TRENTON
- Attorney General Paula T. Dow and Criminal
Justice Director Stephen J. Taylor announced
the indictment today of two ruling members
of the New York-based Lucchese crime family
and 32 other members and associates, including
alleged current and former top New Jersey
capos Ralph V. Perna and Nicodemo Scarfo
Jr., on first-degree charges of racketeering,
conspiracy and money laundering.
The
state grand jury indictment stems from Operation
Heat, an investigation by the Division of
Criminal Justice that uncovered an international
criminal gambling enterprise that transacted
billions of dollars in wagers, primarily
on sporting events, and relied on extortion
and violence to collect debts. The indictment
also charges a former New Jersey corrections
officer and a high-ranking member of the
Nine Trey Gangsters set of the Bloods in
an alleged alliance with the Lucchese crime
family to smuggle drugs and pre-paid cell
phones into East Jersey State Prison.
According
to Director Taylor, the indictment charges
two members of the three-man ruling panel
of the Lucchese crime family, Joseph DiNapoli,
74, of Scarsdale, N.Y., and Matthew Madonna,
74, of Seldon, N.Y. The indictment also
charges Ralph V. Perna, 64, of East Hanover,
and Nicodemo Scarfo Jr., 44, of Ventnor.
Perna allegedly became top capo of the New
Jersey faction of the family when Scarfo
was deposed in 2007.
“The
Lucchese crime family allegedly employed
sophisticated measures such as electronic
record-keeping and offshore wire rooms designed
to thwart detection of their illegal gambling
activities by law enforcement,” said
Attorney General Dow. “I’m proud
to say that their innovations did not stop
our investigators from infiltrating their
criminal enterprise and obtaining the evidence
needed to indict their alleged top leaders
in both New York and New Jersey.”
“The
Division of Criminal Justice will continue
to fulfill its decades-old mission of fighting
organized crime, whether it takes the form
of traditional organized crime or street
gangs,” said Director Taylor. “We
will remain vigilant and aggressive on both
fronts. In this case, those fronts allegedly
overlapped in a troubling alliance between
members of the Lucchese crime family and
the Bloods gang to smuggle contraband into
a state prison.”
A
warrant has been issued for Scarfo’s
arrest. Most of the defendants were initially
charged and arrested in Operation Heat in
December 2007. However, Scarfo and two other
men were charged today for the first time
in the ongoing investigation. The other
two men are Frank Cetta, 71, of Las Vegas,
Nevada, who allegedly ran the gambling operation’s
Costa Rican wire room, and Gary P. Medure,
56, of New York, N.Y., a close associate
of DiNapoli who allegedly managed gambling
“packages,” groups of bettors
who regularly gambled through the operation.
Three
other men named in the indictment were arrested
after the initial arrests but prior to today’s
indictment. They are Michael A. Maffucci,
24, of Cedar Grove, N.J., Charles J. Bologna,
57, of Port Chester, N.Y., and Robert V.
DeCrescenzo, 35, of Port Chester, N.Y. Each
of them allegedly managed or assisted in
the management of gambling packages.
Each
of the first-degree charges of racketeering,
conspiracy and money laundering carries
a maximum sentence of 20 years in state
prison. In addition to those charges DiNapoli,
Madonna and Perna were charged with being
leaders of organized crime, a second-degree
offense.
Most
of the defendants - including DiNapoli,
Madonna, Perna, Scarfo, Cetta, Medure, Maffucci,
Bologna and DeCrescenzo - were also charged
with promoting gambling and possession of
gambling records, both third-degree offenses.
Supervising
Deputy Attorney General Mark Eliades, Chief
of the Gangs & Organized Crime Bureau,
and Deputy Attorney General Christopher
Romanyshyn presented the case to the state
grand jury for the Division of Criminal
Justice. Lt. Christopher Donohue and Detective
Patrick Sole of the Gangs & Organized
Crime Bureau were lead investigators for
this case, and Detective Noelle Holl was
the principal investigator in the financial
portion of the case.
It
is alleged that DiNapoli and Madonna controlled
the crime family’s gambling operations
and other criminal activities from New York.
Both Perna and Scarfo are alleged to have
overseen the Lucchese crime family’s
operations in New Jersey.
Also
indicted were Perna’s three sons,
Joseph M. Perna, 40, of Wyckoff, John G.
Perna, 32, of West Caldwell, and Ralph M.
