WCNYH

ASSOCIATE OF DECAVALCANTE CRIME FAMILY SENTENCED TO MORE THAN TWO YEARS IN PRISON FOR DISTRIBUTING COCAINE

September 27, 2016

An associate of the DeCavalcante organized crime family of La Cosa Nostra was sentenced today to 30 months in prison for his role in distributing more than 500 grams of cocaine, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.

John Capozzi, 36, of Union, New Jersey, previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge William H. Walls to an information charging him with one count of distribution of more than 500 grams of cocaine. Judge Walls imposed the sentence today in Newark federal court.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

Capozzi was arrested and charged by complaint in March 2015, along with nine members of the DeCavalcante crime family. He admitted that between Dec. 12, 2014 and March 2015, in conjunction with other family associates, he sold more than one-half a kilo of cocaine to an undercover FBI agent for at least $78,000.

In addition to the prison term, Judge Walls sentenced Capozzi to two years of supervised release.

U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Timothy Gallagher in Newark; the N.J. State Commission of Investigation, under the direction of Acting Executive Director Lee C. Seglem; the Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor, under the direction of Executive Director Walter M. Arsenault; and the Union County Prosecutor’s Office, under the direction of Acting Union County Prosecutor Grace H. Park, with the investigation leading to today’s sentencing.

The government is represented by Senior Litigation Counsel V. Grady O’Malley of the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s Organized Crime/Gangs Unit.