Wall Man Gets 5 Years In Extortion Scheme

A Wall Township man on Friday was sentenced to five years in prison in connection with a scheme to extort money from dock workers at the Port of New York and New Jersey, authorities said.

Joseph Queli, 65, of Concorde Drive, was sentenced by Superior Court Judge Anthony J. Mellaci Jr. and ordered to pay a $57,500 fine. Quieli also must forfeit $24,260 seized duing a joint investigation between the Division of Criminal Justice and the Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor, according to a release from the Office of the Attorney General.

The sentence was based on Queli’s Oct. 28 , and a second count of third-degree filing false tax returns.  Queli was charged in an Oct. 26, 2010 indictment, the release says.

Queli was initially arrested and charged in April 2010 as a result of Operation Terminal, an ongoing investigation by the Division of Criminal Justice and the Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor into the activities of a criminal enterprise that allegedly has exercised control and corrupt influence over the Longshoreman’s union locals that operate shipping terminals at the port, the release says.

The criminal enterprise allegedly was demanding “tribute” from dock workers for better jobs and pay, the release says.

Also charged in April 2010 were a top ILA official, Nunzio LaGrasso, another ILA member, and a Newark police officer who is LaGrasso’s nephew.  They were indicted on Feb. 8, 2011. The charges in that indictment are pending, the release says.  

LaGrasso, 61, of Florham Park, Secretary-Treasurer of ILA Local #1478, was charged with extortion and commercial bribery, both in the second degree, according to the release.

LaGrasso is vice president of the Atlantic Coast District of all ILA locals.  LaGrasso’s nephew, Newark Police Officer Alan Marfia, 40, of Kenilworth, was charged with second-degree official misconduct for allegedly using his access to police databases to obtain information for LaGrasso on undercover police vehicles that were conducting surveillance near his union office, according to the release.

Rocco Ferrandino, 69, of Lakewood, a timekeeper at Maher Terminal in Port Newark/Elizabeth, was charged with second-degree extortion and second-degree commercial bribery, the release says.

The investigation into the activities of the alleged criminal enterprise at the New Jersey waterfront revealed that ILA members working at the shipping terminals are required to make a cash “tribute” payment at Christmas time each year to the enterprise out of the year-end bonuses each ILA member receives, called “container royalty checks,” the release says.

It is alleged that those payments are funneled to the criminal enterprise through LaGrasso.  The payments must be made for union members to receive high-paying jobs, preferred shift assignments and overtime, all as determined under the influence of the criminal enterprise, the release says.

Each of the thousands of union members allegedly must make a payment that typically ranges from a couple of hundred dollars to a couple of thousand dollars depending on the size of the container royalty check.  It is alleged that LaGrasso collected some tribute payments directly, but usually relied on others, such as Ferrandino, to collect them, the release says.

The Port of New York and New Jersey is the largest port complex located on the East Coast of North America.  Roughly $200 billion in cargo moves through the port each year, the release says. 

Through the years, the New Jersey Division of Criminal Justice and the Waterfront Commission have conducted investigations into the activities of organized crime in and around the port.  Past investigations have led to prosecution of union officials and members of the Genovese crime family, which has been found to control or exert significant influence over the ILA and commercial activity at the waterfront. Their criminal activities have included extortion, fencing, commercial bribery, loansharking and gambling, the release says.

Supervising Deputy Attorney General Mark Eliades, Chief of the Division of Criminal Justice Gangs & Organized Crime Bureau, and Deputy Attorney General Erin Callahan are prosecuting the case and represented the Division of Criminal Justice at the sentencing, according to the release.

Supervising Deputy Attorney General Mark Eliades, Chief of the Division of Criminal Justice Gangs & Organized Crime Bureau, and Deputy Attorney General Erin Callahan are prosecuting the case and represented the Division of Criminal Justice at the sentencing.