Gerard "Skeevy" Bellafiore: Bank Robber for Life

In July of 2016 a Martin County Sheriff's deputy responded to a burglary in progress at a Chase Bank in Jensen Beach Florida. When he pulled up to the bank he witnessed a man wearing a hoodie attempting to grab night deposit bags out of the box he had broken into.  The man turned and was holding a modified gaffing hook - a garden hoe sized tool used to bring large fish in off a line.  

The man had on a Freddy Kruger mask and advanced towards the deputy.  He was ordered to put down the hook but instead decided to charge.  The deputy fired several shots striking the man, who was still able to run to his car and make a brief getaway.  He then hit a lightpole before he made it out of the parking lot.

The sheriff would soon learn that Gerard Bellafiore was no stranger to car wrecks and bank robberies.

He once tried to escape from the North Miami Police.  He took them on a ten block chase that ended when he lost control of his Corvette, hit a light pole, launched in the air and landed upside down on some new SUV’s at a car dealership, where the Corvette exploded in flames.

One would think that someone who lived through that life threatening experience would decide to give up a life of crime, but he did not.

He was charged along with twelve others back in 2000 with racketeering for robbing a number of banks.  He flipped and testifedi at the trial of Edmund Boyle, a Gambino family connected guy.

He explained to the jury how they robbed banks.  He showed them how and the tools they used.

He would later turn down WITSEC but promises he would go straight.  

It didn't last long, because he was soon in Florida with another crew of guys robbing banks.  He used the same M.O. He would have lookouts with walkie talkies and police scanners watching the area around the bank as he used a saw to cut off the door to the night deposit box. He used a ten foot chain attached to a car to pull the deposit boxes out. He would then use the gaff hook to pull out bags of cash retailers had deposited.

He went away for that, and when he came out he vowed again to go straight.  It didn’t last, because here he was at Chase bank, working on a box.

I cannot believe he does not tire of living life locked up.

This time I am sure he will receive another decade or more of time behind bars.

The grandson of former Gambino boss John Gotti, who also shares the same name as his famous grandfather, is being held in protective custody.  It would seem the NYPD was listening in when John Gotti’s grandson was bragging about selling 4,200 Oxycodone a month pulling down over $100k a month. It also seems that Gotti learned to run his mouth like his grandfather.  He bragged that he kept his drug records and cash at an associate's house.  

He now faces up to 25 years. I wonder what he will do when he gets out.

Breakshot Re-Release!

Breakshot Re-Release!

This week my first book Breakshot: A Life in the 21st Century American Mafia has been re-released.  The new version has some updated material and is also available for Kindle.  

It occurred to me when I was proofreading this version for typos, that many of those I wrote about are now dead.  The whole 1970’s Los Angeles mafia family is now gone.  

They tried hard to rebuild the family but the lack of a talent pool and the constant assault by the FBI made it an impossible task.  That part of my life is over now too, but I am thankful that I was able to sit with those men of a bygone era and hear their stories.  Soon the only record left will be those that learned from them.

The dream of having a casino on the Las Vegas strip that started with Jack Dragna and Jimmy Fratianno is dead.  Bobby Milano and Jimmy Caci wanted to have a Titanic themed casino but that died with Bobby and Paulie, the boss of the Denver family.

Jimmy Caci spent his whole life as a criminal, and yet if he gave you his word he would keep it.  If you were around Jimmy you could not swear if there were ladies present.  Jimmy had some great stories from Buffalo, New York.  One I was thinking about today. Jimmy and another guy were cutting into a safe at a clothing store when their lookout signaled to them that a cop was coming.  It was a beat cop on foot and Jimmy was in the display window.  Stores used to put their safes in the front hoping it would deter safe crackers. There was no way Jimmy could get out of the window in time so he posed like the other mannequins until the cop passed.  The cop never gave him a second glance and they soon cracked the safe and took off.  Jimmy would laugh when telling that story.

I wrote about Danny Persico in Breakshot because he was there at the time.  He has passed away and it is a shame.  He was harmless and he was a young guy.  I have no ill feelings toward him at all.  I hope when Teddy Persico gets out of prison he does something else with his life.

Some people just cannot learn from history so they keep repeating the same mistakes. Michael Mazzara, Charles Kerrigan and Anthony Mascuzzio are just those people.

They were part of a bank robbery crew that cut their way into bank vaults after bypassing the alarms.  They would break into buildings next door, or go through a roof and then cut their way into the vault.  They would then bust into safety deposit boxes, trashing sentimental items but taking cash and jewelry that totaled five million dollars at least.  A lot of people will not be reporting what was really in the boxes, so I am sure the haul was much larger.

Anthony Mascuzzio seems never to learn his lesson.  He had a father who was with John Gotti, but was shot dead trying to shake down a disco. Battista “Benny” Geritano a former of the “Night Drop Crew” is his stepbrother.  I wonder where Anthony got the idea to rob banks?  

