Cosa Nostra News

The huge bust netted 127 mobsters. On occasion, while researching one story, another story raises its head and says "howdy".... One such story greeted me today courtesy of the New York Post website; it puts an interesting spin on 2011's infamous " Mafia Takedown Day ," when 127 gangsters were hauled off to jail. The story's juiciest stuff is based off anonymous sources. But it also features "on the record" sources, including Joe Pistone (aka Donnie Brasco) and  Joaquín "Jack Falcone" García , the renowned former FBI agent who worked as many as five separate undercover cases simultaneously.  During Operation Jack Falcone, Garcia  infiltrated Greg DePalma's Gambino crew . Garcia authored a book about it:  Making Jack Falcone: An Undercover FBI Agent Takes Down a Mafia Family . He told me he chose the name based on the Italian magistrate killed by the Sicilian Mafia .

John Gotti 2.0 John "Junior" Gotti did have something in common with his father after all.  It took us a while to find it -- but it's there, and to our surprise, nobody has commented on it before. The list of what he didn't have in common is quite long. Junior didn't position himself to be a modern-day capo de tutti capi . He didn't take out a boss and take over a crime family. He didn't kill guys for refusing to come when he called (and no other reason). In fact, he didn't come close to meeting his father's body count, and as we noted previously , he implemented a ban on killing that lasted for a pretty good time (though he didn't reach that decision to ban murder alone, as we also previously noted ). John Junior wasn't as popular within his family (or has hated without); he didn't dress like a million bucks and didn't have his father's innate charm and natural ease among anyone, whether a female newscaster at the ...

Greg DePalma was desperate to regain his standing as a capo when he was released from prison in February 2003 after serving a 70-month sentence for racketeering. He was supposedly all washed up. He'd been caught talking on tape, which led to his conviction as well as that of John A. "Junior" Gotti in the Scores strip-club extortion case. (They copped plea deals, actually, at the last minute.) Testimony in a 1999 case related to the Scores case told a violent tale of murders by Albanian gangsters, as well as the Gambino crime family shaking down the premium strip club. Reputed Albanian mobsters (and brothers) Simon and Victor Dedaj were arrested for the 1996 shooting murders of a bouncer and waiter inside the Upper East Side strip club. The New York Post described it as a case "with enough mobsters, loansharks and topless dancers to fill a Martin Scorcese flick." In opening statements, Assistant District Attorney Dan McGillycuddy told jurors how ...

Vinny Limo REVISED, MORE DETAILS:  Talk of the Sound reported that Vincent "Vinny Limo" Zarcone, 47, a former social club manager (what??), was arrested by New Rochelle Police on August 28, 2014. He was charged with a misdemeanor: criminal mischief . Some may recall Zarcone from a couple of earlier incidents -- one of which was the 2009 meat clever attack in which Vinny Limo's right hand was hacked off by Christopher Calise, assisted by Maurice Mann, who held Vinny Limo. The vicious attack was believed at the time to be possibly connected to the remnants of a Westchester/Bronx Genovese family-run gambling ring busted up years earlier. The victim, Vinny Limo, had been arrested for his involvement in the operation. In fact, it was reported at the time that the FBI's Organized Crime Task Force was looking into the club in which Zarcone worked. The cleaning lady insisted that he was a "good fellow," telling CBS2, "He works downstairs, the com...

As the "new" Mafia seeks to find its place in the post-9/11 world, families are more selective about who will have the honor of being straightened out, noted Joaquín "Jack Falcone" García . Falcone--who wrote a book that is essential reading for all who are interested in the goings-on of Cosa Nostra--had been an FBI agent for over 20 years when he infiltrated the Westchester-based crew of Gambino family capo Gregory DePalma. He spoke with Cosa Nostra News this week.  Gambino family capo Gregory DePalma.  As part of its overall strategy to better isolate itself while it has the perceived breathing room -- the FBI has magnified its focus on terrorism and other crimes, downsizing its efforts against organize crime in New York -- the mob has put the word out to members: be careful who you sponsor, Falcone said.

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.