Book On John Gotti's Crew By Anthony DeStefano Due Next Summer

Gotti's Boys: The Mafia Crew That Killed for John Gotti is the latest from Anthony M. DeStefano.




Gotti's Boys: The Mafia Crew That Killed for John Gotti is the latest from Anthony M. DeStefano, the prolific Pulitzer Prize-winning journo. The book tells the story of John Gotti's inner circle: the men who helped the former Gambino boss rise to power. As per its Amazon pre-order page:

"They called him “The Teflon Don.” But in his short reign as the head of the Gambino crime family, John Gotti wracked up a lifetime of charges from gambling, extortion, and tax evasion to racketeering, conspiracy, and five convictions of murder. He didn’t do it alone. Surrounding himself with a rogues gallery of contract killers, fixers, and enforcers, he built one of the richest, most powerful crime empires in modern history. Who were these men? Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Anthony M. DeStefano takes you inside Gotti’s inner circle to reveal the dark hearts and violent deeds of the most remorseless and cold-blooded characters in organized crime."






The book will be available July 30, 2019, though you can right this moment reserve your copy: the Kindle version is $12.99, the hardcover $26.

Gotti's Boys: The Mafia Crew That Killed for John Gotti will introduce the reader to "men so vicious even the other Mafia families were terrified of them...."

* Charles Carneglia: the ruthless junkyard dog who allegedly disposed of bodies for the mob—by dissolving them in acid then displaying their jewels

* Gene Gotti: the younger Gotti brother who ran a multimillion-dollar drug smuggling ring—enraging his bosses in the Gambino family

* Angelo “Quack-Quack” Ruggiero: the loose-lipped contract killer who was wire-tapped by the FBI—and dared to insult Gotti behind his back

* Tony “Roach” Rampino: the hardcore stoner who looked like a cockroach—and used his gangly arms and horror-mask face to frighten his enemies

* Salvatore Gravano: the Gambino underboss who helped John Gotti execute Gambino mob boss Paul Castellano—then sang like a canary to take Gotti down

* Frank “Franky D” DeCicco

* Vincent “Little Vinny” Artuso

* Joe “The German” Watts, a man who wasn’t a Mafiosi but had all of the power and prestige of one in John Gotti’s slaughterhouse crew. 

Gotti’s Boys is a killer line-up of the crime-hardened mob soldiers who killed at their ruthless leader’s merciless bidding—brought to vivid life by the prize-winning chronicler of the American mob.

Frank Costello was the subject of the veteran Newsday reporter's last book. Top Hoodlum: Frank Costello, Prime Minister of the Mafia details the story of a mob boss who was not much of a killer or a tough guy; but more importantly, Costello didn't aspire to be either. More like a politician or diplomat, he was practically Gotti's mirror image. Costello was what they used to snootily refer to as bourgeois: the man craved high society respectability the way an addict joneses for his next fix.

Francesco Castiglia -- who was born on Jan. 26, 1891, in Cassano all'Ionio, a poverty stricken comune in Calabria, Italy, and arrived in the United States at the age of 4, where he was reared in Italian East Harlem -- lived the kind of life that is impossible today. Frank had longevity (dying in 1973 at age 82) and prosperity, and escaped the major prosecutions and long-ass prison sentences of his modern day heirs.

Frank Costello in his 1950s prime.


He was of course shot in the head by Vincent (Chin) Gigante on Vito Genovese's orders shortly before 11 p.m. on May 2, 1957, in front of the Majestic Apartments at 115 Central Park West near 71st St., where he had lived for many years. But the bullet only grazed his scalp. Costello escaped with stitches and a headache and was allowed to retire peacefully on Long Island, living in a country home at Sands Point, L.I., until February 1973, when he was moved to the Doctors Hospital, which used to be located in the Yorkville section of Manhattan.

(And one year after his death, a bomb was used to blow off the bronze doors of Costello's mausoleum. "Police to this day still think (the explosion) was a gesture by dope dealing mobster Carmine Galante as a sign of disrespect," as DeStefano writes.)


Anthony M. DeStefano is a New York City journalist who specializes in legal affairs, criminal justice and organized crime. 


Check out DeStefano's website.



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