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?

Anthony Colombo Dies

Another one bites the dust.

This time it is the son of Joseph Colombo, the original man the Colombo crime family is named after. The one time boss of the Colombo crime family brought a lot of unwanted attention to the Mafia by forming a civil rights group. His son Anthony was the vice president of the Italian American Civil Rights League, which rallied Italians to the streets to protest the unfair treatment of Italians.  They were group that bullied the producers of the Godfather to remove the words “mafia” and “La Cosa Nostra” from the movie.

That all ended when Joseph Colombo was shot in the head and neck by a man named Jerome Johnson during the Italian Unity Day Rally. Johnson was wrestled to the ground and shot, but nobody was ever convicted of his murder.  Joseph Colombo remained paralyzed for the next seven years, until his death in 1978.

Anthony Colombo was a made member of the Colombo crime family, and when the war between the Persico faction and Vic Orena broke out in 1991, he choose to side with the Orena faction.  Carmine Persico was the boss of the family and Vic Orena was an acting boss who did not want to step down for Allie Boy Persico, who had been locked up.  

The war in the streets of Brooklyn and Staten Island left 12 people dead.  A number of associates also went missing.  The Colombos were barred from the Mafia Commission and most of its leadership was sent to prison.

After the war, Anthony Colombo and Gerard Clemenza, both Made members of the family, were put on the shelf by the Persicos. Which means that although they were still members of the family, they were to have no business with the family and other members were told to ignore them.

So Anthony, Gerard and Christopher Colombo formed the Colombo Brothers Crew in Orange County, New York. It was basically a traditional mafia crew that operated on its own.

Philippe Dioguardi, also known as “Fat Philly,” was a man I knew from Palm Springs, California.  He used to be with Jimmy Caci, a capo in the Los Angeles family.  He was involved with Jimmy and the guys so we used to see him a lot at the club on Palm Canyon Drive.  He was a long time friend of the Colombo brothers and Gerard Clemenza.

One day I was with Jimmy at a bagel place in downtown Palm Springs and Fat Philly came to sit down with us.  Vince Lupo ended up at the table too.  Philly explained that he was going to move to Queens.

Fat Philly became part of the Colombo brothers crew.  He was called a “bagman” by the prosecutors in the case.  Fat Philly would pick up cash in Manhattan and bring it to Anthony Colombo’s home. The problem was the organised crime squad was watching and listening to the crew.

They all ended up being charged with racketeering in the Southern District Federal Court.

The Indictment was the usual: gambling, extortion, loan sharking, etc, but they were also charged with defrauding the internet advertiser Doubleclick.

Anthony Colombo plead guilty to, among other things, getting Fat Philly a no show construction job with EDP Enterprises.  

He received 14 years.

He died at his home in San Diego, California at the age of 71 from complications due to diabetes on January 6.

Joe Bilotti: Old School Gambino

It was just before 6pm on December 16, 1985 when the black Lincoln pulled up and parked in front of Sparks Steak House in Manhattan.  The streets were busy, but four men dressed in trench coats and fur hats moved with purpose.  The passenger was Paul Castellano, the boss of the Gambino crime family.  As he stepped out of the car, the men opened fire on him. The driver emerged and ducked a little to look towards Paul before he was shot in the back.

The forgotten man was Tommy Bilotti, Castellano’s driver and the new underboss of the family.

Tommy had a brother named Joe that passed away last week.  Joe was real Cosa Nostra, not like the clowns that run around playing the role in Brooklyn and Staten Island.  Guys who were in the life consider Joe the ultimate wiseguy. He kept a low profile, both before his brother Tommy was murdered by John Gotti’s crew and after.

The Billotti brothers were both known as tough guys with their hands.  They used that fear to build up a massive gambling business.  This proved a natural segway into their next business, which was loansharking.  They both prospered because of their talent as businessmen.

One of the men on record with Tommy was a man named Joe Watts, a childhood friend who grew up with the Bilottis in the South Beach section of Staten Island.

