Cosa Nostra News

EXPANDED The relationship between Gambino wiseguys in New York and members of the Sicilian Cosa Nostra is healthier than ever, Italian investigators announced earlier this week following a series of raids in the Sicilian hinterland that netted 11 Mafia members, who allegedly had been working very closely with the New York-based Gambino family. A joint Italian-FBI operation in 2019 focused on the Inzerillos and the Gambinos. “The connection is very much alive — the New York Mafia still takes pride in its cultural roots in Sicily while ties to the US are a strong point for the Sicilians,” General Arturo Guarino, the Palermo Carabinieri commander, said. Members of the Gambino family and members of the Sicilian Inzerillo clan, which was nearly exterminated in the 1980s during a bloody Mafia war , have had longtime historical ties. This week's arrests centered on Mafia members based in the town of Torretta, which is outside Palermo . Italian police have not released much by way of detai...

Francesco (Frank) Cali was the kind of mobster who wasn't  supposed to exist anymore: Old school, shunning even the telephone; not prone to violence, meaning he wasn't buffered by the fear factor created by bosses like John Gotti. Francesco (Frank) Cali In fact, Cali reached capo at such a relatively young age (in his 30s) that it rankled some Gambino wiseguys, and caused at least one to refer to him derisively during a wiretapped phone call. On another wiretapped call, however, a gangster speaking in Italian seemed to pay Cali the ultimate complement by referring to him as " tutto quanto"  or "everything." The New York mobster with Sicilian blood had been arrested and convicted only once. Amazingly, he wasn't brought down after mistakenly allowing a confidential informant into his inner circle. Cali, a reputed leader of the Gambino crime family, was shot to death outside his house in Staten Island in a killing that echoed Mafia murders o...

Frank Cali had ascended to the role of street boss of the Gambino crime family, though now it appears that, yet again , there's uncertainty. Who's the boss? Frank Cali, maybe. Whether he's street boss or not, one thing seems clear: Francesco Paolo Augusto Calì would bring the New York-based crime family, one of the fabled five, back where it belongs: in the grip of a shrewd Sicilian who likely will strengthen its ranks and magnify its fortunes. Domenico (Italian Dom) Cefalu is Sicilian, but in terms of boss material, there are more suitable candidates, according to Michael "Mikie Scars" DiLeonardo , with whom we spoke for this story. His rise would also have an historical significance. It brings the Gambinos, once the largest and most powerful Mafia family in the country, full circle. If Cali is street boss, "the Gambino family is where it's supposed to be," DiLeonardo told me, "back in the hands of Sicilians. I...