Cosa Nostra News

Capo "Eddie" Lato Federal prosecutors have on deck "made" members of the New England mob willing to testify against other alleged wiseguys, reveals a  court filing , as reported by  WPRI.com . The details came to light in a motion filed in U.S. District Court in which prosecutors asked a judge to keep reputed capo regime Edward "Eddie" Lato behind bars. "During the course of this investigation, the FBI has developed additional witnesses, including formally initiated or ‘made’ members of the [New England La Cosa Nostra], who will testify that the NELCN exists and further testify about the activities of its members," Assistant U.S. Attorney William Ferland and U.S. Justice Department trial attorney Sam Nazzaro write in the filing. "These witnesses will testify to the secret initiation ceremony at which newly inducted members of the LCN swear a blood oath of loyalty to enforce 'omerta,' the code of silence," they wrote. ...

John Gotti: his role was filled first, by John Travolta. OK, wiseguys and wisegals, wannabes and the real deals, there may still be time for you to make the plunge into Hollywood, because casting directors for the upcoming Gotti biopic from Fiore Films still have some roles to fill; they started with nearly 90. If any of my readers tried for a role -- whether you got it or not -- please shoot me an email, I'd love to hear about it and maybe relay it to my readers in a post. The email address, of course, is:  Eddie2843@gmail.com . Reports the  Examiner.com : "On September 26th and 27th, 2011, the New York and Los Angeles casting directors for the upcoming Barry Levinson film "Gotti: In the Shadow of My Father" sent out casting calls that include over 89 roles. They include both adults and children. The entire Gambino crime family is being cast, along with their wives and kids, countless roles of detectives and legal system players who prosecuted the mob, pris...

If you are going to do something, you might as well learn how to do it from the best. Keeping that thought it mind, the news that a News Corp. unit used Mafia films to motivate employees and crush rivals is quite revealing. This represents "the latest arm of Rupert Murdoch’s media empire to be swept up in a probe that began with hacking and bribery allegations," reports The Washington Post . "Already the subject of inquiries in America and the U.K. of police payoffs and illegal voicemail access by its British newspapers, News Corp. has been asked by U.S. investigators for documents relating to its News America Marketing Group, which places in-store ads in supermarkets and retailers worldwide, according to a person familiar with the matter," the Post writes. The marketing unit, "rivals claimed in court papers, has expanded by flouting antitrust laws, and in one case, computer hacking. News America’s CEO, also publisher of the New York Post, testified in ...

The real Henry Hill, left, and Ray Liotta, who played the Luchese mobster turned informant in 'Goodfellas.' Twenty-five years after its initial publication, Nicholas Pileggi's Wiseguy remains one of the key memoirs about life in the Mafia. Pileggi adapted his book for the screen, and director Martin Scorsese shot the film 'GoodFellas' in 1990 ('Wiseguy' had already been used as the title of a Mafia film, a quite bad one). The story follows the rise and fall of true-life Brooklyn gangster Henry Hill — "a little cog" in the Lucchese crime family who turned FBI informant after a drug arrest, reports  NPR . "He was sort of a soldier in Napoleon's army," Pileggi remembers in the article, noting that his approach to the book sprang from the notion that "it might be interesting to see that world from the point of view of the soldier." The other key part of Hill's appeal as a subject, Pileggi explains, is that he was ...

Kasman: Travolta not tough enough to play John Gotti Sr. He should know! Of all people, Lewis Kasman -- who is not a former mobster, as the Mail Online erroneously reports -- claims John Travolta is not tough enough to play notorious Mafia boss John Gotti in the upcoming biopic produced by Fiore Films, reports the U.K. newspaper's website. "For John Gotti Sr., you need a man's man to play that role," said Kasman, who is in the FBI's witnesses protection program -- not where you'd expect to find a real "man's man." Let's break this down a little and put the inmates back in the straight jackets to keep them from trying to run the asylum: Kasman was a two-bit phony who pretended to be a friend of the Gotti family, going so far as to call himself "John Gotti's adopted son," when for years he was tape-recording and handing over information to the Feds behind the Gotti's collective backs. He even wiretapped Gotti Senior...

