Alleged Gambino crime family members Salvatore DiLorenzo, Francesco Vicari charged in racketeering conspiracy
Francesco Vicari of Elmont is one of 10 alleged Gambino crime family members charged Wednesday in a racketeering conspiracy indictment. Credit: U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of NY
Two Long Island men are among 10 alleged Gambino crime family members and associates charged in a racketeering conspiracy indictment for attempt to dominate the New York carting and demolition industries, federal prosecutors said.
Alleged Gambino associates Salvatore DiLorenzo, 66, of Oceanside and Francesco Vicari, 46, of Elmont were charged in a 16-count indictment resulting from a multiyear investigation by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York, the FBI and the U.S. Department of Labor, prosecutors said in court filings. The indictment unsealed Wednesday alleges the 10 defendants engaged in violence, extortion and union-related crimes.
“The defendants committed violent extortions, assaults, arson, witness retaliation and other crimes in an attempt to dominate the New York carting and demolition industries,” U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District Breon Peace said in a statement.
Nine of the 10 co-defendants were arrested by Italian law enforcement and arraigned before United States Magistrate Judge Ramon Reyes at the federal courthouse in Brooklyn Wednesday afternoon. The 10th co-defendant was already in federal custody in Pennsylvania.
The crimes alleged in the indictment took place between 2017 and 2023, records show.
DiLorenzo is accused of engaging in bid rigging and sharing bid information to secure a lucrative demolition contract for a project on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, prosecutors alleged in a bail memo.
He also is alleged to have provided a no-show job to a fellow Gambino associate and made $300,000 in payments to a member of the crime family through a company he owned while serving as a trustee of a union benefit fund, the memo states. The payments were made to further their mutual financial interests in the carting and demolition industries, prosecutors alleged.
Vicari, alleged to also be an associate of the Sicilian Mafia, is accused of taking part in a “violent extortion” demanding money from the operator of a New York City carting business, according to the indictment. Vicari and a group of other alleged Gambino associates and members threatened the man with a bat, set a fire outside his house and assaulted an associate of his, prosecutors said.
In a phone conversation captured on a wiretap, an alleged Gambino associate said Vicari “acted like the ‘Last of the Samurai’” in how he picked up a knife in threatening to cut the carting operator in order to get him to make “extortion payments,” prosecutors said. The group ultimately received $4,000 and toasted with Champagne, according to the bail memo.
DiLorenzo was released on a $500,000 bond, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. Vicari was granted release on a $1 million bond with Reyes issuing a 24-hour stay as prosecutors planned to appeal. Their attorneys could not be immediately reached Wednesday.
Also charged in the indictment are Joseph Lanni, 52, of Staten Island; Diego Tantillo, 48, of Freehold, New Jersey; Robert Brooke, 55, of Manhattan; Angelo Gradilone, 57, of Staten Island; Kyle Johnson, 46, of the Bronx; James LaForte, 46, of Manhattan; Vincent Minsquero, 36, of Staten Island; and Vito Rappa, 46, of East Brunswick, New Jersey. Prosecutors alleged Lanni is a captain in the Gambino family, of which Tantillo and Gradilone are members.
In one incident alleged in the indictment, Tantillo and Johnson coordinated a “violent hammer assault” on a dispatcher at a demolition company. The owner of the company also was assaulted on a Manhattan street corner by Brooke, according to court documents. A photo of the injured dispatcher was later circulated to people in the carting and demolition industries.
A woman was threatened at knifepoint in another incident, according to the bail memo.
Tantillo also is accused of embezzling from employee benefit plans by using laborers from a nonunion company, records show.
If convicted, the defendants face maximum sentences of between 20 and 180 years in prison, prosecutors said.
Two Long Island men are among 10 alleged Gambino crime family members and associates charged in a racketeering conspiracy indictment for attempt to dominate the New York carting and demolition industries, federal prosecutors said.
Alleged Gambino associates Salvatore DiLorenzo, 66, of Oceanside and Francesco Vicari, 46, of Elmont were charged in a 16-count indictment resulting from a multiyear investigation by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York, the FBI and the U.S. Department of Labor, prosecutors said in court filings. The indictment unsealed Wednesday alleges the 10 defendants engaged in violence, extortion and union-related crimes.
“The defendants committed violent extortions, assaults, arson, witness retaliation and other crimes in an attempt to dominate the New York carting and demolition industries,” U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District Breon Peace said in a statement.
Nine of the 10 co-defendants were arrested by Italian law enforcement and arraigned before United States Magistrate Judge Ramon Reyes at the federal courthouse in Brooklyn Wednesday afternoon. The 10th co-defendant was already in federal custody in Pennsylvania.
The crimes alleged in the indictment took place between 2017 and 2023, records show.
DiLorenzo is accused of engaging in bid rigging and sharing bid information to secure a lucrative demolition contract for a project on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, prosecutors alleged in a bail memo.
He also is alleged to have provided a no-show job to a fellow Gambino associate and made $300,000 in payments to a member of the crime family through a company he owned while serving as a trustee of a union benefit fund, the memo states. The payments were made to further their mutual financial interests in the carting and demolition industries, prosecutors alleged.
Vicari, alleged to also be an associate of the Sicilian Mafia, is accused of taking part in a “violent extortion” demanding money from the operator of a New York City carting business, according to the indictment. Vicari and a group of other alleged Gambino associates and members threatened the man with a bat, set a fire outside his house and assaulted an associate of his, prosecutors said.
In a phone conversation captured on a wiretap, an alleged Gambino associate said Vicari “acted like the ‘Last of the Samurai’” in how he picked up a knife in threatening to cut the carting operator in order to get him to make “extortion payments,” prosecutors said. The group ultimately received $4,000 and toasted with Champagne, according to the bail memo.
DiLorenzo was released on a $500,000 bond, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. Vicari was granted release on a $1 million bond with Reyes issuing a 24-hour stay as prosecutors planned to appeal. Their attorneys could not be immediately reached Wednesday.
Also charged in the indictment are Joseph Lanni, 52, of Staten Island; Diego Tantillo, 48, of Freehold, New Jersey; Robert Brooke, 55, of Manhattan; Angelo Gradilone, 57, of Staten Island; Kyle Johnson, 46, of the Bronx; James LaForte, 46, of Manhattan; Vincent Minsquero, 36, of Staten Island; and Vito Rappa, 46, of East Brunswick, New Jersey. Prosecutors alleged Lanni is a captain in the Gambino family, of which Tantillo and Gradilone are members.
In one incident alleged in the indictment, Tantillo and Johnson coordinated a “violent hammer assault” on a dispatcher at a demolition company. The owner of the company also was assaulted on a Manhattan street corner by Brooke, according to court documents. A photo of the injured dispatcher was later circulated to people in the carting and demolition industries.
A woman was threatened at knifepoint in another incident, according to the bail memo.
Tantillo also is accused of embezzling from employee benefit plans by using laborers from a nonunion company, records show.
If convicted, the defendants face maximum sentences of between 20 and 180 years in prison, prosecutors said.
Grant Parpan covers Suffolk County courts and federal courts for Newsday. A Long Island native, he joined Newsday in 2022.
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