Gambino Cash & Escorts

Business on the street keeps moving no matter how many people go down.  There are always others waiting in the wings to step up and replace them.  I wrote before that crime does not pay.  A large number of people disagreed with me and argued that it does indeed pay.   One person posted an article claiming that a crime group made more than McDonald’s.  They missed my point.  It is the toll it takes on the person, I am talking about - the consequences for their family and friends.  It was not the balance sheet I was referring to, it was the fact that there are no real happy endings to the stories involving the Mafia.

Michael Rizzi an ex-NYPD officer who branched out into the lucrative business of escort services.   Rizzi went before a judge this week for sentencing.  He told the judge that he initially started off with a completely legal escort service, and it grew out of hand.  The judge laughed at him.  Rizzi has plead guilty to laundering money from the illicit sex workers and is awaiting his sentencing.  He had over two million dollars in credit card charges from October 2012 until May of 2016.

The escort girls went on dates for up to two thousand dollars an hour. The judge did not believe that anyone would pay that amount of money for dinner.  Rizzi is on a disability pension from the NYPD and he also owns an adult store.  Rizzi controlled over eighty adult websites and the parent company BJM-Manhattan Stakes and Entertainment.

There were some customers of the escort service that had spent over one hundred thousand dollars with the service. A few that paid in excess of twenty five thousand for one night.  In 2009, Rizzi was taken down in Queens because of his involvement with a mafia backed sportsbook.

Rizzi had married into the Gambino crime family.  His wife Jill is the daughter of Gambino soldier Richard Juliano Jr., and the niece of Gambino capo Joseph "Sonny" Juliano.

Sonny has a long history with gambling, loan sharking and adult businesses.  When I first began spending time in NYC, he was said to control some Manahatten stripbars.  He also had some large loans out, including some documented in a book that were photographed for the FBI.

Sonny was arrested in a 2003 gambling case was based in Albany, New York. The business had over ninety runners who picked up bets and paid out.  They also had a huge numbers business that was based on race track handles and state lotto numbers.  The business netted over three million dollars a year, yet Sonny claimed only one hundred and six dollars of income on his 2000 income taxes.

It is laughable that the Attorney General at the time was Eliot Spitzer, who served two terms in that office before being elected governor.  He had to step down as governor when he was caught paying for high end escorts.

It was alleged that he spent over eighty thousand dollars on the escort, including some campaign funds.

Sonny took a plea deal in his case and was given 1-1/2 to 4-½ years in state prison.  He forfeited $550,000 in gambling cash and paid $37,000 in taxes.

Richard plead guilty and face two to four years in prison.

Michael Rizzi will face up to four years next week.

So how does crime pay?

Genovese Mobster Gets Away with Murder (and a Mole)

This week the NYPD dedicated a 45 foot boat (known as a launch) to Anthony J Venditti.

January 21, 1986, Detective Anthony J. Venditti was gunned down in front of a Queens diner as was his partner Detective Katherine Burke.  Detective Burke survived, but Detective Venditti died at the scene.

It is out of the ordinary that they were shot at all. They were part of the Joint Organized Crime Task Force with the FBI and they were assigned to follow Genovese mobster Federico Giovanelli aka Fritzy.  They had him under surveillance day and night using a brown two-tone 1977 Lincoln Town Car.  They wanted to catch him running his large gambling and shylock operation.  Fritzy spotted them.

That night they followed him to his club at 343 St. Nicholas Avenue in Queens. They watched him from Palmetto just under the train and by 8pm they figured he had spotted them. They left and went to a nearby diner so Det. Venditti could use the restroom and grab a cup of coffee.

Once in the diner parking, lot they noticed Fritzy had followed them to the diner.  Fritzy was parked behind their car. Det Venditti wanted to go into the diner anyway, aware of the fact that the mafia has a rule against harming law enforcement.  Det. Burke drove around the block and when she returned she saw Det. Venditti surrounded by three men.  Det. Venditti was holding a paper bag and his pistol was in an ankle holster.  Det. Burke jumped out of the car and yelled, “Tony, watch out! Police!  Freeze!”  She began to draw her pistol from her coat pocket when she was hit in the chest.  She was going down, but still fired five shots in the air.  Det. Venditti was shot twice in the face and twice in the back.

Fritzy was picked up within minutes, running from the diner, but he had no weapon on him.

Det. Burke later identified two Genovese associates Steven Maltese and Carmine Gaultiere as the men at the scene.

Det. Burke testified that Fritzy was the one who shot her.  Fritzy testified that he was being held up by two men in front of the diner and that they shot Det. Venditti.

A jury acquitted Carmine Gaultiere and hung on Fritzy and Maltese.

The Feds hit the men with Racketeering charges in 1989 and they were given 20 years for racketeering including murder and attempted murder but it was overturned on appeal.

Chin Gigante, who ran the Genovese family, was big on mafia rules. So why did he let these men live after shooting a police officer?  Did they believe he was going to rob them?  

