Mob suicide snitch's aide charged in payback murder
In a stunning twist to the case of the guilt-ridden mob rat, officials yesterday busted a Mafia hanger-on nicknamed “Lucky” for helping the turncoat wiseguy kill an old enemy before he committed suicide last month.
The FBI and local prosecutors believe José Luis “Lucky” Rivera served as “muscle” and a possible lookout when Nicholas “Nicky Skins” Stefanelli blew away Joker Poker machine peddler Joseph Rossi Sr. on Feb. 24, sources said.
Stefanelli wanted to kill Rossi because he believed the 58-year-old purveyor of illegal video games was responsible for his 2010 arrest on drug charges, which forced him to turn stool pigeon and wear a wire for two years, law-enforcement sources told The Post.
Two days after Rossi was shot dead in his Bloomfield, NJ, business, Stefanelli apparently decided to whack himself.
On Feb. 26, he was found dead in the Renaissance Meadowlands Hotel in Rutherford, NJ.
Nicky Skins’ death came shortly before federal prosecutors were to begin prepping him to testify against his mob cohorts, including the bosses of Philadelphia and New England.
Many of those prosecutions are now in jeopardy because, without Stefanelli’s testimony, it is unclear whether his undercover recordings can be introduced as evidence.
Rivera, 48, of Plainfield, NJ, was slapped yesterday with murder, conspiracy and other charges and ordered held on $1 million bail.
Sources said investigators do not believe that he actually shot Rossi but do believe he tagged along with Stefanelli as a backup.
It was not clear whether Rivera was a Mafia associate or just a local thug Stefanelli recruited for the slaying.
Rossi allegedly ran afoul of Stefanelli after he was busted in 2009 on tax charges and charges related to the illegal video-gamemachine trade.
Sources said that’s when he told authorities that he bought drugs from Stefanelli and his son, Nicholas Jr.
In 2010, father and son were busted and the elder Stefanelli, a made member of the Gambino crime family, agreed to wear a wire during meetings with high-level gangsters.
The FBI and local prosecutors believe José Luis “Lucky” Rivera served as “muscle” and a possible lookout when Nicholas “Nicky Skins” Stefanelli blew away Joker Poker machine peddler Joseph Rossi Sr. on Feb. 24, sources said.
Stefanelli wanted to kill Rossi because he believed the 58-year-old purveyor of illegal video games was responsible for his 2010 arrest on drug charges, which forced him to turn stool pigeon and wear a wire for two years, law-enforcement sources told The Post.
STEFANELLI
On Feb. 26, he was found dead in the Renaissance Meadowlands Hotel in Rutherford, NJ.
Nicky Skins’ death came shortly before federal prosecutors were to begin prepping him to testify against his mob cohorts, including the bosses of Philadelphia and New England.
Many of those prosecutions are now in jeopardy because, without Stefanelli’s testimony, it is unclear whether his undercover recordings can be introduced as evidence.
Rivera, 48, of Plainfield, NJ, was slapped yesterday with murder, conspiracy and other charges and ordered held on $1 million bail.
Sources said investigators do not believe that he actually shot Rossi but do believe he tagged along with Stefanelli as a backup.
It was not clear whether Rivera was a Mafia associate or just a local thug Stefanelli recruited for the slaying.
Rossi allegedly ran afoul of Stefanelli after he was busted in 2009 on tax charges and charges related to the illegal video-gamemachine trade.
Sources said that’s when he told authorities that he bought drugs from Stefanelli and his son, Nicholas Jr.
In 2010, father and son were busted and the elder Stefanelli, a made member of the Gambino crime family, agreed to wear a wire during meetings with high-level gangsters.
0 comments:
Post a Comment