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.

The Arrests Continue

The past has a way of catching up with you when you live the mafia life.  If you committed murder you are safe only when you are the last one alive. In the last two weeks the FBI arrested two men who were formerly the boss and a capo in the New England family.  

The FBI took down Robert DeLuca, now 70, at his Coral Springs home in Florida.  DeLuca was a capo in the family and started cooperating in 2011.  DeLuca was sentenced to one day in prison in 2014 for his cooperation.

Francis “Cadillac Frank” Salemme was arrested Wednesday at a Connecticut hotel.  The former boss of the New England family had flipped when he found out that Whitey Bulger and Stevie Flemmi were informants in 1999.  He agreed to cooperate against Flemmi, Bulger and their FBI handler John Connolly Jr.  Then Flemmi flipped and told the FBI about the time he walked in on Frank Salemme Jr. strangling Steven A. DiSarro. Flemmi told the FBI that DiSarro was murdered because he was close to someone who was an informant.  DiSarro was the front guy for Salemme and his son in the nightclub The Channel in 1993.

Cadillac Frank has already served 5 years for lying to the FBI during his debriefing about the DiSarro murder.  He has been living in Atlanta in the Witness Relocation Program as Richard Parker.

The FBI just recently dug up Steven DiSarro’s remains when they searched the property of Billy Ricci, a longtime New England family associate. Billy Ricci had a marijuana grow operation on the property and was busted this year.  

They are both charged with murdering a federal witness which can carry the death penalty.

Joey Merlino the one time boss of the Philadelphia family was granted his freedom after his wife and friends posted a 5 million dollar bond secured by property.

The thirty page indictment is really broad, so I am betting that there will be a superseding indictment coming down.  

They claimed at the bond hearing that Joey Merlino was caught on tape acting like a boss and that he was trying to put the Philly family back together again.

The FBI had an undercover agent and a cooperator that vouched for the agent who both made audio and video tapes of Merlino.  The cooperator had a casino style gambling club in Yonkers and he worked with a Genovese family gangster who gave him permission to move to Florida to work with Merlino.

This is how Merlino got sucked into the Healthcare fraud. It involves a compound that can cost up to 10k a tube and the crooked doctors prescribe it on a trial basis with 10 refills.  That means they can stick the insurance companies with a 100k bill.  It is the snake oil of our time. I am sure we have paid for this out of our taxes.

One guy who knows that you cannot keep a secret in today's mafia is Teddy Persico Jr., who is now doing 12 years for a few crimes including ordering the murder of renegade capo Joe Scopo when he was on furlough from prison to attend his grandmother's funeral. Teddy was doing 25 years for drug trafficking at the time.

The FBI had a few witness that told them about his part in the murder, but they were able to seize a picture from Rao’s and some letters Teddy sent to the guy from prison that helped their case. It helped a lot that the guy kept every letter.

Teddy who did 17 years in state prison for dealing drugs was already headed back within hours of his release, he just didn't know it. If you want to read about it, it is detailed in my book Breakshot. What does Teddy have to worry about next? Scooby.

Sonny Franzese still a threat at 98 years old

The name Sonny Franzese was much better known on the street to those who were in the life, than the name John Gotti.  Sonny was very respected and feared by everyone, including the government. This distinction has caused him many years of grief.

Sonny has now earned the title of the oldest inmate in the federal prison system, and, if he lives to his release date, he will be released just after his 100th birthday in 2017.  Sonny has spent the last 40 years in and out of prison, much of the time a result of his bank robbery conviction in 1970 for which he was given 50 years.  The case was a obviously a set up by the prosecutors because they had Sonny working with a crew of junkie bank robbers who didn't even know him.

Sonny has been released many times by the parole board, only to be violated for associating with known felons. He would be out for enough time to be given his position of capo in the Colombo family back, and then he would be sent back.

When Colombo family underboss Jackie Deross went away for life, the family upped Sonny to underboss.  The position was short lived because the government already had its sources in place.  Sonny finally caught a new case after a guy wearing a wire caught him on tape.  The case was backed up by his son John Franzese.  Sonny was sentenced to 8 years in 2011 for the new case, and that should by all means be the end of his story.

The government is now going after the wheelchair-bound incarcerated man's prison commissary account.  It would be funny if it were not true.  

The same government who let the wife of con man Bernie Madoff keep $2.5 million of their stolen cash.  Unlike Ruth’s stolen loot, the money in Sonny’s account was given to him by relatives for his use to live.