Joe Watts was known as “the German” because he was part German.  He managed the loan shark business for Tommy until Tommy was gunned down outside Sparks Steakhouse.

John wanted to get rid of Paul Castellano and Tommy Bilotti because he was caught up in the web of a heroin trafficking case and pure greed. Gotti and a few others plotted to take over the family, but they were not sure when to do it.

One plan was to put plastic down in the Watts home and invite Tommy over and murder him.

Then another man would take Tommy’s place as Paul's driver and murder him.

Instead, they settled on the midtown Manhattan spectacle.

Once Tommy was murdered, Sammy Gravano, the man who would later become John Gotti’s underboss, met with Joe Bilotti at a diner.  He told Joe that his brother’s murder was just business.

Joe Watts was urging John Gotti Sr. to murder Joe also, lest he seek revenge.  Joe agreed that he would accept it and not cause trouble.

John Gotti rewarded Joe Watts with Tommy’s loansharking book/business and it made him a millionaire.  No wonder Joe Watts was in on the murder of the boss.  He was one of the shooters.  Joe Watts might have made some money and had a few good years but he has been locked up for years.

In 2011 Joe Watts was handed another prison sentence of 13 years for his participation in another murder. At 69 years old who knows if he will see freedom.

Joe Billotti outlived John Gotti.  He was able to see him go away after Sammy Gravano helped team USA put him away.  Gotti would die inside, never again a free man.

He continued to take part in Gambino family business.  He was seen meeting with members of the Philadelphia Cosa Nostra family in Florida in recent years.

Joe was a successful guy who most people don't know had a cigar factory in the Dominican Republic.  

So we say goodbye to another old timer who lived the life.

The Farmer: Enrico Ponzo

Marsing, Idaho: a small ranching community located in the Snake River valley that lists a population of 1,316.  

They can update that population to 1,315 because Jeffery John Shaw will now be a guest of a Federal prison for the next 30 years.  

The man, locally known as Jay, lived a peaceful, uneventful life for a decade in Marsing.  He was often seen wearing overalls and a straw hat.  Jay knew nothing about cattle or ranching, but he was a hard worker, so he fit in with the locals.

They may have wondered about his Boston accent, but they say he did his work and the past is the past.

Cara Lyn Pace could tell a different story.  Cara was Jay’s girlfriend for many years and she knew a different side to Jay.

Jay was not Jay but Enrico Ponzo, a Boston area gangster who was part of the renegade faction that tried to murder Francis Salemme, aka “Cadillac Frank,” the man who took over as boss of the Patriarca crime family in New England.

The long time boss Raymond Patriarca died and the family started to fall apart.  The New York Families voted for his son Junior to take over as boss.  

Junior had a sad run as a boss because he did not have the respect his father had on the street.  

He did have the distinction of letting the FBI record an initiation ceremony because his driver was an FBI informant.

So the family had a civil war and some hard times.

Ponzo was in the crew headed by renegade Capo Robert Carrozza aka Bobby Russo and he took part in numerous shootings.  He also helped distribute drugs for the crew.

Then he disappeared three years before the Feds dropped the hammer on the family.  He fled and lived on the lam for almost twenty years.  He was wanted by the US Marshalls.

Ponzo lived off a dirt road quietly all those years, part of them with his girlfriend Cara.  They had two kids. After she left him, he sued for custody.  He made threats and tried to scare her into giving him custody.

The US Marshals watched him for a week in February 2011 and then when he was driving down a dirt road, they arrested him.  

They found 100k in cash, 65k in gold coins, 30 guns and 65,000 rounds of ammunition in his home when they searched it.

If he hadn’t threatened Cara or sued for custody, he would still be living his quiet farm life. Last week he just got another four years added to his sentence for the guns.

Joe Denti Jr. Follows in His Father's Footsteps

Joe Denti Sr. was a Bronx shylock who became a capo.  He had a payphone business that did really well.  The rumor is that he also had some friends that helped him stay out of trouble.

Joe Denti died in Beverly Hills from a heart attack in 1996.  He was in the movie business living in Charo’s Beverly Hills home.  He produced the movie Opposite Corners, which was a bomb.