Fritzy is a Genovese Capo, but his life has been one arrest after another.  Fritzy has a mole deep in the FBI where he is able to get information.  In the 1980’s he gave information to John Gotti’s friend Angelo Ruggerio that his basement was bugged.  They were being investigated for a massive heroin ring.  He also tipped off some New Jersey DeCavalcante mobsters that they were about to be indicted in 1999 but the FBI has never been able to figure out how he got the information.  How many investigations did he compromise over the years?

This is one of those miscarriage of justice cases where the bad guy seems to win.

Rest in peace Detective Anthony J Venditti.

Lucchese Family and Sports Betting

Last week 6 Lucchese crime family members pleaded guilty to running a massive sports betting operation.  The size and scope of the operation and the amount of time the men will do demonstrates why the Mafia wants to stay in the gambling business.

They took in $2.2 billion in bets in 15 months on sporting events.  Here’s a little gambling math for you:  they got the Vig right off the top.  That is 10 dollars for every 100 dollars wagered.  That means IF that were all they made, they took $200 million off the top in 15 months time.  Then add in all the cash from parlays and teasers, and it's a much bigger profit.

They did this all using Costa Rican wire rooms and password protected websites that were based on servers in Costa Rica.  Gambling is all legal in Costa Rica.   In the US it is only okay in Las Vegas and Atlantic City, because there the huge corporations handle it.

There would be few large sporting events without gaming and all the shows and news that go with them.

The Lucchese guys had the wire rooms aka phone banks based in Costa Rica.  They give a customer a code name and an 800 number to call in their action.  They use local books to recruit customers, collect and pay off.  The money never actually makes it to Costa Rica because it is all done in cash in person in local bars.  Customers have a password for the website and a username.  They will have credit and collect from the bookie during the week.

One of the principals in the operation was Matthew Madonna, a name that many Mafia readers will know.  Matty was part of the Pleasant Avenue Connection of heroin selling fame.  Matty used to have cars full  of heroin dropped off to black heroin kingpin Leroy Nicky Barnes.  Nicky would get the keys to the car and later he would drop it back off filled with cash.  It was a sweet operation for them, that was later derailed because of Nicky's flashy ways.  

Matty went away and was given 30 years for selling heroin. He was summoned before a grand jury but never said a word and was given another year and a half for not cooperating.

Once he was released, he was inducted into the Lucchese family and quickly rose to Capo and soon he was on the ruling panel that ran the family.

Ralph V. Perna was the Capo who ran the New Jersey faction of the Lucchese family which included two of his sons Joseph and John.  He follows a long line of guys who ran the family in new Jersey.   For awhile Nicky Scarfo’s son was said to be running the faction, but he is down for a long time now.  Tumac was the longtime boss until the crazy crack smoker Gaspipe went on his murderous rampage.  

Joseph DiNapoli is another Lucchese Capo who went down for the sports betting operation.  DiNapoli was also on the ruling panel with Matty.  He made big money from labor racketeering and stock fraud. He has two brothers who are made in the Genovese family.

Back to the gambling bust.  Marty Taccetta, who is already serving life in prison, will get an extra 8 years tagged on his sentence.  All in all it is not that bad.  Ralph Perna will get 8 years while his sons will get 10 years.  Matty will get 5 years while rest will get 8 years.  The time is not a lot for the amount of cash they pulled down.  Did the Feds stop sports betting?  Not a chance.  That is why the lines are posted all over for every event.

Danny Marino, Gambino Capo

Danny Marino has lived a charmed life as mafia royalty.  Danny was born into the Gambino crime family.  Danny’s uncle was Gambino family Capo Carmine Lombardozzi, known as the “King of Wall Street.”   Carmine brought in a huge amount of money for the Gambinos through stock fraud and shylock loans.  He had been one of those arrested, along with Paul Castellano, at the meeting in Apalachin.  

Danny was arrested in 1963 at the funeral for Carmine's father, when he punched an FBI agent.  Danny has a track record for punching people.  Later in life he would be thrown out of a casino for punching a guy in the face.

Danny played the Mafia game very well, and when John Gotti took over the family he was a well respected Capo.  He was also working with the Genovese and Lucchese family to topple Gotti.

Gaspipe Casso claimed that he was in on the car bombing that killed Gambino Underboss Frank DeCicco.  A few years later when Sammy Gravano turned against Gotti and other Gambinos, Danny helped Gotti.

Danny and a few others had someone tap Sammy’s wife and kid’s phones illegally before the Gotti trial.  It failed to stop Sammy from taking the stand.  

I've written about Danny and Frank Hydell but he was not the only guy he tried to silence before they gave up family secrets. Danny conspired to murder Thomas Spinelli with other Gambinos, because they feared he would tell the truth to a Federal Grand Jury.

Danny was into construction racketeering, gambling, shylocking, extortion and murder.  He has had a few rough years since the FBI came down on the Gambinos.  It is well known that Junior Gotti had a proffer session with the Feds and during that meeting he gave up Danny Marino because he hated him.  

I know guys who were locked up with Danny and they all say the same thing about him.  He kept to himself and he was cheap.  The guy would never go for anything, he never helped new arrivals, Wiseguys or not.  Danny would never help himself, he would workout and walk around afraid.  Danny was not afraid of anyone there, he was afraid he would catch another case.

