Pizza Connection Trial

Turncoat witness Tommaso Buscetta (in sunglasses) is led into court at the "Maxi Trial", circa 1986 .

The Pizza Connection Trial was one of the longest criminal jury trials on record in the district of Manhattan. It took place between October 24, 1985 and March 2, 1987

Scope of the trial

The trial centered around a Mafia plot to distribute heroin and launder the proceeds using a number of independently owned pizza parlors as fronts. The lead store in the scheme was "Al Dentes" in Forest Hills, Queens^{[citation needed]}, which remains open today, albeit under new ownership. It is estimated that $1.6 billion worth of illegal drugs was brought into the U.S. between 1975 and 1984^{[citation needed]}, when a number of the key drug traffickers were arrested in a Palermo airport trying to smuggle in huge amounts of cash. This resulted in a major crackdown primarily involving the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the New York City Police Department, with co-operation from Italian police.^{[citation needed]}

Defendants

There were originally 32 mafia members and associates who were indicted in the case. Approximately 24 of the defendants were residing in America and presumed available for immediate prosecution. Out of those 24, only 22 defendants eventually stood trial - believed to be just a fraction of the number of Mafiosi involved in the scheme - all Sicilian born, and many of whom could not speak English. Approximately 8 other defendants were sought for arrest outside of America, but were never placed on trial in the United States. Prior to the start of the trial, one defendant was murdered, one died of natural causes and another was murdered during the trial. Each defendant had his own attorney for the historic trial, which made the courtroom especially crowded. Sicilian Mafia turncoat Tommaso Buscetta testified at the trial against his former criminal associates; he had not been part of the Pizza Connection scheme himself, but he had helped establish the Sicilians' presence in the U.S. drug trade in the early 1970s and had been a close friend of many of the defendants.

Witnesses

Another key witness was Salvatore Contorno, a Sicilian mafioso who became a state witness following the example of Buscetta. He agreed to testify in return for entry in the United States’ Witness Protection Program after having been the target of an attempted murder by the Corleonesi and losing family members to the same. He gave the evidence that directly linked the defendants to heroin trafficking. On the witness stand, he told how in the spring of 1980 he was present at a meeting in the iron factory of Leonardo Greco in Bagheria, Sicily. Among those present were five of the defendants at the trial: Salvatore Greco, Giuseppe Ganci, Gaetano Mazzara, Salvatore Catalano, and Francesco Castronovo. Contorno watched as the men, "took out two plastic garbage bags and extracted packages of white powder in clear plastic envelopes, each bearing different tiny scissor cuts or pen or pencil marks to identify the individual owner. They poured samples of the powder into a bottle heating on a hot plate." These same marked samples were intercepted by the Drug Enforcement Administration as a seizure of 40 kilograms of 85 percent pure heroin which was "$8 million worth at Mafia importer’s prices and at least $80 million worth at street prices."

FBI Special Agent Joseph Pistone, better known by his undercover alias "Donnie Brasco" was the initial source for information regarding the "Pizza Connection" (leaked to him in casual conversations by Bonanno family mafiosi Anthony Mirra and Benjamin Ruggiero), testified in the trial as to the command and control structure of the Mafia, in order to show that the higher-ups were criminally liable for the doings of their underlings.

Verdict

The case proved especially difficult for the jurors, who were not allowed to take notes and were often asked to leave the court at important times, and for defendants, many of whom could not understand English.

The case was meant to strike a definitive blow to the drug trade in the U.S. and for this reason the costs and the sheer scale of the trial were allowed to escalate. The case ended up costing $50 million. The prosecution case alone took a year to present. Ultimately, however, despite most of the defendants being found guilty, the trial had little impact on the drug problem in the U.S.

Consequences

Gaetano Badalamenti, a former Mafia boss from Palermo, Sicily, was one of those convicted. He was given a 45-year sentence. He would eventually die of heart failure at the age of 80 at the Devens Federal Medical center located in Ayer, Massachusetts on April 29, 2004.

Domenico Lo Galbo, another of the bosses, convicted in absentia and sentenced to 18 years, died on 30 December 2005 in his bed in Bagheria (near Palermo). Relatives called the police to denounce the death, pretending he had returned from the United States to Sicily a few days before in order to die in his bed.

The lead prosecutor was future FBI Director Louis Freeh. He was responsible for the novel use of actors who read and acted out the English translations of the transcribed dialogue between the defendants.

Rudy Giuliani, United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, who would later become Mayor of New York and modern Republican U.S. presidential candidate, also played a key role in the prosecution case.

The defendants

The United States of America vs Badalamenti et al.