He was friendly with Joe Pesci and a few other actors.

He was still doing business in Los Angeles from Nicky Blair's on Sunset Blvd.  In the mid 1990’s some LA Family guy's got $100k from a real wannabe.  They used it to bankroll some card games.  The guy then told them the $100k was Joe Dente Sr.’s.  This sent Jimmy Caci through the roof.  He called his buddy Rudy Santobello about Joe.  Rudy and Jimmy had spent a few years in Attica together.  Jimmy had never been introduced to Joe so he went to Nicky Blair's.  It was on Sunset that a pistol Jimmy had in his waistband slid down and smashed his foot.  Jimmy would complain for years that it gave him “the Gout.” The wannabe was on the hook for the cash.  The LA guys made a pile of cash and gave it back to Joe Denti.

It would seem the apple didnt fall far from the tree because on March 16th Joe Denti Jr. was picked up by the New Jersey detectives of the Division of Criminal Justice.  They claim Heidi Francavilla, Joseph Giardina, Ralph Perricelli Jr. and Joe Denti Jr. all took part in a scam business.

Heidi Francavilla seems to be a mover.  She was charged in another bogus investment scheme in September 2015, in which she is charged with stealing 3 million dollars from investors.

This time the NJ Detectives snared a bigger fish in Joe Denti Jr., a Genovese Capo.

Joe Denti Jr. is charged with convincing a Doctor to advance $250k for a surgical center and then using the money for his own use. He also scammed a married couple into giving him $100k for a blood testing center.

Ralph Perricelli and Joe Denti Jr. laundered the money through a blood testing company that he used to own.  

Heidi Francavilla used a number of shell companies to launder other money.

They got away with it for a long time because they stole the doctor’s money back in 2011, but they held him off by making him promise after promise.

They claimed that they would each put up $250k for the surgical center and that they would have a union send all of its members to the center.  The doctor would be repaid first and then they would split the money that came into the business.

They are facing 5 to 10 years in prison, but we all know they will not get that much actual time. Unless somebody else flips and gives up other crimes.

Most likely they will all take plea deals and spend maybe four years inside.

The Mafia Hit Man's Daughter

If you google the name Gregory Scarpa, up will pop words such as his nickname, “the Grim Reaper,” “Mafia capo,” and “FBI informant.”

Greg was also a husband and father.  

I recently read the new book, “The Mafia Hit Man's Daughter,” written by  Greg's daughter Linda.

I did not know Greg, who was a capo in the Colombo Family.  I did, however, know a lot of people in the book.  I knew some of his intended victims and those that tried to make him a victim.  

The book is a well written look inside a mafia leader’s family life.  Greg comes off as charming in beginning.  It sucks you into the life so you are almost living it with Linda and her mother, Big Linda.  This is a not a book that glamorizes the life, but a look at the truth.

As you read along, you begin to accept things as okay even when you know they are not - which is exactly how it happens in the life.  I'll give you a few examples.  

When someone goes into the armed forces they go away to bootcamp.  They go through physical stress as well as emotional stress.  Everyone around them is dressed the same and going through the same experience.  They use the same lingo for common things, which people outside that life don't use.  Everything about that life is becomes normal to them, but if you were to do the same things for a day you would find it grueling.  The same with going into law enforcement or the fire department. Life in service (that is not normal to anyone outside of service) becomes normal and accepted when you are a part of it.

Greg Scarpa’s wife Big Linda grew up in Brooklyn and the people she saw often were involved in the mafia.

Today it is easy to forget that the Italians and Jews were once the immigrants who lived in the ghetto.  They were blue collar and many worked hard to assimilate into American society.  They kept their heritage but became Americans.  They still lived in neighborhoods like Bensonhurst, Brooklyn but they worked their way up to become middle class.  I knew some old Italian mafia guys and they still talked about how they were spit on as kids.  A couple of them boxed and they took Irish names so they could get fights, since Italians were not seen as fighters.  

