Friends of Ours

Mobsters Charged With Trafficking Strippers

Mobsters and strippers go together like a horse and carriage.

Seven reputed mobsters -- four Gambinos and three Bonannos -- are among the twenty suspects arrested by ICE agents in New York City for their alleged roles in trafficking women from Russia and Eastern Europe on fraudulent visas to work in area strip clubs as reported by the Daily News:  "visa rules would have barred them from adult entertainment, though, so the suspects arranged bogus offers for summer waitressing jobs and then had the women apply for seasonal visas, prosecutors said."  Once stateside the defendants allegedly arranged up to 150 sham marriages to provide the buxom beauties with U.S. citizenship, and their supposed husbands were paid up to $5,000 to say "I do" as reported by WCBS.

The alleged mobsters are further charged with controlling "four strip clubs in Queens and Long Island" as reported by The Associated Press:  "their owners were forced to make payments in exchange for protection, which included the resolution of disputes among strip clubs over which dancers work where and over ownership interests in certain clubs."

The "women — who worked at places including Cheetahs in Midtown Manhattan; Rouge in Maspeth, Queens; and the Scene in Commack, Suffolk County — became 'personal profit centers' for the defendants, according to Preet Bharara, the United States attorney in Manhattan" as reported by Al Baker for The New York Times.

The alleged Gambino defendants are capo Alphonse Trucchio, soldier William "Old Man Willy" or "The Grandfather" Pazienza Sr., and associates Christopher Colon and Richard Gutkowski,  and the alleged Bonanno defendants are capo Anthony "The Walker" or "Perry Como" Frascone and associates Paul Casella and Lawrence Zaino.

The Italians allegedly were working with reputed Russian mobsters.

But notwithstanding its fondness for the flesh trade remember that the Mafia really does respect family, women and children; I know this because the Mafia tells us so.

NY1 Video

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Short Stuff Sebby Faces Deportation

Reputed Colombo soldier Sebastiano "Sebby" Saracino faces 14 months in prison and then deportation back to Italy after pleading guilty yesterday "to concealing a slew of crimes – including disposing of a murder victim whacked in his Brooklyn home – on his immigration application" as reported by John Marzulli for the Daily News: "In 1995, mob associate Richard Greaves was fatally shot in Saracino's basement and transported in Saracino's Jeep Wrangler to an industrial park in Long Island, where the corpse was buried in a freshly dug grave, according to court papers." The short stuff guy was stoic in entering his plea as reported by Mitchel Maddux for the New York Post: "Saracino, clad in a black suit, sat expressionless as the judge detailed his fate. 'You understand that you will be deported as a result of this guilty plea,' Judge Brian Cogan said. 'Yes, your honor,' Saracino replied."

The FBI has not yet found Greaves's remains. In December 2008 Sebby's brother Dino Saracino was named as a co-defendant in an indictment against some alleged Colombo boys according to a press release by the United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York: "A twenty-four count superseding indictment charging members and associates of the Colombo organized crime family of La Cosa Nostra (the 'Colombo family') – including former acting boss Thomas Gioeli, former consigliere Joel 'Joe Waverly' Cacace, captain Dino Calabro, and soldier Dino Saracino – with murder and racketeering was unsealed in federal court in Brooklyn. * * * Specifically, the indictment charges defendants Cacace, Calabro, and Saracino with the 1997 murder of NYPD Officer Ralph Dols; defendants Gioeli, Calabro, and Saracino with the 1999 murder of Colombo underboss William 'Wild Bill' Cutolo; defendant Gioeli with the 1995 murder of Richard Greaves; and defendant Calabro with the murder of Carmine Gargano in 1994."

Apparently, Dino Calabro has wised up and now is playing for Team America as reported by Jerry Capeci for The Huffington Post: "One of the new federal songbirds is capo Dino (Big Dino) Calabro, who was a triggerman in Dols's killing and who has been rumored for months to have been seeking a deal."

Organized Crime Behind Sex Trafficking In Canada

The RCMP has released a report on human trafficking in Canada, and concludes that most victims are recruited for sexual exploitation by criminal networks further involved in "conspiracy to commit murder, credit card fraud, mortgage fraud and immigration fraud in Canada and abroad" as reported by Janice Tibbetts for The Montreal Gazette.  The sex trafficking victims mostly involve "Eastern European women recruited by organized crime to work in escort services, African women who were trafficked for sexual exploitation outside of Canada, and workers in bawdy houses run by Asian prostitution rings."

Baseball's Been Very, Very Good To Me

Omar Beltre and Alexi Ogando, two Dominican Republic pitching prospects for Major League Baseball team the Texas Rangers, have been granted waivers by the U.S. State Department to enter the country according to the club's general manager Jon Daniels notwithstanding their previous alleged roles in a visa fraud ring as reported by Richard Durrett for ESPN:

Beltre, 28, and Ogando, 26, were involved in a human trafficking ring in the Dominican Republic. They were approached by someone offering what Daniels called "a small amount" of money to marry women to get them into the United States. "There was an organized crime group that was effectively preying on young baseball players," Daniels said Sunday night. "They had lined up a number of them to marry women that wanted to get into the U.S. A number of them agreed to do it, including Alexi and Omar. The women that were married got access in the U.S., and by the time the players went to their visa appointments to come over, the State Department realized what happened and denied access to all players involved."