PHILADELPHIA - Robert Ranieri, 37, of Glendora, N.J., pleaded guilty today to committing loan sharking activities on behalf of the Philadelphia La Cosa Nostra (LCN) Family. U.S. District Judge Eduardo C. Robreno scheduled a sentencing hearing for Sept. 25, 2013. Ranieri faces a maximum penalty of 40 years in prison.
Through court documents and statements made in court, Ranieri admitted that he conspired with Philadelphia LCN Family capo Anthony Staino and others to make a usurious loan to an undercover FBI agent and used threats of violence to collect payments on the loan.
The case was investigated by the FBI, the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigations, the Pennsylvania State Police, the New Jersey State Police, the Philadelphia Police Department, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Inspector General Office of Labor Racketeering and Fraud Investigations and the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration. Additional assistance was provided by the New Jersey Department of Corrections.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Frank A. Labor III, Suzanne Ercole, and Trial Attorney John S. Han of the Department of Justice’s Organized Crime and Gang Section. Valuable prosecutorial assistance was provided by the Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General.
UNITED STATES ATTORNEY'S OFFICE, EASTERN DISTRICTof PENNSYLVANIA
Suite 1250, 615 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106
PATTY HARTMAN, Media Contact, 215-861-8525
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