He was close to Jojo and Chuckie Russo but behind his back they called him Ricochet because he would bounce off the walls anytime he was called by the guards.

Danny is free now, and what role he plays in the family is not known.  He is old and he has money, so maybe he will just fade into the background or Florida where old mob guys often retire.

The last of the Old Time Gambinos

Arnold “Zeke” Squitieri and Alphonse “Funzi” Sisca go way back to the days before John Gotti was made in the Gambino Family.  They worked with Gene Gotti, Sal Ruggiero and Angelo Ruggiero selling heroin.  They were given long sentences just like Gene Gotti, so they missed most of the John Gotti mess.   Zeke was made Underboss in 1999 by John Gotti and in 2002 when Peter Gotti went away he was bumped up to Acting Boss.  Zeke was still on parole for his 1989 heroin conviction so he relied heavily on Funzi to be his eyes and ears on the street.  He would use him to pass orders to the lower ranks.  

They committed all the usual crimes that gangsters commit, like extortion of construction companies, restaurants and nightclubs.  One that I had not heard about in a long time was the illegal numbers business.  Numbers or Policy games are an illegal lottery that used to be played in poor or immigrant neighborhoods.  In Florida the Cuban version was called Bolita.

The other term policy came from old time cheap life insurance policy that was seen as a long term gamble.  To play the game a bettor would pick a three digit number and at the end of the day the operator would take the last three digits of the “Handle” the amount of the total bets at a racetrack that was published in the racing form everyday.  These Gambinos ran a numbers game up to 2005 where they took in 2k a day in bets.  

The Sportsbook they ran made them 155k just on the Superbowl one year.  This goes back to what I've written in the past about gambling being the lifeblood of the Mafia.  

They didn't stop there either.  They were stealing money from the Union and extorting trucking companies.  

Shylocking was a huge earner for them as it always made money.  It is very similar to the way today’s payday loan places operate.  As long as shylockers who call themselves payday loan businesses give the government their cut, they are free to operate.

Things were moving along and the family seemed to be recovering from the succession of Gottis that held the top spot.  Junior Gotti had not yet gone in for his proffer session. The session that he now claims he lied during.  He wants us to forget that he broke Omerta the number one rule of Cosa Nostra.  He needs to accept that he is the same as John Alite, Mikey Scars and all the rest of us.  The only problem?  All those guys built their success in the mafia themselves and were not born with a Mafia silver spoon in their mouths.

Enter Joaquin “Jack” Garcia or as he was known on the street: Jack Falcone.   In the FBI it was known as Operation Jack Falcone.  Jack was an undercover FBI Agent who posed as Sicilian drug dealer and jewel thief from Miami. It seems a bit close to the Donnie Brasco Operation but if it isn’t broken, why fix it.  Jack hooked up with Greg DePalma a long time Gambino Soldier who was a sometime Capo.  DePalma became famous in the 1970s when he and the Gambinos infiltrate the Westchester Premier Theater.  There is a famous picture that includes DePalma, Carlo Gambino, Frank Sinatra, Jimmy Fratianno and others.  

DePalma liked to talk and that was good for Jack because he was a good listener.  The operation would end in 2005 when FBI supervisors shut it down.  This was after DePalma wanted to make Jack Falcone a Gambino.  

Today Alphonse Sisca is the Boss of the New Jersey Faction of the Gambino Family.  

The family is run by the Sicilians and most of the Gotti Era guys are locked up or laying low.

Sports Betting Fuels the Mafia

Sports betting is the lifeblood of the Mafia.  Just last week, the state of NJ arrested a group of Genovese men for gambling.  The Genovese crew brought in 12 million dollars in sports betting revenue and they cashed millions more in checks.   They take down one gambling group and the next day it is business as usual because people love to bet.  This is another example of wasting our tax dollars, stopping people from providing a service the public wants. The families then use this cash to fund their other enterprises.

One Genovese soldier that was well known around Bay Ridge, Brooklyn was Andy Wilson aka Andrew Gargiulo.  Andy was a bookmaker who ran a huge online book but could be found most days at a real estate office in Bay Ridge.  

Andy was close to Fat Gigi Inglese and I had dinner with the two of them when I lived in Brooklyn.

Andy was a nice soft spoken man who dressed well, so I was surprised to see a few years ago that he was arrested for murder.  

The man he killed, Preston Geritano, was his wife’s brother and at one time was a Gambino associate.  Geritano had an ongoing feud with Bartholomew “Bobby” Boriello and Bobby had even taken shots at him on the streets of Brooklyn but had failed to kill him.

Bobby was very close to John Gotti, in fact he was a favorite driver of the boss of the Gambinos. He would later be assigned to Junior Gotti’s crew and eventually the Capo.

