Cosa Nostra News

EXPANDED Just about every wiseguy who ever lived, no matter how smart he is—no matter how low he holds his head—sooner or later will find himself in a prison cell. The only mystery is the duration of the sentence (which, depending on the content of the indictment, could be a couple of years or decades—or centuries).  Freddy (right), Ty (center), Arillotta (second from left). Spending time in the can is as much a certainty for wiseguys as death and taxes are for the rest of us. Case in point: even the  recently departed Gambino capo Anthony Scotto , who died at age 87 earlier this month, eventually went to the clink... Scotto was a powerful figure in the Mafia whose story heralds an earlier era of America's Cosa Nostra, when mobsters could discreetly rise high in big business. Scotto (pronounced SKOE-toe) was 29 years old when he became president of the Brooklyn-based Local 1814 of the International Longshoremen’s Association in 1963, succeeding his father-in-law, Anthony ...

FINAL FINISHED VERSION Anthony Arillotta, who’d rise to replace his mentor as boss of the Springfield crew, was well regarded and considered a " capable and promising mobster " by then-Genovese acting boss Arthur Nigro, whom Arillotta began meeting regularly in the Bronx, as per court filings related to Nigro’s appeal. Frankie Roche, left, was gunman who shot Genovese boss Big Al Bruno, right. Loyalty to Nigro "gave me a lot of clout,” Arillotta declared in testimony during one of two trials about his standing in the Genovese crime family’s Springfield crew. “I didn't have to worry ... listen to anyone back in Massachusetts, Springfield. Gave me a lot of power, being direct with Artie. He was the boss. I could go anywhere in the country and I would have a boss that was the actual boss. I would belong to him, direct." Arillotta—who would boss a crew of murderers, drug dealers, loan sharks, and robbers—was inducted into the Genovese family by Nigro...

FINAL A Springfield, Mass., man with a last name that harkens back to local mob royalty has been nailed for assaulting a wire-wearing informant described in court papers as a debtor. Skyball's descendant? Anthony J. Scibelli of Springfield. Anthony J. Scibelli, 51, of Springfield, was arrested on July 2 and was held at the Wyatt Detention Facility in Rhode Island until his release to home confinement on Monday by a federal judge. He is a “ruthless mobster,” federal prosecutors say, who used violence to collect debts for a loan shark. Scibelli faces one charge for extortionate loan collection from an incident during which he allegedly assaulted a debtor while he wore a wire for the Massachusetts State Police and FBI. (The debtor had been wearing the wire since May.) Scibelli also allegedly used mace and a taser to collect debts, and spat on another man who reportedly died shortly after the incident, whatever that means (court documents don’t specify). He faces a ma...

The former boss of the Genovese crime family's Springfield crew got himself in some hot mildly warm water this week.  Anthony (Bingy) Arillotta served time for two murders. Anthony (Bingy) Arillotta once shot bullets at Mafioso --  but now apparently pelts relatives with juice cartons. Bingy, who became the federal government’s star witness in two separate mob murder trials in New York City in 2011 and 2012 and who began cooperating in 2010, was arrested Sunday for assault and battery after he allegedly tossed a lemonade carton at a female relative, hitting her in the leg. She’s okay however: there were no visible injuries, as per the police report. She also declined medical treatment. As MassLive reported, the dispute was over a sick dog that Arillotta threatened to kill. (Bingy has allergies, and a family member supposedly left the dog at his home. He wanted it gone.) Arillotta, 50, pleaded not guilty at his arraignment Monday in Springfield Distr...