The Check Cashing Murder

The TV Show Mob Wives is like watching a train wreck, and like a wreck, people watch it.  It may have a gotten a Gambino associate beaten up in prison.  It seems his prison mates didn't like what they were hearing about his wife being on Mob Wives.  Never mind that it not been confirmed.  What about Ramona Rizzo’s fiance Joseph Sclafani a Gambino who got 18 years?

Then we have Alicia DiMichele aka Garafalo, the wife of Eddie Garofalo.  She was the person who helped Eddie and Teddy dummy up Union papers, yet she got no time inside, unlike the two men.

Then we have Renee Graziano’s former husband Hector Pagan.  Hector, the great upstanding guy that he was on Staten Island, took part in the robbery of a man named James Donovan. James ran a shady check cashing business.  Hector not only took part in the robbery he is the person who fired a fatal shot into James Donovan’s thigh.  The crew was waiting in ambush outside an Auto Body shop for hours waiting for James Donovan to show up with a large sum of cash.  Hector Pagan not only killed the man, he also wore a wire on his father-in-law Anthony “TG” Graziano, a high ranking Bonanno Family man.  Hector then testified against the two guys in the crew that went with him on the robbery.  I guess it worked out pretty good for Hector Pagan, who made a deal and will have to serve very little time if any.

Who was James Donovan? James Donovan was no angel.  He is listed as a Lucchese Family associate.  He was arrested for threatening a man named John Ferris who claimed he gave James Donovan and Christopher Gargiulo $500,000 to hold for him.  When he asked for it back they refused and they threatened him.  What they did not know was that a little known law enforcement agency known as the Business Integrity Commission was already involved.  There were threats.  Cars and trucks were burned and in 2008 all three men, John, James and Christopher, were all arrested. When James Donovan was arrested they found $62,000 in cash and a ledger book along with checks and deposit slip from auto body businesses.  

This really got the  Business Integrity Commission’s attention and they opened an investigation on James Donovan.  They started to unravel what was a major source of his income.

The agents thought James Donovan was collecting insurance checks from the auto body shops, cashing them for a fee.  He would hand over cash with no paperwork so the shops could hide it from the taxman.  

The agents found that James Donovan was cashing more than a million dollars a year in checks and he was taking home over a $100k.  He was using his connection with check cashing places to get the checks cashed for the auto body shops, and keeping a portion as cash profit.

The law enforcement named the sting Operation Tax Grab.  Then something happened.  The agents had a camera set up that was filming James Donovan outside an auto body shop when four men approached him on July 2, 2010.  They tried to grab him, but he struggled and was shot in the thigh. They stole $90k in cash and $60k in checks from him as they fled and left him to die.  

The agents collected cigarette butts from the scene and were able to extract DNA, but the DNA was not in the system.  They then caught a break when some of the stolen checks were deposited in a bank and that camera picked up a suspect.  While he was in jail he made some calls to a Colombo family guy and then some wiretaps brought them to Hector Pagan, Richard Riccardi and Luigi Grasso.

So Hector Pagan flipped and wore a wire when he was on Mob Wives.

To each his own. If Hector got a good deal then that is what he had to do.  James Donovan was no innocent businessman and if you lay down with dogs you will get fleas.

Demolition Mafia

In New York City when a building goes up, they usually have to use a demolition company to take down the old buildings.  One of the keys to controlling the construction business is to control the trucking of materials.  The disposal of demolition and construction waste is a huge business in New York.   If a company wanted to dispose of the material legitimately, they would have to have it hauled very far from from New York City.  

The Mafia families have no problem with this.  They find a large piece of land that they can use as a dump and they start bringing in the trucks.  The more loads, the more they make.  If they had to haul the waste far away, it would cut into their profit.

The Gambinos had one dump site in an old rail yard in the Bronx where they brought in load after load of waste.

The Lucchese family found a landowner who owned land in Pennsylvania just 80 miles from the city who let them dump there.  They told them they were dumping clean waste. What they were doing was filling up a large impression with junk and covering it with dirt.  This dump brought in over $30k a week to the Lucchese family while it was open.

When I was in New York I went with Eddie Garafola to a dump site in New Jersey where he had trucks coming in, dumping, and a bulldozer covering the waste with dirt.  It was in some nice New Jersey swamplands.  I also know that they were paid on other occasions to take concrete to be recycled, and instead they just dumped it.  

They did it at every project including Shea Stadium and the World Trade Center site.

