Patsy Parrello: Genovese Oldfella

The mafia never stops delivering a story. I often wonder what to write about, but every week I have a few fresh stories to choose from.  This week is no different.  

The FBI really screwed up their big mafia takedown that was all the news last summer. They arrested 46 people from various east coast families, all interconnected.  They snared some big fish, like one time Philly Boss Joey Merlino and Genovese capo Pasquale (Patsy) Parrello.  The FBI had some issues with their informant and at least two special agents working on the case.  The majority of those picked up during the sweep have opted to take generous plea bargains offered by the US Attorney’s office.

Parrello is one of those who decided not to roll the dice and plea out this week. He copped to three counts of conspiracy to commit extortion for sending guys to collect his loanshark debts.  He will face between five and six and a half years in federal prison.  This deal is a far cry from the 60 years Parrello was facing for three racketeering counts he was charged with.

The FBI had a confidential human source who was close to Parrello and Merlino.  He recorded hundreds of hours of tape, but they failed to debrief him properly and some other problems came to light.  So rather than lose the case, they group was offered reduced charges.  

Merlino, who has spent a lot of time in prison, has not bitten on the deal as of yet.  Merlino was still on supervised release and did time for a violation while the FBI was making this case.

Parrello, a Genovese family capo and the owner of Pasquale's Rigoletto Restaurant on Arthur Avenue in the Bronx, is no stranger to trouble.  In 2001 Parrello was charged in a 98 count indictment of embezzling funds that totaled more than one million dollars from Local 11 and Local 964 of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters.

He and some other Genovese used S&F Carpentry, a unionized company based in Tuckahoe, N.Y., To pay and use non union workers.  They destroyed payroll records and threatened members of the union if they complained about non union workers on jobs.

He would end up doing a 7 year sentence for that case.  

This case involved having his guys attack a panhandler who was bothering people outside his restaurant. Threatening debtors, running gambling and other assorted scams.

Most people would be happy with just owning Pasquale's Rigoletto Restaurant.  The problem is, Parrello is no normal person, and I suspect if he lives till the end of this sentence it will not be the last we have heard of him.

For any of you who have not been to Arthur Avenue in the Bronx, it is worth the trip.  It is the real Little Italy, unlike the three small blocks called that in Manhattan.  Stop by Pasquale's Rigoletto Restaurant, they put out a great plate.

Bonanno Capo Vincent Asaro, known for his involvement in the famous Lufthansa airlines heist made famous in the movie Goodfellas, is a degenerate gambler who lost what little of the loot he got from the robbery.

Last year he beat the case the government brought against him for the robbery and murder.

He is now locked up on another case.  This week the government claimed he wanted to have the federal prosecutor on his case murdered. The Feds do not want him released on bail because he reportedly told another defendant in this case, ‘we need to take care of this bitch,’ and not  to ‘f**k it up like Vinnie.’  He was referring to Vincent Basciano, the boss of the Bonanno family who was taken down by the former boss of the family who recorded him while they were locked up together.

Like I said, the mafia always delivers!

Oldfella, Lufthansa and John Gotti

Anyone who has seen the movie Goodfellas will know about what happened on Dec. 11, 1978.

That was when a group of masked men forced their way into the secured cargo building of Lufthansa Airlines and stole 6 million in cash and jewels.  One of the men who was part of the conspiracy was Vincent Asaro, the Bonanno family capo in charge of their airport rackets.  He received very little of the cash and what he did take home, he lost gambling.

He has taken down some big scores over the years and made money with the family.  He has been promoted, demoted and promoted again because of his habits.  He involved his son Jerome in the life - they are both capos.

Vincent Asaro took a huge gamble in 2015 and took his case to trial.  Despite his cousin Gaspare Valenti wearing a wire and testifying against him, he was acquitted in 2015.  He walked free until this week.

Here is one of the crimes Vincent Asaro was charged with this week. In April of 2012, Asaro was in Howard Beach, Queens when another motorist pulled in front of him at a stoplight.  This pissed him off so he chased him until he could figure out where he lived.  All one has to do is take a look at Asaro’s picture and you can imagine how he drives. Asaro drives an associate of the Bonanno family to where the car is parked in the Broad Channel section of Queens.  He then orders the associate to torch the car.  The associate then recruits two men to help him, Matthew Rullan aka Fat Mat and none other than John J. Gotti.  Can you believe the grandson of the former Gambino family boss, John Gotti, is going to torch a car for an aging Bonanno family capo?

The unnamed associate, whom I suspect as flipped, drove with John Gotti in his Jaguar to a service station where they filled up a container with gasoline.  They doused the car and Fat Matt ignited it.  The problem was, there was an NYPD officer in an unmarked car who watched them torch the car.  The NYPD car chased the Jaguar for a short distance before giving up the chase because it was dangerous.

