Pubdate: 20 Jan 1999
Source: Philadelphia Inquirer (PA)
Copyright: 1999 Philadelphia Newspapers Inc.
Website: http://www.phillynews.com/
Forum: http://interactive.phillynews.com/talk-show/
Contact:  Joseph A. Slobodzian

DRUG CASE DROPPED AGAINST MARTORANO

A judge ruled that he did not necessarily know that crates he helped move
contained pot.

A federal judge yesterday dismissed drug-conspiracy charges against the
grandson and namesake of convicted mobster-drug dealer Raymond "Long John"
Martorano, ruling that prosecutors failed to prove the younger Martorano
knew that hundreds of pounds of packages he helped move contained marijuana.

The ruling by U.S. District Judge Anita B. Brody came after a nonjury trial
last week in which prosecutors alleged that Raymond Martorano, 23, of
Cherry Hill, had conspired with restaurateur John Gaeta, 36, of South
Philadelphia, to import more than 1,000 pounds of marijuana from Houston to
Philadelphia and Newark, N.J., using a commercial shipping company. Federal
agents watched the two men April 29 as they picked up two large crates from
Philadelphia International Airport and drove them to a garage in the 700
block of Perth Street in South Philadelphia. Both men were arrested before
they unloaded or opened the crates, and Martorano immediately maintained
his innocence, saying he did not know what was inside.

Martorano's lawyer, Joseph C. Santaguida, noted that Martorano had no prior
arrests despite family ties to two of the city's most notorious mobsters --
grandfather Raymond and father George "Cowboy" Martorano -- and that both
the truck and the garage were registered to Gaeta. Raymond "Long John"
Martorano is serving a life term for the 1980 murder of Roofers Union boss
John McCullough; George Martorano, a convicted drug dealer, has been
serving a life sentence since 1984. The young Martorano, who did not
testify in his own defense, could not be reached for comment yesterday.

Santaguida said Martorano, who has used the name Raymond Lafferty in an
attempt to escape his family's notoriety, planned to resume work at a South
Jersey construction company.

He had been free on a $10,000 bond since his arrest. Martorano's case was
helped by Gaeta, who pleaded guilty to the charges and chose a no-parole,
6-year prison term rather than cooperate with prosecutors and testify
against Martorano and others. Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrea Foulkes said
Martorano's defense was also helped by an October decision of the U.S.
Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit clarifying the proof needed for
conviction on a charge of criminal conspiracy. 
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