In a new book, The Mafia: History and Legend , Marco Gasparini looks at women who stepped into the breach when their menfolk were arrested, incarcerated or had to disappear. “Mafia women have traditionally been wives and mothers first and foremost, yet that role has begun to change,” insists Gasparini. Read the rest of the review:   Express.co.uk - The women who really were married to the mob

 In honor of its key role in the HBO show  Boardwalk Empire  (it provokes a gunfight, or something like that), which begins its second season Sunday night,  Canadian Club  is releasing a special promotional package: a bottle of its classic six-year-old whiskey with a metal Boardwalk Empire hip flask. WATCH: Boardwalk Empire Season 2: Lucky Luciano Source: facebook.hbo.com Watch Character Spot: Lucky Luciano from Season 2 of Boardwalk Empire and other videos online on HBO.com As  BlackBook  reports, "Any American enjoying a cocktail this weekend should raise a glass to our polite neighbors to the north. After all, Canadian producers kept our country awash in hooch during the Prohibition era, with distillers such as Canadian Club inspiring entrepreneurs to deliver the unique and illicit whiskey to drinkers in Chicago, New York and beyond. Yes, the practice gave rise to a mafia we still have today, but at least nobody who really wanted a satisfyi...

From left to right: Victoria Gotti (daughter), John Travolta, John "Junior" Gotti and Lindsay Lohan, who may or may not appear in the Fiore Films production. John Travolta visited New York this past week to speak with the widow of the gangster John Gotti, whom he is portraying in the upcoming biopic produced by Fiore Films. Late Mafia boss John Gotti died in 2002 while serving a life sentence. In the upcoming film, titled Gotti: In the Shadow of My Father, will explore the relationship between the notorious crime boss and his son John "Junior" Gotti (who has a "story by" credit, although he didn't pen the screenplay and reportedly sold the story rights for half a million dollars). Travolta has been thoroughly researching the role, according to several published reports, and on Thursday even landed on the doorstep of  Gotti's widow, Victoria. He was photographed arriving at the family home in Queens, New York, and after spending two hours i...

Federal prosecutors yesterday charged three alleged members of the New England Mafia and three associates with extorting money from Rhode Island’s adult entertainment industry since the 1980s, a "business" that generated about $2 million, reports  The Boston Globe . "In a seven-count indictment unsealed in Providence today, federal authorities also indicate that the leadership of the Mafia in New England has shifted back to Boston after being under the control of Providence-based mobsters for the past several years," the article says. Buried within the 22-page document, alleged Mafia capo Edward (Eddie) Lato notes to someone that every time he meets with a wiseguy in Boston, he knows the man is being watched by the law. “Every time I leave, there’s someone looking at me… there’s a guy on the corner every ----  time,’’ the 64-year-old Lato said, according to the indictment. “They’re following him… I mean… not that they’re not suppose (sic) to follow him, he’s...

Billy Zane plays a mob boss, terrorizes The Playboy Club. Actor Billy Zane, who terrorized Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet in Titanic, and has not done much since then, will soon be playing the recurring role of mob boss Oscar Bianchi on NBC's The Playboy Club . His role starts up in the series' sixth episode. If they were smart, they'd have brought him in by episode 2; the first episode didn't exactly knock our socks off. "Oscar is described as the cool-headed but ruthless younger brother of Chicago Mafia boss Bruno Bianchi, who was murdered in the first episode during an altercation with Bunny Maureen (Amber Heard). He returns to Chicago to avenge the death of his brother and challenge his nephew, John Bianchi (Troy Garity), for leadership of the entire organization," reports   TVGuide.com . Read article: " Titanic Actor To Terrorize The Playboy Club - Today's News: Our Take | TVGuide.com : More articles about the show premiere: ...

