Feds arrest alleged New York crime family leader in South Florida on conspiracy charge
A top member of an alleged New York crime family was arrested Sunday by federal agents in Fort Lauderdale on drug-related conspiracy charges.
Peter G. Gerace Jr., 53, a nephew of reputed Buffalo mob boss Joseph A. Todaro Jr., was taken into custody by Homeland Security Investigations agents Sunday and had his first appearance in federal court Monday. A federal magistrate judge ordered that Gerace be restricted to home confinement with an electronic ankle monitor as he awaits trial in New York.
Gerace is among six men targeted by federal prosecutors who have called the group the “Italian Organized Crime” family of Western New York.
Gerace Jr. owns a strip club in the Buffalo area, and his brother, Anthony, a former employee at the club, is awaiting sentencing on a weapons charge connected to drug trafficking. They are the nephews of Todaro Jr., who authorities say has headed the local mob, according to the Buffalo News.
Prosecutors identified the Gerace brothers as co-conspirators of Joseph Bongiovanni, a retired U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agent who was arrested in 2019 on charges of accepting $250,000 in bribes to help drug dealers avoid arrest, including some the government says are connected to organized crime. He has pleaded not guilty.
The Buffalo News recently published a story on their case, spotlighting the return of the “Buffalo Mafia.”
Despite some successful prosecutions for murder, bookmaking, loan sharking, drug trafficking, theft and other crimes, the feds have never made a criminal racketeering case against leaders of the alleged Buffalo Mafia organization.
Federal prosecutors, working with Homeland Security and other federal agencies, are taking aim at the alleged crime family.
This story was originally published March 1, 2021 at 9:48 AM.
