Alleged Gambino mobsters charged in US-Italy probe

Ten alleged members and associates of the Gambino crime family have been charged in a US federal indictment with using violence and extortion to try to dominate New York's garbage carting and demolition industries.

The racketeering indictment unsealed on Wednesday accuses the men of crimes such as assaulting a demolition company employee with a hammer and setting fire to the steps of a rubbish carting business owner's house.

Prosecutors with the US Attorney's office in Brooklyn say the men also embezzled from unions and rigged bids in the demolition and carting industries between 2017 and 2021.

Law enforcement agencies including the FBI, the New York Waterfront Commission and the prosecutor in Palermo, Italy, assisted in the multi-year investigation, authorities said.

"As alleged, for years, the defendants committed violent extortions, assaults, arson, witness retaliation and other crimes in an attempt to dominate the New York carting and demolition industries," US Attorney Breon Peace said in a media release.

The defendants include Joseph Lanni, who prosecutors said was also known as "Joe Brooklyn" and "Mommino", an alleged captain in the Gambino family, and nine alleged Gambino soldiers and associates.

An email seeking comment was sent to Lanni's lawyer.

According to the indictment, one of the alleged mobsters, Diego "Danny" Tantillo, began demanding monthly extortion payments from a business owner identified by the pseudonym John Doe 1 starting in late 2017.

On one occasion, prosecutors said, Tantillo showed John Doe 1 a metal baseball bat and said the bat was for him.

After John Doe 1 tried to stop making extortion payments in 2020, someone set fire to the steps of his home while his wife and children were inside, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors said Tantillo and another man were "made", or formally inducted into the Gambino family, on October 17, 2019.

An email seeking comment was sent to Tantillo's lawyer.