Cosa Nostra News

 "The mob was not the romanticized, glorified guys in the movies. They are gangsters, thugs, murderers. There is no poetry about them." -- Joe Pistone.... Joe Massino made Mafia history when he became the first Mafia boss of a New York family to flip, in 2004, when he also wore a wire; then, in 2011, he took the stand and testified against his own acting boss, Vincent (Vinny Gorgeous) Basciano . ( You can listen to about an hour of his testimony and read along thanks to a recently posted video on YouTube, which you can view, below. ) Joe Massino Massino, above, also fingered Basciano in the killing of crime family associate Randy Pizzolo. When asked if there was anyone in the room who was a fellow member of his crime family, the turncoat boss pointed directly at Basciano. “That man in the gray suit sitting there,” he said. As acting boss, Massino said, "You are calling all the shots, you are making captains, you are breaking captains." As for w...

This Christmas should be merrier than usual for reputed Bonanno crime family boss Michael (The Nose) Mancuso , who moved into a halfway house in Brooklyn earlier this year. Back in the Purple Gang's day....Angelo Prisco, left, Michael Meldish, right. Mancuso had it in for Michael Meldish, but then so did lots of people. Mancuso is now less than three months away from his March 12 release date from Brooklyn's RRM , or Residential Reentry Management field office. Mancuso was sentenced to 15 years in prison for the December 1, 2004, murder of Bonanno associate Randolph Pizzolo, whose bullet-riddled body was found face down in the Greenpoint section of Brooklyn. Mancuso was lucky: he had faced life in prison under the original indictment, but following his plea deal, Judge Nicholas Garaufis had to max out the sentence at 15 years. (Originally, the Pizzolo murder almost marked Mancuso's end as he and former Bonanno acting boss Vincent Basciano were both declared to be...