Feds bust Jersey Shore drug ring linked to Philadelphia mafia
The Federal Bureau of Investigation has
broken up a drug pipeline that ran nearly the entire length of the
Garden State Parkway, the culmination of an almost two-year
investigation.
The suspects have ties to La Cosa Nostra - the Mafia - in Philadelphia, Boston and South Jersey, according to court documents.
In
complaints unsealed March 14, federal agents charged 79-year-old Carl
Chianese of Point Pleasant, 49-year-old Michael Gallicchio of Garfield
and 58-year-old Joseph Servidio of Upper Towsnhip with possession with
intent to distribute and conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine,
heroin, fentanyl, tramadol and marijuana, according to the
complaints.Their enterprise also involved four-figure transactions for
stolen cigarettes, according to the complaints.
Servidio
"has been identified as a 'made member' or 'soldier' of the
Philadelphia LCN (La Cosa Nostra)," FBI Special Agent Mark R. Hindle
wrote in an affidavit. Servidio sold opioids, meth, pot and possibly
cocaine, Hindle wrote. Servidio, Gallicchio and Chianese shipped drugs
up and down the state, Hindle wrote.
The FBI built its case on recordings and other information gathered by confidential sources and undercover agents.
On
Feb. 9, 2017, Servidio discussed how difficult it was to beat just such
a case with an informant who was recording him, according to the
complaint.
"Eighty percent of eyewitnesses got the
wrong person," he allegedly told the informant. "The things you can't
beat are the tapes ... with you saying it, that's what you did, you
know."
He "went on to discuss not talking about criminal activity with or around certain people," Hindle wrote.
In
July of that year an informant recorded Servidio explaining that he ran
a legitimate business as a front for criminal proceeds.
"I'm
a criminal, everything I do is criminal, I got to get out of it,"
Servidio allegedly said. "Last year I robbed an armored car to break
even."
Over the course of two years, Chianese,
Gallicchio, Servidio, the informants, undercover agents and others met
frequently - sometimes at homes, sometimes at restaurants and sometimes
at rest stops along the Parkway - swapping cash and drugs and stolen
smokes and occasionally bickering over the quality of the drugs they
were getting, according to the complaints.
The
men discussed drug deals in coded language and frequently switched cell
phones to avoid interdiction, according to the complaints.
At
one meeting in July 2017, Servidio told an informant that he and
Chianese were planning to shoot a Mafia associate "whom (Servidio)
suspected of talking openly and disparagingly about (Servidio's)
criminal activity," according to the complaint.
Servidio's
attorney, Marco A. Laracca of Orange, said "we're in the very beginning
stages of this case and for me to comment on the strengths or
weaknesses of the government's case would be irresponsible."
"My
client maintains his innocence and we intend to defend this case,"
Laracca said. "My client denies any involvement in organized crime."
All
three men are convicted drug runners. Beginning in 2006 Gallicchio
spent seven years in prison for conspiracy to distribute oxycodone.
Chianese was twice convicted for distributing meth, and spent 16 years
in federal prison, getting out at the beginning of 2015. Servidio went
to prison in December 2006 and stayed until April 2011 for selling
cocaine.
Chianese was on supervised release at the time of his arrest on March 14.
Attorneys
for Chianese and Gallicchio were not immediately available for comment
Monday. All three remained in federal custody in Philadelphia Monday,
according to Bureau of Prisons records.
https://www.app.com/story/news/crime/jersey-mayhem/2018/03/19/la-cosa-nostra-drug-arrests/438618002/
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