Thomas "Tommy Shots" Gioeli and Dino Saracino convicted of racketeering but cleared of cop killing in mob trial
A former Colombo mob boss and his henchmen were convicted Wednesday of racketeering — but acquitted in the 1997 murder of off-duty cop Ralph Dols.
Thomas "Tommy Shots" Gioeli was found guilty in Brooklyn Federal Court of plotting two gangland murders from the early 1990s, and conspiring to kill members of a rival faction during the Colombo War.
But he and Dino "Little Dino" Saracino beat the rap on all the slayings they were charged with, including the hit on Colombo underboss William "Wild Bill" Cutolo in 1999.
Prosecutors had charged that Gioeli, 59, and Saracino, 40, were part of the team that conspired to pump seven bullets into off-duty NYPD cop Ralph Dols in August 1999.
Dols allegedly was marked for death because he had married Kimberly Kennaugh, the ex-wife of then-Colombo acting boss Joel "Joe Waverly" Cacace, who felt disrespected she was with a cop.
The jury deliberated for five days before returning the split verdict.
The trial was colorful, with Gioeli and Saracino hecking witnesses.
After Saracino’s older turncoat brother Sebastian took the stand and fingered him as a killer, the defendant shouted: “Stop lying!” and “Don’t call me your brother no more!”
The spectators have included a mysterious priest named “Father Peter,” who showed up to support Gioeli semi-anonymously, and Saracino’s mistress.
More than 70 witnesses testified at the six-week trial and reviewed hundreds of exhibits including wedding photos, Gioeli's telephone books and a list of proposed mob inductees that Gioeli typed on his home computer.
"These defendants have lived lives of crime, lives dedicated to the Colombo family and the Mafia's twisted code of conduct...where the say-so of just one man can result in another man's death," Assistant U.S. Attorney James Gatta said in his closing argument.
Based in Farmingdale, L.I., the pot-bellied Gioeli was also charged with carrying out robberies, extortions and burying bodies in a mob graveyard near his modest home.
Prosecutors said Gioeli commanded a crew of shooters that carried out gangland killings for their mob superiors and increased their own status along the way.
Thomas "Tommy Shots" Gioeli was found guilty in Brooklyn Federal Court of plotting two gangland murders from the early 1990s, and conspiring to kill members of a rival faction during the Colombo War.
But he and Dino "Little Dino" Saracino beat the rap on all the slayings they were charged with, including the hit on Colombo underboss William "Wild Bill" Cutolo in 1999.
Prosecutors had charged that Gioeli, 59, and Saracino, 40, were part of the team that conspired to pump seven bullets into off-duty NYPD cop Ralph Dols in August 1999.
Dols allegedly was marked for death because he had married Kimberly Kennaugh, the ex-wife of then-Colombo acting boss Joel "Joe Waverly" Cacace, who felt disrespected she was with a cop.
The jury deliberated for five days before returning the split verdict.
The trial was colorful, with Gioeli and Saracino hecking witnesses.
After Saracino’s older turncoat brother Sebastian took the stand and fingered him as a killer, the defendant shouted: “Stop lying!” and “Don’t call me your brother no more!”
The spectators have included a mysterious priest named “Father Peter,” who showed up to support Gioeli semi-anonymously, and Saracino’s mistress.
More than 70 witnesses testified at the six-week trial and reviewed hundreds of exhibits including wedding photos, Gioeli's telephone books and a list of proposed mob inductees that Gioeli typed on his home computer.
"These defendants have lived lives of crime, lives dedicated to the Colombo family and the Mafia's twisted code of conduct...where the say-so of just one man can result in another man's death," Assistant U.S. Attorney James Gatta said in his closing argument.
Based in Farmingdale, L.I., the pot-bellied Gioeli was also charged with carrying out robberies, extortions and burying bodies in a mob graveyard near his modest home.
Prosecutors said Gioeli commanded a crew of shooters that carried out gangland killings for their mob superiors and increased their own status along the way.
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