Bartolomeo "Bobby Glasses" Vernace : The Gambino Capo

Bartolomeo “Bobby Glasses” Vernace struck out recently with his appeal.  The US Court of Appeals upheld his conviction for the murder in the Shamrock Bar during Western Night in 1981.

Bobby’s lawyers argued that the killings were over a personal dispute and not part of the Gambino Crime Family business.

Bobby Glasses had beat a state case for murder in the killings.  The Feds took another bite at the apple by charging him with racketeering.  It's really a catch all because they just have to prove that he is guilty of the predicated acts listed in the indictment and then he gets a big sentence.

The murders went down like this.  April 10, 1981, Gambino associate Frank Riccardi was in the Shamrock  when someone spilled a drink on the girlfriend of a friend.  He started arguing with the guy.  Bar owners  John D'Agnese and Richard Godkin approached Frank and tried to calm him down.  They exchanged words and Frank grabbed a bottle of vodka from the bar and slammed it down and said, “No, I run this place.”   Frank left and went to a Gambino social club where he asked Bobby and Ronald Barlin to help him.  They returned to the Shamrock and shot D’Agnese and Godkin.  They both died the next day.  The bar was full of people that night, but everyone was afraid.  Bobby went on the lam until years later.  He was acquitted in state court for the murders and then inducted into the Gambino family.  

The government claimed that it was part of the Gambino crime family crimes that he was charged with in the indictment.  They claim the two murders were to enhance the Gambino crime family.  They played a tape in court when one of his associates referenced the two murders to scare a loan shark debtor into paying what he owed.

Bobby had done well since the murders.  He had gone from associate to capo on the ruling panel of the family.  He ran lucrative Baccarat games at cafes and coffee shops.  He had a lot of money on the street in shylock loans.  He also ran a lot of “joker poker” machines in cafes that brought in more than 2,000 dollars a day.

They used some old convictions for heroin trafficking to show that he was committing crimes on behalf of the Gambino family.  Robbery also became another predicated act.

To pile on counts they also charged him with possession of a firearm when he went into the Shamrock bar.  The jury found him guilty of nine predicated acts of racketeering.

Another highlight of his trial was Linda Gotti, the daughter of Peter Gotti, former boss of the Gambinos and brother of John Gotti.  She testified that her father and uncle talked her into recanting her identification of Bobby, Ronald and Frank that night in the Shamrock.  Her boyfriend was John D’Agnese and she was present that night.  

It took the FBI 33 years but they served up some justice.

Tommy McLaughlin and the Colombo Family

In the book The Mafia Hitman's Daughter there is one chapter that gets lost in all the fascinating details of the inner workings of Colombo Capo Greg Scarpa’s life. This was the chapter when Greg’s daughter Linda marries Thomas McLaughlin aka Tommy, who has been sent away for dealing drugs.  

Tommy was a kid that who was known as a tough street guy.  He was quick tempered and had a cousin who was on the rise in the Colombo family.  Tommy instead decided to go with Greg Scarpa’s crew.  He used to run messages and collect debts, but he was very much part of the crew.  He was always at the Scarpa home enjoying a meal or just watching TV.

When the Colombo war broke out and Vic and Wild Bill's men tried to murder Scarpa in front of his house, Tommy was the first one there with a 38 in his belt.  

Tommy was a man a living on borrowed time when the war started.  He had been dealing ounce quantities of cocaine all over Brooklyn.  The cops were after him and had a wiretap on his phone in which they had him talking about selling some ounces to and undercover buyer.

They were set to arrest him but he went underground during the war.  Tommy was shot while driving in his car in Bensonhurst.  He escaped with another guy but a 16 year old was wounded in the shooting.  Tommy was only grazed in the back by a bullet.

He was picked up one night in Dyker Heights and he ended up pleading out to one count of cocaine sales and tax evasion.  The cops tried everything to get him to flip but he was no rat.  

He ended up marrying Linda Scarpa while he was locked up.  He told her that he was worried about something he did a long time ago.  She told him to cooperate.  He told her no way would he become a rat.

14 years is a long time to be off the street and things change.  Tommy Gioeli who was Tommy’s cousin became the Colombo street boss and he carried out some high profile hits.

