TRENTON – Attorney General Peter
C. Harvey announced that the Division
of Gaming Enforcement filed a complaint
today with the Casino Control Commission
to revoke the casino service industry
licenses of Interstate Industrial Corp.
and Interstate Drywall Corp. The Attorney
General’s Office is also seeking
to disqualify the company’s’
two owners, Frank and Peter DiTommaso.
Attorney General Harvey said the Division’s
three-count complaint seeks revocation
on the basis of the DiTommaso’s
association with career offenders and
career offender cartels, their lack of
good character and supplying of false
information to the Division.
According
to Thomas Auriemma, Director of the Division
of Gaming Enforcement, the complaint was
required because of the Casino Control
Commission’s issuance of licenses
and qualifications to Interstate and the
DiTommasos in July 2004, following a lengthy
hearing. The Division filed an appeal
of the Commission’s decision with
the Appellate Division of New Jersey Superior
Court. No date has been set for argument.
“The
Division of Gaming Enforcement in the
Attorney General’s Office has a
superlative record of keeping organized
crime out of Atlantic City and maintaining
the integrity of the legalized gaming
industry in New Jersey. This case is another
example of Gaming Enforcement’s
outstanding work under the leadership
of Director Auriemma and his very capable
staff,” Harvey said.
Attorney
General Harvey said the Division is seeking
“judgment that Interstate and the
DiTommasos constitute associates of career
offenders or career offender cartels,
and that they are disqualified from continued
non-gaming casino service industry licensure
and qualification pursuant to the laws
of the State.”
The Attorney General noted that the complaint
outlines how Gaming Enforcement presented
information at the original Interstate
hearing, and has since developed further
information, that the DiTommaso brothers
had ties to the DeCavalcante and Gambino
organized crime families dating back to
the 1980s. The complaint also charges
that the DiTommasos gave false information
to Division investigators in an attempt
to mislead them concerning the DiTommasos’
relationship with former New York Police
Commissioner Bernard Kerik, who was nominated
as the United States Secretary of Homeland
Security.
According
to the complaint, Joseph Watts, a Gambino
associate, and Dominic Borghese, a Gambino
solider, met in the 1980s with Frank and
Peter DiTommaso and were paid $60,000
for “protection,” including
the handling of any union problems that
arose at Interstate. The protection money
was paid in two $30,000 installments,
once in the summer and once at Christmas
time.
In
another instance outlined in the complaint,
Anthony Capo, a cooperating witness for
the federal government, had a conversation
with another organized crime associate,
Anthony Rotondo, in which Rotondo told
Capo: “The DiTommasos were ‘with’
the DeCavalcante Family and its boss,
John Riggi.” Capo was given employment
by Frank DiTommaso at the recommendation
of Rotondo, according to the complaint.
In
the 1990s, Capo attempted to obtain work
as a subcontractor for Interstate, but
Capo was told by Watts that Capo could
not get work because Interstate had become
associated with the Gambino Family of
LCN through Watts.
In
December 2004, a federal jury in New York
convicted Peter Gotti and Thomas “Huck”
Carbonaro on numerous counts, including
Gambino Family racketeering involving
corruption within the construction industry
in New York. Three “made”
members: Rotondo, Michael “Mickey
Scars” DiLeonardo, a Gambino capo,
and Frank Fappiano, a Gambino soldier,
provided testimony for the Federal Government
about “longstanding and knowing
ties among the DiTommasos, Interstate
and organized crime.”
“The
Division presented evidence during the
Interstate hearing in 2004 that the DiTommasos
had a relationship with more than a dozen
members and associates of organized crime
and multiple organized crime-related businesses,”
Director Auriemma said. “These witnesses’
testimony corroborates and substantiates
much of the information that was presented
by the Division at the hearing in 2004.”
According
to trial testimony, Rotondo was introduced
to the DiTommasos in 1986 by John Riggi.
Rotondo further testified that Riggi told
the DiTommasos that they would be “with”
Rotondo, who would assist them with any
problems. Subsequently, at the request
of the DiTommasos, Rotondo intervened
with Colombo Family to allow Interstate
to use non-union labor on several Manhattan
construction projects.
“In
exchange for Rotondo’s assistance,
the DiTommasos gave bags of cash to Rotondo,
who shared it with the DeCavalcante and
Colombo Families of LCN,” according
to the complaint.
DiLeonardo testified that he was assigned
to “service” the DiTommasos,
and that the DiTommasos had requested
favors, including intercession with the
Carpenter’s Union, for which DiLeonardo
was paid $25,000 by the DiTommasos.
DiLeonardo
also testified that he assisted the DiTommasos
in limiting the use of a Teamsters’
foreman at a Staten Island landfill. In
exchange, the DiTommasos agreed to pay
$100,000 to the Gambino Family.
The
Division further alleged in the complaint
that the DiTommasos gave false information
to investigators about the DiTommasos’
relationship with former Police Commissioner
Kerik. The alleged disinformation concerned
renovations that Kerik had done on an
apartment in the Bronx he had purchased
in 1999.
Frank
DiTommaso was introduced to Kerik in 1998
by former Interstate employee Lawrence
Ray, who had a long relationship with
Kerik, and who served as best man at Kerik’s
wedding. Frank DiTommaso and Kerik then
developed their own relationship.
According
to the complaint, Kerik told Ray that
Kerik did not have the money to purchase
the apartment and still pay for repairs.
In a series of E-mails from Kerik to Ray,
Kerik solicited funds from Ray, indicated
that he would provide information to Frank
DiTommaso regarding New York City contracts,
and provided advice concerning Interstate’s
regulatory investigations.
Woods
Restoration Services supervised and performed
some of the repairs to Kerik’s apartment,
at a cost of approximately $200,000. According
to the complaint, Kerik paid only $17,800
toward the cost of these repairs. The
remainder of the cost of the repairs was
paid by Interstate.
“By
directly and indirectly conferring money
or other things of value on Kerik during
a period in which Kerik was a high-ranking
public official of New York City and was
in a position to – and did –
provide assistance to Interstate, the
DiTommasos and Interstate attempted to
influence Kerik in the performance or
violation of his official duties,”
Auriemma said. Kerik is not involved in
the New Jersey casino industry, and the
Division’s complaint does not charge
him with any wrongdoing
The investigation was conducted by Division
of Gaming Enforcement Deputy Director
Mitchell Schwefel, Assistant Attorney
General Gary Ehrlich and Deputy Attorney
General Lane Stebbins and state investigators
Robert Graham, Nancy Smith and Barbara
Krauss.
Director
Auriemma commended the New York City Department
of Investigation for their invaluable
assistance to the Division of Gaming Enforcement.
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