Son and grandson of former Colombo Acting Boss busted with ghost guns on Staten Island
The
son and grandson of a Colombo crime family capo were busted Wednesday
after an NYPD joint task uncovered a staggering cache of weapons and
illegal firearm-making equipment, including ghost guns.
Members
of the NYPD Financial Crimes Task Force executed a warrant at the
Staten Island home of 57-year-old Joseph Orapallo and his son, Frank
Orapallo, 22, at their home on Locust Ave. near Edison St. in New Dorp
around 6 a.m. after an investigation led the division to believe the men
had ghost guns, police sources said.
The
alleged father-and-son crime duo are descendants of Joseph T.
Tomasello, a notorious organized crime boss arrested in 1998. Joseph
Orapallo, opting to distance himself from his late father, uses his
mother’s maiden name.
The
NYPD and federal agents raided the home the Orapallos share with Joseph
Orapallo’s wife, as well as Frank Orapallo’s baby and the mother of his
child.
During
the raid, authorities seized five ghost guns and 3D printing equipment
used to assemble them. Police also found a stash of handguns, silencers,
14 unregistered rifles and hunting guns, as well as large amounts of
ammunition and clips, according to police sources.
Both
Orapallos now face multiple federal weapons charges, including
possession of ghost guns. It is still being investigated if the men are
involved in organized crime, police sources said.
Tomasello’s capture in the ’90s came after his son, Joseph Orapallo, and his sister-in-law unknowingly led FBI agents to his hideout in the Catskills on the night of Orapallo’s wedding, the Daily News reported at the time.
For
six years, Tomasello, a street boss with the Colombo crime family, had
dodged federal agents after a notorious mob war in 1991 and 1992 that
left 10 people dead. Tomasello was accused of participating in five of
those slayings.
But
in 1998, federal agents staked out Joseph Orapallo’s Staten Island
wedding, where they followed his aunt to Tomasello’s hideaway in
Catskill, N.Y., about 25 miles south of Albany, The News previously
reported.
After
days of surveillance, agents spotted Orapallo and his new wife drive up
to the house with Tomasello; the then-66-year-old man was taken into
custody and was hit with racketeering and murder charges.
Tomasello was in federal prison until 2005, records show. He died in 2016.
https://www.nydailynews.com/2025/02/05/son-grandson-of-colombo-family-mob-boss-collared-in-staten-island-ghost-gun-bust/
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