant's table.
---- Index References ---Company: WANNABE
Region: (USA (1US73); Americas (1AM92); North America (1NO39); New York (1NE72))
Language: EN
Other Indexing: (BASCIANO; PIGEONSAL; WANNABE) (Bonanno; Bonanno boss Vincent; Frank Santoro; James
Kousouros.; Joe Massino; John Gotti; Massino; Santoro; Vinny; Vinny Gorgeous; Vitale)
Word Count: 409
End of Document
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
2
GORGEOUS TRESSED TO KILL, 2007 WLNR 14763093
8/1/07 N.Y. Post 17
2007 WLNR 14763093
New York Post
Copyright © 2006 The New York Post. All Rights Reserved
August 1, 2007
Section: News
GORGEOUS TRESSED TO KILL
STEFANIE COHEN
Vincent "Vinny Gorgeous" Basciano, the hot-tempered hair salon owner from The Bronx who rose to become head of the
Bonanno crime family, took a bath yesterday when a federal jury convicted him of murder, drug dealing and gambling.
The silver-haired mobster shot back a cup of water, clenched his jaw, and then turned progressively deeper shades of red as the
Brooklyn jury forewoman announced guilty verdicts for each of the four counts against him.
Basciano stomped out of the courtroom without addressing his lawyers as soon as the judge dismissed him. He'll face a
mandatory life sentence without parole for his crimes, including the 2001 murder of Frank Santoro, a neighborhood junkie who
supposedly threatened to kidnap one of Basciano's sons for ransom.
Basciano thwarted the druggie's plan by blowing away Santoro with a shotgun while the would-be kidnapper walked his dog
in the Throgs Neck section of The Bronx.
Yesterday, Basciano sensed he was doomed when the jury announced it had reached a verdict after only 10 hours of
deliberations.
"A day and a half, it doesn't look good," he griped to his lawyer, James Kousouros, while waiting for the jury to appear.
Kousouros said his dapper-dressing client, who got his nickname from the salon he owned, called "Hello, Gorgeous," had been
hopeful throughout the day.
"We all thought that there was more than a reasonable doubt on the Santoro murder," Kousouros said.
Basciano also may have carried a ray of hope because this is the second time he's been tried on the Santoro murder. The first
trial ended in mistrial when one juror said he didn't believe the mob stoolies who ratted out their boss.
But this time the jurors weren't so suspicious of the conga line of cooperators paraded onto the stand. Prosecutors John Buretta,
Amy Busa, and Winston Chan presented former friends, protgs, and colleagues of Basciano's who each told tales of his misdeeds
and malfeasance.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
1
GORGEOUS TRESSED TO KILL, 2007 WLNR 14763093
Basciano's best friend, Dominick Cicale, told jurors that Basciano gave himself a nasty bruise when his gun recoiled while he
was killing Santoro.
"[Vinny] was upset and laughing at the same time," Cicale said. "He was upset that the last shot, the recoil, hit him in the
jaw, in the chin."
And Bonanno capo James "Big Louie" Tartaglione made secret tapes of Basciano in which he protested a little too much about
his role in the Santoro slaying.
"They're gonna be tough to pinch me on this. You wanna know why? They got no forensics. They have no guns. They have
no nothing," the confident Basciano told Tartaglione.
The life sentence staring at him isn't the worst of Basciano's worries. He will go to trial next year on charges of killing mob
associate Randolph Pizzolo in 2004. If convicted, Basciano will face the death penalty.
---- Index References ---News Subject: (Violent Crime (1VI27); Crime (1CR87); Legal (1LE33); Social Issues (1SO05); Criminal Law (1CR79))
Region: (USA (1US73); Americas (1AM92); North America (1NO39); New York (1NE72))
Language: EN
Other Indexing: (BROOKLYN; GORGEOUS; RANDOLPH PIZZOLO; SANTORO; VINCENT "VINNY GORGEOUS;
VINNY) (Amy Busa; Basciano; Bonanno; Cicale; Dominick Cicale; Frank Santoro; James; James Kousouros; Kousouros;
Prosecutors John Buretta; Santoro; Winston Chan)
Word Count: 550
End of Document
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
2
Retrial in murder case begins, 2007 WLNR 11450353
6/19/07 Newsday A18
2007 WLNR 11450353
Newsday (USA)
Copyright © 2007 Newsday, Inc.
June 19, 2007
Section: NEWS
Retrial in murder case begins
ANTHONY M. DESTEFANO. [email protected]
Just before Christmas 2003, reputed Bonanno crime family captain Vincent Basciano was secretly taped by a government
informant talking about the chances he would be indicted and jailed by the FBI.
"Sooner or later they're going to put me in for something," said Basciano, according to a transcript of the recording.
That bleak future for Basciano just might begin today.
Basciano, 47, known as "Vinny Gorgeous," is scheduled to go on trial this morning in Brooklyn federal court on charges of
racketeering and murder. The case is a retrial of an earlier effort by Brooklyn federal prosecutors that ended in a hung jury on
a crucial homicide charge that could lead to a life sentence.
Judge Nicholas Garaufis is also slated to decide if jailhouse tapes made of Basciano by former crime boss Joseph Massino
will be used at the trial.
With graying sideburns, a tanned complexion and impeccably styled hair even though he has been held in solitary confinement,
Basciano's good looks marvel court observers.
But to federal prosecutors, Basciano is a stone cold killer.
In the current case, the prosecution team of assistant U.S. attorneys John Buretta, Winston Chan and Amy Busa is trying to
convince a jury of 10 men and two women that Basciano was involved in the 2001 murder of Frank Santoro, a neighbor who
investigators said was gunned down because he plotted to kidnap one of Basciano's sons.
It was an earlier effort to convict Basciano of that same murder last year that ended in a mistrial.
Defense attorney James Kousouros of Kew Gardens declined to comment yesterday.
"I hope he gets a fair trial in light of all the developments that took place over the last year," said Basciano's former defense
attorney, Barry Levin of Garden City.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
1
Retrial in murder case begins, 2007 WLNR 11450353
In addition to the racketeering murder charge, Basciano is also being tried for solicitation to murder Massino's brother-in-law
Sal Vitale for gambling and for marijuana trafficking.
Basciano faces the death penalty in a different racketeering murder case that is expected to go to trial next year.
---- Index References ---News Subject: (Violent Crime (1VI27); Crime (1CR87); Social Issues (1SO05))
Region: (USA (1US73); Americas (1AM92); North America (1NO39); New York (1NE72))
Language: EN
Other Indexing: (BONANNO; FBI; KEW GARDENS; SAL VITALE; SOONER) (Amy Busa; Barry Levin; Basciano; Frank
Santoro; James Kousouros; John Buretta; Joseph Massino; Massino; Nicholas Garaufis; Vincent Basciano; Vinny Gorgeous;
Winston Chan)
Keywords: MURDER.TRIAL.ORGANIZED CRIME.FBI. BROOKLYN.
Edition: CITY
Word Count: 406
End of Document
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
2
ACCUSED MAN BATTLES QUEENS DA 'POLITICS', 1991 WLNR 312156
11/28/91 Newsday 21
1991 WLNR 312156
Newsday (USA)
Copyright © 2003 Newsday Inc. All rights reserved.
November 28, 1991
Section: NEWS
ACCUSED MAN BATTLES QUEENS DA 'POLITICS'
Peg Tyre. STAFF WRITER
On July 10, 1990, a car driven by Eric Collins veered out of control in Rosedale, Queens, jumped a sidewalk and killed two
children.
After inspecting the scene at the intersection of Hook Creek Boulevard and 145th Street, as well as the car, police investigators
and prosecutors suggested Collins had run a stop sign - a moving violation - but cleared him of any criminal wrongdoing.
But two months later, without further investigation, the Queens district attorney's office took the case to a grand jury, which
indicted Collins on charges of assault and reckless endangerment. If he is convicted, he faces three to seven years in jail. His
trial is scheduled to begin this week.
The tragedy that took the lives of two children was similar to that of Aug. 19 this year, when 7-year-old Gavin Cato was killed
by a car that veered out of control and struck him as he played on a Crown Heights sidewalk. Gavin's death sparked a firestorm
of protests and three days of rioting in Crown Heights, but a grand jury found that the driver, Yosef Lifsh, had not committed
a crime.
Collins, 22, who works as an assistant analyst for Shearson Lehman Brothers, says his car malfunctioned, causing him to lose
control. He says he believes the indictment is a result of politics and not justice.
"It was a terrible accident, but there was no criminal intent," Collins said. "I can't understand how the driver in Crown Heights
can walk away but in Queens I'm facing these charges."
Collins' lawyer, James Kousouros, says the district attorney's office bowed to pressure from the families of the dead children
when he brought this case to the grand jury.
Dick Piperno, a spokesman for Queens District Attorney Richard Brown, said only, "He was indicted by his peers after they
heard the evidence presented." When the indictment against Collins was handed up, the Queens district attorney was John
Santucci.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
1
ACCUSED MAN BATTLES QUEENS DA 'POLITICS', 1991 WLNR 312156
Legal experts say that criminal cases against drivers are notoriously difficult to prosecute. Out of 81 vehicular homicides in
Queens in 1990, only 17 people were indicted. So far in 1991, 166 people have been struck and killed by cars in Queens but only
seven drivers have been indicted. The district attorney's office had no statistics on how many indictments resulted in convictions.
When Collins went before an administrative judge for a Department of Motor Vehicles hearing to determine whether he should
lose his license, the judge ruled that Collins "violated no section of the Vehicle and Traffic Law in regard to this unfortunate
and unavoidable accident."
---- Index References ---News Subject: (Judicial (1JU36); Legal (1LE33))
Language: EN
Other Indexing: (CROWN HEIGHTS; DEPARTMENT OF MOTOR VEHICLES; HOOK CREEK BOULEVARD;
SHEARSON LEHMAN BROTHERS) (ACCUSED MAN BATTLES QUEENS; Collins; Dick Piperno; Eric Collins; Gavin;
Gavin Cato; James Kousouros; John Santucci; Legal; Richard Brown; Yosef Lifsh)
Edition: CITY
Word Count: 516
End of Document
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
2
Judge tosses murder charges in hit-run, 2009 WLNR 15673884
7/30/09 Journal News (Westchester, N.Y.) 3
2009 WLNR 15673884
Journal News, The (Westchester, NY)
Copyright © 2009 Gannett
July 30, 2009
Section: NEWS
Judge tosses murder charges in hit-run
July 30, 2009
There wasn't enough proof that Sheldene Campbell meant to kill a woman and hurt another in a hit-and-run rampage in White
Plains last year, a judge ruled yesterday as she tossed out the murder and assault charges against Campbell.
Westchester County Judge Susan Cacace's decision means that Campbell now faces two counts of leaving the scene of an
accident in the Oct. 19 incidents that left 65-year-old Marie Bucci dead and 45-year-old Roseanne Schiavone injured.
The Westchester District Attorney's Office is appealing the decision. Prosecutors can also present the case to another grand
jury. Campbell, a 37-year-old Pomona resident, remains in the county jail without bail. She is due in court Sept. 9.
In her written decision, Cacace said she reviewed the minutes of the grand jury proceeding and found that the evidence presented,
"even when viewed in light most favorable to the prosecution, is not legally sufficient to establish the element of intent."
She also said the grand jury's legal instructions, given by Assistant District Attorney Christine O'Connor, "were deficient and
misleading" because they failed to explain how to consider circumstantial evidence.
Campbell's lawyer, James Kousouros, was happy with the ruling but was far from declaring victory in the case.
"It's not over," he said. "But it's certainly a tremendous development in what's going to be a long fight."
Prosecutors contend Campbell intentionally struck and killed Bucci, who was taking a walk in her Haviland Lane neighborhood.
The fatal encounter came moments after Campbell is accused of hitting Schiavone as she walked her dog on the same road.
Witnesses helped police find Campbell a short time later as she walked near her badly damaged Acura sport utility vehicle
on South Lexington Avenue.
She had been charged with second-degree murder and attempted murder, first-degree attempted assault and leaving the scene,
all felonies; and leaving the scene and third-degree assault, both misdemeanors.
She now faces one felony and one misdemeanor count of leaving the scene. The remaining felony charge is punishable by up
to seven years in state prison.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
1
Judge tosses murder charges in hit-run, 2009 WLNR 15673884
The judge's decision left Antoinetta Martuccio, a friend of Bucci's who lives in Valhalla, in shock yesterday.
"Leaving the scene is not enough - she killed a person," she said. "I feel bad for the family."
Although Campbell was found competent to stand trial, Kousouros said his client suffers from catatonic schizophrenia and has
been medicated and under a doctor's care since her arrest.
Court documents said Campbell, who worked as a court reporter, told a detective that she had suffered a nervous breakdown and
a miscarriage. She also threatened to kill an investigator questioning her about the Oct. 19 incident, according to court papers.
Those papers said Campbell told another detective: "I was the one who was driving the car, and I hit that lady who was walking
the dog and the other person. I'm sorry. I want to apologize to them. I was having a bad day and drove right through them."
---- Index References ---Company: POMONA
News Subject: (Social Issues (1SO05); Violent Crime (1VI27); Criminal Law (1CR79); Legal (1LE33); Crime (1CR87))
Language: EN
Other Indexing: (CACACE; COURT; HAVILAND LANE; JUDGE TOSSES; POMONA; ROSEANNE SCHIAVONE;
SCHIAVONE; WESTCHESTER COUNTY JUDGE SUSAN CACACE; WHITE PLAINS) (Antoinetta Martuccio; Bucci;
Campbell; Christine O'Connor; James Kousouros; Kousouros; Marie Bucci; Prosecutors; Sheldene Campbell)
Word Count: 608
End of Document
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
2
Appeals court reinstates murder charges against Pomona..., 2010 WLNR 474409
1/8/10 Journal News (Westchester, N.Y.) (Pg. Unavail. Online)
2010 WLNR 474409
Journal News, The (Westchester, NY)
Copyright © 2010 Gannett
January 8, 2010
Section: NEWS
Appeals court reinstates murder charges against Pomona woman in White Plains double hit-and-run
January 8, 2010
A state appeals court has reinstated felony murder and assault charges against Sheldene Campbell, who killed a woman and
hurt another in White Plains during a 2008 hit-and-run rampage.
The decision reversed a ruling by Westchester County Judge Susan Cacace, who said there wasn't enough proof that Sheldene
Campbell meant to kill and hurt her victims and that a prosecutor gave flawed instructions to a grand jury.
"The People were not required to instruct the grand jury that, in order to indict the defendant, the evidence before it had to
exclude to a moral cerainty every hypopthesis but guilt," the Appellate Court said in its decision this week.
