Assistant U.S. Attorney Elie Honig called the brothers "scare guys" and "proven, willing mob killers."
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NEW YORK - Jurors in an ongoing mob murder trial in Manhattan which has highlighted an "epic spasm of violence" spearheaded by western Massachusetts gangsters have begun to hear closing arguments in the case in federal court.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Elie Honig gave a two-hour summation that lasted into the early afternoon, labeling defendant Fotios "Freddy" Geas, of West Springfield and his brother Ty Geas, of Westfield as "scare guys" for onetime Springfield Genovese boss turned government witness Anthony J. Arillotta. Honig said the brothers were "proven, willing mob killers."
Later in Honig's closing, he credited the Geases with at least being "willing to do the legwork" of murder and intimidation while their co-defendant, Arthur "Artie" Nigro, the reputed onetime acting boss of the Genovese crime family did nothing but sit back, give orders and let illegal proceeds from various schemes float up.
"He made money the real mob way," Honig said of Nigro.
The Geases are accused of carrying out the 2003 contract hit against the then-southern New England Genovese boss, Adolfo "Big Al" Bruno, who died in a hail of bullets outside his regular Sunday night card game on the eve of his 58th birthday. Nigro allegedly "green-lighted" the hit after his relationship with Bruno soured; there was a dispute over a $250,000 cigarette heist, and suspicions emerged that Bruno was "a rat" when a court document emerged stating that Bruno had spoken of another made member's status with an FBI agent in 2001.
Honig also led jurors a second time through the 2003 murder of Gary Westerman, a street criminal with a long and troubled history with the Geases and Arillotta. Westerman had ducked murder plots against him twice before, witnesses said, but was not so lucky on Nov. 4 of that year.
The Geases lured Westerman to a home in Agawam with the promise of a home invasion that would yield drugs and cash. Instead, Westerman was shot, beaten and dumped in an eight-foot hole in a wooded area where they dug up his remains -- complete with ski mask and stun gun six years later -- with Arillotta's assistance.
"They killed Westerman because he posed a threat to the Genovese family," Honig said during his closing, also rejecting the defense notion that admitted Bruno shooter Frankie Roche carried out a "one-man job."
"It was for the crew ... that they had carried out a hit for an acting boss of a powerful made guy. They took out a rat," Honig said, referring to Arillotta as Nigro's "star pupil."
Honig also noted that Arillotta had told jurors to he was to kill Roche after and cut off his hands to send a false message to the public that the Genovese family could not have been involved.
That didn't happen, and Roche was very available to testify for the government in this trial.
In addition to the murders, Honig outlined four extortionate schemes Arillotta and his "scare guys" went after once they took Bruno out and Nigro was urging them to bring in more money.
The defendants immediately ramped up shake-downs of James Santaniello, wealthy owner of the Mardi Gras strip club and a vending machine business in 2004, according to testimony.
The defendants face life in prison if convicted. Defense lawyers are expected to deliver three separate closing arguments through the afternoon in U.S. District Court in Manhattan. The case will likely be in the jury's hands Thursday morning.