The FBI and task force has been watching the crew. They installed a camera on a pole across from Michael Mazzara and Charles Kerrigan's home.  They also had a cooperator in the crew who gave up their cell phones.  They traced the phone near one of the banks they burgled.  It was pinged off towers within a block.  They caught them on video with the same red car that was used in the bank job pulling into a property next to theirs.  They also have video of them driving away with plywood in a truck that was later found at the bank.  They got them buying fire extinguishers and water buckets on a credit card. It should be noted that the red F-250 pickup truck is registered to a relative of Michael Mazzara.  They have video outside the banks with them and even though they wore hats and hoodies they were recognized.

The broke into Maspeth Federal savings bank in May where the haul was 296k in cash and 4.3 million out of the safety deposit boxes.

They hit the HSBC bank in Brooklyn in April and they are believed to have hit at least 8 other banks.  This is an unfolding story.  It will be interesting to see who the informant is and who goes down.

Battista “Benny” Geritano

Battista “Benny” Geritano is a long time Gambino Family Associate and a real tough guy who comes from a long line of wiseguys.  He once had a problem with a young made guy from the Lucchese Family.  The guy came to see him and the guy started telling him he had better watch the way he spoke.  Benny looked at him and said, “Why? Who are you? You got guns?  I got guns. Get lost.” This is how Benny felt towards guys who for one reason or another got inducted into a family and then thought they could throw their weight around.  He would respect you if you were a tough guy and laugh in your face if you were not, regardless of your status.

Alphonse "Allie Shades" Malangone was a Capo for the Genovese Family and a huge money maker.  He ran the Fulton Fish market and controlled a lot of the private carting industry. He also had restaurants and nightclubs in Brooklyn. His status as a money maker never stopped Benny from messing with Allie Shades’ girlfriend, Margo. He was told to stop and he kept it up.  Allie Shades banned him from the Brooklyn night spots Pastels and Turquoise. Benny didn't care and he would show up at the clubs anyway with the rest of his friends until the guys running the clubs would beg his friends to leave so they wouldn’t have trouble.  Margo and Benny eventually had a falling out and she ran to Allie Shades, who went to the Gambinos for a sit down over it.  Nothing happened to Benny though.

Benny’s stepfather Anthony "Shorty" Mascuzzio was once one of John Gotti’s inner circle.  That is, until he went to shakedown Bedrox  (a Mid-town disco) where he began pistol whipping the owner who then took his gun away from him and shot him dead. Benny’s stepbrother, Anthony Mascuzzio Junior is a Gambino who went away until this year for being part of a marijuana trafficking group. He also used a baseball bat on some black thugs that tried to steal his Rolex once.  

Preston J. Geritano was Benny’s uncle and a Genovese associate.  He was stabbed to death by his brother-in-law, Genovese mobster Andy Gargiulo, aka Andy Wilson, in front of Amici’s in Brooklyn.

Preston J. Geritano Junior was arrested for money laundering.  

Benny was part of what would be called the Night Drop Crew by the Feds.  The crew robbed banks by prying open the night deposit boxes and taking the deposits.  They developed remote controlled drills and used fishing gaffs to retrieve the cash.  

They all had walkie talkies and police scanners.  They got away with it from 1993 to 2003.

Benny ended up with a 71 month sentence for his part in the 10 year crime spree.

He went away and did his time.  He was busted for smoking weed when his urine test came back dirty.

An FBI Agent testified at his parole hearing that he was a suspect in four separate murders.  

Then Benny got into a fight in April of 2011 on Court Street in Brooklyn with Mark Iacono, owner of Lucali pizzeria. He was soon stabbing him on the sidewalk until both men were bloody.  Benny took off from the scene and was later found at a hospital with stab wounds including some in his back.  Benny and Mark both declined to press charges or testify in front of a grand jury.  Benny however did tell the court during his parole hearing some strange stuff.  He told the court he had been a Gambino associate and that members of a crime family wanted him dead.  He then told the court that he was trying to go straight.

The same FBI agent who claimed he was the suspect in four murders told the court that Benny was also a suspect in a bank burglary in Bensonhurst Brooklyn that took place over a holiday weekend.

The FBI had him under surveillance but failed to keep track of him.

Benny managed to get away with that stabbing but he was soon in trouble again.  This time on the night of December 23, 2012 he went to Nouveau bar in Brooklyn. He must have been in a foul mood because when a guy named Nunzio Fusco bumped into him Benny went crazy. Nunzio apologized to him and went to the bar for some drinks.  Benny followed him and Nunzio told him again he was sorry and did not want any trouble.  Benny shoved Nunzio’s girlfriend and Nunzio jumped to her defense.  Benny and Nunzio were soon trading punches until bouncers broke it up.  Benny took off and Nunzio noticed he was bleeding.   He had been stabbed three times.  Twice in the gut and once in the shoulder.  Detectives went to the bar owner who turned over a video of the incident.  The video showed Benny with the knife.  A few days after turning over the video to the police the bar owner was shot on Staten Island. He lived but he claims to not have seen the shooter.

Benny went to trial on the stabbing charges and was found guilty.  The judge gave him 12 years in prison.  He will be be 50 when he gets out and he will still be plenty tough.