This is where we come full circle because Bobby is another victim of the Mafia Cops.  Vic Amuso and Gaspipe Casso wanted to send a message to John Gotti Sr. So they put Louis Eppolito and Stephen Caracappa on his tail.  They supplied information to Gaspipe who gave the contract to Frank Lasterino.  Lasterino ambushed Bobby in front of his Brooklyn home, shooting him two times in the head and five times in his torso.  The Gambino family immediately blamed Geritano who they had wanted dead.  After Bobby took his shot at Geritano, he went to his friends in the Genovese Family.  There was a sit down between the Gambinos and the Genovese family because Geritano was a Gambino associate.  The Genovese went to bat for him and a deal was struck.  The deal was that Geritano would be released to the Genovese Family and that he would drop the feud with Bobby. If Geritano ever took up the feud again, the Genovese were sworn to kill him themselves.   So when Bobby was killed everyone blamed Geritano.  John Gotti sent Junior Gotti to a sitdown with the Genovese Family.  Junior Gotti met with Barney Bellomo, the Genovese street boss, and demanded that they keep their word.

This is where Andy Garguilo comes into the picture.  Andy owned Amici’s restaurant in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn and Geritano came into the restaurant with a stickball bat and hit Andy with it.  The fight spilled out onto the sidewalk where they were rolling around on the sidewalk.  Geritano was stabbed five time with a hunting knife that Andy carried and was killed.  After his death it would come out that he didn't kill Bobby after all.  Andy would get 20 years for the self defense killing, I guess his luck had ran out.  He had forfeited 1.5 million when he was busted for bookmaking but this time he was really going away.  A side note: Amici’s had been owned by Sammy the Bull at one time.

The Mafia and bookmaking will continue to go on no matter how many men are busted and sent away.

Joe Isgro & Chinese Mafia Stories: Update

It is funny what stories the mainstream media will pick up and what they won't.  I have written about Shrimp Boy the Dragonhead of Chee Kung Tong and California State Senator Leeland Yee.  This past week they have been charged in a superseding indictment with even more felony counts but the media chooses not to give it much coverage. The new indictment raises the charge count from 50 to 228 against the same people. Shrimp Boy, Leeland Yee and Keith Jackson are among those now charged with racketeering in the indictment. Chinese Triads may not be as sexy as Mexican Cartels or Gangs, but they are much more dangerous.  The Chee Kung Tong is hundreds of years old with more members worldwide and much more diverse when it comes to criminal activity. It has become clear that Shrimp Boy had worked with Leeland Yee to advance his Criminal Enterprise.  The Tong was involved in illegal gambling, drug distribution and selling contraband cigarettes.  They used many
ways to launder the proceeds of the enterprise because the cash that was rolling in was staggering.  Leeland, along with Keith Jackson, used his various campaigns to solicit bribes.  He even wanted to shake down the NFL by using his influence with the California Athletic Commission to change rules regarding out-of-state athletes.  He also sought to extort cash from MMA Promotions that wished to operate in California. The worst thing that he conspired to (along with Keith Jackson and a dentist) was to sell weapons from an arms dealer to FBI sources.


I am sure that as this unfolds we will find out much more about how deep this conspiracy goes.  They will take some plea deal down the road and this will all be forgotten, but this is the future.  China is taking on a bigger role around the world as an economic power and this means many more Triad member's around the world.

On Thursday the Joe Isgro story hit the news, and sure enough, he was arrested for taking part in a Gambino family bookmaking ring that had an 8 year run starting in 2005. Part of the charges stem from gambling rings using a Bookmaking software program that keeps track of bets, bettors, games, odds and who owes what. The Arizona software company had licensed it out for a fee and when he was arrested for promoting gambling he agreed to cooperate.  He later changed his mind and decided to fight it.  The NYPD had already gone through the company records and they knew who the players were.  Joe had been inducted into the family by John Gotti Jr, but he now has a new Capo in the family.


The whole arrest for gambling is kind of weak.  Most people who get caught pay a small fine.  If you stop to think about it, people bet on all kinds of sporting events.  Even Obama spoke about his brackets during March Madness.  All professional sports use odds, otherwise everyone would stop watch before the end of games if their team was losing.  Monday night football is popular so bettors can make up for a weekend of losses.


I am no Joe Isgro fan, the guy is loud and a bragger but this is a waste. A lot of States have "Numbers"  Aka Lottery and OTB-Off Track Betting and yet they never seem to make a profit?  Here in California they were supposed to pay for the schools and yet every year the Politico's keep come back to us for more taxes for the kids.


I do see Law Enforcement's point because Bookmaking is the bread and butter of the Mafia.  The Gambling enables them to work in many rackets including Joe Isgro's Shylocking.  Even the Genovese have taken hits lately for bookmaking.  Last week in New Jersey a couple of them plead guilty to running a gambling ring.

Joe Isgro plead not guilty, posted a $250,000 bond and was released.

I'll keep you posted on both of these stories.

SunCruz Casinos

A Greek sailor, a Washington Lobbyist, A Mattress Salesman and a few Gambino Associates.  It sounds like a crazy low budget film, but its the real life cast of characters in today’s blog.

Konstantinos "Gus" Boulis was born in a small Greek fishing village where he never made it past the 6th grade. He studied to be a mechanic and then joined the Merchant Marines. He later jumped ship in Halifax, Canada.  Gus then made his way to Toronto where he found work as a dishwasher in a sandwich shop named Mr. Submarine. Within 5 years he was a partner and was given shares when they began

to franchise. At the age of 25 he headed to Miami to retire as a millionaire.