The murder of Colombo underboss Wild Bill Cutolo and a policeman Ralph Dol’s where some of them. One of Geoli’s guy’s capo Dino Calabro flipped and implicated Tommy in the murder of Frank (Chestnut) Marasa.  So when Tommy finished his 14 year sentence had gotten remarried to another women and had a child he was looking at going back again.  

He did his time and he was looking forward to enjoying the perks of being connected to the administration.  The FBI had other plans so they convinced him to wear a wire.  

People can say what they want about Tommy.  The guy did his time and now was getting hung out to dry by a high ranking member.  Tommy did what was right for him and his family.

He took down Big Anthony Russo who in turn flipped.  He also testified about how his cousin ordered the Marasa murder.  Tommy drove the car that night and later met with his cousin and Dino at a diner.

That life is over with so many guys flipped and still free.  The Hitman’s Daughter is a great look back at how that life used to be.  Read it for an inside look into a Mafia family.

Genovese War Heroes

I thought I would write about legendary Genovese Capo Matty “The Horse” Ianniello, because it’s Memorial Day.  Matty, like many of those his age, stepped up when America needed them and served in World War Two.  He enlisted and quickly made corporal in the Sixth Army, where he was an artillery gunner in the Philippines fighting the Japanese between 1943 and December 1945.

He was in an artillery position when it came under machine gun fire. The problem was that it was another American unit doing the firing.  Matty crawled under the fire to alert the machine gunners of their mistake.  He earned a Bronze Star for that incident.  Matty’s artillery unit was charged by some grenade-wielding Japanese who were determined to stop the big guns from firing.  His unit used their small arms to kill the Japanese but not before several grenades were thrown.  Matty was wounded by the shrapnel and he was awarded a Purple Heart.  

Once home, he moved to Long Island and worked in Manhattan.  He was in the restaurant business, but he was not listed as the owner.  He came up frontman to deal with the State Liquor Authority. He was still known as Matty “The Horse,” a childhood nickname he was given after an altercation where onlookers said, “That kid is stronger than a horse.”  He was an imposing figure, but he also had a quick mind.  He started running with the Genovese Family and he was soon inducted into the family with the help of Funzi Tieri.

He then gained control of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters of Bus Drivers local 1181.  This gave him a lot of power to dictate which companies could bid on which jobs.  At one point Matty controlled over 80 bars and restaurants in New York.  He was made a Capo in the 1970’s.  Times Square was full of sex clubs and Matty controlled them.  As a side note, the Mafia also ran gay bars, which were illegal at the time.

The night that Joe Gallo was killed in Little Italy at Umberto’s Clam House, Matty was reportedly working in the kitchen.  Joe was said to say hello to him.  Joe would end up dying that night in the street right in front of the restaurant.

Matty, along with partner Benjamin Cohen, used straw owners very successfully to control bars, nightclubs and restaurants until their 1982 indictment.

They controlled the Mardi Gras in which they skimmed over two million dollars.  Some of the others were the the Peppermint Lounge, the Haymarket and the Grapevine.  In Little Italy he controlled Umberto’s Clam House. The FBI had wires up and were able to catch them but it only slowed Matty down for a few years.  

In 1995 Matty was free once again and he stepped up to take over for the imprisoned Chin Gigante as acting boss.

He moved even deeper into labour racketeering, working with carting companies hauling garbage and even gravel.  

He earned millions until the FBI took him down in 2005.  He pleaded guilty in 2006 and was sentenced to two years in Federal Prison.  He was released in 2009 and lived under the radar until his death in 2012.  Matty was not the only Genovese war hero.  Venero Frank "Benny Eggs" Mangano, who is now acting boss at 93, is also a hero.  He was a tail gunner on a B-29 and flew 33 missions racking up a number of prestigious medals.  If any of you have ever been in a B-29, you know this is impressive, because being in the small gunners turret in the rear is crazy!  There are only a few B-29s left in the world, and they tour around the country visiting small airports.  I highly recommend checking them out when they are in your area, and you can experience Benny Eggs (and so many other war heroes) seat of bravery for yourself.

