Armed Robbery, Mafia Style

Armed robbery has always been a staple of Organized Crime.  The five families in New York always had crews that pulled down great scores ranging from Brinks to Lufthansa.  Some guys especially liked robbing armoured cars.  One of the guys I was around in Brooklyn planned to ship a box with a small person inside it to an armoured car depot.  He was then going to open the doors and let the armed robbers inside.  The FBI foiled that plot before it got off the ground because they flipped the small person.

There is a lot in the recent news about the 1978 armed robbery of Lufthansa Airlines at JFK Airport of $6 million in cash and jewels.

The FBI has one 78 year old Bonanno Family capo under arrest after recording tapes of him speaking about it to informants.  Of course, he now has none of the money.  They have tape!  

There is a new book out that claims to have inside information about the heist from Henry Hill.  Henry Hill, although he was around the Lucchese Crew, was never a planner of heists.  He was a drug dealer, a drunk, and a drug addict, who died of heart failure from his years of drug abuse.  Anyone who ever heard him on the Howard Stern show or met him in person knows better.

The book claims that he was a planner of the heist and that he had a sitdown with John Gotti over it. You, the reader, would have a better chance of having a sit down with John Gotti.  

There was another crew that operated in upstate New York. They were under Angele Prisco, a Genovese Capo.  

The crew was made up of Rocky Melicharek, Michael Luni, Shakes Memoli, Angelo Nicosia, Danny Celaj, Neddy Gjelaj and Louis Pipolo (the nephew of Vincent Gigante).  They robbed upstate New York homes in October of 2003.

One of the homes was that of the star of the American Chopper TV series who lived in Montgomery, NY.  The crew busted in and dragged a 60 year old house sitter out of his bed and pistol whipped him.   Paul Teutul Sr. was not home during the robbery because he was traveling.  The crew also hit another home that same month where they got in excess of $250,000 in cash.  They kicked up a portion of the scores to Angelo Prisco.

All the members of the crew were caught and some of them flipped.  Angelo Prisco is now doing life for a murder, so this additional charge was no big deal.

The Gambino Family has had a lot of home invaders.  One of the low points was when Gambino Associate Frank LaCorte hired two men: Antoine Burroughs and Leon Whitfield, to rob a Queens Pizza shop owner.  The man tried to protect his elderly father from a brutal beat down he received from the two men.

Ori Spado, a Colombo Family Associate, while cooperating with the FBI, planned a Los Angeles home invasion with his buddy Christopher Curanovic.  Ori planned it and his son rented the car for the crew to use in the robbery.  They ended up hitting the wrong place and torturing a woman.  The FBI found out and later took them all down for it.

Tommy Gioli’s nephew Thomas McLaughlin recorded Big Anthony Russi, a Colombo Capo who flipped, Joseph Savarese and Associate Scott Fappiano planning an home invasion in which the would use pistols and bullet proof vests.  They were not able to pull it off.  The FBI stopped that one.

Armed robbery of businesses or armoured cars is one thing, but breaking into homes and torturing people or murdering them is quite another.  Both are crimes.  

What about Freddy in Brooklyn?

Las Vegas: Operation Thin Crust

The last Las Vegas Mafia cases were Operation Button Down and Operation Thin Crust.  Operation Button Down was a nationwide assault on the leaders of the Mafia.  Operation Thin Crust was an FBI operation started in Las Vegas aimed at Mafia crews working in Las Vegas.

Las Vegas is what is known as an open city in the Mafia world.  The Chicago Outfit ran the city for many years because they had the most interest in Casinos because they used Teamster loans to finance the Casinos. So when you see any film or something written and they say the Las Vegas Mob it is written by someone that has no clue.  The big rule for many years was that you were never supposed to kill in town because it would disrupt the Casino business.  

