Record
Court opinion
1982-01-19/1982-07-15
CourtListener (Free Law Project), text of the opinion
United States v. Napolitano, 552 F. Supp. 465 (S.D.N.Y. 1982)
Judge Robert W. Sweet's pretrial rulings of January to July 1982 in the RICO case against Dominick Napolitano, Benjamin Ruggiero and others, charged as members or associates of "the Bonanno Family of La Cosa Nostra." The opinion records that "Ruggiero had been told that an FBI agent, Donnie Brasco, had infiltrated his activities."
- Date
- 1982-01-19/1982-07-15
- Kind
- court-opinion
- Retrieved
- 2026-10-12
- Docket
- 81 Cr. 803 (RWS)
- 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 District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 81 Cr. 803 (RWS). The opinion collects Judge Robert W. Sweet’s rulings in the case, dated January 19, 1982 and, on later motions, March 27, May 18, June 10, June 25, July 7 and July 15, 1982. The caption names Dominick Napolitano, “a/k/a ‘Sonny Black,’” Benjamin Ruggiero, “a/k/a ‘Lefty,’” John Cerasani, Nicholas Santora, James Episcopia and Antonio J. Tomasulo; counsel also appear for Anthony Rabito, Dennis Mulligan and Vincent Piteo. Assistant U.S. Attorney Barbara S. Jones appeared of counsel for the government.
The court sets out the procedural history: “The procedural history relevant to this application starts with the arrest of defendant Ruggiero on August 29, 1981.” The defendants were indicted on November 23, 1981. “The indictment charges that each defendant was a member or associate of a criminal enterprise, the Bonanno Family of La Cosa Nostra, which engaged in various criminal activities constituting a pattern of racketeering.” The court refused to strike the words “the Bonanno Family of La Cosa Nostra” from the indictment, holding that the government “is entitled to prove” that the enterprise it described exists.
On the wiretaps, the court upheld the orders for the Rabito, Ruggiero and Motion Lounge telephones. It records the government’s account that the undercover agent “operated primarily in Florida” and that “when in New York he stayed with defendant Napolitano, but he was not privy to the criminal activities at Napolitano’s level.” It also records that “Ruggiero had been told that an FBI agent, Donnie Brasco, had infiltrated his activities,” and that “The FBI told Napolitano that Brasco was an agent to warn them not to harm Brasco and to seek his cooperation.” The opinion does not name the agent.
On bail, the government pointed to “the absence of Dominick Napolitano, who is currently a fugitive.” On trial in absentia, the court wrote that “the fact is that Napolitano and Messina are not being tried in absentia.” Everything above is the government’s account and the court’s pretrial rulings, not a verdict. The verdicts are recorded in the Eleventh Circuit’s later opinion, United States v. Ruggiero, 754 F.2d 927.
