Mike Yannotti

Michael Yannotti was Gambino Capo Nicky Corozzo’s go-to guy on the street when he needed things done. Today Mikey Y is an inmate of Danbury FCI where he and some other Cosa Nostra inmates just put the beat down on some Albanian gangsters.  At age 51, Mikey Y is still a force to be reckoned with. Mikey Y still has 7 years left of his 20 year sentence for racketeering conspiracy.  Mikey Y is scheduled to be released 1-16-2022 when he is 58 years old.

Mikey Y had been a Gambino associate for years, when in August 1984  Albert “Albie” Lattanzi was murdered by a Lucchese Associate named Todd Alvino.  Nicky Corozzo was upset by the murder of a crew member and he wanted to send a message to the Lucchese Family.

Nicky first told everyone to sit tight, while everyone mourned Albie’s death.  Then Mikey Y and the others started looking for Todd Alvino all over but they could not find them.  Then after a while they started hearing from other crews that Alvino was going out hitting the usual spots like he had no care in the world.

Nicky took this as an embarrassment and a slap in his face because Albie had been with his crew.  Nicky really turned up the heat on the crew, telling them that the way they were going Alvino would live to be an old man.  Finally, in February 1985, Yannotti, Anthony Lattanzi, Anthony Gerbino, Richard Lapenna, and some other members of Corozzo’s crew found Alvino sitting in his car doing cocaine outside a nightclub.  Mikey Y told guys that they had hit him with shotgun blasts in his car.  Nicky really took Mikey under his wing after that killing.  Mikey was on his way up in the Gambino Family.  Mikey then shot Mario Cassarino in the leg when they got into a fight.  The fight was over the fact Mario was armed the night Albie was killed and he froze.

Mikey then shot a Colombo Associate named Robert Tarantola who was a Marijuana dealer close to Teddy Persico Jr.  Mikey had gotten into an argument with Tarantola at the Players Nightclub In Bensonhurst Brooklyn. Mikey confronted him in the parking lot and shot him in the chest when he was in his car.  Mikey reached out for Andrew Didonato early the next morning because Andrew was in the weed business with Tarantola.  Mikey told Andrew that he had to stick close to the crew because the Colombos might go to war with Nicky over the shooting.

The shooting was resolved with a sit down because Tarantola did not die.

Mikey would get made, despite protests from Capos like Mikey “Scars” DiLeonardo who felt that Mikey Y’s shooting and kidnapping of radio talk show host Curtis Sliwa made the family look bad.  Junior Gotti went ahead with the induction but told Mikey Scars that Mikey Y was a secret member of the Gambino Family.  Junior Gotti told him that if anyone introduced Mikey Y as a made guy, they would be shot.  That lasted until John Gotti Sr’s wake, at which Mikey Y was introduced as a made guy.

Mikey also shot and killed Robert Arena and Thomas Maranga, but those events have been covered a few times before in this blog.

I am sure some people who read this will look at Mikey Y as some kind of hero.  Bottom line is that the guy is a murderer, and should remain behind bars a lot longer than the seven remaining years of his sentence.

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.

Gene Gotti & Gambino Family

Gene Gotti, the younger brother of John Gotti,  will be released on September 19, 2018 at the age of 72. Gene was given 50 years on July 8, 1989.  At the time he went away his older brother John was the boss of the Gambino family.  John then went away for life in 1992 and later his son John Junior took over for him.  Junior would later break all the rules by talking to the FBI and giving up Danny Marino and Joe Watts. The Garbage Man Peter Gotti, another brother of John Gotti, was even worse for the family.  

The new Gambino family is run by the Sicilian faction, but maybe Gene will fit in with them.  Gene has maintained a steady stream of visitors who speak to him on many family topics including his brothers and nephews.  Many of these men were heroin dealers like Gene, and some continue to push their poison to the masses.  Gene Gotti, Angelo Ruggiero, John Carneglia and Sal Ruggiero ran a multimillion dollar heroin empire and it was running smooth until Sal was indicted and had to go on the run.  

