Path to WITSEC Built on Omerta's Dead
Meet the Tweetfellas. Former mobsters living large, and in public.
So notes a recent Daily News article that sought to take to task these "media characters" who have the gall to balk "after completing their government service as informants." Instead of "vanishing into America’s heartland with new identities... they are sticking close — some would say dangerously close — to their stomping grounds and stoking high-profile on social media, personal websites and reality TV shows."
"Former NYPD Police Commissioner [from 1996 to 2000] Howard Safir, who created the witness protection program when he was a top official of the U.S. Marshals Service, said they’re foolhardy if they think they’re getting a pass on the death sentence for violating the mob’s code of silence."
“Organized crime is very patient, even if it means it’s going to be years down the road for there to be retribution,” Safir warned.
So notes a recent Daily News article that sought to take to task these "media characters" who have the gall to balk "after completing their government service as informants." Instead of "vanishing into America’s heartland with new identities... they are sticking close — some would say dangerously close — to their stomping grounds and stoking high-profile on social media, personal websites and reality TV shows."
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| WITSEC was perfected by the time Fat Pete Chiodo was ready for it. |
"Former NYPD Police Commissioner [from 1996 to 2000] Howard Safir, who created the witness protection program when he was a top official of the U.S. Marshals Service, said they’re foolhardy if they think they’re getting a pass on the death sentence for violating the mob’s code of silence."
“Organized crime is very patient, even if it means it’s going to be years down the road for there to be retribution,” Safir warned.
"The old school wiseguys must be spinning in their graves and mausoleums at the audacious behavior of these traitors hiding in plain sight."
Watch the video below. (He's described as "one of the founders" by C-SPAN.)
WITSEC was formally established under Title V of the Organized Crime Control Act of 1970, which defines how the United States Attorney General may provide for the relocation and protection of a witness or potential witness. Witnesses are put in the program at either the federal or state level.
The program falls under the purview of the U.S. Marshals Service, "the nation’s oldest and most versatile federal law enforcement agency" which has "served the country since 1789, often in unseen but critical ways," reveals the U.S. Marshal Service's website factsheet [PDF]. An excellent book that details the origin story is: Witsec: Inside the Federal Witness Protection Program (2003).
The Witness Security Program has successfully protected an estimated 18,400 participants from "intimidation and retribution" since the program began in 1971.
According to Shur, about 95% of witnesses in the program are "what we call criminals." They may be intentional criminals, or people who are doing business with criminals, such as the engineer who bought off a mayor "because that's how you do business in the city. In his mind, he wasn't doing anything criminal," as Shur said.
When Snitches Were Body-Bagged
The mob has not shown a proclivity to kill turncoats in recent years (except for Whitey Bulger, who was killed after the initial version of this story was published). But once upon a time, the story very different.
As is widely known, after JFK was elected president, his brother, as Attorney General, wanted to reinvigorate law enforcement's efforts to combat the Mafia.
Huge obstacles awaited them.
"The Mob had better sources than we did," Shur said in Witsec, which he cowrote. "Omerta was very, very real" at the time. Shur noted that law enforcement had proof of Omerta's strength in the form of a multitude of photographs of dead bodies.
Shur was one of 45 attorneys hired by Robert Kennedy to revitalize organized crime investigations.
At the time some 25 various federal agencies were working OC cases, and not one showed a proclivity to cooperate.
The worst offender on this front was J. Edgar Hoover and his FBI.
Kennedy was determined to end the infighting and put the focus on prosecuting organized crime figures.
He formed a special unit, of which Shur was part, named the OCRS (Organized Crime and Racketeering Section). Attorneys such as Shur were to investigate and prosecute crimes against 40 high-ranking Mafiosi whom Kennedy himself identified.
Shur held the view that getting high-level informants to give solid information was the best way to combat the Mafia bosses.
His first target was Carmine Persico -- Shur actually thought Persico might flip. At the time "The Snake," as the Gallo brothers commenced derisively calling him for his duplicity in betraying them and attempting to garrot Larry Gallo, had been given a 15-year prison sentence. Shur believed Persico might flip to avoid the prison term.
Turns out Shur never got the opportunity. New York prosecutors refused to believe Persico would ever flip -- the very thought was outrageous to them. They stopped Shur in his tracks.
"Do you guys know who Persico is?" shouted one prosecutor when he learned that Shur and his men wanted to offer The Snake a deal to inform.
Asked about the photos, Christy Tick said: "I sell life insurance and my boss gave them pictures to me. He told me to avoid selling life insurance policies to those guys. They might not be living too much longer."
Shur closely looked through the photographs -- and made a horrific discovery. The photographs of the Gallo brothers he held in his hands had been taken by the NYPD during surveillance. He realized Magliocco was getting information from Shur's own people.
At the time, so many cops, judges and politicians were on the mob's payroll it was impossible even to bust a bookie's wire room. The law would track down a location and before they could kick in the front door, the occupants had vanished.
The first-ever mobster to flip, testify and get witness protection was Paddy Calabrese.
The program's earliest incarnation left much to be desired.
Part two is right here....
Considering recent major Mafia busts including murder conspiracy charges, "revenge" is now the stuff of films versus a real life practice. Today, the Five Families outsource hits.
Howard Safir distinguished himself in law enforcement, holding numerous high-level positions--Assistant Director of the DEA, Chief of Witness Security for the U.S. Marshals Service, Associate Director for Operations for the U.S. Marshals Service--but he was certainly not the man who "created" the Federal Witness Security Program.
Gerald Shur was the architect of the witness protection program, which he formally founded while he was Attorney in Charge of the Intelligence and Special Services Unit of the Organized Crime and Racketeering Section of the United States Department of Justice. (Safir came along later and transformed the ragtag group of low-level, under-compensated agents into the elite, well-funded unit some think of today.)
