Court Updates: Colombo's Persico Denied Appeal & Gambino Connected Former NYPD Gets Off Easy

The escort business business paid off big time this week for Michael Rizzi, a former NYPD officer connected to the Gambino family.  The judge sentenced him to a mere fifteen months in prison.  Rizzi took control of Pure Platinum Models when the former owner, Marc J. Shulman, pleaded guilty to money laundering back in 2015.  The prosecution claimed they had links between Mr. Shulman's holding companies and Michael Rizzi’s BJM company.  BJM catered to big money clients staying at the nicer hotels in Manhattan.  BJM had a dozen drivers to shuttle the girls to clients.

They charged hourly rates between $400-$2000 an hour and offered package deals, for example, $7,200 for twelve hours or $8,400 for fourteen hours. BJM had over two million dollars in credit card charges while in business. This was Rizzi’s second brush with the law since he retired from the NYPD due to a back injury.  He was arrested in a gambling sting and was said to be a super agent by the NYPD Organized Crime Investigation Division.  He was able to plead that case out to misdemeanor gambling.

In other court news, the Colombo boss Carmine Persico, now 83 years old and supposedly, “old and feeble,” had his appeal of his 100 year sentence denied.  Persico had appealed under the old Rule 35, because he was convicted over two decades ago in the Mafia Commission case.  He claimed that his sentence was unfair because he was not given all the evidence, such as Greg Scarpa being an informant. Scarpa had supplied a lot of the information the government used in Persico’s sentencing.  Persico claimed that Scarpa gave them information on murders he was involved in. Scarpa also gave the FBI different accounts of who was boss of the family at the time as did a number of other informants.  Persico claimed he did not have the power to order a hit.   He also fought back against the use of information given to the court by Donnie Brasco aka Joe Pistone.

He cited new information that came to light after Joey Massino flipped to Team USA about the murder of Carmine Galante.  The Government had always claimed the Galante murder was ordered by the Commission, which Persico was a member of at the time. Massino claims it was never Commission business, just Bonanno family business that they conducted.

Carmine Galante made himself the boss of the Bonanno family while the real boss Philip Rusty Rastelli was locked up.  Galante also tried to control the Sicilian heroin traffickers whom he had around him.

The Appeals court did not see that any of the evidence was explosive enough to grant him a resentencing.  He is 32 years into a 100 year sentence and he now is the only remaining person incarcerated who was convicted in the Commission case.

Considering the half a century of mayhem that the whole Persico clan has created in Brooklyn, many would say that Carmine Persico is where he belongs.

The Carmine Galante murder took place shortly after he had finished eating lunch and was enjoying a cigar. A picture taken shortly after he was shot dead in the courtyard of a Brooklyn restaurant shows him with a cigar still clenched in his mouth.

One of the men who was with Galante, but not shot at the time was then 27 year old Baldassare Amato aka Baldo. Baldo was supposed to be one of Galante's bodyguards.  Baldo was convicted in 2006 of racketeering, which included the murders of Sebastiano Di Falco and Robert Perrino.  The murder of DiFalco was carried out because he didn't agree to give up his restaurant.  Baldo is said to have pulled the trigger himself in the Perrino murder after he was lured to a social club.  The Bonanno family was afraid Perrino was going to help with the investigation of the mafia infiltration of the the New York Post newspaper delivery operation.  Perino's body was buried and then reburied, but the FBI still found it.  

Baldo was sentenced to a life sentence and he had tried to appeal claiming that his lawyer did not represent him because he had formerly represented Bonanno boss Joey Massino who later became a witness against him.

The judge recently rejected his appeal and let his sentence stand.

If you read much about guys in the life all this is pretty normal.  Others will take their places and life on the streets will continue moving forward.

Mafia Slip-and-Fall: A Prison Ping Pong Lawsuit

Life in the mafia is never boring and sometimes it is even humorous.  

There was a time when made Colombo soldier Thomas “Tommy Shots” Gioeli was well respected on the streets. He is alleged to have participated in at least eight murders over the years, including that of of a police officer. The police officer’s name was Ralph Dols, and he was murdered because his wife’s ex-husband, Joe Cacace, was a jealous man.  

He also helped chase down one of the makers of the film Deep Throat, Joseph Peraino Sr., along with his son Joseph Jr. This confrontation took place in a Gravesend Brooklyn neighborhood.  Tommy Shots blasted the father and son, and also a former Nun named Veronika Zuraw who was completely innocent. As a result, Veronika and Joseph Jr. were both killed and Joseph Sr. was paralyzed.