Eddie Garofalo Sr and his brother Manny were experts in this field.  The New York authorities called them the James brothers of the carting industry.  

Eddie G Sr. had demolished four buildings in Times Square before he was gunned down in front of his home by some Gambinos.  The State was looking into his activities just before he was murdered.

The Lucchese Family also had another dump with the Genovese family in Westchester County that was a huge money maker.  They turned it into a toxic waste swamp, the neighborhood started to complain and the State came in and seized trucks.  

They would end up murdering their guy Mike Salerno, but his illegal dumps were Lucchese owned property. That family did not care about anyone’s family. They felt that anything a wiseguy in their family owned or was working was Lucchese family property.

When Paulie Vario of Goodfellas fame died the new bosses Vic Amuso and Gaspipe Casso wanted to take his property for their own.  Never mind that Paulie had been earning his whole life, even before these men were inducted into the family.  

It is a good thing that Gaspipe’s front man took his home in Mill Basin after he went away.

Dumping waste is a huge business with a lot of cash at stake. The Mafia will always be in it, as long as there are corners to cut and cash to be made.

Blog Updates: Nicodemo Scarfo Jr, Alicia Garofalo, Shrimp Boy Chow

This week is an update to earlier blog posts.

Nicodemo Scarfo Jr. is the son of Philadelphia Mafia Boss Nicky Scarfo Sr. and a made member of the Lucchese Family.  Nicodemo has been a forward thinker in the Mafia world because he was among the first to use computers and encryption to evade the FBI.  He used computers to run his bookmaking and shylocking business and then he went into the corporate take-over business.

Nicodemo and friends used Mafia tactics to take over Irving, Texas based First Plus Financial Group, a mortgage company.  They gained control of the board using threats and other means and then they proceeded to loot the company of 12 million dollars in less than a year.  They used shell companies owned by Nicodemo and friends to bill for work that they did not need or want.  Then, after they were successful, they bought more companies and stole even more.  They were caught on wiretaps speaking to Nicky Scarfo Sr. and Lucchese Family Boss Vic Amuso about the scheme.  In one recording Nicodemo was caught telling his father, "They were a good 6 to 10 months off from helping everyone."  “Everyone” meant other Mafia associates.  I am sure both the elder Scarfo and Boss Amuso got their end first.  Nicodemo used the cash to by homes,  jewelry, weapons and a yacht which they named "Priceless".  This scheme made them 12 million plus and Nicodemo's Bookmaking made them a pile before this arrest. He is a forward thinker and a moneymaker, but the one thing I do not understand is why buy a huge house, cars and that yacht. He had to know that the FBI was going to be busting down their doors and seize all their newly acquired showy wealth.  Why not not bury the cash and then when you get caught claim poverty, take a deal, get out in 10 years and still have some hidden cash to show for it. This time Nicodemo is facing 20 years but he will probably not get the full sentence.

The next up is Alicia Garofalo the wife of Colombo Associate Eddie Garofalo.  Eddie pled out and took a deal so his wife did not have to suffer as much as him.  The problem is that Alicia then became a cast member on the TV show “Mob Wives.”  In her pre-sentencing memorandum she claims that she only took the gig to provide for her children.  The Feds countered this by rightly saying that she was glorifying the life. They are right, why should she get to profit from the life and not have to pay, unlike her husband. Her defense team claims that she was showing how bad the life was and what it does to families.  I could tell from her parties in Las Vegas and other places, running around with the cast members places that she was trying to show how bad the life is for her.  When I was wearing a wire inside the mobile home that served as Big R Trucking's office she was on the phone with Eddie billing for his other company T&E or “Teddy and Eddie,” their heavy equipment company.  She grew up in the area and knew who the Persicos were and what they do. She was not innocent or a victim.

Even before I was no longer in Brooklyn I knew they had gone up on the phones and had caught her speaking about the business.  Steve Marcus, who flipped after me, continued to give them probable cause to investigate Alicia.  

I hope the judge does not buy all the crap in her Memorandum and gives her some time and at least a 100k fine.  Unlike others who deal drugs or even Nicodemo Scarfo who stole from a company, she stole from hardworking Union members health and pension benefits.  I love how her lawyers have to point out what a hard life she has had because her father died when she was young and she is a single mother of three children.  Somehow through all that hardship she was able to enjoy the good life with Eddie: taking vacations, gambling, going out on his speed boat and having an affair.  Poor Alicia.

