DeCavalcante Family: Still Here For Now

One mafia family that has often been mentioned but tends to remain beneath the shadow of the five New York Families is the Decavalcante family, also known as the New Jersey family.  The FBI claims that it is under the control of the Gambino family.  In the last month or so a number of them have been put away.

The family is named after Simone “Sam” Decavalcante, who took over as boss of the Elizabeth New Jersey faction in 1964. There had been a long string of bosses in the New Jersey area even before Prohibition.  Once Prohibition was in effect there was a lot of money at stake, so they fought a lot of local battles.  When Sam took over the family he consolidated groups and crews, doubling the amount of made men in his family before 1969 when he went to prison.

When he was released, he retired to Florida, remainingl an advisor to the family until the 1990’s. The family has fallen a bit from its heyday. They no longer sit on the Commission and while they work all over the Tri-State area, they do not control rackets like they used to.

One of their soldiers, Jerry Balzano, was caught on video attacking another motorist in a road rage incident a couple of months ago.  Balzano had previously been taken down along with over a hundred other mobsters on Mafia Take Down Day back in 2011.

It seems Jerry and several others smuggled in truckloads of cigarettes and sold them much cheaper as they avoided having to pay the state tax that applied to their sale.  He also helped some guys steal a tax refund check that was worth fifteen thousand dollars.  The indictment also charged him with collecting loan shark loans from a debtor in North Carolina.

He ended up taking a plea for racketeering and serving almost two years in prison.  He was then on supervised release when he was violated for possession of a firearm and sent back to prison for an additional four months.

Four months really does not seem like a lot of time, considering he is a felon.  The new case is all made by him on video and he comes off pretty bad, mostly because of his yelling. It will be interesting to see how much time the judge gives him for this case.

This is the mafia family the Sopranos is supposed to based on, and oddly enough they do behave like a bunch of TV clowns.

This past March, Charles Stango, a capo in the family, pleaded guilty to murder conspiracy and was given ten years.  Six other men, including his son, have all pleaded guilty and are either already serving sentences or will be shortly.

The family has fallen a long way in recent years.  

They used to have a lot of control with the unions for construction projects.  They controlled a number of landfills and other illegal dump sites. In the 1960’s the family ran a twenty million dollar a year gambling business.  Today, they swindle checks and sell cocaine.

Operation Shark Bait & Salvatore DeMeo

The New York Attorney General's office just concluded an operation they called Shark Bait.

They targeted a group of mafia-connected online bookmakers that mostly took bets in the New York area. I understand that gambling is illegal unless state run (OTB, lotto) or on Indian land.

My question for you is, why do they waste so much money and time going after a few guys who are only providing what the public wants?  In my humble opinion, if they spent as much time and effort going after illegal aliens, who are costing the state 5.1 billion a year, the money and effort might be better spent.  Law Enforcement wastes an enormous amount of taxpayer money on something that really does not affect the rest of the citizens, only willing participants who seek out a loan and have connections.  The indictment says they loaned out cash to customers at outrageous weekly interest rates. Here it is again.  I can guarantee you that not one person who was loaned money was forced to take out a loan. They know the terms before they take the cash and they have to know somebody in the life to get it.  It’s not like they do a credit check.  I understand that it is against the law and that they use the cash to fund other enterprises, but how about all of the those people killed in shootings in high crime areas?  If less time, energy and money was spent chasing after loan sharks, maybe more time could be spent in high crime areas bringing down violent crime rates.

Well enough of me on my soapbox.

Anyway, they took down 13 people in the bust of 4Spades.org which is a Genovese family operation.  The man behind it is Salvatore “Sallie” DeMeo a made Genovese guy.  DeMeo has a long history of high profile criminal acts including bank robbery.  He was the head of a bank robbery crew in the late 1990’s.  He helped plan out a robbery in Manalapan N.J. where my buddy Andrew DiDonato jumped over the counter and they made off with over 400,000 dollars in cash.  Sallie received a full share of that robbery even though he was not one of the upfront guys because he was an integral part.  He is the real deal and very well respected by everyone in the life.  The crew also took down an armoured car in Manhattan.  He would later be charged by the FBI, but when they went to arrest him he had already gone on the lam.

