commerce by extortion and threats of force, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1951. On October 12, 1979, Joseph Cammisano was sentenced to five years imprisonment. His brother and co-defendant, William "Willie the Rat" Cammisano, had previously been sentenced, pursuant to a plea bargain, to five years imprisonment. (See photographs of Joseph and William Cammisano, Exhibits 1 and 2.)1

DEVELOPMENT OF THE RIVER QUAY

These prosecutions, popularized in the Kansas City metropolitan area media as the River Quay cases, grew out of the destruction, by organized crime violence, of an entire civic redevelopment area as an economic entity. In 1971, Marion Trozzolo, Kansas City college professor and successful inventor, formed the River Quay Corporation to redevelop 19th century buildings in the old Kansas City riverfront area, which was adjacent to the city produce market, long dominated by the Nicholas Civella organized crime group. (See map of River Quay-Market Area, Exhibit 3.) In an effort to insure a family oriented shopping and entertainment community, the developers rigorously screened potential lessees, particularly for bar businesses.

In 1972, Fred Harvey Bonadonna was allowed to lease and operate Poor Freddie's Restaurant, which immediately became a tremendous financial suecess because of Bonadonna's policy of catering to civic and cultural groups. Fred Bonadonna was the son of an organized crime member, David Bonadonna, a soldier in William Cammisano's group within the Nicholas Civella organized crime family. His mother, Rosemarie Balistreri, was a notorious criminal who has served a Federal kidnapping sentence. Fred Bonadonna, however, managed to avoid criminal entanglements after one juvenile auto case, and had operated several successful and legitimate restaurants prior to Poor Freddie's.

Bonadonna's restaurant soon became the favored meeting place for River Quay area businessmen and city political leaders, even receiving favorable mention in the New Yorker magazine. Bonadonna's establishment and the Quay generally prospered, particularly when the city government began aggressively promoting the River Quay as a tourist attraction and furnishing free shuttle buses to attract shoppers and patrons from the nearby downtown area. By November, 1974, the area had grown to include 68 retail establishments representing a popular mix of specialty shops, art galleries, restaurants, informal theatres, antique stores and other boutique-type establishments. (See photograph of River Quay area, Exhibit 4.) Bonadonna became the president of the River Quay Bar and Restaurant Association and Vice President of the Market Area Businessmen's Association, an “establishment" group of civic and business leaders in the River Quay area.

BONADONNA'S CONFLICT WITH THE CAMMISANOS

In 1974, however, urban renewal began in the 12th Street area of Kansas City, an area of cheap hotels, go-go bars and prevalent street prostitution. Numerous of the organized crime figures whose bars dominated this area, including Joseph Cammisano, were required to relocate. (The mover and city relocation specialists involved in these and related moves were convicted of fraud and receipt of kickbacks but insufficient evidence was developed to warrant prosecution of the principles.) In early 1974, Cammisano and certain associates subleased a River Quay warehouse and divided it into four bars, intending to re-establish their 12th Street business practices.

Fred Harvey Bonadonna, however, urged the lessor to prohibit go-go dancers and began to organize civic opposition to licensing “adult entertainment" enterprises in the River Quay through his contacts in the media, city government and the business community. Cammisano and his business associates demanded that he accompany them to the New Orleans businessman then developing the River Quay, Joseph Canizaro, to support their efforts to open go-go bars. Bonadonna consented but secretly alerted Canizaro to his actual opposition. Canizaro refused to assist Cammisano and publicly joined the movement to block the expansion of bars and adult entertainment in the Quay.

1 May be found in the files of the subcommittee. May be found in the files of the subcommittee.

To counter rising adverse publicity, Joseph Cammisano circulated a petition seeking community support for his proposed go-go bar. Bonadonna refused to sign or support the petition, leading to a bitter argument with Joseph Cammisano. Shortly thereafter, David Bonadonna, Fred Bonadonna's father, called him from the auto garage and headquarters of Joseph Cammisano's powerful and feared brother, William "Willie the Rat" Cammisano. With William Cammisano's audible coaching in the background, David Bonadonna instructed his son that he must support Joseph Cammisano's petition, and that he could not oppose "these people". Fred Bonadonna subsequently assisted in securing area merchants' signatures on a petition inviting Joseph Cammisano's go-go bar into the area. William Cammisano later thanked Fred Bonadonna for his efforts, and pointedly cautioned him to listen to his father in these matters.

