Cosa Nostra News

UPDATED Salvatore "Sammy 'The Bull' Gravano, 72, the former Gambino underboss who flipped against one of the most infamous mob bosses ever, Gambino boss John Gotti, was released from an Arizona prison Monday. Gotti and Gravano enter Brooklyn Federal court in May 1986. He served nearly 18 years after his 2000 arrest for distributing and possessing Ecstasy after departing the witness protection program. Gravano took the stand and helped the Fed's put Gotti and 39 other mobsters behind bars, creating openings for an entire generation of younger Mafiosi, for better or worse. He in return served five years for admitting his role in 19 homicides. Jerry Capeci, on Gang Land News today  tied the Bull together with Gotti confidante John Carneglia, who was released to a Brooklyn halfway house this month, as we reported. Next year, Carneglia and Gene Gotti will be released from prison. As it happens, both were identified by Gravano as being among the ...

We don't usually see what we are seeing this summer.... A good number of readers are purchasing Mafia-related nonfiction lately. (Apparently, the Bonanno crime family is garnering the most interest . ) The No. 1 seller on our Amazon affiliate list. Understand that this is all based on our informal, highly un-technical review of our Amazon sales data for July and thus far into August. We are only including a list of titles -- not sales data. We will say that we see these kinds of numbers only in December.

Many, many wiseguys were born in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn -- or resided there or conducted business there (or where murdered there), especially along Bath Avenue, just south of 86th Street’s bustling shopping district, where the social clubs once stood one beside the other. The list includes mobsters such as OG Carlo Gambino (he was Sicilian born, but lived in Bensonhurst in his later New York years); former Luchese underboss Anthony Casso; Gambino boss Paul Castellano, who was Carlo Gambino's brother-in-law); former Gambino capo under John Gotti Michael (Mike Scars) DiLeonardo; notorious Gambino capo/Roy DeMeo mentor Anthony Gaggi; Jimmy Moran, aka Sammy "The Bull" Gravano; capo/snitch Gregory Scarpa; and Colombo turncoat Carmine Sessa. While the Bensonhurst wiseguys are all gone today, dead or in prison or in Witness Protection, once in a great while, something happens that conjures up specters of the past. There was the Cafe Caserta thing (the place sold more...

John Gotti and Salvatore (Sammy the Bull) Gravano were spotted in Brooklyn, New York, this past Tuesday chatting like it was 1989... Well, not really... John Travolta and William DeMeo -- who play the former Gambino crime family boss and underboss -- were seen in Brooklyn filming scenes for  The Life And Death of John Gotti. William DeMeo, left, as Sammy, and John Travolta Gotti. Scenes for biopic were filmed Tuesday. Courtesy of The Daily Mail.

The following, based on information gathered by New Jersey's State Commission of Investigation, is part of an ongoing series about Nicodemo (Little Nicky) Scarfo, former Philadelphia Cosa Nostra boss notorious for his violence. Scarfo died last Friday.   Phil Testa, left, Angelo Bruno After the Philadelphia crime family's longtime boss, Angelo Bruno, was killed on March 21, 1980, in a grisly gangland hit, the Commission wanted answers. A boss had been killed "illegally." Whoever was behind it was going to die. Examples needed to be made to send a loud and clear message about what happened when members defied the Commission. But before anything, the Commission needed to learn the identities of the assassins.

"English Shaun" awaits trial in Maricopa County jail. " The first time I discussed business with members of Sammy the Bull’s crew, I brought along one of the notorious Rossetti Brothers, who also worked security for me ." --Shaun Attwood, Hard Time UPDATED WITH ADDITIONAL INFO Shaun Attwood is a Brit who came to America, Arizona specifically, to seek his fortune -- he accomplished that and a whole lot more, but his story didn't end there. Busted via a predawn SWAT raid as if he were a cartel boss, he spent years in one of America’s toughest jails—the one run by the self-described toughest sheriff in America, Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County.

Big Ang is making drinks at that big bar in the sky.... It was the kind of thing Big Ang wouldn't have condoned.... Mob Wives cast members Brittany Fogarty and Karen Gravano were asked not to attend Angela "Big Ang" Raiola's funeral yesterday. A source with friends who attended the memorial service and funeral have said that a third  Mob Wife, Drita D'Avanzo, who showed up with two bodyguards, was asked to leave one of the memorial services. However she can plainly be seen crying (accompanied by two big burly bodyguards wearing ear pieces) at the funeral.

Sammy Gravano's mugshot. Salvatore "Sammy The Bull" Gravano is talking with production companies about debuting his own television show when he departs prison. The former Gambino mobster pleaded guilty to 19 murders in an agreement to testify against John Gotti. And his reality star daughter Karen is helping him negotiate with television executives. (Last week I slated this story for today; it was not my intention to publish this on the day Karen's co-star, Big Ang, died of cancer.)