In the old days his capo was Rosario “Ross” Gangi, another well respected Genovese guy.

They were not only charged with the bookmaking operation, but with loan sharking and selling bootleg cigarettes.

They did sell more than thirty thousand thousand untaxed cigarettes in the New York area.

They smuggled the cigarettes into the state and then used fake tax stamps so they could move them in bulk.

This is a pretty typical mafia operation which shows that the mafia is still alive and well in the country.

In other mafia news, New Jersey DeCavalcante Cape Charles Stango admitted to offering two undercover FBI agents fifty thousand dollars to murder a person he thought disrespected another family member.

He was on parole for another crime and living in Henderson Nevada at the time.

He will be doing a few years.

Garbage Men

The mafia has long controlled carting, also known as waste removal, or whatever you want to call it.  I have personally watched trucks from New York roll into a private waste disposal and dump asphalt that was supposed to be recycled.  It is not surprising that the mafia used everyone’s “Go Green” attitude to put a new twist on an old business.

Last week I wrote about Joey Merlino and the others who were taken down by the Feds in a massive bust.  One of the crimes which was not mentioned happened in Palmyra, New Jersey.

Brad Sirkin, who was arrested with Merlino in the Florida case, leased a 104 acre parcel of land to be used for a recycling and mulch operation.

Sirkin was operating Jersey Recycling, a company that was licensed to process landscape waste.  Grass, plants, branches, etc. that would be turned into mulch and re-sold.  They were permitted to bring in 20,000 cubic yards of this waste.

What they did instead was bring in 380,000 cubic yards of construction waste and other hazardous materials.  They had hundreds of trucks stacked up waiting to get into the landfill, which caused authorities to take notice.

Jersey Recycling used the cover story of going green to secretly cause a disaster that will cost taxpayers up to 10 million dollars to clean up.  

The reason Sirkin applied for a green recycling permit is because it was much easier to get than a landfill permit.  Sirkin has documented ties to organized crime and he was one of the guys who got Merlino violated for associating with felons.  

This landfill operation was a multi mafia family operation and the FBI believes that a Bonanno capo had a hidden interest in the landfill.

Sirkin met Merlino when they were finishing up some Federal time in a halfway house in Florida in 2011.  

Sirkin was originally from Staten Island but relocated to Boca Raton after his release.  He would drive Merlino all over and they would frequent cigar bars.

Sirkin was a prime mover in the insurance fraud case that defrauded insurance companies and Medicare out of 157 million dollars for high priced compound pain cream.

Sirkin was a manager of Premier Biotech one of a dozen companies that helped perpetuate the fraud.

The landfill, which is close to the Delaware river and next to Palmyra Cove Nature park has to be cleaned up before it starts leeching hazardous materials, and this going to cost us all.

Lucchese Crime Family's New Jersey faction

Away from the mess that is New York, the New Jersey faction of the Lucchese family has been able to get some pretty good money making ventures going.  

Nicky Scarfo Jr. and his crew infiltrated a mortgage company and stole millions.  I think Nicky Jr. is down for the count this time. Who can tell because strange things happen in the mafia world these days.  

I hear that a certain spouse of a Mob Wives personality is free at home.  The strange thing is he no longer shows up on the BOP search.  They still have dead guys like Greg Scarpa, so this is strange.  Today guys get busted and there is no case and yet their partners go down.  You would have to be crazy to work with anyone today.  There was a murder on Staten Island last week which may be something, or not.

This is why I am writing about Ralph Perna Sr. and his three sons.  Ralph was a top capo that stepped in for Nicky Scarfo and was in control of a ultra lucrative bookmaking operation.  The operation pulled in 2.2 billion in bets.  Even if they were stupid, somebody took vig in the neighborhood of 220 million.  The State and Feds have not announced any huge seizures of cash.  

Ralph Sr., Joseph Perna and John Perna each plead guilty to first degree racketeering, gambling and money laundering charges in June.  

