American Notes Crime

Anthony (Fat Tony) Salerno may have thought the news could not get any worse, but life -- and the law -- had a surprise in store. Two weeks ago a federal jury found Salerno and seven other mobsters guilty of directing racketeering operations of the Mafia. Last week federal prosecutors in New York City unsealed a September indictment naming Salerno, 75, who heads the Genovese crime family, and three associates as co-conspirators in fixing the election of Jackie Presser as head of the powerful International Brotherhood of Teamsters in 1983. Whether or not Salerno is found guilty of these latest charges, he already faces more bad news in January, when he will be sentenced in the Mafia trial. The maximum stretch he could receive: 306 years.