Now for Raymond "Shrimp Boy" Chow, the Dragon head or “Dai Lo” of the Chee Kung Tong (centuries old Chinese Triad or Mafia). Shrimp Boy had a bail hearing and his lawyer the great Tony Serra put together 10 character witnesses who testified that he was a changed man and sought to help the community.  He was against violence or at least the kind he did not approve.  The FBI countered that it was act and that he was a danger to the community because he was the leader and was in command of a lot of criminals.  They claim to have more than enough evidence to show that he was and is a very dangerous criminal that sought to sell stolen goods, murder and launder money.  The judge agreed with the US Attorney and ordered Shrimp Boy be held without bail.  The one thing I find wrong with this case is Senator Leeland Yee’s involvement.  This is a man that gained the public trust and swore that he would do what is right for the people of the State of California.  He voted for gun control and against violent video games, yet he was at the same time making deals to buy military weapons from Philippine Muslim Terrorists and turning around to sell them for cash.  He is right there in pictures with the criminal Shrimp Boy and yet he gets bail?  He should be the one locked up because he was pretending to be a good guy, and he clearly was not.

Recent Take Downs

“Colombo capo gets 12 years for ordering murder while attending grandmother’s wake.”

These were the headlines about Teddy Persico Jr in the New York Newspapers last week.  He really wanted Joe Scopo dead because the guys led by Joe Scopo had tried to kill his father.  So now, Teddy gets his "Do Over," only this time he will be going back home to prison, which has become his home over the years.  I liked Teddy the best out of all those guys, but with friends like Eddie Garofalo, Teddy never had a chance of a real life when he was released.   He will be 62 and still have a 3 year tail after he gets out.  He will have put in 33 plus years!  That means if his family has held onto power until he gets out, he has a chance of becoming Boss.  Maybe he can get a 5 year run before he goes back to his home at an FCI.  Teddy would have had a much better life if he would have just driven a truck.  Teddy just finished a 17 year sentence when he was released.  From the minute he was released he was going back.  He got 4 1/2 more years first, and now, he got another 12 years.  He can thank his buddy Eddie.  

A long time ago I had told the FBI about a place in the Bronx off Pelham called Balsamo's Funeral home.  They took it down and filed it away.  Later they told me they thought some Lucchese used it as a meeting place.  I told them it was a Genovese place, but they said I was wrong.  One guy liked what I told him.  This guy was an investigator from the Orange County California Organized crime squad.  When he went to NY on business, he had some guys drive him by it.  He took some pics with the guys standing around outside near a Social Club and Bodega, they were Genovese.

It took the FBI until February of 2006 to crack that place, but they ended up taking a lot of the Genovese guys down.  The indictment states that they used the funeral home for meetings.  They rolled it up into a large RICO case, which included the murder of Ralph Coppola, for which the FBI blamed Liborio "Barney" Bellomo, the acting boss of the Genovese family.  It was to be a death penalty case, but it fell apart like so many have in recent years.  They had no proof that the crooked lawyer they flipped had ever met Barney, so he took a plea deal and was given one more year.  

Ralph Balsamo was not as lucky.  He was involved in a massive bookmaking operation in Hunts Point Market and the Terminal Produce Market.  They took in over a million in bets.  He was also involved in a large scale drug operation with a group known as the Tanglewood Boys.

When State troopers tried to arrest one of the ring leaders, Michael Londonio, they had a no knock warrant so they kicked the door in and charged inside.

The bedroom door was closed but Londonio opened fire, striking one trooper in the leg and hitting another in his ballistic vest and helmet.  He was killed when they returned fire.  Michael Londonio had made over a million dollars in drug sales in that same month before he was killed.

When Ralph Balsamo was arrested, he admitted to the FBI he knew Londonio and he was surprised they knew about him.  He would later take a plea and get 92 months, which is not a bad deal.  He had a lot of letters from all the charitable work he has done in his pre-sentencing report and he claimed to have bought another funeral home in Mount Carmel where he was going to relocate when he was released.  

We shall see how that plan works out.  You come in alive and leave dead: that is the Cosa Nostra.

Recent Mafia Headlines

There was a lot of Mafia news in New York this week. A couple of the stories were funny and one of the best headlines was, “Canoli King sexually harassed waitress: Suit.”

That is correct, Reputed Gambino “Baby John” Delutro, owner of Cafe Palermo in Little Italy (where one can get the best Canoli in the US) has been sued by a former waitress.

