Big Frank

Francis Guerra, a Colombo Associate, received 14 years after being acquitted by a jury for murder.   Francis, also known as BF or Big Frank, received his nickname when he was he was young in Brooklyn hanging out with Teddy Persico Jr, as he was always taller than the rest of the kids.

Big Frank's story is not the same as the rest of these guys. Big Frank was a good kid who did things right until he was riding his motorcycle on 13th Ave in Brooklyn and was hit by driver.  He was close to death, and a Medic who lived right by the accident performed an emergency tracheotomy on Big Frank.  

It took a long time to recover, and Big Frank fell into debt because he could work.

Big Frank’s buddy Teddy Persico Jr started working for a trucking company. Teddy was a good truck driver and a great mechanic.  I used to see him working on trucks at the Big R truck lot and, unlike other Colombo “employees” he was actually working.  The owner at the trucking company wanted to impress Teddy because his last name was Persico, so he turned him onto a kilo of cocaine.  That was when everyone in their crews’ life changed, for the worse.  That kilo started Teddy’s foray into the drug trade, and that path is what caused Teddy 17 years of grief, Frank Smith over 15 years locked away, and it would also come back to bite Big Frank.

Teddy felt bad for Big Frank so he put him on the payroll for $500 a week. Frank was the guy who would take care of the drug orders, he was the go between.  This would later cause a lot of problems because one of the guys in the crew would tell an agent that “Frank” was the guy who was bringing the cocaine.  He was in the car with an informant telling him that agents were following him all day. So when they were busted Frank Smith was the one taken down for the drugs instead of Big Frank.  They let Frank Smith stay locked up while Big Frank was a free man, and now Big Frank had to pay Teddy $500 a week.  

Teddy went down hard for his drug business and he got some major time.  He missed the start of the war in the Colombo Family but Big Frank was around and at the start he didn't have a gun.  Someone from another family gave him one because he wanted it for protection.  

Teddy's Grandmother passed away and he was granted a furlough from prison.  He was accompanied by 3 prison guards.  He was at her wake when he gave the order that Joe Scopo had to go.  He was very pissed about guys trying to kill his father and he wanted his guys to take care of the hit.  Two weeks later Joe Scopo was killed in front of his house by two men.  A Colombo turncoat told the FBI that Big Frank was driving the crash car during the hit.  Frank had supposedly gone on another hit because a man named Michael Devine had dared to date Allie Boy’s estranged wife.

Big Frank had a great run as an associate of the Colombo Family.  He was close to Allie Boy and his brother Michael.  Michael Persico was the crown prince of the Persico family.  He was educated, clean and appeared crime-family free, but that was a lie because he was actually the conduit to his father, the long time boss of the Colombo Family.

Carmine gave the orders and Michael brought them back to his brothers, cousins, uncles.  Big Frank was one of those guys who got orders from Michael.  He helped Michael out with his Shylock business.  Michael was not a made guy, but being the bosses son he had the clout.  They would all be taken down because I wore a wire on Steve Marcus and the rest of them at Big R trucking.  The FBI used my wire information to go up on phones and to turn Steve Marcus who then wore a wire.  

Teddy Persico, Michael Persico, Big Frank and Eddie Garafalo were all taken down in the same case.  Only Big Frank chose to take it to the jury.  The jury did not buy the Government or their informants, so they acquitted him on the murder charges but convicted him on selling his prescription Oxycontin.  

The judge felt that the Government had shown Big Frank was guilty so he handed him down a 14 year sentence and he is now inmate 10636-051.  

I dislike what these men stand for, but I feel the Government is going to far when they hand out huge sentences even when they don't make a case.  It happened in Las Vegas to Steve Cino, a made guy in the Milano Crime family.  The Government made a fake case that he was involved in the murder of Fat Herbie Blitzstien, which the jury did not buy.  He and the others would still get time.  RICO is one way the Government gets a second and third chance to put guys away for crimes they already did time for in the past.

Poor Tommy Shots

This week was quiet in the world of the Mafia because the Feds did not take down anyone new. There was a little cleaning up of old trash in the name of Thomas Gioeli Aka Tommy Shots, Tommy Machine or Bitch Tits. Tommy has his own blog so maybe he has a family member writing for him, as he is locked up. On the blog you can read about his plight and all his physical woes. He complains that the FBI and the United States Attorney conspires to take down Italians for decades old crimes while bankers steal billions from innocent citizens. The problem with this story is that a banker or CEO is not a part of an Organized Crime Family and is not as violent as the Colombo Family. Bankers do not engage in murder as a way to settle business disputes. The Government charged Tommy Shots in a superseding indictment on 6-19-08 with a number of racketeering charges, including murders, robberies and running the Colombo Family on a day-to-day basis.

