Cosa Nostra News

UPDATED Nicholas (Nicky Cigars) Santora spent decades of his life in the Mob and had the criminal record to show for it, having been arrested roughly two-dozen times, with a rap sheet dating back to 1966. A prosecutor once noted how Santora had an "extensive, serious, substantial criminal record.” He was a mobster to his core, a second-generation wiseguy. (His father, Modesto, was allegedly a Colombo soldier.) Made in the 1970s, he gained unwanted recognition in the early 1980s when he was caught up in the Donnie Brasco fiasco. For a time he was a force to be reckoned with, rising to underboss under Vincent (Vinny Gorgeous) Basciano. Still, Santora had mixed luck. Joseph Massino wasn't a fan. After the Last Don flipped, he recorded himself calling Santora a brokester while in a rigged conversation with Basciano. He "ain't got any money," Massino griped. Santora would "borrow from people" but he "forgets to pay." That argumen...

This has been quite a news-filled period for the New York Mafia. We were counting on writing an entirely different slate of stories, but then the barrage of busts, sentencing hearings and what not interrupted. This cafe actually is linked to a mobster and a notorious gangland hit. (See story here ) That trio of mob-linked bank burglars was busted. Law enforcement hinted strongly that the arrests were only the beginning, and that there would be more to come. (And they were correct, just not the way we thought.) A few days later and Philadelphia mob boss Joseph "Skinny Joey" Merlino and more than 40 made members and associates of four of New York's Five Families were arrested in a massive Cosa Nostra takedown. The federal indictment alleges the existence of a unique criminal operation dubbed the "East Coast Syndicate" in the indictment. (On the same day, we were all shocked to learn about the other, unrelated bust of a small drug ring in Queens.)

The nearly three-month-long enterprise corruption trial of Nicholas "Nicky Mouth" Santora and three other Bonanno mobsters in Manhattan's State Supreme Court ended in a mistrial. So ordered Supreme Court Justice Mark Dwyer -- after one juror needed to be replaced and a second declared he couldn't continue. After eight days debating the case (and three years since the defendants were arrested) jurors couldn't reach a verdict regarding gambling, prescription drugs and loansharking charges. The alleged crimes supposedly occurred between March 2010 and February 2012. Joan Vollero, a spokeswoman for the Manhattan district attorney’s office, said there will be a retrial. The New York Times quoted her saying: “The inability of one juror to continue deliberating is not a reflection on the overall strength of the case.”

"Skinny" Santoro After days of deliberations--including a week-long break--the four Bonanno crime family mobsters on trial in Manhattan Supreme Court must be dreadfully tired, as well as filled with pins and needles. It's not that bad, however. Apparently, Anthony "Skinny" Santoro is providing some much-needed comic relief, intended or not. The jury last week asked the judge for advice on how to avoid a hung jury. Apparently, they requested help settling disputes. Justice Mark Dwyer practically begged on bent knee that they continue to deliberate. He pointedly reminded them of their duty as jurors. "I'm bound by law to hold you for a reasonable time to reach a verdict. I know this is a complex count you're considering." Dwyer also noted that, considering how complicated the case is, they hadn't been deliberating all that long at all.

At the Nicholas "Nicky Mouth" Santora trial, a former Bonanno capo offered testimony regarding his current mob status, noting that even if a made man flips and testifies for the government, he's still an inducted member of the Mafia. James Tartaglione Anyone who is officially made a “soldier” keeps that title for life no matter what. Even if he flips, he's still a member, only he's considered "shelved," said James "Big Louie" Tartaglione at Santora's enterprise corruption trial. Former Gambino capo Michael "Mikie Scars" DiLeonardo  said the same during his own testimony. "The family can not make another person to take your spot until you are dead," he told Cosa Nostra News. The 78-year-old key witness for the prosecution, " Big Louie" Tartaglione, debuted this past week in the enterprise corruption trial of Vito Badamo, Ernest Aiello, Anthony “Skinny” Santoro and “Nicky Mouth” Santora, nullifying my th...

Nicky Mouth's 2012 arrest by federal agents. What is most amazing about reputed capo/former underboss Nicholas "Nicky Mouth" Santora -- whose criminal roots go back to the 1960s and whose mob career included years in Greenpoint's Motion Lounge social club during the FBI's 1970s Donnie Brasco infiltration of the Bonanno crime family -- is the fact that he's still alive and a power in gangland. At least he was a power on the street until his 2012 arrest by federal agents in an unrelated case. In 2013, he copped to a federal extortion charge in Brooklyn and was sentenced to 20 (or 30, reports disagree) months in prison. He was serving that sentence in the Federal Correctional Institution in Loretto, Pa., when he was indicted in 2013 along with his alleged crew, which consisted of associates and soldiers, by Manhattan's DA, Cyrus Vance. ( See actual indictment , which is 158-pages long and can be saved as a PDF.) Santora didn't bite when he was ...

