Post by ~Snaps~ on Dec 2, 2004 9:17:12 GMT -5
Again with the computer problems, I'm doing my best to figure it out. Here's a new one for yous.
BRIDGEPORT -- As customers enjoyed lattes and Frappuccinos, a reputed mafia associate was conducting loansharking business at a Stamford Starbucks, according to authorities.
At about the same time, Nicola Melia of Stamford, arrested by the FBI in a sweep of alleged organized crime figures in September, met an informant at Long Ridge of Stamford, a nursing home on Long Ridge Road where his mother is a resident, to discuss a loan later obtained from a Norwalk merchant, federal authorities said.
Melia held "numerous meetings" related to his criminal activity at Starbucks Coffee on High Ridge Road near the beauty salon he co-owns, Assistant U.S. Attorney Alex Hernandez said during a hearing yesterday in U.S. District Court in Bridgeport.
Attorney Harold Pickerstein of Southport, who represents Melia, an alleged associate of the Gambino crime family, said Starbucks is a public place.
"Anyone can go in there," Pickerstein said at yesterday's hearing, where he argued in support of motions seeking less restrictive bond conditions for Melia, including the ability to visit his mother.
Melia, who previously pleaded not guilty to charges including racketeering and helping run an illegal gambling operation, has been under house arrest since his release last month on $5 million bond.
Pickerstein yesterday asked U.S. Magistrate Judge Holly Fitzsimmons to release his client from house arrest and electronic monitoring and halt FBI tracking of his phone calls.
Hernandez denied the request, arguing Melia presents a potential danger to the community.
Pickerstein filed a motion Oct. 5 seeking permission for Melia to resume his routine of visiting his 96-year-old mother from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. and from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. each day at the nursing home.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Gustafson said during a Oct. 1 bond hearing that Melia met a cooperating witness at the nursing home and discussed a loan the informant sought for a third party. Melia -- whom Gustafson called a "major league loanshark . . . in the Fairfield County area" -- approved the loan, distributed this year by Athanasios Tsiropoulos of Norwalk, according to Gustafson.
Tsiropoulos -- also a Gambino associate, according to federal authorities -- pleaded not guilty Oct. 1 to charges including racketeering and helping run an illegal gambling operation. He is free on $500,000 bond.
If released from house arrest, Melia would work at his beauty salon, Continental Coiffeurs III on High Ridge Road, and resume management of his numerous rental properties in the Stamford area, Pickerstein said.
During the Oct. 1 bond hearing, Gustafson said Melia met with Tsiropoulos and a cooperating witness last summer at a "Starbucks that Mr. Melia is known to frequent" to discuss another loansharking deal.
The Starbucks meeting involved a second loan a witness allegedly helped someone obtain from Tsiropoulos, with Melia's approval. Another meeting regarding the same loan occurred at Wall Street Variety, a downtown Norwalk convenience store Tsiropoulos co-owns, according to federal authorities.
Melia, Tsiropoulos and the witness met Aug. 10 at Starbucks after the borrower had trouble repaying the loan, Gustafson said Oct. 1. Melia said the witness had to repay the loan, the prosecutor said.
"When the cooperating witness . . . explained that he didn't have the assets to make the weekly payments, Mr. Melia remarked, 'Then I'll have to do what I have to do,'" Gustafson said, according to a transcript of the Oct. 1 hearing.
Pickerstein yesterday argued that no evidence has been presented showing his client is a danger to the community. A motion the attorney filed Oct. 18 states the government argued at his client's bond hearing Melia is a danger to the community "not because he has committed any act of violence or intimidation," but because he can supposedly "arrange for others to do his 'bidding' for him."
For example, the government saidMelia was involved in an assault stemming from an extortion attempt with a Gambino enforcer, committed last year at a Norwalk social club.
But Melia was not charged in the incident and the government presented no evidence, Pickerstein countered.
Hernandez said Melia's loansharking operation charged 3 percent per week, an "extraordinary" rate.
Fitzsimmons said she will issue a ruling on Pickerstein's requests, though a date was not set.
