The plot turned out to be garbage. Ten New York-based mobsters and another six in Italy have been charged in an international conspiracy case that alleges they conspired to dominate the Big Apple's trash hauling and demolition industries while scamming unions and beating up people who got in their way, according to the Justice Department.
In one reported incident, alleged Gambino 'soldier' Diego Tantillo, alleged Sicilian mobsters Vito Rappa and Francesco Vicari as well as Gambino associate Kyle 'Twin' Johnson were accused of targeting a New York City carting business owner by threatening him with a bat, lighting his front porch on fire and having someone vandalize his trucks. They also allegedly beat up one of his associates before cornering the victim and his father-in-law.
0s The victim then handed over $4,000, prosecutors said, and Vicari and Rappa allegedly sent Tantillo a picture of a champagne bottle 'as in a toast.' The 16-count indictment also names alleged Gambino soldiers Angelo Gradilone, also known as 'Fifi,' James LaForte and alleged associates Salvatore DiLorenzo, Robert Brooke and Vincent Minsquero, also known as 'Vinny Slick.
Another alleged incident recalls a violent scene from HBO's 'The Sopranos' TV series in the sixth-season episode 'The Fleshy Part of the Thigh,' in which mob-affiliated trash haulers who want to buy a route under Tony Soprano's protection beat a driver senseless in front of his son. Tantillo and Johnson, in an ongoing dispute with the owners of a cargo transfer warehouse, allegedly beat one of their employees with a hammer.