Another Bonanno Capo Gets Locked Up

Peter Lovaglio, aka “Pug,” a Bonanno capo, has done two stints in federal prison and now he will be doing some state time for an assault.

In 2013 he was caught meeting with Gerald Chili, a capo from Florida who was picked up at the airport by Anthony Rabito, aka “Fat Tony.”  The FBI was watching them the whole time.  They have so many confidential human sources there are no secrets anymore.  Gerald Chili was on probation so he was later arrested.

Pug ended up pleading guilty to cover three probation violations.  

In 2013 a company known as G&S Carting Inc. wanted to obtain an exemption for the company from the New York City Business integrity commission so they could operate a trade waste business to haul away building waste from demolition and construction.

Chung Industries Inc. also applied for an exemption in 2013 to haul away trade waste.

The problem was, both of these companies were run by a man known as Carl Puma.

Christine Puma claimed to be the 100% principal operator of Chung Industries, Chung is her maiden name.  

You see, Carl Puma wanted access to jobs that were set aside for MWBE (Minority and Women owned Business Enterprises).  His wife, being both a woman and a minority, would have access if she was sole owner of a company.  So he opened a second company out of the same office and ran it under her name.  He was overheard telling someone that he informed his wife if they were designated a MWBE they could have access to a 10 million dollar contract job.

The commission did some more digging and they found out Carl Puma was friends with Peter Lovaglio, a known member of organized crime.  Carl Puma claimed he did not know him well.  Then the commission found that they exchanged 17 cell phone calls in a short period of time.  Peter Lovaglio had a company called LLN LOVA Inc.  The commission found a check SWF Trucking made out to G&S Carting Inc that had written in the memo line “for Balance due LLN Lova.”

The commission denied both companies their requested exemptions.

In November of 2015 Peter Lovaglio got into an altercation at an upscale Sushi restaurant on Staten Island.  He struck the owner in the face with a broken glass, nearly causing him to lose his eye.

He got away that night but the police had a photograph of Peter Lovaglio that the NYPD Organized Crime Investigations unit later identified. He was arrested and just last week he plead guilty.  He was promised an eight year cap on first degree assault with a five year term of post release supervision.

Peter Lovaglio also still has a case of aggravated driving without a license and possession of a deadly weapon hanging over his head.  He was supposedly drunk and had a knife.

You have to wonder sometimes about these guys.  There was no profit to be had.  They seem instead like the types of crimes committed by men with drinking problems and a temper.

Papa Smurf vs. New Jersey

The state of New Jersey finally won a battle with a Genovese mobster in court.

The battle was with the family of Carmine “Papa Smurf” Franco over a 1.89 acre triangular piece of land.  The state sued for condemnation in 2009 and offered the family $990,000 for the land.

The state wanted the land for a twin train tunnel project between New Jersey and New York.

The program was called “Access to the Region's Core,” but it was canceled by Gov. Chris Christie.

Papa Smurf Franco is a Genovese Family associate who has for over thirty years controlled various carting companies.  He was convicted in the 1980’s and 1990’s for various felonies in the waste hauling business.  He was forbidden by law from owning any business or working in the carting business in New Jersey or New York.

That did not stop Papa Smurf Franco, because he continued to control various carting companies unit the Feds took him down in 2012 for a joint venture with the Gambino and Lucchese family.  

They formed a crew that asserted “Property Rights” over every property that they picked up waste from.  Once anyone in the crew had the rights no other crew could service the property.  This way, no matter what the company that picked up the waste was called the revenue still went into the same pockets.

They decided who paid protection money, who could own a company and where those companies could work.  They loaned money to companies and they stole others’ equipment.

They controlled the carting business in most of New Jersey and New York.

Papa Smurf Franco was facing over 45 years in prison. He would plead guilty in 2013 to the charges.  One of them was illegally transporting stolen cardboard across state lines.

The judge fell for his story.  He had a hard upbringing, old age and health issues so he was sentenced to only a year, two $5,000 fines and was required to forfeit $2.5 million to the government.

The family took the NJ Transit to court over the land because they claimed it was worth far more than $990k they were offered.  

They hired an architect and an engineer to reimagine the property.  They came up with drawings and plans that showed a 13 story condominium high rise on the land.

The land around it had become valuable because of its proximity to the trains and views of New York.  

They took NJ Transit to court claiming the property was then worth 9.1 million.

