Cosa Nostra News

A recent Appellate Court ruling granting a requested delay has cleared the path for a new trial for alleged Luchese underboss Steven L. Crea, acting boss Matthew (Matty) Madonna, soldier Christopher Londonio, and associate Terrence Caldwell, who were convicted and sentenced to life in prison for a gangland hit in the Bronx in 2013. Reputed mob associate Meldish was shot dead in the Bronx in 2013. Lawyers for Crea, Madonna, Londonio, and Caldwell filed the joint motion last month to request a delay because, the lawyers say, they found new evidence containing Brady, Giglio, or Rule 16 material—which has to do with the disclosure of exculpatory and impeachment evidence—which they will use in a motion seeking a new trial. The Rule 33 motion was to be filed in U.S. District Court in White Plains, the same courthouse where Crea, Madonna, Londonio, and Caldwell stood trial in 2019 for the murder of alleged Luchese associate Michael Meldish . Crea and his three co-defendants were convicted on ...

Former acting Luchese boss Matthew (Matty) Madonna, 84; soldier Christopher Londonio, 45; and associate Terrence Caldwell, 61, were sentenced to life in prison on Monday, July 27, following their 2019 jury conviction for the Bronx murder of Michael Meldish, among other crimes. Cops examine car in which Michael Meldish was killed in the Bronx in 2013. Audrey Strauss, the Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced the sentences, which were imposed by U.S. District Judge Cathy Seibel, as per  a media release . Steven L. Crea, the Underboss of the Luchese Family, who also faces a life sentence, will be sentenced at a later date. According to Gang Land News, he will be sentenced next week . As per Gang Land the reason for the delay is that, at the time of the hearing, which was conducted remotely due to COVID-19 precautions, "no court appearance slots were available for inmates at the Metropolitan Detention Center," where Crea is b...

After a six-week jury trial, Matthew Madonna, Steven L. Crea, Christopher Londonio, and Terence Caldwell were convicted Friday of murder, conspiracy to commit racketeering, and other felonies. Fifteen other defendants previously pled guilty to related charges. U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said: “The violent and disturbing acts of these four organized crime figures included the brutal murder of associate Michael Meldish . Fittingly, all four defendants have been found guilty of their heinous acts of fraud, extortion, and murder on the six-year anniversary of Meldish’s death. Thanks to the outstanding investigative work of the FBI and NYPD, we will continue our commitment to making organized crime a thing of a bygone era.” According to the evidence presented at trial, and other court documents : Until his arrest in this case, Madonna was the Acting Boss of the Luchese Family of La Cosa Nostra , one of the “Five Families” that constitute the Mafia in the New York City a...

They were brothers who dedicated themselves to a criminal lifestyle invented by Sicilian bandits possibly in the 19th century. Michael Londonio, aka Chunk.Died at 29. (The Sicilian Mafia has been around at least since the 1870s, when a Sicilian landlord documented how a group of local Mafia members used threats and harassment against him to the extent that they drove him off the island. Cosa Nostra seemingly popped up in the aftermath of Italy’s 1860-61 reunification.*) The Londonio brothers, Michael and Christopher, will likely be relegated to little more than a footnote, if that, to the story of the American Mafia, and perhaps deservedly so. Still, each brother certainly made a mark, and each in his own way. And we noticed ... When was the last time a wiseguy attempted to bust out of prison? Make a last stand against a team of armed cops serving a no-knock? In September 2017, Christopher Londonio, the reputed Luchese soldier who will be one of five on t...

Luchese associate Brian Vaughan allegedly was a drug runner for the mob, but exactly when he filled that role should be a larger topic of discussion. Anthony  DiPietro Esquire The following is based ENTIRELY on information obtained and exclusively reported by Jerry Capeci on Gang Land News on November 15, 2018. Vaughan was a longtime associate who reportedly served as an enforcer and former bodyguard/driver for Luchese street boss Matthew (Matty) Madonna. We're betting that not many (unless you are a Gang Land subscriber) understand that after the Bronx 2013 murder of Purple Gang leader Michael Meldish, Vaughan and Matty Madonna both saw their status among their Luchese cohorts drop " dangerously low ," according to Gang Land. Vaughan, who is "permanently disabled" from a construction accident, faces more than seven years in prison, even though he steadfastly declined to deal narcotics that both an uncover FBI agent and mentally handicapped snit...

One up and died. Another was apparently cut loose. At least two face more than a decade in prison, and two others just under that..... Matty Madonna They were among the 19 Luchese made members and associates who were nabbed in a 2017 sweep for murder, attempted-murder, extortion, and gun- and drug-trafficking charges , and other offenses. (Technically, four were already behind bars; this was a superseding indictment.) Five go on trial in March for the murder of former Purple Gang boss Michael Meldish, among other crimes. The indictment, a so-called "Christmas Tree RICO," included mobsters allegedly involved in different crimes, some overlapping, all of which are packaged together for procedural purposes. In many Christmas Tree RICO cases, most of the indicted belong to the same crime family (in this case, obviously they do), but they don’t face the same charges. Following is a list of the names of the indicted, age at the time of the indictment, their...

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. 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.

Updated : A superseding indictment charged 19 members and associates of the Luchese crime family with racketeering, murder, narcotics and firearms offenses. As  noted previousl y, 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. Story here . A Bonanno associate also was targeted. From left, Crea Sr., Madonna and Truscello Fifteen Luchese mobsters were arrested yesterday; four others were in prison on other crimes. 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.

UPDATED : Federal prosecutors in Manhattan say they've got the goods to nail Luchese crime family leaders for racketeering crimes as well as the murder of former Purple Gang boss Michael Meldish. 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. Matty Madonna is in prison. Based on evidence, including DNA and surveillance footage, alleged getaway driver Christopher Londonio, who'd tailed Meldish's dark blue Lincoln Town Car to the scene of the hit, in the Bronx's Throgs Neck section on Ellsworth Ave., then drove off with Caldwell in his Hyundai. Today, Gang Land News  reported , as per sources: Prosecutors will ask the grand jury to indict (Matthew "Matty") Madonna, 81, for ordering the Meldish rubout that defendants Christopher Londonio and Terrence Caldwell allegedly carried out on...

Michael Meldish, 62, was a Luchese associate who once ran the Purple Gang, a violent crew based in Harlem and the Bronx. He was shot in the head in 2013 while he sat behind the wheel of his car. One bullet had been fired into the right side of his head at close range as if the shooter were seated in the front passenger seat. And he likely was sitting beside Meldish as a getaway car tailed them. (Ironically, the front passenger seat is usually referred to as the "death seat" in mob parlance.) Surveillance video allegedly caught gunmen Terence Caldwell. Police found Luchese associate Meldish within a very short timeframe following the shooting. He was bleeding from both ears, and his body was still warm when police arrived on the scene, summoned by a 911 call from a neighbor.

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. 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.