Member of DeCavalcante Crime Family Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison for Use of Interstate Facility to Commit Murder.
A member of the DeCavalcante was sentenced today to 10 years in prison for using a phone to premeditate the assassination of an organized crime adversary, U.S. Attorney William E. Fitzpatrick announced. Charles Stango, 73, of Henderson, Nevada, previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge William H. Walls to information charging him with one count of knowingly using an interstate facility – a telephone – with the intention to murder. He also pled guilty to breaking the conditions of his supervised discharge, which he was serving after his incarceration on racketeering charges in New York.
The DeCavalcante crime family was part of a national criminal organization known as the “Mafia” and/or “La Cosa Nostra,” which functioned through groups called “families.” Stango was arrested on April 14, 2015, as part of a sweep of DeCavalcante crime family members that operated in New Jersey. The DeCavalcante family engaged in various criminal activities, including distribution of controlled substances, conspiracy to commit murder, extortion, prostitution, and other violent crimes
Stango confessed today to using the phone to sketch the murder of a crime family enemy(Victim 1). Based on tape-recorded evidence uncovered during the investigation, Stango believed that Victim 1 had misleadingly held himself out to be a “made man” inside the family organization. Stango refused to honor Victim 1’s new position. Stango also believed that Victim 1 had insulted family member, which for Stango that deserved the biggest punishment. He payed $50k to hire two assassin to carry out the murder. The alleged assassins, were in fact undercover FBI Agents. Law enforcement officials closed down the investigation to ensure Victim 1’s safety,who was never harmed.
Stango’s son, Anthony Stango and six of other of his co-defendants, have pled guilty to a range of crimes, including allotment of large amounts of cocaine and attempting to start up a prostitution business.
In addition to the prison term, Judge Walls sentenced Stango to three years of supervised release.
U.S. Attorney Fitzpatrick recognized special agents of the FBI, directed by Special Agent in Charge Timothy Gallagher in Newark; the Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor, directed by Executive Director Walter Arsenault; the Bayonne Police Department, under the supervision of Chief Drew Niekrasz; and the N.J. State Commission of Investigation directed by Acting Director Lee C. Seglem, with the investigation leading to today’s sentencing. He also thanked the FBI’s Las Vegas office and the Union County Prosecutor’s Office for their roles in the investigation.
