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June 12, 1996
The 60-count indictment alleges that three of the highest ranking officers of the family -- along with 16 of its members and associates -- participated in murders, extortions and other crimes that generated at least $20 million in illegal profits.
All but one of the 19 defendants has been arrested.
"Although this investigation continues, today's charges and arrests have dealt a crippling blow to the Genovese crime family and its leadership," U.S. Attorney Mary Jo White said at a news conference.
Federal authorities said the Genovese family is the most powerful and diversified in the United States. It has kept a low profile under its reputed boss Vincent "The Chin" Gigante, who wandered around Greenwich Village in a bathrobe in what federal authorities said was an act to keep him out of jail.
Gigante is in prison on a previous murder and racketeering indictment but his lawyers have argued he is mentally unfit to stand trial. A judge's ruling is expected soon.
The charges announced Tuesday include the slaying of Anthony "Hickey" DiLorenzo, a reputed Genovese member who was killed because he became mentally ill and began talking about family business in public, a mob turncoat testified recently.
Among those named in the indictment who have been arrested are Liborio "Barney" Bellomo, acting boss of the Genovese family; Michele "Micky" Generoso, acting underboss, and James Ida, consigliere. If convicted, they face a possible maximum term of life in prison.
The 115-page indictment alleges that the defendants operated a racketeering enterprise from 1980 until the present that used extortion and the threat of physical and economic harm to control labor unions and businesses.
The arrests resulted from a two-year investigation of the Genovese family, which solidified itself as the nation's most powerful after Gambino family boss John Gotti was imprisoned in 1992.
While investigators have dealt crippling blows to the city's four other major crime families, including the Gambinos, the Genovese remained intact partly by sticking to construction and labor racketeering schemes and avoiding drug dealing, authorities say.