Gus wasn’t happy sitting idle in retirement.  Soon after moving he started Miami Subs and then started

developing commercial property. He was hugely successful and in 1994 he founded SunCruz Casino in Key West Florida.  SunCruz was a floating casino or a  “Cruise Ship to Nowhere” ship.  SunCruz ships were not old rust buckets.  They were opulent cruise ships with every luxury aboard.  They would cruise into international waters and then the gambling would begin.  They were a huge success until the Anti-Gambling Florida Attorney General started an invstigation.  Gus was forced to sell because he was not yet a US Citizen when he bought some of the ships. It was an obscure maritime law, but much like what our Government does to anyone sucessful, they used a loophole to put him out of business.

Gus was forced to sell and this is where things started to go bad. Adam Kidan used to own Dial-A-Mattress and some Bagel Bakeries.  He had attended Brooklyn Law School and he was very active in Republican Politics.  One of the people he met in school was Jack Abramoff, who would go on to become a bigtime Lobbyist in Washington DC.

They decided to purchase SunCruz Casinos from Gus for 147.5 million with a 23 million dollar down payment.  They didn’t have the down payment, so Gus carried the note.  They faked a wire transfer so they could get a loan from a bank for the remainder of the balance.

Enter Big Tony Moscatiello, a man once indicted with Gene Gotti and Angelo Ruggiero for helping them with their heroin organization.  Angelo's brother Sal was living as a fugitive when the private jet he was on crashed and killed all aboard.  Angelo immediately took charge of his brothers business and started hiding assets, and Big Tony helped him.  There was a mistrial and the Feds dropped the charges against Big Tony.

Adam Kidan was threatened by Gus after Gus began to realize how shady they were being.  Adam was afraid so he sought out Big Tony because of his Gambino Connections.  Big Tony was hired as a catering consultant by SunCruz and Adam Kidan soon issued checks of more than 245,000 to a company run by Big Tony's daughter.

Big Tony lived in Howard Beach, Queens and still has a home there. John Gurino Jr was another Howard Beach associate of the Gambino's with deep ties to the Gotti's.  John's cousin Anthony Gurino owned Arc Plumbing, the firm that John Gotti Sr worked for until his incarceration.  John Gurino Jr.’s father John Gurino Sr. owns Ragtime Newsstand Dairy a popular meeting places for the Gambinos. John Gurino Sr. most recently put his Deli as collateral for John Gotti Jr.’s bail.  John Gurino Jr. shot a man named John Vulcano in front of his girlfriend’s home.  While Volcano was on the way to the hospital, he identified John Gurino Jr. as the shooter, and then died. His girlfriend also identified John Gurino Jr. as the shooter.  John Gurino Jr. retained Bruce Cutler who was yet to shoot to fame as John Gotti Sr.’s lawyer. The girlfriend of Vulcano later recanted her statements and claimed that Volcano lied about who shot him.  As a result, John Gurino Jr. was acquitted of murder.  He soon moved to Florida where he continued his gangster ways.

On February 6, 2001 Gus left his office in Florida in a BMW.  Another car pulled in front of him and on a narrow road, it stopped.  A black Mustang pulled up alongside the BMW and a shooter fired a 380 Auto into Gus.  Gus was mortally wounded and his car continued on, striking a pole. The Police immediately suspected Adam Kidan, but he was not even in town.  After they went over the financial records of SunCruz Casinos, they started seeing the checks going to Big Tony.  There was also $10,000 in casino chips given to some other men.

Adam Kidan finally told the Police that Big Tony had Gus killed and the shooter was John Gurino Jr.  The theory is that Big Tony wanted the gravy train to continue and Gus would have stopped it by taking back control of SunCruz Casinos.  So Big Tony reached out for someone to put in work, and that is where John Gurino Jr. came into the picture.  John Gurino Jr. had bragged for years that he got away with murder before and he was recommended by another Gambino drug dealer. John Gurino Jr. will never face justice because he was killed by a deli owner in Florida who he was shylocking after he threatened the man while the man was armed.  Two other men have been convicted of taking part in the murder, but Big Tony still has yet to go to trial because of a mistrial in his first trial.  The whole truth may never come out but its a hell of a story!

Harrelson, a judge and JFK

Woody Harrelson has made a name for himself as a great actor, but few people know about his father Charles Voyde Harrelson.  Charles V. Harrelson was a hitman, the first person to kill a sitting federal judge in the 20th century.  

Our story begins with Jimmy Chagra, a struggling rug salesman.  His family went bust and he turned to gambling and drug smuggling to make his cash.  He was hugely successful as a drug trafficker and became a fixture in Las Vegas.  He lived at Caesars Palace while he was having his mansion built.  He gambled a million a week in the casinos and once lost 500k on a golf game.  He was indicted and arrested twice for drug dealing.  When he drew Judge John Wood, better known as “Maximum John” because he handed down the maximum sentence to drug dealers, he was advised by his brother Joe Chagra, a lawyer, to kill the Judge rather than receive a long sentence.  So he reached out for a hitman.  Charles V. Harrelson was well known as a gun-for-hire, a guy who would do whatever it took to get a job done.   They met in a Las Vegas Casino.  

