Federal Criminal Defense Blog : Georgia Federal Criminal Defense Lawyer & Attorney : Gillen Withers & Lake Law Firm : White Collar Crime, RICO, Trial : Atlanta, Savannah, GA

Angelo Salvatore Ruggiero is an alleged second-generation member of the Gambino crime organization and a longtime friend of head John Angelo "Junior" Gotti, III. According to Jerry Capeci at The Huffington Post, Ruggiero was serving eight years in a Georgia federal prison for murder, conspiracy and extortion relating to a plan to murder a baker who was suspected of having an affair with the wife of Junior Gotti's uncle, Vincent Gotti.

Although incarcerated in the Deep South, however, Ruggiero apparently did not cease his racketeering activities. Last month, Ruggiero was charged with alleged witness tampering relating to a murder and  racketeering prosecution of Junior Gotti last year. The prosecution concerned the murder of a drug dealer in 1996 allegedly by Junior Gotti associates David D'Arpino and John A. Burke. Ruggiero allegedly conspired with D'Arpino to prevent a witness for the prosecution from testifying while Ruggiero and D'Arpino were being held in custody in Brooklyn. The defendant who Ruggiero and D'Arpino were attempting to assist, James Cadicamo, ended up pleading guilty to racketeering conspiracy charges and was sentenced to 105 months imprisonment in October.

Ruggiero decided to cooperate with the government after Daniel White, a former cellmate of Cadicamo serving time for bank fraud, told authorities about efforts by Cadicamo and others to intimidate witnesses. A Federal Judge threatened White with a severe sentence after discovering that he had continued his illegal activities while incarcerated.

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The Securities and Exchange Commission announced this week a new initiative to encourage private individuals and corporations to cooperate in SEC investigations and enforcement. The SEC will revise its Enforcement Division's enforcement manual to add a new section entitled "Fostering Cooperation." The section will allow SEC investigators to use the following "tools":

Cooperation Agreements — Formal written agreements in which the Enforcement Division agrees to recommend to the Commission that a cooperator receive credit for cooperating in investigations or related enforcement actions if the cooperator provides substantial assistance such as full and truthful information and testimony.

Deferred Prosecution Agreements — Formal written agreements in which the Commission agrees to forego an enforcement action against a cooperator if the individual or company agrees, among other things, to cooperate fully and truthfully and to comply with express prohibitions and undertakings during a period of deferred prosecution.

Non-prosecution Agreements — Formal written agreements, entered into under limited and appropriate circumstances, in which the Commission agrees not to pursue an enforcement action against a cooperator if the individual or company agrees, among other things, to cooperate fully and truthfully and comply with express undertakings.

The proposed changes also streamline the process for requesting immunity from the Justice Department for witnesses assisting in SEC investigations and enforcement actions. They futhermore set forth considerations for evaluating cooperation by individuals, including:

The assistance provided by the cooperating individual.
The importance of the underlying matter in which the individual cooperated.
The societal interest in ensuring the individual is held accountable for his or her misconduct.
The appropriateness of cooperation credit based upon the risk profile of the cooperating individual.
As the announcement recognizes, the "tools" are tools which the Department of Justice has long employed to secure cooperation and obtain information. Professor Ellen S. Podgor of Stetson University College of Law and the White Collar Crime Prof Blog has listed concerns regarding the SEC's new cooperation criteria.

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