Tommy Shots was rewarded for his lifetime of crime in 2004, when he was upped to Street Boss of the Colombo family.

In 2014 he was sentenced to 18 years in federal prison, where he has been crying ever since.  

He was given the nickname Tommy Shots because he survived getting a bullet in his shoulder and in his stomach.  The man who took two bullets is now suing the government for ten million dollars after slipping and falling while playing a game of ping pong in prison.

He filed the negligence lawsuit after his slip and fall, blaming the injury on a wet floor in the Metropolitan Detention Center.  The obese Tommy Shots slipped and fractured his kneecap.  

Here is another good one.  The grandson of the late Gambino boss John Gotti, was arrested last year twice for dealing drugs.  He was pulled over in what has been called a traffic stop for tinted windows.  He was caught with a couple hundred pills and over $7,000 in cash.  Then the police busted him in the former Howard Beach home where his grandfather used to live.

In that bust they confiscated over $200,000 and 800 pills.  They also caught him (just like his grandfather) on a bug, bragging he sold over a $100,000 a month in pills and $1.6 million overall.

This week the whole ordeal came to a conclusion when John Gotti took a plea deal for 8 years with 5 years of supervised release.  He also gave up any claims to the seized cash.

He now joins the ranks of his family before him, heading to prison.

Criminals Crossing Borders: Salvatore Marciante

Lately the media is filled with outcries against President Trump's strengthening of the US borders.  What nation is able to let anyone who wishes to enter do so with no vetting at all? A nation that will not be sovereign long.  

It is not just Mexican and South American criminals crossing borders, it's terrorists and criminals from around the world.  Last week a small article appeared about a man named Salvatore Marciante, also known as “Baby Face,” who was arrested for entering the country in Nogales, Arizona.

Baby Face was born in Italy and brought to the US by his parents as a child. He grew up in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn on 18th Ave. Some would consider that a bad neighborhood.

His parents came here for a better life.  Instead, Baby Face fell in with a Zip crew from 18th Ave.

"Zips" are what American mafia call the Sicilians operating in the US, because they speak such fast Italian.  

According to a childhood friend of Baby Face, he was a really good guy before he embarked on his life of crime. However, he became deeply involved with the Zips, moving large quantities of cocaine and heroin in what would come to be known as the Pizza Connection II case.

Baby Face and a crew also started robbing wealthy Italian restaurant owners they knew, mostly in Pennsylvania, but also New York and New Jersey.  They targeted them because they knew they had a lot of cash in their homes from unreported income.

Baby Face's best friend was Vincent Carini. Vincent and his brother Eddie botched a hit that was ordered by Carmine Persico, the boss of the Colombo family. They were supposed to kill a federal prosecutor, William Aronwald, who had angered Carmine Persico.  

Persico had given the hit to Joel Cacace, then acting boss of the Colombo family. Cacace scouted out the law office and gave the hit to the Vincent and Eddie - the Carini brothers.  They mistakenly killed George Aronwald, the father of the prosecutor, instead of William the prosecutor.

As a result, Vincent and Eddie were killed. They were found dead inside their cars, parked together on Ave X in Brooklyn.  That's when Baby Face lost his best friend.

In the 1994 Pizza Connection II, the indictment claims Baby Face ran a crew that sold multi kilos of heroin and lesser amounts of cocaine. He was arrested while still locked up for his involvement in what would later be known as the Petrified Forest case. He did his time for the heroin case and the home invasions, and he was then deported to Italy.

He moved to Canada, where he opened a restaurant that did well.  He was found out by the Canadians and was deported for overstaying his visa.

He lived in Italy for twelve years, and apparently kept out of trouble.

He recently made his way to Mexico where he attempted reentry into the US. People ask why we need to strengthen our borders. Salvatore Marciante, formerly of Staten Island, is one good reason.

2016 Year End Mafia Wrap Up

This year closes with more mafia busts. You can see with the new indictments that the Mafia has changed along with the times. It has become a more secretive operation concentrating more on crimes that bring in a lot of profit and without risking as much prison time.  Gambling and loan sharking are the lifeblood of the mafia.  Other Italian crime groups are much more involved in the drug trade.

