Dirtnap for a Corrupt Mafia Cop

This week saw the demise of a man who, in my opinion, is worse than any other mobster I have written about on this blog.  John Gotti, Nicky Scarfo and Gaspipe Casso were all bad guys, no question.  Those men were mafioso and lived their lives accordingly: criminals who would lie, steal, cheat and murder according to the code they lived their lives by.  

Stephen Caracappa, on the other hand, was an NYPD detective who sold his badge to the Lucchese crime family. Why Stephan and his partner in crime fellow detective Louis Eppolito did not receive the death penalty is beyond me.  These two rogue detectives were sworn to uphold the law and they were responsible for good of the public.  Instead, they betrayed everyone in uniform as well as every citizen of this country.  They cost the taxpayers 18.4 million dollars in lawsuit settlements alone, and that is not where the damage they dealt ended. They murdered, or had a hand in the murders of, at least seven people, including one completely innocent man.

On April 8, 2017 Stephen Caracappa died of cancer.  He died in Butner, FCI where they house sick criminals like Carmine Persico and others.  

Caracappa not only sold information to Gaspipe Casso and the Luchese family, he committed murder for him. In 1990 he and his partner pulled over Gambino Edward Lino on the Belt Parkway and they shot him.  They dropped off another man they kidnapped so that he could be tortured.

They also sold bad information to Gaspipe that resulted in the Christmas day murder of Nicholas Guido, an innocent man who was just showing off his new car.

Guido happened to have the same name as one of the men who shot at Gaspipe Casso when they tried to murder him.  The Guido they were seeking had fled the state in fear of being found.  

Diamond dealer Israel Greenwald got into trouble with the mafia in 1985 when he traveled to Great Britain to help a friend purchase some treasury bills.  He thought the deal was an honest one.  When he returned, the FBI questioned him about his business.  Burton Kaplan, a drug dealer connected with Gaspipe Casso, hired Caracappa and Eppolito to find him and murder him so he could not talk to the FBI.

The two law enforcement officers used police databases to find out Greenwald's address and the kind of car he drove.  They pulled over his car, flashed their badges and told them they were taking him in for a hit and run.  They took him to a Brooklyn warehouse where they murdered and buried him.  Greenwald was not found for twenty years and his family had been left to wonder what became of him.

Greenwald's family lost everything because they could not prove he died.  The last they saw him when he left for work.  Caracappa had appealed his case and just recently asked a judge to grant him release because he was dying of cancer.   The judge rightly told him there was nothing he could do for him.

Papa Smurf vs. New Jersey

The state of New Jersey finally won a battle with a Genovese mobster in court.

The battle was with the family of Carmine “Papa Smurf” Franco over a 1.89 acre triangular piece of land.  The state sued for condemnation in 2009 and offered the family $990,000 for the land.

The state wanted the land for a twin train tunnel project between New Jersey and New York.

The program was called “Access to the Region's Core,” but it was canceled by Gov. Chris Christie.

Papa Smurf Franco is a Genovese Family associate who has for over thirty years controlled various carting companies.  He was convicted in the 1980’s and 1990’s for various felonies in the waste hauling business.  He was forbidden by law from owning any business or working in the carting business in New Jersey or New York.

That did not stop Papa Smurf Franco, because he continued to control various carting companies unit the Feds took him down in 2012 for a joint venture with the Gambino and Lucchese family.  

They formed a crew that asserted “Property Rights” over every property that they picked up waste from.  Once anyone in the crew had the rights no other crew could service the property.  This way, no matter what the company that picked up the waste was called the revenue still went into the same pockets.

They decided who paid protection money, who could own a company and where those companies could work.  They loaned money to companies and they stole others’ equipment.

They controlled the carting business in most of New Jersey and New York.

Papa Smurf Franco was facing over 45 years in prison. He would plead guilty in 2013 to the charges.  One of them was illegally transporting stolen cardboard across state lines.

The judge fell for his story.  He had a hard upbringing, old age and health issues so he was sentenced to only a year, two $5,000 fines and was required to forfeit $2.5 million to the government.

The family took the NJ Transit to court over the land because they claimed it was worth far more than $990k they were offered.  

They hired an architect and an engineer to reimagine the property.  They came up with drawings and plans that showed a 13 story condominium high rise on the land.

The land around it had become valuable because of its proximity to the trains and views of New York.  