Courtesy: The Stamford Advocate
BRIDGEPORT -- As customers enjoyed lattes and Frappuccinos, a reputed mafia associate was conducting loansharking business at a Stamford Starbucks, according to authorities.
At about the same time, Nicola Melia of Stamford, arrested by the FBI in a sweep of alleged organized crime figures in September, met an informant at Long Ridge of Stamford, a nursing home on Long Ridge Road where his mother is a resident, to discuss a loan later obtained from a Norwalk merchant, federal authorities said.
Melia held "numerous meetings" related to his criminal activity at Starbucks Coffee on High Ridge Road near the beauty salon he co-owns, Assistant U.S. Attorney Alex Hernandez said during a hearing yesterday in U.S. District Court in Bridgeport.
Attorney Harold Pickerstein of Southport, who represents Melia, an alleged associate of the Gambino crime family, said Starbucks is a public place.
"Anyone can go in there," Pickerstein said at yesterday's hearing, where he argued in support of motions seeking less restrictive bond conditions for Melia, including the ability to visit his mother.
Melia, who previously pleaded not guilty to charges including racketeering and helping run an illegal gambling operation, has been under house arrest since his release last month on $5 million bond.
Pickerstein yesterday asked U.S. Magistrate Judge Holly Fitzsimmons to release his client from house arrest and electronic monitoring and halt FBI tracking of his phone calls.
Hernandez denied the request, arguing Melia presents a potential danger to the community.
Pickerstein filed a motion Oct. 5 seeking permission for Melia to resume his routine of visiting his 96-year-old mother from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. and from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. each day at the nursing home.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Gustafson said during a Oct. 1 bond hearing that Melia met a cooperating witness at the nursing home and discussed a loan the informant sought for a third party. Melia -- whom Gustafson called a "major league loanshark . . . in the Fairfield County area" -- approved the loan, distributed this year by Athanasios Tsiropoulos of Norwalk, according to Gustafson.
Tsiropoulos -- also a Gambino associate, according to federal authorities -- pleaded not guilty Oct. 1 to charges including racketeering and helping run an illegal gambling operation. He is free on $500,000 bond.
If released from house arrest, Melia would work at his beauty salon, Continental Coiffeurs III on High Ridge Road, and resume management of his numerous rental properties in the Stamford area, Pickerstein said.
During the Oct. 1 bond hearing, Gustafson said Melia met with Tsiropoulos and a cooperating witness last summer at a "Starbucks that Mr. Melia is known to frequent" to discuss another loansharking deal.
The Starbucks meeting involved a second loan a witness allegedly helped someone obtain from Tsiropoulos, with Melia's approval. Another meeting regarding the same loan occurred at Wall Street Variety, a downtown Norwalk convenience store Tsiropoulos co-owns, according to federal authorities.
Melia, Tsiropoulos and the witness met Aug. 10 at Starbucks after the borrower had trouble repaying the loan, Gustafson said Oct. 1. Melia said the witness had to repay the loan, the prosecutor said.
"When the cooperating witness . . . explained that he didn't have the assets to make the weekly payments, Mr. Melia remarked, 'Then I'll have to do what I have to do,'" Gustafson said, according to a transcript of the Oct. 1 hearing.
Pickerstein yesterday argued that no evidence has been presented showing his client is a danger to the community. A motion the attorney filed Oct. 18 states the government argued at his client's bond hearing Melia is a danger to the community "not because he has committed any act of violence or intimidation," but because he can supposedly "arrange for others to do his 'bidding' for him."
For example, the government saidMelia was involved in an assault stemming from an extortion attempt with a Gambino enforcer, committed last year at a Norwalk social club.
But Melia was not charged in the incident and the government presented no evidence, Pickerstein countered.
Hernandez said Melia's loansharking operation charged 3 percent per week, an "extraordinary" rate.
Fitzsimmons said she will issue a ruling on Pickerstein's requests, though a date was not set.
Courtesy: The Stamford Advocate