The sole purpose of the Colombo Family is to enrich its members from the proceeds of criminal acts with the bulk of the proceeds going to the leadership. This is funny because Tommy Shots claims he was so broke, that his defense was paid for by the taxpayers. Tommy Shots conspired with others to rob a place on the Jericho Turnpike named "Furs by Mina." He then conspired with others to murder Frank Marasa aka "Chestnut" on June 12 1991. Tommy gave the order to murder Marasa because it was said he was involved in the murder of a Colombo Associate. On the night of June 12th Tommy Shots ordered a relative of his named Thomas McLaughlin to drive Dino Calabro and Richie Greaves to Bensonhurt, Brooklyn. They waited until they spotted Marasa in front of his home. Calabro and Greaves exited the car and opened fire on Marasa, killing him. McLaughlin then dropped off Greaves and took Calabro to the Cropsey Diner to meet with Tommy Shots. Tommy Shots was later convicted for this conspiracy.

The Colombo War was in full swing when Tommy Shots was given the order to kill Orena faction loyalist John Minerva by the Persico faction leaders. Minerva was a Colombo soldier but was now marked for death. On the night of March 25th, 1992, Minerva was with a friend named Michael Imbergamo for a night out. They were parked in front of the Broadway Cafe in North Massapequa Long Island when a gunman opened fire on them, killing them both instantly. Michael Imbergamo was killed simply for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.  That is the way the Mafia works.

They would like you to think that they only kill each other, but the truth is that they kill anyone they wish. A lot of the murders are over petty matters. The bosses never follow "The Rules" they only apply them to those who fall out of their favor.

I have written before about Tommy Shots going after Joseph Peraino Sr. and his son Joseph Peraino Jr. in Gravesend Brooklyn. The two men were walking down the street when two men started firing on them. They both ran up a stoop to a door and began beating on it, the occupant was a former nun who was known as Sister Mary Adelaide. She walked towards the door asking what was going on when she was hit by a pellet from a shotgun blast and killed. Joseph Jr. was killed and Joseph Sr. would spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair. This was all over the profit of the porn film Deep Throat because the Colombo family Bosses aka the Persicos felt they were not getting their due.

Tommy Shots has spent the last six years locked up in Federal Detention because he was refused bail as a danger to the community. He had a stroke and his diabetes is bad, but as the past has shown, these guys don't let a little sickness stop them from their life of crime. It certainly does not stop them when they can reap the rewards of being in the administration of the family. 

Even though he has spent six years locked up, he was given another 224 months by the judge in the case because the Judge felt the Government had proved by a preponderance of evidence that Tommy Shots was a Colombo Mobster. He was ordered to pay $360,000 in restitution, $150,000 going to Furs by Mina, but it will never come because until Tommy Shots is released he must only pay $25.00 a month and then after release 10% of his income to the court. He will have 3 years of supervised release with rules that he may not associate with anyone in Organized Crime. 

 
Lets hope that Tommy Shots lives a long life in whatever Federal Medical Center he is placed. This is one criminal that I don't mind paying to keep locked up with the best medical care.

The Springfield Crew

I've been writing about the Mafia in different places and how they operate.  This is a story much like that of the Lucchese Family's New Jersey Crew, except this is about the Genovese Springfield Massachusetts Crew.  

Big Al

The Springfield crew was driven by the same Mafia Code as the rest of the family: Greed, Power and Murder.  The long time Capo of the crew was Salvatore "Big Nose Sam" Cufari who ran the crew unchecked through the 1970's until 1983 when he passed away.  One of his crew members stepped up to the number one position in Springfield and that man was Francesco “Skyball” Scibelli.  Frankie Skyball was so well respected that during the 1980's when Pete Milano was rebuilding the Los Angeles Family they reached out to Skyball when they had an associate from Massachusetts that was proposed for membership.  Skyball became the second sponsor and the man was made into the family.   The Springfield Crew would continue to prosper despite Federal indictments.  Skyball’s brother Baba Scibelli would run the crew after Skyball went away in the 1990's until Baba was indicted for running a huge amount of poker machines.  Baba admitted to being a member of the Genovese family and running the crew.  He would would retire with his millions.  