They took NJ Transit to court claiming the property was then worth 9.1 million.

A jury ruled that it was worth 8.1 million and ruled in the family’s favor.

The state of New Jersey had their own test run on the land and found that it was contaminated and it would cost 2 million dollars to clean up the contamination.

They appealed the jury award. On October 19th of this year, a three panel appeals court ruled that the value depended on getting the proper permits for building, so they remanded it back to a new trial.

Will they find a way to get the permits?

For now, the state has won.  

Operation Jersey Boyz

Operation Jersey Boyz is what the Bergen County Prosecutor's office called their massive gambling bust in December of 2004.  It looks just like any number of busts that go every year for bookmaking.  It included mobsters from the Genovese, Bonanno,Gambino and Lucchese Family.

The operation started when the prosecutor's office started investigating Cafe Roma, a small Italian dessert shop.  They found out that it was part of a multi-crime family bookmaking operation that took in $300k each week with over 12,000 active bettors.

Joseph “The Eagle” Gatto, a Genovese soldier, ran the bookmaking enterprise as well as the Catalina Wire Room in Costa Rica.  He is the son of Louis “Streaky” Gatto a legendary Genovese soldier who was a favorite of Chin Gigante.  

They arrested 40 people and confiscated more than a million in cash. One of the men arrested was Frank P. Lagano, who was the Lucchese Family point man in the operation.  They seized $200,000 from his home and safety deposit box.

Lagano soon became an informant. He was close with a man named Michael Mordaga, a respected member of law enforcement in New Jersey.  Michael was in the Bergen Prosecutor's office when Lagano was arrested.

In April of 2007 Lagano was shot in the head in front of his diner.

The Lagano family filed a federal court lawsuit against the Bergen prosecutor's office that claims Lagano had business dealings with Michael Mordaga before he was busted for gambling.

If it was just a wiseguy’s family filing suit, this would not be a big deal.  

James Sweeney worked as an organized crime investigator for the state of New Jersey for 44 years.  He also handled Lagano until he was murdered.  

He let his superiors know that the Bergen prosecutor's office had some corruption inside it.

He detailed some of Lagano and Michael Mordaga’s dealings.  Lagano lent Mordaga money for business deals and they vacationed together.  After Lagano was arrested in the gambling case, Mordaga allegedly called Lagano into his office and told him to hire a certain defense attorney and to give him a $25k retainer.  He also told him 90% of his problems would go away.  Their friendship soon went bad after this.

The case has been winding its way through the system with the State of New Jersey trying to get it thrown out.  There is more evidence coming forward that Michael Mordaga pushed other business to a law firm.

Who murdered Frank Lagano?  The Lucchese family, like all of the mafia, has a lot of informants.  How has this stayed a secret for 9 years?  Unless the mafia did not murder him.

Lucchese Family & Online Bookmaking

Another group of Lucchese family bookies has been busted by the Brooklyn District Attorney's office.  All of the families seem to be going back to their bread and butter businesses.

Gambling and loansharking go hand in hand. The penalties are not even close to drug charges.

This time Eugene “Boopsie” Castelle, a Lucchese soldier, was the defacto leader of this crew. During the six months they were watched by law enforcement, they took in 13 million dollars.

This was a pretty standard operation, run by Anthony Grecco who handled the day to day business with the other agents or shareholders.

They used the website www.stakestake.com and they also had an 800 number you could call in Costa Rica.  This is the way it works.  Agents or sheetholders are your local bookies, guys in bars or clubs. If you know them, they will give you a codename and you will either post money to bet or you get credit.  Let's say you post $1000. You can go to the website and place bets or call them in until your money or limit is used up.

The wire room is located in Costa Rica, and they record all the calls.  This way there is no grey area later on dealing with the bets that were placed.  If you win or lose, Tuesday or Wednesday is typically “settle up” day.  You either pay or get paid.  Back when I was involved in this sort of crime, if it was not more than a thousand owed to us, we didn't bother meeting anyone.

Each agent or sheet holder is responsible for his bettors.  He must decide if they post or not and how much their limit should be.  He must collect and drop off every week.

Anthony Grecco would meet with the other agents/sheetholders every week to settle up.

Every six weeks Anthony Grecco would pay the wire room in Costa Rica a per head fee for the bettors using the service.

This system works well, because bookmaking is legal in Costa Rica.