Perna, 38, of West Caldwell. The sons, led
by Joseph, allegedly managed day-to-day
gambling operations under their father’s
oversight. Two other men who were indicted,
Michael A. Cetta, 43, of Wyckoff, and Martin
Tacetta, 59, of East Hanover, the former
New Jersey underboss for the family, allegedly
exercised their own management control over
family gambling operations. Tacetta is currently
serving a life sentence in state prison
as a result of a Division of Criminal Justice
prosecution in the 1990s. Michael Cetta,
who is Frank Cetta’s son, has close
ties to the Lucchese family through marriage.
Joseph
Perna, John Perna, Michael Cetta and three
other defendants are charged with extortion
and aggravated assault, both second-degree
offenses, in connection with alleged threats
and attempts to use violence against individuals
who owed money or tried to take business
away from the gambling operation.
The
Division of Criminal Justice has seized
or restrained millions of dollars in assets
of the defendants alleged to be subject
to forfeiture as criminal proceeds, including
seven homes, 16 bank accounts, 15 vehicles,
over $200,000 in cash, and numerous watches
and items of jewelry. The indictment alleges
that Joseph M. Perna and his wife, Roseanna
Perna, 36, obtained approximately $900,000
in mortgage funds through fraudulent loan
applications. The indictment further charges
various tax offenses against the couple,
as well as Ralph M. Perna, Michael Cetta
and Vita Cetta, 41, of Wyckoff.
The
investigation uncovered an international
criminal gambling enterprise that, according
to records reviewed by the Division of Criminal
Justice, transacted an estimated $2.2 billion
in wagers, primarily on sporting events,
during a 15-month period.
The
gambling operation involved agents or “package
holders,” each of whom brought in
bets from a group of gamblers. The enterprise
and all of its packages involved hundreds
or even thousands of gamblers. Records showed
that one high-rolling gambler wagered more
than $2 million in a two-month period. Those
indicted include package holders as well
as individuals who allegedly acted as collectors
for the operation, collecting and paying
out wins and losses.
The
illicit proceeds allegedly were divided
by the package holders and the members they
worked under, such as the Pernas, Michael
Cetta, Tacetta and Medure, who in turn made
“tribute” payments to the New
York bosses, including DiNapoli and Madonna.
It is charged that collection operations
at times took the form of threats or acts
of violence.
The
gambling operation received and processed
the wagers using password-protected Web
sites and a Costa Rican “wire room”
where bets were recorded and results tallied.
The
prison smuggling scheme allegedly involved
inmate Edwin B. Spears, 36, of Neptune,
and a former corrections officer at East
Jersey State Prison in Woodbridge, Michael
T. Bruinton, 46, of Ringoes. Spears was
at East Jersey State Prison at the time
of the alleged conduct. Also indicted were
Spears’ brother, Dwayne E. Spears,
30, of Neptune, and Kristen A. Gilliam,
27, of Farmingdale. Another defendant, Francine
Hightower, 52, of Tinton Falls, pleaded
guilty on Feb. 21, 2008, to conspiring to
launder money.
It
is charged that Edwin Spears, an admitted
“five-star general” in the Nine
Trey Gangsters set of the Bloods, formed
an alliance with Joseph Perna and Michael
Cetta to smuggle drugs and cell phones into
East Jersey State Prison through Bruinton.
The alliance allegedly extended beyond smuggling.
In one instance, Joseph Perna allegedly
sought assistance from Spears to stop an
individual associated with the Bloods from
extorting money from a man with ties to
the Lucchese family.
It
is charged that Perna and Cetta would provide
money to Dwayne Spears to acquire contraband
including heroin, cocaine, marijuana and
pre-paid cell phones. Dwayne Spears allegedly
would give the contraband to Bruinton to
smuggle into East Jersey State Prison. The
drugs and cell phones were allegedly distributed
to inmates who had previously placed orders
through Edwin Spears. Cell phones are prohibited
in prison. It is charged that the purchasers
paid by sending money orders or checks to
individuals including Hightower and Gilliam,
who delivered the proceeds to Cetta to “re-invest”
in the smuggling scheme. Samuel A. Juliano,
65, of Glen Ridge, is charged with supplying
drugs for the smuggling scheme.
In
addition to the first-degree charges of
racketeering, conspiracy and money laundering,
Bruinton, Edwin Spears, Dwayne Spears, Gilliam,
Joseph Perna, Michael Cetta and Juliano
are charged for the alleged smuggling operation
with conspiracy (2nd degree), official misconduct
(2nd degree), bribery (2nd degree), and
unlawful possession of a cell phone in prison
(3rd degree).