• Pietro Alfano ("Peter" or "The Nephew"), Oregon, Illinois. Sicilian mafioso and Don Tano Badalamenti's nephew. Arrested in Madrid, Spain in 1984, while meeting with his uncle and cousin. Shot and crippled, while shopping in Greenwich Village, New York City on February 11, 1987 a month prior to the trial verdicts being announced. Eventually he was sentenced to 15 years and served out seven years.
• Baldassare Amato ("Baldo"), Brooklyn, New York City. Sicilian mafioso and Bonanno crime family caporegime. Not sentenced until May 3, 1988, a 14 month delay made possible by his lawyer. Amato was sentenced to five years and given three-month conditional bail to put his affairs in order. He was eventually freed, but he has recently been convicted of murder and is serving a life sentence.
• Gaetano Badalamenti - sentenced to 45 years
• Vito Badalamenti - acquitted
• Cesare Bonventre - murdered prior to indictment
• Giovanni Cangialosi ("Johnny"), Baldwin, Long Island. Sicilian mafioso. Sentenced to 12 years.
• Filippo Casamento - aka "Tizio", Brooklyn, New York City. Sicilian mafioso and Bonanno crime family associate. Sentenced to 30 years for his second heroin distribution conviction. Casamento was eventually released, but in early 2008 he was once again indicted for criminal activities in Operation Old Bridge that targeted mobsters in Sicily and America.
• Frank Castronovo ("Ciccio l'Americano"), Parlin, New Jersey, Sicilian mafioso and brother-in-law of Tommy Mazzara. Sentenced to 25 years.
• Onofrio Catalano ("Oliviero"), Sicilian mafioso and cousin of Salvatore.
• Salvatore Catalano ("Toto" or "The Baker"), Sicilian mafioso and Bonanno crime family caporegime. Sentenced to 45 years, released from prison on 16 November 2009.
• Lorenzo De Vardo ("Larry"), Queens, New York. Sicilian mafioso, one of two defendants who pleaded to a lesser during the trial. Sentenced to four years for possession of a revolver.
• Samuel Evola ("Salvatore" or "Sam"), Temperance, Michigan. Sicilian mafioso and Don Tano Badalamenti's nephew. A known member of the Detroit Partnership. On the last day of trial Evola decided to plead guilty and received 15 years, cutting 5–10 years off his possible sentence.
• Giuseppe Ganci ("Pino" or "Bufalone"), Sicilian mafioso, who died of cancer before the start of trial on February 11, 1986.
• Salvatore Greco, Oakhurst, New Jersey. Sicilian mafioso and brother of Bagheria capo-mafia (boss) Leonardo Greco. Sentenced to 20 years.
• Giuseppe Lamberti ("The Brother-in-Law"), Sicilian mafioso, brother-in-law of Mazzurco and cousin of Salvatore. Sentenced to 30 years.
• Salvatore Lamberti ("Toto"), Sicilian mafioso and cousin of Giuseppe. Sentenced to 20 years for narcotics conspiracy.
• Giovanni Ligammari ("Johnny"), Saddle River, New Jersey. Sicilian mafioso, sentenced to 15 years. Upon his release in 1995 after serving 8 years he returned to his Bergen County home in suburban N.J. where he lived until he and his son Pietro were found hanging in the basement of the home on May 21, 1999. It was ruled a double suicide.
• Gaetano Mazzara ("Tommy"), Sayreville, New Jersey. Sicilian mafioso, murdered on December 1, 1985 during the trial.
• Salvatore Mazzurco ("The Little One" or "The Cousin"), Sicilian mafioso. Sentenced to 20 years for narcotics conspiracy and 15 years on his RICO conviction. Sentences to run concurrently.
• Emmanuele Palazzolo ("Manny" or "The Brother-in-Law"), Milton, Wisconsin. Sicilian mafioso and Don Tano Badalamenti's nephew, brother-in-law to Peter Alfano. Sentenced to 12 years on narcotics conspiracy.
• Francesco Polizzi ("Frank" or "Ciccio"), Belleville, New Jersey. DeCavalcante crime family caporegime and Sicilian mafia associate. Sentenced to 20 years. Presently deceased.
• Vincenzo Randazzo ("Enzo"), Milan, Italy. Sicilian mafioso and Don Tano Badalamenti's nephew. Extradited from Zürich, Switzerland to New York for the trial. One of two defendants who pled to a lesser charge before trial began.
• Salvatore Salamone ("Sal"), Freeland, Pennsylvania. Sicilian mafioso, one of two defendants to be acquitted on the drug-related charges; was convicted on currency violations that carried up to five years in prison. Later retried, convicted and sentenced to 18 years on gunrunning charges.
• Giuseppe Trupiano ("Joe"), Olney, Illinois. Sicilian mafioso and Don Tano Badalamenti's nephew. Sentenced to one year for narcotics conspiracy. Found not guilty on appeal
• Giuseppe Vitale ("Joe"), Paris, Illinois. Sicilian mafioso and Don Tano Badalamenti's nephew. Sentenced to five years.

The trial began on September 30, 1985. The jury reached their verdicts on March 2, 1987. Sentences were handed down on by judge Pierre Leval on June 22, 1987.

Other defendants sought during trial

(America, Italy, Switzerland and South Africa)

• Franco Della Torre -
• Leonardo Greco - capo of the Bagheria cosca (crime family), brother of Salvatore.
• Faro Lupo - Sicilian mafioso, nephew of Randazzo who lived with Alfano until 1984 when he returned to Europe.
• Salvatore Miniati -
• Vito Roberto Palazzolo
• Filippo Salamone - Sicilian mafioso, related to Salvatore.
• Giuseppe Soresi - Sicilian mafioso from Borghetto, Palermo. Suspected of heroin trafficking with American associates.
• Oliviero Tognoli - Sicilian mafia money launderer based in Italy. Financial adviser and investor for Leonardo Greco and other Cosa Nostra leaders whom he held numerous Swiss bank accounts for.

• Benny Zito - Philadelphia pizzeria owner and associate of Joe Ganci who led authorities directly to the Catalano-Ganci Consortium in New York. Zito was not charged in the Pizza Connection, but he was charged in a separate drug related case by authorities in Pennsylvania. It was Zito who led authorities into the heart of the Pizza Connection heroin network and to the Sicilian mafia members who oversaw the drug and money laundering operations. He was suspected of fleeing prior to the indictments being handed down.

References

• The Pizza Connection: Lawyers, Drugs and The Mafia by Shana Alexander.
• Excellent Cadavers by Alexander Stille
• Last Days of the Sicilians by Ralph Blumenthal, Crown Publishing 1988, ISBN 0-8129-1594-1

External links

• Gaetano Badalamenti And The Pizza Connection, article at americanmafia.com