Cosa Nostra News

Kenji in Sweden.... Social media is a fantastic way to cultivate sources. I've made quite a few by simply contacting them with a private message. (I'm always privately -- and silently -- thrilled when some of them, especially journalists, say, " yeah, I've heard of you .") Anyway, I met Kenji Gallo via Facebook (I'd read his book Breakshot , which I highly recommend.) We've spoken many times and I occasionally link to his blog posts .  He knows his stuff; I know that for a fact. And he has firsthand experience. Kenji was a mobster, an associate of the ultra-violent Colombo crime family . He's half-Asian. That mixing of ethnicities, an Asian guy in the Italian Mafia, is the kind of setup that makes for a good film.

Michael Persico This arrives directly from Kenji Gallo's Breakshot Blog : This Tuesday another man who has lived the mafia life will face a judge and be sentenced for his crimes: Michael Persico. This so called “mafia prince” never had to get in the trenches to get his hands dirty. He was born into power and ordered others (who were not born into the ruling class) to do his work for him. He lived the life of privilege, wealth and power that comes with being mafia royalty. A position he never earned. He was able to live the way he did because of the murderous reign of his father Carmine.

Interesting story about a little-known figure who was around Little Nicky Corozzo. Kenji Gallo's latest  Breakshot Blog column: The Gambino Family is always a fun topic. This week is a story about Vincent “Marbles” Dragonetti, Little Nicky Corozzo’s son in law.

Visiting room surveillance. Calabrese on right. Frank Calabrese Sr was such a good manipulator that he was able to convince a Roman Catholic priest to help him continue his criminal activity. If you know Frank’s background then this will come as no surprise. Frank spent his whole life manipulating others for his own gain. Frank brought his brother Nicholas into his juice loan business. Nicholas had served in the Navy for two years during the Vietnam conflict , and he worked as an Ironworker after he returned home. Nicholas had then worked as a court security officer for 11 years in Maywood, Illinois. Nicholas was not afraid to hold a real job and work hard. In the mid 1970s he also joined his brother Frank in his loan business and worked a double life. He had no idea it was a lifetime commitment. Frank was not above using money and threats to keep his brother in the business. Nicholas would end up taking part in over 14 murders for the Chicago Outfit during his time working w...

Kenji Gallo, blogger, asskicker, author of "Breakshot," one of the best books about the Mafia available. From this week's  Breakshot Blog  by friend Kenji Gallo  (a onetime associate of the Colombo family who became a turncoat charged with running a radio show for the feds. Kenji also wrote a great book about life in the mob -- particularly in the crazy madhouse known as the Colombo family. We wrote a little about Kenji and his book  back in this post .) some interesting info on how the mob communicates... "The Colombo’s were aware that the FBI and others were always watching or listening to them so they adopted some new tactics. A thumb across the cheek was how they referred to a made guy and a thumb across the back was their way of indicating a Capo. All the families used methods close to this, in Los Angeles they would point to the chest for a soldier, the shoulder for a Capo and the sky for Pete Milano the Boss.

Simon & Schuster stole the rights to mob informant Kenny "Kenji" Gallo's life story, titled "Break Shot: A Life in the 21st Century American Mafia," Gallo is alleging in a lawsuit seeking an injunction and damages for copyright infringement. Yes, the book was recently featured on this site when I quoted from it, as well as recommended it to all readers. I was quite surprised that the book was unavailable on Amazon, except for "used" copies, one of which I snapped up; I had loaned my copy out and never got it back. I would think the publisher would relaunch a new version of the book considering that it could leverage the fact that it keys in on certain individuals involved with a new cast member of the hit show "Mob Wives." Kenji  has filed a lawsuit filed against the book's publisher, Simon & Schuster, alleging that the company purloined the rights to the book by registering the copyright in the names of co-author Matthe...

Kenji Gallo, Colombo turncoat who  wrote Breakshot. “Alicia has chosen to humiliate my nephew Edward and our entire family in the name of my brother who she never even knew. The show’s stupid. I think it’s disgraceful. It’s blood money. It’s my brother’s blood.” That's what Emmanuel "Manny" Garofalo had to say about Alicia DiMichele and "Mob Wives" in an interview with the New York Daily News . Manny added that he is so sickened by this "exploitation" of the murder of his brother, Eddie "The Chink," that he's thinking of selling his home and moving to a place where he won't be recognized.