Campbell, a 38-year-old Pomona resident, is charged in back-to-back hit-and-run collisions that left 65-year-old Marie Bucci
dead and 45-year-old Roseanne Schiavone injured.
Prosecutors contend Campbell intentionally struck and killed Bucci, who was taking a walk in her Haviland Lane neighborhood.
The fatal encounter came moments after Campbell is accused of hitting Schiavone as she walked her dog on the same road.
Witnesses helped police find Campbell a short time later as she walked near her badly damaged Acura sport utility vehicle
on South Lexington Avenue.
Last year, Cacace reviewed the minutes of the grand jury proceeding and decided that the evidence presented was not legally
sufficient to establish intent. She also said the grand jury's legal instructions were deficient and misleading because they failed
to explain how to consider circumstantial evidence.
Cacace then dismissed felony counts of second-degree murder, attempted murder and first-degree attempted assault and a
misdemeanor count of third-degree assault, leaving only two counts of leaving the scene against Campbell.
The Westchester District Attorney's office successfully appealed the decision.
Campbell's lawyer, James Kousouros, said this morning that he had yet to review the Appellate Court decision, but he maintained
his client's innocence.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
1
Appeals court reinstates murder charges against Pomona..., 2010 WLNR 474409
"We believe Sheldene will be vindicated at trial on the facts when her mental conditon is amply set forth," he said.
Although Campbell was found competent to stand trial, Kousouros said his client suffers from catatonic schizophrenia and has
been medicated and under a doctor's care since her arrest.
Court documents said Campbell, who worked as a court reporter, told a detective that she had suffered a nervous breakdown and
a miscarriage. She also threatened to kill an investigator questioning her about the Oct. 19 incident, according to court papers.
Those papers said Campbell told another detective: "I was the one who was driving the car, and I hit that lady who was walking
the dog and the other person. I'm sorry. I want to apologize to them. I was having a bad day and drove right through them."
White Plains blog
For more White Plains news, check out our new local blog at http://whiteplains.lohudblogs.com
Courts blog
Read more about the law on Completely Legal: http://completelylegal.lohudblogs.com
---- Index References ---Company: POMONA
News Subject: (Social Issues (1SO05); Violent Crime (1VI27); Criminal Law (1CR79); Legal (1LE33); Crime (1CR87);
Judicial (1JU36))
Language: EN
Other Indexing: (APPELLATE COURT; COURT; HAVILAND LANE; POMONA; ROSEANNE SCHIAVONE;
SCHIAVONE; WHITE PLAINS) (Bucci; Cacace; Campbell; James Kousouros; Kousouros; Marie Bucci; Read; Sheldene;
Sheldene Campbell; Susan Cacace)
Word Count: 599
End of Document
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
2
Albanians convicted of muscling in on NY mob
1/4/06 Reuters News 22:54:03
Reuters News
Copyright © 2006 Reuters
January 4, 2006
Albanians convicted of muscling in on NY mob
NEW YORK, Jan 4 (Reuters) - A U.S. federal jury convicted six Albanians of a host of racketeering and extortion charges on
Wednesday in a case where prosecutors alleged the defendants aspired to become New York's sixth Mafia family.
But the accused leader, Alex Rudaj, and another defendant were acquitted of attempted murder, which a defense lawyer called
a victory because it would have meant a mandatory life sentence. Sentencing was set for April 7.
During the three-month trial, prosecutors alleged the Albanians attempted to muscle in on illegal gambling operations run by
the traditional mob, known as the five families of New York.
The defendants faced a total of 15 counts including illegal gambling, firearms use, brandishing a weapon, bank fraud and several
racketeering and extortion charges for operations in The Bronx, Queens and Westchester County.
Guilty verdicts were returned on nearly all of them, though Rudaj and Nardino Colotti were cleared of attempted murder, and
some extortion charges were rejected by the jury.
"That (attempted murder) was the biggest charge because it was the one with the mandatory life sentence," defense lawyer
James Kousouros, who represented Rudaj, told reporters.
Albanians in large numbers have moved into The Bronx and other New York areas over the last two decades.
((CRIME-MAFIA; Reporting by Daniel Trotta, editing by Philip Barbara, New York newsroom 1 646 223 6280))
(C) Reuters 2006. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by caching, framing or
similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters and the Reuters sphere logo are
registered trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group of companies around the world.
---- Index References ---News Subject: (Criminal Law (1CR79); Violent Crime (1VI27); Social Issues (1SO05); Legal (1LE33); Racketeer Influenced
& Corrupt Organizations (RICO) (1RI18); Crime (1CR87))
Region: (North America (1NO39); Albania (1AL95); New York (1NE72); USA (1US73); Americas (1AM92); Southern Europe
(1SO59); Europe (1EU83); Eastern Europe (1EA48))
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
1
Albanians convicted of muscling in on NY mob
Language: EN
Other Indexing: (Albanians; Alex Rudaj; Daniel Trotta; Guilty; James Kousouros; Nardino; Philip Barbara; Republication;
Rudaj)
Word Count: 351
End of Document
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
2
Psych eval for Pomona woman accused in White Plains..., 2008 WLNR 26503936
11/22/08 Journal News (Westchester, N.Y.) A3
2008 WLNR 26503936
Journal News, The (Westchester, NY)
Copyright © 2008 Gannett
November 22, 2008
Section: NEWS
Psych eval for Pomona woman accused in White Plains hit-and-run
November 22, 2008
WHITE PLAINS - A Pomona woman accused of leaving the scene of a fatal hit-and-run accident in White Plains will undergo
psychiatric testing to determine her competence.
City Judge Eric Press yesterday ordered the evaluation at the request of Sheldene Campbell's lawyer.
STAFF
Campbell, 37, is charged with leaving the scene, a felony, in the Oct. 19 death of 65-year-old Marie Bucci. Police say Bucci
was taking a Sunday morning walk in her Havilands Lane neighborhood when she was struck and killed by Campbell's Acura
sport utility vehicle. Moments earlier, Campbell allegedly hit a 45-year-old woman and her dog in the same road, injuring both,
police said.
She did not stop in either incident, police said.
In court yesterday, defense attorney Kathleen Keaton, standing in for Campbell's lawyer, James Kousouros, requested the
evaluation with no objection from Assistant Westchester County District Attorney John Thomas.
The case was adjourned until Dec. 12.
In a phone interview, Kousouros, who could not be in court because he is awaiting a jury verdict in a Bronx trial, said that,
in addition to the testing by psychiatrists at the Westchester County jail, he will have Campbell examined by an independent
psychiatrist.
"It's very important for all sides to (have) an understanding of her psychiatric condition," he said, saying that Campbell had been
hospitalized following her arrest in a bizarre driving incident in New Jersey a few weeks before she was arrested in White Plains.
Campbell faces multiple charges in the New Jersey incident, in which she was accused of driving over a lawn, almost hitting
a jogger, abandoning her 10-year-old son and assaulting a police officer. During that incident, Woodcliff, N.J., police said
Campbell's 3-year-old daughter was sitting in the car without a child seat or seat belt.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
1
Psych eval for Pomona woman accused in White Plains..., 2008 WLNR 26503936
Campbell spent a week in the Bergen Regional Medical Center in Paramus, N.J., after her arrest in that case.
She is in the psychiatric unit of the Westchester County jail, where she is held on $200,000 bail.
Reach Richard Liebson at [email protected] or 914-694-3534.
---- Index References ---Company: BERGEN REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER
Region: (North America (1NO39); New Jersey (1NE70); Americas (1AM92); USA (1US73))
Language: EN
Other Indexing: (BERGEN REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER; HAVILANDS LANE; PSYCH; STAFF) (Bucci; Campbell;
Eric Press; James Kousouros; John Thomas; Kathleen Keaton; Kousouros; Marie Bucci; Reach Richard Liebson; Sheldene
Campbell)
Edition: GWPR
Word Count: 421
End of Document
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
2
VINNY FACES FEDS' BIG VIG IN MOB CASE, 2006 WLNR 22227675
10/2/06 N.Y. Daily News 1
2006 WLNR 22227675
New York Daily News
Copyright © 2006 Daily News, L.P.
October 2, 2006
Section: SUBURBAN
VINNY FACES FEDS' BIG VIG IN MOB CASE
JOHN MARZULLI DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
VINCENT (VINNY GORGEOUS) Basciano is going to have to dig deep into the pockets of his custom-made suits to pay the
$11.4 million forfeiture the feds say he earned as a former boss in the Bonanno crime family.
The mammoth tab was calculated by Assistant Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Greg Andres, who successfully prosecuted Basciano
for racketeering this year.
"During his more than 20-year association in the Bonanno family, the defendant Basciano profited from revenues of illegal
gambling, loansharking, extortion and from tribute money paid," Andres said in court papers.
The dapper gangster from the Bronx waived his right to have the jury decide how much he should fork over to the government,
so now the decision falls to Federal Judge Nicholas Garaufis.
It's unclear whether defense lawyers are going to seek a new judge to preside over Basciano's mounting legal troubles, which
include an upcoming trial on charges he plotted to kill Andres, a murder case in which he's eligible for the death penalty and
an investigation of an alleged jailhouse plot to kill Garaufis and three cooperating witnesses.
Former capo Dominick Cicale, who made Basciano's alleged hit list, testified that his boss grossed $100,000 a week in illegal
numbers rackets, clearing about $10,000 in weekly profits.
Basciano pulled in nearly $500,000 a year in Joker Poker cash and about $200,000 in tribute payments from mob soldiers and
associates since he became a capo, according to Cicale.
The convicted mobster's attorney said there was no way his client could find $11.4 million.
"The notion that Mr. Basciano is in a position to forfeit such a sum is absurd. This figure is the government's exaggerated
extrapolation, which we would submit is unsupportable," said defense lawyer James Kousouros.
If Basciano can't write a check for the forfeiture amount, the feds will go after whatever businesses, homes, land, vehicles and
other property they can tie to him.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
1
VINNY FACES FEDS' BIG VIG IN MOB CASE, 2006 WLNR 22227675
Since his arrest in 2003, Basciano would have made the late mafioso John Gotti proud of the way he's managed to appear in
court looking tanned, coiffed and supremely confident.
But a letter written from jail to his girlfriend, made public by the feds last month, indicates it may be an illusion.
"I'm numb," Basciano wrote on the eve of his trial. "But nobody would ever be able to tell. I'm always well-groomed, and I
always have a smile on my face."
[email protected]
---- Index References ---News Subject: (Legal (1LE33); Judicial (1JU36); Police (1PO98))
Region: (USA (1US73); Americas (1AM92); North America (1NO39); New York (1NE72))
Language: EN
Other Indexing: (ASSISTANT BROOKLYN U S; BASCIANO; MOB; VIG) (Andres; Basciano; Dominick Cicale; Garaufis;
Greg Andres; James Kousouros.; John Gotti; Nicholas Garaufis.; VINNY FACES)
Keywords: BROOKLYN; VINCENT BASCIANO; ORGANIZED CRIME; LAWSUIT
Edition: SPORTS FINAL
Word Count: 482
End of Document
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
2
Making stink over cell, 2006 WLNR 14935427
8/29/06 Newsday A18
2006 WLNR 14935427
Newsday (USA)
Copyright © 2006 Newsday, Inc.
August 29, 2006
Section: NEWS
Making stink over cell
ANTHONY M. DESTEFANO. STAFF WRITER
He may be "Gorgeous," but reputed Bonanno crime family mobster Vincent Basciano's cell was anything but that, his attorney
said yesterday.
Basciano, 45, known as "Vinny Gorgeous," found himself in a cell smeared with feces and urine when he was moved into
solitary confinement, James Kousouros said in federal court in Brooklyn.
"The conditions were unbearable," Kousouros told Judge Nicholas Garaufis during a special hearing about Basciano's
confinement. Kousouros said Basciano was first told to clean up the mess himself with cleanser but that later an orderly at the
federal detention center in Manhattan was assigned the task. The soiling of the cell was done by a previous inmate who had
psychological problems, Kousouros said.
During the hearing, Assistant U.S. Attorney Winston Chan disclosed that the government is still proceeding with a probe
into allegations that prompted officials to put Basciano into solitary confinement in late July. Garaufis explained that the
investigation related to allegations of threats. Out of concern for the security of others, Garaufis sealed the courtroom while he,
Chan, Kousouros and other defense attorneys discussed the scope of the government investigation.
After unsealing the courtroom, Garaufis asked that federal detention center officials put Basciano in a clean cell but than
determined that move was unnecessary because the cleanup had already been done.
Basciano, known for his good looks and jocular attitude in court, was believed by police to have briefly taken over as acting
boss of the Bonanno crime family in early 2004 when then-boss Joseph Massino was himself in prison.
Basciano has been in the detention center since November 2004 when he was indicted on federal racketeering charges and
held without bail. He was charged with conspiring to kill aspiring mobster Randolph Pizzolo. Basciano could face the death
penalty. A trial date hasn't been set.
Earlier this year, Basciano was convicted of racketeering in a separate federal case. But he received a mistrial on other murder
conspiracy charges when jurors couldn't unanimously agree on a verdict. A second trial is expected to begin in December.
Since being placed in solitary confinement, Basciano hasn't been allowed to receive visits from his family, Kousouros said.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
1
Making stink over cell, 2006 WLNR 14935427
While detention center officials initially even barred Basciano from seeing his lawyers, they have since relented and have given
him access to legal counsel. Basciano also has access to reading material and a radio, said sources familiar with the case.
---- Index References ---News Subject: (Legal (1LE33); Judicial (1JU36); Prisons (1PR87))
Industry: (Resorts (1RE44))
Region: (USA (1US73); Americas (1AM92); North America (1NO39); New York (1NE72))
Language: EN
Other Indexing: (ASSISTANT; CHAN; US ATTORNEY WINSTON CHAN) (Basciano; Garaufis; James Kousouros; Joseph
Massino; Kousouros; Making; Nicholas Garaufis; Randolph Pizzolo; Vincent Basciano)
Keywords: PRISON.ORGANIZED CRIME.
Edition: CITY
Word Count: 507
End of Document
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
2
Basciano prosecutors: Keep judge, 2006 WLNR 18989674
11/2/06 Newsday A14
2006 WLNR 18989674
Newsday (USA)
Copyright © 2006 Newsday, Inc.
November 2, 2006
Section: NEWS
Basciano prosecutors: Keep judge
ANTHONY M. DESTEFANO. STAFF WRITER
A suspected hit list put together by a reputed Bonanno crime family captain that contained the name of a federal judge apparently
didn't mature into a concrete murder plot, but is still considered a "serious matter" by investigators, according to papers filed
yesterday by the Brooklyn U.S. attorney's office.
