New York Paralegal Blog

Thirty-eight defendants charged in United States v. Andrew Russo, et al., a case brought as part of the Department of Justice’s largest single-day operation against La Cosa Nostra, have pleaded guilty to federal charges. According to court documents, those who have pleaded guilty include the members of the entire administration of the Colombo organized crime family of La Cosa Nostra (the “Colombo family”), as well as numerous leaders, members, and associates of the Colombo family.

Earlier today, following a seven-week trial in federal court in Brooklyn, Thomas Gioeli, the former acting boss of the Colombo organized crime family of La Cosa Nostra (the “Colombo family”), and Colombo family soldier Dino Saracino were found guilty of racketeering conspiracy. As part of the conspiracy, the jury found that Gioeli had participated in three murder conspiracies as predicate acts of racketeering and that Saracino had engaged in five racketeering acts, including two murder conspiracies, conspiring to make and making an extortionate extension of credit, witness tampering, and obstruction of justice. Saracino was also found guilty of four additional counts, including charges of conspiring to make an extortionate extension of credit, witness tampering, and obstruction of justice. The jury found the defendants not guilty of the murders in-aid-of racketeering related to the murder of Richard Greaves, the murder of New York City Police Officer Ralph Dols, and the murder of Willi...