NEW YORK, Aug. 5 (UPI) -- A federal indictment was handed down Thursday, charging 46 reputed members of some of the largest organized crime families in the country with loan-sharking, extortion, gun-running and various violent acts.
Federal prosecutors said a multi-year investigation using an undercover FBI agent had revealed the "East Coast La Cosa Nostra Enterprise" to be a wide-ranging criminal network that operated from Massachusetts to New York City, Philadelphia and Florida.