Seven Members Of Organized Crime FamiliesPlead Guilty To Racketeering And Extortion

newyork.fbi.gov, Apr 30, 2007

Roslynn R. Mauskopf, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, announced the guilty pleas of Colombo Family captain JOSEPH BAUDANZA, his brother, Colombo Family soldier CARMINE BAUDANZA, Colombo Family soldier CRAIG MARINO, Colombo Family associates CRAIG LESZCZAK, ROBERT PODLOG, and ARTHUR GUNNING, and Luchese Family soldier JOHN BAUDANZA, the nephew of JOSEPH BAUDANZA. The guilty pleas today of CARMINE BAUDANZA and JOHN BAUDANZA before United States Magistrate Judge Cheryl L. Pollak represent the sixth and seventh defendants to plead guilty in this district within the past week.

On March 23, 2006, an indictment was unsealed charging the defendants with wide-ranging criminal activity, including a racketeering conspiracy involving securities fraud, extortion, witness tampering, kidnaping, and money laundering. All but GUNNING, who pled guilty to extortion, have pleaded guilty to a Colombo family racketeering conspiracy that used extortion to make money from stock manipulation at several brokerage firms. When sentenced, each defendant faces a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years' incarceration and a $250,000 fine. Read more at newyork.fbi.gov.