Cosa Nostra News

" He no like drugs. He say: no, no no [to heroin] on Knickerbocker Avenue. They say, ‘Okay.’ Then they kill him .” —Luigi Ronsisvalle on Pietro Licata, longtime Bonanno power in Brooklyn. Got it in 1976. (Licata, that is.) Just in time to add to your Christmas shopping list : Former Brooklyn prosecutor Michael F. Vecchione’s third true crime book tells the story of Luigi Ronsisvalle, the “diabolically funny” mob hit man who arrived in New York from Sicily in 1966 to make his mark in the American underworld. He eventually landed in the Bushwick section of Brooklyn on Knickerbocker Avenue as it was evolving into ground zero for the Bonanno's international heroin trafficking business. Ronsisvalle, left, and Ivan Fisher, Sal Catalano's Pizza Connection attorney, when Luigi was recanting. Or attempting to. Homicide Is My Business: Luigi the Zip―A Hitman’s Quest for Honor  is available now. Jerry Schmetterer is co-writer. Ronsisvalle achieved limited success in gangland (none ac...

In 1987 a former Mafia killer emerged from the safety of the Federal witness protection program to recant his testimony . Luigi Ronsisvalle, left, and Fisher at motel where an agreement was signed. Said testimony had helped put away one of New York's most ruthless mobsters, a Bonanno member who'd been elevated to "street boss" of the Zips. A burly man with enigmatic links to the Sicilian Cosa Nostra  he was a convicted for playing a major role in a global drug trafficking venture called The Pizza Connection Case. His name was Salvatore "Toto" Catalano, and he'd been sentenced to 45 years in prison for his role in the '' Pizza Connection " case. This witness, Luigi Ronsisvalle, said he had quit the Federal Witness Protection Program and had voluntarily sought out Catalano's lawyer so he could provide a sworn statement that declared as false his Pizza Connection trial testimony against Catalano. Today the name Ronsi...