HOME

TheInfoList



Click Here for Items Related To - Liborio Bellomo
OR:
Liborio Bellomo on:   [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Amazon]

Liborio Salvatore “Barney” Bellomo (born January 8, 1957) is an American mobster and boss of the Genovese crime family of
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
. Bellomo was a member of the 116th Street Crew of Saverio "Sammy Black" Santora.


Early life

Bellomo is the son of Salvatore Bellomo. He is the double cousin of Genovese associate Liborio Thomas Bellomo; their fathers are brothers and their mothers are sisters. This has led law enforcement to confuse their identities on several occasions. In 1997, Liborio Thomas Bellomo swore in an affidavit that he was guilty of federal charges instead of Bellomo. Salvatore Bellomo was a
soldier A soldier is a person who is a member of an army. A soldier can be a Conscription, conscripted or volunteer Enlisted rank, enlisted person, a non-commissioned officer, a warrant officer, or an Officer (armed forces), officer. Etymology The wo ...
and close to Anthony "Fat Tony" Salerno. Bellomo was initiated in 1977.


Acting boss and indictment

In 1990, Kenneth McCabe, then-organized crime investigator for the United States attorney's office in Manhattan, identified Bellomo as "acting boss" of the crime family following the indictment of Vincent Gigante in the "Windows Case". On June 11, 1996, Bellomo was indicted on Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) charges, including the murders of mobster Ralph DeSimone and Antonio DiLorenzo, extortion, and labor racketeering. DiLorenzo was found shot to death in the backyard of his home in West New York, New Jersey. DeSimone was found in the trunk of his car at LaGuardia Airport in Queens, shot five times. Both DeSimone and DiLorenzo were allegedly murdered because the Genovese leadership thought they were government informants. Bellomo's lawyers stated that their client passed two polygraph tests in which he denied killing anyone.
FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...
agents shaved Bellomo's head, looking for evidence that Bellomo had used
lithium Lithium (from , , ) is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Li and atomic number 3. It is a soft, silvery-white alkali metal. Under standard temperature and pressure, standard conditions, it is the least dense metal and the ...
to beat the polygraph machines. In February 1997, prosecutors dropped the DeSimone and DiLorenzo murder charges and offered Bellomo a chance to plead guilty to extorting payoffs from a construction union and a garbage hauling company. Bellomo accepted the deal and was sentenced to 10 years in prison.


Prison and release

On July 13, 2001, the imprisoned Bellomo was indicted on money laundering charges related to the Genovese family's involvement in the waterfront rackets and control of the ILA. Bellomo was accused of hiding money stolen from the ILA's members pension fund account between 1996 and 1997. Bellomo again pleaded guilty to lesser charges, pushing back his scheduled release date in 2004. On February 23, 2006, Bellomo and over 30 Genovese family members were indicted on more racketeering charges. Bellomo was specifically charged with ordering the 1998 murder of Ralph Coppola, the acting captain of Bellomo's crew and Bellomo's good friend. On September 16, 1998, Coppola disappeared a few weeks before his sentencing on fraud charges and was never found. Government witness Peter Peluso, a former lawyer for the Genovese family, stated that he had transported a message from Bellomo in prison ordering Coppola's murder. Some accounts state that Coppola was disrespectful, others say that he was stealing family profits. According to the Bellomo indictment: Peluso pleaded guilty to his role in the murder. However, the government had no proof that Peluso had indeed met with Bellomo. With insufficient evidence to press the murder charge against Bellomo, the government offered him a plea bargain for
mail fraud Mail fraud and wire fraud are terms used in the United States to describe the use of a physical (e.g., the U.S. Postal Service) or electronic (e.g., a phone, a telegram, a fax, or the Internet) mail system to defraud another, and are U.S. fede ...
in 2007. Bellomo accepted and received one additional year in prison instead of four, as his daughter Sabrina gave a tearful plea to judge Lewis A. Kaplan alongside her three brothers. On December 1, 2008, Bellomo was released from prison. Since his release, Bellomo has been the alleged boss of the Genovese family. He has maintained a low key presence with some considering him the modern day 'Boss of Bosses'.


References


Further reading

*Butler, Gregory A. ''Disunited Brotherhoods: Race, Racketeering and the Fall of the New York Construction Unions''. Lincoln: iUniverse, 2006. *Jacobs, James B., Coleen Friel and Robert Radick. ''Gotham Unbound: How New York City Was Liberated from the Grip of Organized Crime''. New York: NYU Press, 1999. *Milhorn, H. Thomas. ''Crime: Computer Viruses to Twin Towers''. Boca Raton, Florida: Universal Publishers, 2005. *Raab, Selwyn. ''Five Families: The Rise, Decline, and Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empires''. New York: St. Martin Press, 2005. * Theoharis, Athan G. (ed.) ''The FBI: A Comprehensive Reference Guide''. Phoenix: Oryx Press, 1999. *United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Governmental Affairs. Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations.
Organized Crime: 25 Years After Valachi: Hearings Before the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations
', 1988.


External links



,''New York Times'', June 12, 1996

''New York Times'', October 19, 1998

United States District Court Southern District of New York, 2006-2-23

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bellomo, Liborio 1957 births Living people 20th-century American criminals 21st-century American criminals American male criminals American gangsters of Italian descent People of Sicilian descent Bosses of the Genovese crime family Gangsters from New York City People from Pelham Manor, New York American people convicted of mail and wire fraud Mafia extortionists