Record
Court opinion
1986-02-21
CourtListener (Free Law Project), text of the opinion
United States v. Massino, 784 F.2d 153 (2d Cir. 1986)
On the government's appeal, the Second Circuit reverses the suppression of 1982 wiretap tapes in the S.D.N.Y. RICO case against Joseph Massino and Salvatore Vitale, finding the government's reason for a fifteen-day sealing delay satisfactory. "They were indicted on October 4, 1984."
- Date
- 1986-02-21
- Kind
- court-opinion
- Retrieved
- 2026-10-12
- Docket
- No. 85-1140
- Rights
- Opinion of a United States court. Works of the federal judiciary are in the public domain in the United States. The text was read on CourtListener.
United States Court of Appeals, Second Circuit, No. 85-1140, argued August 16, 1985 and decided February 21, 1986. “Defendants Joseph Massino and Salvatore Vitale had moved in the district court to suppress the fruits of this wiretap, as well as five previous wiretap orders.” The court states: “They were indicted on October 4, 1984.” The charges were RICO conspiracy and a substantive RICO count. The district court’s opinion is reported at 605 F. Supp. 1565 (1985); it was not opened for this archive.
The district court had held that “a fifteen-day delay in sealing the tapes from the June-July order (‘the sixth order’) required suppression of those tapes.” The government’s explanation, through the affidavit of Special Agent Donald McCormick, was “an investigation into a leak in the electronic surveillance project.” According to McCormick, “Angelo Ruggiero, the principal target of the wiretapping and bugging, had received information about the police investigation.” Angelo Ruggiero is a different man from Benjamin Ruggiero. The tapes “were not sealed until July 22, fifteen days after the order had expired.”
The court held: “We believe the government’s explanation for the delay is satisfactory, and reverse the order of suppression.” The opinion gives no family or rank for either defendant, and none is added here.