Sal worked with many people including mob criminal attorney Michael Coiro and criminals including Joseph Guagliano, Anthony Moscatiello, Oscar Ansourian, Edward Lino, Mark Reiter, William Robert Cestaro, Salvatore Greco, Joseph Lo Presti, Vincent Lore, Anthony Gurino and Caesar Gurino.  He would also deal with a lot of those that would go away for the Pizza Connection.   The drug cash was flowing into John Gotti's Bergin crew and Sal was an unofficial member because of the ban on drugs in the Gambino Family.  The ban is funny because Carlo Gambino profited off drugs, the Zips, the Cherry Hill Gambinos all paid him.  The new boss, Big Paul Castellano, had made a pact with Genovese Boss Chin Gigante “deal and die”  they were to not discuss it, just kill those that had anything to do with drugs.  They rightly figured that if guys were caught dealing they would be facing so much time that they would flip.  

On May 6, 1982 Sal Ruggiero and his wife boarded a Learjet in New Jersey bound for Florida where Sal was going to look at a McDonalds franchise that was for sale. The day was perfect and the sky a clear blue and over the Atlantic the jet requested permission to descend.  It descended but went into a dive straight into the ocean where it killed everyone aboard.

Angelo lost his brother (who had been a fugitive running his drug empire while on the run) and also his partner.   Angelo and Gene had to move fast because the Feds identified Sal’s body and they would be looking for his hideouts.  Sal had died when they had just gotten a large load of heroin.  Angelo started cleaning out Sal’s hideouts but according to the lawyer, turned crew member Michael Coiro Gen found the heroin.  This would all come out because the FBI had been watching Angelo because of his connection to the Gotti’s.  They had wiretaps and bugs in his home and they were listening when all this was going down.

Angelo was able to get a copy of an affidavit in support of a warrant to bug his home.  It came via a Genovese soldier and Angelo knew that he and Gene Gotti would soon be indicted for running Sal’s heroin business. It all came crashing down on August 8, 1983 when the FBI arrested Angelo, Gene Gotti and others for drug dealing.  It was soon learned that the tapes had provided the evidence the FBI needed to bug Gambino Boss Big Paulie’s home on Staten Island.

Paulie ordered his ailing underboss Neil Dellacroce to have have Angelo turn over the tapes so he could hear them.  The Gotti brothers Gene and John knew that the tapes would mean certain death for all of them.  They held off by making up excuses and when Dellacroce died and Big Paulie did not attend his funeral they used that to fuel the fire.  They started planning to murder Big Paulie.   On December 16, 1985 John Gotti struck, killing Big Paulie and his underboss Tommy Bilotti in Midtown Manhattan.  John Gotti was now the Gambino boss and he upped his brother Gene to Capo of his Bergin crew.  Gene would be found guilty of drug dealing in 1989, almost 7 years after his arrest. He went through 3 trials where jurors were threatened and bribed until he was given 50 years.  The Gambino family as it is stands today is no long Gene’s family.

In the Shadow of John Gotti

The public cannot get enough when it comes to the Mafia.  Hollywood keeps them coming and many are based in fact and are great stories.  Hollywood, however, has the need to make up stuff and put their own touch to the story.  Unfortunately, they have no idea what is real.  Most of these writers grew up in a bubble and they continue to live in a bubble, meaning they have no idea how a criminal thinks.  This is why they churn out so many bad Mafia movies and TV shows.

I know of no less than three Whitey Bulger stories in the works at the moment.  The other week, I found one of the scripts left behind at the car wash. I am not kidding, it was sitting there and it had a serial number on it so it could not be put out on the web.  I started reading and could only get to page 15.  It was so horrible.  It even had Whitey yelling at New England Family guys, and other made up nonsense that would never have actually happened. I am sure that this Whitey Movies, like all over movies these days, will star one of the 5 stars that has his face in every movie out there.  Is there no new talent?

Someday just maybe, the John Gotti movie “In the Shadow of My Father” may come out starring John Travolta as John Gotti.  “Gotti” starring Armand Assante was actually good and did not go overboard.  Lets think about the Godfather Part 1 and 2 and what makes them such classics.  Yes, they are Mafia movies but they are more, they are stories of family and turmoil within.  The Mafia part is secondary and they are great.

