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!

April 2017 Mafia Court Tales

In the real world, as opposed to the make believe world of Hollywood, most defendants facing charges never go to trial.  97% of federal defendants take plea deals. In state court, 94% take deals.

Considering these facts, it comes as no surprise that some of the Bonanno family defendants that have been held for four years with a deadlocked jury, facing retrial, chose to take a deal.

Anthony Santoro, Vito Badano and Ernest Aiello all plead guilty on April 7, 2017. They had been charged with enterprise corruption, loansharking, bookmaking and drug sales.  They sold Viagra and Cialis to customers.

They are all in a crew that is overseen by Bonanno capo Nicky Santora, who did not plead guilty.

The NYPD had their phones tapped and had placed a bug in Nicky Santora’s car.  Anthony Santoro was caught on tape threatening people and running the bookmaking operation.  He would freeze customers accounts, set credit limits and handle the day to day business.  

Anthony Santoro, also known as “Skinny,” took a gamble and went to trial.  He is a funny, personable guy, and there ended up being a mistrial.

This time he decided to take a plea deal.  He pleaded out to attempted enterprise corruption and will forfeit $45,900.00.  He is facing a sentence of 4 to 8 years, according to the deal.  He also still has an 8 month federal sentence to serve for another gambling case in Connecticut.

Vito Badano and Ernest Aiello also plead guilty to attempted enterprise corruption and face 3-7 and 2-4 years in prison.

In other mafia news, Gregorio Gigliotti, the owner of the Queens restaurant Cucino a Modo Mio, was sentenced to 18 years for his part in a smuggling group that brought 120 kilos of cocaine into the United States hidden in a food shipment.  Gregorio had ties to the Ndrangheta in Italy and his son Angelo had ties to the Genovese family in New York.  

Gregorio’s wife Eleonora has plead guilty to conspiracy for her role in the group, which included transporting cash to Central America for the cocaine.  She is still awaiting sentencing.  

Angelo will face a judge for his sentencing.

In yet more mafia news, Joey Merlino, also known as “Skinny Joey,” who was and may still be the boss of the Philadelphia crime family, has been offered a plea deal along with the other 45 men arrested in his case.

It has been said that they took the racketeering charges away from many of those charged and offered them a very good deal instead.

They had to do this because the FBI agents who handled informant John Rubio, a Genovese associate, did not debrief him correctly, or record him.  Two of the agents and a supervisor are also being probed for leaking confidential information to Gangland News.

Who knows if Joey Merlino or Genovese capo Pasquale “Patsy” Parrello will take the deal or push for trial.  Only time will tell.  

Merlino had just been released from supervision for 2001 conviction in Philadelphia.  He was released from prison in 2011 after which he moved to Florida, where he was going straight running a restaurant.  Most of these new charges take place while he was serving his 3 years of supervised release.

These guys never seem to learn that crime does not pay.

Merlino's Luck

Joey Merlino, the flashy former boss of the Philadelphia crime family, is one of the luckiest mobsters in the mafia.  Merlino has survived numerous assassination attempts and gotten away with murder.  He has done a lot of time, but none that took him off the streets for good.  He has lived a charmed life with lots of toys.  

He was out in Los Angeles and even made it on TMZ at the airport with Howard Stern wack packer Johnny Fratto. I wonder if he actually got one of these wannabe Hollywood types to buy his life’s rights?

Merlino might have hit the prosecutorial lottery in his latest case.  Merlino, along with 46 other members and associates of the mafia, were picked up on charges ranging from illegal gambling to medical fraud in 2016.

The problem is with the informant in the case, John Rubeo, a former Genovese associate.

John Rubeo recorded over 800 conversations with various mobsters including Merlino.  

The problem is, John Rubeo erased a lot of the conversations.  

I have nothing for respect for the FBI.  All the agents I ever had dealings with were consummate lawmen.  They were all by the book and kept their word to me.

