Ten members of the Gambino crime family are set to be arraigned TODAY on ... trends now
Ten members and associates of the Gambino crime family were arrested on racketeering charges on Wednesday - after a years-long international operation to bring the alleged criminals to justice.
The defendants will be arraigned in Brooklyn Federal Court today - and a scathing 16-count federal indictment and detention documents have now laid bare what the alleged mobsters are accused of.
The men, from Manhattan, Staten Island, the Bronx, New Jersey, and Long Island, have allegedly been wreaking havoc in New York for the past 27 years.
The infamous Italian-American crime syndicate made up one of the 'Five Families' known for their racketeering, gambling and loansharking. The defendants now variously face maximum sentences between 20 and 180 years' imprisonment.
Among the defendants charged today are alleged US-based Sicilian Mafia members Vito Rappa, 46, and Francesco Vicari, 46 - who is known as 'Uncle Ciccio.'
The lengthy documents contain evidence that shows when the men were 'made' into the Gambino family. One image shows Tantillo being inducted into the family on October 17, 2019, standing with Gradilone (pictured). Both men were arrested on Wednesday
Vincent Minsquero, 36, known as 'Vinny Slick,' Kyle Johnson, 46, known as 'Twin,' and Angelo Gradilone, 57, known as 'Fifi,' have all been arrested.
The alleged captain of the Gambino crime ring - 52-year-old Joseph Lanni - was also charged with the slew of federal crimes.
He's known by nicknames 'Joe Brooklyn,' and 'Mommino.'
The four others, who will appear in Brooklyn court today, are Diego 'Danny' Tantillo, James LaForte, Salvatore DiLorenzo, and Robert Brooke.
James Smith, Assistant Director-in-Charge of the FBI, said today as the arrests were announced: 'These defendants learned the hard way that the FBI is united with our law enforcement locally and internationally in our efforts to eradicate the insidious organized crime threat.
'Those arrested are alleged to have taken part in a racketeering conspiracy in an attempt to control the carting and demolition industries in the city.
'The FBI will continue to lead the fight against organized crime and ensure that individuals willing to cross the line face punishment in the criminal justice system.'
NYPD Commissioner Edward A. Caban also vowed to take down members of any organized crime group, wherever they operate.
He said Wednesday: 'Today's arrests should serve as a warning to others who believe they can operate in plain sight with apparent impunity – the NYPD and our law enforcement partners exist to shatter that notion.
'And we will continue to take down members of traditional organized crime wherever they may operate.'
The stoop of John Doe 1's home up in flames on September 22, 2020
A metal bat discovered during a police raid, which was allegedly used to threaten John Doe 1. Tantillo allegedly told the victim that the bat was 'for him'
Video footage from a gas station across the street from Roxy's Bar and Grille shows Lanni and Minsquero —minutes after threatening to burn down the restaurant— purchasing a red gas container
After one of the John Doe's associates was attacked with a hammer, Johnson texted Tantillo three thumbs up emojis for his 'work today'
According to the federal indictment, Tantillo, Rappa, Vicari and Johnson 'engaged in a violent extortion conspiracy relating to the demand and receipt of money from John Doe 1, who operated a carting business in the New York City area.'
John Doe 1 was threatened 'with a bat, setting fire to the steps to John Doe 1's residence, attempting to damage John Doe 1's carting trucks, and violently assaulting an associate of John Doe 1.'
Images included in the document show the metal bat discovered during a police raid, and the stoop of the victim's home up in flames on September 22, 2020.
One of John Doe 1's business associates was then attacked with a hammer - sending him to the hospital on October 29, 2020. After he was assaulted, Kyle Johnson texted Tantillo three thumbs up emojis for his 'work today.'
The indictment states that Tantillo and Vicari were captured on 'judicially-authorized wiretaps discussing threats they made to John Doe 1 and John Doe 1's father- in-law.'
Rappa stated that Vicari 'acted like the 'Last of the Samurai,' when he picked up a knife and directed John Doe 1's father-in-law to threaten to cut John Doe 1 in half in order to get him to make extortionate payments, according to the documents.
When the victim finally made a payment of $4,000 to Vicari, he and Rappa met and sent Tantillo a photo of Vicari raising a small champagne bottle, cheering in a toast.
The image is included in the indictment pages.
The documents also contain evidence that shows when the men were 'made' into the Gambino family. One image shows Tantillo being inducted into the family on October 17, 2019, standing with Gradilone.
Ten people associated with the Gambino crime family were arrested on racketeering charges Wednesday morning, law enforcement sources say. Pictured is Paul (left), a high-ranking member of the Gambino crime family, who was previously arrested with eight other men on charges of loansharking
The unsealed document also claimed that Tantillo, Brooke and Johnson engaged in two separate violent extortion schemes of a demolition company and its owners, known as John Does 2–4.
Their motivation was over purported debts owed to Tantillo and to a company operated by Tantillo and Brooke, called Specialized Concrete Cutting Corp. They demanded $40,000 from the owners - who did not cough up.
In response, Brooke then violently attacked John Doe 2 on a street corner in Midtown Manhattan, leaving him bloodied with a black eye.
Alongside these charges, some of the men are also accused of thieving and embezzling employee benefit plans when they did no work for the companies.
Tantillo is accused of obtaining noshow and low-show jobs for Rappa and Gradilone and Johnson. The document alleges: 'Through the no-show jobs, Gradilone and Rappa received health care benefits, paid for by unions, to which they were not entitled, in addition to receiving paychecks for work they did not perform.'
The alleged mobsters also intimidated people they thought went to the police with information.
In a dramatic scene from February 2021 described in the indictment, LaForte and Minsquero assaulted John Doe 6 while Lanni sat nearby.
That evening, John Doe 6, his girlfriend, and
