New York Gangster 'Papa Smurf' Guilty of Waste Industry Racketeering

Two members of notorious New York Crime families have pleaded guilty for their roles in a criminal racketeering enterprise that encircled the city’s waste hauling industry. The U.S. Department of Justice explained that Carmine Franco, dubbed 'Papa Smurf' by fellow wiseguys, and Anthony Pucciarello pled guilty in Manhattan federal court in connection with their roles in an illegal scheme to exert control over the commercial waste hauling industry in the greater New York City metropolitan area and in parts of New Jersey. Franco and Pucciarello who were among 32 defendants charged in January 2013 in connection with the scheme. (See WMW Story) According the Department of Justice (DoJ), the Indictment against the pair, other documents filed in Manhattan federal court, and statements made at related court proceedings show that: Franco, who is an associate of the Genovese Crime Family, participated in a criminal enterprise, along with other members and associates of three different Organised Crime Families of La Cosa Nostra (LCN) – the Genovese, Gambino, and Luchese Crime Families – to control various waste disposal businesses in the New York City metropolitan area and multiple counties in New Jersey. The DoJ said that members of the enterprise engaged in various crimes to further their aims, including extortion, loansharking, mail and wire fraud, and stolen property offenses. As part of his guilty plea, Franco, who had been barred by the State of New Jersey from participating in the waste hauling industry, acknowledged his membership in the criminal enterprise and his agreement with others to undertake at least two racketeering acts in furtherance of the enterprise. Specifically, the DoJ said that Franco acknowledged that he committed mail and wire fraud by overbilling customers of a waste transfer station that he controlled in West Nyack, New York. He also acknowledged that he and his associates transported large volumes of stolen cardboard across state lines. As part of his involvement in the scheme, the DoJ explained that Pucciarello, an associate of the Genovese Crime Family, was aware that other members of the scheme were conspiring to use extortion to obtain an ownership percentage in a business owned by a cooperating Government witness (CW-1). Pucciarello did not report this extortion to law enforcement authorities and agreed to conceal the percentage of CW-1’s business that Pucciarello would own following the extortion. Pay back Franco, 78, of Ramsey, New Jersey, pled guilty to one count of racketeering conspiracy, one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, and one count of conspiracy to transport stolen goods interstate, and faces a maximum sentence of 45 years in prison. As part of his plea agreement, the DoJ said that Franco has agreed to forfeit $2.5 million to the United States. He is the fifteenth defendant in this matter to plead guilty, and is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Castel on March 19, 2014, at 2:30 p.m. Pucciarello, also 78, of Bloomfield, New Jersey, pled guilty to one count of misprision of extortion, and faces a maximum sentence of three years in prison. He is the sixteenth defendant in this matter to plead guilty, and is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Castel on March 21, 2014, at 2:00p.m. Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said: “With today’s guilty pleas, Carmine Franco and Anthony Pucciarello become the latest defendants to be held to account for their roles in a criminal racketeering enterprise that encircled the waste hauling industry in the New York City area and parts of New Jersey.” “This Office will continue working with our law enforcement partners to pry loose the tentacles of organized crime from around the industries it tries to control,” he added. Bharara also praised the investigative work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Westchester County Police Department. The DoJ stressed that the charges against the remaining defendants are merely accusations, and these defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. Read More New York Waste Mafia - Don't Throw the Baby Out with the Bathwater In the wake of the recent racketeering charges in New York and New Jersey waste industry, the NSWMA has backed efforts to rid the industry of organised crime. Military Waste to Energy Gasification Tech to be Commercialised by Northrup Grumman A mobile military gasification waste to energy machine is to be developed by Northrop Grumman and Detroit Cirque Energy following a Joint Development Agreement. Free E-Waste Collection Service Launched in New York City New York City has introduced a new e-waste collection scheme ahead of its ban of the disposal of e-waste in household waste due to come into effect in 2015.