Cosa Nostra News

The boss of the Genovese crime family’s Springfield crew, Eugene "Rooster" Onofrio, who was sentenced to 30 months in prison earlier this month , referenced an unknown part of the story of the Genovese crime family's control of the West Mass, city. Eugene "Rooster" Onofrio Onofrio, during a 2014 recorded call, referred to himself as "the skipper" of Springfield -- meaning the crew's capo.  Springfield "was given to him" he added, though he never named by who. It is likely that he took over the crew sometime after 2011, when former Springfield chief Arthur Nigro -- who ran Springfield from the Bronx and had also been a Genovese family acting boss -- was sent away to prison for murder. Nigro had given the nod for Adolfo "Big Al" Bruno to be removed from his position running the Genovese family's Springfield crew (as well as life on this earth). In 2011, Nigro and enforcers Fotios "Freddy" Geas, of West Spr...

On Thursday ( July 19), in Manhattan Federal Court, alleged Genovese capo Eugene (Rooster) Onofrio, 76, was sentenced to 2.5 years in prison for loan sharking. The wiseguy, 76, was only trying to relive the glory days, his lawyer had argued.  The loansharking was an attempt--- a not very bright one, at that ---to relive his glory days, his lawyer sought to argue Thursday. Onofrio was arrested in 2016, one of the 46 alleged members of the Genovese, Gambino, Luchese, Bonanno, and Philadelphia crime families indicted for operating a so-called "East Coast LCN Enterprise," as the Fed's named it. Onofrio also pleaded guilty to hustling untaxed cigarettes. Onofrio was caught in a 2014 secretly recorded conversation discussing how to collect an interest payment of $600 on a $30,000 loan. “What do I got to do with him?” Onofrio, of East Haven, Conn., asked. "Do you have to take his eyes out? But hey, those threats were all talk, Onofrio’s attorney,...

"The kid grew up in Cosa Nostra. He knew all the moves because he was always around it. He knew it better than some guys twenty years older than him . "  --- Nicholas "Nicky the Crow" Caramandi, former soldier for Nicky Scarfo who became one of the first and most devastating turncoat witnesses against the Philadelphia Mafia in its history. In the quote, Caramandi is referring to Joseph (Skinny Joey) Merlino Merlino faces a serious prison sentence if he's convicted. Twenty-five times they tried to whack him. Three bosses wanted him gone, including one of the most violent Cosa Nostra bosses in American Mafia history, t he ultra-violent, diminutive Nicodemo (Little Nicky) Scarfo , who despised Skinny Joey  and wanted him sleeping with the fishes. Then,  Scarfo successor John Stanfa, the Sicilian boss who the Gambino crime family backed, ordered shooters to take him out. Finally, Ralph Natale flipped and sought to use testimony to bring him down...

NOTE: The attorney for  Michael Guidici  contacted me in comments yesterday, as some of you probably noticed, and sent me the minutes of the court proceeding. After reviewing them, I don't find the case compelling enough to cover here. Although Guidici was indicted with Bonanno mobster Vincent Asaro , his case is not mob-related, obviously .... One co-defendant in the so-called East Coast LCN Enterprise case, alleged Genovese capo Eugene (Rooster) Onofrio, wants to be tried separately from Joseph "Skinny Joey" Merlino. The reputed Genovese capo runs crews in Manhattan's Little Italy and in Springfield, Mass. One of the alleged mobsters arrested last August . Apparently, he has deep concerns that Merlino’s "alleged misconduct could prejudice the jury against him at trial," the Daily News reported , citing court records. Onofrio and Merlino were arrested last August as per United States v. Pasquale Parrello, et al.

When, precisely, did the FBI's New York Field Office realize that it was screwed? We refer here to the seemingly immense East Coast LCN Enterprise case , the investigation that resulted in last August's indictment of 46 mobsters, including mobsters from four of New York's five Mafia families and the alleged boss of the Philadelphia mob (who lives in Florida). George Borgesi with his hot younger wife. (N OTE: Reputed Philadelphia boss Joseph (Skinny Joey) Merlino is the only alleged "East Coast LCN crime syndicate" member from the Philadelphia Cosa Nostra.) The answer to that question may shed light on a possible alternative reason for why the Fed's in New York were reluctant to share information with offices in Philadelphia and Florida. The word has been that New York's Southern District was too greedy and didn't want to share the credit on what certainly appeared to be a large, sprawling Mafia case. Unless, of course, the Feds knew that said c...

Liborio Bellomo, left, Mickey Dimino. The result of the years-long, multi-state probe was indictments charging 46 alleged mobsters  for committing a seemingly prodigious grab-bag of crimes. But there is a startling absence of factors common in most Mafia indictments. The case lacks specifics, as defense attorneys have noted. Also missing are traditional mob crimes, such as murder and major narcotics trafficking (the pain-alleviating compound lotion is presented as evidence of healthcare fraud). Still, defendants in this case face the possibility of dying in prison. And save for Joseph "Skinny Joey" Merlino,  released on $5 million bail  along with most of those arrested as per the East Coast Syndicate case, though two defendants were already in prison on other charges and three lammed it, there's a lack of mobstar power, all things considered.