Code of silence
Curb access to Bonanno case audio – feds
FOR THEIR ears only!
Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn are pushing to limit access to recordings of sources that helped them build an extortion case against alleged Bonanno family mobsters.
The feds fear potential witness intimidation if the sources become widely known, so they only want defense lawyers, their legal staff and the defendants to have access to the audio. The defendants would have to listen in the presence of a lawyer or member of their law firm’s staff.
“In this neighborhood, there’s a difference between having someone call someone a cooperating witness and then having a tape that proves that,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicole Argentieri said Monday.
There are 21 recordings from two cooperators so far in the case, according to Argentieri. She was worried the discs could be stolen if the government gives them to jail law libraries without restrictions.
Defense lawyers objected to conditions requiring them or a paralegal to supervise their clients while the defendants listen. One of the defense lawyers in the extortion case, Adam Perlmutter, said the alleged risks to witnesses were “grossly overstated.”
And the proposed restriction won’t do much, said the defense, adding that their clients will know who the government collaborators are once the suspects hear the tapes.
“The cat will be out of the bag once we hear the recordings,” said Seth Ginsberg.
Eight of the 10 defendants are jailed at the Metropolitan Detention Center or the Metropolitan Correctional Center. One of the jailed men is alleged acting capo Ronald (Ronnie G.) Giallanzo, the nephew of acquitted Lufthansa heist suspect Vincent Asaro.
In 2015, Asaro beat the rap in connection with the infamous 1978 Lufthansa case, but he faces separate arson charges now.
Brooklyn Federal Judge Dora Irizarry said she’d make a decision on the prosecutors’ access request soon.
She scolded prosecutors for being late in seeking a protective order, saying, “I don't care for litigation by sandbag.”
Prosecutors say decades of loansharking by the Bonanno crew extracted $26 million. They have charged some of the suspects with attempted murder and obstruction of justice.