They were part of a massive bust that took down 34 of their co-conspirators including some Blood Gang members in 2010.  Ralph Perna Jr. still has his charges pending at this time.  

Ralph Sr. will get 8 years while Joseph will get 10 years, but the charges against his wife were dropped.  John Perna was given 10 years also but all of them will be eligible for parole after serving half their time.  

They got a pretty sweet deal considering who they are and what they were charged with by the state.  

Their lawyers were able to get the judge to remove all references to violence from their pre sentencing reports.  Even the wiretap evidence of them making threats to collect debts had to be dropped because it was not in the plea deal.  

The Bloods Gang and Joseph Perna stuff had to be taken out because he did not plea to helping them smuggle cell phones and drugs into a prison.

There are still 20 others awaiting their time in court on this case.  The case has gone on so long that 3 men have died in the time since they were taken down.

This seems like a huge waste of New Jersey’s time.  They have casinos in the state and Lotto.  Nobody is ever forced to place a bet with a bookmaker.  Why do all the games have odds if they do not want you to bet?

The DeCavalcante Organized Crime Family

I was just having a conversation about the FBI using deep undercover agents like Donnie Brasco and Jack Falcone.  The people I was discussing the subject were wondering why the FBI would spend so much time and money on the Cosa Nostra.  They felt that it was no longer a threat.  I explained to them that the Cosa Nostra was still International in scope and much more dangerous than the flavor-of-the-moment crime group.  

Lets go back to the 80s.  Jamaican Posse, Medellín Cartel and many Mexican groups along the border, but they have no staying power. The Cosa Nostra is like a cancer that you can't get rid of, even with aggressive treatment.  They are able to bounce back because of their structure and because they are a secret group.  When the FBI takes down a crew or the administration, others, known and unknown, can step up and keep running the organization.  

I was surprised when I heard the FBI took down a crew in the DeCavalcante family of New Jersey.  The other families in New York have such a foothold in New Jersey that I forget that the state has its own family.  The FBI had an agent undercover for 3 years in the DeCavalcante family and they were active.  Charles Stango lived in Henderson, Nevada just outside of Las Vegas, but he was still a Capo in the DeCavalcante family.  Anthony Stango, his son, lived in Brick Township, New Jersey and handled his father’s day-to-day operations in New Jersey.  Charles Stango, also known as “Beeps,” took money from the undercover FBI Agent who has been under since 2012.  The Agent had become close to Beeps and last year, just before Christmas, Beeps shared his plans to murder a member of the family.  

Beeps had given the contract to the FBI undercover and told him to kill or maim the other man known as the “Pet” because he had disrespected an older member of the family.  He wanted him shot or blown up in his business in Elizabeth, NJ.  

The order was given in Las Vegas in a meeting between Beeps and the FBI agent and it was recorded by the agent.  Beeps had assured the agent that the DeCavalcante Administration was on board with the murder.  The FBI had the proof because they had intercepted calls between Frank Nigro the family Consigliere and Paul Colella who was the go-between to higher ups in the administration. They all sought and were given permission to murder the wayward member.

Beep’s son and other crew members also distributed cocaine on a large scale in New Jersey and were caught by the FBI.

They were looking to expand into Toms River, New Jersey, where they were going to open a nightclub as cover for a high-end escort business that would cater to businessmen in the area.

Sex sells, and the amount of money that a high end escort business can bring in is staggering.

When I told the FBI and IRS about Nici’s Girls and Exotica 2000 they could not believe the amount of money they made.

In all, the FBI was able to take down 10 members and associates of the DeCavalcante Family from two crews. This was a different bust than other recent ones, because they didn't take down a gambling or shylock operation, which is the staple of Mafia.  They did bust them for selling large amounts of cigarettes.

This quote from U.S. Attorney Fisherman sums it up well, “Though its ranks have been thinned by countless convictions and its own internal bloodletting, traditional organized crime remains a real problem.”

