Rosario Gangi
Encyclopedia
Rosario "Ross" Gangi is a New York City
mobster and captain in the Genovese crime family
who became involved in labor racketeering and white collar crime.
in Lower Manhattan
. Genovese mobster Carmine Romano
controlled the $1 billion per year seafood industry at the market. On August 13, 1981, Gangi was indicted on federal racketeering charges involving the Fish Market and Local 359 of the United Seafood Workers Union, which represented the market's unionized fish handlers. In the early 1990s, Gangi became a caporegime
in the Genovese family and ran the fish rackets with Brooklyn captain Alphonse "Allie Shades" Malangone
. During the mid-1990s, Gangi's son Thomas Gangi came under fire as an officer of Preferred Quality Seafood, a seafood wholesaler. The company was later evicted from the Fish Market due to its noncompliance with the probe on mob control of the market.
During the mid-1990s, Gangi discovered a large-scale surveillance campaign by the Federal Bureau of Investigation
and New York Police Department (NYPD) against the Genovese family. Since boss John Gotti
had gone to prison the last time, the family had assumed a lower-key public image and become more security-conscious to prevent its high-level members from serving long prison terms.
captain Frank Lino
were indicted in a massive stock fraud and manipulation indictment. The scheme was a classic "pump and dump
" stock scam. The mobsters acquired a large position in the stock of HealthTech International Inc., a Mesa, Arizona
, health and fitness firm that was traded on the NASDAQ
Stock Exchange. Tens of thousands of shares were given to the mobsters by top HealthTech officials Gordon Hall and Joe Kirkham. The crime families then bribed and threatened brokers at the Wall Street
firm of Meyers Pollock Robins Inc., to sell the stock to unsuspecting investors. Once the stock price reached an inflated level, the mobsters sold their shares and made huge profits, leaving individual investors with worthless stock. The indictment also alleged that the mobsters conspired to defraud the Staten Island Savings Bank in Staten Island, New York, and Sun Records
, a famous recording label in Memphis, Tennessee
.
On February 17, 1998, Gangi, Genovese associate John Albert, and Gambino crime family
soldier Vincent DiModica were indicted for extorting contractors and scheming to defraud the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
, which operates Newark International Airport. Gangi received kickbacks, disguised as consulting fees, from companies constructing the $350 million monorail
network at the airport. On July 27, 1998, Gangi, Albert and DiModica, were convicted on the Newark Airport charges. On January 21, 1999, Gangi pleaded guilty to his involvement in the HealthTech case and was sentenced to a 97-month prison term.
On December 5, 2001, Gangi and Genovese captains Pasquale Parrello and Joseph Dente, Jr. were charged with extortion
, robbery conspiracy, gun trafficking, loan sharking, labor racketeering and embezzlement, credit card fraud
, trafficking in untaxed liquor and cigarettes, gambling and counterfeiting. The indictment was the result of the undercover work of an NYPD officer who operated under the moniker "Big Frankie". This undercover officer, who was actually being considered for family membership, would often eat lunch with Parrello. On April 30, 2002, Gangi pleaded guilty to racketeering in the 2001 charges and was sentenced to 78 months in prison.
Gangi was imprisoned at the Federal Correctional Institution - Schuylkill in Minersville, Pennsylvania
. He was released on August 8, 2008.
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
mobster and captain in the Genovese crime family
Genovese crime family
The Genovese crime family , is one of the "Five Families" that dominates organized crime activities in New York City, United States, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the Mafia . The Genovese crime family has been nicknamed the "Ivy League" and "Rolls Royce" of organized crime...
who became involved in labor racketeering and white collar crime.
Biography
His father, uncles and cousins were associated with the Bonanno and Genovese crime families. His uncle Angelo Prezzanzano was a capo in the Bonanno crime family and his cousin Frank Gangi Jr. and uncle Frank Gangi Sr. were both drug dealers. His uncle Frank Sr. was murdered by rival drug dealers.Fish tycoon
As a Genovese family associate, Gangi began working at the Fulton Fish MarketFulton Fish Market
The Fulton Fish Market is a fish market in The Bronx, New York, United States. It was originally a wing of the Fulton Market, established in 1822 to sell a variety of foodstuffs and produce...
in Lower Manhattan
Lower Manhattan
Lower Manhattan is the southernmost part of the island of Manhattan, the main island and center of business and government of the City of New York...