Who really profits from gambling? In the case of major sports, it’s not only the bookmakers, but also the broadcasters and the leagues.  Think about college sports.  They do not pay the athletes, yet they schools and broadcasters pull down billions of dollars.  

Monday night football was created because all the betters wanted a chance to win back some of their losses from over the weekend.  Why do all the papers and websites list the point spread?  If your team was losing, you would stop watching after a certain time - but with a spread it keeps you interested.

So the DA’s office shut these guys down. Does that stop gambling? No bettors will still bet.

They charged Anthony Grecco with money laundering because he made the payments to Costa Rica.

They also charged Anthony Grecco with loan sharking for charging over 25% for loans.

I wonder if the law enforcement could better spend their time going after the guys who blast each other every night in the streets.  Nobody forces you to take a loan out. I get that morally it is wrong but people are willing to do a lot of immoral things for money.  Why does the Government have to get into what should be personal responsibility?

Eugene “Boopsie” Castelle is no stranger to trouble.  He was the capo in charge of the Bensonhurst crew of the Lucchese family after Georgie “Neck” Zappola went away.  He has a brother named Anthony who is in carting and gambling.

The Mafia goes on.

Lucchese Crime Family's New Jersey faction

Away from the mess that is New York, the New Jersey faction of the Lucchese family has been able to get some pretty good money making ventures going.  

Nicky Scarfo Jr. and his crew infiltrated a mortgage company and stole millions.  I think Nicky Jr. is down for the count this time. Who can tell because strange things happen in the mafia world these days.  

I hear that a certain spouse of a Mob Wives personality is free at home.  The strange thing is he no longer shows up on the BOP search.  They still have dead guys like Greg Scarpa, so this is strange.  Today guys get busted and there is no case and yet their partners go down.  You would have to be crazy to work with anyone today.  There was a murder on Staten Island last week which may be something, or not.

This is why I am writing about Ralph Perna Sr. and his three sons.  Ralph was a top capo that stepped in for Nicky Scarfo and was in control of a ultra lucrative bookmaking operation.  The operation pulled in 2.2 billion in bets.  Even if they were stupid, somebody took vig in the neighborhood of 220 million.  The State and Feds have not announced any huge seizures of cash.  

Ralph Sr., Joseph Perna and John Perna each plead guilty to first degree racketeering, gambling and money laundering charges in June.  

They were part of a massive bust that took down 34 of their co-conspirators including some Blood Gang members in 2010.  Ralph Perna Jr. still has his charges pending at this time.  

Ralph Sr. will get 8 years while Joseph will get 10 years, but the charges against his wife were dropped.  John Perna was given 10 years also but all of them will be eligible for parole after serving half their time.  

They got a pretty sweet deal considering who they are and what they were charged with by the state.  

Their lawyers were able to get the judge to remove all references to violence from their pre sentencing reports.  Even the wiretap evidence of them making threats to collect debts had to be dropped because it was not in the plea deal.  

The Bloods Gang and Joseph Perna stuff had to be taken out because he did not plea to helping them smuggle cell phones and drugs into a prison.

There are still 20 others awaiting their time in court on this case.  The case has gone on so long that 3 men have died in the time since they were taken down.

This seems like a huge waste of New Jersey’s time.  They have casinos in the state and Lotto.  Nobody is ever forced to place a bet with a bookmaker.  Why do all the games have odds if they do not want you to bet?

Where are the Happy Endings?

I get interesting emails all the time from blog readers.  Some just like to call me names or others like to make threats from behind their keyboard. Some readers ask good questions. One that has been asked a few times is, “Why do you say that the life is bad? That it is a dead end?”  One guy said that it is only after a guy in the life gets caught or needs revenge that they say the life is no good.  He is right. That does not take away from the fact that these guys are not dying millionaires in their beds with extended family by their side. They think I am lying when I say there are no happy endings.  I myself do not know of any happy endings in the mafia. If you just consider having some money but no quality of life a success, then I question your idea of what life is all about.

