Opinion ID: 775760
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Defoe Corporation

Text: 70 Between 1995 and 1997, Defoe Corporation (Defoe) reconstructed the Gowanus Prospect Expressway in Brooklyn. The corporation obtained protection from the Gambino crime family in exchange for money and jobs. BFB also demanded jobs from Defoe, and the Gambino family ultimately agreed that BFB could have a coalition coordinator position and two laborer slots. Carnes acted as the coalition coordinator, received approximately $ 700 a week from Defoe, and did not come to the site unless Defoe called about a coalition problem. 71 This agreement among the Gambino family, Defoe, and BFB came about after a series of meetings during the spring and summer of 1995. John Amicucci, Defoe's owner, told Craig Depalma, a Gambino associate, in the presence of William Marshall, another Gambino family member and a cooperating witness, that BFB was pressuring Defoe to hire unnecessary workers. Later, Depalma, Marshall, Amicucci, and McCall met at Defoe's headquarters. Amicucci told McCall that he would have to go through Depalma with coalition business, and Depalma warned McCall that Depalma was with the son of the guy that's [in] the 22 hour lock up, which the government asserts was a reference to John Gotti, Jr. McCall responded that he had his own godfather and what he tells me is what I do. After McCall asked Amicucci to use his influence to get another individual to buy supplies from McCall, he left the meeting with Carnes. 72 Marshall had an opportunity to meet McCall's godfather, appellant Johnson, at a summer meeting at the Baychester Diner in the Bronx. Carnes also attended this meeting, along with Craig Depalma and his father Gregory Depalma. Gregory Depalma told Johnson that the Gambino crime family controlled Defoe and that Craig was attending the meeting directly on John Junior's behalf. After a private meeting between the Depalmas and Johnson, the Depalmas told Marshall that they had agreed to work with BFB but that Johnson could place only two laborers and one no-show paid coordinator at each site. 73 Some time thereafter, the Depalmas began to suspect that Carnes was pressuring Amicucci to hire more workers than their agreement allowed. At a second meeting, Johnson told the Depalmas that he would take care of the situation. Carnes and Craig Depalma subsequently worked together to control the flow of jobs to BFB. 74 According to the supervisor for all Defoe projects, Edward Schluter, Defoe hired coalition workers not because the company needed workers but because failure to hire them would result in having either a person hurt, having my equipment damaged[,] or having work stopped.