In 1962 at Flamingo Lounge at 72nd St. and 13th Ave in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, Big Linda met a 35 year old Greg Scarpa.  It was the glory days of the American mafia and these guys ruled the city with an iron fist.  She was already dazzled by these men in power, but Greg was a different story.  He was handsome and very self confident, but he was very nice. He did everything for her and she was willing to overlook the small things like gambling and robbery.  Why not - he was a good man to her.  When she found out he murdered people it was the same, because she did not see the devastation up close.

Big Linda was also a witness to Greg's double life as an FBI informant.  This is the part of the book that is fascinating. When you read it you will be shocked at how far the government is willing to go in order to put away certain people.  

I was an FBI informant, and guess what, so are many guys still on the street.  The founder of the modern mafia, Lucky Luciano, was an informant.  It gives you an edge to others on the street. You don't have to worry about the law, just those in the street.  

Greg loved the life and he never intended to leave it.  He used the FBI for money and most importantly, intel on his enemies or other law enforcement agencies.  I've known a lot of informants over the years.  I knew many who did just what I did and got out.  I knew others that used the FBI to continue their crime spree and even commit murder.  One man I knew flooded Southern California with cocaine from the Medellin Cartel and murder whoever displeased him.  He was a long time FBI informant that never should have been.  The DEA warned the FBI not to use him because he was still a top cocaine supplier and a murderer.  They used him anyway, and he died of old age in his bed.

The book gives names and times Greg met with the FBI and intel agents gave him.  The agents broke the rules and became friends with Greg.  They vacationed with him and ate meals.  How they did not get put away is beyond me.  I guess this is why today the agents work in pairs and when important papers have to be signed a fresh agent must witness it.

The book is not a Mafia tell all that names names and specific crimes, but it is a great look into the world.  I know guys who were on the hit Linda describes in the book when the Wild Bill faction of the Colombo family tried to get him.  I've been told first hand by a shooter what went down and the version in the book is right on.  

Linda talks about going to Florida with guys from her father's crew when they were on vacation.  The guys from the crew were really going to carry out a murder.  The guy she named was Joe Peraino.  Joe Peraino and his brother Tony owned a porn company Arrow Film and Video.  They had many, but Arrow was the most famous.  Tony’s son Butch produced Deepthroat which became a moneymaker beyond anything the Mafia ever did in porn.  Tony, who I knew as Big Tony, was a made Colombo and so was his brother Joe.  They came from a line of mafia bosses.  They had interests in the garment center but after Deepthroat took off, the money became an issue.  

The Colombos sided with Big Tony.  A hit team that included Tommy Shots Gioeli chased down Joe and his son in Brooklyn.  They killed Joe’s son and a nun, but Joe lived out his life in a wheelchair in Florida.

The book is accurate and a great read, pick it up today if you’d like an inside peak into the life.

Greg Scarpa Jr. and the Homegrown Terrorist

February 26, 1993 was the date when Muslim terrorists drove a truck bomb weighing 1300lbs into the North Tower garage of the World Trade Center. It opened a 98 foot hole going down 4 levels and cut the power to the WTC.  This was the first strike on American soil by Al Qaeda.  The bomb maker Ramzi Yousef  was the nephew of  Khalid Shaikh Mohammed Ali Fadden who would be the mastermind behind 9-11.  Ramzi would be caught in the Philippines when his apartment caught on fire while making bombs to blow up planes in the air.

Ramzi was incarcerated while awaiting trial in 1996 in New York’s Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC). One of his fellow inmates was Greg Scarpa Jr., a Colombo crime family member.  Scarpa Jr made a deal with prosecutors and the FBI to help gather information from Ramzi and his fellow terrorists.  He convinced them that the Mafia was rooting for the terrorists.

On July 17, 1996 Ramzi asked to use Scarpa Jr.’s smuggled cellphone.  Ramzi had no idea it was part of the FBI sting and he called Khalid and they spoke about TWA 800 that had been destroyed.  In May, Scarpa Jr had told the FBI that Ramzi wanted to blow up planes to show they were serious.  The FBI and the US Attorney would later claim the Scarpa Jr. had pulled a scam and hoax on them and his information was worthless.

