2008 Woodie Awards
Conn. Mob;'The Genius' gets 7 years in Mafia case
Matt Apuzzo, Associated Press
Issue date: 4/6/06 Section: News
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Anthony "The Genius" Megale, the Stamford sanitation worker who prosecutors said became the highest-ranking mobster in Connecticut history, was sentenced to more than seven years in federal prison Monday after a judge cited his life in organized crime.
Prosecutors said Megale was the underboss, or second-in-command, of the Gambino crime family, the New York mob syndicate once run by John Gotti. Megale pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy in October but did not acknowledge Mafia membership.
U.S. District Court Judge Janet Bond Arterton said there was no doubt that Megale made a career running a crime syndicate and sentenced him to 86 months in prison.
"I simply have no sense that prison is more than a time-out, and thus the cost of doing business or an occupational hazard," she told Megale.
Megale's attorney repeatedly tried to downplay the case, saying the shakedown of a Stamford strip club owner for $2,000 monthly payments did not warrant a hefty sentence.
"Is this case, as these types of cases go, so remarkable?" attorney Stephan Seeger said. "This case would not make a great episode of 'The Sopranos.' It's not that interesting."
Arterton rejected that argument and cut down Seeger's assertion that Megale never acknowledged being the underboss of the family.
"Don't I have a tape recording here?" Arterton said.
"Yes," Seeger replied.
"That's a pretty clear acknowledgment," Arterton said.
The secretly recorded FBI tapes were the foundation of a case that prosecutors said was the most significant assault on the region's Italian Mafia in more than a decade. One defendant was recorded describing his Mafia induction ceremony and detailing the Gambino hierarchy. Megale was also recorded describing himself as the underboss, "so I'm over everybody."
Megale was also recorded setting up the monthly payments with the club owner and predicting dire consequences if he could not pay.
"They'll come in and wreck the joint," Megale was recorded saying. "We do that downtown."
Prosecutors said Megale was the underboss, or second-in-command, of the Gambino crime family, the New York mob syndicate once run by John Gotti. Megale pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy in October but did not acknowledge Mafia membership.
U.S. District Court Judge Janet Bond Arterton said there was no doubt that Megale made a career running a crime syndicate and sentenced him to 86 months in prison.
"I simply have no sense that prison is more than a time-out, and thus the cost of doing business or an occupational hazard," she told Megale.
Megale's attorney repeatedly tried to downplay the case, saying the shakedown of a Stamford strip club owner for $2,000 monthly payments did not warrant a hefty sentence.
"Is this case, as these types of cases go, so remarkable?" attorney Stephan Seeger said. "This case would not make a great episode of 'The Sopranos.' It's not that interesting."
Arterton rejected that argument and cut down Seeger's assertion that Megale never acknowledged being the underboss of the family.
"Don't I have a tape recording here?" Arterton said.
"Yes," Seeger replied.
"That's a pretty clear acknowledgment," Arterton said.
The secretly recorded FBI tapes were the foundation of a case that prosecutors said was the most significant assault on the region's Italian Mafia in more than a decade. One defendant was recorded describing his Mafia induction ceremony and detailing the Gambino hierarchy. Megale was also recorded describing himself as the underboss, "so I'm over everybody."
Megale was also recorded setting up the monthly payments with the club owner and predicting dire consequences if he could not pay.
"They'll come in and wreck the joint," Megale was recorded saying. "We do that downtown."