Prosecutor concerned for safety of witnesses in Buffalo trial involving organized crime allegations

[ad_1]

A federal prosecutor says he is concerned for the safety of some of the witnesses who will testify in the upcoming trial of a Cheektowaga strip club owner and former DEA agent accused of taking bribes wine.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph M. Tripi voiced those concerns Friday during a court conference regarding the trial of strip club owner Peter G. Gerace Jr. and retired U.S. administrative officer Joseph S. Bongiovanni.

For 65 years, Joseph A. Todaro and his father before him ran La Nova Pizzeria. A trade publication calls La Nova an industry leader. But federal prosecutors say Joe Todaro is really something else: the head of the Buffalo mob.

Gerace, 55, is the nephew of Joseph A. Todaro, whom prosecutors and federal agents have identified as the leader of Italy’s organized crime organization Buffalos.

People also read…

Todaro is not charged in the case. He told The Buffalo News he was not involved in organized crime and had had no contact with Gerace in years.

About 100 people will testify at the trial, and there are security concerns regarding seven, eight or nine of the witnesses, Tripi told U.S. District Judge John L. Sinatra Jr on Friday.

Some local defense attorneys and Italian-American organizations say they are outraged by Joseph M. Tripis’ repeated references to Italian organized crime in court and legal documents, including an indictment.

He made no allegation that anyone had been threatened, but said some witnesses could be at risk if local criminals, including those with nothing to do with Bongiovanni or Gerace, find out they are cooperating with the police.

Tripi told the judge he hoped to keep certain witness names secret from defense attorneys and the public after May 10, when Sinatra set him to submit a witness list to the court.

That would be about six weeks before the start of the trial scheduled for June 21.

Six weeks is a long time (for someone) to get a name whispered and sent on a mission, Tripi said.

Defense attorneys Steven M. Cohen, who represents Gerace, and James P. Harrington, who represents Bongiovanni, told the judge they needed the names of witnesses and information about expected testimony as soon as possible, in order to so that they can prepare to defend their clients.

Cohen criticized Tripi for suggesting witnesses might be in danger without providing evidence. He said his client never threatened any witnesses.

He can’t just say my client is a danger, Cohen said. They have to justify.

Sinatra said he would do his best to accommodate Tripis’ concerns about witness safety, while also trying to allow defense attorneys to get the information they need to prepare for trial.

Defendants want separate trials

Friday’s court appearance came two days after Harrington filed court documents saying he hopes to present Gerace as a key witness in Bongiovannis’ defense.

Lawyers for former DEA agent Joseph Bongviovanni say federal prosecutors imagined the existence of a powerful Buffalo Mafia family.

The two defendants, who have denied committing any criminal acts, have known each other since they were children.

According to Harrington and Cohen, Gerace is willing to testify as a witness for Bongiovanni, 58, but only if the judge agrees to allow the two to be tried separately.

If the two men are tried together, Gerace would invoke his 5th Amendment rights against self-incrimination, Harrington said.

Defense lawyers also say it will be impossible for Gerace and Bongiovanni to get fair trials if they are tried together. They said both men would be tarnished by charges against only one of them.

Federal prosecutors are looking for organized criminal activity in a sweeping investigation, just four years after the special agent in charge of the Buffalo FBI office said: Some of the individuals who were mob bosses are still there. . But their organized criminal activities no longer exist.”

The charges against the two are inextricably linked, will involve the presentation of a lot of overlapping evidence and are therefore properly joined, Tripi said. Gerace is one of the people Bongiovanni believed to be associated with IOC and therefore wanted to indulge himself.

IOC is the abbreviation used by prosecutors in this case for Italian organized crime, an entity that defense attorneys deny even exists in 2023 Buffalo.

Harrington said Bongiovannis’ father ran a clam stand 50 years ago at La Nova Pizza, the Todaro family’s spizzeria, when Bongiovanni was young.

That doesn’t make Bongiovanni a gangster, the defense attorney said.

Both defendants were not present for court appearances on Friday due to illnesses, their attorneys said.

Joseph A. Todaro, owner of popular pizzeria La Nova, is no stranger to accusations of running the Buffalo Mafia. For more than 50 years, he and his late father, Joseph E. Todaro, were charged by the FBI and federal prosecutors with crimes related to local mob activity. And dating back to the 1960s, Joseph A. Todaro and his father were the subject of numerous articles in WNY newspapers documenting various cases against them.

Bongiovanni is accused of accepting $250,000 in bribes to help protect Gerace and others who prosecutors say were associated with Italian organized crime from investigation and arrest.

Gerace, owner of the Pharaohs Gentlemens Club in Cheektowaga, is accused of bribing Bongiovanni and conspiring to engage in drug and human trafficking at his strip club.

Bongiovanni was arrested in November 2019, five months after a search of his home in the city of Tonawanda. He had retired from the DEA after learning he was under investigation.

Gerace was arrested in February 2021.

Defense attorneys complain they were unfairly disadvantaged because prosecutors shared little specific information with them about the charges or government witnesses.

Cohen described the information Tripi has shared so far as 600,000 rubbish.

How should I defend my client when the government has not given us the name of a witness or an alleged victim, nor precise information on the crimes he accuses? says Cohen.

Attorney Joseph M. LaTona is also part of Geraces’ defense team.

Buffalo News: Hello, Buffalo

The smart way to start your day. We review all the news to give you a concise and informative overview of the main headlines and stories to read each day of the week.

[ad_2]