. Genovese mobster Carmine Romano
Carmine Romano
Carmine Romano was a New York City mobster and captain in the Genovese crime family who controlled the Fulton Fish Market distribution center in Downtown Manhattan.-Mob control of Fulton Fish Market:...
controlled the $1 billion per year seafood industry at the market. On August 13, 1981, Gangi was indicted on federal racketeering charges involving the Fish Market and Local 359 of the United Seafood Workers Union, which represented the market's unionized fish handlers. In the early 1990s, Gangi became a caporegime
Caporegime
A caporegime or capodecina, usually shortened to just a capo, is a term used in the Mafia for a high ranking made member of a crime family who heads a "crew" of soldiers and has major social status and influence in the organization...
in the Genovese family and ran the fish rackets with Brooklyn captain Alphonse "Allie Shades" Malangone
Alphonse Malangone
Alphonse "Allie Shades" Malangone is a New York City mobster and caporegime in the Genovese crime family. Malangone controlled a good portion of the Genovese interests in the Fulton Fish Market, while dabbling in pump and dump stock scams on Wall Street and controlling Brooklyn's garbage hauling...
. During the mid-1990s, Gangi's son Thomas Gangi came under fire as an officer of Preferred Quality Seafood, a seafood wholesaler. The company was later evicted from the Fish Market due to its noncompliance with the probe on mob control of the market.
During the mid-1990s, Gangi discovered a large-scale surveillance campaign by the Federal Bureau of Investigation
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
and New York Police Department (NYPD) against the Genovese family. Since boss John Gotti
John Gotti
John Joseph Gotti, Jr was an American mobster who became the Boss of the Gambino crime family in New York City. Gotti grew up in poverty. He and his brothers turned to a life of crime at an early age...
had gone to prison the last time, the family had assumed a lower-key public image and become more security-conscious to prevent its high-level members from serving long prison terms.
Criminal schemes
On November 25, 1997, Gangi, his top soldier Ernest Montevecchi, and Bonanno crime familyBonanno crime family
The Bonanno crime family is one of the "Five Families" that dominates organized crime activities in New York City, United States, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the Mafia ....
captain Frank Lino
Frank Lino
Frank "Curly" Lino is a Sicilian-American caporegime in the Bonanno crime family who later became an informant.-Biography:...
were indicted in a massive stock fraud and manipulation indictment. The scheme was a classic "pump and dump
Pump and dump
"Pump and dump" is a form of microcap stock fraud that involves artificially inflating the price of an owned stock through false and misleading positive statements, in order to sell the cheaply purchased stock at a higher price....
" stock scam. The mobsters acquired a large position in the stock of HealthTech International Inc., a Mesa, Arizona
Mesa, Arizona
According to the 2010 Census, the racial composition of Mesa was as follows:* White: 77.1% * Hispanic or Latino : 26.54%* Black or African American: 3.5%* Two or more races: 3.4%* Native American: 2.4%...
, health and fitness firm that was traded on the NASDAQ
NASDAQ
The NASDAQ Stock Market, also known as the NASDAQ, is an American stock exchange. "NASDAQ" originally stood for "National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations". It is the second-largest stock exchange by market capitalization in the world, after the New York Stock Exchange. As of...
Stock Exchange. Tens of thousands of shares were given to the mobsters by top HealthTech officials Gordon Hall and Joe Kirkham. The crime families then bribed and threatened brokers at the Wall Street
Wall Street
Wall Street refers to the financial district of New York City, named after and centered on the eight-block-long street running from Broadway to South Street on the East River in Lower Manhattan. Over time, the term has become a metonym for the financial markets of the United States as a whole, or...
firm of Meyers Pollock Robins Inc., to sell the stock to unsuspecting investors. Once the stock price reached an inflated level, the mobsters sold their shares and made huge profits, leaving individual investors with worthless stock. The indictment also alleged that the mobsters conspired to defraud the Staten Island Savings Bank in Staten Island, New York, and Sun Records
Sun Records
Sun Records is a record label founded in Memphis, Tennessee, starting operations on March 27, 1952.Founded by Sam Phillips, Sun Records was known for giving notable musicians such as Elvis Presley , Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison, and Johnny Cash...