The next man to step up to the leadership role was Adolfo Bruno, who was better known by the nickname Big Al.  Big Al was known for his Hawaiian shirts and the ever present cigar.   Big Al would inherit a crew in the changing demographics of the Mafia.  Gone were the dozens of young eager recruits from Italian families.  Instead, Big Al had to make do with what he had, and one of those was Anthony J. Arillotta.  Anthony is exactly what is happening in every Mafia family around the world.  He represents what America itself has become.  Nobody is willing to put in the time to work their way up in whatever field they choose.  Everyone today wants everything right now with no time to really get to know what they are doing.

 

Artie

Big Al would soon face increasing pressure from the powerful acting boss of the Genovese Family, Arthur “Artie” Nigro, to kick up more cash from the Springfield rackets.  Artie was not happy.  Arillotta, who at the time was an up and coming member of Big Al’s crew, took part in everything from extortions to drug dealing.  Arillotta used two brothers in his organization as enforcers:: Fotios aka Freddy and Ty Geas.   They would help him extort $12,000 a month from a local stripclub and other collections.  Arillotta saw the rift between Artie and Big Al and he stepped in to take advantage of the situation.  He began to communicate with Artie and kick up  cash, plus he did a favor for Artie. Artie had a beef with a Union shop steward for the Cement Workers Union Local 780 in the Bronx named Frank Dadabo, so Artie asked Arillotta to do a piece of work. Artie gave Arillotta two pistols with silencers for the work and the location of Dadabo. In May of 2003 Arillotta and Ty Geas sat on a Bronx City Bench until they saw Dadabo walking to his car.  They got up and started walking towards him as he got into his car and then they opened fire, shattering the window and striking Dadabo.  Dadabo survived the shooting and Artie’s words to Arillotta were, “you need to get better at head shots.” Artie must have still been happy because Arillotta was Badged into the Genovese Family in a Bronx apartment building in the summer of 2003.  He then was caught on FBI wiretaps telling people he was no longer with Big Al and that he now took orders from Artie.  This created a strange situation in the Springfield underworld, but greed will always win out.

Arillotta

An immigrant from Italy, Emilo Fusco, who became a Badged member of the Genovese family, came across an FBI memo in which an FBI Agent stated that Big Al told the FBI about a Made member of the Springfield crew. Armed with this, Arillotta sought permission to murder Big Al from Artie and the Genovese Family over a steak dinner in the Bronx.  This is where a man named John Bologna comes into play in the Springfield Crew.  John Bologna was a longtime Gambino associate who ran a large bookmaking operation and helped the Gambinos in the Carting business until he switched crews.  He soon became close to Artie and Artie put him in charge of making sure the guys in Springfield brought in the cash they were supposed to at the right time.  He was also feeding negative reports to Artie about Big Al.  Artie soon gave the order to another Genovese man in Springfield named Felix Tranghese who passed it on to Arillotta.  They tried a number of times when Big Al was going to dinners in New York or other places.  John Bologna told them to do what they were supposed to do.  So Arillotta hired a prison buddy of Freddy Geas named Frankie Roche who was nicknamed Crash Dummy because of his reckless ways.  Frankie agreed to do the hit for 10,000 dollars.  Since he already had a beef with Big Al over his trashing of a bar, it came easy.    

Skyball

Frankie retrieved a 45 cal auto pistol from under a dumpster and began stalking Big Al.  Frankie missed him a couple of times at The Our Lady of Mount Carmel Society, until on November 23 2003 he got a call from Fusco letting him know where Big Als was that night.  So Frankie waited outside while Big Al played cards.  He hid next to a vending machine until Big Al and another man walked to his car.  Frankie then yelled “Hey Al” and he answered, “Whats’ up buddy?”  Frankie then said “Are you looking for me?” and shot Big Al as he fell against the car he shot him four more times and then a final time.  Frankie then got into an unregistered car and drove away.  That was the beginning of the end for Arillotta crew.  John Bologna soon disappeared from Springfield and the State Police stepped up their investigation.  They would all be arrested and Arillotta would be one of the first to flip.  Felix Tanghese flipped, Frankie Roche flipped and they all testified against Artie, The Geas Brothers andFusco.   They were all convicted of the murder except Fusco, who was still given 25 years. It would come out that John Bologna had been an FBI informant for 20 years.  