If they keep up with this low profile the FBI will stay busy with Islamic terror organizations and maybe the mafia will rebuild.

The reckless boss of Philadelphia, Joey Merlino, was taken down by the FBI.  He was involved in a multi-family gambling, loan sharking and medical fraud operation.  The FBI intercepted a Genovese wiseguy telling another member that Merlino was a boss.

Meanwhile, Joey Merlino was on the books as employed at a restaurant in South Florida.  This is the same Joey Merlino who visited Los Angeles and was caught by TMZ (not the FBI) with Howard Stern personality Johnny Fratto.

The video is online for anyone to watch.  Hey, maybe Merlino was visiting his relatives in Los Angeles.

There has been a lot less activity in Los Angeles since Pete Milano died.  Joe Isgro, the Gambino family man who used to be in Mikey Scars’ crew, was arrested for gambling and money laundering.  Isgro was a successful record promoter and producer.  He also produced movies like Hoffa.  I know some day he will produce the Lucky Luciano movie.  This time he was able to get out of the gambling charges with a misdemeanor plea, which was much better than his loan sharking charges in Los Angeles years ago.

The Bonanno family had a better year after last years Christmas party was monitored by the FBI.  Some of their men may face a retrial on charges.

The mafia is fairing much better because they are killing less. The “no murder policy” has done well, because juries are hard pressed to convict on big charges when there are no bodies.

There may be some fireworks coming up with the Genovese family’s Bronx crew for a murder.

Michael Persico, the “good son” of Carmine “The Snake” Persico and brother of “Allie Boy” Persico, managed to put off his sentencing again until 2017. I am amazed because others like Eddie Garofalo are already out from the case.  Teddy Persico Jr., his cousin, has a bit more time, at least until 2020.  Steve Marcus flipped and soon Michael Persico will be going bye bye.

The Montreal wing of the Bonanno family is still in turmoil and they continue to blast each other.

A member was convicted this year for taking part in killing former acting Bonanno boss Sal “The Ironworker” Montagna who was deported by the Feds to Canada.

The staples of the mafia: gambling, loan sharking, garbage, untaxed cigarettes, unions and construction will keep it in the money for some years to come.

Have a great 2017!

I’m sure there will be more to write about for years to come.

Rudy Giuliani

Rudolph W. Giuliani has been in the news lately because of his support of Donald Trump.  Most people know him as the mayor of New York City during the  9-11-2001 attacks by Islamic terrorists.

Rudy, as he is known, was the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York.

He would become famous for prosecuting Wall Street insiders Ivan Boesky and Michael Milken for insider trading.

One of the more famous cases was the Mafia Commission case.

The Mafia Commission was formed by Charles “Lucky” Luciano and the other heads of families in 1931.  They did it to stop the fight over who would be the boss of bosses.  The Commission approved who was boss of a family and set rules.  They also controlled a concrete club that took a peice of any building project that used more than two million in concrete.  

It was called the concrete club.  When a new boss took over the family they would send word to the Commission.  In 1981 when the boss of the Los Angeles family went away, Pete Milano became acting boss.  In 1984 he assumed the boss position and named his brother Carmen underboss. Carmen had worked in Cleveland as a lawyer and he knew all the guys in New York.  Carmen went to New York with some other Los Angeles guys to let the Commission know that Pete was the boss.  They approved it.  

Every boss had the same power, but the commission would settle disagreements between families. They also ordered murders like Bugsy Siegel, who stole money while building the Flamingo casino in Las Vegas.

They had a few moments when they were exposed.  One of those was the Apalachin meeting in 1957 that was raided by the local police.  

Rudy decided to crack down on the Mafia leadership instead of just settling for a few of the lower ranking members.  He used the RICO Act to bring them down.  The FBI had been able to infiltrate the Bonanno family with Donnie Brasco aka Special Agent Joseph Pistone.  He saw the civil war in the family from the ground level.  

They also were able to bug Paul Castellano, the boss of the Gambino family's home.  They bugged the Palma Boys Social Club where the front boss of the Genovese family, Fat Tony Salerno, held court every day.  They were able to bug the boss of the Lucchese family, Tony “Ducks” Corallo, in the car he was driven in everyday.  

They struck gold.  Fat Tony was heard talking to a soldier from the Cleveland family and another from the Buffalo New York family about settling a dispute over the boss of Buffalo.  He used the words, “The Commission.”