Prosecutors filed the papers in an effort to defeat an attempt by Vincent Basciano, the Bronx hair salon owner known as "Vinny
Gorgeous," to get Brooklyn federal court Judge Nicholas Garaufis to drop the case because the jurist's name was on the list.
Prosecutors have said Basciano used the list to solicit the murder of the judge, a prosecutor and three witnesses.
Basciano, 46, has argued in his own court papers that he gave the list containing Garaufis' name, as well as that of prosecutor
Greg Andres, to a fellow inmate in a federal jail to carry out a Santeria-like rite of assuring himself good luck during his
racketeering murder trial earlier this year.
Basciano was convicted of racketeering but got a mistrial on murder charges because the jury was deadlocked. He faces a
retrial next year.
The inclusion of Garaufis' name on the list raises a question of the judge's impartiality because the matter was under investigation
as a possible murder plot, Basciano said in his court papers.
However, federal prosecutors now insist that while the appearance of the judge's name clearly reflects Basciano's "animus,"
public disclosure of the list and harsh confinement measures imposed on the defendant have undercut any threat.
Garaufis is to decide on Basciano's request.
Prosecutors also disclosed transcripts of telephone calls Basciano had with his wife and girlfriend, which investigators insist
show that Basciano was trying for months to get a new judge.
"I have to pull all these rabbits out of my hat for this one," Basciano said to his wife, Angela, in one call. He lamented that
Garaufis was "predisposed" against him.
In a June call with a girlfriend, Basciano said "the prosecutor and the judge work hand in hand."
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
1
Basciano prosecutors: Keep judge, 2006 WLNR 18989674
"This is beyond belief," said defense attorney James Kousouros yesterday.
"What they are doing is trying to have it both ways," said Kousouros, adding that the government was giving strained
interpretations to Basciano's conversations.
He said the government used the list to justify harsh confinement measures for Basciano.
---- Index References ---News Subject: (Violent Crime (1VI27); Crime (1CR87); Legal (1LE33); Social Issues (1SO05); Criminal Law (1CR79);
Economics & Trade (1EC26))
Region: (USA (1US73); Americas (1AM92); North America (1NO39); New York (1NE72))
Language: EN
Other Indexing: (BRONX; VINNY GORGEOUS) (Angela; Basciano; Garaufis; Greg Andres; James Kousouros; Kousouros;
Nicholas Garaufis; Vincent Basciano)
Keywords: MURDER.ORGANIZED CRIME.JUDGE.
Edition: CITY
Word Count: 471
End of Document
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
2
Inmate: Mob captain hit list a set-up, 2007 WLNR 409465
1/9/07 Newsday A18
2007 WLNR 409465
Newsday (USA)
Copyright © 2007 Newsday, Inc.
January 9, 2007
Section: NEWS
Inmate: Mob captain hit list a set-up
ANTHONY M. DESTEFANO. STAFF WRITER
A jail inmate in Manhattan has alleged that other prisoners concocted a scheme to falsely link reputed Bonanno crime family
captain Vincent Basciano to a "hit" list targeting a judge and prosecutor, according to papers filed in Brooklyn federal court.
The inmate, identified in the papers as Danny Reyes, said two other inmates at the federal Metropolitan Correctional Center
cooked up the plan to plant the false report about Basciano paying for murders by using jail commissary funds as a way of
currying favor with the government.
Basciano, known as "Vinny Gorgeous," has been held in solitary confinement since July. By then, Brooklyn federal prosecutors
reported they received information that Basciano, who is awaiting retrial on racketeering charges, came up with a list of five
names that included federal judge Nicholas Garaufis, assistant U.S. Attorney Greg Andres and three witnesses.
Federal prosecutors have stated in earlier court filings that the list was of people Basciano wanted killed. But defense attorney
James Kousouros stated during a court hearing that the list was part of a Santeria ritual - a Caribbean religion - that Basciano
was told he should perform to get good luck in his case.
Kousouros said the latest filing, done late Friday, is aimed at getting Basciano released from solitary. The papers add a new
spin to an already Byzantine description of events.
The court papers state that Reyes reported that he and two other inmates ran a poker game at the correctional center in which
certain selected inmates were allowed to play. One of the inmates running the game was paid with commissary items by those
who lost at the table, according to the court papers.
It was during the poker game that another inmate told Basciano that he had a relative who could lift a spell from Basciano,
the court papers stated.
Reyes added that two inmates planned to set up Basciano and another inmate named in the papers as Peter Lioumis with the
hit list allegation, according to the court papers.
Reyes told defense attorneys that the two inmates tried to recruit him into the plot but that he refused, court papers said.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
1
Inmate: Mob captain hit list a set-up, 2007 WLNR 409465
Reyes said that after he was sentenced in November on drug charges, he refused to cooperate with the two prosecutors trying
to make a case against Basciano and Lioumis, according to court filings.
Dave Touger, the attorney for Lioumis, whose name is actually spelled Liounis, said his client said the alleged plot was "idiocy."
Reyes' attorney couldn't be reached.
---- Index References ---News Subject: (Legal (1LE33); Judicial (1JU36); Prisons (1PR87))
Region: (USA (1US73); Americas (1AM92); North America (1NO39); New York (1NE72))
Language: EN
Other Indexing: (FEDERAL METROPOLITAN CORRECTIONAL; SANTERIA) (Basciano; Danny Reyes; Dave Touger;
Greg Andres; Inmate: Mob; James Kousouros; Kousouros; Lioumis; Nicholas Garaufis; Peter Lioumis; Reyes; Vincent
Basciano; Vinny Gorgeous)
Keywords: MANHATTAN.PRISON.ORGANIZED CRIME.
Edition: CITY
Word Count: 499
End of Document
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
2
Judge collars, ties up gangster in his court, 2007 WLNR 13847419
7/20/07 Newsday A18
2007 WLNR 13847419
Newsday (USA)
Copyright © 2007 Newsday, Inc.
July 20, 2007
Section: NEWS
Judge collars, ties up gangster in his court
ANTHONY M. DESTEFANO. [email protected]
For a brief moment yesterday, a Brooklyn courtroom was a "Bonanno Republic" fitting room.
Dapper gangster Vincent Basciano fumed when he wasn't provided with a dress shirt to go with the suit he wears each day
to his federal racketeering trial.
For a man who appears to spend hours getting his gray pompadour hair just right, Basciano, a reputed Bonanno crime family
acting boss, suffered the indignity of showing up with only a white T-shirt under his suit jacket and no tie.
To the rescue came Judge Nicholas Garaufis, who became a short-order haberdasher to salve Basciano's sartorial disgrace.
"It seems Mr. Basciano doesn't have a shirt," said Garaufis.
"I don't know what happened," said Basciano, outside the presence of the jury. "They also didn't give me a razor."
After Basciano, 46, said he felt uncomfortable being dressed so shabbily, Garaufis offered to help.
"What size do you wear?" the judge asked Basciano.
"Seventeen neck," answered Basciano, on trial for racketeering, murder and other charges.
Garaufis got an aide to bring out a blue Oxford shirt and a yellow tie.
"I'm not sure if it's color coordinated, Mr. Basciano, but actually green and blue go together these days," said Garaufis, refering
to Basciano's suit jacket.
"All right," responded Basciano.
"Yellow tie, blue shirt, your size somewhat," observed Garaufis.
"I would do my shopping here," answered Basciano, "Thank you very much."
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
1
Judge collars, ties up gangster in his court, 2007 WLNR 13847419
"We have limited availability," Garaufis said wryly.
Defense attorney James Kousouros then helped Basciano adjust his tie.
"I thought back to 'My Cousin Vinny,'" said one laughing attorney, referring to the 1992 film in which actor Joe Pesci, playing
a lawyer, had to get second-hand clothing to replace a ruined suit.
---- Index References ---News Subject: (Violent Crime (1VI27); Crime (1CR87); Social Issues (1SO05))
Language: EN
Other Indexing: (BROOKLYN; YELLOW) (Basciano; Dapper; Defense; Garaufis; James Kousouros; Joe Pesci; Nicholas
Garaufis; Seventeen; Vincent Basciano)
Keywords: BROOKLYN.ORGANIZED CRIME.TRIAL.RACKETEERING.
Edition: CITY
Word Count: 344
End of Document
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
2
Mob boss suspect denied bail, 2004 WLNR 23057735
12/8/04 Journal News (Westchester, N.Y.) B1
2004 WLNR 23057735
Journal News, The (Westchester, NY)
Copyright © 2004 Gannett
December 8, 2004
Section: News
Mob boss suspect denied bail
December 8, 2004
Yorktown man, 37, called violent don of Albanian crime ring
Timothy O'Connor
The Journal News
The Journal News
NEW YORK - It isn't easy to get a table at Rao's, the legendary East Harlem Italian restaurant. There are only 10 tables in the
joint where Woody Allen, Donald Trump, Robert De Niro and Al Pacino often dine.
But it's not just the famous and accomplished who want to eat there. Rao's has long been a draw for the notorious and feared,
the kingpins of organized crime.
That was the case with Yorktown's Alex Rudaj, federal prosecutors said. Rudaj is accused in a groundbreaking federal indictment
of being the don of an Albanian-led organized-crime crew that ran traditional Mafia families out of Astoria, Queens, as part of
their ruthless and violent campaign to take over the mob's gambling turf in the past decade.
But despite muscling the Gambinos out and persuading the Luccheses to walk away from the Queens gambling business, Rudaj
wasn't getting the seatings he wanted at the Harlem eatery, a federal prosecutor said at a bail hearing yesterday.
So Rudaj showed up at Rao's one night with 20 thugs and demanded regular seating at deceased Mafia kingpin John Gotti's
former table.
"He got that seating," Assistant U.S. attorney Timothy Treanor said.
Rudaj, 37, was denied bail yesterday by U.S. District Judge Denise Cote, despite an offer of seven friends and relatives to put
up homes worth nearly $4 million to secure his release. The government opposed the bail request, saying Rudaj was a violent
man who might flee to his native Montenegro if freed.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
1
Mob boss suspect denied bail, 2004 WLNR 23057735
Rudaj's lawyer, James Kousouros, countered that his client was a hardworking man, devoted to his wife and three children, who
had held a series of legitimate jobs since immigrating to the United States more than a decade ago.
In a courtroom packed with Rudaj's friends and family, Kousouros called the Rao's anecdote "a piece of fluff."
He said it was inconceivable to think that a small group of Albanians could muscle out two Mafia crime families that have
been around "for a hundred years." But federal prosecutors described Rudaj and his cohorts as fearless and violent in their
push for control.
"These individuals are not afraid of organized-crime members," Treanor said. "Frankly, it's hard to say they're afraid of anyone."
Rudaj was the triggerman in a 1993 shooting of another organized-crime figure after a high-speed chase in the Bronx,
prosecutors said. Rudaj hung out the sunroof of a car and fired at Guy Peduto as he fled in another car from Rudaj and three
others, Treanor said yesterday.
An alleged Rudaj associate was convicted in state court of trying to kill Peduto, a carjacker, but Treanor said more than one
person was involved.
Kousouros said he expected Peduto to be a witness for the government in the federal case.
Reach Timothy O'Connor at [email protected] or 914-694-3523.
---- Index References ---Company: JOURNAL NEWS
News Subject: (Social Issues (1SO05); Crime (1CR87); Racketeer Influenced & Corrupt Organizations (RICO) (1RI18))
Region: (North America (1NO39); New York (1NE72); Americas (1AM92); USA (1US73))
Language: EN
Other Indexing: (GAMBINOS; JOURNAL NEWS; US DISTRICT) (Al Pacino; Denise Cote; Donald Trump; Frankly; Guy
Peduto; James Kousouros; John Gotti; Kousouros; Peduto; Reach Timothy O'Connor; Robert De; Timothy O'Connor; Timothy
Treanor; Treanor; Yorktown)
Word Count: 577
End of Document
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
2
Reputed mob boss wants judge off case, 2006 WLNR 17664867
10/12/06 Newsday A20
2006 WLNR 17664867
Newsday (USA)
Copyright © 2006 Newsday, Inc.
October 12, 2006
Section: NEWS
Reputed mob boss wants judge off case
ANTHONY M. DESTEFANO. STAFF WRITER
A reputed Bonanno crime captain who said he tried to invoke Santeria, a mix of religion and magic, to get a good result at his
recent trial is asking the judge in the case to step aside.
Vincent Basciano, 46, the former Bronx beauty salon owner known as "Vinny Gorgeous," is requesting that Judge Nicholas
Garaufis bow out to avoid any question about the court's impartiality because the judge's name appeared on an alleged homicidal
wish list federal prosecutors said Basciano authored.
Garaufis' name was one of four mentioned on a list Basciano gave to another inmate at the federal Metropolitan Correction
Center in Manhattan. Prosecutors have alleged the list was part of Basciano's plan to solicit murders of not only Garaufis but
also of Brooklyn assistant U.S. attorney Greg Andres and two cooperating mob turncoats.
However, in court papers filed by his attorneys, Basciano said the list was written at the suggestion of a jail inmate as a way
for Basciano to create good luck during his trial earlier this year on racketeering.
The inmate said that, under the Caribbean-based Santeria custom, Basciano could assure a good result by putting the list in his
own shoe and stomping on it a number of times, court papers stated.
There was also another list with the names of defense attorneys, according to Basciano's court filings.
Basciano was convicted of some racketeering offenses in March but received a mistrial on racketeering murder charges.
A new trial is expected later this year. Basciano also faces a trial next year on a different racketeering case in which prosecutors
may seek the death penalty.
Federal prosecutors have said that the list was under investigation in a continuing probe that began in June, but which first
became public in August.
Basciano's attorneys are invoking a federal law that governs disqualification of judges.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
1
Reputed mob boss wants judge off case, 2006 WLNR 17664867
The attorneys have argued in court papers that while they aren't saying Garaufis has shown actual bias or prejudice against
Basciano, the allegation of the murder plot has created a situation in which the judge's impartiality might be questioned.
Defense attorney James Kousouros said Basciano has been in strict solitary confinement since the hit list allegation surfaced
and has been denied family visits.
The conditions have made it difficult for Basciano to confer with his lawyers, said Kousouros in an interview.
---- Index References ---News Subject: (Legal (1LE33); Economics & Trade (1EC26))
Region: (USA (1US73); Americas (1AM92); North America (1NO39); New York (1NE72))
Language: EN
Other Indexing: (BASCIANO; BRONX; BROOKLYN; FEDERAL METROPOLITAN CORRECTION CENTER) (Basciano;
Garaufis; Greg Andres; James Kousouros; Kousouros; Nicholas Garaufis; Santeria; Vincent Basciano; Vinny Gorgeous)
Keywords: ORGANIZED CRIME.TRIAL.
