Post by TonyBombassolo on Feb 10, 2024 10:15:06 GMT
The government contends that the alleged criminal events herein began in Sicily in the 1970's when members of the Sicilian Mafia decided to begin shipping narcotics to the United States. These shipments came from two places, Sicily and South America. In Sicily, Mafia members imported morphine base from Turkey, refined it, and smuggled the heroin they produced into the New York metropolitan area. Among the Sicilian Mafia members who the government contends were responsible for shipping the heroin and developing a distribution network in the United States were defendant Giuseppe Soresi and appellants Lorenzo Devardo and Giovanni Cangialosi. According to the government, the source of narcotics from South America was appellant Gaetano Badalamenti, a fugitive living in Brazil who was allegedly the deposed head of the Sicilian Mafia and who, in connection with this prosecution, later was extradited from Spain.
It is contended that Badalamenti sent narcotics to the Midwest, where the drugs allegedly were distributed by defendants Pietro Alfano and Salvatore Evola and appellants Emanuele Palazzolo, Giuseppe Vitale and Giuseppe Trupiano. The midwestern distributors delivered narcotics to a distribution group in the New York area. This New York group, comprised of members of the American Mafia, or La Cosa Nostra, also received heroin shipments from Sicily.
Further, according to the government, appellant Salvatore Catalano led the New York group, closely assisted by defendant Giuseppe Ganci and appellants Giuseppe Lamberti, Salvatore Lamberti, Salvatore Greco and Salvatore Mazzurco. Allegedly, Catalano also worked closely with defendant Gaetano Mazzara and appellant Frank Castronovo, who the government claims were two Sicilian Mafia members stationed in New Jersey.
The government asserts that the New York group sold narcotics to secondary wholesalers, such as appellant Filippo Casamento and defendant Benito Zito, and that to finance its importation of narcotics the New York group relied on payments from investors, such as appellants Francesco Polizzi and Giovanni Ligammari.
In addition, according to the government, as part of the conspiracy's money laundering operation, appellants Catalano, Castronovo, Ganci, Salvatore Salamone and his brother, defendant Filippo Salamone, accumulated the conspiracy's cash proceeds in pizza parlors, and then either smuggled the cash out of the country in suitcases or laundered it through a maze of bank accounts. The government asserts that the money was deposited in Swiss bank accounts, and from there went to conspirators in Italy or to a man known as Musullulu, who the government claims supplied the conspirators with morphine base from Turkey.
Case Text US v Casamento
It is contended that Badalamenti sent narcotics to the Midwest, where the drugs allegedly were distributed by defendants Pietro Alfano and Salvatore Evola and appellants Emanuele Palazzolo, Giuseppe Vitale and Giuseppe Trupiano. The midwestern distributors delivered narcotics to a distribution group in the New York area. This New York group, comprised of members of the American Mafia, or La Cosa Nostra, also received heroin shipments from Sicily.
Further, according to the government, appellant Salvatore Catalano led the New York group, closely assisted by defendant Giuseppe Ganci and appellants Giuseppe Lamberti, Salvatore Lamberti, Salvatore Greco and Salvatore Mazzurco. Allegedly, Catalano also worked closely with defendant Gaetano Mazzara and appellant Frank Castronovo, who the government claims were two Sicilian Mafia members stationed in New Jersey.
The government asserts that the New York group sold narcotics to secondary wholesalers, such as appellant Filippo Casamento and defendant Benito Zito, and that to finance its importation of narcotics the New York group relied on payments from investors, such as appellants Francesco Polizzi and Giovanni Ligammari.
In addition, according to the government, as part of the conspiracy's money laundering operation, appellants Catalano, Castronovo, Ganci, Salvatore Salamone and his brother, defendant Filippo Salamone, accumulated the conspiracy's cash proceeds in pizza parlors, and then either smuggled the cash out of the country in suitcases or laundered it through a maze of bank accounts. The government asserts that the money was deposited in Swiss bank accounts, and from there went to conspirators in Italy or to a man known as Musullulu, who the government claims supplied the conspirators with morphine base from Turkey.
Case Text US v Casamento