20 THE QUEENS COURIER • NOVEMBER 30, 2017 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
Howard Beach businessman guilty of mob racket
BY ROBERT POZARYCKI
rpozarycki@qns.com / @robbpoz
A prominent Howard Beach businessman
arrested earlier this year in a major
organized crime sweep has pleaded guilty
to participating in a racketeering ring.
Federal prosecutors said that Robert
Pisani, 44, admitted to charges that he
worked together with known associates of
the Bonanno crime family in an “unlawful
debt racketeering conspiracy.” He’s scheduled
to be sentenced on April 10, 2018;
as part of his guilty plea, he will forfeit
$50,000 to the government, and will likely
serve between 15 and 21 months in prison.
Pisani is also facing a January date in
Queens Supreme Court as a result of his
May arrest for allegedly groping a female
employee at one of his businesses, the All-
American Bagel and Barista Company in
Howard Beach. Th e incident also led to the
arrest of Patricia Adams, publisher of Th e
Forum Newsgroup, who allegedly tried on
Pisani’s behalf to coerce the victim’s father
into having the charges dropped.
According to acting U.S. Attorney
Bridget Rohde, Pisani was among a group
of 10 reputed Bonanno crime family
members accused of participating in various
crimes over the last two decades ranging
from racketeering to loan sharking
and murder attempts.
Leading the March indictment was
Howard Beach’s Ronald (aka Ronnie G)
Giallanzo, 46, a reputed acting captain in
the Bonanno family who allegedly oversaw
a criminal enterprises that netted
$26 million in earnings since 1998, federal
prosecutors said. Th e case against
Giallanzo remains pending.
Four other alleged wiseguys from
Queens arrested in March have also
pleaded guilty in the case: Christopher
Boothby, 37; Evan Greenberg, 45; Richard
Heck, 45; and Robert Tanico, 49. Th ey are
all scheduled to be sentenced next spring.
Th e arrests were the result of an extensive
federal investigation that included
evidence gathering through court-authorized
wiretaps, reviews of government
and public records, electronic and video
surveillance and the help of several cooperating
witnesses. Most of the crimes took
place in the Howard Beach area.
Following his March arrest, Pisani was
released on $500,000 bail. Th en in April,
law enforcement sources said, he allegedly
groped and exposed himself to a woman
working for him at the All-American
Bagel and Barista Company. She reported
the incident to police, and Pisani was
arrested on May 4.
Aft er learning of his arrest, federal
prosecutors moved to have Pisani’s bail
revoked. Soon aft er a hearing on the
matter was scheduled, law enforcement
sources said, he allegedly contacted
Adams and asked her to get involved.
Authorities said that Adams, a known
Bonanno associate who had accumulated
a massive gambling debt, reached out
to the groping victim’s father and met
with him on May 13 at a neighborhood
Starbucks. During a two-hour conversation,
which the victim’s father taped,
Adams allegedly told him that she was
close with Pisani and that she was “in a
position … to have to expose the whole
situation if we get to that point.”
Federal agents arrested Adams in August
on charges of witness tampering; she was
released on $150,000 bail and is now awaiting
trial on an ensuing indictment.
Queens man wins big in
NY lottery scratch-off
BY EMILY DAVENPORT
edavenport@qns.com / @QNS
A Queens construction worker
won big bucks on New York Lottery’s
“$10,000 a Week for Life” scratch-off
aft er buying his ticket from a Jamaica
smoke shop.
Imran Mohammed, 29, was coming
home from work when he stopped into
M&S Smoke Shop, located at 179-40
Hillside Ave., and bought one of the $20
tickets. When he scratched the ticket, it
revealed the “life” symbol, earning him
the guaranteed $10,000,000 jackpot prize.
“It was unbelievable,” Mohammed
said. “I thought something was wrong
with the ticket.”
Mohammed claimed his prize in the
form of a trust called Th e Lucky FSP
Trust. He opted to receive the cash value
of the guaranteed $10,000,000 prize,
netting him $5,036,617 aft er required
withholdings.
While Mohammed has plans for what
he’ll do with his winnings, retiring early
from construction isn’t one of them.
“I will continue working, but maybe
a little less than normal,” Mohammed
said. “I’ll use some of the winnings to
buy a new house and then invest the rest
for the future.”
Woodhaven car crash
sends two to the hospital
BY EMILY DAVENPORT
edavenport@qns.com / @QNS
A car crash in Woodhaven sent two
passengers to the hospital Tuesday morning.
On Nov. 28, emergency personnel from
the FDNY responded to a motor vehicle
accident at 77th Street and 88th Avenue.
Upon their arrival, they found that two
cars had collided into each other.
EMS responded to the scene. Two of the
victims in the crash were taken to Jamaica
Hospital in stable condition.
A representative from the FDNY could
not confi rm the cause of the accident,
however they speculated that one of the
cars involved may have jumped the curb.
Photo: Google Maps
Photo by Robert Stridiron/RHS Breaking News Services