As we wrote about in an earlier post, Secret 'Mafia' Safe Found in Tahoe Casino May Be Opened on Oprah Show , that mysterious safe hidden behind a wall inside Bill's Casino finally has been opened -- and the adventure was indeed filmed by Oprah's people for a TV special. So no one knows what's inside, still, accept for Oprah and her minions. "There was a slight possibility that the safe was Mafia-connected—as the suspected owner of the safe (and previous owner of the casino) was killed in a car explosion, dripping with Martin Scorcese plot lines," reports Gizmodo . "However, police were on site as the safe was opened and concluded that there wasn't anything inside worth launching an investigation about." R ead the article: That Mysterious, Possibly Mafia-Connected Safe Has Been Opened But Only Oprah Knows What's Inside .

Gotti killed four more, according to son Junior's film of his life. (Unless it's from one of the fake scripts sent to the media.) EDITOR'S NOTE: Fiore Films has admitted sending out phony copies of the script for its upcoming Gotti biopic, apparently to fool the media. Mr. Fiore, trust me when I say: The media won't forget this dirty trick, especially when you expect them to hang laurels from the film in their reviews. This was a dumb, arrogrant move on your part, my friend. Anyway, readers, this post may be based on a fake script for all I know, but it was reported on by several sources, including the one and only Jerry Capeci. John Junior Gotti blames his Mafia father for four additional murders -- heretofore unknown by any sources -- in the upcoming film about the Teflon Don, according to published reports, including in the U.K.'s Mail Online . "Gotti, who never took the stand in any of the four racketeering trials where he escaped a federal conv...

The owners of the  Mob Candy  publishing enterprise partnered with the owners of a Brooklyn cafe to relaunch the place under the Mob Candy umbrella, making it probably the first and only (and ever?) mob-themed cafe. Uncle Frankie and MafiaLife Chris , the monikers by which they are known, had big ideas for the place, transforming it into a social club of sorts in which to record their radio show and hold events for their magazine and book launches, and to provide a cozy place for their fans to hang out (while promoting their brand at the same time). I know them both, and they are good guys -- entrepreneurs with the same interests that I have, who put their money where their mouth is, and who didn't deserve what later happened. Customers could sip cappuccinos and take in the Mafia ambiance, created by the photos of legendary gangsters and other mob memorabilia. Copies of the magazine were on hand, as well as the group's latest book-publishing venture, Brooklyn Gangs...

U.S. Assistant Attorney Jeff Auerhahn, free of a cloud of suspicion that he helped protect mobster Vincent "Vinnie the Animal" Ferrara. Since 2003 U.S. Assistant Attorney Jeffrey Auerhahn has been under a cloud of suspicion , when a federal judge accused him of outrageous misconduct. But A recent panel of federal judges has lifted the cloud for Auerhahn, who was facing disciplinary action while handing the court’s chief judge a rebuke, according to a story by  David Boeri  called  Federal Prosecutor Cleared Of Charges To Surprise Of Some  and published on  WBUR . Vinnie the Animal  "Trouble began for Jeffrey Auerhahn with his case against Mafia lieutenant Vincent Ferrara, known to the cops as 'Vinnie the Animal.' [Ferrara, from Boston, Mass. , was formerly a capo of the New England -based Patriarca crime family of La Cosa Nostra .] "In the 1990s, Ferrara pled guilty and got an even longer prison sentence because a witness testifi...

Putting a mobster on trial with a nice, juicy RICO -- a big, fat one, going back decades to include murder, gambling, extortion and all the other usual goodies, is the dream of every mob-fighting fed, cop, prosecutor, etc. However, increasingly these days law enforcement has been getting a lot of play out of a law that has been on the books for nearly seven decades, called the Hobbs Act. From The StarTribune.com : Here's a quiz. See if you can pick which is the federal crime. a) Bank robbery. b) Kidnapping. c) Robbing a McDonald's. Would you believe, d) All of the above? Officials in Minnesota and across the country are more frequently using the Hobbs Act, a federal law that prohibits the obstruction or delay of commerce, to pursue violent offenders who have robbed bars, coffee shops and even McDonald's restaurants. The act was passed in 1946 to address organized crime and labor racketeering, said U.S. Attorney B. Todd Jones. Now, it has new life in a new way: getting caree...

