Gaeton Lucibello, Racketeering Conspiracy, Pennsylvania 2012

Philadelphia, PA – In a shocking turn of events, Gaeton Lucibello, a 59-year-old member of the Philadelphia La Cosa Nostra, pleaded guilty to participating in a racketeering conspiracy involving extortion and illegal gambling on November 26, 2012.

According to the plea agreement, Lucibello admitted to conspiring to conduct and participate in the affairs of the Philadelphia La Cosa Nostra Family through a pattern of racketeering activity. He also confessed to assisting in shaking down a bookmaker for ‘street tax’ payments and operating two illegal video poker machine businesses in furtherance of the racketeering conspiracy.

Lucibello was among 14 members and associates of the Philadelphia La Cosa Nostra Family charged with crimes involving racketeering conspiracy, extortion, loan sharking, illegal gambling, witness tampering, and theft from an employee benefit plan in a third superseding indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Philadelphia on July 25, 2012.

The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney John S. Han of the Criminal Division’s Organized Crime and Gang Section and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Frank A. Labor III and Suzanne B. Ercole of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Valuable prosecutorial assistance was provided by the Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General.

The case is being investigated by the FBI, the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division, the Pennsylvania State Police, the New Jersey State Police, the Philadelphia Police Department, and the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Inspector General Office of Labor Racketeering and Fraud Investigations, and Employee Benefits Security Administration.

Lucibello’s sentencing is scheduled for November 26, 2012. He faces an unspecified sentence for his role in the racketeering conspiracy.

The Philadelphia La Cosa Nostra Family has long been a thorn in the side of law enforcement, with its members engaging in a variety of illicit activities. The guilty plea by Lucibello is a significant blow to the organization, and it is hoped that it will lead to further convictions and dismantling of the group.

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