Police in US, Italy swoop on alleged crime family

Sixteen alleged Gambino crime family affiliates have been arrested in the United States and Italy on charges of racketeering, extortion, witness retaliation, conspiracy, and fraud, according to US prosecutors.

Ten suspects were apprehended in the New York area of the US, six were arrested in Palermo, Sicily by Italian authorities, while another is still at large, according to the US Department of Justice.

The US-based suspects appeared in a New York court on Wednesday, and all pleaded not guilty, reported the NBC news network.

Prosecutors allege a pattern of violent intimidation and assaults by the syndicate, aiming to embezzle funds, defraud unions, and employee benefit plans, specifically targeting demolition companies and the carting industry, also known as waste management or garbage collection.

According to the US Department of Justice, the group members allegedly threatened businesspeople for protection payments, rigged bids for demolition contracts bypassing union rules, and have also been charged with witness intimidation, money laundering, and firearms offenses.

Those arrested included alleged Gambino family leader or "captain" Joseph "Joe Brooklyn" Lanni, alleged soldier Angelo "Fifi" Gradilone, and Francesco Vicari, who is also known as "Uncle Ciccio", who was identified as an associate of both the Sicilian mafia and the Gambino family, a part of the five prominent New York-area mafia syndicates known collectively as La Cosa Nostra.

The Associated Press reported that Lanni's lawyer, Frederick Sosinsky, said his client was innocent and would mount a "vigorous challenge" against the charges.

"Joe Lanni did not commit any crime charged in this indictment nor any uncharged act to which the government makes reference," he said in an email. "Until now, he has never even been accused of any act of violence."

Following a multiyear series of investigations and police operations, the defendants in the US and Italy now face the possibility of maximum prison sentences ranging from 20 to 180 years, reported the BBC.

"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," US lawyer Breon Peace said in a statement.

Law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, the New York Waterfront Commission, and the Palermo prosecutor in Italy, provided valuable assistance throughout the extensive coordinated investigation, said Peace.

James Smith, FBI assistant director-in-charge, said: "These defendants learned the hard way that the FBI is united with our law enforcement locally and internationally in our efforts to eradicate the insidious organized crime threat."