Bonanno crime family acting boss Joseph Cammarano Jr. was among several mobsters charged earlier this year in a massive Mafia racketeering indictment.
Charges in the indictment included extortion, loansharking, wire and mail fraud, drug trafficking, and conspiracy to commit murder. Eight Bonanno family members and associates were charged in total along with two mobsters from the Lucchese and Genovese families of the New York Mafia. The feds case was put together in large part with the help of turncoat Bonanno family captain Peter Lovaglio. The Cosa Nostra wiseguys were pushing for a speedy trial so the feds had little time to try and strengthen their case behind the now shaky Lovaglio.
Lovaglio recently took the stand against Philly mobster Joey Merlino in the East Coast LCN Enterprise case. But his testimony turned out to be mediocre at best resulting in a hung jury. So the feds could have another disaster on their hands if his testimony once again leads to a jury questioning his credibility. But the efforts to work toward a speedy trial ended during a recent pre-trial conference according to a ganglandnews report. Lawyers for the defendants were asking for a July 9th trial date but scheduling problems threw a wrench into those plans.
Manhattan Federal Judge Alvin Hellerstein informed the defense his calendar would not allow him to preside over a trial in July. The various defense attorney’s discussed the possibility of seeking a new judge but ultimately decided against it. Once the calenders for everyone were taken into consideration the soonest a trial could take place was February 15 of next year. Not exactly what Cammarano also known as Joe C. and his mafia pals were hoping for.
It remains unclear as to whether or not the feds can find additional witnesses or evidence against the mobsters. But now that they have more time before trial they will definitely be working every angle. The feds have certainly hit some bumps in the road when it comes to cases against the mafia of late. So there is no doubt they definitely came away with a win here getting additional time to try and sure things up and avoid another debacle.
