Deer Park man charged in mob case

A Long Island man and four other alleged leaders of the Bonanno crime family were charged with racketeering, extortion, gambling and drug crimes in Brooklyn federal court Friday.

Nicholas "Nicky Mouth" Santora, 69, of Deer Park, identified as a Bonanno captain and former acting underboss, was accused of participating in the criminal enterprise while he was on supervised release from a 2007 conviction on similar charges.

Prosecutors said Santora resumed criminal activities "promptly" after his release in 2009 from a 2-year sentence.

The government also charged alleged made members Vincent Badalamenti, 53 -- said to be the highest-ranking Bonanno mobster at large -- along with Vito Balsamo, 55; Anthony Calabrese, 44; and Anthony Graziano, 71. All are from Staten Island, as is accused associate James LaForte, 35.

Graziano, who has been held since his arrest in December, is scheduled to appear in court next week. The other five men, arrested Friday, pleaded not guilty at their arraignments. Badalamenti, LaForte and Santora were all held without bail.

Magistrate Joan Azrack said Santora's alleged violation of supervised release was a big strike against his release. "He got out of prison and went right back to the life he had gone to prison for," she told Santora's lawyer.

The case was assembled by the FBI and the Drug Enforcement Administration, employing informants and recordings.

Prosecutors said more than 175 Bonanno members and associates had been prosecuted since 2002, and more than 10 bosses, members of the ruling hierarchy, had been convicted.

In addition to Santora's alleged violation of his probation, prosecutors said two other defendants had been in halfway houses when they re-engaged with mob criminal activities.

"Because they learned nothing, they find themselves back in custody again, along with their co-defendants," said Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Loretta Lynch.