They also were able to place a bug in Jerry Langella, the acting boss of the Colombo family’s favorite table in Casa Storta in Brooklyn.  That bug gave them enough evidence to bug Colombo Ralph Scopo’s Union office where he discussed the Concrete Club business.

Rudy even subpoenaed retired boss Joe Bonanno who write the book, “A Man of Honor” about his life.  They were going to use what he wrote about the formation of the Commission to take down the Commission.   

The took down eleven defendants who would all be charged in the Commission's case.

He won a conviction against the eight defendants who made it to the end of the trial.

Rudy would retire from the US Attorney’s Office with a record of 4,152 convictions and only 25 verdicts were reversed on appeal.

As a US Attorney, Rudy Giuliani cleaned up Wall Street and brought down the Commission. As a result he had a large impact on the mafia family’s strength across the US.

A Mafia Prince and a Cop-turned-Mafia Pimp

On November 1st, if all works smoothly, mafia prince Michael Persico will be sentenced for several of his crimes. He will be the last of those that were taken down with my wire.

Michael Persico is a great take down for the FBI because he has long been the “clean” Persico who handled the cash for the rest of the Persico family.  He is the son of Carmine ”the Snake” Persico, the long imprisoned boss of the Colombo family.  Michael was never inducted into the crime family, but was a powerful associate because he could visit his father in prison to pass along messages and because his brother Alphonse was acting boss before he too went away for life.  

Michael passed along orders and actually gave orders himself.  He benefitted from all the perks of being in the family.  

It’s a shame that he was able to get a good deal and will only get up to five years for all his crimes.  Michael Persico even had his eighty year old mother write a plea to the judge in his favor.  He is believed to have been a part of a conspiracy to murder several men, one of them being Capo Joe Scopo.   Michael has long loaned out money and used the crime family to enforce his loans.  

He loaned cousin Teddy Jr. money, and after Teddy was sent away for 20 years he wanted the cash back.  Teddy is away now because of this same case.

Let's hope the judge takes into account the life Michael has lived and gives him an appropriate sentence.

Next up is Michael Rizzi, who I have written about before.  He is a real credit to society because he is an ex-NYPD officer who is collecting a tax-free disability pension for a back related injury that happened while on duty.  

I guess his back didn't hurt enough to stop him from running escort sites from Staten Island.  

He pleaded guilty on Wednesday to money laundering charges.  

Rizzi married into the Gambino crime family because his wife is the daughter of Gambino soldier Richard Giuliano Jr., and niece of capo Sonny Giuliano.  

He had to forfeit 120k in cash and a condo in Boca Raton Florida that he bought with the cash he made from the escorts.

He made  good deal because he will get at the most 51 months in Federal custody.  He will still have to face state charges for possession of a firearm, but that is a state charge and it will probably run concurrent to his Federal case.

Two men who profited by being around crime families and using the mystic that goes along with it.

Mafia Justice

This week I have three stories and three different takes on justice.  

The first one is takes us to Rhode Island where the former boss of the New England family, Frank Salemme, is facing charges for allegedly murdering Steven DiSarro, a nightclub manager, in 1993. DiSarro ran a Boston nightclub for Salemme and his son.  Frank and his son were worried that DiSarro would talk to the Feds.  They also believed he was stealing money from the club.  So Frank Salemme Jr. strangled him while Paul Weadick held his legs.  Salemme's son is dead now.  Paul Wedick and Salemme are facing charges of murdering a federal witness, which can carry the death penalty.  A former capo, Robert Deluca, and Steve Flemmi, a former partner of Whitey Bulger, both agreed to testify against the two men.  You have Robert Deluca telling the Feds that he told Salemme to get rid of him, only now coming forward after many years in the witness protection program. Steve Flemmi is also cooperating after being charged with murdering a lot of people.  

The next case is Colombo capo Luca Dimatteo.  His doctors claim he will be dead within the year due to cancer.  DiMatteo was charged with running an offshore bookmaking operation and shylocking.  He collected money from loans on a weekly basis once when he finished up his chemotherapy.  In 2004 he received a 57 month sentence for racketeering and went right back to the life within months of his release.  This time, Judge Leo Glasser did not want to hear about how sick he was.  DiMatteo was asking for home confinement, but the Judge gave him 33 months in prison.  The Judge told him, “You’ve done this to yourself.”

