Category Archives: Blog

Best in all legal news.

Blog, Criminal, International, Legal News, Organized Crime

UP IN SMOKE Wanted Mafia godfather busted after breaching Italy’s coronavirus lockdown to go for a smoke

A wanted Mafia Godfather was busted after breaching Italy’s tough Coronavirus lockdown to go for a smoke.

Cesare Antonio Cordi, 42, boss of the bloody Cordi clan who are behind several murders as well as controlling prostitution and drug rackets was nabbed by cops early yesterday.

Officers had spotted Cordi puffing on a cigarette in the early hours as he wandered along the street with shopping bags at Bruzzano Zeffirio near Locri.

The area is home to the infamous organised crime gang of the ‘ndrangheta who are more ruthless and bloodthirsty than their Sicilian counterparts.

Cops stopped him to ask why he was breaching the tough lockdown measures brought in to combat the killer bug outbreak and were stunned when they discovered who he was.

He had been on the run since last August after a judge issued an arrest warrant for him and he was thought to be hiding in a series of safe houses with underground bunkers.

Footage released by the police later showed armed cops trawling through a house he had been hiding in as they searched for accomplices and weapons.

Read Full

Blog, Business Law, Civil Rights, Legal News, Supreme Court

Use Amazon, Uber or Walmart.com? You’ve probably signed away your right to sue them

Tucked into the sign-up process for many popular e-commerce sites and apps are dense terms-of-service agreements that legal experts say are changing the nature of consumer transactions, creating a veil of secrecy around how these companies function.

The small print in these documents requires all signatories to agree to binding arbitration and to clauses that ban class actions. Just by signing up for these services, consumers give up their rights to sue companies like Amazon, Uber and Walmart before a jury of their peers, agreeing instead to undertake a private process overseen by a paid arbitrator.

Binding arbitration clauses have been common for decades, whether buying a car or joining a membership club like Costco, but the proliferation of apps and e-commerce means that such clauses now cover millions of everyday commercial transactions, from buying groceries to getting to the airport.

Read Full

Blog, Criminal, Legal News, Organized Crime

After unusual trial, Mexican Mafia member sentenced to life in prison

By MATTHEW ORMSETHSTAFF WRITER 
MARCH 2, 2020

For cutting short the life of a fellow Mexican Mafia member in a hail of bullets, a judge ruled Monday that Jose Luis Loza should spend the rest of his own in a federal prison.

Loza, from Whittier, was convicted of murder, racketeering and other crimes after an unusual trial in August, in which Loza himself testified for two days. It was an unprecedented departure, law enforcement officials say, from the Mexican Mafia’s historical refusal to acknowledge in the courtroom such an organization exists, let alone discuss its politics on the witness stand.

Read Full

Blog, Criminal, Legal News, Organized Crime

New York’s Last Bigtime Mafia Boss, Gets Sendoff From His ‘Spark Plug’

There were no flower cars outside the funeral of 103-year-old John ‘Sonny’ Franzese—but gospel music, funny stories, and eulogies from his loving grandkids made it much grander.

No cops or FBI agents were waiting outside with cameras.

No flower cars accompanied the hearse and the three black limousines that pulled up to Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church.

And unless you knew otherwise, you would not have imagined that the bronze coffin borne up the steps contained the mortal remains of New York’s last bigtime Mafia boss.

The first hint to someone not in the know only came when the priest, Monsignor David Cassato, offered a joke.

“There’s an expression, there’s two things in life you’re sure of, right?” Cassato said. “Death and…

“Taxes,” a number of the roughly 75 mourners joined him in saying.

“If you’re smart, Sonny told me, you can avoid some of those taxes,” Cassato said, drawing laughter even from those who appeared to be feeling the loss most keenly.

John Franzese, known as Sonny, had been the federal prison system’s oldest inmate and its only centenarian when he completed his last stint behind bars in 2017. He died in a Queens nursing home at the age of 103, having lived long enough to become known as the Nodfather for dozing off in court.

Read Full

Blog, Criminal, Immigration, International, Legal News

Harry Dunn lawyers call for High Court to publish US secret immunity papers

Family of teenager who died after collision with car driven by Anne Sacoolas hope documents will bolster case for extradition

Lawyers acting for a teenager who died after a collision with a car allegedly driven by an American woman want the High Court to publish a secret document protecting her from prosecution.

Harry Dunn, 19, died last summer after his motorbike collided with a car near RAF Croughton in Northamptonshire. Anne Sacoolas, the wife of a US agent who worked at the base, has been charged with causing death by dangerous driving and has apologised to Dunn’s family, but is refusing to return to Britain.

US secretary of state Mike Pompeo has rejected the UK’s request for her extradition, claiming that at the time of the collision she had immunity from criminal prosecution, even though her husband did not.

Read Full