Edition: CITY HOME
Word Count: 473
End of Document
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
2
Call for death of mobster, 2007 WLNR 6340516
4/3/07 Newsday A04
2007 WLNR 6340516
Newsday (USA)
Copyright © 2007 Newsday, Inc.
April 3, 2007
Section: NEWS
Call for death of mobster
ANTHONY M. DESTEFANO. [email protected]
The news wasn't pretty for the gangster known as "Vinny Gorgeous."
U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has decided to seek the death penalty against Vincent Basciano, the reputed Bonanno
crime family captain, officials said yesterday.
Basciano, 46, whose good looks and career as a hair salon owner got him his moniker, is facing the death penalty on charges
he orchestrated the murder of a mob associate and solicited a plan to kill a Brooklyn federal prosecutor. If convicted and
given capital punishment by a jury, Basciano would be the first major New York mobster to face execution since Leo "Lepke"
Buchalter was electrocuted in 1944.
News of Gonzales' decision began to leak out during the weekend and yesterday federal prosecutors in Brooklyn filed a short
letter in court disclosing the decision. The letter said Gonzales decided not to seek the death penalty against reputed Bonanno
street boss Michael Mancuso and his reputed mob confederates Anthony Indelicato, Anthony Aiello and Anthony Donato. "We
are very dismayed by the finding of the attorney general," said Basciano's defense attorney James Kousouros of Kew Gardens.
"We don't think it [capital punishment] is warranted."
Any trial of Basciano on the capital charge is some time away. He is slated for retrial this year on different racketeering charges,
including murder and conspiracy. A jury deadlocked in the last trial, prompting a mistrial last year. He would face the capital
trial for the murder of mob associate Randolph Pizzolo and the solicitation of the murder of assistant U.S. Attorney Greg Andres,
who was never harmed.
Basciano, also known as "Vinny from the Bronx," has been in custody since late 2004. It was around that time, prosecutors
contend, that Basciano talked with former Bonanno boss Joseph Massino in jail about killing Andres. Massino, already convicted
of racketeering in July 2004, was secretly trying to get a deal as a cooperating witness for the FBI and started to tape-record
Basciano in jail holding cells. Snippets of the tape disclosed in various court filings and the news media revealed that Basciano
and his mentor Massino were talking about Andres but when Massino pressed the issue Basciano was heard telling the mob
boss to "forget" about the Andres murder idea.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
1
Call for death of mobster, 2007 WLNR 6340516
Pizzolo, an aspiring mobster whose murder is also part of the capital charges, was killed in December 2004, allegedly at
Basciano's instigation, said prosecutors. Basciano told Massino he had Pizzolo, 43, killed because Pizzolo was a "dangerous
kid," according to court papers.
The death penalty recommendation is the latest twist in Basciano's byzantine saga. Last year, already under suspicion for the
Andres hit plot, Basciano compiled a "hit list" during his racketeering trial that included the names of Andres, Judge Nicholas
Garaufis and three witnesses, prosecutors said. But Basciano has said the list was part of a Santeria ritual, designed to create
good luck during the trial.
---- Index References ---News Subject: (Violent Crime (1VI27); Crime (1CR87); Legal (1LE33); Judicial (1JU36); Social Issues (1SO05); Criminal
Law (1CR79); Government Litigation (1GO18))
Region: (USA (1US73); Americas (1AM92); North America (1NO39); New York (1NE72))
Language: EN
Other Indexing: (BONANNO; FBI; PIZZOLO; RANDOLPH PIZZOLO; SANTERIA) (Alberto Gonzales; Andres; Anthony
Aiello; Anthony Donato; Anthony Indelicato; Basciano; Gonzales; Greg Andres; James Kousouros; Joseph Massino; Massino;
Michael Mancuso; Nicholas Garaufis; Vincent Basciano)
Keywords: BROOKLYN.DEATH PENALTY.MURDER.ORGANIZED CRIME.
Edition: CITY
Word Count: 592
End of Document
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
2
Testimony on mob hit, 2007 WLNR 12164032
6/28/07 Newsday A17
2007 WLNR 12164032
Newsday (USA)
Copyright © 2007 Newsday, Inc.
June 28, 2007
Section: NEWS
Testimony on mob hit
ANTHONY M. DESTEFANO. [email protected]
In his second day on the witness stand in federal court in Brooklyn yesterday, a mob turncoat implicated two high-ranking
Bonanno crime family bosses in the November 2004 murder of an associate.
Dominick Cicale, 40, once an acting captain in the Bonanno family, testified that acting crime family bosses Vincent Basciano
and Michael Mancuso, both of the Bronx, ordered that Randolph Pizzolo be killed.
During questioning by Assistant U.S. Attorney John Buretta, Cicale told jurors in Basciano's racketeering trial that Pizzolo was
marked for death because his indiscreet talk and actions had angered Basciano. Cicale said Basciano ordered the hit because
he wanted to show other mobsters what would happen if someone got out of line.
According to Cicale, Basciano was angered that Pizzolo was "running his mouth a lot," flashing a gun and doing shoddy
construction work. Cicale said at one point that he persuaded Basciano not to have Pizzolo killed if Pizzolo would move to
Florida. But after Pizzolo refused to move and showed up at another mobster's restaurant with a gun, an angry Basciano said
he wanted Pizzolo dead, Cicale testified.
"I set the murder up," said Cicale, who said he liked Pizzolo.
Pizzolo was shot dead in Greenpoint after Basciano had been arrested on racketeering charges. Cicale said that Mancuso, who
took over as acting Bonanno boss after Basciano's arrest, ratified the hit contract on Pizzolo and that Bonanno soldier Anthony
Aiello of Middle Village carried out the hit.
"Nothing skips a beat out here," was Basciano's attitude of business as usual in the crime family when it came to homicides,
testified Cicale, who has cooperated with the government since early 2006.
Basciano, 47, is being retried for the racketeering killing of Frank Santoro in the Bronx in February 2001. An earlier case ended
in a hung jury. He is scheduled to be tried for the Pizzolo slaying in 2008 and faces the death penalty. Mancuso and Aiello face
a separate trial on various racketeering charges, including the Pizzolo homicide.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
1
Testimony on mob hit, 2007 WLNR 12164032
During cross-examination by defense attorney James Kousouros of Kew Gardens, Cicale admitted that he had lied at times to
avoid going to jail. Cicale also admitted carrying out scams, including soliciting the forgery of his grandmother's signature on
a mortgage document for cash to fund his business. The 94-year-old woman's home is now in foreclosure, Cicale said.
---- Index References ---News Subject: (Violent Crime (1VI27); Crime (1CR87); Legal (1LE33); Social Issues (1SO05); Criminal Law (1CR79))
Region: (USA (1US73); Americas (1AM92); North America (1NO39); New York (1NE72))
Language: EN
Other Indexing: (BONANNO; KEW GARDENS) (Aiello; Anthony Aiello; Basciano; Cicale; Dominick Cicale; Frank Santoro;
James Kousouros; John Buretta; Mancuso; Michael Mancuso; Pizzolo; Randolph Pizzolo; Testimony; Vincent Basciano)
Keywords: BROOKLYN.MURDER.ORGANIZED CRIME.TRIAL.
Edition: CITY
Word Count: 480
End of Document
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
2
Driver indicted in White Plains death, 2009 WLNR 17150424
2/28/09 Journal News (Westchester, N.Y.) A1
2009 WLNR 17150424
Journal News, The (Westchester, NY)
Copyright © 2009 Gannett
February 28, 2009
Section: NEWS
Driver indicted in White Plains death
February 28, 2009
A Westchester County grand jury voted to indict a Pomona woman on felony charges in the hit-and-run death of a White Plains
woman that police said occurred moments after the driver left the scene of another hit-and-run incident.
Sheldene Campbell, 37, showed no reaction when news of the grand jury vote was announced yesterday in White Plains City
Court by Assistant District Attorney Christine O'Connor. Upon hearing of the indictment, City Court Judge Eric Press adjourned
the case, which will now move to County Court.
staff
A spokesman for the county District Attorney's Office confirmed that the grand jury voted to charge Campbell with felonies
on Thursday. The indictment, which has not yet been unsealed, will be handed up next week, spokesman Lucien Chalfen said.
Campbell will most likely be arraigned on the new charges by mid-March, he said.
Campbell was arrested Oct. 19. White Plains police said she did not stop her Acura sport utility vehicle after hitting a 45-yearold woman who was walking her dog on Havilands Lane that morning. The woman's leg was broken and her pet was injured.
Moments later, Campbell struck and killed Marie Bucci, 65, who was taking her daily walk on the same road, police said.
Campbell drove off but was stopped a few blocks away by police, who were given a description of the car by witnesses. She
was charged with leaving the scene of an accident, a felony.
Campbell, a court reporter for the Workers Compensation Board in New York City, is being held on $200,000 bail at the county
jail. Although she was found competent to stand trial at the conclusion of a hearing this month, her lawyer, James Kousouros,
said Campbell is "suffering from a psychiatric disease and is being medicated and treated by physicians at the jail."
"We're obviously distraught by the indictment," he said. "We believe she was debilitated by a serious mental illness at the time
of the incident."
Almost three weeks before her arrest in White Plains, Campbell led police in Woodcliff Lake, N.J., on a chase after she was
accused of driving over a lawn and narrowly missing a jogger, abandoning her 10-year-old son and assaulting a police officer.
In that incident, police said she drove with her 3-year-old daughter, who was sitting in the car without a car seat or seat belt.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
1
Driver indicted in White Plains death, 2009 WLNR 17150424
In connection with that incident, Campbell faces charges of driving under the influence of drugs, endangering the welfare of a
child, assaulting a police officer and various traffic infractions. Old Tappan, N.J., police have an arrest warrant for Campbell
on charges of abandoning her young son in a McDonald's restaurant there.
After her arrest in New Jersey, Campbell was held for psychiatric observation at Bergen Regional Medical Center in Paramus,
N.J., and released after a week.
Reach Richard Liebson at [email protected] or 914-694-3534.
---- Index References ---Company: BERGEN REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER
Language: EN
Other Indexing: (BERGEN REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER; CITY COURT; WHITE PLAINS; WORKERS
COMPENSATION BOARD) (Campbell; Christine O'Connor; Eric Press; James Kousouros; Lucien Chalfen; Marie Bucci;
Reach Richard Liebson; Sheldene Campbell)
Edition: GWPR-Westchester and Putnam and Rockland
Word Count: 571
End of Document
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
2
WIFE IN BURB SHOOTING DIES. HUSBAND DESCRIBES..., 2006 WLNR 22252461
11/21/06 N.Y. Daily News 4
2006 WLNR 22252461
New York Daily News
Copyright © 2006 Daily News, L.P.
November 21, 2006
Section: NEWS
WIFE IN BURB SHOOTING DIES. HUSBAND DESCRIBES SUSPECT, BUT COPS SAY NO ONE RULED OUT
TAMER EL-GHOBASHY, JESS WISLOSKI and DAVE GOLDINER DAILY NEWS
STAFF WRITERS With Mike Jaccarino, Noah Fowle, Jose Martinez and Rachel Scheier
THE WIFE of a crooked lawyer from Bill and Hillary Clinton's street in Chappaqua died yesterday after being shot in the head
- leaving investigators with her wounded husband as the lone witness to the bizarre roadside shooting.
And although cops in Westchester County are treating Carlos Perez-Olivo as a victim, they pointedly add that no one has been
ruled out as a suspect.
Perez-Olivo told cops that a Hispanic man driving a dark sedan - possibly a Toyota Camry - forced them off Saw Mill River
Road in Millwood Saturday night, a few miles from their home.
He said the gunman somehow opened the back door of their 2003 Mitsubishi Montero, and after a struggle, shot both of them
- hitting him in the abdomen and his wife in the head.
The wounded lawyer managed to call 911 as he drove the car to nearby Northern Westchester Hospital in Mount Kisco - but
his wife, Peggy Perez-Olivo, died yesterday.
Law enforcement sources said the husband's story is being examined for any inconsistencies, noting that the doors should have
been locked when the gunman approached. The car model Perez-Olivo was driving is believed to have a feature that keeps the
doors locked while the auto is in gear.
New Castle Police Detective Sgt. Marc Simmons said investigators are looking at video surveillance of a Mobil gas station near
the shooting scene, and they released a sketch of the shooter based on the husband's description.
When asked if the husband may have been involved in the shooting, Simmons said, "We're treating him like a shooting victim."
"We haven't ruled anyone in or anyone out," he added.
Cops refused to disclose whether they have recovered a gun or shell casings at the crime scene on Saw Mill River Road. Carlos
Perez-Olivo does not have a gun permit, Westchester County officials said.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
1
WIFE IN BURB SHOOTING DIES. HUSBAND DESCRIBES..., 2006 WLNR 22252461
Cops said Perez-Olivo told them he didn't know the attacker and was mum on anyone who might want to hurt him.
But because he was disbarred in August for stealing from clients, investigators are combing through his past to see if an aggrieved
former client may have been involved.
Perez-Olivo once represented a rogue's gallery of murder suspects and other violent felons, and rarely made a good impression
on juries.
Even before arriving in New York, he was barred from practicing by a legal panel in Puerto Rico for mishandling a $25,000
payment from a client.
Peggy Perez-Olivo, 55, had an entirely different reputation at Chappaqua's Douglas Graffin Elementary School, where she was
a popular teaching assistant.
Streams of parents voiced concern for her as they dropped off kids in the morning.
"My kids are upset; they loved her," said Donna Kerester, a mom of two. "Honestly, in this community, it's shocking. It's a
cliché but it's a shock."
At the Robert E. Bell Middle School in Chappaqua, dozens of children who had been taught by Peggy Perez-Olivo in years
past signed a giant sympathy card.
The mood turned even more grim by afternoon when officials discovered that their colleague had died.
"She was very warm and caring and capable in her relationships with children," said Douglas Graffin's Principal Michael Kirsch.
"It's very difficult."
The shocking crime shattered the peace of one of the nation's wealthiest hamlets and even Westchester's most famous couple
were touched by the crime.
"The Clintons are saddened to hear of the death of their neighbor," said Philippe Reines, a spokesman for Sen. Hillary Clinton
(D-N.Y.), who lives a few doors down from where the Perez-Olivos rent a large Colonial.
The couple's two grown children and high school junior daughter gathered with friends at their two-story cobalt-blue Colonial,
which has a brook running through the front yard.
No one wanted to talk at Carlos Perez-Olivo's old law office in Queens.