I wore two wires most of the time, really small MP3 recorders hidden in things like my watch. It only had an on switch and there was no speaker.  I recorded and dropped them off and then was given new ones everyday. All my calls I recorded through their system and I had no access to the system.  My car was wired, and again I only had an on switch.  I had to meet my handlers and there were always two of them, a couple times a week.  They would debrief me and write it down for 302’s.  I used to forward text and emails via email daily.  I wonder how was it possible for Joph Rubeo to delete any conversations.  How did they not properly debrief him?

Two agents and their supervisor are in hot water over the lapses.

It is possible that Merlino and the 46 others including a Genovese underboss and capo could walk free.  It does leave a huge hole in the case, because as defendants they are entitled to all the evidence even that which maybe exculpatory.

If evidence has been destroyed, how could they possible have a fair trial?

Joey Merlino may actually walk on this case and his life rights could turn into another really bad Hollywood mafia movie.

NYPD Assistant Chief Edward Delatorre, is one of the best real estate investors in New York.

This guy is so good that he was able to get four properties that belonged to various Bonanno family members, including Vinny Basciano and Dominick Cicale, located in the Bronx, at below market rates.

I wonder why he even bothers to work for the NYPD anymore.  A company owned by his wife bought a lot that at one time had a home on it where the Bonanno’s had an initiation ceremony.  The home belonged to Cole's mother.  The home is gone and the lot had a 990,000 dollar loan against it.  Delatorre's wife’s company bought it and sold it to an LLC owned by Delatorre.

Much like many of today’s political elite, these people are excellent investors!  Just look at some of the people in Congress and Senate who never hold a private sector job, yet leave office with millions in the bank.  Why do they not share their investment secrets with us regular people?

2016 Year End Mafia Wrap Up

This year closes with more mafia busts. You can see with the new indictments that the Mafia has changed along with the times. It has become a more secretive operation concentrating more on crimes that bring in a lot of profit and without risking as much prison time.  Gambling and loan sharking are the lifeblood of the mafia.  Other Italian crime groups are much more involved in the drug trade.

If they keep up with this low profile the FBI will stay busy with Islamic terror organizations and maybe the mafia will rebuild.

The reckless boss of Philadelphia, Joey Merlino, was taken down by the FBI.  He was involved in a multi-family gambling, loan sharking and medical fraud operation.  The FBI intercepted a Genovese wiseguy telling another member that Merlino was a boss.

Meanwhile, Joey Merlino was on the books as employed at a restaurant in South Florida.  This is the same Joey Merlino who visited Los Angeles and was caught by TMZ (not the FBI) with Howard Stern personality Johnny Fratto.

The video is online for anyone to watch.  Hey, maybe Merlino was visiting his relatives in Los Angeles.

There has been a lot less activity in Los Angeles since Pete Milano died.  Joe Isgro, the Gambino family man who used to be in Mikey Scars’ crew, was arrested for gambling and money laundering.  Isgro was a successful record promoter and producer.  He also produced movies like Hoffa.  I know some day he will produce the Lucky Luciano movie.  This time he was able to get out of the gambling charges with a misdemeanor plea, which was much better than his loan sharking charges in Los Angeles years ago.

The Bonanno family had a better year after last years Christmas party was monitored by the FBI.  Some of their men may face a retrial on charges.

The mafia is fairing much better because they are killing less. The “no murder policy” has done well, because juries are hard pressed to convict on big charges when there are no bodies.

There may be some fireworks coming up with the Genovese family’s Bronx crew for a murder.

Michael Persico, the “good son” of Carmine “The Snake” Persico and brother of “Allie Boy” Persico, managed to put off his sentencing again until 2017. I am amazed because others like Eddie Garofalo are already out from the case.  Teddy Persico Jr., his cousin, has a bit more time, at least until 2020.  Steve Marcus flipped and soon Michael Persico will be going bye bye.

The Montreal wing of the Bonanno family is still in turmoil and they continue to blast each other.

A member was convicted this year for taking part in killing former acting Bonanno boss Sal “The Ironworker” Montagna who was deported by the Feds to Canada.

The staples of the mafia: gambling, loan sharking, garbage, untaxed cigarettes, unions and construction will keep it in the money for some years to come.

Have a great 2017!

I’m sure there will be more to write about for years to come.

Garbage Men

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Arrests Continue

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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