Baby John is the son of Tony West Delutro, a respected Gambino Family man.  Baby John was busted back in 1984 for dealing drugs, and he was still on paper when he met with an informant who was wearing a wire.  Baby John was trying to negotiate the purchase of 50 Kilos of Cocaine and 50 Kilos of Heroin.  There were drug sales in Little Italy and other tapes were made, like when he spoke to the informant, telling him "I can only take 3 Kilos right now, my friends are fat from the feast".  He was talking about a big buy he and his gangster buddies bought during the Feast of San Gennero.   Baby John, what a guy!

In other headlines, Alicia Garofalo, who quit the reality show “Mob Wives” after finding out the judge does not find her reality stardom funny.    They keep talking about her crimes in the show like it is no big deal.  She stole money from hard working Union Members, their health and pension.  I was around Eddie Garofalo a lot and trust me he was no genius. In fact, the guy wrote like a 3rd grader.  She has claimed that she had no idea what was going on.  Really? The FBI has tapes of her.  In fact, she pleaded guilty to the charges before she took back her plea.

I can tell you this: her brother (who is in pictures with her going to court) knew what Eddie was about.  He was around a number of functions when I was around.  She goes on “Mob Wives” talking about how she had no idea about the criminal activity, and then talking about Eddie's dad being killed.  I did some work with a Tele Communication's company on Maiden Lane.  Eddie got about 500k from the guy who ran it and he started his trucking business.  The business had guys like Wild Bill Cutolo, George Tropiano, John Baudanza and Manny Garofalo involved.  Big R trucking was run out of Eddie's cousin’s porno business in Brooklyn with the trucks run out of the Bonafide Fuel truck lot in downtown Brooklyn.  Big R is named after Eddie and Alicia's son, and it moved to a Staten Island truck lot owned by his cousin Eddie G, a Gambino man who is locked away for life.

Big R was also a lot of other companies and he had a heavy equipment company called T and E as in Teddy and Eddie. That is right Teddy Persico was a part of the business and he was there a lot!  Yes Alicia is just a woman who has been duped into thinking her man was just a truck driving schlub who works hard.  Nevermind their home in Cherry Hill, the elaborate vacations or Eddie’s huge gambling problem.  He has pictures of himself with all these huge checks from casinos all over.  The problem?  Those pictures are of the times he won, and anyone who knows gamblers knows they lose more often than they win.

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Eddie had also been arrested before by the FBI for Pump and Dump stuff he did with others.  He went on the lam running to Las Vegas and as far as La Jolla, California, until he felt he would not go away for long.  Then there is his Uncle Manny, his father’s brother.  That man has been arrested with the “Who's Who” of the Mafia and yet now, miraculously, he gets no time?

Alicia took back her plea just this last week because the judge wanted her to pay for restitution because the Union is claiming a much larger loss.  The judge and prosecutors did not like that she lived it up on “Mob Wives” glamorizing the Mafia life.  She wanted Eddie to testify for her at her sentencing, yet she cheated on him?  She has stated that she is getting a divorce?  If she was not gaining from being around the Mafia why is she on TV, getting paid 8k an episode!

There was also Colombo news this week because a judge hit Dino "Little Dino" Saracino with a 50 year sentence for his part in the racketeering case that took out many Colombos.   Little Dino was part of Capo Tommy Gioli's crew, and he killed for him.  He walked on the biggest charges like killing NYPD Cop Ralph Dols or Wild Bill Cutolo, but he was convicted of enough.  It didn't help that he bragged to a wired up informant that he could do 17 years of a 20 year sentence and come out with a smile.

The judge gave him 50 years and this time, he wasn't smiling.  He killed real people.  He is no hero, and he could ease the pain of his victim’s relatives.  He is done.  Why not tell the family of victim Carmine Gargano where his body is hidden?

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.

Mafia Media Today

The media shapes our perception of events in life.  What the media does today is outright make up stuff. I've written about a number of movies and TV shows that just make up or never bother to even google their subject.

Edward Garafalo ran a trucking company that had a lot of different names, one of which was “Big R Trucking” after his son Rocco. Teddy Persico was a partner in the company with Eddie as far back as 2003 when Eddie ran Big R out of the Bonafide Fuel Oil lot in downtown Brooklyn.  

Now that Eddie's wife Alicia is a cast member on the "Reality” show Mob Wives, she is claiming that she did not know her husband was doing all that stuff.  