They convicted Scarpa Jr. on racketeering charges and he was given 40 years at Supermax in Florence, Colorado.  Scarpa Jr. was given a very long sentence and sent to Supermax which is strange because bosses like John Gotti did not even go there.  Vinny Basciano, who tried to have a prosecutor murdered, was sent there but he has been downgraded.

Once in Supermax, Scarpa Jr. was locked down for all but about 90 minutes a day.  It was during this time that he met Terry Nichols, who along with Timothy McVeigh bombed the Oklahoma City Federal Building on April 19, 1995 using a 4800 pound bomb inside a rental truck.  It killed 168 people and injured 600 more.

The US government had convicted Timothy McVeigh of being the mastermind and the one who detonated the bomb.  This, despite the fact they found a leg that did not belong to anyone in the building rubble after the blast.  They convicted Terry Nichols as a conspirator and one man testified against them.  Michael Fortier along with his wife had knowledge beforehand that they were planning the bombing.  

Scarpa Jr. gained Terry Nichols’ trust, and he ended up giving Scarpa Jr. the location of some explosives.  It was in Nichols’ old home in Herington, Kansas, and he told him it might be retrieved and used to mark the tenth anniversary of the Oklahoma City blast in 2005.

He gave Scarpa written directions in a handwritten note, which can be seen online.  Scarpa went to the FBI and they flew out a polygraph expert, who concluded he was lying.  The FBI was sure the house was clean because they had searched it a number of times.

Scarpa contacted his own investigator who contacted members of Congress who went to the FBI.  The FBI finally got around to searching the old home and they found explosives just like Scarpa had told them.  They found Nitromethane and Kine-Stik wrapped just like Scarpa had told them.  They would not reduce his sentence and they claimed they had developed the information on the explosives from another source.  

This week, a Federal Judge ruled in Scarpa Jr.’s favor, and reduced his sentence by 10 years.  It may not help, because Scarpa Jr. is suffering from cancer. Buried in the transcripts, the Judge says, “It was my view and remains my view that Lin DeVecchio provided information to Scarpa Sr. that got people killed.”  The Judge is referring to the former FBI Agent DeVecchio, who was Greg Scarpa Sr.’s handler while he was murdering people on information he claimed he got from the FBI.

This all makes you wonder if the evidence Scarpa Jr. got on the Oklahoma Bombing was all true.   He was told they had help the Government did not know about.

Jim Braden aka Eugene Hale Brading

Conspiracies make for great stories. The greatest conspiracy story is the murder of President John F. Kennedy.  It is said that there have been 40,000 books written on the subject.

The really bad investigation by the hastily formed Warren Commision certainly did not help stop the conspiracy stories.  The Warren Commission called witness after witness and yet they failed to answer simple questions.  One of those questions is how so many people with connections to the Cosa Nostra aka the mafia got involved in this story?  Yet the Commission finds no ties to organized crime.

The Pere Marquette Building in New Orleans was a place where a man named Eugene Hale Brading had an office.  He claimed he was in the oil business and he worked out of office number 1701. A lawyer named G. Wray Gill had an office on the same floor 1707. G. Wray Gill just happened to work for mafia boss Carlos Marcello.  He employed a man named David Ferrie who was a pilot and a private investigator.  He was played by Joe Pesci in the movie JFK.  David Ferrie is the pilot who flew Carlos Marcello back from Guatemala after he was illegally deported by Robert F. Kennedy.  We will come back to David Ferrie later in the story.

