Oldfella, Lufthansa and John Gotti

Anyone who has seen the movie Goodfellas will know about what happened on Dec. 11, 1978.

That was when a group of masked men forced their way into the secured cargo building of Lufthansa Airlines and stole 6 million in cash and jewels.  One of the men who was part of the conspiracy was Vincent Asaro, the Bonanno family capo in charge of their airport rackets.  He received very little of the cash and what he did take home, he lost gambling.

He has taken down some big scores over the years and made money with the family.  He has been promoted, demoted and promoted again because of his habits.  He involved his son Jerome in the life - they are both capos.

Vincent Asaro took a huge gamble in 2015 and took his case to trial.  Despite his cousin Gaspare Valenti wearing a wire and testifying against him, he was acquitted in 2015.  He walked free until this week.

Here is one of the crimes Vincent Asaro was charged with this week. In April of 2012, Asaro was in Howard Beach, Queens when another motorist pulled in front of him at a stoplight.  This pissed him off so he chased him until he could figure out where he lived.  All one has to do is take a look at Asaro’s picture and you can imagine how he drives. Asaro drives an associate of the Bonanno family to where the car is parked in the Broad Channel section of Queens.  He then orders the associate to torch the car.  The associate then recruits two men to help him, Matthew Rullan aka Fat Mat and none other than John J. Gotti.  Can you believe the grandson of the former Gambino family boss, John Gotti, is going to torch a car for an aging Bonanno family capo?

The unnamed associate, whom I suspect as flipped, drove with John Gotti in his Jaguar to a service station where they filled up a container with gasoline.  They doused the car and Fat Matt ignited it.  The problem was, there was an NYPD officer in an unmarked car who watched them torch the car.  The NYPD car chased the Jaguar for a short distance before giving up the chase because it was dangerous.

Asaro then made the associate drive him the next day to the place where the burned out car was taken to confirm the job was done.  Imagine that you are a capo in one of the five New York Mafia families, and you are involved in torching a car for cutting you off in traffic.

It gets better.  Two weeks after the arson, John Gotti, Fat Matt and a man named Michael Giudici decide to rob the bank where John Gotti’s girlfriend is a teller.

On April 18, 2012 Michael Giudici walks into Maspeth Federal Savings and Loan Association at 5:45pm before they close.  He walks up to a teller and hands a note over that says, “I Have A Bomb.” The teller places $5,491 in cash on the counter, which Giudice takes and then flees the bank.  John Gotti and Fat Mat are waiting and they all drive away.

These master criminals walked away with only $1830 dollars a piece, that is, unless they also had to kick some of that up to someone above them.  They now face up to 20 years for that small payday.  John Gotti is already locked up in prison for eight years for being caught selling pills.  

Vincent Asaro is facing less time, but I suspect the Feds will be hitting him with more charges soon.  A Bonanno capo was unmasked as cooperating, and at this point nobody knows for just how long he’s been cooperating.

Merlino's Luck

Joey Merlino, the flashy former boss of the Philadelphia crime family, is one of the luckiest mobsters in the mafia.  Merlino has survived numerous assassination attempts and gotten away with murder.  He has done a lot of time, but none that took him off the streets for good.  He has lived a charmed life with lots of toys.  

He was out in Los Angeles and even made it on TMZ at the airport with Howard Stern wack packer Johnny Fratto. I wonder if he actually got one of these wannabe Hollywood types to buy his life’s rights?

Merlino might have hit the prosecutorial lottery in his latest case.  Merlino, along with 46 other members and associates of the mafia, were picked up on charges ranging from illegal gambling to medical fraud in 2016.

The problem is with the informant in the case, John Rubeo, a former Genovese associate.

John Rubeo recorded over 800 conversations with various mobsters including Merlino.  

The problem is, John Rubeo erased a lot of the conversations.  

I have nothing for respect for the FBI.  All the agents I ever had dealings with were consummate lawmen.  They were all by the book and kept their word to me.

I wore two wires most of the time, really small MP3 recorders hidden in things like my watch. It only had an on switch and there was no speaker.  I recorded and dropped them off and then was given new ones everyday. All my calls I recorded through their system and I had no access to the system.  My car was wired, and again I only had an on switch.  I had to meet my handlers and there were always two of them, a couple times a week.  They would debrief me and write it down for 302’s.  I used to forward text and emails via email daily.  I wonder how was it possible for Joph Rubeo to delete any conversations.  How did they not properly debrief him?

Two agents and their supervisor are in hot water over the lapses.

It is possible that Merlino and the 46 others including a Genovese underboss and capo could walk free.  It does leave a huge hole in the case, because as defendants they are entitled to all the evidence even that which maybe exculpatory.

If evidence has been destroyed, how could they possible have a fair trial?

Joey Merlino may actually walk on this case and his life rights could turn into another really bad Hollywood mafia movie.

NYPD Assistant Chief Edward Delatorre, is one of the best real estate investors in New York.

This guy is so good that he was able to get four properties that belonged to various Bonanno family members, including Vinny Basciano and Dominick Cicale, located in the Bronx, at below market rates.

I wonder why he even bothers to work for the NYPD anymore.  A company owned by his wife bought a lot that at one time had a home on it where the Bonanno’s had an initiation ceremony.  The home belonged to Cole's mother.  The home is gone and the lot had a 990,000 dollar loan against it.  Delatorre's wife’s company bought it and sold it to an LLC owned by Delatorre.

