United States v. Licavoli, 725 F.2d 1040 (6th Cir. 1984)

United States Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit, argued November 14, 1983, decided January 9, 1984. The appellants were James T. Licavoli, Anthony Liberatore, John P. Calandra, Pasquale Cisternino, Ronald Carabbia and Kenneth Ciarcia, convicted after a jury trial of conducting and conspiring to conduct the affairs of an enterprise through a pattern of racketeering. The court held that a conspiracy to murder can be a predicate act under RICO.

The court sets out the facts this way: “the government asserts (and we agree) that the evidence, viewed in the light most favorable to it, established the following.” It continues: “Defendant Licavoli is a leader of organized crime in Cleveland. Liberatore is his second-in-command, and Calandra also holds a position of confidence and responsibility within the organization.” Then: “In the spring of 1976 Licavoli decided that he needed to have one Danny Greene killed. Greene was the leader of a rival criminal organization which had developed a monopoly on criminal activity in West Cleveland.” The court recounts that a wiretap tape “revealed that Greene was to go to a dentist’s appointment at 2:30 p.m. on Thursday, October 6, 1977,” and that a bomb was detonated by remote control as Greene left, “and Danny Greene was killed.”

“All six defendants in the present case were tried for Danny Greene’s murder in state court. Cisternino, Carabbia and Ciarcia were convicted of Greene’s murder.” A second predicate concerned confidential FBI information obtained through a clerk in the Cleveland office; this page does not name her. The court concluded: “We affirm the judgments of conviction of all defendants.” The opinion names no street or building for the dentist’s office.