Detroit Mafia - Sicilian Style

The Mafia in Sicily all work together in so called Mandamentos which are comprised of three or more neighboring crime families which are led by a Capomandamento, who is also a member of Provincial Commission.  He is the head of one of the crime families and he will usually be elected by the other bosses who he represents on the Provincial Commission.  The Provincial Boss of Palermo is always the Capo Dei Capi or Boss of Bosses because almost half the members are from the Palermo Province and it is historically the most powerful.

The Cinisi Mandamento controls the North Western Palermo Provence in Italy and is made up of three crime families: The Terrasini, Cinisi and Villagrazia Di Carini Crime families.

When people think of Detroit they think of the automobile industry or possibly the murder capitol of the US.  The truth is that the Mafia is alive and well in Detroit today and Detroit is considered one of the most active Mafia Families in the US behind New York and Chicago. Known as the Detroit Partnership, Detroit Combination or the Zerilli Crime Family they continue to make the most of the dying city and its suburbs.

The Detroit area has seen an influx of Italian immigrants over the years with an estimated 275,000 now living there.  A large number of these are from Sicily and some of these came from Terrasini.  There are two brothers who came to Shelby Township from Terrasini named Giuseppe D'Anna, aka "Joe,", and Girolamo D'Anna, aka "Mimmo.”  They have been charged by the Feds for violations of the Hobbs Act.  When I first heard about these brothers and this case I was surprised that the Feds would go after a case like theirs.  

They had Tiramisu Italian Ristorante, and in 2009 a man named Pietro Ventimiglia opened a restaurant across the street from their restaurant.  Pietro called it Nonna's Kitchen and as soon as he opened it the Brothers D'Anna paid him a visit.  They were upset that Pietro had opened it without asking their permission because he is also from Terrasini.  They then kept harassing him making threats and trying to shake him down.  They asked Pietro if he had consulted his father in Sicily about opening the restaurant, the Feds claim that was a threat because the brothers have close ties to the Sicilian Mafia in Terrasini.

Joe and Mimmo’s Uncle Anthony was with the Detroit Partnership when they arrived in Detroit in the 1990's but he has since died.  Their father Calagero was deported from the United States in the late 1970's.  The brothers have connections with Detroit and even deeper connections with the Sicilian Cosa Nostra in their home town of Terrasini.  Their cousin Salvatore D'Anna is the boss of the Terrasini Crime Family.  

The Salvatore D'Anna Crime Family is involved in a host of racketeering crimes, including extortion (involving the family’s demanding payment of street “taxes,” or extortion and protection payments, from legitimate businesses), assaults, narcotics trafficking and murder.

The D'Anna brothers decided on April 28, 2011 that they were going to deal with Pietro themselves and they went to his restaurant while he was expanding it.  Mimmo went to the restaurant first and confronted Pietro as to why he was expanding his business in direct competition to theirs.  Mimmo then asked him if he was alone and when he answered yes he kept him distracted while his brother Joe ran in with a baseball bat and started wailing away. Joe struck him eleven or more times in the head and back, he then told him he would solve the problem by killing him, his family, and his family in Sicily.  They left the restaurant and Pietro, who called 911 as soon as they left, and had them arrested.  

They were charged with attempted murder but were able to plead no contest to lesser charges of assault and had to serve two months in jail and 3 more on house arrest.

So they served their time and the Feds came in and now they are charging them under the Hobbs Act.  It could be because those close to the Detriot Partnership have gotten a lot of lenient sentences in the past and this caused a stir in the justice department.  It could also be that the FBI, which works closely with Italian authorities via a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) is closely watching the New Cosa Nostra.  

The FBI has cut down all their LCN (La Cosa Nostra) Squads to go after terrorists and other problems.  The problem is that all the Cosa Nostra guys fit into society, they are business owners that dress nice.  So they fly under the radar until they stay out of the spotlight and quietly rebuild the families.

The Mafia is far from over.  It is simply going back into its roots as a secret crime organization.

The Detroit Partnership is believed to have 50 made men on the streets, so this is a real crime family that can and will rebuild.

Nicodemo Scarfo & Lucchese Scams

Halloween night 1989.  A lone man walks into Dante & Luigi's restaurant in South Philly wearing a Batman mask.  He walks straight towards a table of three men pulls out a Mac 10 and opens fire.  He fires five times at one man, striking him in the chest twice, the neck and arm, until he falls on the floor in a pool of blood. The masked man quickly exits the restaurant and drops the Mac 10 on the sidewalk outside.

