The Mafia's Worst-Kept Secret?

Gerard “Gerry” Chilli

A longtime source told us he found himself recalling a list of suspicious things about the guy we refer to as "the mole" after he read the story.

He called it "the worst-kept secret" in the New York Mafia.

In particular, he recalled a Bonanno Christmas party at Long Island's Harbor Club in the early 1990s. (It was once owned by "Junior" Gotti but the Bonanno family had taken over, according to the source). The crime family treated the holiday affair with the secrecy of an induction ceremony.

That means it was top secret. Guys didn't know the party's location. They were told to show up at various diners and other nondescript places -- where they were picked up and driven to the location, which no one knew about beforehand except for a handful of the crime family's top guys.

Our source can't recall the exact year but said it took place before Massino's release or while he was on parole. To his knowledge it has never been written about. We did some research and found quite a few reports regarding Bonanno Christmas parties, but nothing about this one.

"I know people don't believe anything unless it's written about in all the books," our source said. "Believe me, there is lots of things not written about in the books."

One report did catch our eye. Agents from three federal agencies conducted the raid.

The 2011 party was held in Brooklyn, as Jerry Capeci reported in a story called DEA Grinches Spoil Bonanno Family Christmas Party:

"Just as the crowd - it included three Bonanno wiseguys - began to unwind, a gaggle of shotgun-toting party poopers armed also with search warrants arrived at the Bensonhurst storefront. The Grinches didn't even bother to wear red for the occasion; They had on dark blue jackets with big white letters "DEA" across their backs."

"Announcing a raid, the federal drug agents announced a raid, and herded the partygoers out into the cold night for two hours. The suspects - for the most part, elderly men with no prior arrests - were lined up and searched. Their cell phones were taken and later returned. No drugs were seized. ...

"The circumstances surrounding the 7:30 p.m., December 15 raid at the three-room club are shrouded in mystery and intrigue..."

The party we refer to was busted as well. But first there was drinking and merriment -- and strippers.

The mobster we still won't name was at the party -- one of the guys driven there. He had his eye on a stripper and wanted to get to know her more "intimately." His natural charm didn't do the trick, however, so he sought Jerry Asaro -- Vincent's son -- to talk to the woman. Asaro wouldn't do his cohort that favor.

"We don't act like pimps," the source told us. "He asked Jerry Asaro to hook him up and she wasn't interested. He made an issue out of it."

The guy then disappeared for about an hour.

"He said he needed to go outside for something," our source said. "I was standing right next to him. I remember it. He went outside to make a phone call or something."

Next thing the guys knew, not long after he returned, the Feds were outside taking pictures. And then they busted the party. "A couple of guys got violated.

"Now, how did the Feds find out about that meeting?"

The "mole" is a "notorious brokester who doesn't pay anybody." He also said the guy had once gone out West to start up a business, only it failed and he returned.

The "mole" and Nicky "Mouth" Santora both "beat a [Colombo gangster] out of $100,000."

They met "Big Lou" for dinner the night he died. Our source isn't claiming the two mobsters had anything to do with the death; he's saying they took advantage of the situation.

Now we are not saying anything about Nicky Mouth, who has been held without bail for trial. It's just that both the "mole" and Nicky Mouth at some point in time partnered up on some level, according to our source. The Colombo gangster died on the night he happened to have dinner with Santora and friend.

Santora and the other guy then unveiled the story that they'd paid "Big Lou" the $100,000 that they owed him. They couldn't prove it, of course. But then they didn't have to. Nobody could disprove it, either.

Joe Massino didn't care for either of them, the source said. "He called them both broken down valises."

But of the two, Massino preferred to deal with the other guy -- meaning not Nicky Mouth.

"Joe disliked Nicky and [the mole]. But [the mole] was the smarter of the two."

This guy has a history of meeting Bonanno members who get violated. He was there when NYPD detectives observed that suspicious meeting with John Palazzolo in the parking lot of a Queens diner.

He was there when Gerard “Gerry” Chilli was violated. According to our source, he picked Chili up at the airport in December 2013 when the capo arrived in New York from Florida. Chilli was busted as was another made member of the family: Peter Lovaglio.

"He's bobbing and weaving through everything," our source said of the guy. "Nothing touches him."

"He lives off a bullshit reputation. He pretends to be a tough guy, but he never did a fucking thing."

"Not doing a fucking thing" has only one meaning in gangland.

"He was a backup guy one or two times, supposedly."

Our source also mentioned the murder of Russell Mauro. He was robbed and killed -- but there was another factor, too.

"They were afraid of Russell. He was a dangerous guy."

Mauro is not well-known today but was a major junk dealer and a known Mafia shooter.

Mauro personally shot and killed Carmine Galante. He was the one who shot Lilo's eye out.

PS: Gerry Chilli never trusted the guy who drove him from the airport after his bust.