"He always impressed me as a decent, articulate guy," said James Kousouros, a lawyer whose office is next door.
[email protected]
---- Index References ----
Region: (USA (1US73); Americas (1AM92); North America (1NO39); New York (1NE72))
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
2
WIFE IN BURB SHOOTING DIES. HUSBAND DESCRIBES..., 2006 WLNR 22252461
Language: EN
Other Indexing: (CLINTONS; DOUGLAS GRAFFIN; DOUGLAS GRAFFIN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL; HUSBAND;
PRINCIPAL MICHAEL KIRSCH; ROBERT E BELL MIDDLE SCHOOL; SIMMONS; SUSPECT; TOYOTA CAMRY;
WESTCHESTER; WESTCHESTER HOSPITAL; WIFE) (Carlos Perez; Clinton; Donna Kerester; Hillary Clinton; James
Kousouros; Marc Simmons; Olivo; Peggy; Peggy Perez; Peggy Perez-Olivo; Philippe Reines)
Keywords: WIFE; DEATH; SHOOTING; CHAPPAQUA; WESTCHESTER COUNTY; CARLOS PEREZ-OLIVO;
LAWYER
Edition: SPORTS FINAL
Word Count: 777
End of Document
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
3
'CHURCH' BINGO IS GODLESS. Stole 830G from charities,..., 2010 WLNR 16502536
8/19/10 N.Y. Daily News 15
2010 WLNR 16502536
New York Daily News
Copyright © 2010 Daily News, L.P.
August 19, 2010
Section: NEWS
'CHURCH' BINGO IS GODLESS. Stole 830G from charities, sez Qns. DA
OREN YANIV and THOMAS ZAMBITO DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS
A TIP ABOUT illegal side bets at a Queens bingo hall led to a much bigger crime: a fraud scheme that cheated a church out
of $830,000, officials say.
Two men and a woman were arrested yesterday on charges they conned the Greek Orthodox Church into lending its good name
for a bingo license, which must be sponsored by a charity.
The ringleaders collected $20 a head at the Jackson Heights hall and not a dime made it into church coffers.
"Instead of doing God's work, the defendants are alleged to have lined their pockets with hundreds of thousands of dollars
belonging to the charities," said Queens District Attorney Richard Brown.
Spiros Moshopoulos, 62, of Jackson Heights; Tommy Skiada, 49, of Astoria, and Daniella Radulescu, 46, also of Astoria, were
hit with a 714-count indictment and could face 15 years in prison.
They ran a daily bingo game out of a Spartan storefront space on Jackson Heights' Northern Blvd., said officials from the state
Racing and Wagering Board.
Workers at the "82 Bingo Hall" wore nametags from defunct charities like the Sts. Constantine and Helen Romanian Orthodox
Church Ladies Auxiliary and the International Romanian Youth Organization, state officials say.
In 2008, probers got a tip that patrons of the hall were illegally making small side bets on which number would pop out of
the bingo wheel next.
Further digging revealed Radulescu was listed as the treasurer for each of the bogus charities.
She also shares a home address with the Romanian Orthodox Church of Sts. Constantine and Helen, which neighbors say has
been shuttered for at least 15 years. The church comes under the supervision of the Greek archdiocese.
State investigators revoked the bingo hall's license in February and shut the place down.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
1
'CHURCH' BINGO IS GODLESS. Stole 830G from charities,..., 2010 WLNR 16502536
"Stealing charitable gaming funds under the cloak of charity and religion are particularly objectionable crimes," said John
Sabini, the chairman of the racing board.
Skiada's lawyer James Kousouros said his client ran the bingo games for Moshopoulos but had no dealings with the charities.
"He had nothing to do with any fraud whatsoever," Kousouros said.
"He's innocent," said a woman who answered the door at Skiada's home after he was released on a $100,000 bond. "He's just
a worker."
Lawyers for Moshopoulos and Radulescu could not be reached for comment. The archdiocese also could not be reached.
[email protected]
---- Index References ---Company: TIP LTD; CHURCH AND CRAWFORD INC
News Subject: (Social Issues (1SO05); Crime (1CR87); Fraud (1FR30); Burglary & Theft (1BU41))
Language: EN
Other Indexing: (CHURCH; GREEK; GREEK ORTHODOX CHURCH; JACKSON HEIGHTS; QUEENS; ROMANIAN
ORTHODOX CHURCH; SPARTAN; TIP) (Church Ladies Auxiliary; Daniella Radulescu; Helen; James Kousouros; John
Sabini; Kousouros; Lawyers; Moshopoulos; Radulescu; Richard Brown.; Skiada; Spiros Moshopoulos; Stole; Tommy Skiada)
Keywords: QUEENS; FRAUD; CHURCH; CHARITY; GAMBLING
Edition: SPORTS FINAL
Word Count: 387
End of Document
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
2
WHACK-A-MOLL - VINNY WANTED TO KILL MY GAL: RAT, 2007 WLNR 12311435
6/29/07 N.Y. Post 23
2007 WLNR 12311435
New York Post
Copyright © 2006 The New York Post. All Rights Reserved
June 29, 2007
Section: News
WHACK-A-MOLL - VINNY WANTED TO KILL MY GAL: RAT
STEFANIE COHEN
Mobsters have a sacred rule against hitting on each other's women - but apparently not putting a hit on them.
Former Bonanno captain Dominick Cicale said yesterday his boss, Vincent "Vinny Gorgeous" Basciano, wanted Cicale's
girlfriend whacked after Basciano found out she'd tattled to his wife that he sired a child with another woman - getting the mob
boss kicked out of his own house.
Testifying at Basciano's murder trial yesterday in Brooklyn, Cicale said an incensed Basciano kept asking for his OK to kill
the loose-lipped lady, Lynette Ayuso.
"I had several discussions not to kill Lynette," said the stone-faced Cicale, who was Baciano's protg before he flipped for the feds.
But that didn't stop Basciano from trying - especially when he sensed Cicale might be feeling weak.
"When I would be on the phone with her in the car - and at that time we were fighting a lot - I would get off the phone and
Vincent Basciano would say, 'Let me just kill her! Let me just kill her!" Cicale said under questioning from defense attorney
James Kousouros during cross examination.
"Of course, I said no," said Cicale.
"Mr. Basciano never laid a hand on Lynette?" demanded Kousouros.
"He wanted my OK," Cicale replied. "If I had said, 'Yes,' he would have sent someone to kill her."
To protect her, Cicale told Ayuso to "keep her mouth shut and stay out of the neighborhood."
Under questioning from Kousouros, Cicale confirmed that Basciano had been seeing his mistress, Debra Kalb, for 20 years,
that she had once worked at his Bronx beauty salon, "Hello, Gorgeous," and later at his video store - and that it was news of
the child, not the affair, that really rankled Mrs. Basciano.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
1
WHACK-A-MOLL - VINNY WANTED TO KILL MY GAL: RAT, 2007 WLNR 12311435
Basciano is on trial in federal court for allegedly killing a Genovese-family associate, Frank Santoro, in 2001, because he heard
Santoro was plotting to kidnap one of his sons for ransom. Basciano was already tried on the murder last year, but a lone holdout
juror forced a mistrial when he refused to vote for conviction.
Cicale also confirmed that Basciano had an artistic bent and was, oddly, trying to produce a film about animated ferrets.
"There was a movie being produced, right?" asked Kousouros. "And it really was a movie about ferrets, right?"
"Yes," said Cicale, adding that a gambling associate of Basciano's was helping to fund it.
---- Index References ---News Subject: (Violent Crime (1VI27); Crime (1CR87); Social Issues (1SO05))
Region: (USA (1US73); Americas (1AM92); North America (1NO39); New York (1NE72))
Language: EN
Other Indexing: (BRONX; CICALE; LYNETTE; WHACK) (Ayuso; Baciano; Basciano; Basciano.; Cicale; Debra Kalb;
Dominick Cicale; Frank Santoro; James Kousouros; Kousouros; Lynette; Lynette Ayuso.; Vincent Basciano)
Word Count: 463
End of Document
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
2
ROAD FROM COP TO CON DRIVE TO SLAMMER CHILLS..., 1996 WLNR 6077036
1/17/96 N.Y. Daily News 5
1996 WLNR 6077036
New York Daily News
Copyright © 1996 Daily News, L.P.
January 17, 1996
Section: NEWS
ROAD FROM COP TO CON DRIVE TO SLAMMER CHILLS DIRTY 30 'ABUSER'
WILLIAM K. RASHBAUM and WENDELL JAMIESON
The trip to prison yesterday was the longest ride of Alfonso Compres' life and the one-time tough-guy cop was scared.
Compres "El Abusador," the abuser was once one of the 30th Precinct's most violent and dangerous thugs-in-uniform, an officer
who strong-armed thousands of dollars out of Washington Heights drug dealers.
Now a Daily News reporter was driving Compres to Loretto, Pa., so he could begin serving at least four years.
Being a cop had once been his greatest pride. Yesterday, the fact filled him with dread.
What would happen, he wondered on the long drive to Pennsylvania, when other inmates "find out I was a police officer?"
"You don't even know you don't know what's waiting for you here," he said nervously, just minutes from the doors of the lowsecurity facility. "It could be the end of your life. I worry about what can happen . . . getting stabbed, getting cut."
More than half the prisoners with whom Compres will eat, work and live were busted on drug charges just like the dealers he
arrested walking a beat in upper Manhattan.
The father of four's journey began when he kissed his sobbing aunt outside his uncle's Washington Heights dry-cleaning
business. Moments later he was crossing the George Washington Bridge en route to his surrender.
He had told his friends and immediate family not to come. "I told them it is hard because it's like a funeral, going to a cemetery,
burying the person and you go back home by yourself."
During the five-hour ride along gray highways, Compres, 34, had little to do but stare ahead and ponder his well-deserved fate.
"I knew from the beginning it was wrong," he said. "You learn that in the academy. They tell you even taking a cup of coffee
was wrong."
He remembered how he changed from a bright, enthusiastic recruit who wouldn't even take a can of soda for free to a crooked,
greedy cop tangled in a scandal that shamed an entire department.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
1
ROAD FROM COP TO CON DRIVE TO SLAMMER CHILLS..., 1996 WLNR 6077036
A native of the Dominican Republic, Compres went to school and then worked for 10 years at a photo studio, going from a
messenger to a supervisor. He has four children: Alfonso Jr., 15; Jan Carlos, 13; Shirley, 11; and Kenny, 2.
He joined the force in April 1990. On his first day at the 30th Precinct, he went to buy soda at a bodega. "The guy didn't want
to charge me and I left a dollar there because I was afraid 'If I take this free soda, I'm going to lose my job.' "
But the lure of easy money was too much. He recalled the day he was in a hair salon across from the stationhouse, drinking a
beer with his buddies, when the owner handed him a paper bag. He didn't even open it until he was on his way home.
Inside was $1,200 from local dealers.
"I opened it up by myself, I didn't tell my family," he said. "I was shamed and I was shocked when I got home and saw that
much money."
But he kept the cash, stashing it in a closet of his home in Monroe, N.Y.
For several months, he regularly accepted payments from two groups of dealers, prosecutors charge although he insists that
if he saw anyone commiting a crime, he arrested them. "Once I accepted the money from drug dealers . . . it was different,"
he said of his last months as a cop.
He gained a reputation as a violent, dangerous officer dubbed El Abusador by dealers, prosecutors said. Even on the way to
prison, he and his attorney, James Kousouros, deny he abused or beat dealers.
The cop's double life ended almost four years to the day he joined the force, on an April night when he was arrested with other
cops as he arrived for his shift.
"A captain came over and took my shield off and took my gun," he said. "I was taken down to my locker and I got dressed. I was
cuffed. I was brought back up to the main floor and Commissioner [William] Bratton came. He just passed and looked at us."
Compres became a symbol of a department going horribly awry: His badge was even featured in posters warning of corruption.
He is the fifth cop from the infamous Dirty 30 scandal of 1994 to begin his prison sentence. He was one of 33 cops from the
command to be indicted on charges they routinely stole drugs, protected drug dealers and robbed residents.
He was accused of pistol-whipping and shooting an unarmed drug dealer the most serious charges against any 30th Precinct
cop. He still denies it.
"People who know me, they know I wasn't the person they made believe I was," he said. "I am not a monster."
While other cops fought the damning charges against them, Compres pleaded guilty in November to one count of federal
extortion charges and was sentenced in November to 63 months behind bars. He could be paroled in 53 months, or 41/2 years.
Explaining the sentence to his children was the toughest part. "I told them I made a mistake, I told them what I did and I have
to do time for that."
He remembers telling Kenny, "Daddy's leaving, and he told me, 'Daddy's not leaving.' "
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
2
ROAD FROM COP TO CON DRIVE TO SLAMMER CHILLS..., 1996 WLNR 6077036
To most other cops, his one-time buddies, Compres became invisible. He said he once called out to a former colleague on a
Bronx street.
"He looked at me and then he turned away," he said. "Nobody called me. Nobody kept in touch."
Yesterday, Compres ate at a McDonald's before prison check-in. At 2 p.m., he passed through two razor-wire fences to enter
the concrete facility nestled in the Allegheny Hills.
"Right now I know I am going in because I did something wrong," he said.
He surrendered to federal guards, emptied his pockets, took off his belt and stepped through a metal detector.
He then walked through a sliding metal and plexiglass door. It closed behind him, and then another door to his right opened.
He walked through it and across a small, snow-covered yard to the prison accompanied by uniformed guards.
---- Index References ---Company: MCDONALDS CORP; DAILY NEWS; HLW FAST TRACK INC
Region: (USA (1US73); Americas (1AM92); North America (1NO39); New York (1NE72))
Language: EN
Other Indexing: (ALFONSO COMPRES; COMPRES; DAILY NEWS; GEORGE WASHINGTON BRIDGE; KENNY;
MCDONALDS) (Alfonso Jr.; El Abusador; James Kousouros; Moments; William] Bratton; Yesterday)
Keywords: Police; Corruption; Washington Heights; Drug; 30th Precinct; Alphonso Compres
Edition: SPORTS FINAL
Word Count: 1129
End of Document
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
3
Mobster confesses: `I shot Darin Mazzarella', 2004 WLNR 23074787
1/14/04 Journal News (Westchester, N.Y.) A1
2004 WLNR 23074787
Journal News, The (Westchester, NY)
Copyright © 2004 Gannett
January 14, 2004
Section: News
Mobster confesses: `I shot Darin Mazzarella'
January 14, 2004
Gangster admits to attempted murder of Tanglewood Boy
Timothy O'Connor
The Journal News
The Journal News
NEW YORK - Darin Mazzarella saw the gun in Michael "Hippy" Zanfardino's waistband that June night in 1995 when
Zanfardino walked into the park in the Morris Park section of the Bronx to confront him and several other Tanglewood Boys.