Much like many of today’s political elite, these people are excellent investors!  Just look at some of the people in Congress and Senate who never hold a private sector job, yet leave office with millions in the bank.  Why do they not share their investment secrets with us regular people?

The Purple Gang and Michael Meldish

There have been few hits ordered or carried out by any of the five new york Families in the last few years.  They had a moratorium on murder because of all the heat it causes.

Vinny Basciano as temporary boss of the Bonanno family ordered  Randolph "Randy" Pizzolo murdered and it caused him all kinds of trouble.  The Boss Joey Massino wore a wire on him and got him to admit his part in it.

Michael Meldish controlled a group of crazy thugs called the Purple Gang that were aligned with the Lucchese, Genovese and Bonanno families.  They took their name from the Prohibition Era gang also known as the Purple Gang or the Sugar Gang that operated in the Detroit area. A lot of former members have been absorbed into some of the five families. They controlled a lot of the drug trade in Harlem and the Bronx during the 1970-80’s. Meldish was also believed to have carried out at least 10 hits during that time.  Others talk about his involvement in many more murders.

It can be no surprise that Michael Meldish was murdered after getting out of prison and returning to his old ways.  He was found shot to death in his car in November 2013 in the Throgs Neck section of the Bronx. He was in the passenger seat after being executed by a passenger.  

The list of people who wanted him dead is long because he pissed off many powerful people over the years.  It is being said that the underboss of the Lucchese family Matty Madonna may get wrapped up in this murder.  Michael Meldish was said to run errands for him, but they had a falling out.  I hear Michael Meldish didn't care what anyone said and he wanted to do his own thing.  It is all about cocaine and who controls Westchester and Bronx cocaine territory. It is being said that it was being mostly run by (westside) Genovese guys at this point.  

What I have heard is that the Lucchese family got the Genovese family's okay to take out Michael Meldish. The only problem is the guy who is charged, Christopher Londonio, killed him only a block away from where some Genovese guys like Ralph Balsamo, Patty Falcetti and others hang their hats.  The Genovese might have given their blessing, but no way did they want it around them.  Sounds like Londonio might have some problems if he gets out of this situation.  

Londonio is going to have to use all the good will he has with Matty Madonna if he is ever on the street again.

Londonio could always blame it on the guy who law enforcement claim pulled the trigger, Terrance Caldwell, an associate.  Caldwell is also charged with shooting a Bonanno guy,  Enzo “The Baker” Stagno, in the chest, but he lived.

These guys were active and brought in cash for the family.  Look at the price drugs cost everyone.  You deal with low lifes and loose cannons that go to guns and start slinging lead at the drop of a hat.

The future of the Mafia is with crimes like gambling, loan sharking and fraud.  

Crimes that draw less attention.  The headlines are not so big when it's just a gambling bust with no bodies.

Goodbye Teddy Persico Sr.

The death of Theodore Persico Sr leaves one brother, Carmine, the boss of the Colombo family.  Brothers Alphonse “Allie Boy” Persico, Carmine “Snake” Persico and Theodore “Teddy” Persico were all three made Colombo family members.  Carmine took over as boss and appointed his brother as underboss, while Teddy was a capo and on the ruling panel that ran the family.

Teddy Sr had a long career in the Colombo family rackets.  He was indicted in the 1980’s for a number of crimes, including loan sharking, gambling and extortion.  When his brother Carmine went away, he was one of those that passed messages to the family.

He was a vital part of Persico faction during the war in the 1990’s and he would end up serving 22 years because of it. The informants claimed that he helped direct the war against the other faction of the family lead by Vic Orena.  

He was not convicted of murder, but many informants placed him at the meetings where they were planned.  He appealed his charges because it was revealed that Greg Scarpa Sr was an FBI informant during the war.  It is funny because the Persicos leaned on Greg’s crew to do most of the killing.  He would also claim there was no war just Greg Scarpa settling scores.

If anyone would like to read more on Greg Scarpa, I suggest the Mafia Hitman's Daughter by Linda Scarpa.  It is a well written book by somebody who was actually there, not one of these phoney writers or talking head TV commentators who do not know anything real about the life.

Teddy Sr was the father of Teddy Jr who ordered a hit while on furlough from prison because the guys tried to kill his father.

Teddy Sr had done the last 6 years of his prison time locked in a medical facility because of his failing health.  

Many people thought he would get out and try to get the Colombos back on track.

Teddy Sr wanted no part of the life when he got out.  I know a guy who was locked up with him in MCC Manhattan.  He didn't want to be bothered by anyone.  He had a corrections officer on the take who would bring him stuff from outside.  The officer would go meet someone at the restaurant Embers in Bay Ridge.

Once Carmine goes, the Colombo family will probably be better off.  Teddy Jr still has some years to serve, and then he will be on parole.  

He would do better to get a job when he gets out than return to being a criminal.

John Gotti, the grandson of the late Gambino Boss John Gotti, was sentenced this week to 8 years in prison for his role in a pill distribution ring.

He flooded the streets with prescription opioid pills over the years.  

He had to forfeit the cash, almost $260,000, seized during his arrests, and he will have 5 years parole when he gets released.

He joins the ranks of many of his male relatives in going to prison.  

How can anyone think that being in organized crime is a good idea?

Teddy Persico Jr: you can still change your life. It is never too late.