Michael Persico and the Colombo Family

Michael Persico is the son of Carmine Persico and the brother of Allie Boy Persico.  Michael was always known as the straight son.  Michael was never inducted into the Colombo Family but he didn't need to be because he was the son of the boss and the brother of the acting boss.

Michael Persico has lived with all the perks of being a Mafia Boss without the exposure.  He has watched as his father went away for a hundred years, his brother for life and many relatives.  Never has Michael been in trouble until recently and that is mostly because of a man named Steve Marcus.  I met and recorded Steve and his son Jeremy while I was wearing a wire.  Jeremy was the part paper owner of D.M. Equipment Leasing with Eddie Garafolo's wife Alicia and he was a bouncer at a Mob run stripclub in Manhatten.

Michael took a really good plea deal where he would plead out to one count of extortionate extension of credit, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371.  This was a great deal considering what he was charged with at the time.  Michael gave Anthony Preza $100,000 for a shylock loan and he gave it to Teddy Persico Jr, James Bombino and a Cooperating Witness.  Michael did this to disguise the fact that he was giving the loan.

The Feds claim in the indictment and his sentencing memorandum that he took part in the murder of Joseph Scopo. They claim that he passed on the order for the murder along with his cousin Teddy Persico Jr for the hit.   They also write that Michael assembled the team of shooters to carry out the job.  They were Frank Guerra, Eric Curcio, Johnnie Pappa, Anthony Russo and John Sparacino.  He then provided the guns that would be used for the hit.  

They would murder Joseph Scopo and not long after Eric Curcio and John Sparacino would be murdered.  Johnnie Pappa would murder John Sparacino and then with the help of Anthony Russo they would cut off his penis, place it in his mouth before setting his body on fire.

These are wonderful people and they are what helped Michael Persico live the life of a Mafia Prince.  He ran a number of businesses thanks to his father and brother.  I was told by his cousin Teddy Jr that he would bring word from Carmine who was in Lompoc Federal Penitentiary.

There was a man named Michael Devine who lived on Staten Island and he owned a nightclub.  Michael never had anything to do with the mafia, never wanted to have anything to do with them.

Michael fell in love with a woman named Tori Persico and that would be his bad luck.

Tori Persico was the estranged wife of Allie Boy Persico who was locked up at the time.

Allie Boy was very jealous of the relationship so he had some of his men wait outside Michael’s condo complex on Staten Island.  When he pulled into the garage they were there and they shot him twice in the head and twice in the groin.  The next morning Michael was found in his still running 1991 Pathfinder dead.

The FBI had a tape of Michael Persico speaking with his brother Allie Boy about Michael Devine. Michael Persico was able to get the recording suppressed but that does not mean that he was not part of it.  

The Cosa Nostra or Mafia was never supposed to be about settling personal scores but the Persicos have broken every rule in the Mafia. They had Law Enforcement murdered, sold drugs and committed many other off-limits crimes.  

Carmine Persico was charged a long time ago in a hijacking case but he kept fighting it long after everyone else took their time which was not bad.  The case started in 1960 and it took five trials and 8 years for Carmine to be found guilty.  He ended up getting sentenced  to 8 years in Federal Prison.  Lets hope they grant Michael the right to a new trial and he gets a long time!

Pagano

Daniel Pagano, also known as Danny, was taken down this week by Rockland County Law Enforcement and the FBI for shylocking and Illegal gambling.  Danny has lived the mafia dream,  something like the American dream.  Danny was born into Mafia royalty because his father Joseph Pagano and his brother Pasquale Pagano were inducted into what would later become the Genovese Family back in the 1940's.  

They would be in Anthony Strollo's crew, which at the time was one of the biggest heroin and cocaine crews on the East Coast.  They also had a member of the crew that would become famous as the first Mafia turncoat to give up the name of the organization and its structures.  That man, Joseph Valachi, gave up everything to the FBI after he committed a prison murder.