Zanfardino, an associate of the Genovese crime family, had come to settle a score from earlier that night when Mazzarella's
friend, John "Fat Face" Petrucelli, threw a bottle at Gene Gallo, a friend of Zanfardino's.
Mazzarella would later testify that he advised Zanfardino to tuck the gun in to avoid losing it. The two men shook hands. An
argument then ensued, with Zanfardino trying unsuccessfully to get the Tanglewood Boys to apologize to Gallo.
Zanfardino pulled out the gun and started firing shots into Mazzarella. He hit the Yonkers man nine times from his knees to
his elbows.
Yesterday, in a calm, flat voice, Zanfardino told a federal judge what his intention was that night.
"I shot Darin Mazzarella after a dispute I had with him, with the intent to kill him," he said. Zanfardino pleaded guilty to the
attempted murder of Mazzarella and a host of other crimes between 1990 and 2003.
Zanfardino's shooting of Mazzarella led to the killing of an innocent Bronx teenager by Petrucelli later that night. Mazzarella
survived the shooting and eventually became a government witness, testifying against Petrucelli at an October 2002 federal
trial in which Petrucelli was convicted of killing 17-year-old Paul Cicero, a cousin of Gene Gallo.
"Give this to your cousin," Petrucelli told the youth as he stabbed him, according to testimony at the trial.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
1
Mobster confesses: `I shot Darin Mazzarella', 2004 WLNR 23074787
Joanne Cicero, Paul's mother, sat in the back of the courtroom yesterday as Zanfardino, 35, from Queens, admitted to a life of
crime that dated back to his early 20s. He admitted he tried to kill a Bronx man named Armond Dragone by shooting him five
times in the head and chest on April 7, 1990. Dragone survived. Zanfardino admitted he extorted money from two nightclubs
in the Bronx starting in 1997. He admitted he strong-armed payoffs from a New Jersey waste-disposal business called Circle
Rubbish Removal that had the exclusive rights to street-sweeping services and trash removal at the Hunts Point Terminal Market
in the Bronx.
All of his crimes, he admitted, were as a member of the Genovese crime family. He was arrested in April by members of the
FBI and the New York City police.
After Zanfardino's plea, Joanne Cicero shook her head as she recounted the crimes he admitted.
"Another piece of garbage off the street," she said.
Zanfardino's plea marked the third conviction connected with the Cicero killing, which went unsolved for seven years, as
witnesses intimidated by the Tanglewood Boys declined to come forward. Petrucelli was sentenced to life in prison last year.
Paul Cicero's best friend, Clark Schwieger, 28, is serving a five-year prison sentence for lying to a federal grand jury probing
the killing.
Mazzarella has been placed in federal witness protection and still faces a possible prison sentence for his guilty plea to
racketeering as a member of the Tanglewood Boys, a gang named for the Yonkers strip mall where the members hung out.
Zanfardino faces up to life in prison, Judge George B. Daniels said during yesterday's hearing. But Zanfardino's lawyer, James
Kousouros, said the plea agreement calls for a likely sentence of 14 years under the federal sentencing guidelines. Assistant
U.S. Attorney David Raskin declined to comment on the details of the plea agreement, saying that it was not a public document.
Zanfardino remains held without bail, with his sentencing scheduled for April 27. As U.S. marshals led him in handcuffs from
the court, he turned to his wife and father and said, "All right guys; I'll see you later."
The plea marks the end of the case for Joanne Cicero. She said she's not sure she'll show up for his sentencing. Over the nearly
nine years since Paul was killed, Raskin, NYPD Detective Kevin Tracy and FBI Special Agent Chris Munger have become like
family to her. They even attended the wedding last year of Christine Cicero, Paul's sister.
But, she said, the three guilty verdicts don't come close to making up for the loss of her son.
"Zanfardino will get to go home at some point, resume his family life," she said. "Paul's never coming home."
Reach Timothy O'Connor at [email protected] or 914-694-3523.
---- Index References ---Company: JOURNAL NEWS
News Subject: (Social Issues (1SO05); Violent Crime (1VI27); Crime (1CR87); Racketeer Influenced & Corrupt Organizations
(RICO) (1RI18))
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
2
Mobster confesses: `I shot Darin Mazzarella', 2004 WLNR 23074787
Region: (New England (1NE37); Massachusetts (1MA15); North America (1NO39); New York (1NE72); Americas (1AM92);
USA (1US73))
Language: EN
Other Indexing: (CIRCLE RUBBISH REMOVAL; FBI; HUNTS POINT TERMINAL MARKET; JOURNAL NEWS; NYPD;
YONKERS) (Chris Munger; Cicero; Clark Schwieger; Darin Mazzarella; David Raskin; Dragone; Gallo; Gangster; Gene Gallo;
George B. Daniels; James Kousouros; Joanne; Joanne Cicero; John "Fat Face; Kevin Tracy; Mazzarella; Mobster; Paul; Paul
Cicero; Petrucelli; Raskin; Reach Timothy O'Connor; Timothy O'Connor)
Word Count: 895
End of Document
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
3
Defense lawyers grill informant in NYC organized-crime trial, 2005 WLNR 26941377
10/19/05 Journal News (Westchester, N.Y.) A7
2005 WLNR 26941377
Journal News, The (Westchester, NY)
Copyright © 2005 Gannett
October 19, 2005
Section: News
Defense lawyers grill informant in NYC organized-crime trial
October 19, 2005
Dobbs Ferry man who pleaded guilty testifies against 6
Timothy O'Connor
The Journal News
The Journal News
NEW YORK - A battalion of defense lawyers took aim yesterday at government informant Maurizio "Mo" Sanginiti for the
second time in five months.
Sanginiti, 40, of Dobbs Ferry has pleaded guilty to gambling and extortion, and is testifying in U.S. District Court in
Manhattan against six reputed members of an Albanian-led organized-crime group that federal prosecutors charge flourished
in Westchester, the Bronx and Queens over the last few years.
He testified in May at the federal extortion trial of six Westchester men who were eventually convicted of extorting White
Plains con man John Perazzo. Sanginiti admitted he took part in the kidnapping and torture of Perazzo, as well as a number of
other illegal activities, from assault to illegal gambling to drug dealing.
Some of the illegal gambling he admitted to was part of his membership in the reputed Albanian crime group dubbed "The
Corporation," and allegedly led by Alex Rudaj, 38, of Yorktown.
Sanginiti testified for the prosecution for 3ÿ days before defense lawyers began their cross-examination yesterday afternoon.
Sanginiti endured blistering cross-examination from six defense lawyers during the trial in May. He appeared uncomfortable,
clearing his throat often, fidgeting in his seat and repeatedly asking to have questions "rephrased" during the May trial even
when he was being questioned by Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy Treanor.
But he has appeared more relaxed during Treanor's questioning at the current trial, often sneaking in answers to Treanor's
questions in the brief seconds between defense lawyers' objections and Judge Denise Cote's rulings.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
1
Defense lawyers grill informant in NYC organized-crime trial, 2005 WLNR 26941377
Rudaj's lawyer, James Kousouros, attacked Sanginiti's truthfulness as he opened the defense barrage.
He engaged in a running back-and-forth with Sanginiti over whether he'd lied in previous sworn statements and testimony.
Sanginiti would only admit that he was "being very difficult' in previous proceedings where it appeared he lied under oath.
At one point, Kousouros asked Sanginiti about a deposition he gave in 2001 in a civil suit filed against Perazzo by a family that
was swindled on a real estate deal. Sanginiti refused to say he lied in the deposition.
"I was being very, very difficult that day," he said.
"Ooh, that was two verys, correct?" Kousouros replied, as jury members chuckled.
Sanginiti did eventually admit he had committed perjury in the case.
During that deposition, Sanginiti said he couldn't read a document because his vision was deteriorating. Kousouros asked him
how his eyesight was now. Sanginiti acknowledged his eyesight was fine, but claimed it was deficient in 2001 because he had
stayed up for two days playing cards and hadn't slept.
"I sleep pretty good now," said Sanginiti, who is in a federal prison awaiting sentencing.
Reach Timothy O'Connor at [email protected] or 914-694-3523.
---- Index References ---Company: JOURNAL NEWS
News Subject: (Social Issues (1SO05); Criminal Law (1CR79); Legal (1LE33); Crime (1CR87); Racketeer Influenced &
Corrupt Organizations (RICO) (1RI18))
Region: (North America (1NO39); New York (1NE72); Americas (1AM92); USA (1US73))
Language: EN
Other Indexing: (BRONX; DEFENSE; JOURNAL NEWS; US DISTRICT COURT) (Alex Rudaj; Denise Cote; Dobbs Ferry;
James Kousouros; John Perazzo; Kousouros; Perazzo; Reach Timothy O'Connor; Rudaj; Sanginiti; Timothy O'Connor; Timothy
Treanor; Treanor; White Plains)
Word Count: 594
End of Document
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
2
ILLEGAL BRIEFS - MOBSTER MADE HIS CAPOS STRIP, 2007 WLNR 12212309
6/28/07 N.Y. Post 13
2007 WLNR 12212309
New York Post
Copyright © 2006 The New York Post. All Rights Reserved
June 28, 2007
Section: News
ILLEGAL BRIEFS - MOBSTER MADE HIS CAPOS STRIP
STEFANIE COHEN
Bonanno boss Vincent "Vinny Gorgeous" Basciano may have dressed in snappy suits, but he forced his underlings to strip down.
A star witness at the mob big's murder and racketeering trial said yesterday the paranoid and pompadoured Basciano made his
captains strip to their skivvies before family meetings.
Basciano ordered the strip-searches to see if any of his "trusted" captains were wearing wires for the feds, testified Dominick
Cicale, Basciano's protg-turned-turncoat.
"Vinny Basciano would have everybody strip down," said Cicale, whose job was to collect the captains' cellphones, gold chains
and pinky rings to ensure the chunks of gold weren't hiding microphones.
"Did the captains strip?" asked Assistant U.S. Attorney John Buretta.
"Yes sir, everybody did," replied Cicale, 40, who explained: "Times were getting rough and Vincent Basciano just wanted to
make sure he was being very careful at this point."
He said the newly anointed boss, picked to take over the family when Joseph Massino went to prison in 2003, wanted to "tighten
up the ship."
"He felt there might be another informant or two working for the government on the streets," Cicale said.
Cicale also noted that he once went out to buy his well-coifed mentor a pair of veneers for his teeth.
Basciano is on trial in the shooting of a low-level gangster and junkie, Frank Santoro, in The Bronx in 2001 because he believed
Santoro wanted to kidnap his son for ransom.
A jury last year deadlocked on the murder charges, forcing a retrial. Cicale has testified twice that he and his boss shot Santoro
side by side, two brothers in arms.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
1
ILLEGAL BRIEFS - MOBSTER MADE HIS CAPOS STRIP, 2007 WLNR 12212309
He wasn't the only member of his family to betray Basciano, Cicale said. The debonair mobster threatened repeatedly to kill
Cicale's girlfriend because she told Basciano's wife, Angela, that Vinny had a child with his mistress.
"Vincent Basciano blamed Lynette, my ex-fiance," Cicale told jurors. "Vincent Basciano kept asking me that he wanted to kill
her. I told him, No, that's the mother to my daughter.' "
Basciano also ordered the murder of a mob associate, Randolph Pizzolo, because he was "running his mouth a lot" and "robbing"
a Basciano friend on a construction job, Cicale said.
"Vincent Basciano was furious and wanted Randolph Pizzolo killed," said Cicale, who said Pizzolo's death would send a
message that the new boss "doesn't play around," said Cicale.
Pizzolo was shot dead in Greenpoint in 2004. Basciano will be tried on that charge sometime next year.
During cross-examination, Basciano's lawyer, James Kousouros, painted Cicale as an unrepentant killer and liar.
He told jurors Cicale was so depraved that he'd taken out two mortgages on his own grandmother's house, forcing her into
foreclosure.
(p. 25 in metro)
---- Index References ---News Subject: (Violent Crime (1VI27); Crime (1CR87); Social Issues (1SO05))
Language: EN
Other Indexing: (ILLEGAL; PIZZOLO; RANDOLPH PIZZOLO) (Angela; Basciano; Bonanno boss Vincent; Cicale;
Dominick Cicale; Frank Santoro; James Kousouros; John Buretta.; Joseph Massino; Randolph Pizzolo; Vincent Basciano;
Vinny; Vinny Gorgeous)
Word Count: 547
End of Document
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
2
Mobster defense: It was magic list, 2006 WLNR 16432134
9/22/06 Newsday A02
2006 WLNR 16432134
Newsday (USA)
Copyright © 2006 Newsday, Inc.
September 22, 2006
Section: NEWS
Mobster defense: It was magic list
ANTHONY M. DESTEFANO. STAFF WRITER
Well, at least he didn't try sticking pins in a voodoo doll.
Eager to seek an edge in his recent racketeering trial, reputed Bonanno crime family member Vincent Basciano was told by
a fellow jail inmate to place a list with names of the prosecutor, trial judge and witnesses in his shoe and stomp his foot five
times to get good luck.
The resulting list that Basciano drew up to carry out the ritual was simply part of a Santeria-related method and not a hit list
as prosecutors have suspected, his defense attorneys said yesterday.
Basciano, at one time the acting street boss of the Bonanno crime family, is under investigation for allegedly creating the list
and in "sum and substance" giving it to his fellow inmate to seek the murder of the listed persons, Brooklyn federal prosecutors
have stated in court papers.
Named on the list were assistant U.S. attorney Greg Andres, who prosecuted Basciano earlier this year; federal judge Nicholas
Garaufis; disgraced attorney Tom Lee; and mob turncoats Dominick Cicale and James Tartaglione, court papers stated.
But while prosecutors put a sinister spin on the list and Basciano's attempt to seek magical intervention, his lawyers say that
wasn't the case at all.
During a court hearing yesterday and in interviews, Basciano's attorneys related how their client was seeking Santeria help
and not seeking murders.
Santeria is an amalgamation of African religion and Roman Catholicism that uses magic. Adherents seek out a babalawo, also
known as a godfather, and a santera, or godmother, for help when in desperate straits.
"He is not denying he came up with the list, but it's not like he called up Luca Brasi," defense attorney Ephraim Savitt told
Newsday, referring to the fictional hit man in the film "The Godfather."
