Sentences with phrase «word ziti»
Prosecutors said Percoco referred to the payoffs using the code word ziti, a term borrowed from «The Sopranos,» in emails with his close friend, lobbyist Todd Howe, who allegedly facilitated the bribes.
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Bohrer said Percoco always used the word ziti to describe salary, not bribes.
Not exact matches
And there were a lot of pop culture references: the defendants regularly used the term «ziti» in emails in reference to The Sopranos, where it was a code word for money.
A prosecutor argued at the bribery trial of former top Cuomo aide Joe Percoco that he proved his guilt by quoting from the mob drama «The Sopranos» with the now infamous use of the word «ziti» to indicate bribes.
In closing arguments, prosecutors cited emails in which Percoco and Howe used the word «ziti,» saying the men borrowed it from the HBO mob drama «The Sopranos» to refer to bribes.
They referenced Percoco's use of code words from The Sopranos television series including saying «boxes of ziti» for «money» while Percoco allegedly carried out pay - to - play schemes.
In addition to more than 11 million pages of records, the feds» arsenal includes former lobbyist - turned - cooperating witness Todd Howe and emails in which he and Percoco allegedly referred to payoffs as «ziti» — a code word for cash that prosecutors say they lifted from an episode of HBO's mob drama «The Sopranos.»
The criminal complaint against Percoco notes that the suspects used «ziti» as a code word for bribes.
NEW YORK (WBEN / AP)-- A federal jury hearing testimony on Tuesday was served a steady diet of «ziti,» the word prosecutors say a former close aide to Gov. Andrew Cuomo used as code to refer to bribe payments he received to push forward projects for three businessmen.
Prosecutors allege that Joseph Percoco would use the word «ziti» in e-mails to refer to alleged bribery money
Saying that the jury is entitled to understand the criminal element of the word «ziti,» prosecutors are attempting to show jurors a clip of «The Sopranos» where the meaning of «ziti» is explained, but Judge Caproni has barred prosecutors from such a move.
The indictment alleges that Percoco and his associates exchanged emails in which they used code words including «ziti,» which meant cash.
In a blog post, the NRCC called Cuomo's effort to take back the House «an ambitious goal after his former campaign manager / best friend was caught using Sopranos code words like «boxes of ziti» for «money» while orchestrating pay - to - play schemes in Albany.»
Howe and Percoco repeatedly referred to the alleged bribe money as «ziti,» the complaint says — a code word for money apparently lifted from an episode of HBO's mafia drama «The Sopranos,» Bharara said.
Ziti was allegedly the code word that Percoco and Howe would use to describe bribe payments.
«The government began its closing statement with the words: Where the hell was the ziti?
Boone also signaled that the government in its case will highlight Percoco and Howe's use of the word «ziti» as code for alleged bribes, a term he says they took from the TV series about the mob «The Sopranos».
Prosecutors said he took a page from «The Sopranos» and used the code word «ziti» to refer to the bribes.
Naturally, the word «ziti» — the euphemism borrowed from The Sopranos to describe the alleged bribes to Percoco as payments to his wife for what prosecutors say was a «low - show» job — was tossed around in court on Tuesday.
Parts of the 80 - page federal complaint unsealed yesterday read like a James Bond novel — with code names («Herb» for Percoco, «Dr. K» for Kaloyeros) and code words («ziti» — a term allegedly caged from the hit HBO show «The Sporano» for the bribes Percoco took).
It alleges that Percoco actually took inspiration from the TV show about organized crime, choosing to use the word «ziti» as a code word when demanding bribe payments and, according to the complaint, saying at times, «keep the ziti flowing,» and «don't tip over the ziti wagon.»
And if the dealings themselves were not unseemly enough, prosecutors said, many were carried out via bullying, name - calling and thinly veiled code words; Mr. Percoco's and Mr. Howe's use of «ziti» to refer to money — a nod to the Mafia drama «The Sopranos» — was a frequent motif.
Howe himself worked under Cuomo while the governor was Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development in the 1990s (Howe also enjoys the dubious distinction of being the only person in human history to repeatedly misspell the word «ziti»).
They referenced Percoco's use of code words from the Sopranos TV series including saying «boxes of ziti» for «money,» while Percoco allegedly carried out pay - to - play schemes.
Ziti, the papers state, was Percoco's idea based on the use of the word in «The Sopranos» television show that centers on a mob boss in suburban New Jersey.
It alleges that Percoco actually took inspiration from the TV show about organized crime, using the word «ziti» as a code word when demanding bribe payments and saying at times, «keep the ziti flowing,» and «don't tip over the ziti wagon.»
«Don't tip over the ziti wagon,» Percoco said of code word for bribes he was getting, Bharara contends.
He is charged with accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes — described in repeated emails with Mr. Howe as «ziti,» a code word lifted from the Mafia drama «The Sopranos» — from two companies in exchange for helping them extract action from Albany.