Eugene Hale Brading was on Federal parole in November of 1963, and yet he was able to change his name in Los Angeles to Jim Braden.  He then was allowed to fly to Dallas, Texas that same month for oil business.  He was supposed to take a commercial flight, but instead took a private plane. They checked into the Cabana Motel in Dallas.  He just happened to be walking down the street in Dealey Plaza when JFK was shot.  He was going to the parole office, but instead he stood on a small wall to see JFK. He then continued on to see the parole officer, a Mr. Flowers.  There was no Mr. Flowers working there. The Chief parole officer in Dallas never recalled Braden coming into his office that day. He claims he forgot the name of the person he was supposed to see.   He then went into the Dal-Tex building, a place he had never been, and asked to use a phone.  He was directed to the third floor where he said he was going to call his mother.  The elevator operator was so suspicious of him that he alerted the Dallas Police who arrested him.  They didn't investigate much because they just let him go.   Jim Braden was a swindler and con man that has been called a money courier for Meyer Lansky.

He had an office on South Barrington in Beverly Hills during the same time. People claim that he knew Jimmy Fratianno, Joe and Fred Sica.  I asked all the old guys but none of them claimed to know Jim Braden.  Who knows what name he was known on the street by at the time. I would have liked to have been able to show those guys a picture of him.

While he was under arrest in Dallas, he was questioned by the Secret Service for three hours, and then released.  When he got back to the Cabana Motel his friends had left for Houston.

There are some interesting facts the night Jim Braden landed in Dallas.  He ate dinner at Cipango Club, a private club.  It was frequented by many players in the Dallas underworld like RD Matthews and Jack Ruby.  The night before the JFK Assassination, Jack Ruby went to eat at Campisi’s Egyptian lounge and then to the Cabana Motel for a party.  The Campisi of the Egyptian Lounge just happened to be Joseph Campisi, a Capo in the Dallas mafia family. The Dallas family was controlled by the New Orleans boss Carlos Marcello.  

It is interesting to note that David Ferrie left quickly after JFK was assassinated for a trip to Houston, where he claimed he was going duck hunting.  He didn't have any guns with him. One last note on David Ferrie.  He was Lee Harvey Oswald's Civil Air Patrol Captain when Oswald was in CAP.  Jack Ruby shot Lee Harvey Oswald a few days later and Joseph Campisi and his wife went to see him in the Dallas Jail.  Jack had another visitor, RD Matthews, who he knew from Cuba - another place where Jim Braden just happened to be.  RD Mathews’ card would be found on Charles V Harrelson when he was arrested for killing a Federal Judge.

Jim Braden has arrests for gambling and bookmaking.  He was arrested at a gambling club in Camden, New Jersey.

He was on the board at La Costa Country club in California.  The club was funded by Teamster money and Moe Dalitz was one of the original backers.  

Jim Braden was arrested in a hotel with his wife after Robert Kennedy was shot by an assassin who fired 13 shots from an 8 shot revolver.  He also managed to hit RFK in the back of the head even though he was tackled by football great Rosie Grier while he was in front of RFK.

I wonder what a Vegas oddsmaker would put the odds of one man being at the assassinations of two brothers, but having nothing to do with either of them.

Jim Braden’s testimony in front of the 1977 House Select Committee was sealed for 50 years until a court case forced the Government to release the documents.  Its again a really bad investigation.  They fail to ask him the most basic questions.  He did claim that while at a hotel in Atlanta, he was paged to a house phone where he picked up and was told he was next.  He took this as a threat, because it was the same day John Roselli was found floating in a barrel in Florida.  Why, if he was not a player, would that matter?

The FBI blew the best chance to clear up the JFK conspiracy during the Brilab investigation.  They had an informant with a wire on Carlos Marcello. It was said Carlos made statements but that too has been sealed.  

Who was Jim Braden?

You can't teach a dumb old dog new tricks.

Today I am going way back to the 1990’s in the San Fernando Valley.  I was sitting in the back office of a business known as Mid Valley Trading.  What they really traded I have no idea, but they did have a lot of stuff go through that warehouse. Mid Valley Trading was the home base of Jerry Zimmerman circa 1990’s.  Jerry Zimmerman a larger than life Jewish con man who was around the Colombo family through his friendship with Sonny Franzese.

In mafia circles Sonny Franzese is very well respected, young guys call him “The Rock.”  He is much more respected than John Gotti to those involved in the life.

