Cosa Nostra News

The following is about podcasting feuds between former members of organized crime and how these feuds sometimes create unlikely alliances because the enemy of my enemy is my friend. We received emails from a couple of sources alerting us to the existence of Jeff Nadu last year. Who is Jeff Nadu? Jeff Nadu, host of The Sitdown with Jeff Nadu. (Source: Vendetta Sports Media .) He launched The Sitdown with Jeff Nadu podcast a couple of years ago. Another guy doing another mob podcast. There's a million of them, and many of them are done by former wiseguys and associates. Nadu is neither but seems to be holding his own. His podcasts are generating tens of thousands of hits, with some getting views in the hundreds of thousands.  We've listened to a handful and liked them, and we emailed Jeff and told him so. His "about" section offers the following: Jeff Nadu is an American Mafia and organized crime researcher, podcaster and content creator. He has worked at Barstool Sport...

By George Anastasia , Adjunct Professor of Law and Justice Studies, Rowan University The bloody mob war that is the focus of the 2025 Netflix series “ Mob War: Philadelphia vs. The Mafia ,” is full of the murder and mayhem, treachery and deceit that have been the hallmarks of the nation’s  Cosa Nostra  family conflicts. Former mob boss John Stanfa, pictured here in 1980, waged a bloody war for control of the Philadelphia mafia in the late 1990s. Bettmann via Getty Images What was different in Philadelphia was that the FBI had it all wired for sound. Electronic surveillance has been a major tool in the government’s highly successful war against the Mafia nationwide, but nowhere has its impact been felt more dramatically than in Philadelphia . As a reporter for The Philadelphia Inquirer, I covered this mob war in real time from 1994 through 2000. Now I teach a course at Rowan University on the history of organized crime, using the...

David Schoen, one of the attorneys who helped President Donald Trump win an acquittal following his  second impeachment trial—for inciting an insurrection at the Capitol on January 6—is representing, pro bono, former Colombo mobsters Michael Sessa and Victor (Little Vic) Orena, who have been sitting in prison cells for more than three decades thanks to crimes committed during the third Colombo war, which left 12 dead and dozens wounded in the early 1990s. Vic Orena, former Colombo acting boss. Schoen wrote a letter seeking pardons or commuted sentences for Orena and Sessa, which he sent to Trump on Christmas Eve. So far, the President hasn’t responded. Orena, 91, the former Colombo acting boss who had visions of making his position official and who is today wheelchair-bound and suffering from dementia, among other ailments, was convicted in 1992 of nine counts, including the murder of Thomas Ocera and conspiracy to murder members of the “Persico faction ” of the Colombo family. He...

A senior organized crime prosecutor once said that the Bonanno family’s idea of a meeting was to “sit around in a circle and shoot at each other.” While he was thinking of Bonanno family history circa the 1960s and 1970s, we couldn’t help but recall that quote—and the sentiment around it—when word of recent family unrest reached us. Mikey Nose, the recent prison years. Believe it nor not, it involves Operation Southern Spear, the US military’s campaign in the Caribbean to annihilate drug-smuggling boats to stop a perceived flow of illegal drugs into this country from Venezuela. The military has so far conducted at least 29 strikes since September 2, killing at least 105 individuals.  The Trump Administration and the Pentagon have presented no public evidence to support their drug trafficking assertions. In fact, Operation Southern Spear is most likely a “false flag” operation—the real goal of which is regime change in Venezuela, not destroying drug trafficking. It’s also been ...

Bonanno wiseguy Peter (Peter Pasta) Pellegrino, who appeared in one of the first episodes of Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares , and whom we last wrote about in May, is leaping back into the restaurant business. Peter Pasta, who seems to have much to smile about these days. That is according to a source who recently alerted us to a Reddit post that says, "New Peter's Restaurant plans are in the works NYC& South Florida...Stay Tuned." Pellegrino is in the "early stages of the planning" for the restaurants, the source said, adding that the one in Florida will likely open on Los Olas Blvd. in Fort Lauderdale.  A high-profile celebrity partner is involved, and a formal announcement will be made after the new year. In May, we reported that Peter Pasta was among the Bonannos who benefitted from Michael (Mikey Nose) Mancuso 's reorganization of the Bonanno family last Christmas. Pellegrino was bumped from acting capo to official capo and is overseeing a Bo...

Contemporary gambling is no longer problematic, in contrast to previous times. Better options worldwide are gaining unprecedented access to a diverse array of online choices as  technology advances  and legal frameworks are revised. Source:  Unsplash International online casinos present both exhilarating prospects and unique challenges to users worldwide. Individuals must possess an understanding of the primary trends, regulatory intricacies, and technical innovations propelling this dynamic business to engage boldly and successfully in international virtual casinos. Contemporary gambling is no longer problematic, in contrast to previous times. Better options worldwide are gaining unprecedented access to a diverse array of online choices as technology advances and legal frameworks are revised. International online casinos present both exhilarating prospects and unique challenges to users worldwide. Individuals must possess an understanding of the primary trends, regulator...

By Andrew Machin Large drug traffickers must make two payments in certain ports. One payment goes to corrupt dockworkers and law enforcement officials who enable drug shipments to pass with much less risk of being seized. The second payment is made to the criminal organization that controls the port. This second payment acts as a form of extortion, and its amount, whether in cash or in kind, is calculated based on the value or weight of each shipment. Typically, the two payments are combined into one total transaction, which is then distributed among the various parties involved. To understand the nature of these expenses and the contexts in which they must be paid, it is necessary to research the dynamics that unfold in ports along international drug trafficking routes. Any explanation must begin with some basic considerations. First, international drug trafficking consists of three successive macro phases: production, transportation, and distribution (money flows fall under each). Th...