As
Operation Heat proceeded it yielded evidence
that was pursued by the Manhattan District
Attorney’s Office in an investigation
that culminated on Oct. 1, 2009 with the
indictment of 29 defendants, including DiNapoli,
Madonna and other Lucchese crime family
members, alleged to have run a criminal
enterprise that bribed city building inspectors,
among other crimes.
Attorney
General Dow credited Lt. Christopher Donohue
and Detective Patrick Sole, who were lead
investigators for this case, former Acting
Supervising State Investigator James Sweeney,
Detectives Audrey Young, Ho Chul Shin, Brian
Bruton, Mario Estrada, Richard DaSilva,
Noelle Holl and John Delesio of the Division
of Criminal Justice, and Auditor Thaedra
Chebra of the Division of Taxation’s
Office of Criminal Investigation. She credited
Chief of Detectives Paul Morris for directing
the investigation. She thanked the many
other investigators from the Division of
Criminal Justice Gangs & Organized Crime
Bureau who provided assistance.
Attorney
General Dow credited Supervising Deputy
Attorney General Mark Eliades, Deputy Attorney
General Christopher Romanyshyn and Deputy
Attorney General Lauren Scarpa-Yfantis.
She credited the New Jersey State Police
Intelligence Section for their assistance
in the investigation. She also thanked Detective
Andrew Varga of the New York City Police
Department and members of the Manhattan
District Attorney's Office who provided
assistance.
First-degree
crimes carry a maximum sentence of 20 years
in state prison and a $200,000 fine. First-degree
money laundering carries an enhanced fine
of up to $500,000. Second-degree crimes
carry a maximum sentence of 10 years in
state prison and a $150,000 fine. Third-degree
crimes carry a maximum sentence of five
years in state prison and a fine of up to
$35,000 for promoting gambling or $15,000
for other third-degree crimes. Fourth-degree
crimes carry a maximum sentence of 18 months
in prison and a $10,000 fine.
The
charges filed against the defendants are
merely accusations and they are presumed
innocent until proven guilty. The indictment
was handed up to Superior Court Judge Linda
R. Feinberg in Mercer County, who assigned
the case to Morris County.
In
addition to the defendants already named
in this press release, the indictment also
charges:
- John
V. Mangrella, 67, of Clifton;
- Alfonso
“Tic” Cataldo, 68,
of Florham Park;
- Antonio
“Curly” Russo, 73,
of Bloomingdale;
- Elliot
Porco, 47, of Bronx, N.Y.;
- Gianni
Iacovo, 34, of Elmwood Park;
- James
Furfaro Jr., 30, of Parsippany;
- John
N. Turi, 31, of Clifton;
- Michael
T. Ramuno III, 36, of Philadelphia;
- Robert
A. Romano, 31, of Brick;
- Ron
Scrips, 46, of Staten Island,
N.Y.;
- Shpetim
“Tim” Hani, 33, of
North Haledon;
- Blerim
Ibraimi, 29, of Hawthorne; and
- George
Maiorano, 65, of Belleville.
The
indictment charges the defendants as follows:
Count 1 - Racketeering - First Degree
All Defendants
Count
2 - Leader of Organized Crime - Second Degree
Joseph DiNapoli and Matthew Madonna
Count
3 - Leader of Organized Crime - Second Degree
Ralph V. Perna
Count
4 - Conspiracy - Second Degree
Joseph DiNapoli, Matthew Madonna, Ralph
V. Perna, Nicodemo Scarfo Jr., Joseph M.
Perna, Michael Cetta, Frank Cetta, John
G. Perna, Ralph M. Perna, John Mangrella,
Gary Medure, Elliot Porco, Martin Taccetta,
Antonio Russo, Alfonso Cataldo, Michael
Ramuno III, Ronald Scripps, Gianni Iacovo,
Robert Decrescenzo, Charles Bologna, James
Furfaro, Robert Romano, John Turi, Michael
Maffucci, George Maiorano, Blerim Ibriami,
Shpetim Hani, Vita Cetta and Rosanna Perna
Count
5 - Promoting Gambling - Third Degree
Joseph DiNapoli, Matthew Madonna, Ralph
V. Perna, Nicodemo Scarfo, Jr., Joseph M.
Perna, Michael Cetta, Frank Cetta, John
G. Perna, Ralph M. Perna, John Mangrella,
Gary Medure, Elliot Porco, Martin Taccetta,
Antonio Russo, Alfonso Cataldo, Michael
Ramuno III, Ronald Scripps, Gianni Iacovo,
Robert Decrescenzo, Charles Bologna, James
Furfaro, Robert Romano, John Turi, Michael
Maffucci, George Maiorano, Blerim Ibriami,
Shpetim Hani, Vita Cetta and Rosanna Perna
Count
6 - Possession of Gambling Records - Third
Degree
Joseph DiNapoli, Matthew Madonna, Ralph
V. Perna, Nicodemo Scarfo Jr., Joseph M.
Perna, Michael Cetta, Frank Cetta, John
G. Perna, Ralph M. Perna, John Mangrella,
Gary Medure, Elliot Porco, Martin Taccetta,
Antonio Russo, Alfonso Cataldo, Michael
Ramuno III, Ronald Scripps, Gianni Iacovo,
Robert Decrescenzo, Charles Bologna, James
Furfaro, Robert Romano, John Turi, Michael
Maffucci, George Maiorano, Blerim Ibriami,
Shpetim Hani, Vita Cetta and Rosanna Perna
Count
7 - Attempted Theft by Extortion - Second
Degree
Joseph M. Perna, John G. Perna, Michael
Cetta, Gianni Iacovo, James Furfaro and
Robert Romano
Count
8 - Aggravated Assault - Second Degree
Joseph M. Perna, John G. Perna, Michael
Cetta, Gianni Iacovo, James Furfaro and
Robert Romano
Count
9 - Possession of a Weapon for Unlawful
Purpose - Third Degree
John G. Perna and Robert Romano
Count
10 - Theft by Deception - Second Degree
Joseph M. Perna
Count
11 - Falsifying Records - Fourth Degree
Joseph M. Perna
Count
12 - Theft by Deception - Second Degree
Joseph M. Perna and Rosanna Perna
Count
13 - Falsifying Records - Fourth Degree
18 months / $ 10,000
Joseph M. Perna and Rosanna Perna
Count
14 - Failure to File Tax Return - Third
Degree
Joseph M. Perna and Rosanna Perna
Count
15 - Failure to Pay Gross Income Tax - Third
Degree
Joseph M. Perna and Rosanna Perna
Count 16 - Failure to Pay Gross
Income Tax - Third Degree
Ralph M. Perna
Count
17 - Failure to File Tax Return - Third
Degree
Michael Cetta and Vita Cetta
Count
18 - Failure to Pay Gross Income Tax - Third
Degree
Michael Cetta and Vita Cetta
Count
19 - Conspiracy - Second Degree
Joseph M. Perna, Michael Cetta, Edwin Spears,
Samuel A. Juliano, Michael Bruinton, Dwayne
Spears and Kristen Gilliam
Count
20 - Official Misconduct - Second Degree
Joseph M. Perna, Michael Cetta, Edwin Spears,
Samuel A. Juliano, Michael Bruinton, Dwayne
Spears and Kristen Gilliam
Count
21 - Bribery - Second Degree
Joseph M. Perna, Michael Cetta, Edwin Spears,
Samuel A. Juliano, Michael Bruinton, Dwayne
Spears and Kristen Gilliam
Count
22 - Unlawful Possession of Certain Electronic
Devices in Prisons - Third Degree
Joseph M. Perna, Michael Cetta, Edwin Spears,
Samuel A. Juliano, Michael Bruinton, Dwayne
Spears and Kristen Gilliam
Count 23 - Possession of Oxycodone
with Intent to Distribute - Second Degree
Samuel A. Juliano
Count
24 - Possession of Cocaine with Intent to
Distribute - Second Degree
Samuel A. Juliano
Count
25 - Possession of Cocaine and Oxycodone
- Third Degree
Samuel A. Juliano
Count
26 - Certain Persons Not To Have Weapons
- Second Degree
Samuel A. Juliano
Count
27 - Unlawful Possession of a Weapon - Third
Degree
Samuel A. Juliano
Count
28 - Unlawful Possession of a Weapon - Third
Degree
Samuel A. Juliano
Count
29 - Prohibited Weapon - Third Degree
Samuel A. Juliano
Count
30 - Possession of Weapons During Commission
of Certain Crimes - Second Degree
Samuel A. Juliano
Count
31 - Prohibited Weapon - Fourth Degree
Samuel A. Juliano
Count
32 - Prohibited Weapon - Fourth Degree
Samuel A. Juliano
Count
33 - Conspiracy - First Degree
All Defendants
Count
34 - Money Laundering - First Degree
All Defendants
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