Joseph M. Tripi has successfully prosecuted more than 100 killers, kidnappers and drug dealers who terrorized neighborhoods in Buffalo’s West and East sides.
After two members of the Kingsmen biker gang were assassinated in North Tonawanda in 2014, he led the prosecutions that resulted in felony convictions against 20 Kingsmen, including the national president who ordered the murders and the hit man who pulled the trigger.
When a gunman murdered 10 Black people in a mass shooting at a Tops supermarket in Buffalo in May, his superiors picked Tripi to serve as lead prosecutor of the suspect, Payton Gendron.
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In November, he prosecuted a Buffalo drug dealer who was convicted of brutally murdering three people, including a man and woman shot in front of their 3-year-old son.
And as a federal prosecutor, Tripi also helped to exonerate a Buffalo man who had spent 10 years in prison for two murders he didn’t commit.
Now, the 44-year-old assistant U.S. attorney faces criticism for an ongoing investigation he is leading into the Buffalo Mafia.
Some local defense attorneys and Italian American organizations say they are outraged over Tripi’s repeated references to “Italian organized crime” in court and legal papers, including an indictment.
The prosecutor referred to “IOC” connections while making allegations against a former DEA agent charged with taking bribes from drug dealers he believed were involved in Italian organized crime; a Cheektowaga strip club owner accused of paying bribes, drug-trafficking and sex-trafficking; and two defendants who have pleaded guilty to drug crimes, including a former Buffalo schoolteacher and the owner of a Buffalo medical staffing business.
Those defendants – Joseph Bongiovanni, Peter Gerace Jr., Michael Masecchia and Joseph C. Bella III – are Italian Americans, as is Tripi himself.
Tripi and federal agents have also identified Joseph A. Todaro, the owner of La Nova Pizza, in court and legal papers as the head of the Buffalo Mafia, although Todaro has not been charged as part of the case. Todaro has denied he is involved in organized crime.
Defense attorneys for Bongiovanni accused Tripi and his office of pursuing the case with a bias against Italian Americans.
In August, U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael J. Roemer said he has found "no evidence" that the investigation is "motivated by a discriminatory purpose." He turned down a request from the defense to throw out the criminal cases against Bongiovanni and Gerace. U.S. District Judge John L. Sinatra Jr. agreed with Roemer in a Nov. 22 ruling.
The case has outraged some leaders of the local Italian American community.
“We hate the term ‘Italian organized crime.’ It’s highly offensive and perpetuates an unfair stereotype," said Peter R. LoJacono, president of the Federation of Italian-American Societies of Western New York. "We’re offended that it's being used in court, and by the media. Does the prosecutor use references like that toward any other ethnic group? Does he talk about Polish organized crime, or Black organized crime, or Jewish or Puerto Rican organized crime? Why are we singled out in this way?”
One of Gerace’s attorneys, Joseph M. LaTona, recently asked federal judges to strike “Italian organized crime” references from all of Tripi’s court documents.
“Just because you have charges against men with vowels in their names, that doesn’t make it an ‘Italian organized crime’ organization,” said Bella’s attorney, Thomas J. Eoannou.
In his Nov. 22 ruling, Sinatra also rejected the defense attorneys' request to strike "Italian organized crime" from the indictment.
Tripi, a federal prosecutor since 2008 and former chief of the Narcotics and Organized Crime Section at the U.S. Attorney’s office in Buffalo, declined to comment on the Buffalo Mafia investigation or the Italian organized crime controversy.
Tripi told The News he has never targeted Italian Americans or any other ethnic group.
"As prosecutors, we follow the facts and go where the evidence leads us," Tripi said.
In court papers, Tripi noted the government has evidence that Bongiovanni took bribes from Gerace and others because he believed they were associated with Italian organized crime.
“It is of no consequence in this case whether defendant Gerace or others were, in fact, members or associates of IOC – and the government will not argue that defendant Gerace or others were, in fact, members or associates of IOC."
U.S. Attorney Trini E. Ross declined to discuss the IOC controversy with The News. Her predecessor, James P. Kennedy, defended Tripi and the investigation before Ross succeeded him in late 2021.
“Joe is an Italian American. He has no prejudice toward Italian Americans or any racial or ethnic group,” said Kennedy. “Joe’s only prejudice is against criminals who hurt people and neighborhoods. Joe is a tough-as-nails prosecutor who cares about his family, his country, his community and the law.”
The News asked Tripi if the heat generated by the case has caused him to regret using the phrase "Italian organized crime."
"Not going to comment," he said.
Showing courage
Former U.S. Attorney Terrance P. Flynn said he still remembers sitting across a desk from Tripi shortly before hiring him more than 14 years ago.
“He was a very earnest guy, a job applicant with no political connections, from a humble background, but you could see a quiet confidence in him,” Flynn recalled. “He told me he wanted to come home and dismantle criminal organizations in his own hometown.