Really? I wore a wire when I was in the car with Eddie and Teddy many times.  Once we were on our way to get guns at Teddy's mothers home (so Teddy could get to some wayward Colombos).  It is funny because everyone screamed that I was lying about that happening, but this will be the second time Teddy is going away for what I recorded that day.  Just a few weeks ago Alicia’s husband Eddie also pleaded guilty to attempted murder for that attempted hit.  They all pled out even Teddy's brothers, and they had some good lawyers, yet not one of them called me in to cross examine me.  

Alicia and Eddie Garafalo

One lawyer, who thinks a lot of himself, called me every name in the book, yet even with his legal expertise he never crossed me or even challenged the tapes.  That lawyer is a funny guy who once yelled for a Gambino associate to shoot someone during a road rage incident (which they did).  So how could Alicia not know her husband was knee deep in crime? All she would have to do is pick up a newspaper or do a google search and she would know the truth about the name Persico.

Manny Garafalo

They had another equipment company called T&E for Teddy and Eddie, and she did the billing just like she did for Eddie's other shady companies. On Monday, January 6th she will face another judge, and she has already pleaded guilty in the court while claiming to the media she was not aware of The Life.  She has made a lot of money from The Life.  Even now she is living it up.  She has two clothing stores in New Jersey and she still lives in a luxury Cherry Hill home and she went on a cross country party spree while waiting for her sentencing date tomorrow.  According to the NYPOST she is also cheating on Eddie who took all the blame for the fraud with a Philly restaurant to save her from that.

 

So what exactly did she do?  Alicia helped Eddie and Teddy, and that means she helped the Colombo Family to steal hard working Union Member’s Benefits.  Alicia not only conspired but has admitted to stealing the money from the Local 282 of the Teamsters between June 2003 and June 2005.  Alicia submitted a false invoice in November of 2004 to a Long Island company on behalf of Big R Trucking and then submitted a false Shop Steward report to the 282 Local for DM Equipment for a week in November.  All this to defraud the Union Health plan and their retirement plans.  This is really low because they messed with normal hard working people while they went on gambling sprees, drove fancy cars and took vacations on their dime.  

Then I read that "Sources said Garofalo is slated to appear on the smash VH1 series himself — via recorded prison phone calls from the penitentiary to his wife."  Well that is pretty funny because I thought Mafia guys were supposed to keep a low profile.  So Eddie will call in and I am sure he will be paid if not it will come to Alicia.  The Garofalos live a charmed life because Eddie’s Uncle Manny got off with no time because of Super Storm Sandy and all the work he did to help (that is the BS reason given by the judge to cover up the real reason he got off with a slap on the wrist).  I personally laundered money with Manny, and after I left Brooklyn he threatened me and tried to have me sign a paper that said the cash was a loan.  Manny actually sent me a fax with a Fugazi loan document back dated.  This guy was bleeding a Telecommunications company based in Manhattan for hundreds of thousands of dollars.  He even leased cars through them.  He threatened a guy and then stabbed him in the leg with scissors for not paying a debt to his brother.  He also skimmed from construction jobs and has even done time for construction crimes before. If someone looks up Manny they can see what a great guy he is from the people he committed the crimes with in the past.  Names like Steve "Wonder Boy" Crea dot the pages of the indictments.  Manny is without a doubt someone who is trying to do the right thing.  Lets hope the judge in Alicia's case fines her what she owes: 96k and 20k to the Union and that means she will be zeroed out from what she made with Mob Wives.  Then lets see what Teddy Persico has to say when Eddie gets out early and he sits in the can.  Rule 35 hearing is coming for Eddie!

It is crazy that many channels claim to bring factual programs to their audience yet none of them can do simple fact checking. I just watched a show on Discovery ID about Chris Paciello and they claimed more than once that Chris was in the car theft ring on Staten Island called The Untouchables, which the movie Gone in Sixty Seconds was based on.  They actually aired this pile of crap without some basic search attempts because Gone in Sixty Seconds was shot in Carson California in 1974!  Chris Paciello was born in 1971. Was that movie about toddler car thiefs?

Chris Paciello was a member of the Bonanno Crime Family?  He was "with" the Gambinos and then had Wild Bill Cutolo get him transferred to the Colombo family. FYI "with" means you are an associate of the family not an Inducted member.  

A good Mafia movie is fun to watch and I understand that they need to streamline the story to make it exciting, but why say its a true story when they just make up stuff that is easily looked up and proved wrong.  