New Jersey Crews

New Jersey has its own family who do a lot of work in New York.  They also have crews from the five New York Families operating in the state of New Jersey.  The Gambino Crew NJ circa 2010 was headed by Andrew Merola Aka Andrew Knapik, who was a Capo. They ran a large sports book that brought in a lot of money.  They also had their hands in the Laborer's Union Local 1153 and Local 825 Operating Engineers.

The sports book was run in the same way that most are run today.  They had agents or local bookies who had their own customers who they assigned numbers to and gave access to the websites.  The agents would collect and pay on Tuesdays and then they would get a cut from the enterprise.   Ralph Cicalese was Merola’s right hand man and took care of the book.  He met the agents and took payments.  Ralph was not made but he was very close to Merola.

The sports book paved the way for the crew’s shylock business and they would loan out cash to everyone.   The operation was a success and they pulled in more than 2k a day for years with the sports book.  The shylock business brought in around 4k-7k a week in vig, so it was a great business.  

The reason the Cosa Nostra is still at the top of the criminal food chain is due to their ability to infiltrate and control unions and big business. The Mexican cartels and the street gangs, while powerful in their own spheres, have never been able to make that jump to legitimate business.  

They also all tend to fall apart when their leader goes down.  Long after Merola goes away somebody else from the Gambino Family will be running the crew doing the same thing.

They had a lot of power and control over Local 1153 thanks to Michael Urgola who was the business manager for the Local.  Urgola had a lot of power in the Local because he controlled who was a business agent and who the Job Stewards were on projects.  He also approved all Union memberships.   They also had the Local Recording Secretary in their pocket.  

Merola and Crew were able to bypass the Union Collective bargaining agreements with companies that used Local 1153. They were able to get kickbacks from these companies for their help.  

Another scheme that brought in a fair amount of cash was the extortion of food trucks that wanted to feed the workers on sites.  They would only allow trucks who paid them for the right to park on sites and feed the workers.

Ralph Cicalese was appointed Job Steward on the demolition of the Prudential building in Newark, New Jersey so the Crew had control of that job site.

Local 825 represented over 7,000 operators of heavy equipment, mechanics and surveyors in New Jersey.  They were on job sites all over the State.  Merola and Crew were given no-show and low-show jobs from the Union.   Merola had a no-show job on the Goethals Bridge project.

John Cataldo was their man in Local 825 and he was a Business Agent and Organizer.

The Merola Crew was running things in New Jersey like a well-oiled machine for years, but the FBI was watching, and after 5 years of watching they took down 23 members of the crew.  

Andrew Merola ended up pleading out and received 11 years for his trouble.

The Gambinos continue on in New Jersey and I am sure when Andrew Merola gets out he will be right back to work.

No Show Jobs

In a time when many newspapers have gone out of business or are struggling severely to remain in business, somehow the Colombo family still managed to work its magic and create “no-show” jobs in the newspaper industry.  The Mafia job world is much like the rest of the working world in the sense that the good jobs are given to those who have never worked, have no relevant education or experience, yet have connections. The Colombo family conspired with highly placed newspaper and mail deliverers’ Union to supply Benjamin Castellazzo Jr. with a Union card.  This is a slap in the face of the approximately 1600 hard working union members.  These members work long and hard to get into the Union and then a guy like Benji Jr gets in through the back door.

Benji Jr is the 48 year old son of Benjamin Castellazzo Sr, a long time Colombo crime family capo and acting underboss. Senior was known on the streets as “The Claw” for his fondness of taking money from those beneath him.  Senior was given 63 months in Federal Prison after being taken down on “Mafia Take Down Day.”  Senior moved into a trailer park in NJ and his wife was on food stamps, but the judge didn't care and still gave the 75 year old Benji the time.

A long-time Colombo associate Rocco Miraglia, another son of a member, conspired to get

Benji Jr. Union membership and a plum job with NMDU.  Rocco was the foreman at the New York Daily News and he contacted Anthony Turzio who worked at El Dario to help make up a fake work history in the newspaper industry.