Charles V. Harrelson Mugshot

Charles was paid an astronomical amount of cash to kill the judge, 250K. This amount is high even in today’s dollars.  Anyone who watches Discovery ID Channel will know that people are killed for much less all the time.   Just look at what those who killed Fat Herbie Blitzstien were paid.  Charles was paid based based on the word that he was on the grassy knoll and fired the famous fatal head shot.   Whether you believe that or not, he did kill the judge with a single shot fired from .240 Wetherby Mark V rifle, killing him from a distance.   He waited for the judge to come home to his San Antomio, Texas townhome.  When he arrived in the parking lot, Charles fired a single shot from a rifle into his body, killing him.  When he was arrested, high on cocaine on the highway in Texas, he was ranting about killing Kennedy. When they searched him they found a card from R.D. Matthews in Dallas.   The FBI launched the biggest investigation in modern history in 1979, interviewing more than 30,000 people and collecting more than 500,000 pieces of evidence, at a cost of 11 million dollars.  

Charles was rumored to be one of the three tramps arrested by the Dallas Police immediately after the Kennedy assassination. There was no official record of ever arresting three tramps, and it would never even be known about except for a series of pictures taken by a reporter in Dealy Plaza immediately after the assassination.   The tramps were trying to board a train very close to the grassy knoll and stockade fence when they were arrested.  They appear very clean shaved with new shoes on their feet, so them actually being real tramps is suspect.   One looks a lot like Charles V. Harrelson.  

The Three Tramps

R. D. Matthews, the man whose card was found on Charles when he was arrested, was a shadowy Dallas gambling figure who was a highly decorated World War II Veteran.  He returned  back home and became part of a large Dallas gang.  He worked with Benny Benion of Horseshoe Casino fame and even had places in Cuba.  Jack Ruby made a 13 minute call to RD's wife's home in Las Vegas a few days before the Kennedy assassination. Jack Ruby saw Dallas Mafia boss Joseph Campisi and RD Matthews after killing Lee H Oswald.  RD had a permanent room at the Horseshoe and that was where Charles Harrelson was paid the 250k to kill the judge.

There is so much to this story and that is why I kept studying the files and getting into contact with Charles Harrelson.  He wrote me back to say that he was going to tell his story, the REAL story.  Unfortunately, that book will never come because he died on March 15, 2007 and his cell was cleaned out.    

A few years back, casino magnate Bob Stupak was roughed up by a then-88 year old RD Matthews.  I called up Las Vegas Reporter Scoop Smith and asked him if he knew who RD was, and he didn’t know. So I filled him in and there was a nice piece in the next paper.

RD Matthews, like Charles, has passed on. On July 21, 2013 he died like he lived, quietly.

Mickey Cohen Files

I have recently acquired a lot of FBI Documents on Meyer Harris Cohen AKA: C. Cain, Donald Duitz, Michael Kane, Michael Masters, M. Michaels, Max Patterson, M. Weaver and best known as Mickey Cohen.

Mickey, Mike Howard, Johnny Stompanato

These were easy (and cheap) to get my hands on.  It makes me wonder why all these people writing books or screenplays could not bother to get this information. Its all Freedom of Information Act stuff, which means a lot of the names are redacted.  I have read most of the 4,000 pages, many are FBI Airtels (interoffice memos) and other interoffice communications.

Mickey was born in Brooklyn, New York on September 4 1913 to Max and Fannie Cohen. Both Max and Fannie were born in Russia and emigrated to the US.  Mickey attended school until the age of 15 but never did well because he was a truant.  Max died a year after Mickey was born, and his mother moved them to the Boyle Heights area of Los Angeles. 

He was a bad kid and did a lot of time in reform school.  In 1929 he moved to Cleveland to train as a pro boxer.  He was never a stand out in pro boxing but I am sure from what I have read that he fought in a lot of "smokers" or illegal fights.  He became known as a scrappy tough fighter, although not a great fighter.

He got involved in the gambling rackets in Cleveland with some other Jewish gangsters but soon left for Chicago.  Once in Chicago, he built up a gambling business that included games and taking bets.  He got into trouble with some Outfit men and soon left for Los Angeles.  

Once in Los Angeles he began shaking down madams for cash and this brought him to Joe Sica. The FBI has Joe Sica listed as part of the Mafia, but according to everything I have been told, he was never a made guy. Joe, along with his brothers, was a huge money maker that basically ran his own family that stretched from Tijuana to the Bay Area.  Joe Sica had a huge gambling network and was a very big drug smuggler.  He was very well respected by many Cosa Nostra bosses all over the country.

Joe Sica and a man named Mike Howard witnessed Mickey's marriage at a Chapel on Western Ave in Los Angeles on October 15, 1940, the marriage would last until February 1st, 1957 when his wife divorced him because of "extreme cruelty."  He must have done something because he got away with just paying her 1 dollar a month in alimony.