Operation Thin Crust

John Branco

The Operation was started by the FBI using a Fat Con Man named Tony Angeiletti and an undercover Agent that was called Charlie Morone.  Fat Tony opened up a Social Club behind the Rio in an industrial area and he was soon sucking up to the LA Families Underboss Carmen "Flipper" Milano.  Fat Tony named his club The Seabreeze after Carmen's Sea Breeze Distribution.  Carmen was the underboss and when I was in Las Vegas I would go see him with Jimmy Caci or Steve Cino. We would often meet at an Italian Deli owned by a Gambino guy named Johnny Mash.  The FBI soon realized that Fat Tony was a lying con man so they changed directions in their investigations. Fat Tony and another street hood in Las Vegas, John Branco, both were informants and neither knew that Charlie Morone was an undercover Agent.  John Branco was a long time low level street hood who was still trying to play the tough guy.  He was a big guy who would beat up smaller men but he could not do any work.  He was also an informant and had worn a wire for the FBI when his daughter was involved in killing her husband in Chicago. He was locked up in Boron Federal Penitentiary and he was released to get the murderers on tape. Jimmy Caci knew this and so did the others. John Branco used to collect money for Herbie Blitzstein's shylock business and he also tried his hand at extortion.  He tried to extort the owners of escort businesses in Las Vegas.  One night he confronted an escort operator and a fight broke out and one of his wannabees pulled a pistol.  John was arrested and his bail set but he had no way of making bail and Herbie told him to sit it out.  John flipped and began working with the FBI.  He soon began giving information on Charlie who was in Las Vegas to pursue criminal opportunities.  They soon revealed that Charlie was an FBI Agent and they started working together.

The Las Vegas FBI planned on taking down Fat Herbie in the case, and they had a bug in his house. Meanwhile John Branco and Fat Tony were going around telling people that Fat Herbie was a rat.  They wanted him hurt because they owed him money and they wanted what he had.  I have written before that Herbie was known to carry large sums of cash and he had a large shylock business.  The LA guys Steve Cino, Jimmy Caci, Carmen Milano and Bobby Milano all liked Herbe but they would still take a cut of his business.  The only LA guy who did not like Herbie was Louie Caruso, a Capo under Pete Milano.  Louie did not like Herbie because Herbie had him moved out of a booth at a stripclub in Las Vegas.  Louie is a short man who pumps himself up like a mini bodybuilder but he is no tough guy. He brought some bikers to a family sitdown in Los Angeles in a breach of the rules. Later he would be beaten up by some bikers.  

Jimmy Caci and I were making our rounds in LA one day when we had to go meet a friend named Abe at Starbucks across from the Beverly Connection. Abe brought a friend named Eddie to the meeting. Ori Spado ended up at the meeting, which I did not like.  Eddie had these really good Visa travelers checks that could even be run through a machine and they would come up real. He gave us four as a sample, Ori tried to take them but I got them.  A week later, Ori got Jimmy arrested and Jimmy was locked up.  Jimmy told me to take them to Las Vegas.  Rocky Zangari and John Demattia (members of another crew of the LA Family) heard about it from their guys in Vegas and decided to get in on it and shook down Abe. They started to bring them to Las Vegas.  We had a huge sitdown in Culver City where guys came from Las Vegas and Palm Springs. Jimmy's lawyer went to see him and brought back word that we were to drop it and let Rocky deal with it because it was a waste.

So Louie Caruso and Rocky Zangari dealt with John Branco and Charlie.  Louie Caruso really did want to make John Branco into the family.  I met him with Jimmy and Ori in Palm Springs at Club 340 one afternoon. I was there with my girlfriend and Louie brought his girlfriend so they hung out while we had our talk.  Louie brought up John Branco and how he wanted to to bring him into the family. Jimmy flipped out because Louie brought it up in front of me and that he would even consider it.  Jimmy told him John Branco was a rat and had worn a wire.  Louie was shocked and embarrassed but like a lot of Mob guys he liked easy cash and he got it from John Branco and the FBI.  I took a picture of Ori at that meeting and it is all over the web check it out.

A few weeks later I met Steve Cino in Las Vegas at Marie Calendars and we spoke about Herbie and Louie Caruso.  The real wiseguys did not want Herbie killed it was the wannabee guys but a mob killing makes the news.  Never mind that no made guy took part or was convicted for the murder.  Yet writers keep writing about the Mafia killing Herbie.

