Cosa Nostra News

It was 1959. The year that signaled the end of days for mobsters running around unhindered in the paradise playground of cash that is Sin City. The installment of a new, dazzling (and now iconic) “Welcome Las Vegas Nevada” sign meant welcome - but only for some folks and not others. The welcome sign that didn't welcome everyone.   It was in this year that the Gaming Control Act came into force and spelled the end of a mainly drama-free run for underworld figures, who had been moonlighting around the city at the various gaming establishments taking their cut off the top of profits and gaming the system. It’s Cosa Nostra News served fresh from the files of history.   Introduction of the Nevada Gaming Control Act - and the Nevada Gaming Commission In July of 1959, the Nevada Gaming Control Act was brought into effect which outlined a two-tier regulatory system that defined how gambling was going to go down from now on in Nevada. The tiers were that of a Gaming Control Board - who pe

Here is a fresh take on the story of Salvatore (Sammy the Bull) Gravano from a source we've never heard from before. James A. Gagliano, the author of the following, was under J. Bruce Mouw . Mouw, of course, was the FBI Supervisor of Squad C-16, the FBI "crew" assigned to investigate the illegal activities of the Gambino crime family in New York City (mostly in the 1980s and 1990s). Gagliano served 25 years with the FBI where he held investigative and undercover positions (among many other roles). These days, Gagliano  serves as a law enforcement analyst  for CNN. He also is an adjunct assistant professor and doctoral candidate at St. John’s University in Queens, NY, and is a sought-after speaker on criminal justice, homeland security, and organizational leadership matters. Salvatore (Sammy the Bull) Gravano. This photo was taken on the night of his arrest inside the Ravenite with John Gotti, Frank Locascio, and Tommy Gambino. By James A. Gagliano J. Bruce Mouw was

In this segment, two recent transcript series collide as prosecutor John Gleeson goes through the Ravenite transcripts asking Salvatore (Sammy the Bull) Gravano about the significance of certain comments. John Gotti, Sammy the Bull Gravano, Gambino boss and underboss.... This entry might prove insightful for those who had difficulty following the Ravenite transcripts. For example, take the following: GLEESON: In [the FBI transcript of the November 30, 1989, tape], Mr. Gravano, you say: “Well, you know, that and there’s an ‘inaudible.’ He would’ve, he would’ve tried to make a move from outside, I think.” What were you referring to when you said: “He would’ve tried to make a move from outside”? GRAVANO: Possibly from outside the Family. GLEESON: Who would have made a move? GRAVANO: Paul. GLEESON: Against whom? GRAVANO: Against John and Angelo. GLEESON: When you say outside the Family who, in your opinion, would he have gone to? GRAVANO: The Genovese Family. Possibly, the Westies. Who wou

Photo is of Nicky Slick, on left, and Bonanno wiseguy Tommy Karate Pitera....  By Nick Christophers In a time where almost anything goes, wrongly incarcerated wiseguy Nicky (Nicky Slick) DiPietro may have a small chance of getting sprung after spending 18 years in prison for a crime some believe he did not do. LIFERS: Nicky Slick, left, Tommy Karate Pitera In 2000, Nicky and three other men were club hopping in South Philly. It was a night that would alter his life. One of the men with Nicky Slick that night we refer to as Blondie. They arrived at the venue Club Deco and were about to enter. The front door had a metal detector, but the back entrance did not. Nicky and one of the men entered through the front and “Blondie” and the other man went the back way. Once they were inside and mingled for a while a dispute arose near the dance floor. The dispute involved Blondie and another man, later known as Tad Green. Tad Green was a local drug dealer. Green supposedly owed Blondie money and

Former Bonanno associate Gene Borrello⸺who flipped against the Bonanno family and helped put away dozens of violent criminals, and who gave us some interviews before launching a podcast about the mob with former Gambino associate John Alite⸺was arrested for threatening to kill his ex-girlfriend’s husband and hurt her father after she refused to grant him the rights to use a photo of her in a book. Gene Borrello. That must be some photo!   Borrello, 36, helped Brooklyn federal prosecutors put away more than 21 mobsters, pleaded guilty in 2016, and was sentenced to three years of supervised release and time served. All in all, he spent about five years in prison for committing a range of crimes that otherwise would've earned him a life sentence. The recent problems apparently arose for Gene, according to published reports, back on January 24 when his ex-girlfriend refused to give him permission to publish a picture of her in a book, to paraphrase Assistant US Attorney Lindsay Gerdes