Cosa Nostra News

Gangland News : "The office of U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara quietly announced this week that it is dismissing charges against the last three defendants in the snake-bitten labor racketeering case that the FBI made against Genovese gangster Carmine (Papa) Smurf Franco and 28 others. All told, prosecutors have dropped charges against 10 of the 29 defendants in the indictment. Throwing in the towel before trial against more than a third of the defendants wasn't the way things were supposed to turn out: When the indictment was announced, the case was hailed by Bharara and New York FBI boss George Venizelos as a major blow against the Mafia's control over the waste hauling industry in New York and New Jersey. Instead, this foray against the mob rivals the losing ways of the luckless Mets.

Fusco is doing a nice job of not letting his trial for the murder of Big Al move along smoothly. Prosecution of a fourth defendant in the 2003 murder of Adolfo "Big Al" Bruno, slowed when the alleged killer fought extradition from his native Italy, is now throwing a wrench into the works again via a dispute over $5,500 in lawyers' fees, reports  masslive.com . "Emilio Fusco, 42, of Longmeadow, appeared in U.S. District Court in Manhattan on Tuesday for a status conference and to introduce a brand-new lawyer to the case after recently firing another one. The outgoing attorney, William I. Aronwald, told the court he intends to hold hostage 15,000 pages of alleged evidence in the case until Fusco pays his bill," the website reports. "But, according to his new lawyer, Richard Lind, Fusco contends he was overbilled by Aronwald and doesn't intend to pay him any more money. The legal standoff that played out in court prompted U.S. District Judge P. Kevi...