Frank Cullota

“I liked Jewelry stores because they had a lot of cash.”  - Frank Cullota

Frank was the Leader of the notorious Hole in the Wall Gang, a very success crew that pulled scores in Las Vegas when the Chicago Outfit reigned supreme in Sin City.

Frank Cullota

Frank was born June 20, 1938 in Chicago.  He met the man who would become his best friend in his criminal career when he was 13 years old.  That man was Tony Spilatro.  Tony would work his way up from a street thug to the Outfit’s man in Las Vegas.  

I was speaking to Frank on the phone the other day and I asked him a few questions.

First, I wanted to know about Herbie Blitzstein.  I liked Herbie, I always felt he was a good guy who just did what he knew.  A lot of people refer to him as an enforcer but I never got that vibe when I was around him. The FBI was running Operation Button Down and Operation Thin Crust in 1995 in Las Vegas.  The LA Family was once more trying to regroup and Las Vegas was one of the places they were working on.  

Fat Steve Cino lived there along with a host of associates, so LA Capo Jimmy Caci and I would drive out there frequently.  Jimmy was out on an appeal bond for a Telemarketing deal gone bad, so we were trying to get things moving.  Jimmy and his brother Bobby Milano liked Herbie and so did Steve Cino.  

Jimmy would get picked up by LAPD because he was around an FBI informant named Ori Spado in Beverly Hills.  Ori had gone out on a collection in the Valley and Jimmy was in his car.  Ori went into this business and he started running his mouth selling wolf tickets, the guy had enough of Ori’s crap and he decked Ori with a tape dispenser.  Ori was on the ground and the guy had a pistol out when Jimmy came into the office and stopped the guy.  The guy knew Jimmy from the track so he chilled and he explained his situation.  The guy had a business that went bankrupt everything was in bankruptcy so he had nothing.  Jimmy helped Ori to the car where he dressed Ori down for acting so foolish.  Ori never told Jimmy what he was doing there or Jimmy would not have even gone with him.  

A week later I went to dinner with Jimmy and Ori at Frankie’s after dinner Jimmy went to Ori's apartment.  While there, Ori had to get something from his car.  The next thing Jimmy knew there was a knock at Ori's door.  Ori ran to open it, and it was the LAPD OC Squad.  

Ori lived in a secured building.  

Thanks to Ori,  Jimmy was away on January 6, 1996 when some wannabee low class robbers broke into Herbie’s condo and murdered him.

This was not a Mafia crime in anyway shape or form.  The only guys I heard that wanted him dead were the two FBI informants John Bronco and Fat Tony. They both owed Herbie money.  The FBI used it in a RICO case against Steve Cino and Bobby Panera but it was a joke.

Speaking to Frank about Herbie helped me learn some more about Herbie.

Herbie was a bookmaker in Chicago and he made juice loans but he was not a tough guy.  He was in too big to go on scores but he always had money on him.  He would carry 20k in his pockets because the IRS would take anything of value from him.  He owed them for unpaid taxes.  Frank was asked by his boss in Chicago to move out to Las Vegas to help Tony out in the 70's when he got out of prison. It was not an order just a nudge to go out to Las Vegas.  

Tony opened up a jewelry store in Las Vegas called Gold Rush Ltd where they bought and sold Jewelry.  Tony told Frank that he was bringing out the Jew to help, that is what they called Herbie.  Herbie mostly worked in the back room removing jewels from settings and melting down the gold.  He bought hot merchandise.

Frank told me that Herbie was never a hard guy he just looked it.  

I asked Frank who he admired most in his criminal life and he came back with two answers.  One guy he liked was Sam Giancana who was tough and smart.  Sam used to tell him that he was too quick with his fists because Frank was young and angry.  He told him that it would get him in trouble someday.  The other guy is a criminal legend. Tony Accardo, Joe Batters the man who was in the Outfit since Al Capone and never spent a night in jail.  He would see Tony at the Golden Bear Pancake house and after the first time Tony saw him there he would say hello. Nobody got close to Tony but he knew who everyone was everywhere he went. If Tony would have been legit he would be a Billionaire today.

