BONANNO
ORGANIZED
CRIME
FAMILY
ASSOCIATE
SENTENCED
TO
LIFE
IMPRISONMENT
FOR
2005
RACKETEERING
MURDER
Mafioso
stabbed
man,
drowned
him
in
pond,
cut
him
up
into
little
pieces,
burned
him
to a
crisp
and
tossed
the
remains
in a
septic
tank....
NEW
YORK
(March
15,
2009)
---
Benton
J.
Campbell,
United
States
Attorney
for
the
Eastern
District
of
New
York,
announced
that
Joseph
Young
was
sentenced
Friday
to a
mandatory
term
of
life
imprisonment
for
his
conviction
of
the
March
29,
2005
murder
of
Robert
McKelvey.
The
sentence
was
imposed
by
the
Honorable
Allyne
R.
Ross,
United
States
District
Court
Judge,
in
Brooklyn,
New
York
As
established
during
a
two-week
trial
in
late
2008,
Young
was
an
associate
of
the
Bonanno
Organized
Crime
Family
of
La
Cosa
Nostra,
and
was
assigned
to a
Staten
Island-based
crew
led
by
Bonanno
soldier,
Gino
Galestro.
Galestro
ordered
the
murder
of
another
associate
in
the
crew,
Robert
McKelvey,
in
order
to
punish
McKelvey
for
openly
boasting
of
the
crew’s
criminal
activities.
Young
agreed
to
murder
McKelvey
in
exchange
for
$10,000.
On
March
29,
2005,
another
associate
of
the
crew
lured
McKelvey
to a
meeting
at
the
historic
Kreischer
mansion
in
Staten
Island,
where
Young
lived
and
worked
as
the
mansion’s
caretaker.
When
McKelvey
entered
the
foyer
of
the
mansion,
Young
stabbed
him.
McKelvey
escaped
through
the
front
door,
but
was
tackled
by
Young,
who
dragged
McKelvey
to a
garden
pool
in
front
of
the
mansion
and
drowned
him.
Following
the
murder,
Young
and
three
associates
of
the
crew
dismembered
McKelvey’s
body
with
hacksaws,
burned
the
remains
in
the
mansion’s
furnace,
and
discarded
the
ashes
and
bone
fragments
in
the
mansion’s
septic
tank
system.
During
searches
of
the
septic
tank
and
wooded
area
around
the
mansion,
the
FBI
and
personnel
from
the
Medical
Examiner’s
Office
of
the
City
of
New
York
found
bone
fragments
and
personal
effects
of
McKelvey,
and
McKelvey’s
blood
was
recovered
from
the
stairs
leading
to
the
mansion’s
basement.
Galestro
previously
pled
guilty
to
racketeering
charges
that
included
the
McKelvey
murder.
In
addition
to
the
McKelvey
murder,
Young
was
sentenced
for
his
convictions
of
the
following
additional
crimes
of
violence
or
racketeering
predicates:
- the summer 2005 attempted arson of a vehicle whose owner had crossed Galestro;
- the September 2005 gunpoint robbery of the Pine Tree Holistic Center, an illegal massage parlor in Springfield, New Jersey, where Young’s girlfriend worked;
- the October 20, 2005 gunpoint extortion of an individual who owed tribute money to the crew;
- the January 27, 2006 arson of a home in Staten Island while the residents were asleep inside, one of whom suffered a near-fatal heart attack attempting to fight the fire;
- the autumn 2005 conspiracy to rob a pizza parlor in Coram, New York, at gunpoint;
- the May 12, 2005 assault in aid of racketeering of a mechanic who was a business rival of other mechanics connected to the crew—Young and another member of the crew assaulted the mechanic at his place of business with a police-issue baton and crowbar, breaking the victim’s knee cap and causing other serious injuries;
- the July 1, 2005 gunpoint carjacking of a BMW at the Menlo Mall in Woodbridge, New Jersey; and
- the summer 2005 illegal purchases of two firearms, the obliteration of the guns’ serial numbers, and the illegal transportation of the guns from Pennsylvania to New York.
“Young’s
gruesome
criminal
conduct
reminds
us
that
organized
crime
is
alive
and
well.
We
will
continue
to
prosecute
the
members
and
associates
of
organized
crime
who
engage
in
such
wanton
acts
of
violence
in
our
communities,”
stated
United
States
Attorney
Campbell.
Mr.
Campbell
commended
the
agents
of
the
Federal
Bureau
of
Investigation
who
investigated
the
case.
The
government’s
case
was
prosecuted
by
Assistant
United
States
Attorneys
Winston
Y.
Chan,
Jack
Dennehy,
and
William
Schaeffer.
The
Defendant:
JOSEPH
YOUNG
Age:
30 |
