Cosa Nostra News

In this segment, two recent transcript series collide as prosecutor John Gleeson goes through the Ravenite transcripts asking Salvatore (Sammy the Bull) Gravano about the significance of certain comments. John Gotti, Sammy the Bull Gravano, Gambino boss and underboss.... This entry might prove insightful for those who had difficulty following the Ravenite transcripts. For example, take the following: GLEESON: In [the FBI transcript of the November 30, 1989, tape], Mr. Gravano, you say: “Well, you know, that and there’s an ‘inaudible.’ He would’ve, he would’ve tried to make a move from outside, I think.” What were you referring to when you said: “He would’ve tried to make a move from outside”? GRAVANO: Possibly from outside the Family. GLEESON: Who would have made a move? GRAVANO: Paul. GLEESON: Against whom? GRAVANO: Against John and Angelo. GLEESON: When you say outside the Family who, in your opinion, would he have gone to? GRAVANO: The Genovese Family. Possibly, the Westies. Who wou...

 “He deserved it. He had it coming. He was slamming our family all over the place. Especially John the boss, (who) didn’t deserve that.” -- Gambino capo Mikie Scars In October 2018, Curtis Sliwa, as leader of New York’s Reform Party, spent a Saturday on Long Island campaigning with his wife, an animal-rights activist then running for New York state attorney general. Sliwa and Junior Gotti. The couple were at the Oyster Bay Oyster Festival when John Junior Gotti, former Gambino acting boss and son of the former official boss, approached the Guardian Angels founder and, between puffs on a cigar, told him, “You know, I’m a supporter of animal rights.” “He wasn’t being a wiseguy. He was serious,” Sliwa later told the New York Post, which reported on how Gotti and Sliwa had spent a cordial five minutes chatting and then shaking hands. What a sight that must have been to onlookers. It wasn’t real. “I had to put (the bad blood) aside that day for the good of our Reform P...

There is absolutely nothing like wiretap recordings: they instantly transform you into the proverbial fly on the wall of the room (or inside the car etc.) where the mobsters think they are speaking privately. The problem with this one, and there is a problem, is that brevity is not always the soul of wit. This recording of former Gambino boss Constantino Paul Castellano, only 40 seconds long, is too damn short. And there's no need for a transcript because the spoken words appear on screen, so you can read along. Still, this will be considered extremely fascinating by anyone who has ever wanted to hear Big Paul talk turkey. His cousin/brother-in-law Carlo Gambino, the crime family's founder/usurper is mentioned, and they're discussing "having" Brooklyn, and an election, though that's about all I take away. Other than the chance to hear Paul Castellano speak, that is. Castellano was born on June 26, 1915, in Brooklyn. The nickname Big Paul w...

UPDATED WITH INTERVIEW You'd think a guy like John (Junior) Gotti would've had enough of courtrooms to last five lifetimes. Junior Gotti, right, and Sergio DaSilva. Yet even though he's survived four racketeering trials, as he never fails to remind, each of which ended in a hung jury, and even though he was detained without bail for 30-something months, apparently Junior has not had enough. The Dapper Don's son/former lead decision maker on a Gambino crime family ruling panel made an appearance at Queens court earlier this week, on Tuesday, to stand tall for an MMA fighter-turned-accused bank robber. And the MMA fighter in question was NOT Junior's son, John Gotti III, who's also an MMA fighter. Rather, the accused was Sergio DaSilva, who robbed an Astoria CitiBank in August 2017. Donning a ski mask, leaping over a three-foot glass partition, and allegedly threatening to shoot people, he dashed off with around $45,000. And was promptly arrested. ...

John Gotti "blasted his way into the mob -- he came the tough guy way in," as former Gambino capo Michael (Mikie Scars) DiLeonardo once told  us. John Gotti orchestrated the December 1985 murder of Paul Castellano. When and why did he make the determination to embark on that path? The primary reason of course was the  threat posed by Gambino boss Paul Castellano after Angelo Ruggiero, Gene Gotti, and John Carneglia, among others, were indicted for drug trafficking. But the timeline runs even farther back. In fact, the development that set John Gotti on his path to power also led to Gene Gotti and John Carneglia going to prison for 29 years. It was a mysterious plane crash off the Georgia coast. That triggered a series of events that culminated with Gotti's reign as boss of the Gambino crime family. May 6, 1982, was a clear and sunny day, with little turbulence. At about 10 am that morning, a Learjet departed New Jersey’s Teterboro airport for Florida’...

UPDATED on JAN, 22; 10:02pm Michael DiLeonardo answered a slew of questions -- most of the ones that were posted.  Mikie Scars was a c apo in the Gambino crime family when John Gotti was boss. If you look below in the comments section, you'll see questions people have asked Michael about the Mafia, with his answers. I'm keeping this going indefinitely, as long as Michael doesn't mind. Feel free to ask away. Just remember it may take a few days to get answers, so please don't delete your questions.... With Mafia-related murders at an all-time low and cases involving major drug trafficking on the wane, we could very well be in an era that historians will one day recall as the American Cosa Nostra's golden age. Mikie Scars suited up and ready for Freddy.... That's Michael DiLeonardo's assessment of the state of the mob today based on his recent interview on Intelligent Talk. For nearly an hour, DiLeonardo discussed Cosa Nostra life with Ralph W. ...