Copyright 1987 The New York Times Company  
The New York Times
April 7, 1987, Tuesday, Late City Final Edition
SECTION: Section B; Page 3, Column 1; Metropolitan Desk

LENGTH: 696 words

HEADLINE: JURY SELECTION STARTS IN TRIAL OF 12 AS MAFIA CONSPIRATORS

BYLINE: By ARNOLD H. LUBASCH

BODY:
Jury selection began yesterday for the trial of 12 men, including a convicted Mafia boss, accused of rigging bids on construction contracts, intervening in union elections and plotting murders.

The main defendant, Anthony (Fat Tony) Salerno, is already serving a 100-year prison sentence for his recent conviction as a member of the Mafia's ruling ''commission.'' The new trial, focusing on his leadership of the Genovese group, got under way in Federal District Court in Manhattan.

A key figure in the case is Vincent (Fish) Cafaro, identified as a Genovese captain who turned informer. He has been described as the highest Mafia member in New York ever to cooperate with the authorities.
 
Witness Gets Protection

As the jury selection was beginning, the prosecution removed Mr. Cafaro as a defendant in the racketeering trial. He is expected to testify for the prosecution as a federally protected witness.

The prosecutors, Alan M. Cohen and Mark R. Hellerer, told the trial judge that they expected Mr. Cafaro to plead guilty later. They also removed his son, Thomas Cafaro, as a defendant, but made no comment about him. The son's lawyer, Frank A. Lopez, said later that his client was not cooperating with the authorities.

Judge Mary Johnson Lowe started screening the prospective jurors by noting that it would be a long trial and asking them if they had any ''legal reason'' for not serving on the jury.

''This case is expected to last approximately six months,'' Judge Lowe said. Lawyers in the case predicted that selection of the jury would take two to three weeks.

In the initial screening, the judge excused more than two-thirds of the 300 prospective jurors, leaving 90 to be questioned further.
 
A 40-Count Indictment

The 40-count indictment includes charges that Mr. Salerno and some associates carried out fraudulent schemes to select Roy L. Williams and then Jackie Presser as president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.

Mr. Williams, who was convicted in a 1982 bribery case, is to appear on videotape as a prosecution witness. Mr. Presser, who has been the teamster president since 1983, is a defendant in an unrelated racketeering case in Cleveland.

According to the charges against Mr. Salerno, he and his associates rigged bids on numerous construction projects, including more than $30 million of concrete work for the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center on the West Side of Manhattan.

The defendants include three men identified as operators of construction companies in New York City: Edward J. (Biff) Halloran, Nicholas Auletta and Alvin O. Chattin. A businessman, Richard Costa, is also a defendant.
 
Reputed Leaders Accused

Another defendant is Aniello (Neil) Migliore, identified by the authorities as a top leader of the Lucchese crime family. Three defendants described as Genovese captains are Matthew (Matty the Horse) Ianniello, Giuseppe Sabato and Vincent DiNapoli. Mr. DiNapoli's son, Louis, is also a defendant.

The two other defendants are John (Peanuts) Tronolone, named as a member of the Cleveland crime family, and Milton (Maishe) Rockman, named as an associate.

Besides participating in illegal gambling, loan sharking and other crimes, the indictment said, Mr. Salerno took part in ''conspiracies to murder individuals who posed a threat'' to the operations of the Genovese group.

The defendants were identified in the indictment as men associated with an enterprise ''often known as the Genovese Organized Crime Family of La Cosa Nostra.''
 
'Massive Scheme' Charged

''The Genovese family and its co-racketeers,'' the indictment said, ''engaged in a massive scheme to defraud real-estate developers and construction managers by rigging bids on subcontracts for the concrete superstructure work on high-rise buildings in the borough of Manhattan.''

Evidence about the related extortion charges in the concrete industry was presented last year in both the Mafia commission trial and a trial that focused on the Colombo crime family.

Judge Lowe, who has rejected the prosecution's request to select an anonymous jury for the present trial, is to continue the jury selection today.