=DJ "Mob On Wall Street" Defendants Sentenced In Florida
By Carol S. Remond
Of Dow Jones Newswires
NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Defendants in the "Mob On Wall Street" case were
sentenced Wednesday, four years after they were charged in a 21-count federal
indictment in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida.
Philip Abramo, Philip Gurian, Glen Vittor, Louis Consalvo and Barry Gesser
were charged in June 1999 with mail fraud, wire fraud, securities fraud,
interference with commerce by extortion, conspiracy to commit money laundering
and witness tampering.
The federal government alleged that Abramo, a captain in the Decavalcante
organized crime family, and the other defendants used two now-shuttered
brokerage firms called Sovereign Equity Management Corp. and Falcon Trading
Group to reap huge profits after reselling, in the U.S., shares of several small
companies obtained at a discount by several mob-controlled firms in the Bahamas.
Abramo and his brother-in-law Consalvo were separately indicted in 2000 in New
York on charges including securities fraud and murder.
Gurian, Vittor, Consalvo and Gesser had each pleaded to one count of
conspiracy to commit mail fraud, wire fraud and securities fraud and one count
of mail fraud. Abramo had pleaded one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud,
wire fraud and securities fraud and two counts of mail fraud. Abramo and
Consalvo had tried unsuccessfully to withdraw their guilty pleas in Florida
after they were charged in New York.
Abramo received a 70-month jail sentence and forfeited $1.1 million previously
seized by the government in the Bahamas. Consalvo received a 27-month jail
sentence.
Gurian, who served six months in jail in the U.S. and Switzerland when he was
arrested after fleeing the U.S., was sentenced to time served and a three-year
probation period. Gurian forfeited $7.5 million when he became a government
witness in early 2000. According to a lawyer present at the sentencing, the
government said Gurian was an extraordinary informant that testified for the
government in several jurisdictions including the Eastern District of New York,
the Southern District of New York, the Southern District court of Florida and
the Middle District Court of Florida and a California district court.
Vittor and Gesser never served time. They were both sentenced to a three-year
probation period. Gesser forfeited $2.1 million and Vittor gave up $3.1 million.
The federal government had filed court documents recommending reduction of
sentences for Consalvo, Gurian, Vittor and Gesser in recognition of the
defendants' "substantial assistance".
Abramo and Consalvo have yet to be sentenced in New York. Abramo was found
guilty by a Manhattan Federal Court jury of a racketeering conspiracy including
murder, extortion and stock fraud. He has yet to be sentenced in that case.
Joel Winograd, a lawyer for Consalvo, said that his client was in the process
of working out an agreement with the government and that his Florida and New
York sentences would be served concurrently.
Gurian's 2000 guilty plea agreement shows that he admitted to defrauding "the
investing public in general and the retail customers of Sovereign in particular
through the sale of stock at artificially inflated prices in conjunction with
Falcon Trading Group, a Gurian controlled company."
An "In The Money" column last year highlighted Gurian's connections to two
investors in a development company called HiEnergy Technologies Inc. (HIET). The
Securities and Exchange commission launched an investigation into HiEnergy
shortly afterwards. The SEC said in court documents that Gurian's mother and her
boyfriend owned 80% of HiEnergy's shares in 2002. Court documents filed by the
SEC in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida show that
the SEC is investigating a scheme through which Gurian "controlled or is
controlling HiEnergy without disclosing his involvement to the Commission or
HiEnergy investors."
-By Carol S. Remond; Dow Jones Newswires; 201 938 2074;
carol.remond@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires |
