1/25/2015
Christopher Baxter
The three pleaded guilty to demanding the money, from a couple hundred to a couple thousand dollars, from thousands of union members who worked the shipping terminals at the Port of New York and New Jersey, the state Attorney General's Office said.
The union members were required to make the payments out of their year-end bonuses in order to receive higher-paying jobs, preferred shift assignments and overtime, all of which were determined by the criminal enterprise that exercised control over the terminals.
Money was funneled through Nunzio LaGrasso, 63, of Florham Park, the former secretary-treasurer of ILA Local #1478 and vice president of the Atlantic Coast District of ILA locals. He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit commercial bribery and money laundering, and prosecutors will recommend he be sentenced to seven years in prison.
“This union official sold out the hardworking union members he was supposed to serve, extorting money from them in a criminal tribute scheme that belongs in an old Hollywood movie, but certainly not on the modern-day docks of our port,” acting state Attorney General John Hoffman said.
LaGrasso's nephew, Alan Marfia, 43, of Kenilworth, a former Newark police officer, admitted to conspiracy to commit computer theft for using police databases to get information for LaGrasso about undercover police vehicles conducting surveillance near his union office. Prosecutors will recommend a sentence of three in prison.
And Rocco Ferrandino, 72, of Lakewood, who was a timekeeper at Maher Terminal in Port Newark/Elizabeth and helped collect the tributes for LaGrasso, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit commercial bribery and money laundering. Prosecutors will recommend he be sentenced to three to five years in prison.
Two other men previously pleaded guilty as part of the 2011 investigation, dubbed "Operation Terminal," led by the state Division of Criminal Justice and the Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor.
LaGrasso was one of three men to plead guilty to similar charges in federal court last month as part of a parallel investigation by the U.S. Attorney's Office of New Jersey, and in July, Ferrandino pleaded guilty to a federal conspiracy charge. He still faces an additional charge in New York.
The Port of New York and New jersey is the largest complex of its kind on the East Coast of North America, with roughly $200 billion in cargo moving through it each year. Past investigations have led to the prosecution of union officials and members of the Genovese crime family, which has been found to exert influence over business at the port.
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Christopher Baxter
Nunzio LaGrasso (left), 63, of Florham Park, admitted today to extorting money from dock workers' Christmas bonuses with the help of his nephew, Alan Marfia (bottom right), 43, of Kenilworth, and Rocco Ferrandino, 72, of Lakewood, state authorities said. (Courtesy of N.J. Attorney General's Office)
TRENTON — A former official of the International Longshoremen's Association, a former Newark police officer and a third man admitted today to taking Christmas tributes from dock workers on the state's waterfront in return for better jobs and wages, state authorities said.The three pleaded guilty to demanding the money, from a couple hundred to a couple thousand dollars, from thousands of union members who worked the shipping terminals at the Port of New York and New Jersey, the state Attorney General's Office said.
The union members were required to make the payments out of their year-end bonuses in order to receive higher-paying jobs, preferred shift assignments and overtime, all of which were determined by the criminal enterprise that exercised control over the terminals.
Money was funneled through Nunzio LaGrasso, 63, of Florham Park, the former secretary-treasurer of ILA Local #1478 and vice president of the Atlantic Coast District of ILA locals. He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit commercial bribery and money laundering, and prosecutors will recommend he be sentenced to seven years in prison.
“This union official sold out the hardworking union members he was supposed to serve, extorting money from them in a criminal tribute scheme that belongs in an old Hollywood movie, but certainly not on the modern-day docks of our port,” acting state Attorney General John Hoffman said.
LaGrasso's nephew, Alan Marfia, 43, of Kenilworth, a former Newark police officer, admitted to conspiracy to commit computer theft for using police databases to get information for LaGrasso about undercover police vehicles conducting surveillance near his union office. Prosecutors will recommend a sentence of three in prison.
And Rocco Ferrandino, 72, of Lakewood, who was a timekeeper at Maher Terminal in Port Newark/Elizabeth and helped collect the tributes for LaGrasso, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit commercial bribery and money laundering. Prosecutors will recommend he be sentenced to three to five years in prison.
Two other men previously pleaded guilty as part of the 2011 investigation, dubbed "Operation Terminal," led by the state Division of Criminal Justice and the Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor.
LaGrasso was one of three men to plead guilty to similar charges in federal court last month as part of a parallel investigation by the U.S. Attorney's Office of New Jersey, and in July, Ferrandino pleaded guilty to a federal conspiracy charge. He still faces an additional charge in New York.
The Port of New York and New jersey is the largest complex of its kind on the East Coast of North America, with roughly $200 billion in cargo moving through it each year. Past investigations have led to the prosecution of union officials and members of the Genovese crime family, which has been found to exert influence over business at the port.
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