{"id":211068,"date":"2022-04-27T16:45:05","date_gmt":"2022-04-27T23:45:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=211068"},"modified":"2022-04-27T18:00:14","modified_gmt":"2022-04-28T01:00:14","slug":"six-alleged-genovese-mafiosi-charged-in-new-york-with-illegal-gambling-extortion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/six-alleged-genovese-mafiosi-charged-in-new-york-with-illegal-gambling-extortion\/","title":{"rendered":"Six Alleged Genovese Family Members Charged with Gambling, Extortion"},"content":{"rendered":"

Federal prosecutors on Tuesday charged six alleged Genovese crime family<\/a> mobsters with racketeering conspiracy involving illegal gambling and extortion.<\/p>\n

\"Genovese\"
Ralph Balsamo, pictured in 2006, is a caporegime for the Genovese crime family, according to federal prosecutors (Image: New York Post)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Among them were two alleged \u201ccapos\u201d of the notorious New York Mafia<\/a> family, Nicholas Calisi and Ralph \u201cthe Undertaker\u201d Balsamo. Michael Messina and John Campanella were allegedly “soldiers,” while Michael Poli and Thomas Poli were allegedly “associates” of the outfit.<\/p>\n

They are accused of \u201cterrorizing New York communities with violence and illegal businesses\u201d via underground gambling and loan sharking operations. The moves saddled victims with debt that they could not repay, according to federal prosecutors.<\/p>\n

In 2007, Balsamo was sentenced to eight years in prison for narcotics trafficking, firearms trafficking, extortion, and union-related fraud.<\/p>\n

Mafia Hierarchy <\/strong><\/h2>\n

The mobsters generated revenues through a campaign of financing and collecting betting credit through extortion. They threatened to cause economic and physical harm to debtors, while identifying themselves to their victims as \u201cthe Mafia,\u201d prosecutors said.<\/p>\n

Internally, they engaged in violent power struggles to protect their operations from “persons who engaged in activity that jeopardized the power and criminal activities of the enterprise, the power of the leaders of the enterprise, and the status of its members and the flow of criminal proceeds to members and associates of the enterprise.”<\/p>\n

The Genovese are one of five alleged New York Mafia families, along with the Bonanno, Colombo, Gambino, and Luchese.<\/p>\n

Each family is organized into groups known as \u201ccrews,\u201d which contain their own hierarchies. Each crew is headed by a \u201ccaporegime,\u201d or \u201ccapo,\u201d who presides over \u201cmade members,\u201d also known as \u201csoldiers.\u201d\u00a0 Below them are \u201cassociates,\u201d trusted individuals who aid the crew in its criminal operations.<\/p>\n

\n

Many associates are aspiring soldiers. Typically, they must demonstrate the ability to generate income or commit acts of violence for the family in order to become made men.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Capos supervise the activities of their crews, resolve disputes, and provide protection to their soldiers, in return for a cut of their earnings. They report to the underboss, who himself reports to the boss of the family.<\/p>\n

Big Boss<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The current Genovese boss is reputed to be Liborio Salvatore Bellomo. In the mid-1990s, he was indicted by the US government for murder and extortion. He beat the murder rap and served ten years in a federal prison on the latter charge. He was released in 2008.<\/p>\n

All of the six suspects face a maximum of 20 years in prison if convicted. Balsamo\u2019s attorney, Gerald McMahon, told The New York Post<\/em> that \u201cThe government can\u2019t seem to go three months without rounding up some Italians. Today just happened to be Ralph Balsamo\u2019s turn.\u201d<\/p>\n

The government had a different take.<\/p>\n

“From extortion to illegal gambling, the Mafia continues to find ways to prey on others to fill its coffers,” US Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement. “Our office and our law enforcement partners remain committed to putting organized crime out of business.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Federal prosecutors on Tuesday charged six alleged Genovese crime family mobsters with racketeering conspiracy involving illegal gambling and extortion. Among them were two alleged \u201ccapos\u201d of the notorious New York Mafia family, Nicholas Calisi and Ralph \u201cthe Undertaker\u201d Balsamo. Michael Messina and John Campanella were allegedly “soldiers,” while Michael Poli and Thomas Poli were allegedly […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":211069,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1074],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nSix Genovese Mafiosi Charged in New York with Illegal Gambling, Extortion<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Genovese Mafia hoods, including capos Nicholas Calisi and Ralph Balsamo have been charged with illegal gambling and extortion.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/six-alleged-genovese-mafiosi-charged-in-new-york-with-illegal-gambling-extortion\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" 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