FOILED: Feds Uncover Reputed Luchese Killer's Plan to Escape Jail
Alleged Luchese crime family soldier Christopher Londonio, who's awaiting trial for the Michael Meldish murder, among other charges, crafted an escape plan to bust himself out of Brooklyn's Metropolitan Detention Center, federal prosecutors revealed.
The plan involved dental floss, a priest, and lots of sheets and blankets.
Londonio, 43, planned to use the dental floss as a cutting tool. Meanwhile, he'd solicited a priest to smuggle a blade into the facility and had begun to secretly amass sheets and blankets to use as a rope, according to prosecutors.
Other detainees reported Londonio's alleged plan to authorities.
Londonio was awaiting trial in federal court.
“Already detained on racketeering and murder charges, Luchese soldier Christopher Londonio, allegedly hatched a scheme to break out of federal prison with a hacksaw blade and a rope made from tied-up bed sheets," Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Joon Kim said in a statement.
"Although sounding like a script for a made-for-TV movie, the charges allege yet another serious federal crime against Londonio. As alleged, with this latest chapter in his years-long life in the mob, Londonio adds to the string of crimes he must now face, in a criminal justice system he was desperately seeking to escape.”
The attempted escape charge carries a maximum prison sentence of five years.
Londonio and Terrance Caldwell, 58, allegedly shot Michael Meldish in the head while he sat in his car in the Bronx.
Earlier this year a superseding indictment charged 19 members and associates of the Luchese crime family with racketeering, murder, narcotics and firearms offenses.
As noted this past May, the indictment's centerpiece is the murder of former Purple Gang boss Michael Meldish. However, three additional sanctioned hits (all of which were unsuccessful) are detailed in the indictment, which includes the odd (as in weird) shooting of one Bonanno member known as The Baker. A Bonanno associate also was targeted.
The Luchese crime family's street boss, underboss and consiglieri were among the arrested. The indictment confirms that the official boss serves a life sentence presently.
Meldish, 62, was shot to death in 2013 while seated in his car. Alleged shooter Terence Caldwell was sitting in the passenger seat when he fired one bullet into the right side of Meldish's head at close range. Londonio, driving a getaway car, then pulled up.
The indictment builds on charges previously filed against Londonio and Luchese associate Caldwell, who were charged in February 2017 with racketeering and the murder of Meldish in the Bronx on November 15, 2013.
The indictment charges Matthew (Matty) Madonna, the alleged street boss of the Luchese Family, Steven (Stevie Wonder) Crea Sr., the alleged underboss, and Steven Crea Jr., Londonio’s alleged captain, with ordering the murder of Meldish.
Meldish was killed for disrespecting Madonna.
New:
Londonio has been held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn since February, and concocted his escape plan with another inmate this past June. It was foiled this past Wednesday.
Of plans in general, William F. Sweeney Jr., an assistant FBI director said they defy “comprehension. The attempts didn’t work.”
Prosecutors said that while attempting to carry out his fantastical plan, Londonio made a common mistake: He didn't think another inmate would snitch him out. He was wrong.
The New York Times reported that Londonio’s tactics "are actually rather staid," noting how inmates in Alabama "perhaps more cleverly, used peanut butter to aid their jail break.) The use of blankets as rope is commonplace, and while it remains unclear whether flossing improves your health, the sturdy string has for years proved useful for many other activities, including prison escapes."
In 2000, The Associated Press reported that an inmate in Texas used dental floss to painstakingly cut his way through metal bars and out of his cell. About six years earlier, a criminal in South Carolina escaped from jail by climbing a rope made of dental floss, The A.P. said. A man in an Illinois jail once used floss to stitch together a dummy he left in his bed, the wire service said.
The Times also reported how:
Jimmy Causey, who escaped from a South Carolina prison for a second time this summer, used a dummy to fool prison officials both times. But Mr. Causey had a high-tech tool at his disposal. A drone.
