Robert Lougy the acting Attorney General announced indictments which targeted member of the Genovese crime family in New Jersey. Ten alleged members and associates of the New York mafia family operating in New Jersey have been indicted on charges including first-degree racketeering, loansharking, money laundering, illegal gambling, and illegal check cashing among others.
According to the indictment, the Cosa Nostra family raked in millions of dollars in proceeds from these illegal activities in Jersey. The joint operation named “Operation Fistful” included the New Jersey Division of Criminal Justice and the Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor with assistance from other law enforcement agencies from both New York and Jersey.
The wives of three defendants along with another defendant were also arrested in connection with the laundering of drug money and tax fraud bringing the total amount of the defendants in the case to 14. Among those arrested were Charles “Chuckie” Tuzzo an alleged captain in the Genovese family, and Vito Alberti an alleged mob soldier who feds claimed answered to the NY Mafia family’s hierarchy. Also arrested were alleged Genovese family associates Vincent P. Coppola (son of imprisoned Genovese family capo Michael Coppola), Domenick Pucillo, Robert “Bobby Spags” Spagnola, Abel J. Rodrigues, and Manuel Rodriguez among others connected to the various schemes. The following criminal schemes were run by the defendants in various combinations according to the indictments which generated payments that flowed up the chain of command in the Genovese family.
- a massive loansharking operation that yielded about $4.7 million in illegal interest;
- an illicit multi-million dollar offshore sports gambling enterprise;
- an unlicensed check-cashing business that made $9 million in fees in four years, while enabling customers to launder funds and evade taxes by skirting federal reporting requirements;
- laundering of $666,000 in drug moneyvia check-cashing businesses owned by Pucillo in Newark and Florida;
- illegal control and use of a trucking firm with a contract to transport cars from Port Newark;
tax fraud and evasion.
Division of Criminal Justice director Elie Honig said that “The more the Mafia changes, the more it stays the same,” and even though sophisticated financial systems were used in an attempt to hide their profits those profits were still generated from traditional street crimes and mafia staples like loansharking and illegal gambling. New Jersey Commissioner Michael Murphy of the Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor said “The Genovese Crime Family has historically exerted its influence on the Port of New Jersey. Disruption of its profits from gambling, loan sharking and money laundering weakens that family’s grip.” Each of the defendants charged is facing lengthy prison sentences if found guilty. Here is a list of those charged in the Indictment: (The indictment in its entirety can be read here.)
- Charles “Chuckie” Tuzzo. Racketeering (1st degree), Money Laundering (3 counts, 1st degree), Conspiracy (1st degree), Criminal Usury (2nd degree), Business of Usurious Loans (2nd degree), Operating an Unlicensed Check-Cashing Facility (3rd degree) and Promoting Gambling (3rd degree).
- Vito Alberti. Racketeering (1st degree), Money Laundering (3 counts, 1st degree), Conspiracy (1st degree), Criminal Usury (2nd degree), Business of Usurious Loans (2nd degree), Operating an Unlicensed Check-Cashing Facility (3rd degree), Promoting Gambling (3rd degree), Filing a Fraudulent Tax Return (3rd degree) and Failure to Pay Gross Income Tax (3rd degree).
- Domenick Pucillo. Racketeering (1st degree), Money Laundering (3 counts, 1st degree), Conspiracy (2, counts, 1st degree), Criminal Usury (2nd degree), Business of Usurious Loans (2nd degree), Possession of Usurious Loan Records (3rd degree), Operating an Unlicensed Check-Cashing Facility (3rd degree), Filing Fraudulent Tax Return (3rd degree) and Failure to Pay Gross Income Tax (3rd degree).
- Robert “Bobby Spags” Spagnola. Racketeering (1st degree), Money Laundering (1st degree), Conspiracy (1st degree), Criminal Usury (2nd degree), Business of Usurious Loans (2nd degree), Filing a Fraudulent Tax Return (3rd degree), Failure to Pay Gross Income Tax (3rd degree) and Failure to File Tax Return (3rd degree).
- Manuel Rodriguez. Racketeering (1st degree), Money Laundering (1st degree), Conspiracy (1st degree), Operating an Unlicensed Check-Cashing Facility (3rd degree), Filing a Fraudulent Tax Return (3rd degree), Failure to File Tax Return (3rd degree) and Failure to Pay Gross Income Tax (3rd degree).
- Vincent P. Coppola. Racketeering (1st degree), Money Laundering (1st degree), Conspiracy (1st degree), Promoting Gambling (3rd degree), Possession of Gambling Records (3rd degree), Failure to File Tax Return (3rd degree) and Failure to Pay Gross Income Tax (3rd degree).
- John W. Trainor. Racketeering (1st degree), Money Laundering (1st degree), Conspiracy (1st degree), Promoting Gambling (3rd degree), Possession of Gambling Records (3rd degree), Forgery (3rd degree), Failure to File a Tax Return (3rd degree) and Failure to Pay Gross Income Tax (3rd degree).
- Abel J. Rodrigues. Racketeering (1st degree), Money Laundering (1st degree), Conspiracy (1st degree), Operating an Unlicensed Check-Cashing Facility (3rd degree), Filing a Fraudulent Tax Return (3rd degree) and Failure to Pay Gross Income Tax (3rd degree).
- Jerry J. Albanese. Racketeering (1st degree), Money Laundering (1st degree), Conspiracy (1st degree), Promoting Gambling (3rd degree) and Possession of Gambling Records (3rd degree).
- Flor Miranda. Racketeering (1st degree), Money Laundering (3 counts, 1st degree), Conspiracy (2 counts, 1st degree), Criminal Usury (2nd degree), Business of Usurious Loans (2nd degree), Possession of Usurious Loan Records (3rd degree).
- Miguel Jose Varela Lopez. Money Laundering (1st degree) and Conspiracy (1st degree).
- Suzanne Scatturo. Filing a Fraudulent Tax Return (3rd degree) and Failure to Pay Gross Income Tax (3rd degree).
- Debra Spagnola. Filing a Fraudulent Tax Return (3rd degree) and Failure to Pay Gross Income Tax (3rd degree).
- Lisa Trainor. Filing a Fraudulent Tax Return (3rd degree) and Failure to Pay Gross Income Tax (3rd degree).
