LA COSA NOSTRA SOLDIER GETS 27 MONTH PRISON TERM

FROM:  U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT 

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Philadelphia La Cosa Nostra Soldier Sentenced to Serve 27 Months in Prison

Eric Esposito was sentenced to serve 27 months in prison for conducting an illegal gambling business on behalf of the Philadelphia La Cosa Nostra Family, announced Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Zane David Memeger of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and Edward J. Hanko, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Philadelphia Division .

Esposito, 43, of Philadelphia, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Eduardo C. Robreno in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.   In addition to his prison term, Esposito was sentenced to serve three years of supervised release and ordered to pay a fine of $4,000.

On Feb. 21, 2014, after a week-long trial, a jury convicted Esposito of conducting an illegal gambling business involving the use of video poker machines at a private social club known as the “First Ward Republican Club” in South Philadelphia.   According to evidence presented at trial, as a fully initiated mob soldier, Esposito worked in concert with other mob members to carry out this illegal gambling business on behalf of the Philadelphia La Cosa Nostra Family.

A total of 13 leaders, members and associates of the Philadelphia La Cosa Nostra Family have pleaded guilty or been convicted by a jury as part of this case.   To date, 12 defendants, including Esposito, have been sentenced, and one is awaiting sentencing.

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 was investigated by the FBI, the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigations, the Pennsylvania State Police, the New Jersey State Police, the Philadelphia Police Department, 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.