The Times noted that "Information about who represents Mr. Londonio could not be obtained."
 |
| Londonio didn't feel like waiting around. |
The plan involved dental floss, a priest, and lots of sheets and blankets.
Londonio, 43, planned to use the dental floss as a cutting tool. Meanwhile, he'd solicited a priest to smuggle a blade into the facility and had begun to secretly amass sheets and blankets to use as a rope, according to prosecutors.
Other detainees reported Londonio's alleged plan to authorities.
Londonio was awaiting trial in federal court.
“Already detained on racketeering and murder charges, Luchese soldier Christopher Londonio, allegedly hatched a scheme to break out of federal prison with a hacksaw blade and a rope made from tied-up bed sheets," Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Joon Kim said in a statement.
"Although sounding like a script for a made-for-TV movie, the charges allege yet another serious federal crime against Londonio. As alleged, with this latest chapter in his years-long life in the mob, Londonio adds to the string of crimes he must now face, in a criminal justice system he was desperately seeking to escape.”
READ Luchese Chief "of Interest" in Meldish Mob Hit
The attempted escape charge carries a maximum prison sentence of five years.
Londonio and Terrance Caldwell, 58, allegedly shot Michael Meldish in the head while he sat in his car in the Bronx.
Earlier this year a superseding indictment charged 19 members and associates of the Luchese crime family with racketeering, murder, narcotics and firearms offenses.
As noted this past May, the indictment's centerpiece is the murder of former Purple Gang boss Michael Meldish. However, three additional sanctioned hits (all of which were unsuccessful) are detailed in the indictment, which includes the odd (as in weird) shooting of one Bonanno member known as The Baker. A Bonanno associate also was targeted.
The Luchese crime family's street boss, underboss and consiglieri were among the arrested. The indictment confirms that the official boss serves a life sentence presently.
 |
| From left, Crea Sr., Madonna and Truscello |
Meldish, 62, was shot to death in 2013 while seated in his car. Alleged shooter Terence Caldwell was sitting in the passenger seat when he fired one bullet into the right side of Meldish's head at close range. Londonio, driving a getaway car, then pulled up.
The indictment builds on charges previously filed against Londonio and Luchese associate Caldwell, who were charged in February 2017 with racketeering and the murder of Meldish in the Bronx on November 15, 2013.
The indictment charges Matthew (Matty) Madonna, the alleged street boss of the Luchese Family, Steven (Stevie Wonder) Crea Sr., the alleged underboss, and Steven Crea Jr., Londonio’s alleged captain, with ordering the murder of Meldish.
Meldish was killed for disrespecting Madonna.
New:
Londonio has been held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn since February, and concocted his escape plan with another inmate this past June. It was foiled this past Wednesday.
Of plans in general, William F. Sweeney Jr., an assistant FBI director said they defy “comprehension. The attempts didn’t work.”
Prosecutors said that while attempting to carry out his fantastical plan, Londonio made a common mistake: He didn't think another inmate would snitch him out. He was wrong.
The New York Times reported that Londonio’s tactics "are actually rather staid," noting how inmates in Alabama "perhaps more cleverly, used peanut butter to aid their jail break.) The use of blankets as rope is commonplace, and while it remains unclear whether flossing improves your health, the sturdy string has for years proved useful for many other activities, including prison escapes."
In 2000, The Associated Press reported that an inmate in Texas used dental floss to painstakingly cut his way through metal bars and out of his cell. About six years earlier, a criminal in South Carolina escaped from jail by climbing a rope made of dental floss, The A.P. said. A man in an Illinois jail once used floss to stitch together a dummy he left in his bed, the wire service said.
The Times also reported how:
Jimmy Causey, who escaped from a South Carolina prison for a second time this summer, used a dummy to fool prison officials both times. But Mr. Causey had a high-tech tool at his disposal. A drone.
The Times noted that "Information about who represents Mr. Londonio could not be obtained."
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