Cosa Nostra News

When asked why Gambino wiseguys were unhappy with Paul Castellano , Salvatore (Sammy the Bull) Gravano said, "There was a number of reasons that Paul was eventually having a lot of problems with a lot of different people."  THE TARGETS: Tommy Bilotti, left, and Paul Castellano. One of the lesser-known reasons had to do with Castellano's decision to allow the Genovese family to murder Connecticut-based Gambino capo Frank (The Attorney) Piccolo (aka Frankie Lanza), who was once considered one of the top wiseguys in Connecticut. Specifically, in the 1950s, as per state and local law enforcement, Piccolo was one of the two reigning mob powers in the state. The other was Genovese wiseguy Ralph (Whitey) Tropiano. Then, in September 1981, when Piccolo was 58 and awaiting trial for plotting to extort high-profile Las Vegas entertainers Wayne Newton and Lola Falana, his reign reached an abrupt end after  he was gunned down outside a Bridgeport telephone booth.  Piccolo had been

By Andrew Machin “ The Crimine belongs to nobody... it belongs to everyone. The Crimine must be composed of everyone [who belongs] to the Locale, all the men! " --Domenico Oppedisano, cl. 1930, the last known Capo Crimine, Sept. 2009. Whenever police investigators are faced with a suspected case of Mafia murder or attempted murder but also of arson, home invasion, and shootings in general, usually the probe starts and develops along two directions: 1) To identify the perpetrators (for example, by analyzing video surveillance from the crime scene and surrounding areas and looking for witnesses) 2) To identify the involved criminal group(s)/organization(s) and the motivation for the conflict (for example, by probing underworld sources) As to this last point, to direct the investigations, it may be useful to propose a categorization of the wars /struggles / clashes between criminal groups and organizations. A categorization which, considering our topics of interest, will focus on the

Carmine (Papa Smurf) Franco, a longtime Genovese family associate who admitted to being a mobbed-up trash-hauling kingpin (and forfeited $2.5 million), died last Monday at age 85 from complications from COVID-19. Carmine (Papa Smurf) Franco, longtime Genovese associate. Franco, who died at NYU Langone Medical Center in Manhattan, is survived by his wife of 61 years Mary, their four children, 11 grandchildren, and one great-granddaughter. A Bergen County garbage magnate who for decades was involved in the trash hauling industry in North Jersey and beyond—both before and after he had been barred by the State of New Jersey from participating in the industry—Franco had been linked to the Genovese crime family since the 1980s, as per the New Jersey State Commission and the defunct Pennsylvania Crime Commission, which filed documents detailing Franco's ties and involvement in organized crime. In November 2013, Franco copped to a plea deal before U.S. District Judge P. Kevin Castel that

And we continue with the next part of our transcript series on the 1992 testimony of Salvatore (Sammy the Bull) Gravano at John Gotti's last racketeering and murder trial, the one in 1992. Salvatore Gravano image from Valuetainment podcast. In December 1990, Gravano was arrested with the Gambino boss, acting consiglieri Frank (Franky Loc) Locascio, and capo Thomas Gambino.   As the trial was about to begin in 1992, Gravano never showed up in court to take his seat alongside his former cohorts at the defense table. They formally learned he had flipped. The centerpiece of the government’s 1992 Gotti-Locascio indictment was the assassination of Gambino boss Paul Castellano, who was slain with his driver/underboss/loyal pitbull Thomas Bilotti on Dec. 16, 1985, in front of the midtown Manhattan steakhouse Sparks. As per his agreement, Gravano agreed to testify and plead guilty to a single count of racketeering, and debrief the Feds about every crime he ever committed. The federal govern

A virus claims the life of a murderous ex-wiseguy After spending a month on a ventilator, Anthony (Gaspipe) Casso died of complications from COVID-19 on Tuesday, December 15, at age 78. The former Luchese underboss was first diagnosed with coronavirus on November 5 at the United States Penitentiary in Tucson. Anthony (Gaspipe) Casso Casso was one of two inmates at Tuscon USP who died of COVID-19 yesterday. (The other was a 73-year-old convict serving a 25-year sentence for sex trafficking and weapons charges.) On Thursday, November 5, Casso tested positive for COVID-19 and was placed in medical isolation at the United States Penitentiary Tucson. Institution medical staff provided treatment and monitored his condition. On Monday, November 9, he was transported to a local hospital due to respiratory distress. On Tuesday, November 17, his condition declined and he was placed on a ventilator. On Tuesday, December 15, Casso, who officials say had long-term, pre-existing medical conditions,

Back in 2014, despite the heartfelt pleas of a murdered man's daughter, Brooklyn Federal Judge John Gleeson sentenced Hector (Junior) Pagan to 11 years in prison —and offered a thoughtful comment. James Donovan was killed during a botched robbery in 2010. He said, “We can only hope” that by time Pagan is released “we have prepared him for re-entry into society to mitigate the risk” of what would happen if Pagan returned to a life of crime. How far Judge Gleeson's hope gets us is something we will discover very soon. The former Bonanno associate/Mob Wives bit player is getting out of the can in a few months..... He is currently residing at the Brooklyn RRM (a halfway house where he and other Federal offenders receive "community-based services that will assist with their reentry needs.") Pagan's official reentry date is April 18, 2021. Renee Graziano's ex-husband got a reduced sentence in 2014 because he flipped and testified against two cohorts who were involve