Opinion ID: 447925
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The New York Indictment

Text: 4 The New York indictment, which was returned on July 7, 1982, 1 charged the appellants and eight others with conspiring to violate RICO, and the appellants and seven others with substantive violations of RICO, in connection with the activities of the so-called Bonnano Family of La Cosa Nostra, also known as the Mafia. 2 The indictment alleged the occurrence of numerous illegal activities between 1974 and July, 1982, including: 5 (1) the murders of Alphonse Indelicato, Philip Giaccone, and Dominick Trinchera, three captains of the Bonnano Family who were seeking to wrest control of the family away from two other captains, Dominick Napolitano and Joseph Messina; 3 6 (2) a conspiracy to murder Anthony Bruno Indelicato, Alphonse's son; 7 (3) the receipt, storage, and resale of a truckload of stolen tuna fish; 8 (4) the theft of a tractor-trailer containing clothing and other freight; 9 (5) the attempted robbery of the occupants of an apartment belonging to the sister of the Shah of Iran; 10 (6) a conspiracy to rob the Landmark Union Trust Bank in St. Petersburg, Florida; 11 (7) a conspiracy to rob the Pan Am Credit Union in Rockleigh, New Jersey; 12 (8) a conspiracy to rob the occupants of the Galerie Des Monies in New York; 13 (9) the possession and distribution of methaqualone in the Eastern and Southern Districts of New York; and 14 (10) the operation of an illegal sports and numbers gambling business. 15 The indictment alleged that Ruggiero conspired to commit the four murders and to distribute methaqualone in the Eastern District of New York, and that he actually participated in the murders of Alphonse Indelicato, Giaccone, and Trinchera. Cerasani was named as a conspirator in the two truck thefts and all of the robberies except the robbery of the Landmark Union Trust Bank, the distribution of methaqualone in the Eastern District of New York, and the operation of the illegal gambling business, and as an actual participant in the two truck thefts, the attempted robbery of the apartment belonging to the sister of the Shah of Iran, the distribution of methaqualone in the Eastern District of New York, and the operation of the illegal gambling business. 16 Ruggiero was convicted of conspiring to violate RICO, but was acquitted on the substantive RICO count. He was sentenced to fifteen years in prison. His RICO conspiracy conviction was affirmed on appeal. See United States v. Ruggiero, 726 F.2d 913 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 105 S.Ct. 118, 83 L.Ed.2d 60 (1984). Cerasani was acquitted on both counts.