More than 120 busted in Northeast mob crackdown

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More than 120 busted in Northeast mob crackdown

By TOM HAYS, Associated Press Tom Hays, Associated Press – 2 mins ago

NEW YORK – More than 120 organized crime associates face charges including

murder, extortion and narcotics trafficking in one of the largest Mafia

crackdowns in FBI history, prosecutors announced Thursday.

U.S. Attorney General Holder said at a news conference Thursday in New York

City that the 127 defendants include high-ranking members of the Gambino and

Colombo crime families and the reputed former boss of organized crime in New

England. All five of New York's five major crime families were targeted.

The charges cover decades worth of offenses, he said, including " classic mob

hits to eliminate perceived rivals, " a killing during a botched robbery and a

double shooting in a barroom dispute over a spilled drink.

More than 100 of the defendants were arrested Thursday as some 800 federal

agents and police officers made busts in several states. One person was arrested

in Italy.

Other charges include alleged corruption among dockworkers who were forced to

kick back a portion of their holiday bonuses to the crime families.

Holder called the arrests " an important step forward in our nation's fight

against organized crime. "

The crimes include two murders dating back 30 years, and another as recently as

2002. One of the defendants, among the scores arrested, is a former New York

City police officer.

Authorities say the investigation was aided by informants who recorded thousands

of conversations by suspected mobsters.

Luigi Manocchio, the reputed former head of New England's Patriarca crime

family, was arrested Wednesday in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., the U.S. attorney's

office in Providence said. An indictment accused him of collecting protection

payments from strip club-owners. Also arrested was Iafrate, who worked as

a bookkeeper for strip clubs and set aside money for Manocchio, prosecutors

said.

The takedown was the result of multiple investigations. Federal probes aided by

mob turncoats have decimated the families' ranks in recent years and have

resulted in lengthy prison terms for several leaders.

On Friday, a federal judge in Brooklyn sentenced " Sonny " Franzese, 93, to

eight years in prison for extorting Manhattan strip clubs and a pizzeria on Long

Island.

In October, Mafia turncoat Salvatore Vitale was sentenced to time served after

federal prosecutors praised his total betrayal of his own crime syndicate — and

after he apologized to the families of his victims. Authorities said he had a

hand in at least 11 murders, including that of a fellow gangster in the fallout

from the infamous Donnie Brasco case.

The evidence provided after his arrest in 2003 helped decimate the once-fearsome

Bonanno organized crime family, Assistant U.S. Attorney Greg Andres said.

___

Associated Press writer Tucker in Providence, R.I., contributed to this

report