Asaro then made the associate drive him the next day to the place where the burned out car was taken to confirm the job was done.  Imagine that you are a capo in one of the five New York Mafia families, and you are involved in torching a car for cutting you off in traffic.

It gets better.  Two weeks after the arson, John Gotti, Fat Matt and a man named Michael Giudici decide to rob the bank where John Gotti’s girlfriend is a teller.

On April 18, 2012 Michael Giudici walks into Maspeth Federal Savings and Loan Association at 5:45pm before they close.  He walks up to a teller and hands a note over that says, “I Have A Bomb.” The teller places $5,491 in cash on the counter, which Giudice takes and then flees the bank.  John Gotti and Fat Mat are waiting and they all drive away.

These master criminals walked away with only $1830 dollars a piece, that is, unless they also had to kick some of that up to someone above them.  They now face up to 20 years for that small payday.  John Gotti is already locked up in prison for eight years for being caught selling pills.  

Vincent Asaro is facing less time, but I suspect the Feds will be hitting him with more charges soon.  A Bonanno capo was unmasked as cooperating, and at this point nobody knows for just how long he’s been cooperating.

The Old Los Angeles Family

I get asked about the Los Angeles family all the time. Every time I’m asked, I think about how the past will soon be lost forever. The men who took part in the family during its heyday are dying off.

Peter J Milano, the longtime boss who ran the family for 28 years, died in 2012 a free man.

He was an important link to the past for the family.  He not only had an uncle who was boss of the Cleveland family, but his father was also under boss for many years.  Anthony Milano, his father moved the family to Beverly Hills, California in the late 1930’s.  Pete became his own man in Los Angeles.  He worked with Mickey Cohen who had spent some time in Cleveland.

Pete was soon working with the Los Angeles family.  Hollywood and writers who have no idea what they are talking about like to portray Mickey Cohen as a boss.  The guy was a bookie that did a lot of business.  You can read Jimmy Fratianno’s book “The Last Mafioso” which is very detailed and accurate because the author used FBI 302’s to set dates and places.

Jimmy Fratianno was only the second made guy to flip, so it is a great look inside the former world.

You can learn a lot about Jack Dragna the boss and his attempts to kill Mickey Cohen.  To set the record straight, the LA Family murdered Cohen's men and friends and not one thing happened to any LA family member.  

Bugsy Siegel has become another larger than life figure.  He was no boss, he was sent out to the west coast to watch over the Trans American racing service.  Bugsy was a kind of franchisee who controlled it in California and Nevada.  He would later be gunned down in the Beverly Hills home of his girlfriend Virginia Hill.  

The fact that Mickey Cohen went to the Roosevelt hotel with pistols looking for Bugsy can tell you a lot.  Mickey was not on the inside, he was not in the know.  In recent years there has been a few books written by some who claim someone in their family killed Bugsy.  It's a fantasy, because once he was dead guys moved right into the Flamingo before it was even on the news.  The mafia would have been looking for his killer considering how much Meyer Lansky had at the time.

Jack Dragna was the boss of Los Angeles and he was not crawling for anyone.

The decline of the family began shortly after the death of Jack Dragna when Frank DeSimone became the boss.  Johnny Roselli, who had begun as an Chicago Outfit guy, was seen as the logical boss, but he was incarcerated at the time.  DeSimone held a vote within the family and he was voted in as boss.  The fact that he never got a vote from some of the capos who were locked up didn't matter.  DeSimone would be caught at the Apalachin mafia conference in upstate New York along with his underboss.  This brought a lot of heat to DeSimone’s life.  He was a lawyer who was not known to be a criminal until the arrest.

Desimone’s father, Rosario, had been the boss of Los Angeles and his nephew Tommy DeSimone would become famous as “Tommy Two Guns” in Goodfellas.

Nick Licata would be the next boss.  He was very well connected in Detroit and with the other Midwest families.  

Louie Gelfuso used to work as a bartender at Licata’s bar and he used to talk about Licata in glowing terms.

Licata owned apartment buildings and bars across Los Angeles.  Licata also was a huge bookmaker and loan shark who did business in the black neighborhoods.

Louie Gelfuso was also friendly with another man and his brothers who were a power in Los Angeles.  That man was Joe Sica and he ran his criminal empire from the San Fernando Valley.

He controlled the rackets from the Mexican border to Northern California.  He would mentor many young up and coming mafioso including “the Cheeseman” Carmen DiNunzio, acting boss of the New England family.

The stories about Joe Sica and his brothers are priceless. There are very few today that even know who he was in the Los Angeles underworld.

We are now back to Dominic Brooklier who I wrote about last week. The death of Anthony Brooklier means we will never get the story.

I wish I knew Pete Milano well enough to hear stories about the old days.

