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Another powerful faction of the Genovese
family is the Gatto group based in Lodi. The crew's
reputation for violence and management by fear and
intimidation contributed to a successful joint investigation by the FBI and the Bergen County Prosecu-
tor's office in 1989. This effort resulted in the
arrests of caporegime Louis Gatto Sr. and seven
other faction members on a nine-count racketeering
conspiracy indictment, which included two homicides, loansharking, extortion and gambling. Gatto
is currently free on bail. Other group operatives
arrested with Gatto remain in custody due to their
potential threat to society.
Gatto acquired the operations of the late Genovese caporegime Peter LaPlaca of Bergen County in the 1970's, almost by default. Gatto first consolidated all bookmaking operations within his jurisdiction through violent means. His group steadily expanded to the point where it had to separate its lottery and sports betting activities into two operations. The group also had the shrewdness to set up New York locations to accept wagers so that, should an operative be arrested, New York's more lenient gambling statutes would insure shorter jail sentences. It is unknown at this time what impact recent interdiction efforts will have on Gatto's faction. Although there has certainly been some disruption of group operations, there have been no apparent structural changes. In addition, Gatto's control over his established gambling networks, unions, loan-sharking and narcotics remains strong, despite his own arrest and that of some key subordinates.
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