Lets look at the man who started what today is the American Cosa Nostra as we know it. Charlie “Lucky” Luciano. To be fair, it was already around, but he did a major reconstruction on the whole organization.  He was sentenced on July 18, 1936 to 30-50 years of prison time for his part in a prostitution ring.  He sat in lock up until he made a deal with the United States Government to work for them.  Let's be clear on this.  He broke the rules of Cosa Nostra by working for and cooperating with the government.  I know a lot of people will say he did it for the war effort, but the bottom line is that he did it for Charlie Lucky.  He was a cooperator. He was deported to Italy where he continued to deal in heroin. He married, cheated many times on his wife and never had kids. He was basically broke when he died at the Naples airport where he was selling his story to a movie producer.  

Al Capone was sent away for tax evasion and spent his last years drooling on himself in his Florida mansion.  

The point I am trying to make is that none of these stories end well.  If money is what drives you and all you want is the flash, then yes, the life will most probably give you that.  You will go through some tough times, you will have to rob and steal.  You may have to kill a friend or two, but you will get some good years.  If you are lucky, you will get five years and then its RICO.  You will lose everything and so will your family.  They got Joey Massino to flip after they took his mother’s and wife’s homes away.  He could have done his time, but knowing the two women who stuck by him would suffer was too much for him. So he did what any smart guy would do.  He made a deal. They let his wife and mother keep their homes.

RICO is the hammer the Feds use to smash the life out of guys.  In the old days, if it was not in your name you would be able to keep it.  Today, guys go away and their families live in poverty. When they come home they have nothing and their crews don't help much at all.

A young guy with flash and money, okay I can see that happen. An old guy with cash and assets after a lifetime in the Mafia that might be like a white Buffalo, very rare.

Let's say you beat the odds and you live to be an old man.  You did a few years and had the law watching you for years.  What kind of life is that?  What about your kids and family.  A lot of the kids not in the life have substance abuse problems.  They have issues and that is brought on by the father.  

What about those that bring their kids into the life?  I guess the father did not love their child very much.  How could any reasonable thinking man think anything good would come out of having your son be a thief and murderer?

So here is my last example.  Nicodemo Scarfo Jr., or Nicky Jr, is the son of the man who became the boss of the Philadelphia family.  After his father Nicky Scarfo Sr. went away for life, Nicky Jr. was targeted for assassination.  He was shot up, but he lived, so Nicky Sr. asked his friend Vic Amuso, the boss of the Lucchese family, to take him into his family.  Vic agreed and Nicky Jr. was made into the Lucchese Family.  Nicky Jr was smarter than most street guys and he started ahead because his father was boss.  He used computers and other sophisticated means to make cash.

He and a few other guys took over a Texas based mortgage company and stole millions without using weapons.  Firstplus Financial Group was ripe for them to take over and they did by using a few well placed threats.  They also created some dummy corporations and they started bleeding the company dry.  They stole over 12 million dollars from the company while the scam was going on.

All that money and Nicky Scarfo Jr was just sentenced to 30 years behind bars at age 50.  He could make it because his father is 86 now and still locked up.  Nicky Scarfo Sr. has a release date in 2033 which I doubt he will make.

The guys who worked with Nicky Jr. to loot the mortgage company were given 20 and 10 year sentences.  Oh yeah and the Government seized all their assets.  It may have seemed that age 50 he was a success in terms of money, but the story ended otherwise.  As all that I know of do.

Mafia Cops

Louis Eppolito and Stephen Caracappa are referred to as the Mafia Cops.  Louis Eppolito wrote a book named “Mafia Cop: The Story of an Honest Cop Whose Family Was the Mob in 1992.”

That was very far from the truth because Louis Eppolito was worse than any made member of any family.  Street guys, knockaround guys, never pretend to be anything but what they are in life: criminals.  Most of them take the same route to becoming made members of a crime family.

Louis Eppolito came from a mafia family, his father was a Gambino soldier and his uncle and cousin were also Gambino men until they were murdered by Nino Gaggi and Roy Demeo.

Eppolito went to great lengths in his book to proclaim his innocence. Unfortunately it was all a lie and it was worse than the Internal Affairs of the NYPD could have imagined.

The March 9, 2005 indictment of Eppolito and Caracappa says it all.  At all times relevant Stephen Caracappa and Louis Eppolito were associates of the LCN.  It seems for years the two NYPD officers passed information to the Lucchese Family and they in turn passed it on to the other families.  They passed on information to the underboss of the Lucchese family Anthony “Gaspipe” Casso.  He would refer to them as his crystal ball and they would give him that edge.

