Cosa Nostra News

COSA NOSTRA NEWS EXCLUSIVE In April 2013, in a house on Staten Island, acting Luchese boss Matty Madonna inducted John Pennisi and two other Italian American men into the Luchese crime family. Pennisi -- a member of Big John Castellucci's "Brooklyn" crew, which is now based on Staten Island -- was a loyal wiseguy and a hardcore believer in The Life. Luchese bust: Madonna, left, DeNapoli But after a few years as a wiseguy, Pennisi realized that being a member of Big John's crew wasn't all that it was cracked up to be. By 2017, Big John and others started to wrongly suspect him of being a rat. After Pennisi spotted two men sitting in a car suspiciously parked outside his home on Long Island, he knew that the rift between him and his crime family had become insurmountable. Pennisi armed himself and after a couple of close encounters grew increasingly concerned about innocents getting caught in the cross fire. He tried to resolve the "problem" in less letha...

One up and died. Another was apparently cut loose. At least two face more than a decade in prison, and two others just under that..... Matty Madonna They were among the 19 Luchese made members and associates who were nabbed in a 2017 sweep for murder, attempted-murder, extortion, and gun- and drug-trafficking charges , and other offenses. (Technically, four were already behind bars; this was a superseding indictment.) Five go on trial in March for the murder of former Purple Gang boss Michael Meldish, among other crimes. The indictment, a so-called "Christmas Tree RICO," included mobsters allegedly involved in different crimes, some overlapping, all of which are packaged together for procedural purposes. In many Christmas Tree RICO cases, most of the indicted belong to the same crime family (in this case, obviously they do), but they don’t face the same charges. Following is a list of the names of the indicted, age at the time of the indictment, their...

Alleged Luchese crime family soldier Christopher Londonio, who's awaiting trial for the Michael Meldish murder , among other charges, crafted an escape plan to bust himself out of Brooklyn's Metropolitan Detention Center, federal prosecutors revealed. Londonio didn't feel like waiting around. The plan involved dental floss, a priest, and lots of sheets and blankets. Londonio, 43, planned to use the dental floss as a cutting tool. Meanwhile, he'd solicited a priest to smuggle a blade into the facility and had begun to secretly amass sheets and blankets to use as a rope, according to prosecutors.

Updated : A superseding indictment charged 19 members and associates of the Luchese crime family with racketeering, murder, narcotics and firearms offenses. As  noted previousl y, the indictment's centerpiece is the murder of former Purple Gang boss Michael Meldish. However, three additional sanctioned hits (all of which were unsuccessful) are detailed in the indictment, which includes the odd (as in weird) shooting of one Bonanno member known as The Baker. Story here . A Bonanno associate also was targeted. From left, Crea Sr., Madonna and Truscello Fifteen Luchese mobsters were arrested yesterday; four others were in prison on other crimes. The Luchese crime family's street boss, underboss and consiglieri were among the arrested. The indictment confirms that the official boss serves a life sentence presently.