Results tagged “organizedcrime”

Federal prosecutors aiming to convict mob scion John Gotti Jr. came up short for the fourth time in five years when a deadlocked jury failed to reach a verdict. After more than a year behind bars, Gotti Jr. was released on $2 million bail yesterday and visited his mother in Howard Beach, Queens, before returning to his home in Oyster Bay, Long Island, the Post reports. "This is unbelievable, I can't put it into words. It's been a long fight," he said. When his mother joked that they should celebrate by going to Disney World, Gotti said he couldn't because he legally isn't allowed to leave the New York area: "I can't, it's out of my district."

A judge has declared a mistrial in the case against former Gambino boss John Gotti Jr — again. In its 11th day of deliberations, the deadlocked jury issued a note stating that they couldn't come to a consensus on any of the murder and racketeering charges against the mob scion, who claims he retired from organized crime in 1999.

Yesterday, the NY Attorney General's Organized Crime Task Force and NYPD raided a number of homes and business in Staten Island, Brooklyn, NJ, Pennsylvania, and Nevada, arresting 22 people from two investigations dubbed "Operation Pure Luck" and "Operation Night Gallery." The charges, according to Cuomo's office, stem "from the operation of lucrative loan sharking and gambling activities closely controlled by organized crime"—the Gambino and Luchese crime families.

Just because the city has blacklisted construction and utility companies due to their alleged ties to organized crime hasn't kept the Mets and Yankees from using them in putting together their new ballparks. The Times reports on the use of companies Petrocelli Electric and Interstate Industrial, brought on to work on Yankee Stadium, and Breeze National, hired to do demolition for Citi Field. Executives of the companies have done time for bribery charges in the past, prompting the city to avoid doing business with them. An NYU law professor told the paper, “We’re talking about the nature of the whole construction industry, which affects public construction, private construction, not-for-profit construction and the whole economic viability of the city. So there ought to be a commitment to do what we can to purge corrupt influences out of that industry.” But a Mets marketing VP stood by the selection of the controversial company. He said, “The deconstruction was done on time, on budget and without incident or injury.”

Two members of the NYPD's Organized Crime Control Bureau were relieved of their badges after videotape of a raid on a downtown club made its way to the Internal Affairs Bureau. According to the Post, in one segment, a veteran sergeant is seen bending down over an open cash register (some money was reportedly stolen). His supervisor was taped urinating in the establishment's kitchen sink. One of their OCCB co-workers, a detective, was suspended earlier this year when he was accused of acting as a pimp for teenage girl prostitutes.

A company whose entire business is centered on verifying the safety and quality of building materials is being investigated for falsifying or faking test results with materials being used in the some of New York City's most high-profile construction sites, such as the new Yankee Stadium and the Freedom Tower.