6 Men In Genovese Crime Family Accused Of Racketeering

WESTCHESTER COUNTY, NY — Six men belonging to the Genovese Organized Crime Family, two of whom are from Westchester County, were accused of racketeering.

Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced Tuesday the unsealing of an indictment charging four members and two associates of the crime family with racketeering conspiracy involving illegal gambling and extortion.

The superseding indictment charged Captains Nicholas Calisi, 63, of Boca Raton, Florida, and Ralph Balsamo, 51, of Tuckahoe; Soldiers Michael Messina, 69, of New Fairfield, Connecticut, and John Campanella, 47, of Bronx, and associates Michael Poli, 37, of Hawthorne, and Thomas Poli, 64, of Bronx.

Williams said his office remains committed to putting organized crime out of business.

"From extortion to illegal gambling, the Mafia continues to find ways to prey on others to fill its coffers," he said.

New York Attorney General Letitia James said members of the Genovese crime family have terrorized New York communities for years with violence and illegal businesses.

"These individuals allegedly made their money through illegal gambling and loan sharking," she said, "saddling victims with incredible debt that they cannot repay."

Prosecutors said the Genovese Organized Crime Family is part of a nationwide criminal organization known by various names, including Las Cosa Nostra and the Mafia, which operates through entities known as "Families."

The hierarchy of families includes a leader known as a captain and "made" members known as soldiers. Soldiers are aided in the endeavors by associates, who are referred to as connected or identified as with a soldier or other family member.

Authorities said a captain is responsible for supervising his members and typically receives a share of the illegal earnings of each soldier and associate.

Prosecutors said at times relevant to the charges in the indictment, Calisi and Balsamo were captains, Messina and Campanella were soldiers and the Polis were associates of the Genovese family.

The six men, prosecutors said, engaged in or agreed that others would engage in crimes, including making extortionate extensions of credit, financing extortionate extensions of credit, collecting extensions of credit by extortion, extortion, operating illegal gambling businesses and transmission of gambling information.

Each of the men faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison if convicted.