A jury ruled that it was worth 8.1 million and ruled in the family’s favor.

The state of New Jersey had their own test run on the land and found that it was contaminated and it would cost 2 million dollars to clean up the contamination.

They appealed the jury award. On October 19th of this year, a three panel appeals court ruled that the value depended on getting the proper permits for building, so they remanded it back to a new trial.

Will they find a way to get the permits?

For now, the state has won.  

Garbage Men

This past Friday a Lucchese crime family capo plead guilty inside a Brooklyn courtroom. That capo was Carmine Avellino, and this would end a case that started with a $100k loan back in 2010.

The case is troubling on a number of fronts for a few reasons.  I understand that shylocking, also known as loan sharking, is against the law. It’s called usury.   On the other hand is the borrower. They are not forced to get a loan from a shylock.  They gladly take the money to use for whatever they wish.  They agree to the terms and give their word that they will pay it back. It comes down to personal responsibility, but they get off by running to the FBI. Maybe in the future when they charge shylocks with usury, they should also charge the borrowers with tax evasion and make them pay back the principle as a fine.   While loansharking is illegal, the government allows these payday loan places, pawn shops and credit card companies to basically do the same thing.  

The two borrowers in this case made most of the payments on the loan, but towards the end they fell behind. So Avellino asked Michael and Daniel Capra to collect it. He instructed them to use violence or whatever means necessary to get the money.  The FBI was watching and had both video and audio recordings of the three men conspiring together.

The Capra brothers went to court in June and July, where they both plead guilty and now all three of them face up to 20 years.

Carmine Avellino’s problem is much more than the shylock charge, and it goes back to August 10, 1989.

The story begins long before the trade group Private Sanitation Industry Inc. was formed in Long Island, New York.  This is a good place to introduce Salvatore Avellino Jr., who ran the trade group which was a front for the Lucchese and Gambino family.  The families used the group to control prices and routes for carting companies on Long Island.  It brought in massive amounts of cash to both families.  Salvatore Avellino Jr. not only ran the group but also was driver to the man who put it all together, Tony “Ducks” Corallo, who was the boss of the Lucchese family.

The trade group was having a lot of problems with two men who ran a garbage hauling service on Long Island known as Kubecka Inc. Robert Kubecka and his brother in law Donald Barstow had taken over Robert’s father Jerry’s garbage hauling service when he retired.  There were over 200 private garbage hauling companies on Long Island at the time, and 180 of them belonged to the trade group.  The routes and the rates were set by the group, which was really just the Lucchese and Gambino family.

Then Kubecka refused to have anything to do with the group, so they started having problems.  Their trucks were vandalized, they were threatened and trash containers were burned.  

They decided to cooperate with the state and federal task force investigating the trade group.  They wore wires and gave intel to the investigators.  They provided enough information to take down Salvatore Avellino Jr. and 9 others.  They also were able to bug Sal Avellino’s Jaguar, where they caught Tony Ducks discussing mafia business.  Tony Ducks would get 100 years, but Sal Avellino caught a break.  Soon Vic Amuso and Gaspipe Casso were running the family and they did not like people who worked with the Feds. They called a meeting in a Canarsie Brooklyn social club.  Sal Avellino Jr, and a capo from the Bronx Bowatt Baratta showed up to meet with Amuso and Casso.  They wanted to use Bowett because he was removed from Long Island and the carting business.  Bowatt was big into heroin and had done many years for it.

They had law enforcement sources that were on the Lucchese family payroll so they knew that they could murder the two men at the Kubecka office.  The task force had left the two men completely exposed with no protection.

On August 10, 1989, Bowat was there with Carmine Avellino and they dropped off the two killers.  Rocco Vitulli and Frankie Federico made their way into the garbage services office where they encountered Donald Barstow in the hallway.  They blasted him right away and then ran into the main office.  Robert Kubecka, having heard the shots, fought the men with his bare hands.  They tore up the small office and fired a number of missed shots until they finally mortally wounded Kubecka.  The shooters took off but Kubecka was able to call 911 before he died.

Years later they would all be arrested for racketeering and the murders, but they would all plead out to lesser charges except for Federico, who was missing.  The FBI caught up with Federico in the Bronx and his DNA was at the scene, so he was giving 15 years for the murders.  The Kubecka family won a large settlement from the state but what good does that really do the family?

Carmine Avellino will keep paying for his crimes.