Category Archives: Organized Crime

SAN FRANCISCO JURY FINDS ‘SHRIMP BOY’ GUILTY OF ALL 162 COUNTS

Raymond “Shrimp Boy” Chow said he was a reformed Chinatown gangster, but the jury in his federal trial didn’t believe that and convicted him of murder and racketeering.

The trial took about two months, yet it only took the jury two and a half days of deliberations to reach a verdict. The U.S. attorney declined to comment, but it was a big win for them. Chow’s lawyers say they’ll appeal, especially since Chow, 56, faces mandatory life in prison.

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Grand jury indicts 106 bikers in deadly Waco shootout with police

A grand jury has returned indictments for engaging in organized criminal activity against 106 of the 177 bikers arrested following the deadly shootout outside a Waco, Texas, restaurant in May, the McLennan County district attorney said.

In a nine-hour session, the grand jury acted on all 106 cases that it had been asked to consider related to the shootout between police and bikers outside a Twin Peaks restaurant on May 17, District Attorney Abel Reyna said at a press conference Tuesday evening.

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10 Puerto Rico police officers indicted on organized crime charges

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico, Sept. 29 (UPI) — The Department of Justice announced Tuesday the indictment of 10 Puerto Rico police officers for allegedly running a criminal organization from a police department.

The officers used their status as law enforcement to “make money through robbery, extortion, manipulating court records and selling illegal narcotics,” the Justice Department said in a statement.

The indictment was returned by a grand jury in Puerto Rico on Thursday. The defendants are charged with conspiring to violate the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations, or RICO, Act and some of the defendants are charged with extortion under color of official right, narcotics trafficking, civil rights violations and false statements made to federal agents.

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Alleged leader of Israeli organized crime ring that moved drugs across globe gets 32 years

LOS ANGELES — A Los Angeles man who prosecutors say was a leader of an Israeli organized crime ring that moved drugs and money across the globe was sentenced Friday to 32 years in prison.

Moshe Matsri, 49, was sentenced in federal court in Los Angeles on a slew of money laundering, drug and extortion charges. Prosecutors recommended he be sentenced to 34 years in prison, while his own attorney argued for a 12-year term.

Prosecutors describe Matsri, also known as “Moshe the Religious,” as a well-known crime figure in the San Fernando Valley with significant ties to the Israel-based Abergil crime family. They say he laundered large amounts of money around the world that helped fuel the international drug trade, and in one instance, negotiated a deal involving “enough cocaine to get the entire city of Dallas high.”

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FBI: Associate of Lucchese Organized Crime Family Sentenced to 30 Years in Prison for Racketeering and Other Crimes

CAMDEN, NJ—An associate of the Lucchese organized crime family of La Cosa Nostra (LCN) was sentenced today to 30 years in prison for participating in a racketeering conspiracy and related offenses, United States Attorney Paul J Fishman announced. Salvatore Pelullo, 48, of Philadelphia, an associate of the Philadelphia and Lucchese LCN families, was sentenced today by United States District Judge Robert B Kugler to 360 months in prison. He was convicted in July 2014, along with Nicodemo S Scarfo, 50, of Galloway, New Jersey, a member of the Lucchese organized crime family; William Maxwell, 56, of Houston, a Texas attorney; and John Maxwell, 63, of Dallas, of racketeering conspiracy and related offenses, including securities fraud, wire fraud, mail fraud, bank fraud, extortion, money laundering and obstruction of justice, after a six-month trial before Judge Kugler in Camden federal court. Scarfo was sentenced on July 28, 2015, to 30 years in prison.

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John Gotti’s ex son-in-law arrested in Cleveland organized crime raid

CLEVELAND- Cleveland police arrested a member of the Gambino crime family following an 18-month investigation.

Deputy Cleveland Police Chief Ed Tomba said detectives noticed a spike in car thefts in part of the city. Instead of the cars found stripped and burned out, most of the vehicles weren’t recovered. That prompted “Operation Goodfella,” a long-term investigation into a scrap yard at East 116th Street and Harvard Avenue.

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Criminals use IRS website to steal data on 104,000 people

A “sophisticated” organized crime syndicate used the IRS website to steal tax forms full of personal financial information on 104,000 taxpayers, the agency said Tuesday.

Until the IRS discovered this latest data leak, its website provided a service called “Get Transcript.” It’s an easy way to download several years of tax forms for tasks like applying for a mortgage, or college financial aid.

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Unethical health food: is your avocado habit funding drug cartels?

In Mexico, where they are colloquially referred to as “green gold”, the avocado can get you killed. Production of the fruit is concentrated in the state of Michoacán and much of it is controlled by the Caballeros Templarios drug cartel – making farmers and land owners give up a percentage of their income, enforcing a tax on fruit sold and land owned, and even murdering those who don’t play ball. All this has resulted in the term “blood guacamole”.

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Mafia meltdown: FBI busts drug-trafficking mobsters operating out of NYC pizzeria

Italians, pizza, and the mob. It may sound like a clichéd movie plot, but those are the details surrounding an FBI mafia bust. The mobsters were operating a drug trafficking ring on both sides of the Atlantic, using a New York pizzeria as their HQ.

The suspects – members of the notorious ‘Ndrangheta mafia group, based in Calabria, Italy – were operating a drug smuggling operation between New York, Italy, and Central America, AP reported on Thursday.

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