Word: chertoff
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Dates: during 1986-1986
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...eight grim men seated around the defendants' table may have looked like a group of grandfathers, but to Chief Prosecutor Michael Chertoff, they were directors of the "largest and most vicious criminal business in the history of the United States." Last week twelve anonymous members of a federal jury in New York City seemed to agree. They convicted the eight men, among whom were the leaders of three of New York City's five Mob families, of running the Mafia as a criminal organization controlled by a powerful commission. Among its activities: murder, extortion and racketeering...
...verdict, the first against the Mafia as a criminal enterprise, was the most damaging blow to La Cosa Nostra struck by the Justice Department in its highly successful crusade to disorganize organized crime. "The Mob," exulted Chertoff, "has been decapitated...
Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Chertoff, whose bushy mustache could not hide his tender age of 32, addressed the anonymous jurors in calm, methodical tones. Chertoff charged flatly that the Mafia is run by a coordinating Commission and that the eight defendants, representing four of New York City's five nationally powerful Mob families, were either on this crime board or had carried out its racketeering dictates. "What you will see is these men," he said, "these crime leaders, fighting with each other, backstabbing each other, each one trying to get a larger share of the illegal proceeds. You are going...
...muscle of organized crime has been most formidable in New York City. Prosecutors have been attacking it with increasing success, but expect to score their biggest win in the so-called Commission case (dubbed Star Chamber by federal investigators). Chertoff and two other young prosecutors handling their first big trial will have to prove that a national Commission made up of the bosses and some underbosses of the major families has been dividing turf and settling disputes among the crime clans ever since New York's ruthless "Lucky" Luciano organized the Commission in 1931. Luciano acted to end the gang...
...jurors will see a videotape of Indelicato, who is a defendant in the Commission case, being congratulated shortly after the killings by high-ranking Gambino family members at its Ravenite Social Club. "Watch the way they shake hands, watch the way they are con gratulating each other," said Prosecutor Chertoff...