Cosa Nostra News

"I’d like find out what he says about John Alite. I just don't know what to think as there's so many contradictory opinions on him; it'd be nice hear his thoughts and input." This story focuses on Anthony Ruggiano Jr., John Alite, and John Junior....The next installment will address multiple comments.... Anthony Junior, back to us in middle, Junior, left, Skinny Dom, right. When John Alite played Little League, his coach was Albert Ruggiano, the younger brother of Anthony Junior, though the Ruggiano-Alite relationship went back another generation, Anthony Junior recently told us. Anthony Junior, 66, didn't pop up out of nowhere, actually. A longtime Gambino associate (he came close, so damn close to being made! ), he defected in 2006 and testified in several trials against mobsters including Gambino capo Dominick (Skinny Dom) Pizzonia and powerful Gambino boss Bartolomeo (Bobby Glasses) Vernace, and Gambino wiseguy Charles Carneglia. He also gave...

The most amazing thing about FBI Special Agent Michael R. McGowan (retired) is not that he is the first -- and so far only -- undercover FBI agent to infiltrate three crime families. Mike McGowan Nor that he has infiltrated Russian crime groups, Mexican drug cartels, and outlaw motorcycle clubs, nor gone undercover to nab criminals of a multitude of stripes, from contract murderers to corrupt politicians. It's not even that he won recognition from the highest levels of the FBI and the Department of Justice for completing some of the most daring and deadly assignments in recent memory. What bedazzles us most of all about  Mike McGowan is that he did all those things while sporting the same gigantic walrus mustache he sports even now (see it, up above?). "That was a little flipoff to the bad guys," he told us recently in a telephone interview. Both the mustache and its owner have been prominently mentioned in recordings of discussions among so...

"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...

John Gotti, who died in 2002 , lives on. (He obviously lives on in the memories of his loved ones and those who knew him; then there's the friends and loved ones of those no longer here because of Gotti to remember.) The onetime Teflon Don found immortality of a sort in the mass media. Gotti with his lawyer, Bruce Cutler. (Cutler looking at anything in particular?) For decades, his presence has abounded in videos, films, books, magazines, newspapers -- and, yes, blogs. Then there's the work of Jerry Capeci of Gang Land News. Capeci and silent partner Gene Mustain have written the only Gotti books you need to read: Mob Star: The Story of John Gotti and Gotti: Rise and Fall . John Gotti is an especially hot topic as we transition into 2018. Stimulating some recent discourse is the long-gestating topic of  the Gotti biopic starring John Travolta as the Dapper Don. It was close to its theatrical run when it was pulled -- and sold back to the production co...

UPDATED A "midlevel" member of the Philadelphia Cosa Nostra with a long memory may be talking to the Feds. Recent photo of John Stanfa from Mob Talk Sitdown  That is what's "stirring the pot" in the Philadelphia streets based on this week's Mob Talk Sitdown with George Anastasia and Dave Schratwieser  (see below), who recall that it was 22 years ago around Thanksgiving time that former Philadelphia boss John Stanfa was convicted and sentenced to five consecutive life sentences for racketeering, extortion, loansharking, murder and conspiracy to commit murder. New York, specifically the Gambino crime family, charged Stanfa with putting the Philadelphia Cosa Nostra family back together in the post-Nicky Scarfo era. But Joseph Merlino didn't accept him as legitimate, preferring to "report" to "boss" Ralph Natale (who may not have even been made). Stanfa's reign ended in dismal failure. Anastasia recalled how th...

Merlino was released on bail following "East Coast LCN Enterprise" indictment. Who would dare write a critical word about Jerry Capeci ? The longtime, distinguished Gangland News scribe "made his bones"sneaking into Carlo Gambino 's funeral, the only reporter able to cop such an inside view of the secret society, and, it could be said, he's been off and running ever since, quickly building up a network of sources and providing unprecedented insight into the American Mafia . The   “East Coast LCN Enterprise”   case -- the fictional name was  created as a handle for an assortment of mobsters allegedly working together on an opportunistic basis -- landed with a colossal thud this past Aug. 4. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York  unveiled the indictment, which depicts a seemingly immense, sprawling collaboration involving four of New York's Five Families: the Gambino, Genovese, Luchese, and Bonannos -- and Philadel...

Today is a day of miracles.....We Christians believe Jesus Christ rose from the dead. (Which reminds me, to all my readers (and supporters): Happy Easter! Enjoy this or whatever holiday you celebrate this time of year.) I'm absolutely flabbergasted by something I read this morning. I  John A. Gotti, aka "Junior" Gotti, the former mob boss said something of interest -- finally. He discussed associates, sitdowns and Mafia protocol.

George Anastasia, Alite and Michelle Sigona, Crime Watch Daily reporter.  Last month John Alite and George Anastasia appeared on Crime Watch Daily on WPIX, channel 11, aka the CW, a major network in New York City and on Long Island, to promote Gotti's Rules: The Story of John Alite, Junior Gotti, and the Demise of the American Mafia . John A. "Junior" Gotti is quoted on the show admitting, essentially, what John Alite has been saying all along since Gotti's Rules was published -- that Alite reported directly to him and also served as his muscle. John Junior didn't appear or speak on the show, but was quoted, his words posted on the screen for everyone to see.

Called When Mobsters Refuse to Retire , George Anastasia's story,  which I read in the AARP magazine (don't ask how I got a copy), is online, I noticed . Amusingly enough, the publication placed it in the Work Life Balance section.  Here's a teaser to whet your appetite if you haven't already read it.... From AARP's online page They shared a long lunch of filet mignon, yellowfin tuna, and chicken with broccoli rabe, washing it down with four bottles of expensive Tuscan red. Ten wiseguys sat at an Italian restaurant in New Jersey, laughing and joking and talking. It could have been a scene from TV's The Sopranos . The men, from New York, Philadelphia and Newark, dressed the part — open-collared shirts, pinkie rings and Rolexes. Outside on that May afternoon in 2010, the FBI had set up surveillance cameras. Inside, at the table, a federal informant wore a body wire.

John Alite recently took to the podium at Las Vegas's Mob Museum , the National Museum of Organized Crime and Law Enforcement. He offered an Author Talk spotlighted on his collaboration with acclaimed Philadelphia-based journalist George Anastasia , who wrote  Gotti’s Rules: The Story of John Alite, Junior Gotti and the Demise of the American Mafia . In an even, somber tone, he voiced his experiences and perceptions as an associate of the Gambino crime family during John Gotti's reign. John Alite speaks at the Las Vegas Mob Museum. Alite's presentation was provided free of charge with museum admission (and for museum members). A video of the presentation can be viewed on this story's jump page.