from the BERGEN RECORD:

New Lodi DPW head indicted in mob probe
Friday, September 8, 2000

By PAULO LIMA
Staff Writer

A Lodi official was among nine North Jersey men named in a sweeping
indictment of contractors and union officials, alleging they conspired with
mobsters in a scheme that added millions of dollars to the costs of public
and private construction contracts in New York City.

The indictment, released Wednesday by the Manhattan District Attorney's
Office, names 38 people and 11 companies, mostly in New York and New Jersey.

One of the indicted men is Gerald Woods, 56, of Grove Street in Lodi. Woods
has been Lodi's director of public works since Aug. 1, but the indictment
accuses him of accepting bribes in his capacity as executive
secretary-treasurer of the Northern New Jersey Regional Council of
Carpenters.

"I was totally surprised, shocked," said Lodi Borough Manager Stephen
LoIacono, who hired Woods.

Woods was voted out of the 4,600-member union during a regularly scheduled
election in June, said John Hook Jr., the man who replaced him.

Woods had been with the union -- which covers Bergen, Essex, Hudson, and
Passaic counties -- for about 30 years, Hook said. The union's funds office
had received a subpoena from the Manhattan District Attorney's Office
several months ago, Hook said.

"I guess that's part of the reason [Woods] is no longer here," Hook said.

It didn't take long for Woods to land on his feet. Borough officials demoted
the former public works director to an assistant position to make room for
Woods, LoIacono said.

He was appointed at a salary of $69,000 a year, said Mayor Gary Paparozzi.

"I felt we needed a change in direction of the department and I elected to
make a change at the top," LoIacono said. "He was available, and he had all
of the qualifications, so I took the opportunity."

LoIacono said he did not know the details of the charges and he planned to
consult with the borough attorney to decide Woods' employment status.

Last year, Woods managed the campaign that landed the current mayor and
council in office.

Woods was being held in the Morris County Jail on Thursday. Officials there
would not release bail information, saying only that they were "holding him
for the [state] Division of Criminal Justice."

According to the indictment, all of the defendants are charged with
enterprise corruption, a felony punishable by up to 25 years in prison.

One of the top alleged conspirators named in the 57-count indictment was
Dominic Truscello, 66, of Ashlyn Court in Wayne. Prosecutors called
Truscello a captain in the Luchese crime family.

New York prosecutors labeled the defendants "The Luchese Construction
Group." The loosely affiliated group included 11 officials from four unions
and 16 people representing 11 different construction companies. The
remaining defendants are either alleged members or associates of the Luchese
crime family, prosecutors said.

The affected unions represent carpenters, masons, and bricklayers.

The alleged mobsters are accused of controlling how work got done on at
least eight construction sites dating to 1997.

Prosecutors said it worked like this:

Under the mob's watchful eye, crooked contractors saved money by using
non-union workers, who typically earn less than their union counterparts.
However, the contractors billed their customers at the higher union wage
rate.

Contractors used a portion of the difference to bribe union officials, who
looked the other way and falsified records to cover up the use of non-union
labor. Some of the money also went to pay a "mob tax" -- at least 5 percent
of the contract's value -- in exchange for the mobsters' facilitating the
scheme.

The mobsters acted as go-betweens on the bribes and settled disputes over
which contractors would control certain job sites. Along with the "mob tax,"
they also were given bogus positions with several of the contractors.

Authorities said many of the positions were "no-show" or "no-work" jobs,
which served only as a cover to provide the alleged mobsters with an
apparently legitimate source of income. They also got medical coverage and
pension benefits.

New York police rounded up most of the suspects early Wednesday morning. The
New Jersey Division of Criminal Justice helped arrest the New Jersey
residents.

Other North Jersey residents indicted were: Anthony Barbagallo, 71, of New
Milford; Kevin Barber, 34, of Kinnelon; Philip DeSimone, 53, of Fort Lee;
Martin Devereaux, 49, of Cresskill; Finbar O'Neill, 35, of Hackensack;
Mikolaj Poniatowski, 55, of Wallington; and Anthony Rucereto, 46, of Budd
Lake.

DeSimone is alleged to be a soldier in the Luchese crime family. Devereaux
and Barbagallo are officials in carpenters and bricklayers unions,
respectively. The others worked for the allegedly crooked contractors.


Five of the job sites cited in the indictment were publicly funded projects,
including three schools and the Triborough and Queensboro bridges, which
were resurfaced.





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Staff Writer Paulo Lima's e-mail address is lima@bergen.com



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