A rumor went around the Internet this week that said one of the leading gangsters in New England had flipped. Is it true or not? We have no way of possibly knowing, but there are many graves filled with the bodies of men who had been falsely labelled rats. The recent sentencing of former Genovese acting boss and others was, in part, for the murder of a man who they believed -- incorrectly, it turns out -- was an informant. "First it was just a whisper, but then it appeared on the Internet, posted by some guy with the moniker 'vinniegorgeous,' after a New York gangster," reports Howie Carr on  BostonHerald.com . Specifically the rumor said, “Oh boy here we go again. Ladies and Gentlemen I am sorry to report that yet another Mafia informant has come out of the woodwork in New England, though it has not hit the newsstands yet.” Writes Carr: "Is this true? I don’t know. I called a guy who’s close to the alleged rat and he says he saw him last weekend. "...

Renee Graziano recently celebrated her birthday party -- and MafiaLife Chris, mob entrepreneur/enthusiast was there to take some footage of her when she walked in to the crowd. Check it out here . If you don't know who she is, here is a bio from  VH1.com : Renee is second from the right; here she is with the other Mob Wives. Renee Graziano is the daughter of Anthony Graziano, who according to the Federal Government was a high ranking member of La Cosa Nostra. Renee grew up during the heyday of the mob -- when things still fell off trucks and people still dropped off envelopes even when it wasn't your birthday. Immersed in the culture since birth, she embraced the lifestyle as her own and became a "mob loyalist". Renee eventually married (then divorced) Junior. Together they have one son, AJ. When Renee was young her best friend was arrested and sentenced to many years behind bars. This was her first real introduction to prison, but unfortunately not her last....

Fusco is doing a nice job of not letting his trial for the murder of Big Al move along smoothly. Prosecution of a fourth defendant in the 2003 murder of Adolfo "Big Al" Bruno, slowed when the alleged killer fought extradition from his native Italy, is now throwing a wrench into the works again via a dispute over $5,500 in lawyers' fees, reports  masslive.com . "Emilio Fusco, 42, of Longmeadow, appeared in U.S. District Court in Manhattan on Tuesday for a status conference and to introduce a brand-new lawyer to the case after recently firing another one. The outgoing attorney, William I. Aronwald, told the court he intends to hold hostage 15,000 pages of alleged evidence in the case until Fusco pays his bill," the website reports. "But, according to his new lawyer, Richard Lind, Fusco contends he was overbilled by Aronwald and doesn't intend to pay him any more money. The legal standoff that played out in court prompted U.S. District Judge P. Kevi...

In Manhattan federal court, former Genovese crime family acting boss Arthur Nigro and two associates were sentenced to life in prison. They were found guilty of a range of crimes, including two murders, back in April. Nigro and Fotios and Ty Geas, brothers, were found guilty of the 2003 murder of former Genovese boss Adolfo "Big Al" Bruno, who ran the family's Springfield crew.

Acting Colombo crime boss Andrew (Mush) Russo, 77, made it through fifty years of mob life without getting shot. But, thanks to that "earthquake" that struck the Northeast last week, he took more than five bullets in the back. Thankfully for Mush, they were rubber bullets, so he is not hovering near death's door -- but getting hit with a rubber bullet is supposedly more painful than taking a lead slug. He was shot by corrections officer in the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, where Andy is living these days. Ironically, he was on the phone, checking if his lived ones were okay, when the officers let loose; they also lobbed a tear gas canister at him, which smashed his leg, in addition to spewing its vile contents into his eyes, nose and mouth. I could tell you the whole story, but all I am doing is setting you up for the latest blog post from former mobster-turned-published author Sonny Girard, courtesy of his blog,  Sonny's Mob Cafe : Reputed mob bos...

Having served as John Junior's attorney, Jeffrey Lichtman is far from an unbiased source when it comes to the subject of "Mikey Scars" DiLeonardo. Lichtman called the sentence DiLeonardo wound up with -- time served, which freed the former Gambino mobster right then and there --  a "disgrace to our criminal justice system," in a story on  WSJ.com . Other choice phrases that dropped out of Lichtman's mouth regarding Scars included "serial killer" and a "liar who was a horrible witness and was rewarded with less than three years in prison." "John's moved on, this is ancient history for him," Mr. Lichtman said of Mr. Gotti, in the  WSJ.com  story. "The ultimate irony is that Mikey Scars has served three times the amount of time in prison as John did [meaning three years] and unlike John, he's got a felony conviction from these cases." But other observers were skeptical that Mr. DiLeonardo's cooperation w...