Fred Bonadonna was well aware of the threat implicit in this message. He knew that his father was a soldier in William Cammisano's organized crime group within the Nicholas Civella organized crime family. As a child, he had been in the immediate area when his father, William Cammisano and an uncle had killed a patron during a dispute which arose in a grocery operated by his uncle as a front for an after hours club and gambling location run by William Cammisano. Fred Bonadonna had been told over the years by his father about numerous murders committed by Cammisano, including a son-in-law and Cammisano's married sister's lover, and several criminal competitors, including Nick Spero, whose family attempted to organize a criminal faction to compete with the Civella organization. (All of these murders are officially unsolved, and Missouri law does not permit prosecution upon an uncorroborated admission.)

Subsequent to the licensing of Joseph Cammisano's first bar in the River Quay, disputes arose over Bonadonna's leasing of city parking lots. Tension was heightened when Cammisano sold that bar and attempted to license another go-go bar at the same time a pornographic theater was proposed for licensing, and a city councilman advanced the idea of establishing a "combat zone" in the River Quay similar to Boston's adult entertainment zone. Bonadonna and area merchants adamantly opposed the plan, resulting in a proposed city license moratorium on all entertainment and liquor licenses in the area. Bonadonna's success in this regard was due largely to his personal friendship with City Councilman Robert Hernandez.

After proposal of the license moratorium, Fred Bonadonna received a panicked call from his father warning that the Cammisano brothers were dangerous and would go to any lengths to secure their control of River Quay bars. Fred Bonadonna refused his father's request to assist in re-licensing the Cammisanos stressing his resistance to what he considered the inevitable prostitution, pimps and drug traffic that accompanied go-go bars.

DEATH THREATS TO BONADONNA

In an emotional plea the next day, David Bonadonna recited to his son the persons killed by William Cammisano because of disputes with other members of the Cammisano family, and begged Fred to help remove the moratorium to save their lives. Fred Bonadonna relented, and due in part to his influence and in part to bureaucratic developments, the proposed moratorium was modified to exempt Cammisano. A brief period of apparent harmony ensued, during which William Cammisano favored Fred Bonadonna with the advice to get out of polities and business associations, confine himself to operation of his restaurant and to carefully follow his father's instructions in the future.

Despite an agreement to the contrary when Cammisano's license was exempted from the moratorium, Joe Cammisano began to promote go-go girls in his bar during mid-1975. Fred Bonadonna complained directly to William Cammisano and was soon advised by his father that the Cammisanos viewed him as an enemy, and that Fred Bonadonna should arm himself and avoid any person who might be a potential assassin. Fred and his father visited William Cammisano at his automobile garage, but the attempted reconciliation degenerated into a violent argument. Recognizing the gravity of the situation, Fred Bonadonna brought his personal friend, Kansas City City Councilman Robert Hernandez, to William Cammisano to try to persuade Cammisano that Bonadonna was doing everything in his power to assist the Cammisano's plans for the River Quay. When Hernandez attempted to defend Fred Bonadonna's action, William Cammisano became violently angry and threatened Hernandez and Bonadonna that

if Joe Cammisano were not allowed to operate with go-go girls, prostitutes, or in any way he desired, he, William Cammisano, would kill anyone, including anyone at city hall, who opposed the Cammisanos, and that everyone knew he could carry out his threat.