I've never glamorized the Mob life because there is nothing glamorous about the life. The actual guys in the crews are bad enough without their wives or sisters etc.. living off their bad deeds being glorified.  

Patty Testa, the Neighborhood Car Guy

There are only three main ways a person ends up if they choose "the life" over working hard and being legit. One way is to end up doing life in some Federal or State prison.  A second way to end up is joining Team USA.  The third and final way a person in the life ends up is to be murdered.  Murdered by your friends. That is exactly what happened to Patrick “Patty” Testa.   Testa was born March 11th, 1957.  He was murdered on December 2nd, 1992.

It took me 20 years of trying to do things the wrong way to finally see the light. Some people, for instance Eddie Garofalo and his wife Alicia, must really enjoy the life. We shall see how long Edward Garofalo 57501-053 likes it where he is now.  

Roy Demeo

Back to  Patty Testa.  Patty started off his Mafia life in the Roy Demeo Gambino Family crew when he came to Roy’s attention because of his skill working on cars. Patty was a worker.  He worked very hard on cars, unlike so many “car guys” who just have others work for them.  Soon Patty was working with Roy Demeo in what would become the largest stolen car operation in New York.  The FBI called it The Empire Boulevard Operation.  It worked like this: the crew would steal cars all over New York and then use altered vin numbers and fake papers so they could ship them from New Jersey to either Puerto Rico or Kuwait.  The partners in business were taking home more than 30k a week and this was back in the late 1970's!  

Patty Testa

Patty had a brother, Joey, who was a heavy hitter in the Roy Demeo crew.  He was very well respected and when the FBI finally shut down Roy’s crew and Roy was killed, Joey and his buddy Anthony Senter would get sentenced to life in prison for the murders they committed with Roy. It has been said that the two men, Joey and Anthony, are the ones who killed Roy and left him in his trunk.  Patty was never charged in any of the murders.  Believe it or not, both Joey and Anthony will be free men in 2032 because they were sentenced under the old laws.

After the end of Roy, Patty transferred to the Luchese family where he was soon back to his old car tricks.  He opened up a place called Patty Testa Motor Cars in Brooklyn.  He knew how to make cash.  Back in those days, you used to be able to buy just a VIN number.  Back then they didn’t have such a thing as a salvage title. They would buy the VIN, go to an insurance company and get "the car" insured. They didn’t take pictures of the cars and you didn’t have to have a police inspection.  Then, in a month or so, they would report the car stolen.  

VINs

Patty used to sell used cars and some of them were VIN jobs.  He would sell them and then give a copy of the key to some car thieves in a Gambino crew.  They would steal the car back before the person was pulled over or had any problems.  Once, a friend of mine who worked with Patty, followed a guy around all day so they could steal his Seville.  He saw them following him.  He happened to be a wiseguy, so he must have thought he was getting clipped.  He parked by his house and they stole his car.  Later that day, he went to Nicky Corrozzo, because he knew his guys stole cars.  He asked Nicky if he could do anything to help him.  Nicky called his guys in and one admitted he stole it, but it was already gone to Patty. The owner told him he would give him 10k if he could get his car back because it had something inside it.  They ran to Patty, but Patty told them sorry, its a tin can now.  

Patty was made along with Tommy Red, Rocco V and Giampo into the Luchese Family.  He would soon take on an important role in the family. Vic Amuso had become boss and his underboss was now Gaspipe Casso.  By 1991 they had gotten word from some dirty cops that they would be indicted.  So they went on the lam in two jeeps provided by Patty.  Soon Patty was the go-between for Vic Amuso and his men.  He set up all the meets and drove guys to them.  This did not last long because somebody, probably Gaspipe, tipped off the Feds to Vic’s location, and he was arrested. Gaspipe let it slip that it may have been Patty, and soon one of his friends walked into his garage and shot him dead.  Gaspipe then told people it was the Gambinos, and it was so believable that George Conte was going over to shoot Little Nicky Corrozzo in his club.  A lot of people blamed Frank Listerino for the murder, but he was pulled over by FBI Agents right afterwards and he had no gunpowder residue on him or his clothes, no weapons.  I’m sure one of his Froggy friends blasted him to suck up to Gaspipe.

I’ve been told that Patty was a great guy.  People were sad when he was killed.  A few of my friends bought their first Mercedes from Patty.  Tommy was then shot by a kid in the neighborhood the same day but lived. That is the world of the Mafia in Brooklyn.  Always treacherous when you have friends.

