Cosa Nostra News

Alicia DiMichele, wife of a member of the Colombo crime family, will star on VH1's "Mob Wives" when it debuts this year -- with DiMichele and another Philadelphia mob wife replacing Karen Gravano, Ramona Rizzo and Carla Facciolo. Not exactly breaking news, we know, but what is interesting is some other information posted on Gang Land News last week. Alicia DiMichele Namely that DiMichele's husband, Edward "Tall Guy" Garofalo, is "figuring to be a major star" in the upcoming season. DiMichele and Garofalo's former marriage is supposedly going to form a centerpiece of the show, according to three sources, Capeci reported, one of them being Karen Gravano.

Rizzuto is one of the most intriguing Mafia figures of  today. Mobsters in southern Ontario are on the run or in hiding -- in fear that a war with Montreal soldiers loyal to Cosa Nostra boss Vito Rizzuto will lead to more murders, a police source says. “They (Ontario mobsters) know there are going to be a couple more murders,” the source told the Toronto Sun. “It’s quite an interesting time. “It’s a chess game,” he added. Making themselves scarce are members of a Mafia and ‘Ndrangheta co-operative – with Toronto links – that attempted to take out the powerful Rizzuto family in Montreal. Disputes within Canadian organized crime groups ended in deadly violence, allowing reputed Mob boss Vito Rizzuto to muscle his way back into power following his release from a U.S. prison. Police investigators expect there will be more murders in areas known to be Toronto-based strongholds for ‘Ndrangheta members as the Montreal Mob works to strengthen its grip in southern Ontario.

Informer Sal Polisi From the Mirror Online : His accent is straight out of GoodFellas but his manner is mild and friendly. In the tone of voice I might use to ask if he’d like a cup of tea, Salvatore Polisi tells me he once sliced off a man’s testicles. The former New York mobster known as Crazy Sal says that yes, “it was bloody”. But when I press him, he just shrugs: “I was used to it. I’d been stabbed, shot in the back, I beat people with a bat. It was part of the landscape when you were in that life.” As we speak about the Mafia’s dark heyday in the 1960s and 70s, 68-year-old Polisi’s Noo Yoik accent makes my ­questions sound more primly English than I ever thought possible.

Sun News:  News: Experts offer a broad perspective on goings-on in Canada, including a breakdown of the warring factions. The N'drangheta is among the opposition to Rizzuto's power -- and has fled the battlefield, further reinforcing the notion that Rizzuto is on top. However, he remains a key target for assassination.

Joseph Di Maulo's blood was among the first spilled after Vito's return to Canada. Stories about wiseguys getting their comeuppance are a dime a dozen, but this most recent report struck us as kind of farcical, even cruel and petty. Oh, the steps law enforcement will take to destroy wiseguys, at any age... Not that I consider myself pro-organized crime. But there are much worse kinds of people along the criminal bandwidth: rapists, child murderers, serial killers, etc. I am referring to my previous post, the one in which a North Jersey Genovese capo's right hand man pleaded guilty this week to federal racketeering conspiracy charges, as well as to playing a role in a series of typical mob-related crimes, such as online sports betting. Yep, it is over for Patsy “Uncle Patsy” Pirozzi, 73, of Suffern, N.Y., who -- in addition to copping to a plea deal that will likely get him 20 years in prison -- had to publicly confess to his involvement with the Genovese crime f

From  NorthJersey.com : The “right-hand man” to a reputed North Jersey Mafia captain pleaded guilty on Monday to federal racketeering conspiracy charges and admitted his role in crimes ranging from online sports betting to dealing in stolen cargo. Patsy “Uncle Patsy” Pirozzi, 73, of Suffern, N.Y., confessed his involvement with the Genovese crime family crew allegedly headed by “capo” Joseph Lascala during a hearing before U.S. District Judge Claire C. Cecchi in Newark. Pirozzi and Lascala, 81, of Monroe Township in Middlesex County, were arrested in May 2012 and charged along with a dozen other alleged members and associates of Lascala’s crew.

Vito Rizzuto has retaken the reins and continues getting payback. We do hate to say it, but in fact, we did say it, quite loudly right here . Now read what the Toronto Sun says:  MONTREAL — A year after Vito Rizzuto returned home from a U.S. prison stint, the crime boss has already re-taken the reins of the Mafia, experts tell QMI Agency. It's a feat few would have thought possible after Rizzuto's father, son and several top associates were murdered in a three-year bloodbath by mysterious rivals. Mafia expert Pierre de Champlain tells QMI that Vito Rizzuto has been able to re-assert his authority and bring "relative peace between the various factions" in the underworld. He apparently returned to power with a mix of the olive branch and the gun. His son, Nick Jr., was shot and killed in December 2009 and his father Nicolo was gunned down less than a year later, prompting revenge killings that began as soon as Vito came back to Canada.

Joe Marino/NYDaily News We are amazed that the New York Daily News is still shocked-- shocked! --by the way wiseguys talk. From the NY Daily News : Anthony “Skinny” Santoro was caught on tape threatening revenge on people who had crossed him. Obese Bonanno bad boy Anthony Santoro has a temper as big as his waistline, spewing a series of profanity- and threat-laced rants in which he violently threatened a “young punk” and a “Greek m---------er,” court papers reveal. The tirade was all caught on wiretap, according to the court filings in Manhattan, and featured dialogue straight out of “Goodfellas.”

We are reading the book "Mob Boss" about former  Luchese  street boss Al D'Arco. Until we finish and can write our take on the book and its subject, we are rerunning a well-read controversial previous story in which Al played a central role. Many took umbrage with my opinion on rats... wonder if that's changed, though I doubt it. WOULD YOU CALL ALL INFORMANTS RATS? An old  Cosa Nostra News  poll was focused on the views of regular law-abiding citizens (whom I presume make up the bulk of my readership) regarding whether all informants should be given the denigrating rubric of "rat."

This book came out on the same days as Capeci/Robbins book on Al D'Arco - I have it and will read it once I finish "Mob Boss" - read an interesting story about the Bufalino book here: 'The Quiet Don' traces influence of mobster Russell Bufalino in Pa. gaming - Morning Call

BF Guerra: once he was a murderer, but now he is a drug dealer, the feds say. Late last month, Francis “BF” Guerra, a long-time associate of the Colombo crime family, was sentenced to 14 years in prison for selling his own prescription drugs. We need a little space to set the stage. First, according to an FBI press release issued on Sept. 23: "The sentence was imposed by the Honorable Sandra L. Townes, United States District Judge for the Eastern District of New York, at the United States Courthouse in Brooklyn, New York." "The sentence was announced by Loretta E. Lynch, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, and George C. Venizelos, Assistant Director in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), New York Field Office.