DAVID BONADONNA'S DEATH

During 1974 and 1975, Fred Bonadonna had acquired leases on city lots for customer parking. The Cammisanos and their associates continually pressured Bonadonna and the city for free use of these lots to remove Bonadonna's competitive advantage. Bonadonna first gave up two leases, but in response to requests by the city government to generate revenue from the lots, again leased the lots. At a River Quay tavern owner's meeting, Joseph Cammisano threatened Fred Bonadonna that he knew someone (i.e., William Cammisano) who could make Bonadonna give up the lots. Vandalism began to occur at the lots and to the cars therein. In March, 1976, unknown intruders entered Bonadonna's residence and beat his teenage son with baseball bats. David Bonadonna informel Fred Bonadonna that the burglary and beating of his son was a warning from William Cammisano. In May, 1976, Joe Cammisano and several partners applied for a license for a new bar in the River Quay. Fred Bonadonna received extreme pressure from his father and brother to help the Cammisanos secure approval of the license through Councilman Hernandez. Hernandez, at Bonadonna's request, refused to assist, and David Bonadonna told his son that Fred's failure to control Hernandez would result in the father's death because David Bonadonna had warned William Cammisano not to harm Fred Bonadonna. David warned his son to carry a gun and to be careful of any person who might be used by the Civella organization as a killer, specifically including Anthony Civella. Charles Moretina, Carl DeLuna, Peter Tamburello, and others. The means of his own death were clearly foreseen by the elder Bonadonna, who told his son that because David Bonadonna was an organized crime member, Nicholas Civella's personal approval would be required. Once that approval was given, William Cammisano would kill David Bonadonna at the Cammisano garage, where they met daily. Fred Bonadonna pleaded with his father to avoid the Cammisanos, but David was fatalistic and refused to change his life style.

By July, 1976, the new license for the Cammisano bar had been denied. During June, 1976, the Cammisanos had exerted extreme pressure on Fred Bonadonna and city officials but were unsuccessful both before the City Liquor Control Authority, an appeals board, and in the City Council. The Bonadonnas knew that the Cammisanos were furious over the defeat, and David Bonadonna grew steadily more depressed and fatalistic.

On July 22, 1976. David Bonadonna 'eft his residence in a 1966 Mustang on his usual daily routine of visiting William Cammisano's garage. Several hours later, a similar vehicle was seen exiting from the garage in an erratic manner, as though being driven by someone unfamiliar with its manual transmission. The car was found parked within one-half mile of the garage. Blood dripping from the trunk led to the discovery of David Bonadonna's body in the trunk, with multiple gunshot wounds in the back of the head. (See photograph of Bonadonna corpse. Exhibit 5).

Fred Bonadonna immediately began to carry a gun and installed burglar alarms on his vehicles. On the day following his father's death, he began efforts to sell his business, which had done a volume of $20,000 plus monthly, but was unable to find a buyer as business quickly declined in the River Quay due to a dramatic series of violent events. The media quickly connected David Bonadonna's murder to the River Quay go-go bar controversy. Poor Freddie's soon became like a stronghold under seige, frequented almost exclusively by friends and followers of Fred Bonadonna. One such acquaintance, John Brocato. was found strangled, with marks of torture on his frozen body, in his car trunk at the Kansas City Airport on November 17, 1976. (See Brocato corpse photographs, Exhibit 6). On the same date, an unknown assassin was injured while apparently attempting to arm an explosive device in the car of Harold "Sonny" Bowen, an ex-convict and principal bodyguard for Fred Bonadonna.

On February 19, 1977, John "Johnny Green" Amaro was murdered by shotgun blasts in his residence garage less than one block from the homes of Nicholas

* May be found in the files of the subcommittee. May be found in the files of the subcommittee.

and Carl Civella in the Philomena Acres compound populated by the leaders of the Kansas City organized crime family. (See Amaro corpse photographs, Exhibit 7). Bowen, Bonadonna's bodyguard, was a prime suspect in the murder because of prior attempts on his life, and on February 22, 1977, Bowen was murdered by five gunmen in a lounge in a popular entertainment area of Kansas City, Missouri. (See Bowen corpse photograph, Exhibit 8).

After Bowen's murder and numerous incidents wherein Fred Bonadonna observed members of the Civella organization following and observing him, Bonadonna was persuaded to enter the Witness Protection Program and be relocated. Even after Bonadonna's departure from Kansas City in March, 1977, the violence directed at his associates continued.

Gary T. Parker, a police character who had assisted and replaced the murdered Bowen as a volunteer bodyguard for Fred Bonadonna, narrowly escaped being lured into a deserted parking lot where he observed William Cammisano in March 1977. At the end of that month, a building owned by the Bonadonnas in the Quay was totally demolished by a bomb which damaged property a mile distant, leaving only a crater at the building site. (See Bonadonna building explosion photograph, Figure 1).

