Cosa Nostra News

A Staten Island-based Wells Fargo stockbroker allegedly fleeced a widow out of millions--and when found out, told her: “ Now you can get a job like everybody else ." Wells Fargo "allowed Leonard Kinsman into its adviser network in 2014 — despite the fact that Kinsman...had multiple past complaints from ex-clients and two stints at since-banned brokerages," the New York Post  reported . "Kinsman stands accused of squandering a $2.25 million insurance settlement awarded to Robin Fratto of Freehold, NJ, after her husband died unexpectedly in 2011.” Kinsman has what some would call a colorful past. He once worked at a small Wall Street brokerage house that was the centerpiece of what the Fed's called "the most ambitious scheme by organized crime to infiltrate Wall Street in decades." Kinsman, who reportedly still works at Wells Fargo, worked at Meyers Pollock Robbins, which was part of a 1997 Federal racketeering indictment that charg...

In November 2013, a low-profile Luchese associate was murdered in the Bronx -- and many stories in the media blitz that followed referenced the Purple Gang, an obscure 1970s street gang with reputed Mafia links. Police probe Meldish shooting in the Bronx in 2013. The  Purple Gang roamed the South Bronx and Harlem where members were involved in the large‐scale distribution of heroin. They also whacked people -- and in many cases, dismembered their victims, of which there reportedly were 17 by December 1977. (Many of the 17 had been active informants for law enforcement when slain.) Purple Gang members essentially cut their teeth as glorified coffee boys in decade-long apprenticeships.  They stepped up their game when the competition was wiped out -- meaning, they filled a huge niche after law enforcement cleared away many local narcotics trafficking rings, including the one known as the French Connection. The Purple Gang  entered the contract killing busines...

Story contains link to PDF of Apalachin dossier  "Christmas is a special time for most people, happy for those who have and sad for those who have not," Louis DiVita told me in a recent conversation. A house near this intersection in New Jersey has an interesting history... He lost a beloved relative only a few days before Christmas Eve, and all these years later, the holiday still holds a blending of different emotions for him. "As a child our celebrations always recognized the previously deceased, including my great Uncle Benedetto Angelo “Buffalo Bill” Palmeri who died on December 21, 1932," he said. "Buffalo Bill tried to ensure the less fortunate had Christmas Dinner," Louis said of his grandfather's brother. Benedetto Angelo Palmeri died of natural causes at the relatively young age of 54. In a story on the Writers of Wrongs blog by Thomas Hunt, Palmeri is described as a "longtime leader in the Mafia of Western New York...

 "Down here it’s called franchising. Where I come from, it’s called racketeering." -- Louis DiVita, author of A Wiser Guy It's a book that reads like a whos-who of the New York/New Jersey/Philadelphia crime families . Louis and his family crossed paths with a lot of figures you've read about, including Willie Moretti, Albert Anastasia, Charles "Lucky" Luciano and Vito Genovese. Benedetto Angelo, who was partnered with Joseph DiCarlo. His forebears wound up in New Jersey's Mafia landscape but first played a decades-long role in upstate New York where they were closely allied with mobsters such as Stefano Magaddino and Joseph DiCarlo. The Palmeri brothers both backed their countryman Salvatore Maranzano when the New York Mafia split into factions and used murder to finally end an ongoing feud as to who was going to be who. Afterward, the modern-day Mafia was created. Louis's grandfather, Paolo Palmeri, was a high-ranking mobster ...

Louis DiVita , author of A Wiser Guy and good friend, is slated to appear on Crime Beat , a web show hosted by award-winning crime writer Ron Chepesiuk and journalist Will Hryb. Louis P DiVita, the grandson and great nephew of two of the American Mafia's founders, was also close to and or related to New Jersey-based Genovese crime family members, released his memoir last year, A Wiser Guy, which is among the top titles we've been promoting on Amazon.com. On the air since Jan.  28, 2011, Crime Beat is a weekly hour-long radio program that airs every Thursday at 8 p.m. EST. It averages 180,000 listeners in 130-plus countries. (Shows are archived at  www.artistfirst.com/crimebeat.htm  for 24-7 listening.)

A  Wiser Guy , by Louis DiVita, is the work of a man with a fascinating background. His grandfather was a high-ranking mobster who was associated with Stefano Magaddino, the Mafia overlord of Buffalo, New York, whose dominion extended into Canada. Be a Goodfella and click image. Thanks! His brother, Benedetto Angelo, stayed in Niagara Falls,where he was partnered with Joseph DiCarlo. Paolo "Paul" Palmeri moved to New Jersey and started enterprising with Willie Moretti, who is perhaps best known today for what he didn't do -- namely, he was not around to hunt down Vito Genovese after he sent a young shooter to kill Frank Costello. However, the boss of what became the Genovese crime family survived. Smart enough to retire, he lived out his life puttering around in his garden. Or did he? According to Louis DiVita it was none other than the Prime Minister himself who showed up at his grandmother's doorstep one day with an envelope. Invited inside, they...

Today marks the Kindle debut of Louis P. DiVita's A Wiser Guy -- so readers can purchase it in whatever format they prefer: ebook , hardcover or paperback . (Be sure to check out Louis's website , where the above trailer is posted, along with additional information.) In A Wiser Guy , DiVita -- whose grandfather was Paul Palmeri and great uncle Benedetto Angelo, aka "Buffalo Bill," Joseph DiCarlo 's partner -- shares personal and colorful anecdotes about life among high-profile members of the American Mafia from around the 1920s to the present. DiVita's forebears, originally from Sicily's Castellammare Del Golfo , first played a decades-long role in upstate New York where they were closely allied with mob bosses Stefano Magaddino and Joseph DiCarlo. The Palmeri brothers initially planted their flags in Buffalo and Niagara Falls; they had associations with major Canadian mobsters of the day, such as Rocco Perri. These relationships had ramificatio...

A Wiser Guy , by Louis DiVita, includes mention of a nearly unbelievably wide array of wiseguys, including Willie Moretti, Albert Anastasia, Charles "Lucky" Luciano and Vito Genovese. Some are not as well known. His forebears wound up in New Jersey's Mafia landscape but first played a decades-long role in upstate New York where they were closely allied with mobsters such as Stefano Magaddino and Joseph DiCarlo. The Palmeri brothers both backed their countryman Salvatore Maranzano when the New York Mafia split into factions and used murder to finally end an ongoing feud as to who was going to be who. Afterward, the Mafia as we know it today was created.