Evil mob spawn
Oddfather’s kid, 4 others held in union shakedown
LIKE ODDFATHER, like son.
Vincent Esposito, 50, the child of late Genovese family boss Vincent (Chin) Gigante, was one of five mob associates busted for a long-running shakedown of local unions, according to a new federal indictment.
Court papers accused the mobbed-up quintet of extortion and accepting kickbacks, while using “threats of economic harm and potential physical violence” to keep the illegal cash flowing.
Arrested along with Esposito were Steven Arena, 60; Frank Giovinco, 50; Frank Cognetta, 42, and Vincent D’Acunto, 49.
Esposito, who faces 40 years in prison, entered a plea Wednesday of not guilty in Manhattan Federal Court.
He is one of Gigante’s three children with longtime mistress Olympia Esposito, who shared her $12 million Upper East Side townhouse mob boss.
Vincent Esposito lives in the E. 77th St. home with his two sisters and his mother. Investigators raided the pricey pad Wednesday morning, finding $1 million in cash, two unlicensed guns and a set of brass knuckles, according to prosecutors.
The feds said they also discovered a roadmap to the underworld — a hidden list naming made mob members.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jared Lenow said at Esposito’s arraignment that the recovered loot was “the tip of the iceberg.” part-time with the
He added that a close family member was expected to testify against the alleged mob scion at trial.
Gigante was dubbed the Oddfather for his long-running “crazy act,” in which he feigned mental illness to avoid prosecution for years. The dodge worked until a 1997 racketeering conviction. Gigante died behind bars in 2005.
The current conspiracy dated to at least 2001 and ran through this past October, with Esposito, Arena and D’Acunto allegedly squeezing a labor union official for annual cash payments to keep his job.
Threats of physical violence compelled the union honcho to cough up the yearly tribute, according to the indictment.
Cognetta, an official with DDOT
Local 1-D of the United Food and YLIAD/LESIAM Commercial Workers Union, was charged with soliciting and accepting bribes and directing union benefit plans in specific investments in return for SWEN kickbacks.
Esposito was expected to be released on $6 million bond and placed on house arrest with electronic monitoring.
His family planned to cover the hefty bond with the townhouse, which he owns with his siblings and mom.
Esposito became the second of Chin’s sons to land on the wrong side of the law.
Andrew Gigante followed his father into the crime family, and was sentenced in July 2003 to two years in prison for extortion on the New York and New Jersey waterfront.
He also paid a $2 million fine.