MEMBER LA COSA NOSTRA SENTENCED TO 55 MONTHS IN PRISON

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Monday, February 25, 2013
Member of Philadelphia La Cosa Nostra Sentenced to 55 Months in Prison

Louis Fazzini was sentenced today to serve 55 months in prison for his participation in a racketeering conspiracy involving illegal gambling and theft from an employee benefit plan, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Zane David Memeger of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and John Brosnan, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Philadelphia Division.

Fazzini, 46, of Caldwell, N.J., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Eduardo C. Robreno in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. In addition to his prison term, Fazzini was sentenced to serve three years of supervised release following his prison term.

On Oct. 5, 2012, Fazzini pleaded guilty to conspiring to conduct and participate in the affairs of the Philadelphia La Cosa Nostra (LCN) Family through a pattern of racketeering activity. At the time of the plea colloquy, he admitted that, as a "made" member of the North Jersey crew of the Philadelphia LCN Family, he operated a sports bookmaking business and devised a fraudulent scheme to obtain health benefits through a "no show" job controlled by the LCN in furtherance of the racketeering conspiracy. As a "no show" employee, Fazzini performed no work or productive services, while still receiving health benefits.

The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney John S. Han of the Criminal Division’s Organized Crime and Gang Section and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Frank A. Labor III and Suzanne B. Ercole of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Valuable prosecutorial assistance was provided by the Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General.

The case is being investigated by the FBI, the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation, the Pennsylvania State Police, the New Jersey State Police, the Philadelphia Police Department, and the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Inspector General Office of Labor Racketeering and Fraud Investigations, and the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration. Additional assistance was provided by the New Jersey Department of Corrections.