Newsday from New York, New York • 37

i Vftf -r r- rm I A22 For around the clock local updates go to wwwnynewsdaycoin BROOKLYN FEDERAL COURT 9 plead guilty in Bonanno case Those who pleaded guilty Friday did not admit roles in any murders The most serious crimes were extortion or loansharking Using federal sentencing guideline estimates Garaufu indicated that the defendants generally face sentences of no prison time to around two years in custody when they are sentenced next All are free on bail pend- seph DiStefano 51 a reputed crime family soldier from Commack DiStefano admitted when he entered his plea to taking part in the extortion of a Long Island disco and a Brighton Beach businessman identified by prosecutors as the Another reputed soldier Philip Navarra 33 of Middle Village also admitted a role in the extortion of the Brighton Beach busi- Admissions about crimes ranging from gambling to extortion bring crime family conviction total to 50 BY ANTHONY MDESTEFANO STAFF WRITER Prosecutors continued Friday to notch mine convictions in their war against the Bonanno crime family as nine reputed members and associates of the group pleaded guilty to federal charges In a two-hour hearing before Brooklyn federal judge Nicholas Garaufis the nine men admitted taking part in gambling loansharking or extortion tor the Bonanno clan between 1978 and January 2004 With the latest admissions of guilt federal prosecutors in the Brooklyn US office have garnered close to 50 convictions virtually all through guilty pleas during the past two years The notable exception was the jury conviction in July of Bonanno crime boss Joseph Massino who was found guilty of racketeering The jury found that Massino had a role in the gangland murders of seven mobsters He is scheduled to be sentenced next year in the court papers as being reputed soldiers in the Bonanno family The six men pleaded guilty to a racketeering conspiracy charge Later three other defendants pleaded guilty Anthony Navarra 32 of Middle Village pleaded guilty to a gambling charge as cud Michele Sottile 57 of Elmhurst Reputed associate Gino Gallestro 36 of Brooklyn pleaded guilty to a loansharking of- Garaufis set sentencings for Jan 14 for eight of the defendants Because Furino is expecting the birth of a child Garaufis delayed his sentencing until February Among those pleading guilty was Anthony Furino 49 a reputed crime family captain from Staten Island Furino admitted to shaking down loan payments from two men between 1995 and 2003 Also pleading guilty was Jo yet to identify potential They will however And as they do the mayor will renew tiie city's call for state and federal relief from expensive mandates on Medicaid and pensions The latest numbers show revenues from earlier-raised taxes flowing in at a higher rate than projected but expenses also growing within the city's overall $49-billion budget plan City Council Speaker Gifford Miller said through a spokesman Friday that he would strive to ensure a balanced bud Others who entered guilty pleas as part of the proceeding Friday: Sandro Aiosa 62 of Oceanside Joseph Sabella 39 of Staten Island and Joseph Torre 51 of Staten Island All have been identified get the mayor should make cuts to the bureaucracy before any cuts to i cal to New warned Miller (D-Manhattan) On his weekly radio show on WABC770 AM Bloomberg noted that the city is moving ahead with plans to pay off $500 million in back debt from the 1970s with money borrowed by the state on a long-term basis That highly controversial measure was delayed fax months by failed litigation i i Si 1 I 5 Mayor: Deficit calls for 3600M in spending cuts BY DAN JANISON STAFF WRITER The city budget blues are back not that they had traveled too for Projecting a deficit of nearly $3 billion for next year Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Friday that the city will move soon to again slice expenses this time by $600 million He has not said how he will accomplish that beyond totaling that amount to dose the gap in the latest budget update submitted to the state Financial Control Board press office vowed that the Department of Education and City University of New York will not bear any of the cuts For the other agencies hiring freezes overtime controls and other standard measures are possible at the very start of this said the mayor's spokesman Ed Skyler agencies have not beat asked got their budget problems Bloomberg said of the state they have to decide do they want to fiiumv with tax dollars want to finance with borrowing money? I run the state According to state Comptroller Alan office the state deficit for the next fiscal year is projected between $35 billion and $57 billion Adding to the pressure in 2005 willbe capital finance problems of the state-run Metropolitan Transportation Authority.