At one point Albanian mobsters of the Rudaj Organization, also known as "The Corporation" had set their sights on becoming a sixth major "family" in New York organized crime circles. Now some 22 defendants from the group await prosecution. Three family members and three associates are involved in the current trial, which is expected to last about three months. An additional defendant plead guilty eariler in the week prior to the start of the trial.

Via The Journal News:

Albanian mob trial opens

By Timothy O'Conner
The Journal News
September 28, 2005

NEW YORK - The leaders of an Albanian organized-crime group learned their trade at the feet of traditional Italian Mafia families, then set out to establish a group that would rival the Five Families of the New York mob, prosecutors said yesterday.

The boss of the Albanian-led crime group was Alex Rudaj, 38, of Yorktown, federal prosecutors said during opening statements yesterday at Rudaj's trial in U.S. District Court in Manhattan. Rudaj and five other defendants are charged with racketeering, gambling, extortion, loan-sharking and other crimes. Nikola Dedaj, 42, of Yonkers and Nardino Colotti of the Bronx are accused of being the group's co-leaders. Federal prosecutors dubbed the group the Rudaj Organization. Members of the crime group referred to it simply as "The Corporation," prosecutors said.

Colotti was a protege of Phil "Skinny Phil" Loscalzo, a Gambino crime family soldier. He and his friend Rudaj broke off from the Gambinos after Loscalzo died in the early 1990s, prosecutors said. Their goal was "to become one day, they hoped, a sixth family," Assistant U.S. Attorney Benjamin Gruenstein said.

They started out running illegal gambling operations in the Bronx, in Morris Park and along Arthur Avenue, prosecutors said. From there, they pushed their way into Westchester County, federal authorities said, operating gambling dens in Port Chester and Mount Vernon, and forcing bar owners to install their illegal "Joker Poker" machines. From there, they pushed the Lucchese crime family out of Astoria, Queens, prosecutors said, taking over gambling clubs the Luccheses had run for years.

When one gambling club tried to operate in Astoria without their permission, a group of armed Rudaj members, including the three leaders, descended upon the club, known as Soccer Fever, and violently shut it down, beating the owner unconscious, prosecutors said.

The Gambino crime family grew concerned about the burgeoning power of the Rudaj Organization and asked for a meeting in 2001 to settle matters, Gruenstein said. They met at a gas station in New Jersey. The Gambinos, led by Arnold Squitieri, the acting boss of the family, pulled out their guns, prosecutors said.

But a Rudaj member did them one better, prosecutors said, when he pulled out a shotgun, pointed it at a gas pump and threatened to blow up the entire station. "The Gambino family simply could not stand in the way of the Rudaj Organization," Gruenstein said.

In addition to the three alleged leaders of the Rudaj Organization, three reputed associates of the family are on trial. Angelo DiPietro, formerly of Mount Vernon, is accused of being a salaried employee of the organization and is charged with racketeering. Prosecutors said he was fired for stealing from the crime group. Ljusa Nuculovic and Prenka "Frankie" Ivezaj are charged with racketeering.

Another defendant, Gjelosh Lelcaj, pleaded guilty to racketeering after jury selection was completed yesterday. The trial is expected to last about three months. Several other of the 22 defendants accused in October of being part of the group will be tried separately.

The original article appears here.

-- MDT