Joseph Pagano was not just a Bronx gangster.  He branched out as far as England where he worked with the Famous Gangster twin brothers, the Krays, and Joey Pyle.  The U.K. had made gambling legal and the US Gangsters were ready to get a piece of that action via junkets from the East Coast to London.  One of the Kray brothers traveled to the US where he had dinner with Joseph and a young Danny.  Later, the younger Pagano would branch out into the record business where he again worked with London gangsters.

One of the old Genovese gangsters, who is still alive in New York City, once spoke about it over calamari in Columbus Circle.  He recalled the Krays and Joey Pyle, the music business and the Paganos.  When Danny was away for his part in the Gas Tax scam, the old guy would visit him often.  Danny was able to get one penny out of every gallon of gas sold during the years of the gas tax scam and one of the groups he worked with stole at least 77 million dollars. He would stop a hit by other Genovese against a Russian gangster who was involved in the Rasputin Restaurant in Brighton Beach. Danny would get a 9 years sentence for his part in the Gas Tax scam.

Danny is a class guy as many who knew him well have told me.  When one of my friends who was away with him in the Hudson Valley Correctional Center got home, there was an envelope with a grand waiting for him from Danny.  The Genovese have always had a big hand in the boxing game and Danny was one of those who kept it going.  He got close to the Reverend Al Sharpton, who the FBI caught during an investigation they dubbed “Crown Royal.”  According to the New York Times, the FBI had an audio tape of Al Sharpton and this convinced him to become an informant.  It has been said that he gave the FBI information about meetings in Joe Pagano's basement.  He did meet with Danny Pagano, Michael Franzese and an undercover FBI operative in order to get a meeting with Don King.  Danny never returned the favor and when he was summoned to a Congressional Hearing on corruption in Boxing he never said a word, so the Feds gave him dose of Bus or Diesel Therapy.  This meant that they moved him all over in buses instead of flying him.  When he left his hair was dark and when he returned to prison his hair was all gray.

In the latest indictment, which seems thin at a mere 11 pages (maybe there is more to come), they have him running a bookmaking business for the Genovese in Rockland County. The DA first got a wire on him and then went to the FBI which got him paying guys in his crew from their bookmaking business.  The racketeering charge also includes some threats by a guy in his crew to an unnamed man because he ripped off a marijuana load.  Seems kind of a waste for bookmaking when we have major problems in the US that could use the attention.

The Paganos have the same problem as a lot of infamous gangsters, people use their name to gain.  A few weeks ago I wrote about the murder of Irwin Schiff.  Irwin was using the Pagano name before he was murdered by another Genovese crew.   Out here in California there was a guy I used to write about in Orange County, Pat "Mumbles" Fonderella, who used to drink and snort so much coke he peed on himself, that would drop Danny's name like he owned him.  Pat was full of shit, but some of the bad guys he hung around with weren’t.  I think those guys saw through Pat’s bullshit because Masterblaster aka Mike and JD are still out there doing their shylocking and bookmaking.

Extra:

Susan DeSantis Ferritto, real mob widow and author of "Ferritto: An Assassin Scorned knows something about the satisfaction of revenge in its highest form. Her late husband Ray Ferritto was responsible for brutal bombing death if the infamous Danny “The Irishman” Greene and the downfall of the Cleveland regime as the public knew them.

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.

Mafia & Waste Hauling

The Cosa Nostra (or the Italian Mafia) is probably the longest lasting western criminal organization in existence.  There are Eastern groups like the Japanese Yakuza and the Chinese Triads that have been around much longer.

Last week in Palermo the Italian Police gave us insight into the world of the Cosa Nostra.  They had a wire up and caught a member of a local mafia clan bragging about how his father’s uncle was the first mafia member to kill an anti-mafia cop.  That was 105 years ago and the NYPD Detective Giuseppe Joe Petrosino was one of the first US Mafia busters. He worked hard against the black hand in New York and he went to Palermo on a mission to find out if the mafia in Italy was working with the mafia in America.  The media caught wind of his mission and made it public.  Joe thought he was safe because in America the Mafia did not kill cops.   What Joe did not know was that Paolo Palazzotto was waiting to ambush him when he was to meet with an informant.

