Multiple Mobsters From LI Arrested In Extortion Case: DOJ

NEW YORK STATE — Nearly a dozen alleged mafia members from Long Island were arrested Tuesday as part of a large investigation into organized crime by the federal government.

The 19-count indictment charges 14 people with multiple charges of labor racketeering, extortion, money laundering and more. Included in the arrests were 10 members and associates of the Colombo crime family of La Cosa Nostra, as well as members of the Bonanno crime family. The charges include extortion conspiracy, attempted extortion and extortion, extortionate collection of credit conspiracy, extortionate collection of credit and money laundering conspiracy.

If convicted, each man could face up to 20 years in federal prison.

The charges against the Colombo crime family members relate to multiple schemes in a long-running effort by the crime family to infiltrate and take control of a Queens-based labor union and its health care benefit program, and to a conspiracy to commit fraud in connection with workplace safety certifications.

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, those charged with racketeering inlude Andrew “Mush” Russo, 87, of Glen Head, the boss of the Colombo crime family; Benjamin “Benji” Castellazzo, 83, of Manahawkin, New Jersey, the underboss; and Ralph DiMatteo, 66, of Merrick, the consigliere.

Alleged Colombo crime family captains Theodore Persico, Jr., 58, of Brooklyn; Richard Ferrara, 59, of Brooklyn; and Vincent Ricciardo, 56, of Franklin Square, are charged with racketeering, along with alleged soldier Michael Uvino, 56, of Garden City, and associates Thomas Costa, 52, of West Islip, and Domenick Ricciardo, 56, of Franklin Square. In addition, alleged Bonanno family soldier John Ragano, 59, of Franklin Square, is charged with loansharking, fraud and drug trafficking offenses, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.

“Today’s charges describe a long-standing, ruthless pattern by the administration of the Colombo crime family, its captains, members and associates, of conspiring to exert control
over the management of a labor union by threatening to inflict bodily harm on one of its senior
officials and devising a scheme to divert and launder vendor contract funds from its health care
benefit program," said Acting U.S. Attorney Jacquelyn Kasulis. "In addition, for their own enrichment, the defendants conspired to engage in extortionate loansharking, money laundering and fraud, as well as drug trafficking. This office and its law enforcement partners are committed to dismantling organized crime families, eliminating their corrupt influence in our communities and protecting the independence of labor unions.”

According to Kasulis, the extortion goes back nearly two decades. Kasulis said that the Colombo crime family administration, including Russo, Castellazzo and Dimatteo, as well captains Persico,

Ferrara and Vincent Ricciardo, used extortion, including threats of violence, to control the management of the labor union and forced it to make decisions that benefited the
Colombo crime family. Since approximately 2001, Colombo captain Vincent Ricciardo and his
cousin, Domenick Ricciardo, have collected a portion of the salary of a senior official
in the union by threatening to harm him and his family, Kasulis said.

At the direction of the Colombo leadership, beginning in late 2019, the defendants
broadened the extortion force the man and others at the union and its health fund to make decisions that benefited the Colombo crime family, including by forcing them to select vendors for contracts who were associated with the Colombo family, Kasulis said. The defendants sought to divert more than $10,000 per month from the health fund to the Colombo administration, according to Kasulis.

Additionally, authorities say Russo, Castellazzo, Dimatteo, Ferrara, Persico, Vincent Ricciardo, Uvino joined with Thompkins and Bellantoni, among others, to devise a scheme to launder money from health fund contracts and payments through third parties and eventually to the Colombo crime family’s leaders. They tried to re-bid health fund vendor contracts for claims administration, pharmaceuticals and other services to people and companies affiliated with Joseph Bellantoni, Kasulis said. According to Kasulis, Bellantoni agreed that in exchange for the new vendor contracts, he would pay kickbacks to the Colombos and would use various intermediaries to hide the payments.

In addition to the extortion, John Ragano is charged with a scheme to issue fraudulent workplace safety training certifications, officials said. Kasulis said Ragano operated two workplace safety schools in the New York area that claimed to provide Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) training courses and certifications, along with various state certifications, to construction workers.

However, rather than provide training, Ragano along with his business partners John Glover, 62, of Queens, and Domenick Ricciardo, falsified paperwork to the U.S. Department of Labor and other government agencies which represented that hundreds of workers had completed required safety courses when they had not, Kasulis said. Instead, various defendants used Ragano’s “schools” to conduct meetings involving members of La Cosa Nostra and to store illegal drugs and fireworks, according to officials.

Vincent Ricciardo, Uvino, Ragano and Costa are also charged with loansharking. According to Kasulis, they lent and collecting on extortionate loans totaling $250,000 to an unidentified man. They charged and collected a weekly 1.5 percent interest rate that did not reduce the principal, and divided the proceeds between themselves, Kasulis said.

Vincent Ricciardo, Ragano, Costa, Glover and Vincent Martino were charged with conspiracy to distribute marijuana by transporting large shipments of marijuana in vehicles from New York to Florida, officials said. Vincent Ricciardo and Costa were also charged, as previously convicted felons, with possessing and transporting ammunition, and Persico, who is currently on federal supervised release following his release for a prior racketeering conviction, was charged with lying to federal court officers about his dealings with other Colombo crime family members, said Kasulis.

“Everything we allege in this investigation proves history does indeed repeat itself. The underbelly of the crime families in New York City is alive and well," said FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge Michael Driscoll. "These soldiers, consiglieres, under bosses, and bosses are obviously not students of history, and don't seem to comprehend that we're going to catch them. Regardless of how many times they fill the void we create in their ranks, our FBI Organized Crime Task Force, and our law enforcement partners, are positioned to take them out again, and again.”