Mikey Scars was sentenced to time served. Once upon a time, he was a close friend of John Gotti Jr., and he confessed to conspiring to kill three people. He was freed from jail at his sentencing Friday -- for helping law enforcement jail 80 members of organized crime. "Authorities described the cooperation of 56-year-old Michael 'Mikey Scars' DiLeonardo as revolutionary in the annals of mob history, saying it led to convictions that included 20 high-level, dangerous mobsters," reports the  Sacramento Bee . "He testified at 14 trials, including Gotti's, and investigators praised his encyclopedic knowledge of mob life. Gotti remains free after the government dropped its charges when juries repeatedly deadlocked at trials over several years." U.S. District Judge John Koeltl in Manhattan sentenced DiLeonardo to time served, freeing him after three years in custody, because of the kudos he received from law enforcement. Though freed, he will probabl...

Outfit Underboss Zizzo, MIA for five years now, is believed murdered. Five years ago mob associate Anthony Zizzo said goodbye to his wife as he left his Westmont townhome and nobody has admitted seeing him since. On the fifth anniversary of his disappearance FBI and Westmont officials reminded the public there's a $10,000 reward for information leading to the whereabouts of Zizzo, a man the FBI said has an extensive criminal record. Zizzo was 71 when he disappeared, and his 2005 Jeep Cherokee was discovered two days later parked outside a restaurant in Melrose Park, the FBI said. The vehicle was undamaged and no signs of foul play were found. No witnesses were ever found, and to this day there has been no reported usage of his cellular telephone or credit cards, the FBI said. The FBI release described Zizzo as white, 5-foot-3 and 200 pounds, with a heavy build, gray hair and blue eyes. Read the full story: Officials still looking for mob associate missing 5 years - chic...

The Obama administration is working to toughen sentences for those convicted of hacking or other digital offenses, reports  The Hill . Maximum sentences for cyber crimes are not in sync with the damage and threats posed by some hackers, agree both Associate Deputy Attorney General James Baker and Secret Service Deputy Special Agent in Charge Pablo Martinez, in the article. Martinez said hackers are often members of sophisticated criminal networks. Read: The Mafia. "Secret Service investigations have shown that complex and sophisticated electronic crimes are rarely perpetrated by a lone individual," Martinez said in the story. "Online criminals organize in networks, often with defined roles for participants, in order to manage and perpetuate ongoing criminal enterprises dedicated to stealing commercial data and selling it for profit," he said. "Hackers are often members of sophisticated criminal networks. Read: The Mafia." Baker and Martinez app...

This is the most comprehensive, updated list you are likely to come across anywhere of the  Italian American Mafia crime families , including their home bases and members' names and titles, from the kings of the volcanoes, to the lowly street-based associates. The names have previously appeared in books, published news reports, legal documents or other forms of communication, and have been vetted by the writers who posted this on Wikipedia . The lists are divided by crime family, and the names under the various titles of rank appear in chronological order, starting in the past and ending in the present. So under the Genovese family you will see the first Boss on the list is the storied "Clutch Hand" Giuseppe Morello, who ran the family, said to be the first Mafia family in America, from the 1890s to 1909. Also, you can click on the city, crime family name, and the names of individuals to obtain additional information. New York City Genovese crime family B...

Every mob wife -- except supposedly for the wife of now-deceased Joe "Piney" Armone, formerly of the Gambino crime family --- eventually has to deal with the “goomatta” issue. "Whether pronounced “goomah,” “goomar” or “goomatta,” the word is the Americanized corruption of the Italian word comare, which means “mistress” or “girlfriend.” According to the glossary in The Sopranos: A Family History, ”No self-respecting wiseguy is without one,”" reports the  Crime Library on truTV.com . "How a mob wife reacts when she learns of her husband’s goomatta is usually determined by the wife’s age. The younger wives tend to lash out and demand their husband’s fidelity, but in time these women learn that the goomatta is a fact of mob life. To keep the goodies—the house, the cars, the furs, the jewelry, etc.—the mob wife has to put up with the mistress. "The flashy young girlfriend is a necessary accessory for a man of honor, like a Lexus or a Rolex. Having a woman ...

