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Man In Gambino Case Says FBI Illegally Searched Home

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By ELAINE SILVESTRINI | The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 19, 2008

TAMPA – A local man charged with participating in a Gambino organized crime family conspiracy says the FBI illegally searched his house the day he was arrested.

An attorney for James V. Cadicamo makes the allegation in asking a judge to bar prosecutors from using as evidence a gun that the FBI seized from Cadicamo's house.

Ronald K. Cacciatore also filed a motion asking to a judge dismiss the indictment against his client, noting Cadicamo was just 9 years old in 1983 when the indictment says the conspiracy started.

Additionally, Cacciatore asked that his client be prosecuted separately from the other four defendants named in the same indictment.

Cadicamo, 33, of Tampa, was arrested in August, along with four other men, who were all charged with participating in a vast racketeering conspiracy under the umbrella of the Gambino crime family. At the same time, John A. "Junior" Gotti, was named in a separate, similar indictment handed up by a federal grand jury in Tampa.

All are scheduled to go on trial in October, but attorneys for many of the defendants, including Cadicamo and Gotti, have filed motions asking the trial date be postponed to give them time to prepare.

Cacciatore writes in his evidence suppression motion that, on Aug. 5, the day of the arrest, "FBI agents illegally entered the defendant's home without the defendant's consent and without the benefit of a search warrant."

According to the motion:

The FBI called Cadicamo in the early morning hours and told him agents were at his home and he should come out. Cadicamo told the agent he was not home, but was driving there and would be there in 20 to 25 minutes.

As Cadicamo drove, the agent repeatedly called him.

When Cadicamo got home, he saw his front door had been opened with a crowbar and all the lights inside were on, "clearly indicating the FBI agents had entered his residence prior to his arrival."

When he got home, Cadicamo was handcuffed and taken into custody. He was not advised of his constitutional rights or given his Miranda warnings.

An FBI agent told Cadicamo he should let agents know if there were any firearms in the house, and if not, the agents would tear the house apart looking for a firearm.

Reporter Elaine Silvestrini can be reached at (813) 259-7837 or esilvestrini@tampatrib.com.

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