They want to seize his $10,089 in the account that he uses to buy cup-o-noodles and hygiene items like soap, shampoo and shower shoes.  He buys ice cream every once in awhile and the rest he uses for phone calls.  The US wants to seize the cash to pay on his judgement that was part of his sentencing.  They claim that neither Sonny nor his co defendant Joseph DiGorga have paid a dime of what they owe. I would like to point out that Sonny is locked up in federal prison, so it would be pretty hard for him to earn money to pay anything and this is why inmates have accounts. They want to take his money and leave him with $250 to last the next two years.  Joseph DiGorga was release in 2014 and I am sure he is on parole.  He would have to pay back something every month even if it was 25 dollars a month.

How is it that the federal government has the resources and time to go after Sonny, when our southern border is open with millions of people crossing illegally every year.  It is a federal crime to come into the United States without going through immigration.  Everyone of these people costs us far more every year than a Sonny Franzese.

When I was still on the street, Teddy Persico Jr. had a guy in his crew that worked at the Hustler Club in Manhattan that Sonny was convicted of shaking down.  Teddy had to go to a couple of sitdowns over two brothers that others wanted to kill because of the club.  The brothers were sons of Gambino family guy who was in Las Vegas for many years. The brothers lived but the Feds never did much about that whole deal.  

If they just released Sonny now, what harm would it do? He can’t walk. he can't see well and he cannot hear.  The glory days are behind him.  They should let him go home for his final days to die.

A note on last week's story.  Mr New Orleans:

The traditional Second Line parade in celebration of Frenchy Brouillette's life will take place beginning at 4PM on SUNDAY, DECEMBER 13th in the French Quarter outside of Felix's Oyster Bar off Bourbon and Iberville. Attendees are invited to start collecting around 3:50.

Led by MR. NEW ORLEANS author Matthew Randazzo, the parade will be joined by the Storyville Stompers brass band and Pastor Ray Cannata, who will say a benediction as we begin. The parade will travel to some historic places in Frenchy's life before ending with a memorial toast at Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop. In addition to Frenchy's friends and fans, all Mardi Gras Indians, baby dolls, Saints fans in full costume, rolling Elvi, and other manifestations of New Orleans are invited to come out and honor Mr. New Orleans with the wildest, most flamboyant second line in French Quarter memory.

It sounds like a great send off!

JoJo Corozzo - Gambino Racketeer

This will be the last blog for 2014, so I thought I would end it with the Gambino Consigliere JoJo Corozzo.  I am reading over his court documents and find it amusing to see the full page of medication that JoJo has to take every day.  How does this 71 year old man have the time or the health to commit crimes.  Well, JoJo made time for crime, and he has been at it since the 1980s when he was one of John Gotti Sr.’s most loyal and biggest moneymakers.  He ran large parts of Queens and Howard Beach for the Gambinos. In October of 2005, JoJo was picked up on tape by a confidential witness (CW) talking about why John “Baby” Gotti did not like him.  John Sr would tell JoJo to tell Jr not to do this or do that.  Then all guys in Queens would go to JoJo instead of Jr.  This made Jr. crazy and it made him hate JoJo.  

During the 1980s and 1990s JoJo built up a power base and brought in a number of young up-and-comers including Ronald Trucchio, Alphonse Trucchio and Louis Mastrangelo who all later became Capos in the family, and Bartolomeo Vernace who became a Capo and also served on the panel and many others that are soldiers or associates in the family.  

JoJo used to take the whole neighborhood to the movies to encourage others into the life.  A prime example is Howard Santos who JoJo met when he was in his 40s and Santos was a teenager.  He made Howard who became his driver and was later put in charge of his social club and other rackets that were run out of the club.  Santos was well thought of and trusted until he flipped in 2009.

JoJo Corozzo has the Mafia distinction of being convicted of racketeering in 3 decades: the  1990s, 2000s and 2010s.

 

JoJo has been the boss of a sports betting business for many years and raked in untold millions in profit both for him and the Gambino family.  The bookmaking business is a huge money maker for organized crime because it does not take a lot overhead, unlike other crimes like drugs or stealing.  When taking bets the bookie gets the vig or 10% win or lose.  The main thing, unlike drugs or anything else criminal, is that it is all just numbers on a page.  What I mean is that they are not out any physical thing so If someone skips out they just lose numbers in a ledger.  Its not real cash.  

I am sure that JoJo has no intention of going straight or retiring from the Gambinos. He has put in the time and work to reach the pinnacle of the mafia.  This is what JoJo and his brother Nicky have worked so hard for all their adult lives.  Nicky also ran a vast gambling enterprise like the one Andrew DiDonato wrote about in his book, “Surviving the Mob.”  Andrew details his time around Nicky from his teens until well into manhood.  