The third case brings us to New Jersey, where lawyer Cory Leshner helped Nicodemo Scarfo Jr. and other Lucchese family members loot a Texas mortgage company.  The lawyer helped them take over Firstplus Financial Group and steal 14 million dollars, which they then used to buy homes, yachts and a plane.  Before the case went to trial, Leshner agreed to cooperate and he testified against those he helped.  He agreed to a five year plea deal and admitted they stole millions.

Retired FBI Agent Joe Gilson testified last week at Lehshner’s sentencing hearing.  He told the court of a phone call he got from Leshner in the summer. Leshner told him he just wanted to call and thank him for saving his life. The Judge at the sentencing hearing gave him three years instead of five and three years of supervised release.  

The Judge has never lowered a sentence before, but he felt Leshner went above and beyond with his testimony and he had truly changed his life around. Nicodemo Scarfo Jr., on the other hand, was handed a 30 year sentence for his part in the fraud.

Take Down 46

Another week in the life, and this week the FBI took down 46 guys from a number of families for various racketeering charges.  The names you will recognize, because these guys just never seem to learn.  

Jimmy Caci, who was the street boss of the Los Angeles family, told me a few months before he passed away that the life was not what it was supposed to be. It had gotten out of control and there was no honor or loyalty anymore. This was after my first book Breakshot had come out.  

So here we were, sitting at a diner and he is speaking to me.  I felt sorry for him because he was a relic from the past and his time had passed.  Jimmy was originally from Buffalo, New York and he knew the long time boss Stephan Maggadino.  He was on good terms with all the guys in the family when it was at it’s peak.  Jimmy grew up in a different time.  A time when Italians were looked down upon. Boxers used Irish names to get fights, and most policemen were Irish.  The mafia served a purpose then, but now it may be one more thing, like Sears, we do not need.

You can read more about Jimmy in Breakshot, which has been re-released.

Joey Merlino was the one time boss of the Philadelphia family.  He may still be boss, but he is in custody again. Merlino has spent more than half his life locked up. He is the son of former underboss Sal Merlino and is also nephew to soldier Lawrence Merlino, both of whom are now dead.  

Merlino has gotten away with murder but he just cannot seem to go straight.  Some guys just never get it.  

In better times Joey Merlino was out in Los Angeles with Johnny Fratto getting chased by TMZ. Merlino was out to speak about selling his life rights to a well known movie producer.  Maybe this story will go into the new Johnny Fratto book that Randazzo is working on.

The new indictment charges many of the guys with bookmaking.  They again used offshore websites, but did business here in the US under the name Costa Rican International Sportsbook. One of those charged was Daniel Marino Jr., a friend of Colombo Craig Marino and son of a Gambino heavy weight.  Many years ago Daniel was hiding out at Joe Dente's home in Los Angeles.

This time the indictment has a couple of crimes we have not witnessed in an indictment in a few years.  Healthcare fraud: where they had doctors prescribing an expensive compound and charging insurance companies.  They were also smuggling untaxed cigarettes into the New York area, where they were worth three million dollars.

They had a casino style gambling spot in Yonkers where they hosted poker and other card games.

John Lembo, a name that was well known to those around back in the stock fraud days, was busted for setting up credit card skimmers.  Lembo was a friend of Eddie Garofalo and Craig Marino.  

The FBI had an undercover agent deep inside that worked with Genovese guys and Joey Merlino.  They also had a cooperator wired up the whole time.  How many more will flip is still to be seen.  The majority of those arrested face up to 20 years, but this indictment seems to be missing the normal murders and other violence.  They are charged with assaulting a homeless man who was bothering patrons of a restaurant on Arthur Ave.  They did threaten to choke a guy out, but it does not read as bad as the others I have read.  I bet everyone pleads out for a lot less time.

One guy arrested is Ralph Balsamo, a Genovese guy.  Why he does not just run his family's funeral homes I have no idea.  I bet Balsamo has some more problems that are going to come up soon.  Stay tuned.

Joe Colombo

I write about the Colombo family often, but how many know how it all started?  

It came about after prohibition-era gangster Frankie Uale was murdered and his rackets were divided up between men in Brooklyn.  Giuseppe Profaci was granted the largest piece of the rackets.  One of those who also received a piece was a man named Anthony Colombo who had a son named Joseph who would one day head the family.  

Anthony would be garroted and found in a car on a Bay Ridge Brooklyn street when Joe was high school.  Joe’s mother was afraid gangsters would kill him or his family so she decided to move the family to California.

