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Genovese Family Captain Sentenced to Life in Prison for Murder, Racketeering, Robbery, Extortion, Firearms, and Other Crimes
PREET BHARARA, the United States Attorney for the
Southern District of New York, announced that ANGELO PRISCO, a
captain in the Genovese Organized Crime Family of La Cosa Nostra,
was sentenced today to life in prison by United States District
Judge NAOMI REICE BUCHWALD in Manhattan federal court. PRISCO
was convicted on April 27, 2009, after a two-week jury trial, of
murder, racketeering, racketeering conspiracy, robbery,
extortion, firearms offenses, arson, stolen property offenses,
loansharking, and operating an illegal gambling business.
According to documents filed in this case, the evidence at trial,
and statements made at today's sentencing proceeding:
PRISCO was "made," or inducted, as a member of the
Genovese Organized Crime Family in the late 1970s, and was later
promoted to the supervisory position of captain. In his capacity
as a captain, PRISCO supervised, oversaw, and profited from the
criminal activities of his own crew of Genovese Family Soldiers
and associates, which operated in the New York City area and in
New Jersey.
On June 2, 1992, PRISCO arranged the murder of his
first cousin, ANGELO SANGIUOLO. PRISCO received the order to
kill SANGIUOLO from VINCENT GIGANTE, a/k/a "The Chin," who was
then the boss of the Genovese Organized Crime Family. GIGANTE
ordered the murder because SANGIUOLO had been stealing from
another Genovese Organized Crime Family soldier, ANTHONY PALUMBO.
PRISCO assigned two of his own crew members, JOHN LETO, a/k/a
"Johnny Balls," and PAUL GACCIONE, a/k/a "Doc," to carry out the
murder. PRISCO then devised a plan to lure SANGIUOLO to PRISCO's
Bronx, New York, social club. After SANGIUOLO arrived, PRISCO
told him to get into a van with LETO and GACCIONE, on the
pretense that LETO and GACCIONE would help SANGIUOLO with a
problem SANGIUOLO was having with another person. Inside the van, LETO shot SANGIUOLO numerous times, killing him, then left
his body in the back of the van in the parking lot of a Bronx
McDonald's. PRISCO then picked up LETO at the McDonald's, and
went with him to dispose of the murder weapon.
PRISCO also was convicted of conspiring to commit
robberies with members of his crew. In 1991 and 1992 robberies,
PRISCO oversaw various crew members who carjacked and robbed at
gunpoint jewelry dealers transporting large quantities of gold
and other jewelry they had purchased in the Dominican Republic.
PRISCO received $20,000 in cash from one robbery and a bag of
gold worth about $50,000 from another robbery. PRISCO then
bragged at his Bronx social club about the armed robberies,
passing around a relevant newspaper article.
From 2003 to 2005, PRISCO ordered, approved, and
supervised multiple violent home invasion robberies targeting
individuals believed to keep cash in their homes, during which
numerous victims were tied up and beaten. PRISCO had to "green
light" the robberies before they could occur, and received a
portion of any money stolen. PRISCO also instructed his crew
members to "play dumb" if they discovered they had robbed another
person tied to organized crime.
PRISCO also was convicted of committing extortion and
conspiracy to commit the extortion of a Manhattan construction
company owner. PRISCO and his crew first extorted the victim's
company in 1997, when PETER RIZZO, an associate under PRISCO at
the time, assaulted and broke a glass coffee pot over the head of
the victim's business partner. Members of PRISCO's crew then
pressured the victim and his business partner to drop the charges
against RIZZO stemming from this 1997 assault. Seven years
later, various other members of PRISCO's crew—acting on his
orders and following his advice about how to collect the money—returned to the same construction company and threatened to cut
off the victim's finger and harm the victim's family. The victim
paid PRISCO and his crew a total of $50,000. Since the 1990s,
PRISCO has extorted various other individuals and businesses,
including the owner of a diner in the Bronx; the owner of a night
club in Manhattan; and an electrical contractor in Brooklyn.
United States Attorney PREET BHARARA stated, "This
conviction and the life sentence imposed today on Angelo Prisco
puts an end to his decades-long career as a leader of the
Genovese Organized Crime Family—one marked by violence and
intimidation. Today's sentence, and the dismantling of the
defendant's mafia crew, serves as a reminder that those who
pledge themselves to a life of crime will pay a high price in the
end."
Mr. BHARARA praised the work of the FBI; the New Jersey
State Commission of Investigation; the Orange County, New York
District Attorney's Office; the Westchester County, New York
District Attorney's Office; the New York State Police; the New
York City Office of the Chief Medical Examiner; the New York
Police Department; the United States Bureau of Prisons; the
Morris County, New Jersey Prosecutor's Office; and the Rockaway
Township, New Jersey Police Department for their contributions.
This case is being prosecuted by the Office's Organized
Crime Unit. Assistant United States Attorneys ELIE HONIG and
LISA ZORNBERG are in charge of the prosecution.
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