‘Matty the Horse’ Stabled by FBI in Mob-Union Probe

A geriatric gangster with a decades old mob pedigree was arrested yesterday along with 19 other alleged Genovese crime family members and associates on extortion, loan-sharking, and other charges.Matthew “Matty the Horse” Ianniello – a longtime capo who allegedly became one of the family’s acting bosses following the conviction of Vincent “the Chin” Gigante – was arrested by federal agents and police at 6 a.m. at his Long Island home. Authorities said the defendant recently turned 85.“Don’t let age fool you,” said FBI Agent Matt Heron, who helped supervise the investigation. “He’s still an influential player in the Genovese family.”Ianniello’s brother, Bobby, was the owner of Umberto’s Clam House, the infamous Little Italy restaurant where a hit man gunned down flashy mobster “Crazy Joey” Gallo on April 7, 1972.After the hit, Ianniello was reportedly cornered in the Umberto’s kitchen by Gallo’s bodyguard, “Pete the Greek” Diapioulas. When the bodyguard accused Ianniello of setting Gallo up, he quickly denied it.“You think I’m crazy?” Ianniello asked. “To let this happen in this place?”The slaying made Umberto’s a must-see spot for tourists, who scanned its woodwork and kitchen door for leftover bullet holes. Its lure remained unabated, even when Ianniello was jailed in 1986 for skimming its proceeds or when a federal monitor ran the place in the early 1990s.Investigators allege Ianniello’s career continued unabated as well.“No matter how long you’re in business, we’re not going to let up on you,” another investigator, the New York police department captain, Christopher Monahan, said. “Age isn’t a factor.”Ianniello and his co-defendants were awaiting arraignment in Manhattan federal court on charges of conspiracy, obstruction of justice, extortion, and influencing a union official. His attorney, Jay Goldberg, denied his client was an acting boss and predicted he would be cleared of the charges.An indictment alleges that under Ianniello’s leadership, the mob family infiltrated Local 1181 of the Amalgamated Transit Union, which represents bus drivers. In 1997, the defendants allegedly extorted $100,000 cash from a medical center that rented office space from the local and have collected regular cash payments from the center ever since.Three top officials with the Queens-based local, including its president, were among those indicted. Investigators alleged that the officials did business with mob figures over lunches at an Italian restaurant in Queens owned by a Genovese captain.A call to the union office was not immediately returned.When a grand jury began an investigation, Ianniello and other defendants conspired to cover up their criminal activity, authorities said. The indictment also alleges they operated an illegal gambling operation that staged high stakes card games.

‘Matty the Horse’ Stabled by FBI in Mob-Union Probe

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