So here I am, sitting at Jerry's desk when the phone rings, and it's a collect call from a federal institution.  It is Sonny Franzese, and he is looking for Jerry, but Jerry has gone out and left me manning the phones.  Sonny asks me to write down a name and he tells me this guy will be calling Jerry tomorrow.  I wrote the name on a desk blotter calendar and when Jerry came back I told him.  He rolled his eyes because every guy Sonny sent turned out to be some loser.  While I was sitting there the guy called and Jerry made an appointment to see him the next day.

The next day came and the guy showed up, and when he did I left.  I didn't like this guy the first minute I set eyes on him.  One thing, and it may be nothing to some people, but to me it set off alarms.  He wore blue jeans that were pressed with a crease in the front.  Who does that?

I went with him on a collection once, and I pushed in the door when the guy answered it.  This guy just yelled with his tough voice after I went inside.  I didn't like him and I tried to keep my distance.  

He tried to con me out of a grand, but I got him back by reversing it on him.  He made threats but couldn't do a thing.  He called a friend in Florida in Sonny’s crew, and cried to him over it.  The guy in turn asked me not to bust his head open.

Later he was present when we received the counterfeit traveler's checks that helped the FBI put together Operation Thin Crust in Las Vegas.

A week later he suckered Jimmy Caci into taking a ride with him.  He went inside an office and threatened a guy who cracked him in the head with a tape dispenser.  The guy was getting a pistol when Jimmy stopped him.  This loser had to be carried out by a 70 year old man with his head gushing blood.  

Unknown to Jimmy or any of us, the loser had been busted for first stealing some pirate cable boxes from a police evidence warehouse and then agreeing to sell them to federal agents in New Jersey.  He had flipped and began giving information to the FBI.  He went to Frankie's on Melrose and wore a wire on Joe Dente Sr., a Capo in the Genovese family who was a huge shylock.  Joe wanted nothing to do with him and told Jimmy Caci. Jimmy told this guy to stay away from him.

One night we all went to Frankie's on Melrose for dinner and Jimmy decided to stay at this loser's place. This loser went downstairs so the LAPD could come up and arrest Jimmy for the incident where this loser got beat up by the tape dispenser for threatening the guy in his office.  The victim even told them it was not Jimmy, but the LAPD hated Jimmy so they arrested him on that crap charge.

This is how I got a tape he made when he was speaking to the FBI.  He claims that he was not an informant, that instead he was conning the FBI, just using them for money.  Come on!  You do not con the FBI.  They have multiple sources and they know when it's bad information.  He told them he would be made.  The tape of him talking to the FBI is public on YouTube for all who wish to hear it and decide for themselves.  

This was years ago.  Since then, this loser was arrested in a case where he had guys fly into LA and get a rental car for them, then go to a ladies home and beat her and tie her up because they thought it was a drug stash.  It was not.  They all went away but this guy did not get much punishment, and nothing at all happened to his son, who was part of the conspiracy. How do you rent a car in your name for guys who are flying in to rob a woman and the FBI knows it but you do not get in trouble?  This guy gets out of prison and runs around town claiming he is a made guy conning the FBI.

Fast forward to last week.  I get a call from a friend and he tells me a story.

There is a movie being made. Some producers have a falling out and one of them wants some money back from the other producer. The producers with the cash in hand say kick rocks to the LA Producer.

Now enter another person who I hold in very low regard.  An aging “talent agent” who represents stars from years gone by that have seen better days.  This guy likes to go around and brag about his “mafia connections.”  He is the worst kind of person, a big coward that sits behind a desk and scares other cowards in the business with his big talk.  I always disliked guys like this agent - he reminds me of every Italian restaurant owner in every small city in America. They all think they are connected.  They talk big but they have no guts to do a thing themselves.  You cannot buy loyalty, you have to earn it.  Unless you are in a crew doing dirt you are nothing.  You are a cash machine for whatever guy you think you are “with.”