From Left, Vito Badamo, Anthony Santoro, Ernest Aiello, Nicholas Santora. REVISED: On the heels of longtime Bonanno mobster Vinny Asaro's stunning acquittal in Brooklyn last November , the Manhattan D.A.'s  prosecutors this past week rolled out the long-brewing enterprise corruption trial of Bonanno capo Nicholas “Nicky Mouth” Santora and three crew members in Manhattan Supreme Court. And it seems that Joseph "Big Joey" Massino is not the prosecution's star witness.  The former Bonanno family's official boss faced eight murder charges, not seven as was  originally reported. Nicky Santora, has held a leadership role since the 1970s. Who else would have the institutional knowledge to finally pin enough on Nicky Mouth to possibly put him away for the rest of his life (and also faced seven murder charges)? (The turncoats testifying in this trial haven't been clearly identified in press reports, for reasons unknown to me.) Massino doesn't s...

Gerard “Gerry” Chilli A longtime source told us he found himself recalling a list of suspicious things about the guy we refer to as "the mole" after he read the story. He called it "the worst-kept secret" in the New York Mafia. In particular, he recalled a Bonanno Christmas party at Long Island's Harbor Club in the early 1990s. (It was once owned by "Junior" Gotti but the Bonanno family had taken over, according to the source). The crime family treated the holiday affair with the secrecy of an induction ceremony.

Santoro arrested in 2013 for enterprise corruption. Nicholas “Nicky Mouth” Santora turned down a plea deal for 7-to-21 years in prison Wednesday in exchange for copping to a top count of enterprise corruption. The offer shaves about a year off the minimum term he’d face if convicted at trial on that charge. Prosecutors also offered Anthony “Skinny” Santoro 9-to-18 years behind bars, the longest term after Santora, which his lawyer said he also wouldn’t accept, noting: “It’s ridiculous, it was a non-violent gambling offense." Santora and eight associates were busted last August for a variety of mob rackets.

Bunch of Bonannos following their arrest mug for the camera. Well, most of them do... A judge refused Wednesday to toss out the indictments against eight reputed Bonanno  mobsters, including longtime Bonanno heavyweight brokester Nicholas "Nicky Mouth" Santora. The defendants, rounded up last July, appeared in Manhattan Supreme Court today. They were charged with enterprise corruption , the state version of the federal crime of racketeering. The charge carries a maximum prison sentence of 25 years. Making up the corruption charge are a host of traditional mob rackets: extortion, loan sharking, and gambling -- as well as the selling of prescription drugs ranging from oxycodone painkillers to Viagra.

Are those stitches in Nicky Mouth Santora's head? The big Bonanno trial is expected to begin, eventually, but it continues to get ensnared by delays. The defendants were rounded up last July; they are alleged members of a crew headed by longtime Bonanno heavyweight brokester Nicholas "Nicky Mouth" Santora , who also is on trial. Santora became a power on the street back in the late 1970s, when FBI agent Joe Pistone used his Donnie Brasco cover to infiltrate the same crew Santora belonged to, under Dominic "Sonny Black" Napolitano.

More details were recently released from the criminal complaint filed against the Bonanno crew indicted on Wednesday . The Bonannos have sold more than 300,000 Viagra and Cialis pills, with prices ranging from $5 to $20 per pill, according to the criminal complaint filed Wednesday when nine Bonannos were indicted with enterprise corruption -- the state's version of RICO.

Nicky Mouth, at his arrest. According to published reports, indictments were rolled out yesterday for nine reputed Bonanno gangsters.The Manhattan District attorney, who unveiled them, noted that they were the tender fruits of a two-year investigation into a $10 million scheme involving organized crime's infiltration of a labor union. It seems the lead defendant is none other than brokester/former underboss Nicholas "Nicky Mouth" Santora, who is still linked to Donnie Brasco in nearly every newspaper article in which his name appears. Santora and the others were charged with enterprise corruption, the state version of the federal crime of racketeering. The charge carries a maximum prison sentence of 25 years. Only eight names were released (full list of names at end of article); it turns out one arrest hasn't gone down yet. Someone's in the wind tonight. Godspeed to ya, sir, but you can't spend the rest of your life on the run...

COSA NOSTRA NEWS EXCLUSIVE Interview with Belinda Rossetti  Belinda, give us a shout if and and when you see this! These men who hold high-level positions in Mafia crime families... what are they like? Because they do exist - they are not a figment of David Chase and Jerry Capeci's imaginations.They are not characters on TV shows or in films. Men who hold rank -- bosses, underbosses, consiglieris, either official or acting -- are human beings who get out of bed one foot at a time. Frequently, they go to prison and die there. Sometimes they die in their own bed of natural causes.... Belinda Rossetti (message to her: Belinda, get in touch with me when you can...)  What are they really like, these man who must be as wise as a fox and as strong as the lion, who must balance a strong business sense with the primal capacity to order the deaths of men. We met recently with Belinda Rossetti, a lovely dark-eyed bella donna who works as a paralegal for a hig...