Dozens arrested in mob raids in New York, Italy

The coordinated operation -- which was three years in the making -- targeted at least 30 suspects in Sicily and 62 in New York, law enforcement officials said.

By Thursday night, most of those in New York and New Jersey had been taken into custody. They included members of the Gambino family and other reputed organized-crime figures, as well as union and construction industry officials.

At a news conference in Brooklyn, state Atty. Gen. Andrew M. Cuomo said the arrests served as a message that "organized crime still exits. . . . We like to think it's a vestige of the past. It's not. It is as unrelenting as weeds that continue to sprout in the cracks of society."

Most of the alleged U.S. crimes occurred when the Gambino family was run by Paul Castellano, who was murdered in 1985. Recent crimes outlined in the indictment included embezzlement of union assets, credit fraud, and extortion from cement and truck companies -- as well as mob shakedowns at construction sites at the Staten Island ferry and a NASCAR racetrack.

Federal prosecutors said they built their 80-count indictment using hundreds of hours of conversations taped by an informant.

Those arrested Thursday included the reputed acting boss of the Gambino family, John "Jackie Nose" D'Amico. Also taken into custody were alleged family underboss Domenico "The Greaseball" Cefalu and Gambino consigliere Joseph "Jo Jo" Corozzo.

Each was charged with racketeering conspiracy and multiple crimes of violence and could face up to two decades in prison.

Others charged in the U.S. indictment were three reputed Gambino family captains, three acting captains, 16 soldiers and numerous associates.

Charles Carneglia, said to be a family soldier, was charged with five murders -- including that of Albert Gelb, a state court officer gunned down in 1976, four days before he was set to testify against Carneglia.

"Organized crime in New York is not dead," said Mark J. Mershon, head of the FBI office here. "As a consequence of acts charged in the indictment, however, seven people are dead. It's also a fallacy that mob murder victims are just other mobsters. Three of the murder victims had no affiliation with organized crime."