Italian, U.S. Law Enforcement Arrest 16 Alleged Crime Family Members

Italian and U.S. law enforcement joined forces to coordinate a campaign to investigate and arrest 16 alleged leaders and associates of the Gambino crime family on charges that include racketeering, extortion, witness retaliation, conspiracy, and fraud. Of the alleged crime family members, 10 were arrested in the New York City area and six were arrested by Italian authorities in Palermo, Sicily

Prosecutors in Palermo said the investigation shed light on “the solidarity of the existing relationship” between New York and Sicilian mobsters and the “American interest in the organizational affairs of the Sicilian Casa Nostra,”

Within the current spate of arrests, U.S. defendants include Joseph Lanni, also known as “Joe Brooklyn” and “Mommino,” an alleged captain in the Gambino organized crime family; Diego “Danny” Tantillo, Angelo Gradilone, also known as “Fifi,” and James LaForte, alleged ; Vito Rappa, alleged U.S.-based Sicilian Mafia member and Gambino associate; Francesco Vicari, alleged U.S.-based Sicilian Mafia and Salvatore Dilorenzo, Bruno Massis, Taylan Bener Kaya, James Robinson, Robert Brooke, Kyle Johnson, Vincent Minaquero, also known as “Vinny Slick,” alleged Gambino associates, the DOJ listed.

“Prosecutors have discovered evidence suggesting that American mafiosi were receiving training and guidance from their Sicilian ‘cousins’ in employing a softer, less violent approach,” according to The Guardian. “This approach involves demanding smaller amounts from extortion victims so that the victims are less likely to seek assistance from the authorities. According to investigators, Sicilian mafia families have also aided the Americans in targeting the relatives of New York restaurateurs residing in Sicily, coercing them into paying the pizzo, or mafia protection money.”

Hammer attack and setting steps on fire
According to prosecutors, members and associates of the Gambino crime family used violent extortions, fraud, theft and embezzlement schemes to infiltrate the carting and demolition industries to enrich themselves and the Gambino crime family, including by laundering criminal proceeds.
In the midst of a financial dispute between Tantillo and the owners of Demolition Company 1, Tantillo and Johnson allegedly coordinated a violent hammer assault on the dispatcher for Demolition Company 1, which left the dispatcher bleeding and seriously injured.
Tantillo, Rappa, Vicari and Johnson allegedly 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. The extortion scheme involved threatening John Doe 1 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.