, a famous recording label in Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
.
On February 17, 1998, Gangi, Genovese associate John Albert, and Gambino crime family
Gambino crime family
The Gambino crime family is one of the "Five Families" that dominates organized crime activities in New York City, United States, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the Mafia . The group is named after Carlo Gambino, boss of the family at the time of the McClellan hearings in 1963...
soldier Vincent DiModica were indicted for extorting contractors and scheming to defraud the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is a bi-state port district, established in 1921 through an interstate compact, that runs most of the regional transportation infrastructure, including the bridges, tunnels, airports, and seaports, within the Port of New York and New Jersey...
, which operates Newark International Airport. Gangi received kickbacks, disguised as consulting fees, from companies constructing the $350 million monorail
Monorail
A monorail is a rail-based transportation system based on a single rail, which acts as its sole support and its guideway. The term is also used variously to describe the beam of the system, or the vehicles traveling on such a beam or track...
network at the airport. On July 27, 1998, Gangi, Albert and DiModica, were convicted on the Newark Airport charges. On January 21, 1999, Gangi pleaded guilty to his involvement in the HealthTech case and was sentenced to a 97-month prison term.
On December 5, 2001, Gangi and Genovese captains Pasquale Parrello and Joseph Dente, Jr. were charged with extortion
Extortion
Extortion is a criminal offence which occurs when a person unlawfully obtains either money, property or services from a person, entity, or institution, through coercion. Refraining from doing harm is sometimes euphemistically called protection. Extortion is commonly practiced by organized crime...
, robbery conspiracy, gun trafficking, loan sharking, labor racketeering and embezzlement, credit card fraud
Credit card fraud
Credit card fraud is a wide-ranging term for theft and fraud committed using a credit card or any similar payment mechanism as a fraudulent source of funds in a transaction. The purpose may be to obtain goods without paying, or to obtain unauthorized funds from an account. Credit card fraud is also...
, trafficking in untaxed liquor and cigarettes, gambling and counterfeiting. The indictment was the result of the undercover work of an NYPD officer who operated under the moniker "Big Frankie". This undercover officer, who was actually being considered for family membership, would often eat lunch with Parrello. On April 30, 2002, Gangi pleaded guilty to racketeering in the 2001 charges and was sentenced to 78 months in prison.
Gangi was imprisoned at the Federal Correctional Institution - Schuylkill in Minersville, Pennsylvania
Minersville, Pennsylvania
Minersville is located in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, four miles west of Pottsville. Anthracite coal deposits are plentiful in the region. In 1900, 4,815 people lived here; in 1910, 7,240, people lived here; and in 1940, 8,686 people lived here...
. He was released on August 8, 2008.
See also
- Carmine RomanoCarmine RomanoCarmine Romano was a New York City mobster and captain in the Genovese crime family who controlled the Fulton Fish Market distribution center in Downtown Manhattan.-Mob control of Fulton Fish Market:...
- Joseph LanzaJoseph LanzaJoseph A. "Socks" Lanza was a New York labor racketeer and a member of the Genovese crime family.Born in Palermo, Sicily, Lanza immigrated to the United States and settled in New York working as a handler in Lower Manhattan's Fulton Fish Market...
- Alphonse "Allie Shades" MalangoneAlphonse MalangoneAlphonse "Allie Shades" Malangone is a New York City mobster and caporegime in the Genovese crime family. Malangone controlled a good portion of the Genovese interests in the Fulton Fish Market, while dabbling in pump and dump stock scams on Wall Street and controlling Brooklyn's garbage hauling...
Further reading
- Capeci, Jerry. The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Mafia. Indianapolis: Alpha Books, 2002. ISBN 0-02-864225-2
- Jacobs, James B., Coleen Friel and Robert Radick. Gotham Unbound: How New York City Was Liberated from the Grip of Organized Crime. New York: NYU Press, 2001. ISBN 0-8147-4247-5
- Raab, Selwyn. Five Families: The Rise, Decline, and Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empires. New York: St. Martin Press, 2005. ISBN 0-312-30094-8