Anthony Delvescovo

Officials of Schiavone Construction Co., Secaucus, N.J., confirm that the U.S. Attorney's office in Brooklyn, N.Y., has dropped federal corruption charges against the contractor's tunneling manager. The charges against Anthony Delvescovo, 44, Schiavone's director of tunnel operations, stemmed from a broad federal offensive last February against alleged mob-related racketeering and organized crime in construction and other sectors. He was among 62 defendants arrested in the sting and named in a 170-page indictment. Among those indicted on Feb. 7 were known members of the Gambino crime family, but Delvescovo was not identified as being among them.

"He was 100% exonerated," says Carl Cosenzo, Schiavone executive vice president, adding that the firm was notified of the U.S. Attorney's action on Aug. 1. An official in the U.S. Attorney's office says the office notified the court last week that "we intend to defer prosecution," but declined further comment. Cosenzo says jury selection for Delvescovo's trial was to have begun the week of Aug. 4. Delvescovo could not be reached but Cosenzo says, "He's elated."

Delvescovo was alleged to have been part of a pattern of threats and intimidation against a trucking subcontractor on a New York City-funded project that occurred between 2005 and early 2008. Cosenzo declines to speculate on why Delvescovo's name was among those indicted, but says that the subcontractor at the center of the alleged extortion was approved by city officials. "We use contractors that have been approved by the authorities we work for," he says. "We don't do background checks." Cosenzo says Delvescovo has been working at Schiavone headquarters since his indictment but has not been allowed on jobsites. "There has been support all along from people in both the private and public sector," he says.

Delvescovo joined Schiavone in 1986 and was named an ENR Newsmaker in 2002 for his work on a complicated foundation excavation project at New York City's Carnegie Hall.