Lucchese crime family members and associates — including 'Wonder Boy' and 'Paulie Roast Beef' — arrested in FBI bust


Nineteen members and associates of the New York-based Lucchese crime family were arrested in a massive bust by the FBI on Wednesday, NBC New York reports. The accused suspects face charges including murder as well as racketeering, gambling, narcotics, wire fraud, and possession of a weapon.
The arrest includes the boss of the family, Matthew Madonna, as well as underboss Steven Crea, who has the colorful nickname "Wonder Boy." Other family members with nicknames like "Spanish Carmine," "Joey Glasses," and "Paulie Roast Beef" were also arrested:
Some of those arrested face charges for the death of mobster Michael Meldish in 2013. "The victim was executed gangland-style, shot once in the head while sitting behind the wheel of a rusty Lincoln LS sedan in the Bronx," the New York Daily News writes. "Meldish, 62, was suspected in at least 10 mob hits in the 1970s and 1980s."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The indictment claims the family killed Meldish "to enforce the rules of the enterprise among its members and associates."
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.
-
Easy listening: the best audiobooks
The Week Recommends Swap hefty hardbacks for hands-free reading this summer
-
Sharenting: does covering children's faces on social media protect them?
In The Spotlight Privacy trend has 'trickled down' from celebrity parents but it may not protect your kids
-
Syria's returning refugees
The Explainer Thousands of Syrian refugees are going back to their homeland but conditions there remain extremely challenging
-
Sniper kills 2 Idaho firefighters in ambush
Speed Read A man started a wildfire, then fired a rifle at first responders when they arrived
-
Weinstein convicted of sex crime in retrial
Speed Read The New York jury delivered a mixed and partial verdict at the disgraced Hollywood producer's retrial
-
'King of the Hill' actor shot dead outside home
speed read Jonathan Joss was fatally shot by a neighbor who was 'yelling violent homophobic slurs,' says his husband
-
DOJ, Boulder police outline attacker's confession
speed read Mohamed Sabry Soliman planned the attack for a year and 'wanted them all to die'
-
Assailant burns Jewish pedestrians in Boulder
speed read Eight people from the Jewish group were hospitalized after a man threw Molotov cocktails in a 'targeted act of violence'
-
Driver rams van into crowd at Liverpool FC parade
speed read 27 people were hospitalized following the attack
-
2 Israel Embassy staff shot dead at DC Jewish museum
speed read The suspected gunman chanted 'free, free Palestine'
-
Bombing of fertility clinic blamed on 'antinatalist'
speed read A car bombing injured four people and damaged a fertility clinic and nearby buildings in Palm Springs, California