Cosa Nostra News

Stephen Newell  was a low-level mob associate. He was born and bred in  Bushwick , Brooklyn. From the age of 10 he lived in Queens and much later moved to Staten Island. His uncle, Saverio "Sammy" Galosso, was a member of the  Genovese crime family  under  Vincent "The Chin" Gigante . He died in 1986. Stevie Newell Stevie, earlier in his life, worked under John Gotti's son-in-law, Carmine Agnello, after Carmine became a member of the Gambino crime family. (Carmine is living somewhere in Ohio today, we've heard.) Agnello was married to Victoria Gotti at the time. Newell does not fit the cliched definition of the opportunistic street guy as is usually portrayed in movies, books and newspapers. He was arrested, held without bail and formally charged with the murder of Bruce Gotterup, who himself had been convicted by the mob of not using common sense and repeatedly disrupting the business of a Mafia-connected bar in Queens. In 1991, Gotteru

George Anastasia, author of   Gotti's Rules The Story Behind Gotti’s Rules - Jersey Man : George Anastasia got a telephone call from John Alite nearly two years ago, setting in motion the writing of the book Gotti's Rules: The Story of John Alite, Junior Gotti, and the Demise of the American Mafia . At the time, Anastasia knew some of Alite's background, including that he was a Queens-based associate of the Gambino crime family, first under John J. Gotti and then under John A. “Junior” Gotti. Also, Anastasia knew that "he had a reputation for violence that was off the charts. And he had ultimately cut a deal with the government and became a cooperating witness." In an article on the Jersey Man website , Anastasia tells the story of the writing of the book.

REVISED SLIGHTLY: A preview video, from John A. "Junior" Gotti's website , refers to the 302 "proffer memo" released in George Anastasia's Gotti's Rules: The Story of John Alite, Junior Gotti, and the Demise of the American Mafia (now available in the UK) as well as charges made by Gotti and his attorney previously regarding an FBI agent. Gotti is discussing the 302 in reference to a larger effort to discover who was behind an alleged "Get Gotti" campaign supposedly run by an FBI agent. Peter Lance writes about the campaign in the book's forward . This is the second preview video. In the first video  Junior discussed his reasons for writing his book, Shadow of My Father .

John Alite, left, George Anastasia at Free Library event last night. PhillyVoice : "George Anastasia, nationally renowned crime reporter, author and Philadelphia Inquirer writer, will make an appearance at the Free Library on Tuesday, Feb. 24. He will be reading from his new book, " Gotti's Rules: The Story of John Alite, Junior Gotti, and the Demise of the American Mafia ." "Gotti's Rules," which was released last month by Harper Collins, goes behind the scenes of New York City's Gambino crime family from the point of view of the man who betrayed them, John Alite . Alite was a hit-man who later testified against close friend Junior Gotti. "In his book, Anastasia uses FBI documentation and interviews to construct the story of John A. Gotti's rise to notoriety and how Junior later filled his big shoes.

Ebook cover; to purchase on Amazon, click here . We present here an email that Peter Lance sent us privately; we requested his permission to run it. He sent the email five days ago, we only saw it tonight and are posting it. It appears to us that it was written to be posted. We don't think he'll have any issues; there is nothing personal in the contents. Of the very few high-profile figures who have recognized us, he is the first to do so directly and on the record. He gets major props from us for this.

De Niro as Burke, left, Ray Liotta as Henry Hill. No Vinny Asaro character was in Goodfellas, though he certainly was mentioned in the book. We now return to our regularly scheduled programming.... Prosecutors blasted reputed Bonanno capo Vincent Asaro , 79, with new charges based on a superseding indictment, as reported last week . The charges have not been revealed yet because evidence recorded on tape needs to be digitized, prosecutors said. Described as looking gaunt, Asaro seemed to be suffering from involuntary shivering at the proceeding last week in which his lawyer attempted to push back the date of Asaro's racketeering trial slated for July in Brooklyn Federal Court..

EXCLUSIVE We assume it's in the book, what John "Junior" Gotti revealed today. You may have read the story,  EXCLUSIVE: John (Junior) Gotti brags he lied to feds - NY Daily News : "When the mob scion sat down with federal prosecutors in 2005 to discuss crimes of fellow mobsters, he planned to give them bad information and useless leads, Gotti and his lawyer revealed in an interview with the Daily News. 'No one suffered but me,' he said of the decision." John A. "Junior" Gotti Joe "The German" Watts and Danny Marino might disagree. And some other guys who brawled in a Queens bar one evening in the 1980s may also disagree.

John A. Gotti In a YouTube video posted on his website , John A. "Junior" Gotti blasted the notion that his book, Shadow of My Father , was an immediate response to Gotti's Rules: The Story of John Alite, Junior Gotti, and the Demise of the American Mafia , written by 30-year veteran journalist George Anastasia. Speaking with his lawyer, Charles Carnesi , by his side, ostensibly being interviewed by someone off camera, Gotti relayed the fact that he "actually" had written 375 pages "some four years ago," but "decided to put it on the shelf for peace of mind. To keep my family happy." "There is always that fear factor that the government would come after me again and harass me," he added. "Don't preen like a peacock, don't be like your father , just pull it back."