Carmen Milano was a throwback to the past.  He was a lawyer who became a gangster who was better suited for working with the big families on intricate money making schemes.  I used to see him at the deli in Las Vegas when I was with Steve Cino or Jimmy Caci.  He loved to talk about the old days in Cleveland. The sad thing is that when he died, someone from Las Vegas called me and told me that he died.  I called a Las Vegas reporter and he did not know anything about it.  I called the morgue and they asked if I knew next of kin, I gave them Pete’s name and number.

Jimmy Caci was another story. I was close to Jimmy and he knew so many guys all over it was great. One day he would tell a story of working with a guy from the Purple Gang to blow a safe, the next day a story of driving dynamite to Rochester New York during a vending machine war.  

Jimmy was close with mobsters all over the country.

The family is gone except for a few who moved away.  It is in the hands of Sicilians and the history here is lost.

For a deeper look at Los Angeles mafia history, I suggest reading Anthony Fiato’s book “The Animal in Hollywood” in order to understand the Los Angeles family after Jimmy Fratianno.

My book Breakshot will fill in a few gaps up into the 2000s.

Oldfellas

The Mafia has aged just like much of America and the rest of the world.  Guys who are up and coming no longer want a long apprenticeship.  They want everything now and have no intention of waiting.  Yet mafia leaders are living longer than ever.  The problem is just like the problem that faces legitimate Americans - they can no longer earn like they could in their heyday.  Today the problem with the aging Mafia is even more pronounced because the Feds take your assets away with powerful laws like RICO.  Let's say you own a business and property. Today they seize it and after your prison term you come back to nothing.  Not the case with Vincent Asaro, a former Bonanno Capo who is now on trial in Manhattan US District Court for (among other things) the 1978 robbery of $5 million in cash and $1 million in jewelry from Lufthansa Airlines.  It was most famously portrayed on the big screen in the movie Goodfellas.  

Vincent Asaro is now 80 years old and not only facing the robbery charge from the Lufthansa heist, but a 44 year old murder.  Paul Katz was an associate of Jimmy Burke’s, the Irish hoodlum made famous by Robert De Niro in Goodfellas.  Burke got information from his law enforcement sources that Katz was cooperating so he strangled him with a dog chain.  Burke and Asaro buried him in a vacant queens home under some concrete.  Years later Burke contacted Asaro from prison and had him move the skeleton to the basement of a home he owned.  It might never have been discovered, but one of the men who helped decided to cash in on his time in the Mafia.

Gaspare Valenti, a cousin of Asaro, was over his head in gambling debts.  So, he went to the FBI.  He started wearing a wire and he recorded over 1000 hours of conversations with many Bonanno family members. Valenti was paid by the FBI the whole time he was wearing a wire.  

The lawyer for Asaro is making a big deal about this, but Asaro’s words come from his mouth and that is a fact.  What the US Attorneys fail to realize is that American juries that are made up of mostly blue collar and retired people are sick of these government vendettas.  

They spend millions of dollars paying a loser criminal to record another older criminal for a crime that took place 30 years ago.  They cannot stop the killings today or the invasion from Mexico, but they waste resources to go after an old man?

The government spent 3 weeks presenting its case, which included playing some bad tapes of Asaro complaining he did not get his share of the famous heist.  He even spoke about being worried he would be put on the shelf by the Bonanno family.  The problem is that most of the tapes are bad and they are spoken in a code.  They have to be explained by Valenti and he did not come across as likable. Juries also resent that murderers and criminals get paid by the FBI when they have to work hard just to live.  The former Underboss Sal Vitale made an appearance on the stand. He was above Asaro and made millions and murdered many people, yet he is free?

The case rested on the tapes, yet as damning as they were, Asaro never says Lufthansa or admits directly to murder.  They brought in 33 witnesses and dozens of pictures but not one picture showed Asaro engaged in a criminal act.

Valenti did describe how the robbery of Lufthansa went down.  It is a riveting first hand description of what it was like to break in and steal so much cash.  They formed a chain and handed over 50 boxes of $125k in cash from the vault to the van.  How did they plan the robbery so well, only to forget to have a place to keep the cash afterwards?  They ended up keeping it at Valenti’s home for the next couple of days.  They had no idea that there would be so much cash and the heat it would cause.  The police found the black van just like in the movie Goodfellas.  They found the yellow styrofoam popcorn that was used in the boxes to pack the cash.  They just ate the details up, but all that showed them was that Valenti was in on the robbery.

Asaro’s lawyer spent just one afternoon on two witness and then rested.  The jury took two days but came back with a not guilty verdict on all counts.  After two years in custody, Asaro was free to go.  The first place he went was to get a plate of pasta.

Danny Cutaia

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

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

Dominico "Danny" Cutaia

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

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

Dominico "Danny" Cutaia 

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

Steve "Wonder Boy" Crea

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

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

Dominico "Danny" Cutaia

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

FBI Surveillance Photo