BROOKLYN, N.Y. (PIX11) — Ten people associated with the Gambino crime family were arrested in New York on racketeering charges Wednesday morning, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

In a coordinated operation, Italian law enforcement also arrested six alleged organized crime members and associates for a total of 16 defendants. One person remains at large, officials said.

A 16-count indictment was unsealed Wednesday in federal court in Brooklyn charging the 10 New York defendants with racketeering conspiracy, extortion, witness retaliation, and union-related crimes “in an attempt to dominate the New York carting and demolition industries,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

The defendants are:

  • Joseph Lanni, also known as “Joe Brooklyn” and “Mommino,” an alleged captain in the Gambino organized crime family
  • Diego “Danny” Tantillo, an alleged Gambino soldier
  • Angelo Gradilone, also known as “Fifi, alleged Gambino soldier
  • James LaForte, alleged Gambino soldier
  • Vito Rappa, an alleged U.S.-based Sicilian Mafia member and Gambino associate
  • Francesco Vicari, also known as “Uncle Ciccio,” an alleged U.S.-based Sicilian Mafia associate and Gambino associate
  • Salvatore DiLorenzo
  • Robert Brooke
  • Kyle Johnson, also known as “Twin”
  • Vincent Minsquero, also known as “Vinny Slick,” alleged Gambino associate 

Tantillo, Rappa, Vicari, and Johnson allegedly extorted an owner of a carting business in New York City. They allegedly threatened the owner with a bat, set his home’s front steps on fire, and attacked one of his associates, prosecutors said.

Tantillo and Vicari were also caught on a wiretap bragging about how Vicari allegedly ordered the business owner’s father-in-law to cut him in half with a knife to get him to pay up, according to court records. The owner paid the $4,000 extortion fee after the incident, officials said.

“On one call, Rappa stated that Vicari ‘acted like the ‘Last of the Samurai,'” prosecutors said.

“As alleged, for years, the defendants committed violent extortions, assaults, arson, witness retaliation, and other crimes in an attempt to dominate the New York carting and demolition industries,” said United States Attorney Breon Peace. 

The alleged mobsters are from Manhattan, Staten Island, the Bronx, New Jersey, and Long Island.

Mira Wassef is a digital reporter who has covered news and sports in the New York City area for more than a decade. She joined PIX11 News in 2022. See more of her work here.