ROSLYNN R. MAUSKOPF, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, MARK J. MERSHON, Assistant Director-in-Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office, and RAYMOND W. KELLY, Commissioner, New York City Police Department, today announced the unsealing of a superseding indictment charging Gambino Family captain DOMINICK "Skinny Dom" PIZZONIA with racketeering conspiracy, including predicate acts of murder, murder conspiracy, extortionate extension of credit, and extortionate collection of credit.¹

PIZZONIA was arrested this morning and will be arraigned this afternoon before United States Magistrate Judge Joan M. Azrack, at the U. S. Courthouse, 225 Cadman Plaza East, Brooklyn, New York. The case is assigned to United States District Judge Jack B. Weinstein.

In two of the charged racketeering acts, PIZZONIA and others are charged with the 1992 conspiracy to murder and murder of Rosemary and Thomas Uva. According to the indictment, on the morning of December 24, 1992, the victims, who were husband and wife, were shot in the head and killed while inside their idling car at the intersection of Woodhaven Boulevard and 103rd Avenue, in Queens, New York. Their bodies were discovered moments later when the car rolled through the intersection, collided with an oncoming vehicle, and came to rest against the front curb of nearby residence. The Uvas were referred to by members and associates of organized crime as "Bonnie and Clyde," for their suspected commission of gunpoint robberies of several social clubs operated and controlled by mafia families, including the Gambino family. The killings of the Uvas had been widely sought by organized crime as revenge for those robberies.

A third racketeering act charges PIZZONIA and others with conspiring to use extortionate means to collect extensions of credit from "John Doe #1" between December 1999 and May 2000. In November 2001, PIZZONIA pled guilty to the conduct underlying this racketeering act, United States v. Pizzonia, Cr. No. 01-416 (ILG) (the "2001 case").

A fourth racketeering act charges PIZZONIA and others with the extortionate extension of credit to, and collection of credit from, "John Doe #2" between 2001 and June 2002. These acts are alleged to have occurred while PIZZONIA was released on bail pending trial in the 2001 case, and during the period between his sentencing and the date of his surrender to begin serving his sentence in that case.

"This indictment sends a clear message that murderers who kill on behalf of the mob will not escape justice," stated United States Attorney MAUSKOPF. "We will spare no resources in putting an end to organized crime's corrosive impact on our communities and their residents."

FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge MERSHON stated, "The varsity crimes of the mob -- racketeering and murder -- cannot withstand the heat which comes with the partnership of the NYPD and FBI. We're very proud of that partnership, and of this superseding indictment and the arrest of Pizzonia."

NYPD Police Commissioner KELLY stated, "The NYPD and its law enforcement partners have effectively crippled traditional organized crime. This indictment puts the few who remain on notice that their lawlessness will not be tolerated."

If convicted of racketeering conspiracy, PIZZONIA faces a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

The government's case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Winston Y. Chan and Mitra Hormozi.

The Defendant:

Name: DOMINICK PIZZONIA
DOB: 11/19/41
Address: 127-21 Lafayette Street, Ozone Park, New York

 

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¹ The charges announced today are merely allegations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

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