I get asked all the time if there is still a mafia. The answer is yes and as long as there is money to be made illegally, they will continue to flourish.  The fact that the FBI cut down their mafia squads and are now going after terrorists instead, helps.  A lot of people thought the mafia was out of the carting or waste hauling business. They are far from out, as demonstrated by the recent case against a number of mobsters.

Three mafia families were involved in the scheme: Genovese, Lucchese and Gambino.  The waste disposal scheme went like this: most of these guys had been banned for life from the waste trade, so they they had what are called “controlled owners” stand in for them.  They controlled waste disposal in New Jersey and New York in this manner.  They would take up to 90% of the profit from the “controlled owner” and divide it up amongst the crime families.  They would also give these controlled owners shylock loans and then bleed them dry.  They stole thousands of pounds of cardboard from other waste haulers and then resold the cardboard at a 100% profit, because it cost them nothing.  They controlled the waste business by claiming what they called a "property rights" system.  That meant that every member of the waste enterprise from their family would always own the stop if they serviced it.  That means no other mafia family could bid on it lower or offer a better service because this would result in a sitdown that would go to the company that first serviced the stop.  If another non-members waste hauler came in and tried to service a stop they would be threatened, beaten or worse.  

Carmine Franco, also known as “Papa Smurf” even had containers stolen from competitors.  They would re-orientate them and paint them in their own colors.

The FBI used an informant, Charles Hughes, who ran a waste disposal company named M&C.  He recorded 530 days of conversations including Papa Smurf extorting him for payments.  The only problem?  Charles Hughes was arrested for soliciting sex from a girl he thought was 15. So in other words, the FBI used a guy like those you see arrested on the TV show, “To Catch a Predator,”  a pedophile, a low life. It is one thing when they are making a deal with a bad guy who kills another bad guy, but its a different story when they are working with a kiddy raper.  So they have now dropped the charges of 10 of the 29 people arrested because they know they can't put that terrible witness in front of a jury.

Alessandro Taloni & Vito Rizzuto

Charged with importing over 100,000 Kilograms of marijuana from Canada to New York and Philadelphia between 1998 and 2012, this drug trafficking organization reached from California to Montreal and took in over a Billion dollars.  They worked with the Hells Angeles, Mexican Cartels, Bonanno Family and the Rizzuto Family.

A large amount of the Marijuana was grown hydroponically in Canada and then smuggled across the border in the US via the Indian Reservations that straddle the US-Canadian border.  This was an easy way for them to bypass US Customs at other entry points on the border.

They would use profits from marijuana to purchase cocaine from the Sinaloa Cartel and distribute it across the East Coast and Canada. They would obtain sizable loads of cocaine from the Cartel. They would break them down to between five and ten kilo's to smuggle into Canada.

The indictment has so many counts of exporting in excess of 1,000 kilograms of marijuana that it is hard to follow.  Then they had the problem that was recently so well portrayed by Walter White on Breaking Bad. They had to do something with all the cash. The Feds posed as money launderers that could help move money and make it clean.

Alessandro Taloni is a name most people have never heard.  He was an important part of the Bonanno Family's drug connection.  Taloni was born in Italy but has lived in Montreal for many years.  It was here that he became friendly with Vito Rizzuto and his crime family.  Taloni was an unknown until the head of the Drug Trafficking asked a DEA informant to move 1 million dollars in cash for him.  The Informant and the DEA told them they would move 200,000 at a time for a 6% charge which means they would launder 188,000 for the organization. A man in Los Angeles met with the Informant and after that meeting he was followed back to the Beverly Hills Hotel where he met Taloni and gave him a large suitcase which he placed in his trunk.  Taloni then left and drove to a home in Woodland Hills where he took the suitcase from the trunk and brought it inside.  The DEA sat on them in the house until Taloni left.   The DEA later pulled him over and found $80,000 in cash, a couple prepaid cell phones and an encrypted Blackberry.  The big surprise came when they searched his person and found Taloni was carrying a business card for a man named “Vito Rizz” and another for his Café Consenza in Montreal that served as his branch of the Bonanno family’s headquarters.