Joe decided to stay in Brooklyn.  He was hooked up with jobs through Carlo Gambino and he started hustling on the side.

He was a hard worker and he was pulling down cash by having craps games.  Then came World War Two and one year into the war he volunteered for the Coast Guard.

He was assigned to the Falgout which was on escort duty for convoys.  He saw combat when German planes and submarines attacked the convoys.

Joe ended up in trouble for being AWOL when his ship was in New York.  He had to spend 7 months in the brig on Hart's Island. He did receive an honorable discharge and was offered disability checks for his shock but he decided not to take them.

He started working on the Brooklyn docks that were run by Albert Anastasia, who at the time was head of the family.  Soon it would become the Gambino Family after Albert was gunned down while getting a shave in the city.

When the police and the FBI started putting the heat on the Brooklyn docks he decided on a new line of work.  He soon started to work for Peter Castellano in the meat business as a salesman.

He opened a social club and it soon became a hub for various gambling ventures.

Joe was working hard moving up in the life when Joey Gallo and his crew on President Street carried out a hit on Frank “Shots” Abbatemarco for Giuseppe Profaci the boss of the family.  

They thought they would receive a piece of Shots’ gambling action in their neighborhood.  Profaci decided not to give them anything and that started a war.

The Gallos started kidnapping members of Profaci’s inner circle.  Larry Gallo was lured to a lounge where an assassin tried to strangle him.  He was unconscious when a policeman stumbled in on the whole thing and saw his feet as he lay on the ground.  

That scene and another incident from the Gallo war would become part of popular culture when they were played out out on the big screen.  The Gallo’s would get a package with a fish and clothes that belonged to their toughest enforcer Joe Jelly.  The message was clear Joe Jelly slept with the fish and he would not be seen again.

Next week Joe Colombo ascends to the top spot and joins The Italian American Civil Rights league.

As the Mob Turns

Colombo underboss Benjamin Castellazzo, also known as Benji, or “the Claw,” did what any father who happened to be a mafia underboss would do for his son.  He used his power and position to get his son a job at the Union controlled Hudson News.  He had his cronies falsify work histories to get him a job.  This is a job that should have gone to a real hard working Union member.

The guy who Benji used to set up the job took a plea deal and was given no jail time, only probation.  Benji took a plea deal for some other crimes in 2013 and was given 63 month in prison. He claimed at the time time that he was living on $868 dollars a month in Social Security and food stamps.  He had a beautiful house before he was arrested and now he lives in a trailer park.  Benji was released from prison August 14th, so he will have at least a three year parole term.  He is 77 now, so that means he will be 80 before he can make any real moves on the street.  My question is how many moves can an 80 year old make on the streets?  This is what I've talked about in my past blogs.  What kind of life is that?

I've written about the case of Konstantinos "Gus" Boulis, the man who founded the Miami Subs food franchise. A real rags-to-riches success story, where he started working for a submarine sandwich shop and worked his way to partner.  When he helped build it into over 200 shops, he retired to Florida.  He started Miami Subs and again that took off and that made even more money.  He started SunCruz Casinos, a fleet of gambling boats that left Florida for international waters where the passengers could gamble.  He had some trouble because he may have bought some of the boats while he was not a citizen.  He sold SunCruz to Jack Abramoff and Adam Kidan for $147.5 million. The whole deal was shady from the beginning because Gus kept a 10% silent partnership in the deal and accepted a 20 million dollar promissory note as a down payment.  

Jack Abramoff, a Washington insider, was behind the deal. He had two former college buddies front it for him.  Adam Kidan and Ben Waldman took over SunCruz and soon things went sour with Gus.  He claimed they committed fraud and worked with organized crime.  Kidan hired Anthony Moscatiello, aka Big Anthony, a reputed Gambino crime family member, to act as a consultant and supply beverages.  Big Anthony sold wine through a company so they paid them $145,000.  They also hired Anthony Ferrari, another associate to handle security for $95,000.

Gus was threatening to take this all away from them so they decided to murder him.

Gus was leaving his office in Fort Lauderdale when he was boxed in right off Federal Highway by two cars.  Another car pulled up and another man alleged to be John Gurino opened fire on Gus.  He died a few minutes later on Federal Highway.

It took until yesterday for them to convict Big Anthony of ordering the murder.  He now faces the death penalty.  He really does not have much to fear of being put to death by the state because he is 77 years old.  It takes decades to execute anyone today with the appeals process.

