NEW YORK - A pair of
North Jersey men with ties to organized crime are facing prison terms after
admitting their roles in racketeering schemes to control the trash-hauling
business in and around New York City.
Ramsey resident Carmine Franco, 78, a known associate of the
Genovese crime family known as "Papa Smurf" and "Uncle
Sonny", pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy, conspiracy to commit
mail and wire fraud and conspiracy to transport stolen goods. He could face up
to 45 years behind bars when he is sentenced on March 19.
Franco was among the most high-profile names among 32
defendants with connections to Mafia factions charged in connection with the
alleged scheme, which was busted in January after a multiyear investigation
based largely on the work of an undercover informant.
Indictments said the group, 10 of whom hailed from New
Jersey, used threats of violence and economic harm to dictate what stops trash
hauling companies could make. They also took payments from businesses in
exchange for protection along the hauling routes, even as they subjected them
to various extortion, loansharking and theft rackets.
According to U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, Franco had already
been banned from the business in 1998, after being implicated in a scheme to
defraud New Jersey and Bergen County out of millions by illegally shipping
garbage to landfills out of state.
He remained a powerful figure in the industry, however, and
continued to rake in profits by overbilling customers at a transfer station in
West Nyack, N.Y., which he admitted to as part of his plea on Friday.
Another Genovese associate, 78-year-old Anthony Pucciarello
of Bloomfield, made a guilty plea of his own on Friday, admitting his failure
to report an extortion scheme being used against a cooperating government
witness in order to obtain an ownership share in their business.
He will face up to three years in federal prison when he
returns to Manhattan federal court in March.
Franco and Pucciarello are the 15th and 16th members of the
ring to plead guilty, according to Bharara.
In addition to his prison term, Franco also agreed to pay
$2.5 million to the government.
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