The notorious Gambino crime family, one of New York's five big "La Cosa Nostra" mafia clans, was dealt a severe blow Wednesday with the arrest of its top two acting leaders and the arrest or indictment of 30 others associated with the group.
New York district attorney David Kelley announced the arrests following a three-year FBI-led investigation that included tapping conversations on Gambino operations at a geriatric convalescent home, an operation that evoked a scene from the hit television drama "The Sopranos".
The 32 alleged Gambino family members and associates were charged under the tough anti-racketeering RICO laws with 53 counts of assault, extortion, loan sharking, embezzlement, gambling, mail fraud, and stolen and counterfeit goods trafficking.
The government's indictment named Gambino acting boss Arnold Squitieri, acting under boss Anthony "Machiavelli" Megale, and captains Gregory DePalma and Alphonse Sisca along with a number of family soldiers in the crimes spanning more than a decade.
All four were arrested Wednesday, the district attorney said.
The indictment cited the Gambino family, working at times with other groups of "La Cosa Nostra", the traditional Sicilian mafia designation, for running an illegal gambling operation and defrauding businesses and unions in the New York region. The illegal gambling operations alone earned the group 20 million dollars, according to the prosecutor.
The arrests were the biggest blow against the Gambinos since lieutenant Salvatore "Sammy the Bull" Gravano cooperated with justice officials to bring down notorious Gambino head John J. Gotti in 1992.
Squitieri was promoted acting boss of the Gambino family after the 2002 arrest of boss Peter Gotti, sentenced to 91 years in a Brooklyn jail, brother of late boss John Gotti who died in jail.
Squitieri faces up to 385 years in prison if found guilty, according to the indictment.
Megale, the acting under boss, faces a sentence of up to 425 years' jail.
According to the district attorney, the investigation involved numerous wiretaps, including listening in to conversations at a geriatric home in New Rochelle, New York, where DePalma's son was a patient.
The indictment alleges that the family tried to use the cover of the home to mask daily operations meetings.
The operation paralleled an early episode of the award-winning television mafia drama "The Sopranos," in which the lead character's mother, convalescing in a geriatric home, was taped by the FBI plotting her son's murder.
The US government claims proceeds from the illegal operations were at least 30 million dollars and is seeking forfeiture of the sum from the defendants.