Indictment Names Scarsdale Man at Head of Lucchese Crime Syndicate

The New Jersey Attorney General's office announced the indictment yesterday of two ruling members of the New York-based Lucchese crime family, including one Scarsdale don, and 32 other members and associates on first-degree charges of racketeering, conspiracy and money laundering.

The indictments stem from a long-term investigation which uncovered an international criminal gambling enterprise which transacted billions of dollars in wagers, primarily on sporting events, and relied on extortion and violence to collect debts, according to a release from the office of Attorney General Paula Dow.

Two members of the three-man ruling panel of the Lucchese crime family were charged, including Joseph "Big Joe" DiNapoli, 74, who, although he owned other residences, had been living at 1 Bloomingdale Dr. in Scarsdale's postal code, on the border of New Rochelle.

DiNapoli also has homes or property in Cape Coral and Deerfield Beach, Florida; at three locations in the Bronx; Saw Mill River Rd. in White Plains; New City in Rockland County; and Monmouth Beach and Long Branch, New Jersey.

The department has seized or restrained millions of dollars in the assets of the defendants, including seven homes, 16 bank accounts, 15 vehicles, over $200,000 in cash, and numerous watches and items of jewelry.

"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 the attorney general, in a statement issued earlier today.

"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 Stephen J. Taylor, the state's director of Criminal Justice.

"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," he said. 

Two men charged today were named for the first time, including Gary P. Medure, 56, of New York, N.Y., who also has an address listing at 1075 Central Park Ave. in Scarsdale, a close associate of DiNapoli who allegedly managed gambling "packages," groups of bettors who regularly gambled through the operation.

Medure is also linked to 22 Beaumont Dr. in New City, the same Rockland address held by DiNapoli. He also traced back to residences in Yonkers and White Plains.

According to the release (which we have sourced heavily from in this story):

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.

Allegedly, DiNapoli and Madonna dually controlled family gambling operations and other criminal activities in New Jersey from their base in New York.

Follow Patch for more reporting on the story as details develop.