AG Martha Coakley: Mafia-led ring busted Drug trafficking, gambling targeted

AG Martha Coakley: Mafia-led ring busted
Drug trafficking, gambling targeted
By O’Ryan Johnson  |   Friday, October 22, 2010  |  http://www.bostonherald.com  |  Local Coverage

Photo by Angela Rowlings
A North Shore Mafia capo and 30 associates — including a special assistant to the Malden mayor — were rounded up in a year-long investigation into gambling, drugs and extortion that cut deeply into the New England mob, authorities said yesterday.

The Rossetti Criminal Organization — a massive La Cosa Nostra crime ring covering three counties — “not only perpetrated threats of violence and vicious attacks in order to collect gaming debts but also engaged in extensive drug trafficking, ” said Essex District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett.

A state grand jury convened by Attorney General Martha Coakley indicted 30 associates of accused crime boss Mark Rossetti, 51, of East Boston, who was arraigned in May and faces Suffolk and Essex charges for trafficking heroin, conspiracy to traffic heroin, breaking and entering, attempted extortion, conspiracy to commit attempted extortion and criminal usury.

Rossetti’s lawyer, Randi Potash, denied her client — who has been held on $500,000 bail — was a high-ranking member of the mob.

“If my client was a capo in the LCN, he wouldn’t be locked up since May,” she said. “He would have been bailed. He enjoys the presumption of innocence like all citizens.”

The investigation into the Rossetti organization started a year ago, when Blodgett’s office got a complaint from a man who was allegedly being extorted by Joseph Giallanella, 62, of North Andover. Giallanella was held on $250,000 bail for assault and battery, attempted extortion, conspiracy, organizing or promoting a gambling facility, witness intimidation and other charges.

Rossetti also allegedly used Darin Bufalino, 49, of Winthrop — who prosecutors called a “soldier” in the Mafia — as muscle to collect gambling and loan debts. The alleged leg-breaker was ordered held on $500,000 cash bail.

At the time of his arraignment, Bufalino was on bail for an armed robbery case out of Essex County Superior Court.

Bufalino’s lawyer Tim Flaherty said he will present a “vigorous defense.” He scoffed at talk of a Mafia connection with his client.

“I think it’s a myth,” Flaherty said. Bufalino’s wife Jacquiline Bufalino echoed, “Absolutely. He’s a great guy.”

According to published reports, Bufalino fled to Ireland in the 1980s to escape a murder charge, and was finally returned after he battled extradition for three years in Spain. He beat the case when a judge ruled wire tap evidence inadmissible. He then served three to five years in connection with the shooting of a pair of Revere drug dealers in 1994, but the sentence was reduced because of bungled witness testimony.

Also indicted was Charles Toomajian, a special assistant to Malden Mayor Richard Howard, a position where his responsibilities include sitting in on contract negotiations with police, fire and DPW workers. He was indicted for accessory after the fact to embezzlement.

“He denies any knowledge of any criminal activity and any participation in any criminal activity,” said his lawyer, Thomas Drechsler. Howard’s office did not immediately respond to a call for comment.

In a press conference announcing the arrests, authorities displayed what they described as the tools of the trade: 200 pounds of marijuana, a kilo of heroin, body armor, knives, guns and a replica Uzi.

Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1290606