Jimmy” Caci Vincent D. “Jimmy” Caci, described by associates as one of the toughest mobsters ever to emerge from Buffalo’s underworld, died of an illness last month in Palm Springs, Calif., two weeks after his 86th birthday. A one-time tough mobster said to have specialized in loansharking and shakedown schemes in Buffalo, and later in Las Vegas and Los Angeles, he was buried in Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Cheektowaga, "a low-key farewell for a man who lived a stormy life, rubbed elbows with big-time mobsters and entertainers, and got involved in some high-profile criminal investigations," reports  The Buffalo News . According to other reports , he also owned his own construction company in Erie, Pa., and was also the owner of a restaurant and nightclub in New York and California. He was well known for his cartoon drawings, whether they were on a tablecloth, napkin or a drawing board, which he would give to children sitting nearby. He was known as a clever ...

Some mobsters make wads of cash, and it isn't hard to imagine what they spend it on. However, the Mexican Mafia definitely takes the prize for creative spending, as  The Rich Times  reports. "It's almost surreal the manner in which the Mexican Mafia spends millions on getting their guns personalised," the article says. Read the article Gold & Jewel Encrusted Guns of the Mexican Mafia | The Rich Times .

Lifetime's reaality show Russian Dolls is about life in Brooklyn's Brighton Beach, which is filled with Russian immigrants. Also known as 'Little Odessa,' it has been featured on TV shows and in films as ground zero for the Russian mob. We have been watching Lifetime's Russian Dolls ; some of the most beautiful women in the world are from Russia, and some quite adorable women are on this, the latest "reality" TV show. We are hopeful a Russian mobster subplot will join the mix -- it would certainly hold our interest in the show, which at present is toilet-tissue thin. We have already discovered a past connection between the Russian and Sicilian mob with a nightclub that appears in many episodes of Dolls. But we don't mean to besmirch the current owners in any way; published reports we have read say the club's "connections" are years old. Dolls, of course, takes place in Brooklyn's Brighton Beach section. "It's on...

The supposed Mafia safe may make a guest appearance on a new Oprah Winfrey series, Found. During a remodeling of Bill’s Casino in South Lake Tahoe, a hidden safe was found inside the walls. "There was literally NO ACCESS to this safe. It was just there, totally walled in. Yeah, I know what you’re thinking: “there has got to be something incredible in that safe," writes UnofficialNetworks.com . The former owner of Bill’s Casino -- "and likely the guy who knows what is in the safe," the website adds -- was killed by a car bomb in 1968. "We’re gonna go out on a limb and say that casino owners who get killed by car bombs in the 60s were generally involved in the mob," reports  UnofficialNetworks.com . The Mafia did operate in Tahoe. Sinatra owned the Ca-Neva casino, which is said to have had a slew of secret tunnels that JFK used to "secretly enter the room of Maryln Monroe..." The deceased supposed-mobster and one-time owner of Bill’s was ...

Black back to prison for fraud. Former media baron Conrad Black returned to prison this summer, but not before giving an interview with a major U.S. magazine, Vanity Fair, in which he discussed life behind bars, which included befriending certain members of the Mafia. Wonder if they'll still be friendly after this! Black said he got along with almost every ethnic group during his initial 29 months at the Coleman Federal Correctional Facility in Florida in the VF interview, according to the montrealgazette.com . "I quickly developed alliances with the Mafia people, then the Cubans," he told the magazine. The edition with the interview hits newsstands on Sept. 6, the same day as the deadline for Black to report back to prison, the  montrealgazette.com  reports.  In the interview, he noted that a senior member of one crime family told him: "If you catch a cold, we will find out who you got it from. You know, we have much in common... We are industrialists....