Savitt, who stated the ritual was Santeria-like, said the idea of preparing the list came from a fellow inmate of Basciano's at
the federal detention center in Manhattan.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
1
Mobster defense: It was magic list, 2006 WLNR 16432134
The unidentified inmate was originally from the Caribbean and was facing drug charges, said Savitt. Basciano put stock in the
idea and gave him the list, said the attorney.
The Santeria explanation first came up in a sealed courtroom hearing last month when the investigation of Basciano first
surfaced.
In a transcript of the hearing unsealed yesterday by Garaufis, it was defense attorney James Kousouros who first explained how
Basciano was approached for the list by the inmate.
"This inmate, the person we believe to be this inmate, is somebody who approached our client and told him that this mother
is some priestess for ...[Santeria]," said Kousouros and "told Mr. Basciano to make a list of everybody involved, put it in your
right shoe, stamp five times every day during the trial and it will help."
Kousouros said there were other witnesses who could corroborate Basciano's story. Savitt told Newsday that there was even
a second list that had names of defense attorneys on it.
Yesterday prosecutors Thomas Buretta and Winston Chan disclosed in court that the probe of Basciano and the list was
continuing.
Buretta said U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales had approved holding the defendant under special administrative
measures, very strict detention standards usually reserved for terrorists.
Savitt said Basciano is allowed visits from his wife, as well as a woman friend with whom he had another child, a complicated
domestic situation that had previously been disclosed in court papers.
---- Index References ---News Subject: (Legal (1LE33); Economics & Trade (1EC26))
Region: (USA (1US73); Americas (1AM92); North America (1NO39); New York (1NE72))
Language: EN
Other Indexing: (BASCIANO; ROMAN CATHOLICISM; VINCENT BASCIANO) (Adherents; Alberto Gonzales; Basciano;
Brooklyn; Buretta; Dominick Cicale; Eager; Ephraim Savitt; Garaufis; Greg Andres; James Kousouros; James Tartaglione;
Kousouros; Luca Brasi; Mobster; Newsday; Nicholas Garaufis; Santeria; Savitt; Thomas Buretta; Tom Lee; Winston Chan)
Keywords: OCCULT.ORGANIZED CRIME.RACKETEERING.TRIAL.BROOKLYN.
Edition: CITY
Word Count: 686
End of Document
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
2
Mobster defense: It was magic list, 2006 WLNR 16432134
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
3
'Gorgeous' is guilty, 2007 WLNR 14720300
8/1/07 Newsday A03
2007 WLNR 14720300
Newsday (USA)
Copyright © 2007 Newsday, Inc.
August 1, 2007
Section: NEWS
'Gorgeous' is guilty
ANTHONY M. DESTEFANO. [email protected]
Vincent Basciano, the dapper gangster known as "Vinny Gorgeous," didn't have a pretty result in his federal racketeering trial
yesterday as a jury convicted him of all charges, including the 2001 murder of a Bronx neighbor.
Basciano's face flushed and he looked distressed as the jury forewoman announced the verdict in federal court in Brooklyn.
The panel of three women and nine men found Basciano guilty of racketeering murder, murder solicitation, gambling and
marijuana trafficking.
The jury found that Basciano, 46, a former Bonanno crime family street boss, orchestrated and took part in the February 2001
slaying on a street in Throgs Neck of Frank Santoro, a reputed mob associate and drug dealer. Prosecutors said Santoro was
marked for death because he plotted to kidnap Basciano's son. A 2006 trial of Basciano ended in a mistrial on the Santoro charge.
Jurors also convicted Basciano of soliciting the murders of Dominick Martino and former Bonanno underboss Salvatore Vitale,
neither of whom was harmed. Jurors said by the verdict that Basciano attempted to enlist former Bonanno boss Joseph Massino
on the murder solicitations.
Basciano seemed to sense that the news wasn't good when the jury sent out a note saying it had reached a verdict after only
about nine hours of deliberation.
"A day and a half and it doesn't look good," Basciano said to defense attorney James Kousouros, who was seated next to him.
After the verdict was announced, Basciano, whose attention to his couture and hairstyling became part of trial lore, adjusted his
suit jacket and walked out of the courtroom in the custody of U.S. marshals. In custody since late 2004, he faces life in prison.
Judge Nicholas Garaufis didn't set a sentencing date.
After the verdict, prosecutors John Buretta, Amy Busa and Winston Chan congratulated each other. The prosecutors also shook
the hands of Kousouros and two other defense lawyers, Allan Brenner and Stephanie Carvlin.
"He is very distressed by the whole thing," Kousouros said about Basciano after the verdict.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
1
'Gorgeous' is guilty, 2007 WLNR 14720300
Kousouros said he believed the Santoro murder was the weakest element of the government's case. But what proved crucial were
tapes made by former Bonanno captain James Tartaglione in 2003 while acting as a government informant, Kousouros said.
On the tapes, Basciano is heard denying that he killed Santoro but saying prosecutors couldn't prove it because they lacked
forensic evidence.
Basciano was a mentor to Massino, who was convicted in July 2004 and became a government witness in 2005. But some in the
mob became concerned that Basciano was too hot-headed and quick to settle scores with violence, according to trial testimony.
Basciano faces a federal death penalty trial in mid-2008 for the murder of mob associate Randolph Pizzolo.
---- Index References ---News Subject: (Violent Crime (1VI27); Crime (1CR87); Social Issues (1SO05))
Region: (USA (1US73); Americas (1AM92); North America (1NO39); New York (1NE72))
Language: EN
Other Indexing: (BONANNO; BRONX; DOMINICK MARTINO; RANDOLPH PIZZOLO) (Allan Brenner; Amy Busa;
Basciano; Frank Santoro; Gorgeous; James Kousouros; James Tartaglione; John Buretta; Joseph Massino; Jurors; Kousouros;
Massino; Nicholas Garaufis; Salvatore Vitale; Santoro; Stephanie Carvlin; Vincent Basciano; Vinny Gorgeous; Winston Chan)
Keywords: BROOKLYN.CONVICTION.COVER.MURDER.ORGANIZED CRIME.TRIAL.VERDICT.
Edition: CITY
Word Count: 555
End of Document
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
2
Woman pleads not guilty in White Plains hit-and-run death, 2009 WLNR 17152041
3/12/09 Journal News (Westchester, N.Y.) A3
2009 WLNR 17152041
Journal News, The (Westchester, NY)
Copyright © 2009 Gannett
March 12, 2009
Section: NEWS
Woman pleads not guilty in White Plains hit-and-run death
March 12, 2009
WHITE PLAINS - The lawyer for a Pomona woman accused in a hit-and-run rampage in White Plains that left one woman
dead and another injured said yesterday that he will "present a defense based on her mental disease."
James Kousouros, attorney for Sheldene Campbell, made the remarks after entering a not-guilty plea on behalf of his client
during her formal arraignment in Westchester County Court. An indictment handed up last week charges Campbell with felony
counts of second-degree murder and attempted murder, first-degree attempted assault and leaving the scene; and misdemeanor
counts of leaving the scene and third-degree assault.
staff
Authorities say that on Oct. 19, Campbell intentionally struck and killed Marie Bucci, 65, who was taking a walk in her Haviland
Lane neighborhood.
Moments earlier, police said, Campbell hit Roseanne Schiavone, 45, who was walking her dog on the same road about 11 a.m.,
injuring Schiavone and her pet. Police said Campbell sped off after hitting the women.
Police, following up on witness descriptions of the vehicle, found Campbell walking a short time later near her badly damaged
Acura sport utility vehicle on South Lexington Avenue.
Campbell did not speak during yesterday's brief court appearance.
At the request of Westchester County Assistant District Attorney Christine O'Connor, Judge Barbara Cacace vacated the
$200,000 bail Campbell has been held on since her arrest and ordered her to remain at the county jail without bail. In making
the request, O'Connor noted that Campbell originally was being held on a single charge of leaving the scene of an accident, but
that, with the indictment, she now faces significantly higher charges.
Kousouros asked that Campbell's bail status remain unchanged, arguing that she was a longtime resident of the area, has always
been gainfully employed and was not a flight risk.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
1
Woman pleads not guilty in White Plains hit-and-run death, 2009 WLNR 17152041
Although Campbell was found competent to stand trial at a hearing last month, Kousouros said his client suffers from catatonic
schizophrenia and has been medicated and under a doctor's care since her arrest.
Several weeks before the White Plains incident, Campbell spent a week under observation in a New Jersey hospital after she
was arrested by Woodcliff Lakes, N.J., police. In that incident, she is accused of driving onto a lawn and almost hitting a jogger
and assaulting a police officer - all while her 3-year-old daughter sat in the car without a seat belt. Police said she also left her
10-year-old son in a McDonald's restaurant in Old Tappan, N.J., that day.
After accepting Campbell's not-guilty plea yesterday, Cacace scheduled a preliminary conference date for March 25.
Reach Richard Liebson at [email protected]
or 914-694-3534.
---- Index References ---Company: MCDONALDS
Language: EN
Other Indexing: (CAMPBELL; HAVILAND LANE; MCDONALDS; SHELDENE CAMPBELL; WHITE PLAINS) (Barbara
Cacace; Cacace; Campbell; Christine O'Connor; Connor; James Kousouros; Kousouros; Marie Bucci; Reach Richard Liebson;
Roseanne Schiavone; Woodcliff Lakes)
Edition: GWPR-Westchester and Putnam and Rockland
Word Count: 543
End of Document
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
2
Report: Hit-run murder suspect 'was having a bad day', 2009 WLNR 17151330
3/7/09 Journal News (Westchester, N.Y.) A8
2009 WLNR 17151330
Journal News, The (Westchester, NY)
Copyright © 2009 Gannett
March 7, 2009
Section: NEWS
Report: Hit-run murder suspect 'was having a bad day'
March 7, 2009
Sheldene Campbell, a Pomona woman indicted on felon murder and assault charges in a fatal hit-and-run crash in White Plains in
October, lives at 16 Ormian Drive. Her address was incorrect in an article about her indictment published Saturday on Page 8A.
WHITE PLAINS - A Pomona woman facing murder and assault charges in a hit-and-run rampage that left one woman dead
and another injured threatened to kill an investigator questioning her about the incident before admitting to another detective:
"I was having a bad day and drove right through" the two victims, according to court papers.
staff
Sheldene Campbell's chilling statements were made at White Plains police headquarters about an hour after the incident in which
authorities say she intentionally struck and killed Marie Bucci, 65, who was taking a walk in her Havilands Lane neighborhood
on Oct. 19. Moments earlier, police said, Campbell, 37, hit Roseanne Schiavone, 45, who was walking her dog on the same
road about 11 a.m., injuring Schiavone and her pet. Police said Campbell sped off after hitting the women.
Police following up on witness descriptions of the vehicle found Campbell walking a short time later near her badly damaged
Acura sport utility vehicle on South Lexington Avenue. According to court documents, Campbell, of 18 Ormian Drive, told
police on the street that her brother and father had been in the car and that she had not been driving. She said she'd dropped
them off in Mount Vernon or in the vicinity of Herbert Avenue in White Plains.
Once at police headquarters, the court papers say, Campbell told detectives that she'd lied to police on the street and that she
had been driving and hit two people.
At one point, a detective wrote in his report, "Ms. Campbell looked at me with her eyes wide open, and (with) what appeared to
be a very cold stare, she told me twice in a deep voice that she was going to kill me. I asked her why, and she just stared at me."
Later, according to the court papers, Campbell told another detective, "I was the one who was driving the car, and I hit that
lady who was walking the dog and the other person. I'm sorry. I want to apologize to them. I was having a bad day and drove
right through them."
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
1
Report: Hit-run murder suspect 'was having a bad day', 2009 WLNR 17151330
Court documents also say Campbell, a court reporter, told a detective that she had suffered a nervous breakdown and a
miscarriage.
A six-count Westchester grand jury indictment handed up late Thursday charged Campbell with felony counts of second-degree
murder and attempted murder, first-degree attempted assault and leaving the scene, and misdemeanor charges of leaving the
scene and third-degree assault. She is expected to be arraigned in county court next week. If convicted of the murder charge,
Campbell faces a minimum sentence of 15 years to life in prison and a maximum of 25 years to life.
Campbell has been held on $200,000 bail at the county jail since her arrest and is being medicated and treated for a mental
illness, her lawyer said.
"I'm just dismayed that they returned an indictment alleging intent," James Kousouros said yesterday. "This woman suffers
from a very significant mental illness."
He said his client suffers from catatonic schizophrenia. Kousouros said that while Campbell had been found competent to stand
trial at a hearing last month, the finding means only that she understands the charges against her and the role of lawyers and
judges in the case and has nothing to do with her mental state at the time of the incident.
Schiavone and Bucci's husband could not be reached for comment yesterday.
Kousouros said that he did not know whether Campbell had a miscarriage and that despite her statements to police, "nobody
else was actually in the car with her."
Asked what he meant by "actually," Kousouros replied, "She hears voices."
A few weeks before her arrest in White Plains, Campbell spent a week under observation in a New Jersey hospital after she
was arrested by Woodcliff Lakes, N.J., police. In that incident, she is accused of driving onto a lawn and almost hitting a jogger
and assaulting a police officer - all while her 3-year-old daughter sat in the car without a seat belt. Police said she also left her
10-year-old son in a McDonald's restaurant in Old Tappan, N.J., that day.
Reach Richard Liebson at [email protected] or 914-694-3534.
---- Index References ---Company: POMONA; MCDONALDS
News Subject: (Social Issues (1SO05); Violent Crime (1VI27); Crime (1CR87))
Language: EN
Other Indexing: (HAVILANDS LANE; MCDONALDS; POMONA; WHITE PLAINS) (Bucci; Campbell; James Kousouros;
Kousouros; Marie Bucci; Richard Liebson; Roseanne Schiavone; Schiavone; Sheldene Campbell; Woodcliff Lakes)
Edition: GWPR-Westchester and Putnam and Rockland
Word Count: 862
End of Document
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
2
Report: Hit-run murder suspect 'was having a bad day', 2009 WLNR 17151330
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
3
MOB SON 'TOOK MY HEAD OFF' - BRONX NEIGHBOR..., 2007 WLNR 3556590
2/23/07 N.Y. Post 31
2007 WLNR 3556590
New York Post
Copyright © 2006 The New York Post. All Rights Reserved
February 23, 2007
Section: News
MOB SON 'TOOK MY HEAD OFF' - BRONX NEIGHBOR TELLS OF ATTACK
DENISE BUFFA
The neighbor who claims he was smashed in the face by mob boss Vincent "Vinny Gorgeous" Basciano's son testified yesterday
that his mind was "scrambled" and his cheek had to be reconstructed after the attack.
"I had just gotten my head taken off by this guy sitting over there," James Neider said, pointing to 22-year-old Stephen Basciano
at the defense table in Bronx Supreme Court.
