Reputed Genovese Family acting boss Daniel “The Lion” Leo pleads guilty

The one time acting boss of the Genovese  Family in New York  Daniel Leo also known as “The Lion” has pleaded guilty to racketeering  in federal court. Leo who was already in prison from a pervious case of extortion charges in 2007 for 60 months now faces up to 40 more years.  Joseph Leo a Genovese Family Capo and nephew of Daniel Leo also pleaded guilty to racketeering and he like Daniel is also already serving a prison sentence which is 46 months.

Leo is set to be sentenced on April 2nt. In 2006 Leo was said to have become the acting boss of the Genovese Family  after then boss Dominick Cirillo known as “Quiet Dom” was jailed for 4 years on racketeering charges. The Lion worked his way up the family ladder all the way from soldier to acting boss which is quite a long climb and was known for his low profile way of doing business. Both Daniel and Joseph Leo admitted during their guilty plea’s to loan sharking and operating illegal gambling business authorities announced.

Others named in the same indictments were brothers Anthony Masullo , Felice Masullo , and Angelo Masullo who all pleaded guilty in November 2009 and they stand to be sentenced sometime in Febuary. Also named as participants in the racketeering enterprises were Rocco Petrozza , Joseph Petullo, and Patsy Aversa who are all scheduled to go to trial sometime in April.

The Fed’s are said to be seeking forfeiture of properties from both of the Leo’s along with other alleged mobsters indicted in the case. Some of the properties owned and identified as belonging to Daniel Leo are in Rockleigh and Boca Raton and a property belonging to Joseph in Bardonia N.Y.. These new guilty plea’s will now spell the end of the road for the Leo leadership within the Genovese Family although its suspected that the family had already put plans in place for moving forward even before the latest court happenings.