Spring Break
Alleged mobsters plead not guilty to extortion, gambling
June 3, 2008
Ashley Kindergan - The Record (Hackensack N.J.)Issue date: 5/29/08 Section: Real News
NEWARK, N.J. _ Nearly two dozen reputed members and associates of the Gambino crime family pleaded not guilty Monday in federal court to charges including extorting money from lunch trucks at construction sites and running an illegal gambling ring.
The 23 men charged face prison sentences that range from 30 years to life for Andrew Merola, 41, allegedly an acting captain in the Gambino family, to 12 to 18 months for those with lesser roles, Assistant U.S. Attorney Ronald D. Wigler said.
The arraignment provided little new information in the case. One after another, attorneys waived their clients' rights to have the charges against them read publicly and entered pleas of not guilty.
The sweeping 82-page indictment handed down last month accuses the group of extortion, illegal gambling, embezzlement, conspiracy and other charges. The schemes alleged are numerous and wide-ranging.
Several of the charges focus on improper activities involving two unions, the Laborers International Union of North America Local 1153 and International Union of Operating Engineers Local 825.
Michael Urgola, 47, and Joseph Manzella, 49, are accused of using their positions as business manager and business agent of Local 1153 to embezzle application documents and union membership cards and to bypass the union's waiting list for jobs in order to hire Merola's associates.
Manzella and John Cataldo, 44, also face charges of taking bribes from companies who, in return, got to avoid paying union wages and benefits to workers. Cataldo was the business organizer for Local 825.
District Judge Susan D. Wigenton set an Oct. 31 deadline for attorneys to file motions in the case. Future plea agreements are possible, Wigler said.
"We'll get out discovery to everyone within the next two weeks," Wigler said. "If anyone wants to come in and discuss the case at all, I would be amenable to doing that."
Several defense attorneys said that assessing the case is difficult before evidence has been presented through discovery.
The 23 men charged face prison sentences that range from 30 years to life for Andrew Merola, 41, allegedly an acting captain in the Gambino family, to 12 to 18 months for those with lesser roles, Assistant U.S. Attorney Ronald D. Wigler said.
The arraignment provided little new information in the case. One after another, attorneys waived their clients' rights to have the charges against them read publicly and entered pleas of not guilty.
The sweeping 82-page indictment handed down last month accuses the group of extortion, illegal gambling, embezzlement, conspiracy and other charges. The schemes alleged are numerous and wide-ranging.
Several of the charges focus on improper activities involving two unions, the Laborers International Union of North America Local 1153 and International Union of Operating Engineers Local 825.
Michael Urgola, 47, and Joseph Manzella, 49, are accused of using their positions as business manager and business agent of Local 1153 to embezzle application documents and union membership cards and to bypass the union's waiting list for jobs in order to hire Merola's associates.
Manzella and John Cataldo, 44, also face charges of taking bribes from companies who, in return, got to avoid paying union wages and benefits to workers. Cataldo was the business organizer for Local 825.
District Judge Susan D. Wigenton set an Oct. 31 deadline for attorneys to file motions in the case. Future plea agreements are possible, Wigler said.
"We'll get out discovery to everyone within the next two weeks," Wigler said. "If anyone wants to come in and discuss the case at all, I would be amenable to doing that."
Several defense attorneys said that assessing the case is difficult before evidence has been presented through discovery.
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