In This Article
Subscribe to National Updates
New York Prosecutors Take On the Gambinos
by
findingDulcinea Staff
Prosecutors claim success after entering indictments against more than 60 alleged New York mobsters. But some say only legal reforms will reduce crime.
30-Second Summary
After one of the biggest mob investigations in New York history, federal prosecutors on Feb. 7 charged dozens of reputed Gambino crime family members with murder, racketeering and extortion.
The indictments coincided with Operation “Old Bridge,” an Italian investigation targeting Sicilian mobsters with ties to America.
Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Benton Campbell said, "Today we serve notice that anyone who aspired to a position in organized crime will meet the same fate.”
But some experts said the arrests just prove how strong the Mafia is.
“Even spectacular busts won’t end mob influence unless government presses for reforms that transform the very nature of the construction business,” argues City Journal Senior Editor and Manhattan Institute fellow Steven Malanga.
Bipartisan efforts to reform state contracting laws have been stuck in the legislature since last summer.
Previous enforcement actions may have merely pushed problems from one construction-related trade to another, says Toby Thacher, a former School Construction Authority official. “Anybody who says the mob is no longer involved is clueless about how this industry operates,” Thacher told the Daily News.
Malanga also warns that new mobs with Asian and Eastern European ties threaten to take over racketeering.
Prosecutors agree that the war against organized crime is not over. “We can’t declare victory and walk away,” former Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morganthau said.
The indictments coincided with Operation “Old Bridge,” an Italian investigation targeting Sicilian mobsters with ties to America.
Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Benton Campbell said, "Today we serve notice that anyone who aspired to a position in organized crime will meet the same fate.”
But some experts said the arrests just prove how strong the Mafia is.
“Even spectacular busts won’t end mob influence unless government presses for reforms that transform the very nature of the construction business,” argues City Journal Senior Editor and Manhattan Institute fellow Steven Malanga.
Bipartisan efforts to reform state contracting laws have been stuck in the legislature since last summer.
Previous enforcement actions may have merely pushed problems from one construction-related trade to another, says Toby Thacher, a former School Construction Authority official. “Anybody who says the mob is no longer involved is clueless about how this industry operates,” Thacher told the Daily News.
Malanga also warns that new mobs with Asian and Eastern European ties threaten to take over racketeering.
Prosecutors agree that the war against organized crime is not over. “We can’t declare victory and walk away,” former Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morganthau said.
Headline Links: Mobsters indicted
The New York Times reports on the dozens of arrests and indictments of reputed mob leaders in federal and state courts. The allegations include the 1976 killing of a Brooklyn court officer who was scheduled to testify against a Gambino mobster, and widespread extortion in public construction projects. “This investigation was extraordinary in that it penetrated the inner workings of the Gambino family and simultaneously reached back in time to hold several members of the Gambino family accountable for their prior crimes,” U.S. Attorney Benton Campbell said.
Source: The New York Times
The alleged mob leaders charged in the Feb. 7 indictments were involved in millions of dollars worth of contracts on some of the biggest public and private projects in New York City, according to the Daily News. Toby Thacher, a corporate monitor and former inspector general for the School Construction Authority, said mob influence is strong despite years of enforcement efforts, and prosecution may merely shift mob control from one trade to another.
Source: Daily News
Background: Operation ‘Old Bridge’ and public construction law
The U.S indictments coincided with a series of arrests in Palermo, Sicily. Operation Old Bridge culminated in the arrest of 20 members of the Mafia in Italy. Raffael Grazi, chief of the organized crime division of the Italian National Police, said, “There are a lot of important links between members in both countries.”
Source: Bloomberg.com
In June 2007, a coalition of New York legislators and officials announced plans to amend Wicks Law, a law many view as imposing complex requirements on public construction contracts that give organized crime families opportunities to exert control and extort money. The planned legislative changes have not been enacted.
Source: New York Government
Opinions & Analysis: How badly was the mob hurt?
Federal and state prosecutors have won no final victories in their decades-long struggle to reduce mob influence, and the recent flurry of Gambino family arrests may prove similarly inconclusive. After tracing former Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morganthau’s struggle to eradicate mobsters, City Journal Senior Editor Steven Malanga argues that the real message of the recent indictments “is that even after decades of intensive investigation by law enforcement, organized crime remains a powerful force within the city’s construction industry.”
Source: City Journal
One law enforcement officer source told the New York Post that the series of arrests “dismantles the infrastructure of the family.” The source, who elected to remain anonymous, believes that the arrests will seriously hinder the Mob’s ability to continue on with business as usual.
Source: New York Post
An update on the impact of the February 2008 indictments argues for legal reform and warns of the rise of other New York-based mobs with international ties. Steve Malanga says the state’s Wicks Law, enacted in the 1920s in an effort to reduce corruption, today aids mobsters by adding “layers of complexity that encourage fraud, bribery and bid rigging.”
Source: City Journal
Related Topics: Italian-U.S. Mafia
The Chicago Syndicate blog provides a history of the relationship between the American and Italian Mob. Many of the criminals named in the most recent U.S indictment are exiles from Sicily, and were allegedly planning on returning “to fill a power vacuum” left by the arrest of Sicilian mob boss, Bernardo Provenzano, in 2006.
Source: The Chicago Syndicate
Mafia members of the Inzerillo family planning on returning to Sicily have been thwarted by operation Old Bridge. The current indictments are a product of coordinated efforts by Italian and American law enforcement. The U.S. federal investigation depended greatly on wiretaps placed on Sicilians visiting New York to negotiate with the Inzerillos. Italian officials hope the arrests will prevent another mob war.
Source: International Herald Tribune
Reference: Organized crime in America
The Federal Bureau of Investigation Web site provides a history of organized crime in the United States dating back to the 1800s. Now, the FBI counts 3,000 members of the Mafia in the United States and 25,000 worldwide. The site also details the backgrounds of the Sicilian mafia, La Cosa Nostra, the “foremost organized criminal threat to American society,” and others.
Source: The FBI
Tru TV Crime Library provides articles, videos and images related to crime in America. The site covers investigative techniques and famous crimes and mobsters, including the power struggle between rival New York gangs that led to the emergence of the Five Families of New York and the powerful Gambino Family.
Source: Tru TV Crime Library
Web site The Smoking Gun provides the indictment papers with details of the allegations and the names of the 62 indicted. The site highlights some of the more colorful nicknames in the indictment, including “The Greaseball,” “The Conductor” and “Vinny Hot."
Source: The Smoking Gun
Most Recent Beyond The Headlines
© 2012 Dulcinea Media, Inc.
