The reputed boss of the Bonanno crime family will be issuing orders from the big house for the next 18 months after being sentenced for collecting a gambling debt with other alleged mobsters, federal officials claim.
Vincent “Vinny TV” Badalamenti, 54, was indicted on the conspiracy charges after Hector Pagan — the ex-husband of “Mob Wives” star Renee Graziano — turned stool pigeon.
Badalamenti was convicted of hosting a dinner meeting in a Staten Island diner with Anthony Graziano, Pagan’s father-in-law, and alleged capo and Vito Balsamo to determine who would get what after the victim was shaken down, according to court records.
Chief Judge Carol Amon also slapped the reputed boss with a $10,000 fine and three years supervised release.
“It was a very fair sentence,” defense lawyer Ronald Fischetti told the Daily News, adding that Badalamenti has already served nine months and could be freed in six months for good behavior.
Balsamo was sentenced to a year and a day in prison and Graziano got 19 months for the extortion, according to court records.
Feds in gang war with MS-13
Eleven members of La mara Salvatrucha — better known as the MS-13 street gang — were dragged into Brooklyn federal court and charged in a massive, 50-count indictment that included murder, robbery, and assault charges, Brooklyn federal prosecutors said this week.
“For years, members of the MS-13 street gang have terrorized communities. As charged in this new indictment, the defendants cut a swath of terror and wanton violence victimizing innocent citizens,” stated United States Attorney Loretta Lynch, indicating that most of the crimes the suspects were charged with occurred in Long Island. “This office will continue to prioritize combating gang violence.”
Joyser Velasquez, Francisco Ponce, and a co-defendant — whose name remains under seal — were charged with the armed robbery of the Los Hermanos Grocery and the murder of Miguel Peralta. Velasquez and the unnamed co-defendant entered the store brandishing pistols, while Ponce waited as the getaway driver, according to court filings.
Investigators said Peralta was sweeping a storeroom in the back of the store when he heard a commotion and entered the front of the store, where he came face to face with Velasquez, who allegedly shot him. Peralta, struggling to escape, limped down an aisle where he was met by the co-defendant, who allegedly shot him in the head. The robbers then fled, but not before looting the cash register, according to court filings.
Velasquez, Ponce and the unnamed co-defendant are also being charged with several other armed robberies, including the 2009 armed robbery of a Bay Shore Burger King.
Edwin Hernandez is was charged with two attempted murders for his part in an 2011 MS-13 initiation ritual in Central Islip.
That evening, Hernandez was allegedly given the task of picking a rival gang member at random and plugging him with bullets in order to gain full status within the gang. Hernandez and another MS-13 member —locked and loaded with .22 caliber pistols — drove around the Long Island City looking for prey. On Clift Street, Hernandez and the other gang member observed a group of black men, who they took for members of the Bloods street gang, and opened fire. Two men were struck and were subsequently transported to local hospitals. Both victims survived.
Acosta-Martinez, Rodriguez-Chinchilla, and Velasquez-Cruz were charged in connection with a series of robberies that took place between January and February 2012.
If convicted, each defendant faces a maximum sentence of life in prison, prosecutors say.
Attempts to reach the suspects’ defense team was unsuccessful by press time.