Visiting room surveillance. Calabrese on right. Frank Calabrese Sr was such a good manipulator that he was able to convince a Roman Catholic priest to help him continue his criminal activity. If you know Frank’s background then this will come as no surprise. Frank spent his whole life manipulating others for his own gain. Frank brought his brother Nicholas into his juice loan business. Nicholas had served in the Navy for two years during the Vietnam conflict , and he worked as an Ironworker after he returned home. Nicholas had then worked as a court security officer for 11 years in Maywood, Illinois. Nicholas was not afraid to hold a real job and work hard. In the mid 1970s he also joined his brother Frank in his loan business and worked a double life. He had no idea it was a lifetime commitment. Frank was not above using money and threats to keep his brother in the business. Nicholas would end up taking part in over 14 murders for the Chicago Outfit during his time working w

John A. Gotti - Shadow of My father: "These are the preview videos to the interview with John A. Gotti, Charles Carnesi & Frank Morano. The full interview will be posted soon. The interview goes in depth about John's book "Shadow of My Father" as well as many other topics pertaining to John's life." We're not sure when the site launched but we became aware of it today.

Lewis Kasman, 58 We once spoke with a guy who said he was Kasman's agent. It was weird because, right from the start, we were pretty certain we were talking to Kasman himself...  (We knew what his voice sounded like because we heard him talk on the radio a few times). That was among the most bizarre conversation we've ever had... and that says a lot... NY Daily News : " Lewis Kasman , 58, moved to South Florida after ratting on the mob, but still can't stay out of trouble, getting arrested in January on felony fraud and theft charges. A Mafia snitch who went down on federal racketeering and fraud charges years ago in Brooklyn now faces legal troubles in Florida, where cops say he stole a check from his lawyer and cashed it. Lewis Kasman, better known as John Gotti’s turncoat “adopted son,” was arrested last month in West Palm Beach, Fla., for swiping $5,300 from his very own lawyer.

Mob Niece starting to cast new show called "Mob Wives." Who'd have thunk it'd be this easy? From Boston.com : Are you a woman with a personality that pops and a connection to Boston’s criminal underworld? Boston Mob Wives, a new reality show in production, could be your big break. The first casting call is scheduled to take place at 5 p.m. on Sunday, February 22 at the Four Points Sheraton in Revere. Henry “Nacho” Laun, Jenna DeRose, and Timothy Baker are looking to cast the new Boston-based reality show. Laun is a former member of Mark Wahlberg’s original real-life entourage. He has had bit parts in numerous Wahlberg films, including The Departed, The Fighter, Ted, and Ted 2. He plays himself on Wahlburgers.

The New York Post today reports that the Port Authority no longer runs background checks on businesses applying to operate at area airports, a policing campaign begun 25 years ago. Critics tell the Post this could lead to a "Mafia resurgence." One insider told the newspaper that the PA "quietly ditched its long-standing corruption-fighting tool that required background checks on new businesses and their principals before they could operate at JFK, La Guardia, or Newark airports."

George Anastasia writes a column for  JerseyMan Magazine  called appropriately enough  Mob Scene . Anthony Nicodemo could have an everlasting impact on the Cosa Nostra crews in Philadelphia. On Dec. 18, the Philadelphia crime journalist offered a kind of overview of key happenings using a sort of sports story format, only the game was the ongoing battle between the Philly mob and the feds.

Natalie Guercio It wasn't a mob attack, which most of us knew all along, and it didn't involve the VH1 reality show, which some of us aren't so sure about. “ Mob Wives ” star Natalie Guercio , a single mom, recently gave a Fox News affiliate the downlow on the attack on her boyfriend at a Brooklyn nightclub. (We also have a point to make about "rats" afterward.) The attack apparently was unprecipitated and came from out of nowhere, Guercio said. "We went out and somebody attacked him. Somebody attacked him when he wasn’t looking and it was just a nightmare. It was gory. There was blood.

He was a gangland figure who returned with a vengeance. Literally. Vito Rizzuto And his end came quite sudden. But was it really cancer that did him in shortly before Christmas 2013 -- or was it some other cause, presumably not natural? That is a question posed in Business or Blood: Mafia Boss Vito Rizzuto's Last War by Peter Edwards and Antonio Nicaso , which debuted this week. The book describes Vito Rizzuto as the consummate global criminal , a cultured man who enjoyed reading about the ancient Greek and Roman empires. Playing golf was his escape from daily life. Vito spoke four languages (French, Italian, Spanish and English) and held an "innate understanding of the nexus between the underworld and the world of the state and mainstream economic power." But in the end it was revenge -- that primal instinct, the ancient call to slaughter all enemies -- that drove Rizzuto, not the Mafia's raison d'être: making money. Which may represent

Vinny Asaro was among the top characters of interest in 2014.... His Tommy D rant makes us really want to hear the tapes.... I deleted a bunch of horseshit with which I initially started this post. Based on a quick Google Analytics filter, we found five days when there was a clear spike in our daily traffic. piked progressively, save for the last two samples, which were nearly equal. 

Luigi Grasso,  Cousin of ‘Mob Wives’ Big Ang saves suicidal inmate - NY Daily News : He may be a “killer,” but he’s also a lifesaver.  Luigi Grasso, cousin of “Mob Wives” star Angela (Big Ang) Raiola, was lauded by a Manhattan judge for helping to save a suicidal inmate in a courthouse holding cell before Grasso’s appearance on a weapons rap, the Daily News has learned.  The distressed inmate, who was not identified by officials, had fashioned a noose from an oversized T-shirt and was hanging from the top bar in the pens of the Manhattan Criminal Court at 111 Centre St. on Oct. 7 when sources said the brawny jailbird jumped up to save him.

Voted to convict? Peter Gotti Senior rose high in the mob due to his brother, John Gotti (whose nickname for Peter was "Retard"). Apparently, Peter, who served as boss of the Gambino crime family and is now in prison, once served on a jury that convicted a man of assault -- on a police officer. This is among the interesting revelations delivered by " The Reformation of a Former Mob Hit Man" that is posted on the Social Lifestyle Magazine 's website. Another is an alleged aborted effort to get rid of the Gottis after John Senior was removed from the street.