Rochester Man Arrested, Charged with Transporting Stolen Property and Racketeering

BUFFALO, NY—U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr., announced today that Rico J. Vendetti, 41, of Rochester, was arrested and charged with interstate transportation of stolen property and racketeering. The charges carry a maximum penalty of 55 years in prison and a fine of $1,000,000

Assistant U.S. Attorney Anthony M. Bruce, who is handling the case, stated that according to the complaint filed against Vendetti, the defendant was involved in a home invasion/robbery on July 5, 2010 at the home of Homer Marciniak in Medina, New York. During the robbery, Marciniak’s valuable collection of collectible comic books was stolen. Several hours after being treated for bruises and lacerations suffered during the robbery and released from the hospital, Marcinaik died of a heart attack.

The complaint filed against Vendetti also alleges that over a several-year period, he sold hundreds of thousands of dollars in stolen property over eBay that he purchased from professional boosters (shoplifters) after giving them lists of items he wanted. In addition, the complaint alleges that Vendetti recruited several of these professional boosters to break into Marciniak’s home to steal his comic book collection. Several of Marciniak’s comic books have appeared for sale on eBay sites linked to Vendetti.

In addition to Vendetti's arrest, agents and officers executed search warrants at Papa Van’s Eatery at 1175 Goodman Street in Rochester, Al’s Green Tavern and the East Side Gold and Car Audio Pawn Shop at 1160 North Goodman in Rochester as well as two upstairs apartments and a commercial building at the corner of North Goodman and Clifford Avenue. Numerous items of evidence, including at least two computers, were seized during these searches.

“This case is excellent example of how cooperation among all levels of law enforcement, federal, state, county and local, led to an arrest in a very tragic case,” said U.S. Attorney Hochul. “My office will continue to work with all of our law enforcement partners as this investigation continues.”

The arrest is the result of an investigation on the part of special agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation under the direction of James H. Robertson, troopers from the Troop A Major Crimes Unit of the New York State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation in Batavia under the direction of Captain George Brown, detectives from the Orleans County Sheriff’s Office under the direction of Sheriff Scott Hess, detectives from the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office under the direction of Sheriff Patrick O’Flynn, officers from the Medina Police Department under the direction of Chief Jose Avila, and officers from the Rochester Police Department under the direction of Chief David Moore.

The fact that a defendant has been charged with a crime is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.