Vito Rizzuto

This was an eye opener for the DEA because Vito was as big as you get in International Organized Crime.  The DEA then went to the house in Woodland Hills and searched it where they found 49 kilo's of cocaine and 1.7 million in cash, numerous prepaid cellphones and a encrypted Blackberry.  Taloni had dropped off the cash but this was not the first time he had been observed in the company of the drug dealers. A few months before the Anaheim Police were watching a local cocaine dealer who met a man named Marc Canel-Pierre.  They followed Marc to Beverly Hills where he met Taloni in a parking lot.  They spoke for a few minutes and then Taloni removed a large bag from his trunk and gave it to Marc.  They then followed Marc to his home where they got a search warrant and found 34 kilo's of Cocaine and 1.6 million in cash.

Taloni loved Ferrari cars and the Ferrari racing team.  Many of his support letters from friends and family speak about his love of the cars.  All the cocaine was stamped Ferrari so I wonder how much pull he had in the organization.  I’ve read all his letters of support and one of them is a blessing from the Pope! I guess it didn't help much because he was given 10 years just the other day.  The one thing I find interesting is the fact that Taloni, who had a hair product business that sold to hair salons kept doing business in Beverly Hills.  That city seems to be very popular with the Zips.

Poor Tommy Shots

This week was quiet in the world of the Mafia because the Feds did not take down anyone new. There was a little cleaning up of old trash in the name of Thomas Gioeli Aka Tommy Shots, Tommy Machine or Bitch Tits. Tommy has his own blog so maybe he has a family member writing for him, as he is locked up. On the blog you can read about his plight and all his physical woes. He complains that the FBI and the United States Attorney conspires to take down Italians for decades old crimes while bankers steal billions from innocent citizens. The problem with this story is that a banker or CEO is not a part of an Organized Crime Family and is not as violent as the Colombo Family. Bankers do not engage in murder as a way to settle business disputes. The Government charged Tommy Shots in a superseding indictment on 6-19-08 with a number of racketeering charges, including murders, robberies and running the Colombo Family on a day-to-day basis.

The sole purpose of the Colombo Family is to enrich its members from the proceeds of criminal acts with the bulk of the proceeds going to the leadership. This is funny because Tommy Shots claims he was so broke, that his defense was paid for by the taxpayers. Tommy Shots conspired with others to rob a place on the Jericho Turnpike named "Furs by Mina." He then conspired with others to murder Frank Marasa aka "Chestnut" on June 12 1991. Tommy gave the order to murder Marasa because it was said he was involved in the murder of a Colombo Associate. On the night of June 12th Tommy Shots ordered a relative of his named Thomas McLaughlin to drive Dino Calabro and Richie Greaves to Bensonhurt, Brooklyn. They waited until they spotted Marasa in front of his home. Calabro and Greaves exited the car and opened fire on Marasa, killing him. McLaughlin then dropped off Greaves and took Calabro to the Cropsey Diner to meet with Tommy Shots. Tommy Shots was later convicted for this conspiracy.

The Colombo War was in full swing when Tommy Shots was given the order to kill Orena faction loyalist John Minerva by the Persico faction leaders. Minerva was a Colombo soldier but was now marked for death. On the night of March 25th, 1992, Minerva was with a friend named Michael Imbergamo for a night out. They were parked in front of the Broadway Cafe in North Massapequa Long Island when a gunman opened fire on them, killing them both instantly. Michael Imbergamo was killed simply for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.  That is the way the Mafia works.

They would like you to think that they only kill each other, but the truth is that they kill anyone they wish. A lot of the murders are over petty matters. The bosses never follow "The Rules" they only apply them to those who fall out of their favor.

I have written before about Tommy Shots going after Joseph Peraino Sr. and his son Joseph Peraino Jr. in Gravesend Brooklyn. The two men were walking down the street when two men started firing on them. They both ran up a stoop to a door and began beating on it, the occupant was a former nun who was known as Sister Mary Adelaide. She walked towards the door asking what was going on when she was hit by a pellet from a shotgun blast and killed. Joseph Jr. was killed and Joseph Sr. would spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair. This was all over the profit of the porn film Deep Throat because the Colombo family Bosses aka the Persicos felt they were not getting their due.

