16 arrests made in Colombo crime family's South Florida faction

MIAMI -- A joint task-force has arrested sixteen of 18 people charged with running the Colombo crime family's South Florida gambling, extortion and money laundering operations.

The South Florida "crew" of the New York family has pulled in as much as $2,000 a day in gambling and illegal bookmaking since 1997, according to a six-count federal grand jury indictment unsealed Wednesday.

"We believe that this is a major blow to the Colombo family in the Southern District of Florida," said Rosa Rodriguez-Mera, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Miami.

It is the first significant bust for the La Cosa Nostra Task Force, a combined local, state and federal effort aimed at organized crime, said Jim Leljedal, spokesman for the sheriff's office in Broward County, the northern neighbor to Miami-Dade County.

Three of the indicted are still at large, but law enforcement officials are aware of their movements and expect make arrests soon, Leljedal said.

Among the arrested were 14 Broward County residents, including Joseph "Joey Flowers" Rotunno, 54, of Pembroke Pines, who ran the South Florida faction with Reynolds Maragni, 48, of Pompano Beach, the indictment said. Maragni was also arrested Wednesday.

Maragni is accused of serving as the link between the South Florida crew and the top bosses of the Colombo family. Authorities say Rotunno had control over the group's daily activities.

Rotunno, who authorities say is a long-time member of the mob, was sentenced in 1986 in Broward County to 3 1/2 years in prison on extortion and loan-sharking charges.

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, the group concentrated on illegal gambling operations but also was involved in money laundering, fencing stolen property, credit card fraud and bribing state workers to get obtain fake driver's licenses.

Federal prosecutors said the arrests were the result of a two-year investigation.

The group was charged under the Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations statute.