A major mob bust in New York City has led to the arrest of 19 members and associates of the Lucchese crime family, including many high-ranking members.
The mob figures are scheduled to be indicted Wednesday by the Manhattan U.S. attorney’s office on federal charges including racketeering, wire fraud, possession of a weapon, gambling, narcotics and murder, according to NBC 4. The defendants include street boss Matthew Madonna, underboss Steven Crea, and consigliere Joseph DiNapoli, as well as four Capos who rank under the underboss, and five soldiers who rank under Capos.
The indictment mentions some charges related to the murder of Michael Meldish in the Bronx in November 2013 as well as other attempted hits against members of the Bonanno crime family, CBS New York reported. The indictment also mentions fraud in a $25 million hospital expansion and other building projects.
Meldish’s murder was a gangland, execution-style shooting while Meldish was behind the wheel. Meldish was suspected of at least 10 mob hits in the 1970s and '80s and ran the drug trade in the Bronx, the New York Daily News reported.
The indictment names all 19 defendants, referring to them by their given names and also by mob nicknames like "Wonder Boy," "Big John," "Joey Glasses," and "Paulie Roast Beef," according to CBS New York. It covers a 17-year stretch from 2000 to the present, according to the New York Daily News.
Twitter users joked about the arrests and wondered if the government was targeting jihadists as strongly.
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