10 Things the Mob Didn't Know About Rev. Al
The Smoking Gun has compiled a lengthy report based on documents and interviews to tell the story of how Rev. Al Sharpton, beginning in the 1980s, worked as a mob informant for an organized crime task force of FBI agents and NYPD detectives (some of whom reportedly gave Sharpton up to the Smoking Gun).
We've put together a list of 10 things we believe the mob would love to know about Rev. Al.
- Sharpton was pressured to cooperate after getting caught in a drug sting;
- Sharpton's main job was to get information on the Genovese crime family;
- Sharpton used a specially equipped Hartman briefcase to record conversations;
- Because of Sharpton’s undercover work, bugs were planted in two crime-family social clubs, including Gigante’s Village headquarters; three cars used by Mafiosi; and more than a dozen phone lines;
- One case targeted Federico "Fritzy" Giovanelli, a Genovese soldier who drew a 20-year sentence for racketeering;
- Sharpton also helped bring down war hero Venero “Benny Eggs’’ Mangano, Dominick “Baldy Dom’’ Canterino and family boss Vincent “Chin’’ Gigante;
- One of Sharpton’s main sources was Gambino soldier Joseph “Joe Bana’’ Buonanno. During 10 face-to-face chats, “Joe Bana just gave him a whole insight into how ‘Chin’ and [music-industry honcho] Morris [Levy] operated,’’ said an NYPD source with the joint FBI-Police Department Genovese Squad. Buonanno expounded on the mob’s past extortions and death threats and offered some details about Gigante, including the fact that the Oddfather was purportedly illiterate and “hates everyone not Italian";
- According to Buonanno, Gigante “was present” at the hit of Genovese captain Thomas “Tommy Ryan’’ Eboli, to “make sure it was done right” (Both Buonanno and Gigante have since died -- the Eboli hit is an interesting one);
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- Sharpton was considered the perfect mole for the FBI’s Mafia unit because of his existing connections to the underworld -- namely, through Genovese soldier Joseph Pagano, who was involved in entertainment-industry schemes for decades;
- Sharpton allegedly told the feds he had an in with Pagano because he’d introduced him to boxer Muhammad Ali and his reps.
He denied being paid to snitch and said he never carried a briefcase with a listening device.
He told the New York Post: “The article is embellished. The real story is I told the FBI about being threatened because I was a civil-rights leader helping black concert promoters,” Sharpton said.