Basciano started laughing, but stopped after his lawyer, James Kousouros - who also represents the defendant's mob-boss father
in an upcoming murder-conspiracy trial - leaned in and whispered to the young man.
The prosecution maintains Basciano bashed Neider in the face with a hard object because he was angry his teenage brother,
Michael, had gotten busted after allegedly flashing his genitals at Neider's wife and mooning another neighbor.
Neider recalled a calm Stephen Basciano approaching him outside his Throgs Neck home after the teen brother's second arrest,
in September 2005.
"What happened with Michael today?" Neider recalled Stephen asking. "I said, 'Michael was arrested today,' " Neider testified.
Neider says he turned to look at the neighbor who had reported that Michael had mooned her and her daughter - both of whom
he was trying to escort home - and was blindsided when he turned back toward Stephen, who hit him with something.
"It was the last thing I saw before the lights went out," Neider said.
Although records show Neider told emergency personnel he had been punched and had not lost consciousness, a red-faced
Neider demonstrated yesterday how he recalls Basciano widely swung an extended arm at him - and hit him in the left eye with
something that felt like "a hammer." "My mind was scrambled. . . .
It hurt a lot. Everything was black for a couple of seconds," he said. "My face was on fire.
My head was pounding, and I couldn't see." Prosecutors admitted into court graphic pictures of Neider shortly after the incident,
showing a shiner on his left eye and a swollen, sagging left side of his face.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
1
MOB SON 'TOOK MY HEAD OFF' - BRONX NEIGHBOR..., 2007 WLNR 3556590
Neider explained that was the result of the numerous bones that shattered. He said his cheek has had to be reconstructed with
plastic and metal.
"This stuff is under my face," he said, pointing to the cheekbone under his left eye. "I feel it every minute of every day.
When it's cold outside, it hurts like hell." And he insisted he did nothing to provoke Basciano.
"No!" he said.
The defense maintains, however, that Basciano struck Neider in self-defense. And defense lawyers insist no weapon was used.
It was "a classic one-punch injury," defense lawyer Alan Brenner said. "There was no cut.
There was no scrape." The defense also noted that Basciano is a lot smaller than Neider. Basciano stands 5-foot-8 and weighs
170 pounds while Neider, 39, is 6-foot-1 and 230 pounds.
Neider said he took that into account when Basciano approached him - and didn't perceive him as a threat.
"I didn't pay enough attention to him," he said. "I should have." Basciano, free on bail, faces up to seven years behind bars if
convicted of second-degree assault, the top charge.
---- Index References ----
Region: (USA (1US73); Americas (1AM92); North America (1NO39); New York (1NE72))
Language: EN
Other Indexing: (NEIDER; STEPHEN BASCIANO) (Alan Brenner; Basciano; James Kousouros; James Neider; Michael;
MOB SON; Neider; Prosecutors; Stephen; Stephen Basciano)
Word Count: 613
End of Document
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
2
Tell-all book details softer side of reputed New York mob boss
11/24/06 Can. Press 00:00:00
Canadian Press
Copyright © 2006 The Canadian Press
November 24, 2006
Tell-all book details softer side of reputed New York mob boss
BY TOM HAYS
NEW YORK (AP) — In the summer of 2000, while lounging poolside ata Las Vegas hotel, the former acting Bonanno crime
family boss``Vinny Gorgeous'' unveiled his version of an extreme makeover.
Gone were the unflattering layers of flab on Vincent Basciano'schest and gut, courtesy of breast reduction surgery and
liposuction.The reputed mobster, known back in the Bronx as an egomaniac with anexplosive temper, showed off his resculpted
look inside a privatecabana.
``He was so vain,'' recalled self-described Basciano crony andconfidant Michael Mehler. ``It blew me away.''
Mehler, 40, paints the self-conscious and conflicted portrait ofBasciano in an upcoming tell-all book titled, ``Nice Jewish
Felon.''He plans to back up his story with a website showing correspondenceand other documentation proving the pair had a
brief but fastfriendship.
To Mehler, Basciano was a misunderstood mobster who secretlydreamed of entertaining children by producing an animated
featurefilm with a dancing squirrel.
``Vincent, in his own way, did care about his fellow man,''Mehler writes in one passage. ``He just couldn't display
hisgoodhearted ways to his associates lest they think he was gettingsoft. He had this `tough guy' image to maintain. In his world
itmeant the difference between life and death.''
A defence attorney for Basciano, James Kousouros, said he hadnever heard of Mehler. He declined further comment.
Mehler's own lawyer had to vet his manuscript so he could earn acontract with IUniverse, a self-publishing and marketing
servicethat expects to make the book available online before Christmas.
Authorities say Basciano, 46, the sharp dressing one-time ownerof the Hello Gorgeous beauty salon in the Bronx, had a
homicidalreputation within the Bonanno family.
At a trial earlier this year, a jury heard testimony that in2001, Basciano used a 12-gauge shotgun to kill a low-level mobsterfrom
another crime family, believing he wanted to kidnap one of hissons.
Jurors failed to reach a verdict on the murder charge, but foundhim guilty of racketeering, attempted murder and gambling.
Bascianoremains jailed pending charges that he plotted to kill a prosecutor.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
1
Tell-all book details softer side of reputed New York mob boss
Mehler, describing himself as the black sheep of a respectableJewish family, claims he befriended Basciano after his own
brushwith the law. He was recently divorced, dating a stripper andgambling away thousands of dollars in 1998 when he was
arrested forstealing a $400,000 painting by Swiss artist Paul Klee from theConnecticut home of a recently deceased cousin.
Mehler says he was feuding with his cousin's wife, and took thepainting out of spite. He shopped the work, ``Mask at Twilight,''
toManhattan auction houses and then on to European collectors beforethe police showed up at his door.
``I was so narcissistic, I thought I could talk my way out of it,like I did most things in life,'' he said in an interview.
After pleading guilty, he was put on probation, fitted with anelectronic ankle monitor and placed in a Bronx halfway house.
Mehlerwas waiting tables at a Manhattan eatery when Basciano sauntered inwith a girlfriend on his arm.
The two struck up a conversation, with Mehler revealing hiscriminal history. Basciano, he writes, ``advised me to play it
coolthrough the process'' before leaving a $200 tip.
At a later meeting, Basciano asked, ``Did you rat out any of yourfriends when you were arrested?'' When Mehler said no, he
recalled,the mobster replied, ``You are now welcome to my home. What's mineis yours.''
Basciano took Mehler under his wing. He introduced him to hiswife, had Mehler counsel his son on pursuing a Wall Street
career,and treated him to the spoils of underworld — expensive gifts,lavish dinners with other wiseguys and sex in limos with
high-endprostitutes.
``I was having this inner battle between good and evil,'' hesaid. ``Vincent and I happened to cross paths at a point where Ididn't
know where I was going with my life.''
According to Mehler, Basciano also was torn.
The mobster wanted to turn his life around by improving hisvocabulary and launching legitimate business ventures, like
thesquirrel movie and a gift-basket business, Mehler said. In 2000,Basciano flew him first-class to Las Vegas to help pitch the
giftbaskets to a hotel there.
When Mehler arrived, he was directed to a private cabana by thepool, where the leaner Basciano was waiting. Although
Mehlerexpressed outward approval, he found the scene so pathetic that iteventually drove a wedge into their relationship.
``I thought, `Look at you,''' Mehler said. ```you're gettingliposuction and you're in the mob.' ''
---- Index References ---Company: IUNIVERSE
News Subject: (Violent Crime (1VI27); Crime (1CR87); Social Issues (1SO05))
Region: (USA (1US73); Americas (1AM92); New York (1NE72); North America (1NO39); Nevada (1NE81))
Language: EN
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
2
Tell-all book details softer side of reputed New York mob boss
Other Indexing: (BASCIANO; BRONX; IUNIVERSE; MANHATTAN) (James Kousouros; Jewish; Mehler; Michael Mehler;
Paul Klee; Vincent)
Keywords: (E); (JUSTICE); (BOOKS); (ENTERTAINMENT)
Word Count: 914
End of Document
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
3
Police smash major heroin ring, 2011 WLNR 1562199
1/26/11 Newsday A02
2011 WLNR 1562199
Newsday (USA)
Copyright © 2011 Newsday, Inc.
January 26, 2011
Section: NEWS
Police smash major heroin ring
STACEY ALTHERR; With Sophia Chang and Zachary R. Dowdy
A ring described as one of Long Island's major suppliers of heroin, selling 15,000 bags a week, has been dismantled, Suffolk
officials announced yesterday.
Twenty-three people, including a Bethpage man accused of being a supplier, 15 Suffolk residents who mainly were low-level
dealers and a Bronx man charged in a separate murder case, were arrested after a 16-month investigation, Suffolk District
Attorney Thomas Spota said.
Coupled with at least six other major busts since 2008, Spota said, these latest arrests are making "significant inroads into heroin
trafficking in Suffolk County."
Beth Creighton, the assistant district attorney handling the case, said, "We've taken down one of the largest suppliers." Since the
arrests started, Creighton said, the street cost of heroin has risen from $100 for 10 bags to a range of $120 to $150 for 10 bags.
The breaking-up of the ring, Spota said, was "one of the largest heroin busts" in county history.
The ring sold about 15,000 bags of heroin on Suffolk streets each week, adding up to about 1 million bags - worth between $10
million and $11 million - during the 16-month investigation, Creighton said.
In August 2009, authorities seized 17 pounds of uncut, nearly pure heroin that had a street value ranging from $8 million to
$10 million.
Creighton said this ring had been operating since 2006. In the raids, authorities seized 5,000 bags of heroin labeled with such
names as "Sweet Death," "Starbucks" and "Kneebender."
Yesterday's announcement comes as Long Island struggles to cope with a heroin epidemic that has killed hundreds and led
thousands, especially teenagers, to seek treatment for addiction.
"Heroin continues to eat away at the fabric of our communities, stealing the futures of our young people, and destroying families
as well," Spota said.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
1
Police smash major heroin ring, 2011 WLNR 1562199
The arrests of this ring's members began at the end of November, with another round in the second week of December and
more Monday night, prosecutors said.
The leader of the ring, said Spota, was Frank Conte of the Bronx, who is scheduled to go on trial next month in the killing
of a Bronx bartender.
As ringleader, Spota said, Conte sold heroin to Carlos Melendez of the Bronx and Joel Guzman of Queens. They would package
the drug in a Queens "stash house" and sell it to Long Island supplier Ricardo Rifino Jr., 29, of Bethpage, formerly of Sayville,
Spota said. Rifino then distributed the drugs through a staff of dealers who would sell it on the street.
Melendez is being held on $1-million bail and Guzman is held without bail. Conte is being held on $3-million bail. Melendez,
Guzman and Rifino face various drug charges and also are charged under the new state Major Drug Trafficker law, which
carries a possible 25-years-to-life sentence.
The 19 lower-level dealers were charged with second-degree conspiracy. All those arrested pleaded not guilty.
Conte's attorney, James Kousouros of Manhattan, said his client "denies any narcotics trafficking in Suffolk County and it has
become an unfortunate distraction to his upcoming Bronx trial."
Guzman's attorney, Barry Zone of Manhattan, said his client was "overcharged" and maintains his client's innocence, saying
that if the charges took place in federal court, they would have been less severe.
One Long Island drug treatment counselor applauded the arrests.
"Reducing the supply of heroin and other drugs is a critical part of the equation, but we need to keep enhancing our efforts to
reduce the demand," said Jeffrey Reynolds, executive director of the Long Island Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence.
With Sophia Chang and Zachary R. Dowdy
THE BUST
ARRESTED 23
THE CHARGES
3 charged under Major Drug Trafficker law; 16 charged with second-degree conspiracy; 4 charged with second-degree
conspiracy and 2 counts of criminal possession of a controlled substance.
WHAT WAS SEIZED
5,000 bags of heroin, 200 grams of raw heroin, 2 loaded handguns, a scale,
a grinder, face masks and cash
July 2008. 110 people were arrested and at least 244 heroin bags seized from one home in raids that took place over a fourmonth period.
March 2009. 5,000 packets of heroin packaged for street sales, more than 50 guns and $200,000 in cash were seized and 13
people arrested.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
2
Police smash major heroin ring, 2011 WLNR 1562199
August 2009. The largest seizure of uncut heroin in Suffolk County, 17 pounds of nearly pure heroin was seized. Once cut, it
would have yielded about 500,000 doses with a street value of $8 million to $10 million.
December 2009. Thirty-one people were arrested on charges of being involved in two drug rings responsible for bringing 1,000
bags of heroin to Suffolk County every six weeks, prosecutors said.
May 2010. Twenty people arrested in what at the time was called the biggest bust ever on the East End. Police seized 4,430
bags of heroin for street sale, 5.6 ounces of cocaine, scales, wax packets and $173,000 in cash in a drug ring that brought drugs
from Queens to the East End.
November 2010. Three men were arrested and 13 kilos of cocaine, 10 bundles of heroin, 4 ounces of crystal meth and quantities
of Ecstasy and PCP were seized during a raid at a home in North Babylon and one in Bay Shore.
---- Index References ---Company: PCP SUPPORT LTD; SUFFOLK BANCORP; SOPHIA UNIVERSITY; STARBUCKS CORP; SOPHIA GE SA;
SOPHIA SA; DAREEN INTERNATIONAL (L L C )
News Subject: (Social Issues (1SO05); Violent Crime (1VI27); Criminal Law (1CR79); Legal (1LE33); Drug Addiction
(1DR84); Health & Family (1HE30); Crime (1CR87); Smuggling & Illegal Trade (1SM35); Murder & Manslaughter (1MU48))
Region: (England (1EN10); U.S. Mid-Atlantic Region (1MI18); North America (1NO39); New York (1NE72); USA (1US73);
Americas (1AM92); United Kingdom (1UN38); Europe (1EU83); Western Europe (1WE41))
Language: EN
Other Indexing: (ARRESTED; BRONX; BUST; CHARGES; ECSTASY; PCP; SEIZED; SOPHIA; STARBUCKS;
SUFFOLK) (Barry Zone; Beth Creighton; Carlos Melendez; Conte; Coupled; Creighton; Drug Trafficker; Frank Conte;
Guzman; Heroin; James Kousouros; Jeffrey Reynolds; Joel Guzman; Melendez; Ricardo Rifino Jr.; Rifino; Spota; Thirty;
Thomas Spota; Twenty; Zachary R. Dowdy)
Keywords: CHART.COVER.DRUGS.SUFFOLK COUNTY.
Edition: ALL EDITIONS
Word Count: 831
End of Document
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
© 2015 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
3