WCNYH

Reefer Mechanic Supervisor Barred from Waterfront for Association with Organized Crime Figures

June 25, 2018

   Today, the Waterfront Commission unanimously ordered the removal of Frank Ferrara, 64, of Marlboro, New Jersey, from the waterfront. Port Newark Maintenance & Repair, LLC had employed Ferrara as a reefer mechanic with a supervisory role over the delivery and maintenance of refrigerated containers containing valuable cargo. Ferrara was the recipient of a “Special Package” from PNMR and in 2016 received $355,359.50 in compensation. Following a hearing presided over by an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ), the Waterfront Commission found that Ferrara had associated with the following organized crime figures who had been convicted of racketeering activities:

• Pasquale “Patty” Falcetti, Sr., a soldier in the Genovese crime family. Falcetti had been convicted of defrauding the employee pension and welfare fund for longshoremen. Evidence presented during the hearing included telephone calls between Ferrara and Falcetti recorded by the FBI via wiretap warrant. The ALJ wrote that the pattern of the wiretapped conversations between Ferrara and Falcetti “reveals two men with sincere regard to each other.” Also presented during the hearing were recorded telephone calls between Falcetti, incarcerated in federal prison, and his son in which Falcetti referenced Ferrara as someone with whom his son should stay in touch as part of an effort to obtain a job on the waterfront. The ALJ wrote that Ferrara “remained good friends with this soldier of organized crime, who violated a position of trust and exploited Respondent and his union brethren by embezzling funds from their benefit plan.” The ALJ found that a “reasonably objective person may question the Respondent’s loyalty to his work as opposed to Falcetti, a made member of an organized crime family closely associated with waterfront corruption.”


• Andrew Gigante, an associate of the Genovese crime family and the son of the crime family’s late boss Vincent “The Chin” Gigante. Expert testimony during the trial revealed that Gigante had served as a messenger between his father and Falcetti regarding ILA matters. The ALJ noted that Gigante “helped his father to exploit workers at the piers.” The ALJ found that the “undeniable personal bond between Ferrara and Andrew Gigante and the uncontroverted power over waterfront labor and industry exercised by the Genovese crime family, particularly during the reign of Vincent Gigante, helped by his son, Andrew, establishes an inimical association with Andrew Gigante.” The ALJ further found that a “reasonable objective observer could believe that the association with Andrew Gigante, and his blood ties to the crime family and its’ waterfront criminal domain, could influence Respondent in his capacity as a registered longshoreman.”


• Carmine Della Cava, a soldier of the Genovese crime family. The ALJ noted that Della Cava was “a personal friend” of Ferrara. The Commission found that this close association with a soldier in the crime family dominating crime on the New Jersey piers was inimical to and in violation of the Waterfront Commission Act.

   The ALJ further wrote that Ferrara “enjoys a position of high trust, like that of a foreman, in a highly valuable, sensitive and vital area of port commerce, the efficient maintenance and delivery of refrigerated containers.” The ALJ wrote, “Organized crime corruption, even the reasonable perception of such, risks potential disruption of the integrity of refrigerated container commerce.” The Commission further found that Ferrara had committed fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation in connection with a sworn interview in which he falsely denied associating with anyone who is a member or associate of an organized crime group. Accordingly, the Waterfront Commission ordered the immediate revocation of his waterfront registration.