He tells the LA producer that he can get the money back for him, because he knows who to call.  He has the same pressed-jeans loser from the Jimmy Caci days call the producer.  Keep in mind this loser is now 70 years old with diabetes and could not fight his way out of a paper bag, even when he was young. He was no match for a tape dispenser. He was never in the same league as Jimmy Caci.  The loser tells the producer that for a cash payment he will get some guys to fly in from Florida and "get the money back for him."

This LA producer wonders if this might be the answer to his problem. Its a Federal crime, first of all, because he is sending guys across state lines to collect a debt.  Then, if they hurt the people, or worse, and it’s connected to you in any way?  It’s conspiracy, or possibly, murder, if someone dies.   Let’s say, best case scenario, they do get money back, or the other producer has a change of heart and pays what he owes after they have a “talk.” Now, these clowns who got involved will own this LA producer forever, as they can blackmail him on top of what he already paid.

Legitimate people that think they can dabble in the life are a joke. You are either a citizen or you are a gangster. You cannot be both.   People never learn and others keep doing the same thing.   I cannot understand why a 70 year old man would want to leave this world still doing the same stupid stuff he did when he was young.  He never learned from his time away.  He cannot see that he is just wasting his life.

You can't teach an old dog new tricks.

Danny Marino, Gambino Capo

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The DeCavalcante Organized Crime Family

I was just having a conversation about the FBI using deep undercover agents like Donnie Brasco and Jack Falcone.  The people I was discussing the subject were wondering why the FBI would spend so much time and money on the Cosa Nostra.  They felt that it was no longer a threat.  I explained to them that the Cosa Nostra was still International in scope and much more dangerous than the flavor-of-the-moment crime group.  

Lets go back to the 80s.  Jamaican Posse, Medellín Cartel and many Mexican groups along the border, but they have no staying power. The Cosa Nostra is like a cancer that you can't get rid of, even with aggressive treatment.  They are able to bounce back because of their structure and because they are a secret group.  When the FBI takes down a crew or the administration, others, known and unknown, can step up and keep running the organization.  

I was surprised when I heard the FBI took down a crew in the DeCavalcante family of New Jersey.  The other families in New York have such a foothold in New Jersey that I forget that the state has its own family.  The FBI had an agent undercover for 3 years in the DeCavalcante family and they were active.  Charles Stango lived in Henderson, Nevada just outside of Las Vegas, but he was still a Capo in the DeCavalcante family.  Anthony Stango, his son, lived in Brick Township, New Jersey and handled his father’s day-to-day operations in New Jersey.  Charles Stango, also known as “Beeps,” took money from the undercover FBI Agent who has been under since 2012.  The Agent had become close to Beeps and last year, just before Christmas, Beeps shared his plans to murder a member of the family.  

Beeps had given the contract to the FBI undercover and told him to kill or maim the other man known as the “Pet” because he had disrespected an older member of the family.  He wanted him shot or blown up in his business in Elizabeth, NJ.  

The order was given in Las Vegas in a meeting between Beeps and the FBI agent and it was recorded by the agent.  Beeps had assured the agent that the DeCavalcante Administration was on board with the murder.  The FBI had the proof because they had intercepted calls between Frank Nigro the family Consigliere and Paul Colella who was the go-between to higher ups in the administration. They all sought and were given permission to murder the wayward member.

Beep’s son and other crew members also distributed cocaine on a large scale in New Jersey and were caught by the FBI.

They were looking to expand into Toms River, New Jersey, where they were going to open a nightclub as cover for a high-end escort business that would cater to businessmen in the area.

Sex sells, and the amount of money that a high end escort business can bring in is staggering.

When I told the FBI and IRS about Nici’s Girls and Exotica 2000 they could not believe the amount of money they made.

In all, the FBI was able to take down 10 members and associates of the DeCavalcante Family from two crews. This was a different bust than other recent ones, because they didn't take down a gambling or shylock operation, which is the staple of Mafia.  They did bust them for selling large amounts of cigarettes.

This quote from U.S. Attorney Fisherman sums it up well, “Though its ranks have been thinned by countless convictions and its own internal bloodletting, traditional organized crime remains a real problem.”