Cosa Nostra News

A Staten Island-based Wells Fargo stockbroker allegedly fleeced a widow out of millions--and when found out, told her: “ Now you can get a job like everybody else ." Wells Fargo "allowed Leonard Kinsman into its adviser network in 2014 — despite the fact that Kinsman...had multiple past complaints from ex-clients and two stints at since-banned brokerages," the New York Post  reported . "Kinsman stands accused of squandering a $2.25 million insurance settlement awarded to Robin Fratto of Freehold, NJ, after her husband died unexpectedly in 2011.” Kinsman has what some would call a colorful past. He once worked at a small Wall Street brokerage house that was the centerpiece of what the Fed's called "the most ambitious scheme by organized crime to infiltrate Wall Street in decades." Kinsman, who reportedly still works at Wells Fargo, worked at Meyers Pollock Robbins, which was part of a 1997 Federal racketeering indictment that charg...

" Found religion? Maybe. But it doesn't erase the past, if he did. " --Canadian Mafia expert James Dubro on Pat Musitano's alleged religious transformation The boss of a Calabrian crime family in Hamilton, a Canadian port city about 41 miles west of Niagara Falls, was shot multiple times on Thursday morning and remains in critical condition. Peel Regional police on Thursday investigate the Musitano shooting. Pasquale (Pat) Musitano is still clinging to life at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto where he was brought Thursday morning. He was reportedly shot at least four times, including once in the head, at around 7 a.m. Thursday. A witness described the shooting as "very unsettling and terrifying. And quite brazen in broad daylight." The Hamilton Spectator broke the identity of the victim; law enforcement remains tight-lipped about the incident, neither naming or confirming the name of the victim Mafia vi olence in Hamilton and su...

The man accused of gunning down Francesco (Frankie Boy) Cali — a powerful ranking member of one of the New York Mafia’s Five Families — was indicted for the murder and ordered held without bail at his 10-minute-long arraignment yesterday. Anthony Comello, 24, faces second-degree murder charges and two counts of second-degree criminal weapon possession in the March 13 Hilltop Terrace rub out. Comello, who is being housed in protective custody, pleaded not guilty in state Supreme Court, St. George, on Staten Island and the case is due back in court on May 9. As per law enforcement sources: Comello blasted the alleged Gambino acting boss on Staten Island last month with a 9mm pistol after crashing into the gangster’s Cadillac Escalade SUV (and knocking off Cali’s license plate) to lure him outside. Once Cali was outside, video surveillance reportedly showed the two men talking and then shaking hands. Comello handed Cali his license plate. Cali, apparently sens...

" There’s nothing new under the sun .”  -- Ecclesiastes 1:9 Agent Harris and Tony sit down at Satriale's. The late-blooming alliance (dare we say friendship ?) between FBI Special Agent Dwight Harris and New Jersey gangster Tony Soprano was one of our favorite parts of The Sopranos. In that now-extinct parallel world, Harris (Matt Servitto) was a member of the FBI's Newark Organized Crime Division Task Force who probed DiMeo crime family boss Tony Soprano. A minor character in the first five seasons, Harris played a pivotal role in the final season as, wonder of wonders, a full ally to Tony in his half-ass war with New York boss Phil Leotardo. What were they fighting over, even? Our favorite character, Paulie Gaultieri, once cautioned, "there's not a bigger c--ks--ker than Phil Leotardo," which was enough of an explanation for us.  Those wanting to rehash the details can  check out  The Chase Lounge , where folks left weighty discussions of su...

In the wake of Francesco (Frank Boy) Cali's murder last month, the Gambino crime family has tapped Michael (Mickey Boy) Paradiso to fill the leadership void. Mickey Boy As per today's Gang Land News , "In a surprise move... the Gambino family has tapped a tough, old capo who once punched John Gotti in the face and got away with it, to serve in the crime family's Administration." That's per what law enforcement sources told Gang Land. "He will technically serve as the family's consigliere, or number three man in the family hierarchy. Paradiso will serve alongside two powerful members of the family's Sicilian faction, Domenico (Italian Dom) Cefalu, 72, and Lorenzo Mannino, 60. "Gang Land's sources waffle on the specific ranks of Cefalu, whom the FBI has carried as the family's acting boss since 2011, and Mannino, who has been identified by the feds in recent court filings only as a "powerful capo." P...

Salvatore (Sam) Piccolo, 67, of Atlantic City, a member of the Philadelphia Cosa Nostra, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Robert B. Kugler in Camden federal court yesterday. He admitted to staging a fake robbery of a Union County, New Jersey, pawnshop for the purpose of perpetrating an insurance fraud and to distributing illegal drugs, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced. He had been charged with distribution of 216 grams of methamphetamine and one count of wire fraud. According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court: Piccolo admitted that on April 19, 2014, he and an accomplice entered a pawnshop in Union County, purportedly to sell some silver items. Once inside the shop, the accomplice displayed a hand gun while Piccolo, wearing a nylon mask, chained the front doors closed to prevent anyone from entering. The owner was bound, as a pretense, while Piccolo and his accomplice looted the safe of what the owner told police was ap...

THE WITNESS: I grew up in my country for 26 years almost, and all the people--I would say 99 percent, they never go to the law because the law was too slow, and the law make no justice for what they have done. They prefer Don Tomas, Don Nicolas, Don Ciccio, whatever they call them.... After Joseph (Joe Cago) Valachi and before Sammy (The Bull) Gravano, one of the most important New York mob turncoats was Luigi Ronsisvalle, a "diabolically funny mob hit man." Ronsisvalle left (credit:  Old School) Ronsisvalle was born and was raised in Sicily, where he followed Mafia developments "like an American kid follows baseball." He moved to the United States in 1966 when he was 25. He ″knew almost nothing″ about America's Cosa Nostra when he arrived here. ″In Sicily you could whistle and in two minutes, you’d have 200 guys behind you with a shotgun.″ Ronsisvalle said that while he was growing up in Sicily, he always wanted to be ″a man of honor....

We recently spoke with Nick Christophers and John Alite about their new book, Prison Rules , which was written to tell first-time offenders what they can expect inside the joint. Nick Christophers, left, and John Alite, authors of Prison Rules .  " John Alite is candid and genuine ," Nick said in a recent interview. (Nick occasionally writes for Cosa Nostra News , and we've been trying to get him to write some more. He's currently shopping what we think is the definitive book about the Greek Mafia .) It's been years since we first wrote about former Gambino associate John Alite . That first story, John Alite Blasts Mob Hypocrisy , was published in Jauary 2015. ( We've always been in awe of his ability to woo some of the most heartbreakingly beautiful women we've quite literally ever seen.) Prison Rules is John's third book -- after Gotti's Rules: The Story of John Alite, Junior Gotti, and the Demise of the American Mafia , and D...