The FBI had a number of female informants that gave them information on Mickey and by the winter of 1950 they were investigating them for kidnapping a former Los Angeles Gambler/Bookie who had fled to Las Vegas because he owned Mickey $5,000.  Mickey found out where the man was living and had his men grab him and put him on a plane to Los Angeles.  Once in Los Angeles, the man gave Mickey two checks for 1000.00 each that he deposited in his own account!  The FBI seized them from the bank and opened a safety deposit box he had at the bank but the victim told them he came to Los Angeles on his own accord.  That case died on the vine.

The FBI would speak to anyone who was ever seen with Mickey, including a number of Hollywood stars and others in the entertainment business.  They all said that Mickey loved the attention and loved being in the media.  He lived for the spotlight.  

Mickey was arrested for tax evasion twice.  After his release he had a number of businesses, Michael's Greenhouses 1956-57, Carousel Ice Cream Parlor 1958-60, he owned a piece of Rounders Restaurant and he went on to sell his life story many times, but he never had a resulting book published.  

The selling of his life story was a con job that he used to get cash from a lot of people.  He did have a really well known gifted writer working on it.  The man's name was Ben Hecht, and he won an Academy Award for Underworld at the very first awards ceremony.  He also wrote the classic movie Scarface, the original black and white movie.

Mickey and Ben went to La Paz Mexico to finish the book but it was never finished.

Mickey moved into a brand new apartment complex at 705 South Barrington where he paid a lot of money at the time, $250.00 a month in rent.  He had lived for years at the Hotel Del Capri on Wilshire before he moved.  Another soon-to-be famous name also lived at the Del Capri, Johnny Stompanato, the sometimes body guard of Mickey.  Stompanato had been a Marine during World War II for 3 years until he was discharged honorably.  The FBI had information that Cohen was working with others back east in an extortion ring where they used young good looking people like Stompanato as gigolos that catered to both men and women.  Stompannato was killed by his girlfriend Lana Turner's daughter in April of 1958.  

The FBI and the LAPD Intelligence division had a number of bugs in Mickey's places. It would be great to listen to those tapes!

One of the things they picked up was Mickey having someone break into Stompanato's room when he was killed and stealing his shave kit.  It was not just a shave kit it had a bundle of love letters from Lana Turner which Mickey sold to the tabloids.

A lot of the memos and Airtels are from the FBI Top Hoodlum Program but in none of them do they ever refer to Mickey as a Boss or part of what they called the Mafia at the time The Syndicate. They just call him a hoodlum or a muscleman who collects debts with bodily force.  He was employed by the Flamingo Casino Hotel to collect cash from guys who left Las Vegas without paying their markers. 

There were a lot of FBI Memos from an informant who was a woman that was close to Bugsy Seigal. She told the FBI that when Bugsy came to LA he wanted to establish himself as a sportsman, not a gangster, so he used Mickey because he would do whatever he was asked to do.  He helped Bugsy get bookmakers signed up for the wire service he was repping at the time.

She went on to tell the FBI that Mickey was never on the inside circle and that is why after Bugsy was murdered in Beverly Hills, Mickey went to the Ambassador Hotel with a pistol.

This lady was pretty plugged into the workings of the Mafia or Syndicate because she told the FBI after Los Angeles Boss Jack Dragna died Nick Licata took over aided by Frank Milano!  She told them that Jimmy Frattiano was a killer who set up Mickey to be murdered.  She told them that Frattiano had killed Frank Nicoli, Dave Ogul and the Two Tonys.  She also gave them information on Frank Costello being the boss but later falling out of favor.  I am pretty sure I know who this informant was and I am sure many of you can guess because she later moved to Europe.

 One story that has been told and retold is Mickey killing bookie Max Shaman who came into his office on May 16, 1945 threatening him.  The FBI claimed the real shooter was Hooky Rotham, his body guard, but Mickey took the blame because it was easier to claim self defense.  Paulie Gibbons was a burglar, gambler, cheater and armed robber of gamblers.  He also robbed Mickey's home. Mickey told people he wanted him dead, but he was killed instead by major gamblers Benny Gamson and George Levinson.  They would be gunned down by Hooky Rothman near their home.  Hooky was paid $500.00 a week by Mickey.  The other men working for Mickey were paid $200.00 a week. Hooky would never face the music for any murders because he was killed by Frank Bomp when Frattiano set up Mickey in his Haberdashery on Sunset Blvd.

It is very clear from all the papers that Mickey was never a boss.  He shook down madams, bookies, drug dealers.  He conned people for money, extorted them, did armed robberies, dealt in stolen credit cards and shoplifted clothes.  The real Gangsters of that era are still relatively unknown men like Jack Dragna, Nick Licata, Frank Milano and the Sica Brothers.  It is also clear that Mickey bribed LAPD Vice and other officials.  He also informed for them, giving up his competition.  He had an LAPD Sgt for a body guard and that was not the only time. He was shot outside Sherry's on Sunset along with Special Agent Harry Cooper from the California Attorney General's office.  No other gangster has ever had law enforcement body guards in public.