If anyone would like a look inside the Gambino family, especially the Corozzo crew, they should read Andrew’s book.  The show Mob Wives will have a new edition this season named Natalie DiDonato who is related to or married to someone. The DiDonato name is not common but Andrew is the real deal.

One of the best stories in Andrew's book is when Andrew was driving one night with JoJo’s son Joseph and they got into a traffic altercation with another car. At a stop light the two cars stopped and a guy got out with a butcher knife and came out of the car.  Andrew was asleep and Joseph started screaming like a girl to shoot him.  So Andrew shot him in the groin and they drove off.  This was huge trouble for Andrew because not only was it JoJo’s son, but also his car.  They found out who the guy was and what hospital he was in and they sent some guys over there to see him.  They offered the guy 10k to forget what happened or die so the guy accepted. This would come up later because Joseph later became a lawyer who represented mafia guys including his father and uncle.  It is all in Federal court records.  He represented Teddy Persico Jr. when I got him some more time.  Joseph had nothing good to say about me, in fact he ranted about me for an hour to another lawyer.  The funny thing is he never called me in to ask about the tapes I made.

JoJo will be locked away until 2016 when he will be released under supervision.  He will have to pay 8k installments to the government to pay his forfeiture.  Nicky is now locked up in SuperMax in Florence, Colorado until 2020 and for the sake of the citizens lets hope he never gets released.

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.

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.  

The Persico Legacy

Teddy Persico Sr and the Colombo War.

Teddy Sr is the brother of imprisoned-for-life Boss Carmine "Gimpy" Persico.  They had another brother Big Allie Boy "Alphonse" Persico who died in the 1980's. After Carmine and his son Little Allie went away in the 1980's, Teddy Sr worked with a panel to run the family.  Little Vic Orena was made acting Boss of the Colombo Family.  Little Vic was good for the family.  He knew that in the future the Family would have to adapt and work on new things.  He inducted new blood into the family.  

One ceremony took place in a nondescript house in Queens. Three men were to be "Badged" that day.  Little Vic, his sons, Joe Scopo and others would preside over the induction.  The men had been told to be dressed nice and they were picked up around Brooklyn and driven to the location.  Joe Baudanza was badged that day with a young guy (future informant) and an old guy nobody ever saw again.  They were brought downstairs and they each took the oath.  I was told recently by the future informant that the “ceremony” was a big let down and afterwards he felt stupid because he had been so eager to be in the family.

Little Vic and Billy Cutolo Sr got along very well with the other families and when they went to Commission Meetings they always had John Gotti's patronage. Little Vic and Billy Sr could speak to the families, they were good with the rules and they knew the intricate Union business so the Colombo's would get their fair share from the other families.  

Teddy Sr had other ideas about who should be the acting boss of the family.  He began promoting Consigliere Vincent "Jimmy" Angilino for the top spot.  Little Vic discussed it with the other families and they wanted things to stay as they had been.  So Carmine Sessa took out Jimmy Angilino and took over his spot in the family. Teddy Sr started telling family members that Little Vic was trying to take over the family. Little Vic and Billy Sr again went to the Commission and they were told to poll the Capo's and see who they wanted as Boss.  Some of them came in when they were sent for, and others did not.  Carmine Sessa, being the backstabber that he was, went to the Persico faction and gave up Little Vic.  Carmine Sessa gathered a crew to blast Little Vic but Little Vic caught the move when he was coming home and he drove away.  The Little Vic faction then went back to the Commission and they were urged to settle it without bloodshed.  They suggested that they take out Capo Greg Scarpa because it had been ordered and he was long suspected of being an informant.  They could get rid of a problem and also see how the Persico's reacted to the hit.

They had a van and when they saw Greg Scarpa he was with his daughter and the baby but they decided to hit him anyway.  Frankie Notch was so eager to get Greg that he fired his pistol getting out of the van.  The noise scared Greg, who got away.  They had blown the Scarpa hit, so Little Vic, Billy Sr and Joe Scopo went to see John Gotti who backed them behind the scenes.

The Soldiers in Brooklyn went to ground hiding out  and business stopped.  The soldiers under Little Vic were given 200 dollars a week.  The war was really 13the Ave against 11the Ave but it would prove costly.  The street war resulted in 68 indictments, 58 convictions and ten guys flipping. What a waste.

This is where Teddy Persico Jr came from and soon Teddy Persico Sr will be a free man.  Where will the Colombo Family go from here?

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.