FIGURE 1.-Remains of a building located in the River Quay section of Kansas City and owned by the Bonadonnas, that was destroyed by a bomb blast.

Informants reported that a hiatus was ordered in the violence by Nicholas Civella after his release from Federal prison after a 90-day study on a gambling conviction, so as not to create unfavorable publicity prior to Civella's final resentencing. On July 15, 1977. Civella received a final sentence of 3 years. On July 31. 1977, Joseph Cammisano's bar in the River Quay was destroyed by explosion, yielding over $100,000 in proceeds for the failing business. (See Cammisano bar explosion photograph, Exhibit 10.)"

Nicholas Civella commenced service of his federal sentence on August 2, 1977. On August 5, 1977, Bonadonna's former bodyguard, Gary T. Parker, was literally blown into pieces by a bomb placed under his car at a tavern owned by Fred Bonadonna's brother. (See Parker photographs, Exhibits 11a and 11b).

PROSECUTIVE ACTION

After extensive grand jury inquiry designed to develop corroborative testimony as to the Cammisanos' extortionate tactics and to establish the prosecutable property interests of Bonadonna's upon which to base a Federal extortion case, William and Joseph Cammisano were indicted by a Special Grand Jury in the Western District of Missouri on June 16, 1978. The indictment charged the Cammisanos with conspiring to interfere with interstate commerce and to secure property, i.e. Bonadonna's business goodwill, customer patronage and parking lot leases, by wrongful use of fear, threats and violence.

Substantial legal difficulties existed in establishing that cognizable property interests were the objects of the Cammisano's extortionate tactics, as opposed to the intangible political influence he undoubtedly possessed. Fred Bonadonna was also the subject of intense pressure from his surviving family in Kansas City. all of whom feared for their lives, particularly after the Parker bombing at a Bonadonna tavern demonstrated their vulnerability. His mother, brothers and other relatives abjectly pleaded with him not to testify because of their certain belief that he, and possibly all of them, would ultimately be murdered by the Cammisanos. Because of the problems, a sentence bargain was accepted prior to trial in October, 1978, wherein William Cammisano, age 64, agreed to a 5-year sentence of incarceration. His brother Joseph, age 62, and in recent years suffering from severe health problems, agreed to an 18-month sentence. Because of William Cammisano's record and reputation for violence, and because he was the source of the most direct threats against Fred Bonadonna, his 5-year sentence substantially limited his sentencing exposure under the applicable extortion statute, which carries a 20-year maximum. Once William's plea became final, Joseph Cammisano attempted to withdraw his 18-month plea, claiming familial and judicial coercion, and inadequate representation. The District Court's refusal to rescind the plea was reversed on appeal in 1979, and the case against Joseph Cammisano tried in August, 1979.

After a 1 week trial, the jury deliberated 29 minutes before convicting Joseph Cammisano. Among the factors contributing to the speedy verdict were Fred Bonadonna's testimony concerning the numerous and explicit threats from the Cammisanos, the direct corroboration by a Kansas City, Missouri city councilman that William Cammisano repeated a murder threat to him and boasted that everyone knew he could accomplish his threat, and testimony by a Kansas City. Mo., police detective that Joseph Cammisano approached him to help locate Fred Bonadonna, explaining that he (Joe Cammisano) would not do anything himself. but that the information would be given to the "right people". On October 12, 1979, Joseph Cammisano was sentenced to a term of 5 years, after explicit findings by the trial judge supporting a lengthier sentence than that imposed pursuant to the original plea bargain by a different judge. (See Indictment, Exhibit 12).

EXHIBIT 12

In the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri, Western Division

No. 78-00114 (18 U.S.C. § 1951)

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, PLAINTIFF

บ.

WILLIAM CAMMISANO AND JOSEPH CAMMISANO, DEFENDANTS

(NMT 20 Years and/or $10,000)

INDICTMENT

The Grand Jury Charges:

1. That at all times pertinent hereto, an area of downtown Kansas City, Missouri, which abuts the Missouri River and is bordered by the ASB and Broadway