The two NYPD officers then took part in 8 murders for the Lucchese family including the murder of Nicholas Guido.  Nicholas Guido was a hard working 26 year old telephone installer who was very proud of his new car on Christmas day 1986.  He was showing it off to his uncle when a three man hit team gunned him down on his Brooklyn street.  The problem was, it was the wrong Nicholas Guido!  The two Mafia Cops had kidnapped a Gambino associate named James Hydell because he had taken part in a failed hit on Gaspipe Casso. Gaspipe tortured Hydell until he gave up the name of those who had taken part in his shooting. Once Gaspipe learned Nicky Guido took part in his shooting he contacted his man Burton Kaplan a huge weed dealer and go between to the Mafia Cops.  Eppolito and Caracappa gave him a picture of Nicky Guido and a Brooklyn address near Court Street.  The three man hit team Frank Listerino, Georgie Zappola and Joseph Testa drove by and saw a man in a red car they thought was Nicky Guido.  They wrote down the plate number and again the Mafia Cops ran it and this time the name matched.  They were waiting outside on Christmas day when he came outside and they ambushed him. He was an innocent man and those two degenerate cops who were sworn to protect the public caused his death.  

They would retire from the NYPD but that never stopped them.  They gave up information about Sammy The Bull Gravano so the Gambinos could kill him.  

The good thing is just last week a Federal Judge ruled that the City of New York can be sued for the two criminals actions.  The NYPD had a chance in 1984 when they caught Louis Eppolito passing information to Rosario “Sal” Gambino.  Sal Gambino was deeply involved in the Pizza Connection Heroin ring.  The FBI had found copies of sensitive documents in Sal’s dresser when they raided his home. They were NYPD Intelligence files and it was determined that they were copied at the 62nd Precinct in Brooklyn and they had Louis Eppolitos fingerprints on them. The NYPD cleared him of charges despite compelling evidence that he was guilty.  It was then that Eppolito started working for the Lucchese Family and over the years he and his partner would be paid over $375,000 in cash.  They sold their souls.

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.

Lucchese Family

Back to the Lucchese Family this week.  Carmine Avellino, the younger brother of Sal Avellino (who used to be then-boss Tony "Ducks" Corallo’s driver and confidant).  It was in Sal’s Jaguar that they used to talk Mafia business which was valuable in taking down Tony Ducks in the Commission case.  Carmine followed the rest of his family into the Lucchese Family and into the Carting Rackets.  They sought to control all the carting (garbage hauling) on Long Island, and they came close to succeeding.  

When Tony Ducks went away for life in the Commission case, he first appointed Buddy Luongo as boss.  Buddy soon disappeared and that put Vic Amuso in the top spot.  Vic upped his long time partner Gaspipe Casso as the underboss.  

They soon decided that something in the Garment rackets had to change.  That something was a long time family member named Michael Pappadio.  Michael was a oldtimer who knew the “rag trade” inside and out.  He had virtually run the Lucchese's garment center racket for 30 years until Vic and Gas took over.  Soon some associate started telling them that Michael was holding back cash from the family.  They knew next to nothing about the rag trade, but what they did know is that it brought in a huge amount of cash.  They were basically drug dealers who made big money and had survived the commission case unscathed, so they were able to take over the family.

Carmine Avellino and his brother Sal were very close to Pappadio, so they were tapped to set him up for murder.  The place they chose was a Bagel Bakery in South Ozone Park Queens that Carmine had some ownership in.  On May 13, 1989, the day before Pappadio's birthday, Carmine led him into the bakery.  As soon as he entered, he yelled, “Surprise look who's here!”  Al D'Arco rushed forward with a heavy copper cable covered in rubber and smashed him on the head.  He didn't die easy, but he did die after George Zappola shot him with a 357.  Carmine went through his pockets and handed Zappola a small book and other things to be given to Gaspipe.

Today Carmine is back to his old tricks and he has been arrested for having two associates rough up two elderly shylock customers.  I always find it funny when the government uses the elderly card because Carmine is 70 years old.  They used that in California on Jimmy Caci: they claimed he deserved a longer sentence because he went after elderly people for something.  Jimmy was close to 80 when this happened so it was a waste of paper.  

Carmine had Daniel Capra and his brother Michael deal with the debtors who had started to cooperate with the FBI.  The FBI took them down and they held Carmine without bail until his daughter put up her house as a million dollar bond.  Now he is free with restrictions, but free.  

