Stolen cars crushed for cash at scrapyard on Gotti family land
An army of crooked tow-truck drivers stole nearly two dozen old vehicles parked on city streets and sold the clunkers as scrap metal to a Queens junkyard that pays rent to reality star Victoria Gotti, authorities said yesterday.
The drivers chose heavy cars made of a lot of metal and dumped them off on A&J Scrap Metal Processing in Jamaica for $200 to $400 apiece -- proving "ownership" by merely presenting a DMV form filled out with the make, model and VIN number.
The vehicles were flattened by a crushing machine.
A&J sits on a lot co-owned by Gotti, the daughter of the late "Dapper Don" John Gotti, records show. She took it over last April from ex-husband Carmine Agnello for just $10 using the company name "Three Sons Real Estate."
Three Sons' address is listed on the deed as Victoria Gotti's home in Old Westbury, LI, and she signed the papers as a "member" of the corporation.
The scrap yard has a Web site that offers "instant cash for all vehicles and scrap" and promises to pay "on the spot!"
The perpetrators allegedly used a loophole in state DMV rules that allows cars "at least eight model years old" to be scrapped without valid titles as long as they're worth $1,250 or less.
A manager at A&J Scrap Metal said he had no idea whether any of the cars had been stolen.
"They bring in cars," said the man, who didn't give his name. "To the best of my knowledge the cars aren't stolen . . . If the cars are stolen, that's on them."
The 21 boosted rides included a 1983 Oldsmobile Delta 88, a 1989 Chevy Caprice and several 1998 Ford Econoline vans.
The five perps sold the cars between May and October of last year, said Queens DA Richard Brown. The suspects were identified as Francisco Adames, 40, of Freeport, LI; LePaul Gammons, of upstate Catskill, and Lawrence Bellino, 37, Jonathan Colon, 35, and Michael Olivio, 42, all of Queens.
They're all charged with possession of stolen property and other crimes. Gammons is also charged with grand larceny.
Adames, Bellino and Colon were released without bail at their arraignments. Bail for Gammons and Olivio was set at $2,500.
Gammons made news last year when he was shot in the buttocks by Leopold McLean, a former member of Mayor Bloomberg's security detail, in a dispute over McLean's girlfriend. McLean was charged with attempted murder. His case is pending.
A sixth man, Jeffrey Sierra, owner of Vision Towing, was charged with falsifying business records, said cops. Sierra's company owns one of the tow trucks used in the scheme.
NYPD Detective Michael Busso cracked the case by poring over DMV records of more than 4,000 vehicles that had been scrapped at the yard, sources said.
Agnello, who owned the A&J property for 15 years, was in the scrap-metal business before serving eight years in prison on racketeering charges. He now lives in Ohio.
Gotti and Agnello did not return calls seeking comment.
The drivers chose heavy cars made of a lot of metal and dumped them off on A&J Scrap Metal Processing in Jamaica for $200 to $400 apiece -- proving "ownership" by merely presenting a DMV form filled out with the make, model and VIN number.
The vehicles were flattened by a crushing machine.
A&J sits on a lot co-owned by Gotti, the daughter of the late "Dapper Don" John Gotti, records show. She took it over last April from ex-husband Carmine Agnello for just $10 using the company name "Three Sons Real Estate."
A Queens junkyard owned by Victoria Gotti (above) is allegedly buying and crushing stolen cars for scrap metal.
The scrap yard has a Web site that offers "instant cash for all vehicles and scrap" and promises to pay "on the spot!"
The perpetrators allegedly used a loophole in state DMV rules that allows cars "at least eight model years old" to be scrapped without valid titles as long as they're worth $1,250 or less.
A manager at A&J Scrap Metal said he had no idea whether any of the cars had been stolen.
"They bring in cars," said the man, who didn't give his name. "To the best of my knowledge the cars aren't stolen . . . If the cars are stolen, that's on them."
The 21 boosted rides included a 1983 Oldsmobile Delta 88, a 1989 Chevy Caprice and several 1998 Ford Econoline vans.
The five perps sold the cars between May and October of last year, said Queens DA Richard Brown. The suspects were identified as Francisco Adames, 40, of Freeport, LI; LePaul Gammons, of upstate Catskill, and Lawrence Bellino, 37, Jonathan Colon, 35, and Michael Olivio, 42, all of Queens.
They're all charged with possession of stolen property and other crimes. Gammons is also charged with grand larceny.
Adames, Bellino and Colon were released without bail at their arraignments. Bail for Gammons and Olivio was set at $2,500.
Gammons made news last year when he was shot in the buttocks by Leopold McLean, a former member of Mayor Bloomberg's security detail, in a dispute over McLean's girlfriend. McLean was charged with attempted murder. His case is pending.
A sixth man, Jeffrey Sierra, owner of Vision Towing, was charged with falsifying business records, said cops. Sierra's company owns one of the tow trucks used in the scheme.
NYPD Detective Michael Busso cracked the case by poring over DMV records of more than 4,000 vehicles that had been scrapped at the yard, sources said.
Agnello, who owned the A&J property for 15 years, was in the scrap-metal business before serving eight years in prison on racketeering charges. He now lives in Ohio.
Gotti and Agnello did not return calls seeking comment.
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