Federal judge releases one and holds another Colombo mobster citing safety risk to Staten Island residents
A
federal judge released one tough-talking Colombo crime family associate
from custody Tuesday, but decided his seasoned wiseguy co-defendant was
too dangerous to let loose.
Daniel
Capaldo, 54, an alleged Colombo gangster, was held in custody at his
Brooklyn federal court bail hearing, with U.S. Magistrate Judge Peggy
Kuo citing his criminal record in deciding his release would pose a
danger to Staten Island residents.
“It’s
almost as if Mr. Capaldo can’t help but get himself in trouble — even
if he’s being watched by the government,” she said. “So I find that I
cannot release him under those circumstances.”
Prosecutors
said career criminal Capaldo, who was sentenced to 14 years in federal
lockup on drug trafficking and tax fraud charges in the late 90s and
another three years for financing and extortion a few years after his
release, used his larger-than-life presence to “intimidate and extort”
victims in loansharking schemes.
“He’s committed crime after crime after crime,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth Geddes.
The
alleged mobster’s younger co-defendant, Anthony Silvestro, 28, was
released on a $500,000 surety bond. Citing the Bail Reform Act and
Silvestro’s clean record, Judge Kuo placed him on home detention with an
ankle monitor, which she ordered him to pay for.
Geddes
said an eager-to-please Silvestro was heard bragging about beatings and
making “a grown man cry” in wiretapped calls, adding that he signed
himself up for violent shakedowns without ever questioning their
purpose.
“If you say you need me, I’m there,” she quoted Silvestro as saying on one call.
Silvestro’s mother, brother, aunt and uncle, who were all present in court Tuesday, co-signed the mammoth bond amount.
“That’s half a million dollars — that’s a lot of money,” the judge warned them.
Capaldo
and Silvestro are two of 20 suspects charged with extortion by violent
means, loansharking, racketeering and other offenses in three sweeping
federal indictments unsealed Oct. 3.
The
investigation started in November 2016 after workers at an MTA bus
depot in New Springville, Staten Island, discovered a GPS tracking
device planted on the oil pan of a city bus.
Prosecutors
connected the device to alleged Colombo captain Joseph Amato — who they
allege was stalking his then-girlfriend — and began wiretapping his
calls.
During
the back-to-back hearings, lawyers for the two men said the government
failed to prove either man engaged in violent or criminal acts.
“Can
you detain someone for talking tough?” Silvestro’s attorney Mathew Mari
said. “Maybe he’s got the wrong friends . . . but I don’t think that’s
enough to convict someone of these crimes.”
Capaldo’s
lawyer, Vincent Romano, said Geddes’ arguments were “cut and pasted”
from a 2011 detention memo filed against Capaldo in the same courthouse.
The lawyer said his client has given the court no reason to believe he
won’t abide by certain conditions under release.
https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/brooklyn/ny-colombo-crime-family-bail-hearing-20191008-vjgbjrg6r5hjnijst3pq6lnoxq-story.html
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