Ty Geas and Felix L. Tranghese arrested in connection with mob hit on Adolfo "Big Al" Bruno
Published: Friday, July 23, 2010, 8:08 AM Updated: Friday, July 23, 2010, 11:38 AM
Stephanie Barry, The Republican Stephanie Barry, The Republican

SPRINGFIELD - Following months of speculation, FBI agents and state police have arrested two more Western Massachusetts men in connection with the 2003 contract hit on reputed mobster Adolfo “Big Al” Bruno.

Ty Geas, the brother of a defendant already charged in the Bruno murder case, and Felix L. Tranghese, a reputed “made” mobster who has flown under the radar for many years, were arrested early Friday morning, according to law enforcement sources.

Geas, of Westfield, and Tranghese, of East Longmeadow, are the fifth and sixth defendants to be charged in the case. Bruno, the one-time regional head of the New York-based Genovese crime family, was gunned down in the parking lot of a South End social club on Nov. 23, 2003.
SCT_TRIAL_5_5262267.JPGRepublican file photoTy Geas

Investigators say Bruno was taken out in a power struggle by rival gangsters who were once his allies but became focused on taking over the region's rackets. The alleged conspiracy was widespread and stretched from here to New York City, law enforcement officials have said.

The shooter, Frankie A. Roche, told investigators that Fotios “Freddy” Geas, Ty Geas’ older brother, recruited him to kill Bruno for $10,000. His prospective successor, Anthony J. Arillotta, was the local ringleader for the plot, investigators have said. He sought permission to kill Bruno from New York mobsters, officials said, arguing Bruno was a weak leader and a suspected government informant.

Arillotta was charged in connection with the murder in an indictment out of federal court in Manhattan. He appears to have joined those ranks of informants since virtually disappearing from the federal prison system after being arraigned in Manhattan in late March. Days later, dozens of law enforcement officials arrived in Agawam to spend four days digging one hole to uncover the skeleton, clothing and jewelry of organized crime associate Gary D. Westerman who went missing two weeks before the Bruno slaying.

Ty Geas and Tranghese are expected to appear in U.S. District Court in Springfield later this morning. The details of the latest New York indictment are yet unclear.

According to a newly unsealed indictment out of the Southern District of New York in Manhattan, Tranghese, the Geas brothers, reputed Genovese crime boss Arthur "Artie" Nigro, and another Western Massachusetts man, Emilio Fusco, plotted two murders in the fall of 2003 - Bruno's and Westerman's.

Westerman disappeared in early November of that year. His vanishing confounded investigators until Arillotta tipped them to where his remains were buried earlier this year, according to law enforcement officials.

Although he was named in the 13-count indictment, Fusco's whereabouts are unknown. An Italian citizen, there has been widespread speculation that he fled to Europe. Nigro and Fotios Geas were previously charged in connection with the Bruno murder and were scheduled to go to trial starting Nov. 1.

The charges also allege the men were involved in various other shake-down schemes locally including extorting a strip club owner and vending machine company.