By Howard Koplowitz
In all, 50 members and associates of the Gambino family were charged, but others from the Genovese and Bonnano families also were arrested, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District said.John Gotti, the most notorious Gambino boss, ruled the family from his Howard Beach home from 1985 until his death in prison from cancer in 2002. Two of Gotti's brothers, Vincent and Richard Gotti, were named in the federal indictment on racketeering charges that included murder conspiracy and attempted murder of a John Doe, who was shot several times after leaving for work in 2003, the U.S. attorney said.Charles Carneglia, the alleged Gambino soldier, murdered at least five people and committed four of the killings in Queens going back more than 30 years, according to the federal indictment. He was one of 62 suspected mob figures or associates, included 25 reputedly from the Gambino family, indicted in Brooklyn federal court.In a separate investigation on gambling, loan sharking and prostitution charges conducted by the Queens district attorney, reputed Gambino captain Nicholas “Little Nick” Corozzo was indicted for allegedly running a Queens-based gambling ring along with 24 other Gambino members or associates. He was charged in Queens Supreme Court.The federal investigations were aimed at uprooting the Gambino crime family and led to the arrest of the family's reputed acting boss, John “Jackie Nose” D'Amico along with its suspected underboss, Dominic “Greaseball” Cefalu and consigliere, Joseph “JoJo” Corrozzo. Carneglia shot and killed Brooklyn court officer Albert Gelb as he parked his car near Atlantic and 95th avenues in Woodhaven in March 1976, according to the charges.The murder, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said, was in retaliation for Gelb confronting Carneglia in the Esquire Diner on Cross Bay Boulevard in Howard Beach in February 1975, when Carneglia was arrested for pulling a gun on Gelb.Carneglia was also charged in the December 1990 murder of armored car driver Jose Delgado-Rivera, who was opening the back of an armored car with cash inside at John. F. Kennedy International Airport when Carneglia robbed and shot him, the indictment claimed.In October 1977, Carneglia allegedly stabbed to death Gambino associate Michael Cotillo at the Blue Fountain, a diner on Cross Bay Boulevard in Howard Beach.The reputed Gambino soldier was also charged in the July 1983 killing of Salvatore Puma on the corner of 156th Avenue and 79th Street in Howard Beach. Corozzo, the alleged mastermind of a gambling ring based in Queens, and 25 others were charged with enterprise corruption, promoting gambling, criminal usury, grand larceny and conspiracy, Brown said. They face up to 25 years in prison apiece if convicted.The ring, run out of 85-50 Forest Parkway in Woodhaven and other offices in Costa Rica, netted $10 million in two years, Brown said. Corozzo and his crew allegedly set up four gambling Web sites along with more traditional wire rooms, according to the DA.Authorities got wind of the alleged operation in September 2005, Brown said, when members of the Police Department's Vice Enforcement Division's Major Case Team and the Queens DA's Organized Crime and Rackets Bureau started looking into loan sharking in the borough. He said those authorities then learned about an illegal betting ring.Reach reporter Howard Koplowitz by e-mail at hkoplowitz@timesledger.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 173.
