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| June 6, 2002 | |||||
| By Jerry Capeci | |||||
| Joe Waverly Coming Up Roses | |||||
Shot in the chest in 1976, Cacace rousted two gunmen and killed a third after they jumped him in front of the Waverly Florist he owned. Then he drove himself to a nearby Brooklyn police station for help. In the bloody 1991-92 Colombo war, he survived several shootouts with the war's top gun, Greg Scarpa Sr., including one in which he again was shot in the chest.
This last year – after Cacace was fingered for a bizarre mistaken identity slaying of an administrative law judge – was supposed to be different. As Gang Land reported last September, mob turncoat Frank Smith told the FBI that Joe Waverly was the man behind the 1987 killing of George Aronwald, the father of former federal prosecutor William Aronwald, the intended target. "I am very frustrated, so much so that I have stopped calling them (federal |
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| prosecutors in
Brooklyn)," said Aronwald, adding, however, that he still has hope that the feds will
get the evidence to make a case that sticks. Assistant U.S. attorney Patricia Notopoulus refused to comment. Sources have told Gang Land that the probe, while still continuing, has been hindered by a series of setbacks, both legal and otherwise, that have also frustrated investigators. "There have been setbacks, but we're still pushing ahead," said one investigative source, declining to elaborate. The snake
bit case was slowed by the September 11 terror attack, the indictment of Smith's lawyer, the arrest of his sister,
and a steadfast refusal by state narcotics prosecutors to admit they wrongly convicted the
turncoat of "I can understand the negative impact that September 11 had on the investigation, but ....," said Aronwald, currently a lawyer in private practice. Frank Smith, (left) who is serving 15 years-to-life for a drug sale he had nothing to do with, agreed to cooperate after he was charged with a double murder based on testimony from turncoat mobster Frank Gioia, the father of Kim Smith's child. Frank Smith has told the feds he was one of three hit men who – on orders |
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from Cacace –
stalked
George Aronwald and shot him to death in
a Queens laundry across the street from his home on Mar. 20, 1987. Aronwald,
 78, was a retired civil attorney working part time as a Parking Violations
Hearing Officer. According to court records, the case was slowed almost immediately when Smith's younger sister Kimberly (right with brother Frank) was arrested last August for harboring a fugitive – her lover Joseph Catanzaro – and helping him escape when deputy U.S. marshals tried to arrest him in front of her Brooklyn home. After she gave him her mother's car keys, he sped away, stopped short, threw the car "into reverse, backed the wrong way down a one way street and fled," hitting a deputy U.S. marshal, according to an arrest warrant. Catanzaro, who had violated conditions of his release after a two year bit for counterfeiting, was nabbed five days later, and charged with assaulting a federal officer. On Feb. 19, the day trial was scheduled to begin, he pleaded guilty, and faces 10 years. Catanzaro's attorney, Geoffrey Stewart, declined to discuss whether Frank Smith's cooperation or Kim Smith's status as his client's co-conspirator had anything to do with Catanzaro's decision to plead guilty. Meanwhile, the charges against Kimberly, who admitted knowing her lover |
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| was a fugitive and helping him –
each has a young child and they plan to raise them
together, according to court papers –
were
dropped in an effort to keep brother Frank happy and talking. Two months ago, the case hit another snag when Smith's lawyer, Lynne Stewart – who is Geoffrey Stewart's mother – was charged with helping another client, convicted terrorist Abdel Rahman, engage in illegal communications with his followers. Sources said Smith has decided to retain Lynne Stewart – who was dumped by Sammy Bull Gravano after she was cited for a conflict of interest by the feds – but her indictment was another bump in the road. Neither Lynne Stewart, nor son Geoffrey, who share the same Manhattan office and phone number, would comment on whether they discussed each other's cases, or the effect Kim Smith had on their decisions on behalf of their respective clients. The Stewarts also refused to comment on possible conflicts of interest in their continued representation of Frank Smith and Catanzaro because of Kim Smith's connection to both. |
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| Joe Watts Cops a Plea | |||||
And why not? The longtime Gambino family gangster was already facing five years for a tax fraud conviction. And while Watts has to fork over $1 million in restitution and fines, he earned $30,000 a week for eight years from his loansharking business alone and has got money to burn. In court, Watts told Brooklyn Federal Judge Edward Korman that in 1996 he laundered millions of dollars in loansharking proceeds through purchases he made in Sarasota, Florida, where Watts bought a luxurious beach house. Stressing that the plea adds only one year and puts an end to all Watts' legal problems, lawyer Joel Winograd called it a "fair disposition to a very trying case." Winograd and trial counsel Gerald Shargel negotiated the deal with prosecutors Daniel Dorsky and Andrew Genser. But after leaving the courtroom, Watts was heard bitching and moaning, saying over and over that he should have taken his chances at trial. Instead of focusing on the positive aspects, Watts must have begun to look at it as six years for buying a retirement home in Florida. And that's not so great when compared to the six-year deal he got in 1996 for the murder of one soldier, the killing of Paul Castellano and several other racketeering crimes. But that's really not the way to look at it. Especially after you've taken the deal. It could give a person agita. |
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| Feds Set a Gotti Record | |||||
| Three Gotti
family members were arrested this week for labor racketeering activity on the Brooklyn
Waterfront as part of a huge 68-count indictment that includes 14 other Gambino mobsters
and associates as defendants. Peter Gotti, 62, older brother of John, was identified as the newly installed Gambino boss and held without bail for a detention hearing tomorrow. Brother Richard V. Gotti, 59, a reputed capo, and his son, Richard G. Gotti, 34, a reputed soldier, were released on bond. The Gotti & Company arrests – the largest number of Gotti family members ever nailed in one case – were covered extensively by New York newspapers, including The Times, The Daily News, and Newsday.
If you're a newcomer to the site, see if you can spot them behind the visitors' dugout in this shot by Daily News photog Keith Torrie of Atlanta's Andres Galarraga blasting a three run homer in the third inning of the Braves 6-4 win over the Mets on June 29, 2000. Give up? The answer's in our Aug. 17, 2000 column. |
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And through it all,
Cacace, 61, a long time capo who was elevated to acting boss last year,
Joe Watts seemed to think he
made a good deal the other day when he
