Two Charged with Meldish Hit, Plus Shooting Bonanno Mobster

UPDATED: Two men arrested in May 2015 have been formally charged with carrying out one of New York's last confirmed gangland hits in nearly four years -- plus the shooting of another Mafia member in New York.

Christopher Londonio, 43, and Terrance Caldwell, 58, were indicted last week on charges related to the 2013 murder of Luchese associate Michael Meldish.

Meldish was shot in the head in a gangland hit in 2013.
Scene of 2013 gangland hit: Michael Meldish was the victim.

In addition, Caldwell has been charged with the attempted murder of a Bonanno crime family member also in 2013. The shooting that wounded the mobster occurred near the intersection of First Avenue and 111th Street in Manhattan.

The Bonanno mobster's name was withheld. However, based on news reports (shoutout to D-C4 in the comments) it seems Enzo "The Baker" Stagno is the Bonanno mobster in question.

We wrote about the shooting when it occurred. 




Stagno "survived an attempted hit on an East Harlem street that cops suspect(ed) was ordered by rival wiseguys," the New York Post reported in June 2013.

He "was struck in the chest" while sitting in a parked SUV talking on his cell phone, the Post reported, noting that "investigators suspect it was an assassination attempt ordered by the Luchese crime family," based on sources. Gangland News refuted the notion that the attempted hit on Stango was part of a larger gangland war between the Bonanno and Luchese crime families.

Stango, who reportedly told the police of his status as a made member of the Bonanno crime family, was treated at St. Luke’s Hospital and then questioned at the 23rd Precinct, the Post reported.


The indictment was unsealed last week. A pre-trial conference for both men has been scheduled for tomorrow, Feb. 15.

"Hollywood and popular fiction almost romanticize the mob, so much so the general public may not know it exists in real life anymore," said FBI assistant director-in-charge William Sweeney, Jr. "However, the crimes members are accused of taking part in are violent and all too real for their victims. The men charged in this case allegedly committed murder, robbery, dealing illegal drugs and extortion to only name a few."

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said: “The mob continues to kill and maim in the name of La Cosa Nostra, and as alleged, Christopher Londonio and Terrance Caldwell did just that. In a misguided show of allegiance to this violent way of life, Londonio and Caldwell allegedly murdered Michael Meldish and attempted to kill a Bonanno Family soldier.

Christopher Londonio, 43.
NYPD Commissioner James P. O’Neill said: “This is further proof that the mob’s rackets, schemes, and violence are persistent. As alleged, the defendants engaged in ruthless violence, including the murder of Michael Meldish in the Bronx and the attempted murder of a Bonanno soldier in Manhattan both in 2013. Our thanks to the thorough work of NYPD detectives, FBI agents, and prosecutors in the Southern District that led to today’s indictment.”

According to the allegations in the indictment, filed in White Plains federal court on February 8, 2017: 
From in or about 2011 up to and including in or about 2017, LONDONIO and CALDWELL, along with other members and associates of La Cosa Nostra, committed a wide range of crimes, including murder, attempted murder, assault, robbery, extortion, gambling, and narcotics trafficking. In particular, and as charged in the Indictment, on May 29, 2013, CALDWELL attempted to murder a Bonanno Soldier in the vicinity of First Avenue and 111th Street, in Manhattan. Separately, and as also charged in the Indictment, on November 15, 2013, LONDONIO and CALDWELL together murdered Michael Meldish in the vicinity of Baisley Avenue and Ellsworth Avenue in the Bronx.

Meldish was slain with a bullet to the head. The killing had all the signs of a gangland hit, complete with the victim slumped over in the driver's seat of his rusty Lincoln LS in Throgs Neck on Ellsworth Ave.

Meldish, whose brother is serving 25 to life in prison, was a notorious mob shooter who law enforcement believes killed more than 10 people in a decades-long criminal career during which he helmed the notorious Purple Gang of New York.

Joseph Meldish, brother of the murdered man, is serving
a long prison sentence for murder.



“Michael was a stone-cold killer,” Joseph Coffey, former commanding officer of the NYPD’s organized crime homicide task force, told the press at the time of the slaying.

Download Christopher Londonio and Terrance Caldwell indictment.pdf

Londonio and Caldwell face three charges that carry life sentences; as well as two additional charges that could earn them the death penalty: murder in aid of racketeering and firearms charges that resulted in the death of another.

Caldwell also faces charges in the attempted murder of the Bonnano crime family soldier in the vicinity of First Avenue and 111th Street, in Manhattan in 2013.



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