Anthony Ferrari was convicted, but spared the death penalty even though he was at the scene of the murder.

Another man, James Fiorillo, aka “Pudgy” will get 6 years for staking out Gus before the murder.  The shooter, John Gurino, had already tasted justice in 2003 when he was gunned down in a Deli Boca Raton Florida.  Who says that the life does not have consequences?

The Father

A lot of books and stories available that are written by people who have no idea about the life.  They make “facts” up, based on their “expert opinions.” Who decided they are experts?  And how do you become an expert without living in the life?  All you have to do is turn on any number of these crime shows and the experts will tell you “what Carlo Gambino was thinking.”  

If you grew up in the life or around the life, it is possible you know what is real.  

Imagine for a moment that you are just old enough to realize that your father is not the same as the other fathers.  He dresses differently, he acts different, and people treat him different.  So you ask your father, “Dad what do you do for work?”

He replies,”I'm a Secret Agent.”

“Like James Bond?”

“Yes like James Bond.”

That is what Greg Scarpa told his daughter, Linda, when she was young.  

They loved to watch James Bond movies together as she grew up.

Greg Scarpa has been known as the “Grim Reaper” in the media, but nobody would have called him that to his face.  Scarpa really was a Secret Agent working for the government of the United States.  He was a long time informant for the FBI, who, because of his high rank inside the Colombo Family, was able to provide top notch information.

He was doing work for the FBI not only against Mafia families but in other places.

The movie “Mississippi Burning” is about the FBI search for bodies of three missing civil rights workers during the summer of 1964.  This happened near the small town of Philadelphia, Mississippi.  The FBI knew the Civil Rights workers were dead, but they could not find the bodies.

In the movie, a man is flown into the town on a small airplane. He kidnaps the town’s mayor and beats  the location of the bodies out of him.   

The man in that case in real life, who was flown in from New York, was Greg Scarpa.  He grabbed a TV Salesman and took him to the remote Camp Shelby Army, base where he got the location of the bodies out of him. Perhaps he just asked him nicely and he gave it up?  

The FBI uncovered the bodies in an earthen dam, and Greg Scarpa flew back to Brooklyn to continue his criminal enterprise. The FBI was happy, J. Edgar Hoover was happy, and the press made a huge deal out of it.  

The FBI may have used Scarpa on a few more of these Civil Rights missions.  Maybe some day the rest of the information will come out.

Scarpa, or Greg Bond, as he jokingly told his daughter one day, was not the typical mobster.  He dressed nice but was never flashy.  He did not go bouncing around clubs like the others.  Scarpa was a family man.  He always wanted his family home for 5pm dinner together. The kids all knew they would be in trouble if they were not home by 5pm.  It seems a little funny that Scarpa knew the importance of family meals in keeping the family bond strong. Today nightly family dinners are all but lost in most of America.

In their younger years the kids would beg their mother to take them down to the club or luncheonette to see their father.  It was a wondrous place where they would emerge with pockets full of cash given to them by everyone.  Joey would walk across the room on his hands from one end to the other to entertain them.  The crew was so amazed they would make bets on how long he could do it.

Scarpa didn't keep his life a secret from his family.  Testimony from other mobsters proves that.  So the fact that Linda has now written a book titled, “The Mafia Hitman's Daughter,” which will be available in December, should not surprise anyone.  Many men in the life did keep their involvement in the Mafia a secret from their wives, kids and grandkids.  Unlike the books by those families members who pretend to know, but were kept in the dark, Linda’s book will have real insight and great stories.  

Linda knew her father well and what he could do.  People would “disappear” or they would end up in the hospital if they crossed Scarpa.  She once stopped by the social club and her father told her she had to leave right then.  Scarpa had a two way mirror where he could see the club and one place you never wanted to be was behind that glass. Nothing good would come of that.

I've written before about a planned hit against Greg Scarpa at the start of the Colombo war in the 1990’s.  I was told about the event from someone who was in on the planning and was there.  Now I’ve also heard it from the other side.

Scarpa was feared by Vic Orena and Bill Cutolo, so after the failed hit on Orena they decided to hit Scarpa.  The main thing about the whole event that people do not understand is that Scarpa was on the outs with the Persicos. He was already very sick with AIDS that he had contracted from a blood transfusion.  The dementia was setting in at the time.

