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.

Joe Bilotti: Old School Gambino

It was just before 6pm on December 16, 1985 when the black Lincoln pulled up and parked in front of Sparks Steak House in Manhattan.  The streets were busy, but four men dressed in trench coats and fur hats moved with purpose.  The passenger was Paul Castellano, the boss of the Gambino crime family.  As he stepped out of the car, the men opened fire on him. The driver emerged and ducked a little to look towards Paul before he was shot in the back.

The forgotten man was Tommy Bilotti, Castellano’s driver and the new underboss of the family.

Tommy had a brother named Joe that passed away last week.  Joe was real Cosa Nostra, not like the clowns that run around playing the role in Brooklyn and Staten Island.  Guys who were in the life consider Joe the ultimate wiseguy. He kept a low profile, both before his brother Tommy was murdered by John Gotti’s crew and after.

The Billotti brothers were both known as tough guys with their hands.  They used that fear to build up a massive gambling business.  This proved a natural segway into their next business, which was loansharking.  They both prospered because of their talent as businessmen.

One of the men on record with Tommy was a man named Joe Watts, a childhood friend who grew up with the Bilottis in the South Beach section of Staten Island.

Joe Watts was known as “the German” because he was part German.  He managed the loan shark business for Tommy until Tommy was gunned down outside Sparks Steakhouse.

John wanted to get rid of Paul Castellano and Tommy Bilotti because he was caught up in the web of a heroin trafficking case and pure greed. Gotti and a few others plotted to take over the family, but they were not sure when to do it.

One plan was to put plastic down in the Watts home and invite Tommy over and murder him.

Then another man would take Tommy’s place as Paul's driver and murder him.

Instead, they settled on the midtown Manhattan spectacle.

Once Tommy was murdered, Sammy Gravano, the man who would later become John Gotti’s underboss, met with Joe Bilotti at a diner.  He told Joe that his brother’s murder was just business.

Joe Watts was urging John Gotti Sr. to murder Joe also, lest he seek revenge.  Joe agreed that he would accept it and not cause trouble.

John Gotti rewarded Joe Watts with Tommy’s loansharking book/business and it made him a millionaire.  No wonder Joe Watts was in on the murder of the boss.  He was one of the shooters.  Joe Watts might have made some money and had a few good years but he has been locked up for years.

In 2011 Joe Watts was handed another prison sentence of 13 years for his participation in another murder. At 69 years old who knows if he will see freedom.

Joe Billotti outlived John Gotti.  He was able to see him go away after Sammy Gravano helped team USA put him away.  Gotti would die inside, never again a free man.

He continued to take part in Gambino family business.  He was seen meeting with members of the Philadelphia Cosa Nostra family in Florida in recent years.

Joe was a successful guy who most people don't know had a cigar factory in the Dominican Republic.  

So we say goodbye to another old timer who lived the life.

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.