Mike Yannotti

Michael Yannotti was Gambino Capo Nicky Corozzo’s go-to guy on the street when he needed things done. Today Mikey Y is an inmate of Danbury FCI where he and some other Cosa Nostra inmates just put the beat down on some Albanian gangsters.  At age 51, Mikey Y is still a force to be reckoned with. Mikey Y still has 7 years left of his 20 year sentence for racketeering conspiracy.  Mikey Y is scheduled to be released 1-16-2022 when he is 58 years old.

Mikey Y had been a Gambino associate for years, when in August 1984  Albert “Albie” Lattanzi was murdered by a Lucchese Associate named Todd Alvino.  Nicky Corozzo was upset by the murder of a crew member and he wanted to send a message to the Lucchese Family.

Nicky first told everyone to sit tight, while everyone mourned Albie’s death.  Then Mikey Y and the others started looking for Todd Alvino all over but they could not find them.  Then after a while they started hearing from other crews that Alvino was going out hitting the usual spots like he had no care in the world.

Nicky took this as an embarrassment and a slap in his face because Albie had been with his crew.  Nicky really turned up the heat on the crew, telling them that the way they were going Alvino would live to be an old man.  Finally, in February 1985, Yannotti, Anthony Lattanzi, Anthony Gerbino, Richard Lapenna, and some other members of Corozzo’s crew found Alvino sitting in his car doing cocaine outside a nightclub.  Mikey Y told guys that they had hit him with shotgun blasts in his car.  Nicky really took Mikey under his wing after that killing.  Mikey was on his way up in the Gambino Family.  Mikey then shot Mario Cassarino in the leg when they got into a fight.  The fight was over the fact Mario was armed the night Albie was killed and he froze.

Mikey then shot a Colombo Associate named Robert Tarantola who was a Marijuana dealer close to Teddy Persico Jr.  Mikey had gotten into an argument with Tarantola at the Players Nightclub In Bensonhurst Brooklyn. Mikey confronted him in the parking lot and shot him in the chest when he was in his car.  Mikey reached out for Andrew Didonato early the next morning because Andrew was in the weed business with Tarantola.  Mikey told Andrew that he had to stick close to the crew because the Colombos might go to war with Nicky over the shooting.

The shooting was resolved with a sit down because Tarantola did not die.

Mikey would get made, despite protests from Capos like Mikey “Scars” DiLeonardo who felt that Mikey Y’s shooting and kidnapping of radio talk show host Curtis Sliwa made the family look bad.  Junior Gotti went ahead with the induction but told Mikey Scars that Mikey Y was a secret member of the Gambino Family.  Junior Gotti told him that if anyone introduced Mikey Y as a made guy, they would be shot.  That lasted until John Gotti Sr’s wake, at which Mikey Y was introduced as a made guy.

Mikey also shot and killed Robert Arena and Thomas Maranga, but those events have been covered a few times before in this blog.

I am sure some people who read this will look at Mikey Y as some kind of hero.  Bottom line is that the guy is a murderer, and should remain behind bars a lot longer than the seven remaining years of his sentence.