So, when Scarpa was driving away from his home with his daughter and her son behind him, the hit team parked a truck across the street.  They jumped out of a van but one the shooters fired a shot by accident.  Scarpa gunned his car forward.  Linda saw a shot part the hair of one of her father’s men.  Scarpa seemed to be hit as he got around the truck.  The gunmen then turned their guns on the car driven by his daughter.  Luckily she was not hit. She ran back to the house and started beating on the door.  She handed her mother the baby and screamed, “They killed Daddy!”  Her legs were rubber and she sobbed until Scarpa walked in the door.  

Scarpa cried along with his family for what almost happened.  He knew it was a close call and the guys who did it would be back again.  Scarpa was on a mission from that minute forward.  He told his family that every one of the would be assassins would pay. “I’ll kill them all.”

Scarpa was the one the other side feared the most.  It was a big mistake on their part.

Those days are in the past.  The guys from both sides of the Colombo war are gone. Scarpa passed away in June of 1994 in a federal prison hospital.  He had lost his battle with Aids.  

Linda will forever miss the hugs from her father and his voice.  Gone are the family meals, but not the many memories.

The whole mafia life is full of stories.  Every story, every crime, every botched hit, has two sides who can tell the same story from a completely different point of view.  

Armed Robbery, Mafia Style

Armed robbery has always been a staple of Organized Crime.  The five families in New York always had crews that pulled down great scores ranging from Brinks to Lufthansa.  Some guys especially liked robbing armoured cars.  One of the guys I was around in Brooklyn planned to ship a box with a small person inside it to an armoured car depot.  He was then going to open the doors and let the armed robbers inside.  The FBI foiled that plot before it got off the ground because they flipped the small person.

There is a lot in the recent news about the 1978 armed robbery of Lufthansa Airlines at JFK Airport of $6 million in cash and jewels.

The FBI has one 78 year old Bonanno Family capo under arrest after recording tapes of him speaking about it to informants.  Of course, he now has none of the money.  They have tape!  

There is a new book out that claims to have inside information about the heist from Henry Hill.  Henry Hill, although he was around the Lucchese Crew, was never a planner of heists.  He was a drug dealer, a drunk, and a drug addict, who died of heart failure from his years of drug abuse.  Anyone who ever heard him on the Howard Stern show or met him in person knows better.

The book claims that he was a planner of the heist and that he had a sitdown with John Gotti over it. You, the reader, would have a better chance of having a sit down with John Gotti.  

There was another crew that operated in upstate New York. They were under Angele Prisco, a Genovese Capo.  

The crew was made up of Rocky Melicharek, Michael Luni, Shakes Memoli, Angelo Nicosia, Danny Celaj, Neddy Gjelaj and Louis Pipolo (the nephew of Vincent Gigante).  They robbed upstate New York homes in October of 2003.

One of the homes was that of the star of the American Chopper TV series who lived in Montgomery, NY.  The crew busted in and dragged a 60 year old house sitter out of his bed and pistol whipped him.   Paul Teutul Sr. was not home during the robbery because he was traveling.  The crew also hit another home that same month where they got in excess of $250,000 in cash.  They kicked up a portion of the scores to Angelo Prisco.

All the members of the crew were caught and some of them flipped.  Angelo Prisco is now doing life for a murder, so this additional charge was no big deal.

The Gambino Family has had a lot of home invaders.  One of the low points was when Gambino Associate Frank LaCorte hired two men: Antoine Burroughs and Leon Whitfield, to rob a Queens Pizza shop owner.  The man tried to protect his elderly father from a brutal beat down he received from the two men.

Ori Spado, a Colombo Family Associate, while cooperating with the FBI, planned a Los Angeles home invasion with his buddy Christopher Curanovic.  Ori planned it and his son rented the car for the crew to use in the robbery.  They ended up hitting the wrong place and torturing a woman.  The FBI found out and later took them all down for it.

Tommy Gioli’s nephew Thomas McLaughlin recorded Big Anthony Russi, a Colombo Capo who flipped, Joseph Savarese and Associate Scott Fappiano planning an home invasion in which the would use pistols and bullet proof vests.  They were not able to pull it off.  The FBI stopped that one.

Armed robbery of businesses or armoured cars is one thing, but breaking into homes and torturing people or murdering them is quite another.  Both are crimes.  

What about Freddy in Brooklyn?