Gambino "Underboss" Arrested But Who Is He?
You never would've heard of Frank Palmeri, a Gambino crime family mobster, if he wasn't incorrectly identified as an underboss by Italian officials.
US and Italian law enforcement officers arrested Palmeri, 61, in December 2014 in his Brooklyn apartment as part of a larger crackdown in Italy and Brooklyn.
Two other alleged mobsters were arrested in the US and five in Italy.
When Italian police identified tbe Sicilian-born Palmeri as the underboss of New York City’s Gambino family, the story was given instant global coverage.
Who is Francesco Palmeri? In December 2014, there was no relevant information about a Gambino mobster named Palmeri.
The arrests were said to be related to a Ndrangheta-Gambino ring that law enforcement previously smashed apart.
Gambino crime family consiglieri Bartolomeo "Baboots" Vernace, was this year sentenced to life in prison for the 1981 "Shamrock murders," a double homicide.
Joseph "Jo Jo" Corozzo was consiglieri prior to Vernace; he remains in prison until 2016.
Reports about Palmeri, the "underboss" arrested today, noted that he and those arrested in the coordinated takedown used tactics similar to the ones used by the early-20th century extortion crime ring known as the Black Hand, which blackmailed an Italian businessman for $1.23 million.
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| Francesco Palmeri |
US and Italian law enforcement officers arrested Palmeri, 61, in December 2014 in his Brooklyn apartment as part of a larger crackdown in Italy and Brooklyn.
Two other alleged mobsters were arrested in the US and five in Italy.
When Italian police identified tbe Sicilian-born Palmeri as the underboss of New York City’s Gambino family, the story was given instant global coverage.
Who is Francesco Palmeri? In December 2014, there was no relevant information about a Gambino mobster named Palmeri.
The arrests were said to be related to a Ndrangheta-Gambino ring that law enforcement previously smashed apart.
Gambino crime family consiglieri Bartolomeo "Baboots" Vernace, was this year sentenced to life in prison for the 1981 "Shamrock murders," a double homicide.
Joseph "Jo Jo" Corozzo was consiglieri prior to Vernace; he remains in prison until 2016.
Reports about Palmeri, the "underboss" arrested today, noted that he and those arrested in the coordinated takedown used tactics similar to the ones used by the early-20th century extortion crime ring known as the Black Hand, which blackmailed an Italian businessman for $1.23 million.
Palmeri traveled twice to Italy last year to confront the businessman over a 1980s loan, according to Italian officials.. The businessman had received letters inquiring about payment -- all of which were signed by "friends in Brooklyn."
According to the MailOnline, the loan "likely came from international drug traffickers connected to deceased New York mobster Cesare Bonventre, who was born in the same Sicilian town as Palmeri, Castellammare del Golfo," according to Italian officials.
The MailOnline further noted that the extortion plot "emerged during a separate investigation into a trans-Atlantic drug smuggling and money laundering ring that involved members of the Calabrian 'Ndrangheta mob family and the Gambinos."
The Gambino and Bonanno families have long-established ties to the Sicilian Mafia, but the Calabria-based 'Ndrangheta syndicate in recent years has come to dominate its Sicilian competitors, as well as the Neapolitan Camorra.
The Gambinos are believed by law enforcement to have the strongest ties to Sicily.
Palmeri faces a maximum sentence of 20 years if convicted of criminal conspiracy to commit international extortion as part of the Mafia. He carried out the plot using the others, who were involved throughout.
According to the MailOnline, the loan "likely came from international drug traffickers connected to deceased New York mobster Cesare Bonventre, who was born in the same Sicilian town as Palmeri, Castellammare del Golfo," according to Italian officials.
The MailOnline further noted that the extortion plot "emerged during a separate investigation into a trans-Atlantic drug smuggling and money laundering ring that involved members of the Calabrian 'Ndrangheta mob family and the Gambinos."
The Gambino and Bonanno families have long-established ties to the Sicilian Mafia, but the Calabria-based 'Ndrangheta syndicate in recent years has come to dominate its Sicilian competitors, as well as the Neapolitan Camorra.
The Gambinos are believed by law enforcement to have the strongest ties to Sicily.
Palmeri faces a maximum sentence of 20 years if convicted of criminal conspiracy to commit international extortion as part of the Mafia. He carried out the plot using the others, who were involved throughout.