Danny Cutaia

I have written a lot about John Baudanza and people always want to know more.

John married a girl named Danielle Cutaia who had a father who was a Capo in the Luchese family.

Dominico "Danny" Cutaia

Domenico Cutaia aka Danny had come up in the Luchese family under the legendary Capo Paul Vario who will forever be known as Paulie from Goodfellas.  Paul Vario was a real gangster who had a vast criminal empire that even brought him to California where he had his hands in a porn business and a card club.  Danny was his trusty driver and served him well. So Paul did right by him and he was made into the family.  I’ve spoken to a few guys and they have no idea how or why he was made.  He was made and later he was made a Capo and he even served on the panel that ran the family.  Danny was a bookmaker and he had some scams, cash on the street, shylock but what did he do?   This was a question I asked some guys from Brooklyn and they had no idea.  They said either he was really good and had it going on or he was doing nothing.   Danny liked to drink and he used to be at  Turquoise in Bayridge getting his drink on while John Baudanza kissed his ass.   To be fair to Danny he had guys who brought in cash like Robert Arena, John Baudanza and his son Sal who was a bookmaker.  He was also close to some very rich legitimate guys.

One night I went out with John Baudanza, his buddy Nicky, Dayton, Belladonna and Keith (Eddie Garafolo's cousin). We were in the city and we hit a few clubs and while at one John had a little problem, so Nicky and I took the guy down.  We left the club and headed to the Westin Times Square where we had two rooms.  Nicky and John were so drunk they had no idea how to get there, so I drove us all there.  It was John and Dayton, Belladonna and me, Nicky was just there for the ride.  When we got there John made me check the room to make sure it was okay. Then they started drinking in Dayton’s room and John was trying to get rid of Nicky. I left to chill with Belladonna next door.  This was at about 3am on a weeknight.  I started getting calls about 5:30am from George Fenelli, Craig Marino and then Eddie Garafolo asking where John was and to get him home.   John's wife was calling everyone and at this time Danny was doing a short stretch for a gambling beef so his wife was living at John's home.  I finally went next door and pounded on Dayton’s door but I got nothing.  I was called again by Eddie and this time I kept pounding on the door until Dayton opened it.  John was passed out but I told her that he had to get home.  She woke him and I went downstairs to get him some hair gel so we could put him in a town car.  I caught a lot of shit from the Colombo's for John's mess, but I just laughed it off.

Dominico "Danny" Cutaia 

A month later John was holding Court at his place Plush in Bayridge on a Wednesday night.  He had his whole crew there and even his father Carmine came by the place.  Dayton was the only female present and I was surprised that the now free Danny was also there!  John was no longer bringing in the big bucks from his Pump and Dump stuff or the Phone company scam.  He had a party store and they were trying to get a new weed business going.

Steve "Wonder Boy" Crea

Danny had come along way from being  Paul Vario's driver.   After Paul passed away Little Al D'Arco took over the crew and he became Danny's boss.  Little Al had done time for Heroin dealing but now he was a huge shylock with over a million dollars on the street.  He was a rising star in the family because his friend Vic Ammuso had stepped up as the boss of the Lucchese Family.  The Commission Case had taken out the top leadership in all the New York Families.  They lost not only their leaders but the brains behind the incredible run of the Mafia in America.  Little Al was soon dealing with the Unions and Danny was learning first hand how to deal with them. Steve Crea was the main guy in the family that worked the construction trade and this brought in the most cash.  Vic Amusso and Gaspipe Casso were soon on the run and Little Al was now the acting boss, so he appointed Danny to help run the families construction panel.  He also had Danny take over a Brooklyn crew and now Danny was a Capo. He was always jealous of Brooklyn Gambino Capo Nicky Corrozo because Nicky was a stone cold gangster.   The family went through some really bad times with Vic and Gas soon Danny was the main guy who gave orders from Vic to the rest of the family. I guess this was Danny's stroke of luck.

Things do not look good for Danny.  He is finishing up his sentence in a Federal Medical Facility where he has suffered a stroke, advanced MS and Alzheimer's but we all know about Mobsters and their health problems. I suspect this one is for real, it is all the years of hard drinking and hard living catching up to him.  He will be free in October of this year.

Dominico "Danny" Cutaia

John Baudanza better hope he lives long enough to set him up in something good.

