Gene Borrello, Former Mob Associate-Turned-Fledging Podcaster, Sent Back To The Can For Six Months

Turncoat Bonanno associate/former podcaster Gene Borrello has been sent back to jail again for violating the conditions of his supervised release.

Turncoat Bonanno associate/former podcaster Gene Borrello
Gene Borrello in hot water once again.


Borrello, 38, was given a six-month sentence by a judge in Brooklyn federal court on Wednesday for participating in podcasts about organized crime and for associating with other criminals while doing so.

“You want to know [why] I went out there?” Borrello said of his podcasting antics as per a Daily News report. “I’ll be honest with you. Every other cooperator is on there and I’m not allowed to. Sammy Gravano is on there talking about killing people.”

“I don’t like being made a fool of,” the judge said. “It bothers you, of course — that’s the essence of trust.”

Borrello helped Brooklyn federal prosecutors put away more than 21 mobsters and then spent about five years in prison for committing crimes that otherwise could've earned him a life sentence. A judge sentenced him to time served and probation in 2019.

Then, instead of staying on the straight and narrow, Borrello reverted to parole-breaking behavior, including by participating in YouTube podcasts to rehash his criminal past with former Gambino associate John Alite, prosecutors have argued.

He and Alite launched the Johnny & Gene Show around March 2020, around the time the initial surge of COVID-19 struck New York City. 

The Johnny and Gene Show ran for about a year, until March 2021 when Borrello was sentenced to four months in prison, followed by six months of house arrest and three additional years of probation. He also was banned from doing podcasts and setting foot in Howard Beach, Queens.

Borrello had been arrested previously that year for threatening to kill his ex-girlfriend’s husband and hurt her father after she refused to grant him the rights to use a photo of her in an ebook. 

“The threats he made are very, very serious,” as US Attorney Lindsay Gerdes told a Brooklyn federal judge at a bail hearing in February 2021. 

“He said, ‘The minute you call the cops on me and grow those balls, you watch, I’ll blow your husband’s head right off in the middle of the street,'” Gerdes told US Magistrate Judge Robert Levy.

“Remember what I used to do. I will grab your father right now and beat the dog sh— out of him. Be happy I don’t grab you and your fat, ugly husband by the neck and drag you down the street,” she said. 

Gerdes also said that Gene had been “posting videos of himself on social media holding thousands of dollars, wearing expensive Rolex watches, driving around in a high-end Porsche and wearing thousands of dollars in designer apparel.” 

She urged the judge to hold Borrello without bail, citing his inability to control his temper and his expansive criminal history.

At the conclusion of the hour-long hearing, Judge Levy rejected a bail package and ordered detainment for Borrello.

“It’s hard for me to see clear and convincing evidence that you would be able to restrain yourself in the future,” he said. “I’m going to deny the bond.”

We first interviewed Gene in 2019, when he told us that residents of Howard Beach were blaming him for terrorizing the neighborhood when the two gangsters who were really behind it were reputed Bonanno capo Vinny Asaro and alleged acting capo Ronnie Giallanzo, who is at Butner Medium FCI and will be until he is released on May 21, 2029.

Gene Borrello, left, John Alite formerly of the Johnny & Gene Show.
Gene Borrello, left, John Alite.


"I took orders from Ronnie G and Vinny Asaro," Gene said, 

Gene was perturbed that Gang Land News had described him as an "animal" who "forced himself into the homes of law-abiding citizens, tied them up, placed a gun to their head and stole their life savings and personal belongings."

Borrello, as per Gang Land, is a lowlife thug, as well as a one-man crime wave who ran a crew that pulled off terrifying break-ins -- and who also pulled the wool over the eyes of the Feds while helping them put away 20-plus Bonanno bad guys including Giallanzo and Asaro.

"I wasn't the boss, Ronnie was -- he was the one who lived in the $3 million house in the corner, not me."

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