Isn't that special?
And this Briner guy thinks an "I'm sorry " will fix everything ?
"Don't do the crime if you can't do the time"
THIS JUST IN:
U.S. Department of Justice
United States Attorney
Eastern District of New York
One Pierrepont Plaza
Brooklyn, New York 11201
Mailing Address: 147 Pierrepont Street
Brooklyn, New York 11201
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 17, 2007
Contact:
Robert Nardoza
United States Attorney’s Office
(718) 254-6323
PRESS RELEASE
SEVEN MEMBERS AND ASSOCIATES OF THE COLOMBO AND LUCHESE ORGANIZED
CRIME FAMILIES PLEAD GUILTY TO RACKETEERING AND EXTORTION IN
CONNECTION WITH BOILER ROOM STOCK FRAUD SCHEMES
Roslynn R. Mauskopf, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York,
announced the guilty pleas of Colombo Family captain JOSEPH BAUDANZA, his brother,
Colombo Family soldier CARMINE BAUDANZA, Colombo Family soldier CRAIG MARINO,
Colombo Family associates CRAIG LESZCZAK, ROBERT PODLOG, and ARTHUR
GUNNING, and Luchese Family soldier JOHN BAUDANZA, the nephew of JOSEPH
BAUDANZA. The guilty pleas today of CARMINE BAUDANZA and JOHN BAUDANZA
before United States Magistrate Judge Cheryl L. Pollak represent the sixth and seventh
defendants to plead guilty in this district within the past week.
On March 23, 2006, an indictment was unsealed charging the defendants with wideranging
criminal activity, including a racketeering conspiracy involving securities fraud,
extortion, witness tampering, kidnaping, and money laundering. All but GUNNING, who pled
guilty to extortion, have pleaded guilty to a Colombo family racketeering conspiracy that used
extortion to make money from stock manipulation at several brokerage firms. When sentenced,
each defendant faces a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years’ incarceration and a
$250,000 fine.
The guilty pleas are the culmination of a four-year investigation and prosecution of the
Colombo Family’s infiltration of brokerage firms that specialized in selling “penny” stocks, or
stocks of a corporation that traded for under $5. The defendants admitted to exploiting their ties
to the racketeering enterprise to further their financial interests in the criminal schemes, by using
extortionate tactics to control brokers, cold callers, and others affiliated with branch offices of
brokerage firms formerly located in Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Staten Island, including Ash
Financial Corporation, Amerivet Dymally Securities, Inc. (later known as TYM Securities, Inc.),
Barron Chase Securities, Inc., Grady and Hatch & Company, Inc., Couch and Company, Inc.,
L.H. Ross & Company, Inc., and Yankee Financial Group, Inc.
“We are committed to eliminating the corrupting influence of organized crime
from the financial community and to ensuring the legitimacy of our securities markets, ” stated
United States Attorney Mauskopf. “Investors are entitled to a level playing field.” Ms.
Mauskopf thanked the Federal Bureau of Investigation (New York Field Office), United States
Securities and Exchange Commission, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (New
York), and the National Association of Securities Dealers, Department of Enforcement, for their
extensive assistance in the investigation.
The government’s case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys
Patricia E. Notopoulos, Tanya Y. Hill, and Jennifer E. Schantz.
The Defendants:
CARMINE BAUDANZA
Age: 64
JOHN BAUDANZA
Age: 37
JOSEPH BAUDANZA
Age: 62
ARTHUR GUNNING
Age: 41
CRAIG LESZCZAK
Age: 32
CRAIG MARINO
AGE: 37
ROBERT PODLOG
AGE: 33
