Cosa Nostra News

"It's omerta."
--The father of a woman murdered by the Young Guns, aka The Ozone Park Boys

REVISED 
Ronald Trucchio, a capo in the Gambino crime family, could spot talent, an innate ability that helped him put together a crew in Ozone Park, Queens, that pulled in tens of millions of dollars a year and that, in time, also operated in Florida committing just about every crime in the book. So alleged law enforcement.


When Trucchio, known as Ronnie One-Arm because of a childhood accident that deformed his left arm, went on trial in Miami in 2006, he represented himself, giving the opening statement, which is reproduced in its entirety below. Saying he meant no disrespect, Trucchio asked to go it alone in his racketeering and extortion trial, at least for a few days. New York lawyer Joseph Corozzo Jr. was supposed to represent him, but was stuck in a trial up north.

So, minutes before jury selection began, an alleged Gambino crime family capo announced unexpectedly that he woul…

By Nick Christophers

Whether you’re a tourist or a native New Yorker there is always something new to learn about the gritty streets of certain boroughs.



Especially Manhattan and Brooklyn which were the breeding grounds of the mafia. Robin London, the CEO of NYCGangster Mob Tours offers you the opportunity to walk in the shoes of infamous names like Al Capone, John Gotta i, Meyer Lansky, Arnold Rothstein and many others. Her tour is unique as it targets mostly the Jewish gangsters that came up alongside the Italians.

It is no wonder that Robin would take up the reigns as a professional tour guide in the city she loves so much. Her knowledge of the concrete jungle is more than impressive. She’s a walking encyclopedia of the culture that is New York. Founding a mob tour only seemed fitting.







“My fascination with the mob started as I realized as I got older that some of the neighbors in the old neighborhoods of Brooklyn I grew up with were "connected". As I delved into the histo…

So what happened to Jake Russo, then?



Did he become part of the Veterans Memorial Bridge, as one of many rumors making the rounds after his 1964 disappearance alleged?

Not according to new claims that Russo was done in because he dared to threaten a boss who made unreasonable demands of him. Stefano Magaddino, the ruthless, Buffalo-based mob boss whose influence extended from parts of New York (including Rochester) and Pennsylvania to Toronto for more than 30 years, was legendary for his stinginess and cruelty.






Threatening Magaddino to his face about how you planned to undermine him was tantamount to signing your own death warrant.

Magaddino was "the Undertaker" because of his Niagara Falls funeral home, but also because of his knack for ordering murders. A Sicilian immigrant, Magaddino, cousin to Joseph Bonanno, smuggled liquor across Lake Ontario from Canada during Prohibition.


In 1963, while out on bail, Magaddino associate Albert Agueci had threatened the boss for not …

This was supposed to be a straightforward story about Jake Russo, but of course I can never not plunge headfirst down whatever rabbit hole catches my eye.... Can't ignore what intrigues me....
Rochester acting boss Jake Russo disappeared in September 1964, and nearly 55 years later, his body has never been found.

Recently surfaced videotaped interviews with a former Russo cohort may finally reveal what really happened all those years ago.

In interviews conducted and videotaped several years prior to his 2014 death, Rene Piccarreto Sr., the former consigliere of the Rochester crime family, said that Russo was strangled in the basement of a downtown Rochester restaurant that later became a popular area pizzeria called the Pizza Stop.

But back in 1964, the restaurant was owned by Frank Valenti, the man who succeeded Russo atop the Mafia family there. Actually, Russo had only been put in charge when Valenti was forced to leave town.

By December 1964, the Rochester mob appeared to be o…

Thirteen individuals, including a father and son alleged to be associates of the "defunct" Pittsburgh Cosa Nostra, were arrested last week for participating in an illegal gambling ring.


Robert (Bobby I) Iannelli, 88, of Wexford, and Rodney (Rusty) Iannelli, 58, of Pittsburgh, were charged by a grand jury with running an illegal bookmaking and lottery business that brought in tens of thousands of dollars weekly, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.
Robert Iannelli has multiple convictions for gambling charges by both state and Federal investigators going back to 1969. His son, Rodney Iannelli, was arrested in 2000 for involvement in a Fayette County sports betting and illegal lottery ring connected to one of Pittsburgh's "last made mobsters," Thomas “Sonny” Ciancutti.






This latest case began when the state attorney general’s office and state police launched a probe in March 2015 that discovered the Iannellis were operating as bookmakers who accepted sports and lo…