“In the Shadow of My Father” had John Gotti Junior’s help, but I am sure he never revealed anything new or good.  Here are a few things that Baby Huey could have revealed.

John Gotti Sr.

John Favara, a manager at the Castro Convertibles factory on Long Island, was on his way home after a long day on March 18, 1980.  At the same time, a 12 year old boy was illegally driving a mini bike on the sidewalks and in the streets.  The boy comes out onto the street from behind a dumpster as the sun is setting.  John Favara was driving the speed limit just blocks from his home when he struck the boy, who ended up dying later that night.  Favara was grief stricken because he knew the boy, Frank Gotti.  His own son Scott used to sleep over the Gotti house. The police ruled it an accident.  Soon after the accident, Favara’s car was spray painted with the word MURDERER. He then began receiving threats and Victoria Gotti attacked him with a baseball bat.  He sought help from the police but they gave him no help.  He spoke to a childhood friend who's father was a Capo in the Gambino Family. He was told by the Capo to sell his car and move away.  Favara was a blue collar, hardworking man who was raising two adopted children with his wife.  He was in no position to pack up, move and start over in another city. He did put his house up for sale and it was going to close on the last day of July.  

On July 28 John left work and walked two blocks to a diner where his car was parked.  A couple of men clubbed him, shot him and threw him into a van.  They drove away in the van and followed with his own car.  To this day, John Favara’s family has no closure, because his body and his car have never been found.

The ironic part of this story is that John's son Scott was good friends with John "Baby Huey" Gotti.  This is not what the Mafia is supposed to be about, there is no honor in this kind of vengeance.

In the spring of 1992, John Gotti Sr., the so-called “Teflon Don” was convicted in a huge racketeering case that featured his Underboss Sammy Gravano flipping on him.  Lets look at the facts here.  John Gotti convicted himself with his own mouth.  He went to the apartment upstairs from his Ravinite Social Club all the time and ran his mouth.  He bragged and postured, he thought he was untouchable. The FBI had planted a bug inside the apartment so every word Gotti said was recorded and even the things he said about his Underboss came out.  He sat inside there and spoke about Sammy killing guys but John was the boss and that means he was ultimately responsible.  

John Gotti had Robert DiBernardo killed because of his ego, nevermind the fact that this guy brought in huge sums of cash and was no threat.  Louie DiBono, another money maker for the family, was killed and then Eddie Garofalo Sr was murdered because they wanted his business.  Yes, Sammy took part in these but John Gotti and his family gained cash from these murders.  While John was on trial, a radio host named Curtis Sliwa, the founder of the Guardian Angels, took to the air and bad mouthed John Gotti a number of times.  This did not sit well with Baby Huey Gotti, so he decided to take action.  He sent three men: Johnny Boy Ruggiero, Stevie Kaplan and Michael McLaughlin, to throw him a beating with baseball bats.  They did beat him pretty bad, but that did not stop Curtis from continuing his rant on John Gotti.  Baby Huey Gotti then stepped it up and wanted him hospitalized for a long time.

Curtis Sliwa

So on the morning of June 19, 1992, Curtis Sliwa was on his way to work.  He hailed a cab outside his apartment.  Curtis got inside the cab and things quickly went bad. A Gambino guy named Joey D'Angelo was driving the stolen cab.  He locked the doors which had be modified so the passenger could not open them.  Then, a second Gambino named Mikey Yannotti, who had been crouched down in the passenger seat, popped up with a pistol and just starts shooting into Curtis.  Even though he is hit a number of times, Curtis fights back and jumps out of the window of the moving cab.  Joey D'Angelo had been told to beat Curtis so bad he would be in the hospital for a long time, not kill him.  But Mikey just started shooting instead. Joey would later tell Gambino Capo Mikey DiLeonardo that he would never do anything with Mikey Y again because he was crazy.