Tommy Shots has spent the last six years locked up in Federal Detention because he was refused bail as a danger to the community. He had a stroke and his diabetes is bad, but as the past has shown, these guys don't let a little sickness stop them from their life of crime. It certainly does not stop them when they can reap the rewards of being in the administration of the family. 

Even though he has spent six years locked up, he was given another 224 months by the judge in the case because the Judge felt the Government had proved by a preponderance of evidence that Tommy Shots was a Colombo Mobster. He was ordered to pay $360,000 in restitution, $150,000 going to Furs by Mina, but it will never come because until Tommy Shots is released he must only pay $25.00 a month and then after release 10% of his income to the court. He will have 3 years of supervised release with rules that he may not associate with anyone in Organized Crime. 

 
Lets hope that Tommy Shots lives a long life in whatever Federal Medical Center he is placed. This is one criminal that I don't mind paying to keep locked up with the best medical care.

George Conte

There is a man in a halfway house in Phoenix that has a lot of people worried. There are guys worrying in the Bronx and Brooklyn because this guy is the real deal. Who is he? He is George Conte 45096-053 and he is 53 years old and he will be free on March 10, 2014. George or "Goggles" as he is known because of his thick glasses -  but don't let that fool you.  George Conte and his partner in crime George Zappola were in Whitestone, Queens when Democratic District leader James D. Bishop was backing his car into a space at the apartment building of a friend. They fired a barrage of 8 bullets through the drivers side window.  The 380.cal bullets smashed into James D. Bishop's body killing him instantly.

George Zappola

Why did these two Lucchese family members murder James D. Bishop? He was the Secretary Treasurer of the International Brotherhood of Painters and Allied Trades District Council 9. This Union has 6,000 members and it was virtually controlled by the Lucchese family for decades. They were the ones who decided who did what in the Union and they looted it, rigged paint bids and everything else they could do to steal money. 

Gaspipe

James D. Bishop decided to help investigators looking into the Lucchese family's control of the Union and with that he signed his death warrant. Gaspipe Casso did not trust him, so that means he was was not long for this world.  George Conte has told people in the past that Gas (Gaspipe) had him killing guys once a week and he couldn't make any money.  He was a busy man because when he took the global plea with the rest of Lucchese administration he was looking at being charged with 4 murders and a couple of attempted murders on his own guys in the Lucchese family.  They had a defendant's meeting when they were talking about the plea and one of the Avellinos didn't want to take the plea (in a global plea all the defendants have to take the deal or it is off the table) George grabbed him and told him if he didn't take the plea he would kill him right there.

George's Mr. Nice Guy act did not end there. He and the other Brooklyn Capos did not like the fact that after Gaspipe went away the power of the family shifted back to the Bronx with Steve Crea and his faction running the family. Steve Crea is more what Tommy Lucchese had in mind for the future of his family.  Steve is in construction and that is where the big money comes from for the family. So George and the others decided to kill Steve Crea but it never went down.

Steve Crea "Wonderboy"

George was in on another almost killing. Patrick "Patty" Testa was a former Gambino associate who transferred to the Lucchese family. He was a courier for Vic Amuso when he was on the lam, but Vic went down. Patty was killed in his Brooklyn car lot by a gunman who shot him 9 times. Gaspipe put out the word that it was the Gambinos who killed him in retaliation for a killing.   Frank Lasterino the Consigulare of the Lucchese family put out the word that a guy in Nicky Corrozo's crew car was seen by Patty's lot before the killings. They then planned to kill Nicky Corrozo and Junior Gotti. This plan also fizzled because Gaspipe had Patty killed and probably gave up Vic.

George was again indicted while in custody for being the Capo in charge of a Brooklyn Crack Cocaine crew led by Lucchese Soldier Jimmy "Frogs" Galione. The crew flooded the streets of Brooklyn with crack and they extorted all the dealers they could find. They brought in about 100,000 dollars a week but at what price? These are men of honor? Soon this prince of a man will be free but I am sure that some of his own "friends" are planning to send him back as soon as possible.

One final well known story around Brooklyn is when Sal Cutia was asked to kill someone but did not have what it takes to do the work. So he approached George and offered him 50,000 dollars to do the work.  George laughed and told others about him because he saw him as weak.