I cannot do justice to Frank’s story on this blog, you can read all about his life in his book Cullotta: The Life of a Chicago Criminal, Las Vegas Mobster, and Government Witness. Frank has a lot to say and anyone who wants to gain a better understanding about the Life should attend Mob-Con Sept. 7 and 8 in Las Vegas at the Palace Station.  You can meet Frank and ask him any questions about the life.  Others I have featured on previous blog posts will be there also:

Andrew DiDonato

Andrew Didanato, Frank Calabrese, Tony Montana, Tim Redsull as well as Law enforcement speakers and authors.

Hear from Andrew about life in a crew where one wrong step could mean death and that went for the boss's son John Gotti Jr.

Frank Calabrese

Speak to Frank Calabrese about growing up in a Mafia house hold and then running his father street rackets.  

For more information check out the convention’s website:

http://mob-con.net/

Better than Brooklyn

I was sitting outside Cafe Roma in Beverly Hills last week.  I was enjoying the great day and the people walking by on the sidewalk.  I was thinking about all the guys I used to know.

That day John Franzese Jr was sitting in a courtroom sending his father away to die.

Can I blame John?  No John did what was best for him.  The guy has his own demons and will face more in the future.  Sonny Franzese is exactly where he should be.  The life he lived and the choices he made brought him to that place.  Sonny trusted John after he put him away before.  Sonny had Ori Spado around him when he knew that Ori was an informant for the FBI.

Ori was because of greed and John was because he is an old man and thought he could count on his son.

I wondered about my former friend Eddie Garofalo.  He is still sitting in his cell in Brooklyn. Teddy Persico jr a life long friend he was on the outs with sits in the same place.  This will mark the second time Eddie brought Teddy down.  I am sure Sunday was tough on Eddie, because he has kids.  Teddy has nobody and nothing.  Teddy has done almost 20 years now!  Eddie did 3 months and cried last time.  This marks the longest he has been away.  Will Eddie do the time?  Will he flip?

Tommy Shots Geoli sits.  Ori Spado is there. how long will they get?

The Feds have more in store for the Colombo family!

Sitting outside in Beverly Hills on a sunny day. I am so glad I left that life behind.

Kenji OC

Mafia Father, Informant Son.

John Franzese Jr better enjoy what he has in life now.  When the Government is finished using him on this case he will lose his bargaining chip.  I was an informant for 8 years, I did a job.  I never crossed into an area like John Franzese Jr.  John is really killing his father Sonny.  This is the end of Sonny's life no matter what the outcome.  John is sending him to an isolated cold death.  He could be out enjoying his family, having the comforts of old age.  Instead he will die in the cold prison hospital yet to be determined.  

I knew John when he was in California.  I still have his card from Odessa House, the sober living home he lived at in Santa Monica.  I went to his favorite place to eat with him.  The Bowling Alley.  I was on his TV show.  I can see why he would testify against Ori Spado.  Ori used to use John for his name and his father.  Then behind John's back he would call him a rat and show people Ganglandnews.  

I am sure Sonny Franzese just got old.  He was greedy.  Maybe he needed the money.  Sonny without a doubt knew Ori Spado was a rat.  I sent him the tape of Ori speaking to the FBI.  

Sonny knew John had turned him in to the FBI before.  He still trusted John to drive him around.  John was out taking money from people.  John could never be trusted.

One person who trusted John was his wife in California.  She sold her home and moved into an apartment with John.   She traveled to New York with her young son to meet Sonny.  They all had a very good time.  Then one day John was acting funny, very nervous and he was pacing back and forth in the garage.  John had hidden a duffel bag in the garage.  He told his wife he was okay.  She went back out and he was gone.  She has never heard from him again.  She even reported him missing.  He left her and her son alone.  

That is what the Mafia is all about.  Father against Son, Son against Father, Brother against Brother, Friend against Friend.

I am on the Deadliest Warrior on Spike TV on Tuesday night.  I am also on The Aftermath Show!

Kenji OC