Regardless of what people may think of Curtis Sliwa and his antics, his Guardian Angels have done a lot of good and he was a radio personality.  One of the main rules of the Mafia was you never mess with the press or Law Enforcement.  This goes way back to days when Lucky Luciano was in New York.  

There was a Special Prosecutor named Thomas E Dewey who was put in place in New York in 1935, he loved the press and he was always on the radio. He went after a Gangster named Dutch Schultz and Dutch went to Lucky because he wanted to kill Dewey. Lucky knew that this would not solve the problem but only make matters worse so he said no to the hit.  Dutch was very vocal about killing Dewey so finally, rather than cause major problems, Lucky took care of it.  Dutch went down in a hail of bullets from which he would die a little later.  Those are the rules and they were there for a reason.  

"Baby Huey" Gotti Jr. in the blue shirt, middle

Baby Huey Gotti liked to be the tough guy when Daddy was alive but those days are long gone.  He did go and do a Proffer with the Feds and that means he is no different than Sammy or Mikey.  A few months ago he was at a CVS near his home when he was stabbed in the stomach by someone.  He claimed he tried to break up a fight but who knows...

Published news on turncoat Gotti:

"Gotti has denied any involvement in that killing or any other murders. But in a controversial "proffer session" he had with the feds in 2005, Junior said now-deceased Gambino solder Angelo Ruggiero paid a $25,000 bribe to a Queens detective, and that Ruggiero and two others killed the witness and made it look like a suicide."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jerry-capeci/the-junior-gotti-chronicl_b_224097.html

"Gotti told the feds in a 2005 proffer session that, despite his innocence in the Silva stabbing, the Gambino family had bribed a corrupt detective to quash a probe of his involvement in it. He also claimed that, with the detective's help, the crime family had murdered a witness in the case and made it look like a suicide."

http://www.nysun.com/new-york/feds-try-new-angle-to-get-junior-gotti/63969/

"Gotti later sought a different type of revenge against the trio in January 2005, when he secretly met with the feds in a failed bid to get out from under racketeering charges, breaking the Mafia oath of "omerta."During the proffer session, Gotti detailed crimes that Marino, Gammarano and Watts committed prior to 1999,"

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/item_apTPpPpp09cz4McH1iIuOI

"Gotti's bid to become a turncoat fell through after he refused to give the feds the full story - he agreed only to provide incriminating information about certain cohorts but insisted on protecting others, sources said."

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/item_IkTuZ7c1JblKLuLLd60TGP

To anyone who thinks that the Mafia is not in decline. I point to the former boss of the Gambino Family on 60 Minutes last night.  That was 100% against the rules.  Baby Gotti is now a rat just like Sammy Gravano, Mikey Scars etc.  The guy already went in for a prooffer gave up guys, told his sister that he was made and has been shopping around a book.  He tries to sugar coat his father. He spoke about his father only hurting those in the streets, code of the life, Organized Crime. yet that was a lie.  The name John Favara should be well know.  The guy hit Frankie Gotti when he was illegally riding a mini bike in the street. It was an accident. What did his family do to bring the grief on them?  What about Eddie Garofalo Sr?  What did he do?  He was no tough guy.  Fred Weiss?  Dee Bee?

I see my ex-friend is still locked down. 

.

EDWARD ANGELO GAROFALO JR

57501-053

43-White-M

UNKNOWN

BROOKLYN MDC

The question, looking at his father laying in the streets of Dyker Heights in the picture on this blog, will Eddie stand tall? Will he let his wife go away?  What about his family?

Teddy Persico does not care.

You have to see the Mafia for what it is now, a petty gang, not men of honor, just guys who use their power to settle grudges.  

The Colombo Family has guys going to court now for killing a Police officer for what? He married an ex wife of the acting boss Joe Waverly. Great way to use the family.  They killed an old man who was the father of the guy they wanted.  Allie Boi Persico used guys to kill a guy dating his ex wife. Allie boi had Greg Scrapa kill his former girlfriend. 

These are men of honor?

Good for Baby Gotti!  Get out John Gotti Jr!

That is the Vogue Magazine I am in this month.

Kenji OC