On November 21, 2012, the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts announced that Ralph F Deleo of Somerville was sentenced to 199 months in prison.  U.S. District Judge Douglas P. Woodlock also sentenced Deleo to three years of supervised release and a $50,000 fine.  

Deleo was the Colombo Family street boss for the La Cosa Nostra.  The criminal organization engaged in the distribution of narcotics, extortion, loan sharking, racketeering, and more.  

The government was able to prove that Deleo engaged in the following criminal activity:

•    paid and arranged for a cocaine deal of two kilograms
•    traveled to Florida, New York, and Connecticut for criminal organization business
•    attempted to collect payments by extortion on March 11, 2009 in Canton, MA
•    arranged for the beating of a financial advisor for a businessman’s brother
•    imported large amounts of marijuana from Canada
•    hid at least 11 firearms, a silencer, ammunition, police uniforms, patches from police departments, wig, zip ties, and more

The mafia organization operates in different areas of the United States and Canada in groups known as “families.”  The most powerful families are located in New York City, and the Colombo family is one of the most powerful and dangerous families.  

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz stated, “Our office continues to investigate and prosecute organized crime wherever it attempts to establish a foothold in the Commonwealth.  We are prepared to prevent it from victimizing and corrupting any of its victims, including legitimate businesses.”  

Richard DesLauriers, Special Agent in Charge for Boston’s FBI, stated: “For the second time in one week, investigations by the FBI and our federal, state, and local law enforcement partners have led to the conviction and sentencing of high ranking LCN members.  Last week, New England LCN’s leader was sentenced, and today, the acting street boss of the Colombo crime family faced justice.”  

Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation

On October 1, 2012, the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts announced that Minh Cam Luong, aka “Ming Jai,” pleaded guilty to operating an illegal gambling business and using violence to collect money from indebted gamblers.  Luong was scheduled for sentencing on January 14, 2013 by United States District Judge Patti B. Saris.  

During the guilty plea, Luong admitted that he ran an illegal gambling business in dens located in Boston’s Chinatown.  The dens were located on Edinboro Street, Harrison Avenue, and Beach Street, and the dens operated from July 2009 to June 2011.  The dens provided high-stakes gambling on Chinese table games.  The most popular game was call “pai gau” where gamblers actually play against each other instead of the house.  The house would then collect five percent on every winning hand, which ranged from hundreds to tens of thousands of dollars.  

Luong issued large of money to gamblers and other people, but when they could not pay back the debt, Luong and his partners would threaten violence.  Multiple gamblers and owners of other gambling dens in Chinatown were beaten up to collect debts and maintain Luong’s reputation.  

During an intercepted conversation, Luong stated that his Beach Street grambling den made $100,000 in just three days during the Chinese New Year in 2011.  During the same conversation, Luong said the den usually grossed $60,000 to $70,000 every week.  Other intercepted conversations revealed the threatening comments.  

According to the FBI, Luong faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for each of the 10 extortionate collections counts.  He faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison for the illegal gambling business count, and he faces a maximum fine of $250,000 for each of the counts.  

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Richard L. Hoffman and Timothy E. Moran are prosecuting the case.  

Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation

On October 11, 2012, the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York announced that Emilio Fusco received 25 years in prison for racketeering and extortion crimes.  He is part of the Genovese Organized Crime Family of La Cosa Nostra.  

In May of 2012, he was sentenced to one count of conspiring with the Genovese Organized Crime Family, one count of extorting owners of restaurants and strip clubs in Springfield, Massachusetts, and one count of interstate travel for racketeering.  He was also found guilty of the murder of Adolfo Bruno and Gary Westerman in November of 2003.  

Evidence presented at the trial proved that Fusco joined the Genovese Crime Family in Springfield in the mid 1990s.  From then until 2008, he worked with others to extort a business owner in Springfield.  He received about $12,000 every month as a result of the extortion.  

He completed a 33-month sentence in 2006 for former racketeering and money laundering convictions.  He was convicted for extorting multiple businesses in the Springfield area.  

He is believed to have conspired with other members of the Genovese Crime Family in order to murder Adolfo Bruno and Gary Westerman.  At the time of their murders, Bruno was the captain of the family’s Springfield faction and Westerman was a family associate.  Fusco believed Westerman was cooperating with the police.  He was acquitted of the murder charges, but the judge found Fusco committed the murders by preponderance—or weight of the evidence.  

Fusco is also believed to have distributed marijuana.  Court documents also show he was engaged in loan sharking and illegal gambling.  

In addition to his 25 years in prison, Fusco is also ordered to undergo three years of supervised release.  He is ordered to forfeit $260,000 as well.  The co-defendants were sentenced to life in prison.  

Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation

On October 1, 2012, the US Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia announced that Mark Gary, of Duluth, pleaded guilty to bribing the Gwinnett County Commissioner in 2009 in order to secure rights to build a waste transfer station.  

Ricky Maxwell, the Acting Agent in Charge for the FBI Atlanta Field Office, states, “This case illustrates that those who entice or bribe public officials will quickly find themselves as defendants in a public corruption investigation and prosecution.”

According to information presented in the court, Mark Gary wanted to develop a $4 million solid waste transfer station around October of 2008.  The facility acted as a way station during the trash collection process and transferred trash from haulers to the appropriate landfills.  Gary submitted the necessary documents to obtain county approvals and permits, but the permits eventually needed approval from the Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners.  

According to the FBI, Shirley Lasseter was elected as the District 1 representative for the Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners, and Gary helped get her elected.  After she was elected, she almost immediately appointed Gary to the Gwinnett County Planning Commission.  

Then, between March and April of 2009, Gary spoke with Lasseter and her son about the application for the waste transfer station.  Gary offered money to Lasseter and her son, John Fanning, if Lasseter voted to approve the application.  

Lasseter voted to approve the waste transfer station on April 28, 2009, and Gary then paid her son $30,000 in June of 2009.  

Gary was charged on September 5, 2012 for trying to bribe Lasseter and her son.  He faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a fine up to $250,000.  His sentencing is scheduled for January 2, 2013, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Douglas W. Gilfillan is prosecuting the case.  

Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation

On October 16, 2012, the FBI in Phoenix released information about two suspects that are wanted for bank robberies in the Phoenix area.  The FBI is referring to the wanted bank robbers as the “Run-and-Gun Bandits.”  

The first robbery occurred on October 4, 2012 at the Desert Schools Federal Credit Union on 3423 East Bell Road in Phoenix, Arizona.  The second robbery occurred on October 15, 2012 at the Desert Schools Federal Credit Union on 2355 South Alma School Road in Mesa, Arizona.  

During both of the robberies, two unknown black males entered the credit unions as the same time and brandished a dark, semi-automatic handgun.  The first black male would go up to the teller and demand money while the second black male would remain in the customer lobby.  They would also rob customers that were located in the banks at the time of the robbery.  

The first unknown suspect is a black male, and he is believed to be 20 to 25 years of age.  He is about 5’8” tall, and he is about 160 pounds.  He had a dark, long ponytail at the time of the robbery, and he was wearing dark clothing during the time of the crimes.  He has a scar above his left eyebrow.  

The second unknown suspect is also a black male, and he is between 20 and 25 years of age.  He is between 5’10” and 6’0” tall and weighs about 180 pounds.  He has dark hair, and he was wearing a dark bandana during the time of the crime.  

The Desert Schools Federal Credit Union is offering a cash reward of $5,000 for any information that leads to arrest of the suspects.  

If you have any information about the suspects, call the FBI at 623-466-1999.  

Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation
 

On October 1, 2012, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas announced that Phillip Monroe Ballard—an inmate at the Fort Worth Federal Correctional Institute—was charged for soliciting a murder-for-hire.  Ballard was charged for trying to hire an outside party to murder U.S. District Judge John McBryde in the Northern District of Texas.  

According to the FBI, Ballard was incarcerated in Fort Worth for tax charges and was set to go on trial before McBryde on October 1, 2012.  The case was cancelled on September 28, 2012, and Judge McBryde withdrew from the case.  

According to the complaint, an inmate at FCI Fort Worth was approached by Ballard earlier in September.  Ballard has specific requests for killing Judge McBryde because he was going to prison on tax charges.  Ballard believed Judge McBryde would sentence him to over 20 years in prison, so he asked the fellow inmate if he knew anybody on the outside.  Unknown to Ballard, the inmate was working with the FBI and the inmate told Ballard he in fact knew someone on the outside.  

Ballard told the inmate that he would pay $100,000 to have Judge McBryde killed so his case would be transferred.  Ballard gave specific instructions.  He said he wanted Judge McBryde killed with a high caliber rifle, and even offered a backup plan to plant a bomb in the judge’s vehicle.  

The inmate gave Ballard a letter from an undercover agent who was posing as the killer.  The letter stated the job would be fulfilled if Ballard transferred $5,000.  On September 26, 2012, Ballard requested that the $5,000 be sent to the address of the undercover agent.  

If convicted, Ballard faces maximum sentence of 20 years in jail and a fine of $250,000.

Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation

On October 12, 2012, the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland announced that Eric Jordon was sentenced to 72 years in prison and 5 years of supervised in connection to three armed robberies around the Baltimore area.  

On April 30, 2012, Jordon was convicted of one count of conspiracy, three counts of robbery, three counts of brandishing a firearm, one count of possession of a firearm by a felon, and one count of possession of an unregistered firearm.  The judge declared Jordan a career offender.  

According to court documents, Jordon and the co-defendant, Aaron Graham, were arrested after they robbed two different fast food restaurants in under an hour.  During the robberies, Jordan drove the getaway vehicle and Graham robbed the restaurants.  Graham brandished a weapon during both robberies, and he pistol whipped the clerk in the first robbery.  

Witnesses identified Graham during the robberies, and they also identified the getaway vehicle as a gray pick-up truck.  During the arrest, police found a .25 caliber semiautomatic pistol and approximately $1,083.56 in cash.  

During the trial, evidence proved that Jordan and Graham, as well as another man, previously robbed a gas station in Gwynn Oak, Maryland on February 1, 2011.  During the robbery, Graham beat the cashier and brandished the same pistol used in the other two crimes.  The other robber assaulted a customer who tried to run away during the robbery, and the same robber carried a sawed-off shotgun.  The sawed-off shotgun was found at Jordon’s residence along with a .357 caliber revolver, ammunition, and the clothing Graham wore during the robbery of the gas station.  

Graham received 147 years in prison for the crimes.

The case was investigated by the FBI, the Baltimore Police Department, the Baltimore County Police Department, and the Baltimore County State’s Attorney’s Office.  

Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation