Transformer airport mess
THE BONANNO crime family boss and his top mob cronies, when not plotting murders or drug deals, kept busy looking over their shoulders, federal officials said Friday.
A 16-page federal indictment charged leader Joseph (Joe C) Cammarano Jr. and his crew with a variety of crimes, including conspiracy to commit murder, extortion, loan-sharking and drug dealing.
Arrested with Cammarano was Bonanno family consigliere John (Porky) Zanocchio, 60, once a bookie who took bets from banned major league baseball icon Pete Rose.
The illegal activities — including a savage beatdown inflicted to ensure the induction of one aspiring Mafioso — occurred over a six-year period ending this month, according to the indictment.
But court papers also detailed how paranoid family members and associates tried to ferret out possible informants within their ranks — long a major concern for the Bonannos.
“Members and associates . . . attempted to identify and did identify individuals suspected of providing, or likely to provide, information to law enforcement,” the indictment revealed.
The family’s problem with mob moles dates to FBI agent Joe Pistone’s infiltration of the Bonannos between 1976 and 1982, leading to more than 100 convictions.
The turn of the century brought a trifecta of top-level turncoats: Capo Frank Coppa flipped in 2002, followed quickly to the feds by underboss Salvatore (Good Looking Sal) Vitale and boss Joseph (Big Joey) Massino.
The feds also nabbed a second one-time Bonanno consigliere, Simone Esposito, 47, along with capos Joseph (Joe Valet) Sabella, 52, and George (Grumpy) Tropiano, 68.
The oldest defendant was 85-year-old made man Domenick Miniero, who faces up to 40 years in prison if convicted of racketeering conspiracy and extortion conspiracy.
Cammarano, the son of a mob underboss who died in prison, reportedly took over in 2015 as the decimated family tried to rebuild itself.
The 58-year-old Brooklyn native is a Navy veteran who once served on a nuclear submarine in an elite patrol unit.
Cammarano, clad in a black shirt with an insignia that said LRP Construction at the Manhattan Federal Court hearing, was held without bail pending a court date. He entered a plea of not guilty, as did at least three other defendants.
The mobsters, to protect their illegal operations, “threatened, assaulted and intimidated persons” posing a threat to the Bonanno leaders and their “flow of criminal proceeds,” the indictment alleged.
The suspects were arrested Friday morning, with made Bonanno member Joseph (Joey Blue Eyes) Santapaolo, 66, making a federal court appearance in Pennsylvania.
In the Friday court filing, Bonanno soldier Albert (Al Muscles) Armetta, 48, was charged with beating an unidentified victim on Halloween 2015 “for the purpose of gaining entrance to” the crime family.
In addition to racketeering, he faces an additional charge of assault in aid of racketeering for the attack that left his hapless target with “serious bodily harm.”
The ninth and 10th defendants were linked to the Lucchese and Genovese families. AN UNDERGROUND electrical transformer exploded at Newark Airport Friday, sparking an evacuation, a series of equipment problems, redirected flights and scores of worried travelers, sources said.
The PSE&G transformer explosion (below) took place about 11:10 a.m. near Terminal C, which has more than 50 gates for arrivals and departures. Massive flames could be seen shooting up from road grates on a restricted service road near gate 71. Section C1 of the terminal, the closest to the fire, was evacuated as the airport redirected all departing flights to other gates. The Newark Fire Department put the fire out within an hour. No injuries were reported.
Airport lights went out and escalators and baggage carousels in the terminals stopped working as the firefighters shut down power before snuffing out the blaze. The section was reopened around 3 p.m. without any cancellations.
“Told there was a fire explosion at Newark airport Terminal C,” Mia Siani tweeted Friday. “Had to evacuate. Now floods of people trying to get thru security.”