Rocco made a call to the Vice President of the NMDU and told him he was putting together a fake resume for Benji Jr.  They claimed he worked at the NYDN and El Dario when in fact he never worked at either.  This would entitle Benji Jr. to get a Union Priority number which others who don't have a daddy highly placed in the Colombo family had to toil for years to obtain.

On August 21st, 2009 Benji Jr. was given his union number and on September 8 he was sworn into the union.  They then asked the business at Hudson News to place Benji in a job with the company.  They had Benji Jr. fill out an application with the false work history and bullshit references for the Hudson News. A week later a highly place union official spoke to Benji Jr. who was having some problems getting into the Hudson News and told him that he would get him transferred to the NYDN.

What these guys did not know was that the FBI was on to them and they had wiretapped on their phones.  The FBI watched as they sent the application for the Hudson News via overnight mail to Benji Jr. in New Jersey.  They listened when they called the Union and created a web of lies.

This is typical mob stuff, guys who work get guys who don't hired for plum jobs.  Lucky for the hard working union members, the FBI was on to the scheme.  Now we shall see how much time they all get.

Casella's Restaurant

1987 was a good year for John Gotti.   He was boss of the Gambino Family and he had been acquitted in a high profile case.  He knew that he was on someone's hit list but he thought it was for the killing of his boss Paul Castellano. He did not know that he had really pissed off the Genovese Family, and not just because Chin Gigante was mad about the Castellano murder.  John Gotti had moved in on the rackets that the Philadelphia Family had run until their family was decimated and their boss Nicky Scarfo was put away for life.  This really made the Genovese in New Jersey mad and the number three man in the family, Louis "Bobby" Manna wanted John Gotti and his brother Gene Gotti dead.  Bobby Mana was the Consigliere of the family and he ran the New Jersey faction of the family from Casella's restaurant in Hoboken. What Bobby did not know is that the FBI had a wire inside Casella's and they picked up these words "Wear a disguise, its an open place."  "A Big Hit John Gotti."  The plan was to shoot John Gotti on the corner when he did a walk talk from his Bergin Hunt and Fish Social Club in Queens. They then planned on gunning down his brother Gene who was on trial for running a Heroin ring. The FBI warned John Gotti and the hit never went down.

The wire at Casella's also picked up the planning of another hit.  This time the target was Irwin Schiff, a 350lb millionaire conman who had crossed Bobby Manna.  Irwin had shylock loans on the street and he had also failed to give back cash that belonged to the Genovese Family. It was believed he was laundering money for the family and had skimmed a lot off the top.  On August 8, 1987, Irwin Schiff was having dinner at Bravo Sergio on the Upper East side of Manhattan with a friend's wife when a gunman walked in the rear door and fired two 38cal slugs into his head and then calmly walked out. The NYPD was at a loss as to why or who killed Irwin and very few of the 20 witnesses came forward with any information. The FBI had a wire up in Casella's in Hoboken and they had picked up some talk. On August 5th the FBI had picked up "You want him hit," and "we will do him good at night." They referred to him as CC because he ran Consolidated Construction and one of the guys who partnered with him was a man named Domenico "Dom" RaBuffo.  Dom knew what was going on but that was to come later. The FBI wire picked up the Mobsters in Casella's talking about the hit two days after the hit on August 10th and it was damming.  They would all go on trial and Bobby Mana would get 80 years!

Dom Rabuffo would become a government protected witness and disappear after the trial.   Dom would move on to Florida where he did not get out of his life of crime.  Dom was convicted just last week of stealing 49.5 million in an elaborate mortgage fraud. Dom and his former wife Mae used two straw holding companies to gain control of a purported housing development in Cashiers, North Carolina that they called Hampton Springs. They then recruited straw buyers to apply for loans on parcels and then construction loans. They used an accountant to forge paperwork to inflate the straw buyers on paper. They had a guy in the mortgage company that helped push the fraudulent loans through banks. These
banks would include Bank Of America, Suntrust, Wachovia and Regions. 33 million dollars of this money was for construction loans and they created a number of shell companies that they funneled this cash through. It all blew up and they now face some major time.

All this fraud began in a small Italian restaurant in Hoboken.