Michael Urciuoli aka "Mike the Electrician,"first-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance

The drug bust came just two and a half weeks after Michael Urciuoli, nicknamed "Mike the Electrician," was swept up in a massive federal organized crime indictment that targeted every alleged member of the Gambino crime family, and a few Bonanno crime family associates.Federal authorities refer to Urciuoli as a Bonanno associate, and accuse him of conspiring to extort a granite company. Now Urciuoli, 43, and his wife, Susan, 40, face a slew of felony drug and weapon charges on top of his mob counts.The top charge against both of them, first-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, carries the prospect of 25 years to life in prison in the event of conviction at trial.
The couple was arraigned in Stapleton Criminal Court on Sunday, according to William J. Smith, a spokesman for District Attorney Daniel Donovan.
Judge Desmond Green ordered the husband remanded without bail and the wife released on her own recognizance.When asked to comment about the arrest outside her house earlier this afternoon, Mrs. Urciuoli asked, "Are you going to put that in the newspaper?" then promptly declined comment.Advance records show Susan MacDowell married Michael Urciuoli in 1999. At the time, Urciuoli worked as an electrician for a firm in Bloomfield and was a member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Union Local 3, Queens.Mrs. Urciuoli had received a certificate in word processing from the Cittone Institute, Edison, N.J.Neighbors, all of whom declined to give their names, said there had been no indication of anything amiss at the house and no sign of criminal activity over the years.
"There was nothing odd that I noticed," said a four-year resident of the block. "If it's true, I've never really heard of drugs and guns in Tottenville.Another neighbor said he hadn't paid much attention to the Urciuolis, except for the occasional hello and goodbye. "We live in this little shell," he said.Urciuoli pleaded not guilty on Feb. 7 to the mob-related charges, and had his wife put up put up the Sprague Avenue house as collateral so he could make his $1 million bail the next day.