Deer Park Man Facing Additional Organized Crime Charges

A Deer Park man cited by law enforcement authorities as a captain in the Bonanno crime family was among eight people on Tuesday charged in state court with various crimes that included loan sharking, drug dealing and gambling, the Manhattan District Attorney said.

Nicholas Santora, 71, is facing one count of enterprise corruption, one count of second-degree grand larceny and one count of first-degree criminal usury. All charges are felonies.

According to the indictment and court filings. Santora served as captain for a Bonanno crew operating in the New York area and elsewhere from March 2010 to February 2012.

Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance said the focus of the Bonanno crew was to make money through illegal activities that included extortion, loansharking, gambling, drug dealing and possession of firearms either for use or sale.

“Today’s indictment is the absolute heartland of what organized crime prosecutions are about – prosecuting in one fell swoop the diversified rackets of organized crime families,” said Vance. “The charges against this Bonanno crew and their captain, Nicholas Santora, make clear that traditional organized crime refuses to go away.”

Newsday reported that Santora is already serving 20 months at a federal correctional facility in Pennsylvania on a 2012 federal extortion conspiracy conviction. The Deer Park resident was also convicted in 2008 on separate federal charges and was sentenced to three years in jail.