Nicodemo Scarfo Jr.

Lying in the pool of blood: Nicodemo Scarfo Jr.  Luck was on his side that night because none of the wounds were life threatening.  In fact he didn't even need a blood transfusion. The bullets missed vital organs and blood vessels.  That is the way hits go sometimes.

The shooting gave the FBI an inside look into the mind of the 24 year old up and coming Mobster.  He had thrown his weight around because his father was the boss and one of the most violent in the country. Times had changed and  Nicodemo Scarfo Sr was now locked up in Federal Prison for the rest of his life.  They recovered a laptop computer belonging to the young Scarfo and they soon discovered bookmaking and shylocking records.  This was new because very few Mobsters even knew what a computer was at the time.

The shooter would be identified in court years later as Skinny Joey Merlino, the son of imprisoned Underboss Salvatore "Chuckie" Merlino.  Skinny Joey and Nicodemo Jr had been close friends at one time, but when the elder Scarfo had a falling out with the Merlinos they stopped being friends.  Joey was tired of Nicodemo Jr acting like he was the new boss of Philly and he was trying to lead his young turks into a power position.  Nicodemo Jr was also collecting street tax and bringing messages from his father at the time, so this could have been a message to his father.

Nicodemo not only survived, but thanks to a close friendship that his father has with Lucchese Family boss Vic Amuso, he was Made into the Lucchese Family.  He quickly left Philly and started working with the Lucchese New Jersey crew.  The Lucchese Family has always had a strong presence in New Jersey so it was a good choice.  

The FBI would would also install a key logger system on Nicodemo Jrs computer so they could monitor his usage and passwords.  They had to use this "Bug" because he was using an encryption software called PGP and they could not get into his files.  Nicodemo would challenge this in pretrial motions, but like all things FBI they claimed that after the 9-11 attacks they had to use software like this and keep it secret.  They would use the information to indict him on racketeering charges.

Once he was out of prison, he was right back at things with Lucchese family in New Jersey.  He was promoted to Capo and he helped run the Lucchese's New Jersey factions Gambling business.  They went online and started taking action using the website BIGACTIONSPORTS.COM.  They also had a wireroom in San Jose, Costa Rica, with more than 20 people working the room and processing the bets.  In 2007 Nicodemo Jr was no longer in charge because he had moved on to bigger things. He would brag to people that he could steal more with a computer than 10 guys with guns.  They started calling him “Nick Promo”, “Mr. Apple” and “Mr. Macintosh” for his computer skills.

The state would launch an investigation aimed at taking down the Lucchese Family in New Jersey.  It would last a  year and was called Operation Heat.  This time they took down 34 people on gambling charges.  In the 15 months they were watching the crew they recorded 2.2 billion dollars in wagers!  Just so Operation Heat would get even more headlines, the State also indicted Edwin and Dwayne Spears , Edwin Spears is a high ranking member of the Nine Trey Gangster set Bloods.  They called it an alliance but it was just two Lucchese guys: Joseph Perna and Michael Cetta, financing an operation with a corrections officer to smuggle cellphones and drugs into prison. So much for the Mafia Bloods connection.

Nicodemo Scarfo Sr

Nicodemo was working on something much bigger at this time.  He and Sal Pellulo decided to target a company in Texas called First Plus Financial Group, a publicly traded company.  First Plus Finacial Group was a Texas Based Mortgage company.   In April of 2007 they replaced its management and board of directors with their own people.  They then had the board purchase two corporations owned by Nicodemo Jr and Sal Pellulo for millions of dollars and thousands of shares of stock..  The problem was the two companies had little or no value.  They then had the board pay out huge amounts of cash that went to them as consultants.  Nicodemo Jr bought a huge house using $250,000 he got from the scam.  He set up trusts for his kids that were used to launder the cash from the scam.  Sal Pellulo bought an $800,000 jet to travel to Texas and Florida. Then the best part of the scam is that they then helped the stock price rise and they sold their shares for a profit!  Nicodemo Scarfo Sr and Vic Amuso were on the indictment as indicted co conspirators in the whole scam.  They were called Uncle Nicky, Mr MacArthur and Uncle Vic or Papa.  They were helping him, calling shots, two bosses that were locked up for life!

We shall see soon what happens because they are set to begin trial and neither Nicodemo Jr nor Sal Pellulo ever had their names on any of the paperwork.