At least ten members and associates of the Gambino crime family including veteran capo Andrew Campos have been arrested.
Alleged Gambino soldiers that included James Ciaccia, George Campos, Vincent Fiore, and Richard Martino were also taken into custody and charged. They have been charged with several crimes including racketeering conspiracy, bribery, loansharking, fraud, and obstruction of justice according to the two unsealed indictments. Several of the mobsters were captured on wiretaps talking about a wide array of mafia business according to the feds. FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge William Sweeney said “The Gambino members arrested in this case ran the gamut of criminal activity. Everything from the usual thuggish behavior of beating people up, forcing people to take the fall from their crimes, all the way to defrauding the federal government.”
“Richard Martino, Frank Locascio, and Andrew Campos”
In one of the recorded conversations alleged mob soldier, Vincent Fiore was caught telling a debtor who owed them $100,000 “When you get punched in the face and your teeth get knocked out … you’re not gonna laugh no more OK?” The indictment also claims the Gambino family crew used hundreds of thousands of dollars in kickbacks to boost their New York Mafia-linked carpentry business.
According to a detention memo, the Gambinos organized a “clandestine meeting” on Staten Island that included high-level crime family members to discuss the then-unclear circumstances surrounding the death of leader Frank Cali. The crime family would launch its own investigation just days after Cali was gunned down in front of his home.
Andrew Campos and Fiore actively helped the Gambino family investigate the murder according to the documents. Fiore was caught on wiretap discussing the investigation into the murder with his ex-wife telling her that Andrew Campos had met with half a dozen people. He called the slain Gambino leader “Frankie” and described him as someone who was loved.
Although in a separate conversation with an alleged mob associate he said Cali’s death may be a good thing because their captain (Campos) was likely to gain more power within the Cosa Nostra family.
Brooklyn federal prosecutors Keith Edelman and Kayla Bensing wrote: “This investigation makes clear that the Gambino family is thriving, earning millions of dollars through various forms of fraud, bribery, money laundering, and extortion, particularly in the construction industry, and distributes these illicit proceeds to other members and associates of La Cosa Nostra.”
The arrests, conducted in conjunction with the FBI, the NYPD, the IRS, and the Queens County District Attorney’s Office, were based on alleged crimes that occurred since 2013 according to the indictments.