“We put him on violent crimes right away, absolutely some of the toughest cases in the office. He’s done an amazing job. I consider hiring Joe one of the proudest accomplishments of my tenure as the U.S. Attorney.”
Tripi, a short, muscular man who played high school football and hockey, grew up in North Buffalo and the Town of Tonawanda. He graduated from St. Joseph’s Collegiate Institute and Canisius College before going to UB Law School.
He spent five years prosecuting arson, vehicular homicide and violent crime cases in Nassau County before becoming homesick and moving back to Buffalo in search of a new job, Tripi said.
He has received two national awards for his prosecutions of violent drug gangs in Buffalo. One of the awards came from the FBI and was personally presented to Tripi by then-FBI Director Robert Mueller in 2011. The other award came from the Justice Department in 2017.
“For any prosecutor to get two awards of that stature during his career is very impressive,” said Kathleen Mehltretter, a former acting U.S. Attorney who supervised Tripi for several years.
Doing the right thing
Buffalo defense lawyer Jeremy D. Schwartz said he has had two memorable encounters that left him with great respect for Tripi.
In 2013, federal agents gave Tripi evidence that could exonerate Josue Ortiz, who was serving a 25-year prison term in the murders of two Buffalo brothers in a 2004 shooting.
Ortiz, who had a history of mental illness, had repeatedly confessed to the slayings, but investigators determined that other criminals killed the two brothers. At Tripi’s urging, Ortiz, 33, was released from prison by a judge in late 2014.
While Tripi was not the only person involved in freeing Ortiz, Schwartz said he was “very impressed” with the integrity Tripi showed.
It was not Schwartz’s first notable situation involving Tripi.
Tripi in 2011 testified at a hearing about Thamud Eldridge, a Buffalo man who had been convicted in 2009 of felony gun and drug charges and was serving eight years in federal prison.
Tripi testified that he had overheard a police officer boasting in a bar that he and another officer in 2005 used excessive force against Eldridge, forcing him head-first down a flight of stairs and stomping him.
Tripi testified that the remark made him “sick to my stomach” and caused him to report the conversation to his superiors, who, in turn reported it to District Judge Richard J. Arcara.
That information prompted Schwartz to ask Arcara to throw out Eldridge’s 2009 conviction.
Ultimately, Arcara allowed Eldridge’s conviction to stand, saying the officer was “extremely intoxicated” when he made his remark and there was insufficient proof that Eldridge was ever brutalized.
Schwartz said the incident upset some police officers and showed “courage and integrity” on Tripi’s part.
“I’m not saying that no other prosecutor would have done what Joe Tripi did, but it’s the only time I have seen something like that,” said Schwartz, a defense attorney for 16 years.
Schwartz said the incident especially impressed him because Tripi – at Eldridge’s 2009 trial – had fought passionately to convict him.
Asked about those two cases, Tripi said the ethical decisions were clear-cut for him.
"It's simple. You've got to do the right thing in situations like that ... If you don't, you have no business working as a federal prosecutor," Tripi said.
An advocate for victims
Barbara and Sigmund Szymanski of Amherst said they will never forget Tripi’s efforts to get justice after the 2014 slaying of their son, “DJ,” outside a Kingsmen Motorcycle Club clubhouse.
“My daughter Kristen and I were there every single day of the trial. I cannot say enough about Joe,” Barbara Szymanski told The News. “He put his entire heart and soul into the case. Not only that, but he went out of his way to show he cared about our family. He didn’t act like our son was a piece of dirt. Joe would see me crying in the courtroom, and come over and tell me, ‘Hang in there.’ He always made time for us.”
“Nothing but respect for Joe,” said Barry N. Covert, one of the defense lawyers who fought Tripi for more than four months in the Kingsmen murder case. “It was a very intense trial. We went after each other every single day like rock ’em, sock ’em robots. He never backed down, and the defense didn’t, either. Joe is an extremely zealous, hard-charging advocate, but a man of integrity … certainly one of the best prosecutors I’ve ever seen.”
‘He’s just doing his job’
No trial dates have been set in the Bongiovanni or Peter Gerace cases.
While defense attorneys continue to criticize Tripi’s mentions of Italian organized crime and the Mafia, one person who does not appear to be upset is Todaro, the owner of La Nova Pizza.
Federal prosecutors have tried – without success – for decades to prove that Todaro runs the Buffalo Mafia. Todaro’s nephews, Gerace and his brother, Anthony Gerace, are among those Tripi has prosecuted.
Todaro told The News he doesn’t know Tripi and has no idea what motivates him, but he called the mob allegations against his family “nonsense.”
As for Tripi’s allegations about “Italian organized crime,” Todaro said: “He’s just doing his job.”
This is the second in a two-part series: For decades, law enforcement has said Joe Todaro runs the Buffalo mob. But the La Nova pizza owner has never been convicted of a crime.
