East Brunswick Man Among Gambino Crime Family Members Indicted: Feds

EAST BRUNSWICK, NJ — Ten alleged members of the Gambino Crime Family, including a resident of East Brunswick, were charged Wednesday in a sprawling 16-count indictment in Federal Court in Brooklyn, NY.

Vito Rappa, 46, an alleged U.S.-based Sicilian Mafia member and Gambino associate, is facing charges connected to racketeering conspiracy, extortion, witness retaliation, and union-related crimes committed in an attempt to dominate the New York carting and demolition industries, prosecutors said.

The operation was undertaken in coordination with Italian law enforcement with one person remaining at large, authorities said.

Six more people were arrested in Italy related to the same scheme, and face charges for mafia association, prosecutors said.

“As alleged, for years, the defendants committed violent extortions, assaults, arson, witness retaliation and other crimes in an attempt to dominate the New York carting and demolition industries,” United States Attorney Breon Peace said in a statement. “Today’s arrests reflect the commitment of this Office and our law enforcement partners, both here and abroad, to keep our communities safe by the complete dismantling of organized crime.”

The men are accused of also perpetrating a series of other crimes throughout the New York and New Jersey areas from 2017 through 2023.

Their pattern of racketeering activity included additional extortions, retaliating against a federal witness, and money laundering, among other crimes, as detailed in court documents.

The defendants variously face maximum sentences between 20 and 180 years’ of imprisonment.

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