Opinion ID: 547605
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: The Extortion of Eric Leon.

Text: 35 Leon, the manager of the college spot, eventually fell into disfavor with the Scarpa Crew after he ran up a considerable debt. Leon's trouble began on New Year's Eve, December 31, 1985, when he was left alone to manage the college spot. Leon collected approximately $8,000 that night from marijuana sales, the sale of cocaine to Sal from New Jersey, and the collection of money from Sal from Virginia. After hiding the money in a box in the trunk of the car he was using, he began driving to Brooklyn. His car broke down while enroute, and Leon was taken into custody by police who observed him selling brass knuckles from the trunk of the disabled car. The officers later searched the vehicle and found marijuana in its trunk, but did not find the hidden money. Leon was placed under arrest for marijuana possession and other charges, and was released on bail two days later. In the interim, however, he arranged for a friend to retrieve the cash from the car trunk. Leon and his friend divided the money. 36 Upon his release, Leon reported the event to the Scarpa Crew, but did not tell them that his friend had retrieved the money from his car trunk. Granato and M. Parlagreco, believing Leon at first, advised him not to worry about the missing money, because DeCarlo believed he could use his influence with the police officers whom he was bribing to recover it. When DeCarlo's efforts proved unavailing and it became clear that the money was missing from the car trunk, Leon was told that he would have to repay the missing money. 37 In addition, Leon owed the Scarpa Crew money for cocaine he had purchased and for marijuana proceeds that were missing from the college spot. The total amount owed was approximately $21,000. Leon eventually stopped going to the college spot because he feared that the Scarpa Crew would harm him as a result of the large debt. However, after a meeting with Scarpa, Granato and M. Parlagreco at which Leon stated his intention to pay his debt to the Crew over time, Leon resumed his activities at the college spot. 38 In addition to working at the college spot without pay, Leon tried to raise money by selling marijuana independently and borrowing money from his friends. He also stole $5,000 from Sal from Virginia. 5 In addition, he turned over his television set and video recorder to Granato. 39 Apparently, the Scarpa Crew was dissatisfied with the rate at which Leon was repaying the debt, and was further dissatisfied that Leon had stolen money from Sal from Virginia, who was a good friend of J. Parlagreco. On February 20, 1986 Leon was summoned to meet with Crew members at Mike's Candy Store. When Leon arrived at the store at about 4:30 p.m., all of the appellants were there, as well as Scarpa and Letterio DeCarlo. After greeting Leon, however, Scarpa promptly departed. 40 J. Parlagreco and M. Parlagreco questioned Leon about the $5,000 transaction with Sal from Virginia. Granato then handed Leon a quarter and told him that he had ten minutes to raise $17,000, and that he could not leave the store to get the money. While Leon was talking to a friend on the telephone, Meli hit Leon in the head. Leon then hung up the phone, and was savagely beaten by Meli, DeCarlo and Savarese with fists, brass knuckles and a baseball bat, while Granato and Catanzano stood by in the front doorway. The beating ended when Granato shouted: That's enough. 41