Scarpa Ruling

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BUSTED: Gambling Ring With Links to Defunct Pittsburgh Mafia Family

By Ed Scarpo
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Thirteen individuals, including a father and son alleged to be associates of the "defunct" Pittsburgh Cosa Nostra, were arrested last week for participating in an illegal gambling ring.


Robert (Bobby I) Iannelli, 88, of Wexford, and Rodney (Rusty) Iannelli, 58, of Pittsburgh, were charged by a grand jury with running an illegal bookmaking and lottery business that brought in tens of thousands of dollars weekly, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.
Robert Iannelli has multiple convictions for gambling charges by both state and Federal investigators going back to 1969. His son, Rodney Iannelli, was arrested in 2000 for involvement in a Fayette County sports betting and illegal lottery ring connected to one of Pittsburgh's "last made mobsters," Thomas “Sonny” Ciancutti.






This latest case began when the state attorney general’s office and state police launched a probe in March 2015 that discovered the Iannellis were operating as bookmakers who accepted sports and lo…
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Missing Rochester Boss Paid Price For Threatening Buffalo Chieftain Stefano Magaddino

By Ed Scarpo
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So what happened to Jake Russo, then?



Did his dead body become part of the Veterans Memorial Bridge, as one of many rumors making the rounds after his 1964 disappearance alleged?

Not according to new claims that Russo was done in because he dared to threaten a boss who made unreasonable demands of him. Stefano Magaddino, the ruthless, Buffalo-based mob boss whose influence extended from parts of New York (including Rochester) and Pennsylvania to Toronto for more than 30 years, was legendary for his stinginess and cruelty.






Threatening Magaddino to his face about how you planned to undermine him was tantamount to signing your own death warrant.

Magaddino was "the Undertaker" because of his Niagara Falls funeral home, but also because of his knack for ordering murders. A Sicilian immigrant, Magaddino, cousin to Joseph Bonanno, smuggled liquor across Lake Ontario from Canada during Prohibition.


In 1963, while out on bail, Magaddino associate Albert Agueci had threatened the b…
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What Really Happened To Rochester Boss Jake Russo? Recently Surfaced Videotaped Interviews May Hold Answer

By Ed Scarpo
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This was supposed to be a straightforward story about Jake Russo, but of course I can never not plunge headfirst down whatever rabbit hole catches my eye.... Can't ignore what intrigues me....
Rochester acting boss Jake Russo disappeared in September 1964, and nearly 55 years later, his body has never been found.

Recently surfaced videotaped interviews with a former Russo cohort may finally reveal what really happened all those years ago.

In interviews conducted and videotaped several years prior to his 2014 death, Rene Piccarreto Sr., the former consigliere of the Rochester crime family, said that Russo was strangled in the basement of a downtown Rochester restaurant that later became a popular area pizzeria called the Pizza Stop.

But back in 1964, the restaurant was owned by Frank Valenti, the man who succeeded Russo atop the Mafia family there. Actually, Russo had only been put in charge when Valenti was forced to leave town.

By December 1964, the Rochester mob appeared to be o…
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Ex-Genovese Wiseguy Joey Waterbed and Bro Greg Caponegro Terrorized Residents Of The Garden State

By Ed Scarpo
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"The mob ain't what it used to be, number one, and he’s not even part of the mob. They’re both so fcking crazy the mob wants nothing to do with them. But what they have is this intimidation factor 'cause they are fcking nuts.”
--Police detective on the Caponegro brothers, Joseph and Gregory
“I'm about ready to go to fcking jail!” --Greg Caponegro

Story includes three videos, below
A violent former associate of the Genovese crime family (formerly in the crew of one of the most powerful capos to ever rule the waterfront) and his twin brother have been on something of a tear recently, allegedly terrorizing residents of the Garden State.

Many of said Garden State residents allegedly terrorized by the Caponegro brothers – that’s Joseph (Joey Waterbed) and Greg -- no doubt will feel some relief at knowing that the police have finally taken steps to put a damper on the not-so-dynamic duo’s over-the-top activities by arresting one of them last week. (This is the Mountainside, NJ…
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Hoodwinked: Restaurateur on Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares Was a Mobster

By Ed Scarpo
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Peter "Peter Pasta" Pellegrino, formerly of the Babylon, New York restaurant Peter’s Italian Restaurant, really is -- or was -- a gangster.

The once-promising Bonanno member who appeared after the Kitchen Nightmares episode aired, now calls himself a brokester. And the Bonanno crime family, with which he was once affiliated has disowned him.

So has the rest of New York's Cosa Nostra, according to FBI documents and Peter Pasta himself.

But before all that he appeared on an episode of Kitchen Nightmares in which he acted very much like the mobster he allegedly was trying to become around the time of filming. (See Peter's Italian Restaurant menu here.)






Back then Peter Pasta was an up-and-coming Bonanno associate who "earned" $15 grand a week bookmaking.

At the time, he also owned two boats that he'd park in a pricey nearby Babylon harbor called Great South Bay.

Gang Land News's Jerry Capeci broke the news, reporting:

Today, like the battered and bruised…
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John Gotti's Grandson Marries

By Ed Scarpo
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REVISED, EXPANDED
The late John Gotti's grandson, John Gotti Agnello, was married this past weekend.

Agnello, the son of Victoria Gotti and Carmine Agnello and one of the stars of A&E's Growing Up Gotti, wed his longtime love Alina Sanchez, a physician’s assistant. According to Page Six, the 500 guests gave gifts of at least $5,000. The couple left the evening with $2.5 million.*

The event took place at the Oheka Castle in Long Island and went from 5 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 25, and ended at 1 p.m. on Saturday.

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A Mob Tour You Can't Refuse

By Ed Scarpo
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By Nick Christophers

Whether you’re a tourist or a native New Yorker there is always something new to learn about the gritty streets of certain boroughs.



Especially Manhattan and Brooklyn which were the breeding grounds of the mafia. Robin London, the CEO of NYCGangster Tours offers you the opportunity to walk in the shoes of infamous names like Al Capone, John Gotti, Meyer Lansky, Arnold Rothstein and many others. Her tour is unique as it targets mostly the Jewish gangsters that came up alongside the Italians.

It is no wonder that Robin would take up the reigns as a professional tour guide in the city she loves so much. Her knowledge of the concrete jungle is more than impressive. She’s a walking encyclopedia of the culture that is New York. Founding a mob tour only seemed fitting.







“My fascination with the mob started as I realized as I got older that some of the neighbors in the old neighborhoods of Brooklyn I grew up with were "connected". As I delved into the history of …
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