Seven members of the Gambino crime family, including the reputed acting boss, Peter Gotti, were convicted on March 17 of racketeering and extortion within the Intl. Longshoremen’s Assn. One of those convicted was Anthony “Sonny” Ciccone. Though prohibited by a 1991 federal civil consent decree barring him from union affairs, Ciccone continued to oversee the Gambinos’ criminal interests in the ILA, including Locals 1 and 1814 on the Brooklyn and Staten Island waterfronts.
According to the June 3 indictment, Ciccone acted as a go-between with the Gambino and Genovese crime families by using intimidation to place a Genovese associate on the ILA’s Exec. Council, with the ultimate goal of installing him in the ILA presidency in an election closed to the members. Ciccone was also accused of intimidating trustees of the ILA’s health plan into awarding a contract to GPP/VIP, a firm owned by his friend, Vincent Nasso. In exchange for the contract, Nasso kicked back $400,000 to the two families. Ciccone also infiltrated Locals 1 and 1814, and used threats to control the management of the Locals, and the placement of officers and members in particular jobs.
In addition to these convictions, Ciccone and Primo Cassarino were convicted of extorting a well-known movie star and director, Steven Seagal, into including Gambino member Julius Nasso in his next project, and paying $150,000 to a Gambino associate for every film he made.
In all, Ciccone was convicted of racketeering, racketeering conspiracy, extortion, wire fraud, money laundering conspiracy and money laundering. Besides Peter Gotti and Ciccone, also convicted were: Richard Gotti, Cassarino, Richard Bondi and Jerome Bracanto. [Newsday 3/18/03]
