George Anastasia Signs "Gotti's Rules" for Public

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.



"Anastasia has spent decades reporting on the Philadelphia mob. He's written books about the Scarfo organization, Tommy DelGiorno and the South Philly mafia and corrupt cop and gangster Rob Previte, among others."
To purchase on Amazon click here.

Anastasia also was the subject of a profile today. "George Anastasia had covered the Philadelphia Mafia for more than a decade when he received a call from a hitman ordered to kill him several years earlier.

Former mob boss John Stanfa allegedly commanded Sergio Battaglia to murder Anastasia in the early 1990s by throwing hand grenades through the windows of his home.

Anastasia learned of the plot — which was never attempted — in 1996, when Battaglia was serving as an informant for the FBI.

“He called me from prison and told me the story,” Anastasia said. “He said to me, ‘It was nothing personal.’ I said, ‘Sergio, I have a wife and two kids. If a hand grenade comes through the window, it’s very personal.’” 
Anastasia insisted it is the only time he has feared for his security during a decades-long career covering organized crime. A writer for bigtrial.net and a former reporter for The Philadelphia Inquirer, Anastasia has penned six books on the Mafia and served as a consultant for television productions about the mob.

His latest book, “Gotti’s Rules: The Story of John Alite, Junior Gotti and the demise of the American Mafia” hit stores last month. He will discuss the book Tuesday night at an event hosted by the Free Library of Philadelphia.

Anastasia spoke with PhillyVoice last week, detailing the book, his career and the state of the Philadelphia Mafia. The book offered Anastasia an opportunity to tell the story of the mob through the lens of Alite, an enforcer for the Gambino crime family in New York.
“I was trying to deconstruct the myths of the mafia and deconstruct the myths of the Gotti family,” Anastasia said. “The whole idea that this is about honor and loyalty is pretty much nonsense. It’s pretty much about treachery and deceit.” 
The actual Mafia, Anastasia said, is far from the romanticized version depicted inThe Godfather and The Sopranos. If anything, it resembles the grittiness displayed in Goodfellas. 
“It’s not about Don Corleone, man of honor, ‘let me take care of my family,’” Anastasia said. “It’s more about, ‘give me the money and if you don’t give me the money, I’m going to break your knee.’” 
Or worse. 
Alite pleaded guilty to two murders, four murder conspiracies and at least eight shootings in 2008. He also acknowledged his participation in multiple armed home invasions and robberies.
Alite, who pitched his story to Anastasia, agreed to testify against Charles Carneglia, another Gambino family enforcer convicted of four murders. He later testified against John A. Gotti, better known as "Junior Gotti" and the son of former Gambini boss John J. Gotti. 
Cooperating with authorities has become much more common, Anastasia said. Aided by the Federal Witness Protection Program, mobsters opt to testify against their families. Secrecy and loyalty have withered. 
“You never used to see that back in the '50s and '60s,” Anastasia said. “The guy would be dead if he did that.” 
Federal prosecutions are just one factor that has left the mob decimated, Anastasia said. Others include sophisticated surveillance, competing underworld groups and the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act.

Plus, Italians no longer face limited opportunities in the professional world. With the brightest Italians chasing careers that bring them riches legally, Anastasia said the mob must scrape from the bottom of the gene pool. 
The scene is no different in Philadelphia, Anastasia said. Mobsters began testifying against one another in the late 1980s and early 1990s, breaking apart the Mafia’s influence. Now, no one is certain who is running Philadelphia’s mob. 
The Daily News reported last week that a three-headed committee consisting of Steve Mazzone, John “Johnny Chang” Ciancaglini and Philip Narducci might be at the helm. Or it could be Joseph “Uncle Joe” Ligambi, the former boss who returned to South Philly last year after surviving 32 months in federal prison while being tried twice on racketeering charges.
“It’s valid to raise the question of who’s in charge,” Anastasia said. “I think the more important question is, given what’s happened to the Philly mob, why would anybody want to be boss?”...

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Comments

  1. Tossing hand grenades! what idiocy....

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  2. Stanfa was born in Sicily . Hand grenades Sicilian style of thinking

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  3. This day and age differs from old school ways

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  4. Philly using a three headed committee is a very smart move! Looks like their taking a page out of the Genovese book, gotta give them credit for at lease trying something different.

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  5. They did.nt call him homicide John for
    nothing. Also in gotti rules it says NY wise guys nickname for Jr Gotti was Urkel any truth to that Lol. Philly

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  6. the chins guys blew frank decico up ?

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  7. Yeah it is a smart move, nobody knows who is actually running the show. Haha but thinking about that, it just reminds me of that episode of the Sopranos where Tony suggests the same thing to Johnny Sac, to which Johnny Sac angrily replies, "What is this, the fuckin' U.N. now!?"

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  8. Ahahhahahaha! Fuckin' Urkel.. Hahaha that is hilarious.

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  9. For real. Scarfo and Stanfa both should have taken a page out of ol' gentle Don Bruno's book and be quiet about that sort of shit, bury the bodies don't leave them out in the street. Wait to get the target, quietly, instead of blowing up his house or car and half his family.

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  10. Phil Narducci I would have a hard time believing after 26 years in some of the harshest prisons the BOP has to offer and his family owning several buisnesses that are successful why would he wanna get involved with mob? For what a couple joker poker stops?

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