Cosa Nostra News

Ailing former Colombo acting boss Victor (Little Vic) Orena, 86, who currently resides at FMC Devens, the Federal prison in Massachusetts, may be in for a taste of freedom before shuffling off this mortal coil. William (Wild Bill) Cutolo, Vic Orena, Benny Aloi, Bobby Ross. . Because a firearms charge in his 1992 case has been tossed, Orena, who is wheelchair-bound and suffering from dementia, will have to be completely resentenced--and his lawyers are hoping to use this opportunity to successfully press for his release, according to a Daily News report by Noah Goldberg . When Orena is resentenced, his lawyers will argue that he has been rehabilitated. They also say that they will present newly discovered evidence that points toward Orena's innocence. “An overriding factor here is Mr. Orena’s age and medical conditions,” said David Schoen, Orena’s lawyer, at a Monday hearing in front of Eastern District Judge Eric Komitee. Schoen told the Daily News that new evidence includes previ...

" B efore there was John Gotti, there was Sonny Franzese," someone once said, and we concur. Former Colombo capo Michael Franzese said he was made on Oct. 31, 1975. On Long Island—especially the Long Island of the 1960s, decades before Amy Fisher shot Mary Joe at Joe Buttofuoco's Massapequa home, making all us Long Island natives (aka Long Islanders) look like jerks—and especially after  Ernest (Ernie the Hawk) Rupolo's stabbed and bullet-riddled body was recovered  from the beach at Jamaica Bay, Queens in August 1964 (his feet had been weighted down with cement blocks, the proverbial concrete shoes), most Long Islanders generally believed that  John Sonny Franzese was the major Mafia power  in the Northeast United States.  Never mind that Sonny most likely had nothing whatsoever to do with Rupolo and wasn't found guilty for it at the conclusion of the 1967 trial. Nevertheless, Rupolo's murder prefaced an unprecedented legal onslaught against Franzese, wi...

Disqus, the comment platform, has been acting funny the past couple of days. This is a Disqus problem that will likely be addressed soon. (We hope.)  The Mob Museum  recently debuted a virtual book series to highlight recent and upcoming mob books, including by top authors in the genre. All events in the series are free and can be accessed via the web. (We include all pertinent links in the story below.) Cosa Nostra News' s own  Nick Christophers has signed on to participate in the event  and, on May 26, will discuss the history of the Greek mob in America, a topic that deserves more attention (in our humble opinion).  Nick will discuss and take questions regarding his recent  Mafia Ties: The Greek Syndicates.  (The book is currently in contract to be republished under the Canadian-based Coastal West Publishing imprint.)  Mafia Ties, which we read and heartily recommend, details the history of these wily Greek criminals who deftly fashioned c...