There are a lot of senior Lucchese Family members free now, so we should be seeing some big FBI operations coming down soon!

Bowat

Bowat

Anthony Baratta was a Capo in the Gambino family in the golden years of the Mafia.  His son Anthony “Bowat” Baratta Jr followed him into the life.  Bowat was always an earner in the Harlem crew of the Lucchese Family (the neighborhood he grew up in was no longer a Gambino territory).  Most of his money came from the Heroin business.

He would work with the guys on Pleasant Avenue, aka The Pleasant Ave Connection.  So many guys came out of that group, but they all paid with long periods behind bars.  Bowat took a Heroin pinch way back when one of his guys was dealing with an undercover cop.  They saw Bowat picking up the Heroin and then placing it in a car to be picked up after the cash was exchanged.  He tried for an appeal but that didn't go any place, so he did his time.  

Bowat was close to guys in the LA Family, so his power stretched across the country.  He rubbed some guys wrong because they felt he had "Airs" about him, like he thought he was royalty. He became a Made guy in Lucchese Family's Bronx Faction in 1978, after being sponsored into the family by the powerful underboss Salvatore "Tom Mix" Santoro.  It should come as no surprise, because Tom Mix was a huge heroin dealer until later in life when he took over control of the construction rackets for the Lucchese Family.

Once Bowat was released for his heroin dealing, he became the Capo who ran the Bronx Faction and he would be on the ruling panel after Vic Amuso went away.  He would take part in the September 1991 planned killing of Al D'Arco at the Kimberly Hotel with Frank Lastorino and soldier Mike Desantis.  That turned out bad and Al D'Arco was able to escape and would later flip after they threatened his family.  

Bowat must not have learned a thing because he took part in an induction ceremony in October of 1991 that would become known as the Mafia Class of 1991, Bowat along with 6 members of the family ruling panel and 3 soldiers inducted 5 men into the family.  One man he sponsored, Thomas D'Ambrosia, because he was a big part of his Bronx Heroin crew.  Another man inducted that night was Frankie Gioia who would flip because Lucchese Mobsters were going to kill his father while Frankie was locked up.  Everyone else that took part in the Class of 1991 would be locked up in less than 3 years with one dying behind bars.  

Bowat would take a plea deal for 15 years in 1993 and then in 1995 he would be indicted for taking part in the murder of two men over garbage hauling.  In 1996 Bowat was in Otisville FCI where he became friendly with Andrew Higgins who was the son of well respected Tony Higgins.  They got involved in a Heroin deal and bunch of guys ended up going down for it.

Maybe Bowat liked being locked up, who can say.  He had to give up cigars while locked up so he started to smoke a pipe.  He liked to cook while locked up, he would get kosher baked beans from the Jews and then put a ton of hot peppers in them. They would be so hot there would be sweat on his bald head.

In 1992 the Lucchese Family and the Mafia hit an all time low (even for them) when they targeted turncoat Peter Chiodo's sister, Patricia Capozzalo for murder.  The rule used to be that families were off limits, but in a family that was run by the crackhead "Gaspipe," there were no rules.  So Michael "Baldy" Spinelli and Dino Basciano ambushed Patricia just after she dropped off her two children at school.  They wounded her but failed to kill her before they got away.  Baldy had enlisted his mentally challenged brother Robert Spinelli to drive the switch car after they dumped the van used in the hit.  Baldy would soon be locked up for the attempted hit but that did not stop him from wanting to be a made man in the Lucchese Family.  He felt that he was not getting credit for his part in the hit so he lobbied for his induction.  Soon the crackhead Gaspipe was locked up with him.  So Gaspipe and Bowat decided that since Dino Basiano had flipped they would induct him into the family.

So in 1993 Bowat took part in what must have been the worst induction ceremony ever in the bathroom of MMC Manhattan.  There would be no chanting, no pistol or knife and no Saint Card, what Baldy would get was burning toilet paper in his hand while he took the oath.

Today Bowat is free along with a number of the Class of 1991.  He is now free to use his table at Rao's 3 times a month as long as he keeps away from other guys on his list.  Maybe when he gets off parole he will step up and start making moves.