FBI Surveillance Photo

Colombo Family Mafia Take Down Day (Part II)

Official Complaint & Indictment

Why do the Feds use guys like me to infiltrate groups like the Colombo Family? They do it because guys like me can go places they cannot and we have a long record doing various crimes over the years. If they put an Agent into the situation they cannot fake guys knowing him since Juvenile hall days.  In the past before the RICO ACT and the use of Infiltrators, they would only take down those low on the totem pole.  If they got a boss like Vito Genovese or Al Capone it was groundbreaking.  The use of RICO, Infiltrators and electronic surveillance put an end to the Boss being untouchable.

Eddie Garafolo

I would record Eddie and Teddy every time we met.  This paid off and continues to pay off today. I would meet at places like the Fuel Oil Truck lot in downtown Brooklyn that Eddie was using for his trucks.  My wire would record everything and I would make mental notes of the locations of where we spoke, where Eddie met guys, etc.  This way the FBI could go back and plant bugs or use other surveillance techniques.  I drew a diagram of the Fuel Oil Truck lot on a pad of paper right after I left it for the first time.  I did the same when I went to Big R Trucking on Staten Island the first time.  I would identify each person I caught on tape for the FBI and that is how Steve Marcus started to be watched.  I also went into Teddy’s home and his mother’s home with my wire and later drew diagrams.

As a result of my recording Steve Marcus, the FBI also turned Steve, and he started wearing a wire.  He then had Eddie ask Teddy to get him transferred from the Gambino Family to the Colombos.  Steve was on record with the Gambino Crew as an Associate.  Eddie was caught on tape speaking to Teddy about it and telling Teddy that Steve had better come up with cash for him.

Teddy Persico

Using my recordings and Steve Marcus’s recordings, the FBI started putting together a massive RICO Case that would be the center of Mafia Take down day.  One big fish that was caught on Steve’s recordings was Michael Persico. Michael is not a made guy in the Colombo family, but he is the son of Carmine, the boss.  Michael was always the smart business man who held the purse strings for the Colombo family.  He was never made, but he was a very important conduit between Allie Boy, Carmine the Snake, and the rest of the family.  He was still a very high level gangster who they felt they were protecting by not officially inducting into the family.

Thanks to Steve Marcus, the FBI was able to use the full complement of electronic surveillance on Michael, phone taps, video cameras, car taps, etc.  These bugs caught him conducting Colombo family business and collecting on six figure shylock loans.  The FBI was able to snare Michael in shylocking and in trying to rig trucking bids for large contracts.  Once again, Teddy was brought into these charges because he was a major participant in the trucking business.  In the indictment the FBI charged Teddy and Eddie with conspiracy to commit murder May 25, 2004.  That was a tape I recorded in a car heading to a Bay Ridge restaurant.  Another count of the RICO charges was the participation of many Colombos, minus Eddie, in the murder of Joseph Scopo.  The fact that Teddy was already well into his prison sentence when the murder took place did not prevent him from being involved.  He had been furloughed from prison to attend his grandmother’s funeral.  At the same time, the murder took place.  

That was not the only murder conspiracy charges that Teddy was facing.  The man who had put Teddy away for the murder charges in the first place, another informant, was shot in front of his house in Brooklyn while Teddy was locked up.  Teddy and one of his friends who was incarcerated at another prison enjoyed writing letters to each other.  In a number of the letters Teddy wrote, he mentioned the murder.  The FBI was unaware of the ongoing penpal relationship, until decades later, when Andrew DiDonato informed the FBI that the letters existed.  They went to the former pen pal (now a free man) and surprised him with a raid of his house, where they found every letter from Teddy perfectly preserved.  

Carmine Persico

Meanwhile, Teddy’s cousin Michael was also charged with participation in one more murder.  The victim was unfortunate enough to be dating Allie Boy Persico’s ex wife.  The Colombos warned the victim to back off, but he did not head the warning, so they shot him in his garage.  Michael took a global plea deal along with Teddy and Eddie.  Michael ended up getting less than 5 years.  Teddy got another twelve years to add to his previous two decades behind bars.  Eddie Garafolo pleaded guilty in order to spare his wife (who participated in the trucking business) a long sentence, and when he is sentenced he will likely receive a decade.  Crime does not pay.  What good are the millions hidden away when you are in prison?  The FBI still has a number of infiltrators working in the Colombo family.  As long as the crimes continue, so will the recordings, charges and prison sentences.