Frank "Curly" Lino

Born on October 30th, 1938 in Gravesend Brooklyn Frank "Curly" Lino had his life's path already mapped out for him.   Frank's mother married Frank Lino Sr in a marriage arranged by the boss of the Genovese Family, Vito Genovese.  Frank would never get past the 10th grade at Lafayette High School in Brooklyn because he started running with a Mafia farm team: the Avenue U Boys.  He used to pull off robberies with the Avenue U Boys but he was soon running a floating game for a made Genovese Soldier.

Frank has lived a charmed life.  It may not have been the best life but he lived it to the max.  In May of 1962 he got involved with two other men to pull off a robbery of a tobacco store in Brooklyn.  While it was going down two NYPD Brooklyn Detectives were shot and killed.  Frank was picked up soon afterward and beaten severely in the station house by other detectives who he claimed stapled his hand and shoved a broomstick up his ass.  He did have a broken leg and arm.  The NYPD has put broomsticks up others asses, so who knows.

The court placed him on 3 years probation after he threatened to sue the city.  The other men were given the death penalty that was later commuted to life in prison.

This was not the last time Frank would be a torture victim due to his criminal activity.  During the heyday of the Mafia, the real life “Luca Brazi” for Junior Persico, a man named Hugh "Apples" Macintosh (or just Mac) grabbed Frank out of a bar. Mac brought him to a basement where he beat him and tortured him for two days trying to make him give up the names of his friends that had a beef with Persico.  He never gave up their names even after he was beaten so badly he suffered a weird eye twitch - a blinking twitch that remained for the rest of his life. So Mac let him go after telling him 'the reason you are being let go is because you didn’t rat. If you did we would have killed you"  Frank was so afraid he never looked back until he was well away from that place.

He was made on his 40th Birthday in 1977 in Little Italy.  It has been said it was because of his cousin Eddie Lino who was with John Gotti and a major drug dealer.  Gotti was very close to Joey Massino at this time.  

Frank was asked by his Capo Sonny Red Indelicato to drive him to a peace meeting at a social club in Brooklyn. Sonny Red decided to have Frank drive him to the meeting instead of his son Bruno because he did not really trust the other Capos. He told his son Bruno to kill all the Zips and the rest of the Capos if he did not return. There was a lot of internal strife in the Bonanno Family at the time because the self proclaimed boss Carmine Galante had been murdered by Bruno and others on orders from the Commision. Rusty Rastelli was the real boss but he was locked up, so his most trusted Capo Big Joey Massino was working hard to keep the family together.  The Zip Faction, The Canadian Faction, Sonny Black and Joey Massino all lined up against the other three capos.  Sonny Red, Dominick Trinchera and Philip Giaccone were all opposing Rusty but they were called into this last ditch peace offering.  Things seemed to be going fine when Frank saw three hooded come down the stairs into the club.  He saw Joey Massino hit Sonny Red in the head with something and another man jump out of a closet with a gun.  He saw Giaccone thrown up against a wall and shot before he fled so fast that nobody on the hit team could stop him.

He then went into hiding but the powers that be did not want him dead.  They wanted Bruno who had escaped the massacre.  Frank was close to him and knew where he was hiding out.  He met with the Underboss of the Gambino Family who gave him a chance to live, if he murdered Bruno.  Frank pretended to be looking for Bruno, when he really already knew where he was.  The Bonanno Family powers gave the contract to Sonny Black who then gave it to Lefty Ruggiero and Donnie Brasco.   Things went downhill from there because Donnie Brasco was an undercover FBI Agent and the Commission's case came down and Bruno was picked up.  

Frank was then asked to bring Sonny Black to a meeting because it had come out that Donnie Brasco was an FBI Agent and he was vouched for by Sonny Black.  Sonny knew he was not long for this world so he left his jewelry at home for his wife.  They got to the house where the meeting was to take place and Frank showed him to the basement.  Sonny went first and a few steps down Frank shoved him and when he fell the shooter fired into his body but the gun jammed.  Sonny Black told them to "Hit him one more time, Make it good"  They did.  They would cut off his hands because he shook them with an FBI Agent and Frank Lino's son helped dispose of Sonny Black.  The world of the Mafia is crazy because years later when I was at BaMontes in Brooklyn a guy wearing a black over coat was walking back and forth smoking a cigarette.  I was watching him and Nicky Santoro a Bonanno Capo told me that he was Sonny Black’s kid.  So Sonny's kid is still around those guys.

Frank did it all on the street, from drugs, robbery, pump and dump, extortion to Gambling.  He made money from Family Union contracts with school buses.  He had conspired with the Lucchese Family to kill a Gambino associate until Sal Vitale the Underboss had a sitdown with Nicky Corrozzo who told him I dont care what the kid did, what he stole its done, we have big plans for him.  So that was it for that hit.  Good for Frank because when he was locked up later he was going to get shanked in the yard of a prison.  When the huge Bonanno family indictments came down he learned that Sal Vitale had flipped and he knew it was over.  He flipped becoming the first of many Bonanno's to testify for the Government.  He would implicate his own relatives in many Mafia crimes and for that he was rewarded with just 8 years by the judge and is now out and a free man.

I hope he lives a good life and enjoys his freedom.  He is older and he knows what he did.