Nicodemo Scarfo & Lucchese Scams

Halloween night 1989.  A lone man walks into Dante & Luigi's restaurant in South Philly wearing a Batman mask.  He walks straight towards a table of three men pulls out a Mac 10 and opens fire.  He fires five times at one man, striking him in the chest twice, the neck and arm, until he falls on the floor in a pool of blood. The masked man quickly exits the restaurant and drops the Mac 10 on the sidewalk outside.

Nicodemo Scarfo Jr.

Lying in the pool of blood: Nicodemo Scarfo Jr.  Luck was on his side that night because none of the wounds were life threatening.  In fact he didn't even need a blood transfusion. The bullets missed vital organs and blood vessels.  That is the way hits go sometimes.

The shooting gave the FBI an inside look into the mind of the 24 year old up and coming Mobster.  He had thrown his weight around because his father was the boss and one of the most violent in the country. Times had changed and  Nicodemo Scarfo Sr was now locked up in Federal Prison for the rest of his life.  They recovered a laptop computer belonging to the young Scarfo and they soon discovered bookmaking and shylocking records.  This was new because very few Mobsters even knew what a computer was at the time.

The shooter would be identified in court years later as Skinny Joey Merlino, the son of imprisoned Underboss Salvatore "Chuckie" Merlino.  Skinny Joey and Nicodemo Jr had been close friends at one time, but when the elder Scarfo had a falling out with the Merlinos they stopped being friends.  Joey was tired of Nicodemo Jr acting like he was the new boss of Philly and he was trying to lead his young turks into a power position.  Nicodemo Jr was also collecting street tax and bringing messages from his father at the time, so this could have been a message to his father.

Nicodemo not only survived, but thanks to a close friendship that his father has with Lucchese Family boss Vic Amuso, he was Made into the Lucchese Family.  He quickly left Philly and started working with the Lucchese New Jersey crew.  The Lucchese Family has always had a strong presence in New Jersey so it was a good choice.  

The FBI would would also install a key logger system on Nicodemo Jrs computer so they could monitor his usage and passwords.  They had to use this "Bug" because he was using an encryption software called PGP and they could not get into his files.  Nicodemo would challenge this in pretrial motions, but like all things FBI they claimed that after the 9-11 attacks they had to use software like this and keep it secret.  They would use the information to indict him on racketeering charges.

Once he was out of prison, he was right back at things with Lucchese family in New Jersey.  He was promoted to Capo and he helped run the Lucchese's New Jersey factions Gambling business.  They went online and started taking action using the website BIGACTIONSPORTS.COM.  They also had a wireroom in San Jose, Costa Rica, with more than 20 people working the room and processing the bets.  In 2007 Nicodemo Jr was no longer in charge because he had moved on to bigger things. He would brag to people that he could steal more with a computer than 10 guys with guns.  They started calling him “Nick Promo”, “Mr. Apple” and “Mr. Macintosh” for his computer skills.

The state would launch an investigation aimed at taking down the Lucchese Family in New Jersey.  It would last a  year and was called Operation Heat.  This time they took down 34 people on gambling charges.  In the 15 months they were watching the crew they recorded 2.2 billion dollars in wagers!  Just so Operation Heat would get even more headlines, the State also indicted Edwin and Dwayne Spears , Edwin Spears is a high ranking member of the Nine Trey Gangster set Bloods.  They called it an alliance but it was just two Lucchese guys: Joseph Perna and Michael Cetta, financing an operation with a corrections officer to smuggle cellphones and drugs into prison. So much for the Mafia Bloods connection.

Nicodemo Scarfo Sr

Nicodemo was working on something much bigger at this time.  He and Sal Pellulo decided to target a company in Texas called First Plus Financial Group, a publicly traded company.  First Plus Finacial Group was a Texas Based Mortgage company.   In April of 2007 they replaced its management and board of directors with their own people.  They then had the board purchase two corporations owned by Nicodemo Jr and Sal Pellulo for millions of dollars and thousands of shares of stock..  The problem was the two companies had little or no value.  They then had the board pay out huge amounts of cash that went to them as consultants.  Nicodemo Jr bought a huge house using $250,000 he got from the scam.  He set up trusts for his kids that were used to launder the cash from the scam.  Sal Pellulo bought an $800,000 jet to travel to Texas and Florida. Then the best part of the scam is that they then helped the stock price rise and they sold their shares for a profit!  Nicodemo Scarfo Sr and Vic Amuso were on the indictment as indicted co conspirators in the whole scam.  They were called Uncle Nicky, Mr MacArthur and Uncle Vic or Papa.  They were helping him, calling shots, two bosses that were locked up for life!

