News
Release
December 12, 2006
Contact: S/A Erin Mulvey
Public Information Officer
Number: (212) 337-2906
12
Members Of Colombo Crime Family Arrested In New York
DEA: “Pirates” caused havoc in Staten Island community,
charged with racketeering,
drug trafficking
DEC
12 -- (NEW YORK) - John P. Gilbride, Special Agent-in-Charge,
Drug Enforcement Administration, New York Field Division and Roslynn
R. Mauskopf, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New
York announced this morning the unsealing of an indictment in Brooklyn
Federal Court charging Colombo organized crime family soldier MICHAEL
SOUZA and associates ANTHONY SOUZA, MICHAEL BOLINO, NICHOLAS BRUNO,
SHELTON WILLIS, EMANUEL RUTA, CHARLES FUSCO, DONATO DICAMILLO, CHARLES
MCCLEAN, STUART DUGAN, and MICHAEL ARMINANTE variously with racketeering
conspiracy, robbery conspiracy, bank robbery conspiracy, firearms
possession, conspiracy to commit assault in aid of racketeering,
cocaine base distribution conspiracy, marijuana distribution conspiracy,
loan sharking, and illegal gambling. The prosecution resulted in
the disruption of an armored car robbery and a plot to assault a
Bonanno crime family associate, and the apprehension of the leader
of a home invasion crew responsible for a string of recent robberies
in New York and Connecticut. As part of the same investigation, Albanian
organized crime associate LULZIM KUPA was charged with marijuana
distribution conspiracy in a separate indictment.
The
defendants were arrested earlier today and are scheduled to be arraigned
this afternoon in the Eastern District of New York.
The
indictments are the culmination of an eight-month investigation, and
included wiretap interceptions of one of MICHAEL SOUZA’s cell
phones and consensual recordings by a cooperating witness of SOUZA
and numerous of the other defendants.
The
indictment further alleges that, MICHAEL SOUZA and his brother, Colombo
crime family associate ANTHONY SOUZA, are charged with racketeering
conspiracy, with predicate acts of marijuana distribution conspiracy,
loan sharking, and illegal gambling. The SOUZA brothers are also charged,
along with defendants MICHAEL BOLINO and SHELTON WILLIS, with conspiracy
in aid of racketeering by planning an assault on a Staten Island Bonanno
crime family associate who had challenged MICHAEL SOUZA’s authority
during a financial dispute between the Bonanno and Colombo crime families.
MICHAEL SOUZA consulted ANTHONY SOUZA about the assault, and ANTHONY
SOUZA advised that they should launch a surprise attack ? a “jack
in the box.” ANTHONY SOUZA and others used electronic databases
to attempt to locate the Bonanno associate’s home address, and
the SOUZA brothers and others discussed using a tracking device with
GPS-capability to locate the Bonanno associate through his cell phone
usage. Ultimately, the SOUZA brothers dispatched defendants BOLINO
and WILLIS to try to surveil the Bonanno associate at a Staten Island
restaurant and bar. Various audio recordings of the defendants made
during the investigation revealed that the perpetrators planned to
wear masks during the assault, and that MICHAEL SOUZA possessed a handgun
while planning the assault.
In
addition, the SOUZA brothers are charged with conspiring with defendants
BRUNO, FUSCO, MCCLEAN, and ARMINANTE to distribute marijuana, and are
also charged, along with defendant EMANUEL RUTA, with operating a lucrative
sports betting business.
BOLINO,
a long time Colombo associate who has prior federal and state robbery
convictions, is also charged with conspiring to rob an armored car
that was scheduled to deliver over $200,000 in cash to the Richmond
County Savings Bank, located on Hylan Boulevard in Staten Island. As
part of the robbery, BOLINO and others planned to “mace” employees
of Princeton Armored Car services, remove the cash delivery bag, and
transfer the bag of cash to an associate waiting nearby on a motorcycle.
Based on information from a cooperating witness, DEA was able to disrupt
the plot by dispatching a large number of agents to the bank just prior
to the time of the planned robbery.
WILLIS,
the leader of a violent interstate home invasion gang, is charged with
two recent robbery conspiracies, during which he, or other gang members,
possessed firearms. During one of the robberies in Staten Island in
August 2006, WILLIS and DUGAN impersonated New York City Police officers
while attempting to rob a house of money they believed a deceased union
employee had left there. WILLIS and DUGAN assaulted a female care-giver
at the house, and then fled, using police scanners successfully to
evade local law enforcement. Defendant DICAMILLO provided WILLIS and
DUGAN with the tip that money from a labor union was located in the
house. In the second charged robbery, which occurred later in August
2006, WILLIS and others invaded a home in Ansonia, Connecticut, in
search of narcotics and money. During the robbery, two of the individuals
at the address were pistol whipped, with one of the victims suffering
a skull fracture.
WILLIS
is also charged, along with defendant MCCLEAN, with conspiring to distribute
crack cocaine. KUPA, who has a prior federal narcotics felony and is
on supervised release from that conviction, is charged in the second
indictment with conspiring to distribute more than 100 kilograms of
marijuana during 2006. During the investigation, DEA agents intercepted
a shipment of approximately 60 pounds of marijuana destined for KUPA,
and wiretap intercepts revealed that KUPA was conspiring to distribute
and distributing even larger amounts of marijuana. In addition, a cooperating
witness recorded KUPA admitting to a recent assault of a narcotics
trafficker whose house KUPA had previously burglarized.
John
P. Gilbride Special Agent-in-Charge Drug Enforcement Administration
stated, “Throughout Staten Island these individuals were acting
like pirates. They trafficked in drugs, robbed people and carried guns.
It is the DEA’s focus to stop the violence associated with drug
trafficking and put these people behind bars. This is yet another example
of the extent the greedy will go to in order to reap the money that
is proliferated throughout the drug trade.”
United
States Attorney Mauskopf stated “The public can be assured that
those who participate in organized criminal activity will be brought
to justice and held accountable,” “The investigation and
prosecution of organized crime continues to be a priority of this office.” Ms.
Mauskopf thanked the Staten Island District Attorney’s Office
and the Ansonia Police Department for their cooperation and assistance
in the investigation.
If
convicted of all charges, MICHAEL SOUZA faces a maximum sentence of
53 years’ imprisonment, ANTHONY SOUZA faces a maximum sentence
of 48 years’ imprisonment, MICHAEL BOLINO and SHELTON WILLIS
face a sentence of mandatory life imprisonment, CHARLES MCCLEAN and
STUART DUGAN face a maximum sentence of life imprisonment, EMANUEL
RUTA and DONATO DICAMILLO face a maximum sentence of 20 years’ imprisonment,
and NICHOLAS BRUNO, CHARLES FUSCO, and MICHAEL ARMINANTE face a maximum
sentence of five years’ imprisonment.
Assistant
United States Attorney John Buretta is in charge of the prosecution.
The
Defendants:
MICHAEL
ANGELO SOUZA
dob: 7/2/68
ANTHONY
SOUZA
dob: 12/28/64
MICHAEL
BOLINO
dob: 9/15/60
NICHOLAS
BRUNO
dob: 12/27/75
SHELTON
WILLIS
dob: 12/15/71
EMANUEL
RUTA
dob: 11/08/65
CHARLES
FUSCO
dob: 8/24/74
DONATO
DICAMILLO
dob: 11/25/68
CHARLES
MCCLEAN
dob: 6/27/73
MICHAEL
ARMINANTE
dob: 3/23/73
LULZIM
KUPA
dob: 8/25/76 |