Watch the video below. (He's described as "one of the founders" by C-SPAN.)
The program falls under the purview of the U.S. Marshals Service, "the nation’s oldest and most versatile federal law enforcement agency" which has "served the country since 1789, often in unseen but critical ways," reveals the U.S. Marshal Service's website factsheet [PDF]. An excellent book that details the origin story is: Witsec: Inside the Federal Witness Protection Program (2003).
The Witness Security Program has successfully protected an estimated 18,400 participants from "intimidation and retribution" since the program began in 1971.
 |
| A young but deadly Carmine Persico was almost Shur's first target. |
According to Shur, about 95% of witnesses in the program are "what we call criminals." They may be intentional criminals, or people who are doing business with criminals, such as the engineer who bought off a mayor "because that's how you do business in the city. In his mind, he wasn't doing anything criminal," as Shur said.
When Snitches Were Body-Bagged
The mob has not shown a proclivity to kill turncoats in recent years (except for Whitey Bulger, who was killed after the initial version of this story was published). But once upon a time, the story very different.
As is widely known, after JFK was elected president, his brother, as Attorney General, wanted to reinvigorate law enforcement's efforts to combat the Mafia.
Huge obstacles awaited them.
"The Mob had better sources than we did," Shur said in Witsec, which he cowrote. "Omerta was very, very real" at the time. Shur noted that law enforcement had proof of Omerta's strength in the form of a multitude of photographs of dead bodies.
 |
| Click book cover. |
Shur was one of 45 attorneys hired by Robert Kennedy to revitalize organized crime investigations.
At the time some 25 various federal agencies were working OC cases, and not one showed a proclivity to cooperate.
The worst offender on this front was J. Edgar Hoover and his FBI.
Kennedy was determined to end the infighting and put the focus on prosecuting organized crime figures.
He formed a special unit, of which Shur was part, named the OCRS (Organized Crime and Racketeering Section). Attorneys such as Shur were to investigate and prosecute crimes against 40 high-ranking Mafiosi whom Kennedy himself identified.
Shur held the view that getting high-level informants to give solid information was the best way to combat the Mafia bosses.
His first target was Carmine Persico -- Shur actually thought Persico might flip. At the time "The Snake," as the Gallo brothers commenced derisively calling him for his duplicity in betraying them and attempting to garrot Larry Gallo, had been given a 15-year prison sentence. Shur believed Persico might flip to avoid the prison term.
Turns out Shur never got the opportunity. New York prosecutors refused to believe Persico would ever flip -- the very thought was outrageous to them. They stopped Shur in his tracks.
"Do you guys know who Persico is?" shouted one prosecutor when he learned that Shur and his men wanted to offer The Snake a deal to inform.
"He's not some small-time hood! He's a boss, for God's sake! What's wrong with you guys!"
OCRS was focusing on bosses (40, as noted) but Shur quickly realized they needed to recalibrate their sights and focus on smaller game if they wanted to make progress.
At the time Joseph Magliocco, in an attempt to consolidate his position as Profaci crime family boss, was making a lot of noise about wanting the street littered with bodies, especially of the Gallo brothers, before the Commission took over what was left of the tattered, troubled Profaci borgata.
Magliocco ultimately proved to be too well insulated, even though his hold over what was renamed the Colombo crime family was tenuous.
Christopher "Christy Tick" Furnari, then a low-level Luchese mobster, happened to get jammed up when he was caught meeting with a Magliocco lieutenant while on parole.
Inside Furnari's home while arresting him for violating parole, Shur attempted to flip the loyal soldier, who's response was, basically, "stick it up your ass -- get lost."
Furnari—filled with contempt for the federal agents rifling through his belongings and discovering photographs of the Gallo brothers hidden inside a bible—let loose sarcastic retorts that indirectly confirmed Shur's suspicion that "Christy Tick" had been sought to hit the Gallo brothers.
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| Magliocco was related to the bosses of the Bonanno, Magaddino and Profaci crime families. He put the fear of God into Shur. |
At the time Joseph Magliocco, in an attempt to consolidate his position as Profaci crime family boss, was making a lot of noise about wanting the street littered with bodies, especially of the Gallo brothers, before the Commission took over what was left of the tattered, troubled Profaci borgata.
Magliocco ultimately proved to be too well insulated, even though his hold over what was renamed the Colombo crime family was tenuous.
Christopher "Christy Tick" Furnari, then a low-level Luchese mobster, happened to get jammed up when he was caught meeting with a Magliocco lieutenant while on parole.
Inside Furnari's home while arresting him for violating parole, Shur attempted to flip the loyal soldier, who's response was, basically, "stick it up your ass -- get lost."
"The fear of being sent back to prison was simply not enough to make Furnari crack."
Furnari—filled with contempt for the federal agents rifling through his belongings and discovering photographs of the Gallo brothers hidden inside a bible—let loose sarcastic retorts that indirectly confirmed Shur's suspicion that "Christy Tick" had been sought to hit the Gallo brothers.
Asked about the photos, Christy Tick said: "I sell life insurance and my boss gave them pictures to me. He told me to avoid selling life insurance policies to those guys. They might not be living too much longer."
Shur closely looked through the photographs -- and made a horrific discovery. The photographs of the Gallo brothers he held in his hands had been taken by the NYPD during surveillance. He realized Magliocco was getting information from Shur's own people.
At the time, so many cops, judges and politicians were on the mob's payroll it was impossible even to bust a bookie's wire room. The law would track down a location and before they could kick in the front door, the occupants had vanished.
The first-ever mobster to flip, testify and get witness protection was Paddy Calabrese.
The program's earliest incarnation left much to be desired.
Part two is right here....