We shall see soon what happens because they are set to begin trial and neither Nicodemo Jr nor Sal Pellulo ever had their names on any of the paperwork.

Mafia Headlines Today - Lufthansa Heist

The Lufthansa Heist!  These headlines graced many newspapers this week.  When you dig deeper into the story, you see that only one man is charged with involvement in the legendary heist. The Feds had 4 informants, one of which is Joey Massino, one his Capo and Boss, and the other is his cousin!  

Vincent Asaro was inducted into the Bonnano Family in 1968.  One of Vincent’s crew mates was Anthony Mirra, who would be killed after the Donnie Brasco undercover investigation of the Bonnano Family.  Vincent was placed in his Uncle Mickey Zaffarano's crew.   Mickey at one time had been with his Brother-in-Law Joseph Asaro.  Let me explain who Mickey was in the Mafia.  Mickey was the man who ran the porn business in the 1970's by controlling the Pussy Cat theatres and other movie houses before video cassette.  I know he backed a few porn guys in California working out of the valley.  Mickey was also a mentor to Robert Dibernardo or “DeBee” who ran the porn business for the Gambino Family until John Gotti had him killed.

The way the new RICO case reads is this: on or about and between January 1, 1968 and June 30, 2013 both dates being approximate and inclusive. These are the words that enable the Government to charge three Made men in the Bonnano Crime family with Racketeering crimes even though the statute of limitations has run out.  The crimes include the staple of the Mafia, Shylocking or Loaning money. They also include the murder of Paul Katz in 1969 (he was buried and moved to a Queens backyard) and the December 11, 1978 theft of 5 million dollars in cash and over a million dollars in gold and jewels. Vincent Asaro and company were also charged with burning down a club known then as “Afters on Rockaway Blvd” because it catered to blacks and the Italian restaurant across the street thought it would be bad for business.

Vincent and his son Jerome (also known as Jerry) robbed a Fed Ex driver of 1.2 Million in gold salts.

The Lufthansa robbery was huge and it has been detailed in at least 3 films. In Goodfellas, Robert De Niro plays Jimmy Burke, the mastermind who they renamed Jimmy Conway.  Henry Hill, who was not part of the robbery crew, was played by Ray Liota, which is a huge improvement over the real-life drunken, drug-addicted Henry Hill.  Jimmy Burke had to include members of three crime families in the robbery because they controlled various parts of the airport.  Paulie Vario, a Luchese Family Capo, controlled the Union at the airport.  Another, who in the past has been misidentified as the Gambino guy in control of the airport, was Vincent Asaro who was really the Bonnano Family man at the airport.  Paulo LiCastri was the Gambino Family man who went on the heist.

Vincent Asaro is being charged as one of the men who kept watch outside, while others carried out the robbery.  Jimmy Burke went crazy with greed and paranoia after he realized how much he really stole.  He participated in and had over 10 people connected with the robbery murdered.  When the time came for the split of the cash, those who were still alive were never given their share of the robbery.  Pauli Variosent’s son Peter was to collect his end, which he did eventually get.  

Vincent Asaro eventually was able to collect 240,000 dollars, half of which he stole from one of the informants on his case.  Vincent also brought Joey Massino a box of gold and jewels as his end of the robbery.  That turned out to be a bad move, because Joey Massino is one of the informants that helped put together the RICO Case.

The FBI taped Vincent Asaro complaining about the Robbery to an informant. "We never got our right money,what we were supposed to get. We got fucked all around, Got Fucked all around, that fucking Jimmy Burke kept everything."  I guess he was pissed but he was still close to Jimmy Burke because even many years later he had his guys move the body of Paul Katz who he murdered with Jimmy Burke in 1969.

Vincent Asaro is now 78 years old and a Capo on the ruling panel that runs the family with Boss Tommy Di Fiore.  Vincent's father was a made man and so is his son Jerome who is indicted along with the rest of them.  Vincent has a bad gambling habit and he was even demoted from his Capo position and placed under his son when he took too much cash from his crew.  The FBI has some great tapes of him bad mouthing the Boss Tommy Di Fiore over cash and even former Boss Joey Massino.

It is never boring when you live in the Mafia, but this one instance goes to show that the FBI will get you no matter how many years have passed.