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If Uncle Joe Retires What Happens in Philadelphia?

By Ed Scarpo
Joseph (Uncle Joe) Ligambi, who recently got out of prison following two mistrials for what primarily amounted to gambling-related charges, says that he is done, finito, with Cosa Nostra. He wants to drop the harness and relax, to summer in Longport and winter in Florida. In 1980, violence on the streets of Philadelphia rose sharply following boss Angelo Bruno's murder. Does Ligambi mean it? If he’s being sincere, then who will step in and take over?  Too many wiseguys, if history is our guide. The volatility for which the Philadelphia crime family was once well-known can return as swiftly as the time it takes to pull a trigger. Two generations historically at odds with each other have been working together (the old Scarfo gang and the Merlino young turks). The ability to rivet these two enclaves together is among the skills "Uncle Joe" is credited for having. But with or without him, shifts in power are inevitable as the family's composition changes (...
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Mob Wife Ex-Husband Hector Pagan In Brooklyn Halfway House With April 2021 Release Date

By Ed Scarpo
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...
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Kitchen Nightmares Gangster Back In Business (Mob Business, That Is)

By Ed Scarpo
“Nobody is gonna go against them. They’d go head to head with anybody.” Source on Michael (Mikey Nose) Mancuso and his Administration in the Bonanno crime family. Bonanno mobster Peter (Peter Pasta) Pellegrino, a name you are familiar with if you have been watching Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares and reading Cosa Nostra News , is back in business—the gambling and shylocking business, though, not the restaurant business. Peter Pasta Pellegrino. (From Facebook.) In fact, Peter Pasta was among the Bonannos who benefitted from Michael (Mikey Nose) Mancuso 's reorganization of the crime family last Christmas, we've learned. Pellegrino was bumped from acting capo to official capo. He’s now overseeing a Bonanno crew in Florida and one allied with Albanians in Ridgewood, Queens. Also part of the Nose's Christmastime shakeup, Anthony (Bruno) Indelicato , the longtime Bonanno wiseguy who was a direct participant—he was one of the shooters—in the 1979 Carmine Galante murders, w...
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Gamifying Gambling: How Lucky Green Casino Blends Arcade Energy with Classic Pokies

By Ed Scarpo
You know how some casinos just throw a few flashy graphics at you and call it a day? Yeah—this isn’t that. Lucky Green Casino is doing something way cheekier. They’re tossing the whole “spin and pray” pokie model into a blender with ‘90s arcade nostalgia and pouring out the kind of gameplay that makes you want to come back even if your wallet’s crying. If you're into fast-paced spins, vibrant visuals, and a nostalgic kick of arcade flair, you might want to check out these australian online pokies offered by Lucky Green Casino—a new kind of digital playground that’s flipping the script on how we play. Forget just lining up lemons. This one’s got levels, missions, and game mechanics that make it feel more like Space Invaders with jackpots. So What’s This “Gamified Gambling” Biz All About? Right, let’s break it down without sounding like a sales rep. Gamification in casinos isn’t just a buzzword marketers toss around. It’s about making pokies feel like real games—think missions, dail...
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Alite: "Once Junior Went In, I Couldn't Flip Fast Enough"

By Ed Scarpo
EXCLUSIVE We assume it's in the book, what John "Junior" Gotti revealed today. You may have read the story,  EXCLUSIVE: John (Junior) Gotti brags he lied to feds - NY Daily News : "When the mob scion sat down with federal prosecutors in 2005 to discuss crimes of fellow mobsters, he planned to give them bad information and useless leads, Gotti and his lawyer revealed in an interview with the Daily News. 'No one suffered but me,' he said of the decision." John A. "Junior" Gotti Joe "The German" Watts and Danny Marino might disagree. And some other guys who brawled in a Queens bar one evening in the 1980s may also disagree.
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The Two Primary Qualitative Variables For Defining Ports Along International Drug Trafficking Routes

By Ed Scarpo
By Andrew Machin Large drug traffickers must make two payments in certain ports. One payment goes to corrupt dockworkers and law enforcement officials who enable drug shipments to pass with much less risk of being seized. The second payment is made to the criminal organization that controls the port. This second payment acts as a form of extortion, and its amount, whether in cash or in kind, is calculated based on the value or weight of each shipment. Typically, the two payments are combined into one total transaction, which is then distributed among the various parties involved. To understand the nature of these expenses and the contexts in which they must be paid, it is necessary to research the dynamics that unfold in ports along international drug trafficking routes. Any explanation must begin with some basic considerations. First, international drug trafficking consists of three successive macro phases: production, transportation, and distribution (money flows fall under each). Th...
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