Crime families opportunistically form and break alliances. Shortly before the third shooting war began, Colombo leaders including Carmine Sessa met at the Persico family estate in Saugerties, New York, to plot the murder of Vittorio "Little Vic" Orena. Chin Gigante When the other crime families learned of the pending war, leaders of the Luchese, Genovese and Gambino families tried to resolve the problem before the shooting began by meeting with Colombo leaders. (Notice one family is missing?) Alfonso "Little Al" D'Arco, former acting boss of the Luchese family, discussed this series of meetings meant to stop the third Colombo war at Orena's trial. The talks only postponed the shooting, which formally broke out in late 1991. D'Arco said the four-family meetings had been held in apartments and hotel rooms around New York City.

John A. Gotti In a YouTube video posted on his website , John A. "Junior" Gotti blasted the notion that his book, Shadow of My Father , was an immediate response to Gotti's Rules: The Story of John Alite, Junior Gotti, and the Demise of the American Mafia , written by 30-year veteran journalist George Anastasia. Speaking with his lawyer, Charles Carnesi , by his side, ostensibly being interviewed by someone off camera, Gotti relayed the fact that he "actually" had written 375 pages "some four years ago," but "decided to put it on the shelf for peace of mind. To keep my family happy." "There is always that fear factor that the government would come after me again and harass me," he added. "Don't preen like a peacock, don't be like your father , just pull it back."

An unlikely duo, they nearly collided in Arizona.... I met  Shaun Attwood  in prison. Actually, he was in prison and I was in an office in Manhattan reading his blog,  Jon's Jail Journal , during my lunch break. The blog then consisted of stories about horrible jail conditions: the roaches, the boiling humidity arising from the facility's broken swamp cooler. He'd written the blog stories on toilet paper and smuggled them out. Shaun, who was since featured on NatGeo, came to America, Arizona specifically, from England to seek his fortune and was busted for running a drug empire. He spent a couple of years in one of America’s toughest jails—run by Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County. I have posted a  few stories  about Shaun aka "English Shaun" who I consider a good friend. Stories about Shaun have also proven to be quite popular with my blog readership,  especially one about an old-school mobster  with whom Shaun had...

Sasso, gang banger... It was not a mob hit; it was personal. Robert Sasso, 33, the grandson of a Teamsters boss who worked for John Gotti, allegedly shot another man four times early on Friday. The victim, who was described as a "pal,"  called 911 as he lay dying. Earlier, Sasso had picked up Dean Oku, 29, in a white Ford Fusion and drove him to the Whitestone jetty so the pair could smoke weed at close to 2:30 am. While parked, overlooking the water, Sasso pulled a gun and shot him in the chest and thigh. Sasso then drove off, leaving the man on the jetty. Oku called 911 and when the police finally arrived, he was asked, “Why’d he shoot you?” “An old beef,” Oku said. He was taken to New York Hospital in Queens and nearly died, but reached surgery in time to have his condition upgraded to critical.

Gotti, left, Gravano, back in the good old days of "La Cosa Nostra." John Gotti and Salvatore "Sammy Bull" Gravano drove into Bath Beach in Brooklyn to visit Tommy "Karate" Pitera. At a diner, the trio -- the Gambino boss and underboss, and a soldier in the Bonanno crime family -- discussed a mob hit. (Why they'd enjoy a meal in a diner in the midst of so many delectable Italian restaurants, this writer doesn't know. This writer does have a strong notion what the agenda was, however. Read on, please...)  The Bath Ave. Crew noticed the three men seated at a table in the eatery and "showed their respect" with a bottle of bubbly."

Lynda Milito, wife of deceased Gambino soldier Louis Milito, and author of Mafia Wife, took issue with a new reality show and its leading star. Karen Gravano, who appears on Mob Wives, the VH1 reality show, is "giving Staten Island a bad name." "She doesn't know what she's talking about. How can she? She was only 13 when her father did what he did and my husband disappeared." Milito, 64, was "furious" that Gravano, 38, daughter of turncoat Salvatore (Sammy the Bull) Gravano, was writing a book about life in the mob. "I feel bad for Staten Island," said Milito, formerly of Todt Hill, who had moved to tony Boca Raton, Fla. "She is giving Staten Island a bad name. Because of her, there will be a stigma attached to Staten Island. Am I talking as a Mafia wife? Yes. The 'Mob Wives' like her should be ashamed because they are behaving like animals. Those people are resembling their own background. I am out...

Natalie Guercio.... Jonesing for some "Mob Wives" news? We found some juicy tidbits... read on!!! First up, would you be interested in watching a spinoff to the tune of  "Montreal Mob Wives?" Based on a recently reported deal, such a show may be in the cards, though it seems to us the Montreal story may have already piqued and died -- with Vito Rizzuto . VH1 'Mob Wives' Format Acquired for Canada - The Hollywood Reporter : "The deal between Bristow Global Media and Electus International could see a local version of the mafia-women series come north of the border. Bristow Global Media has inked a deal with Electus International to acquire the format rights for Canada to the mafia-centric reality series Mob Wives. There's no word on a Canadian broadcaster for a local version of the U.S.-based VH1 reality series about women whose husbands or fathers are doing time for mafia-related crimes.

Daniel Fama Reputed Gambino crime-family associate Daniel Fama no longer faces charges for allegedly being the getaway driver for the 1990 gangland hit of Edward "Eddie the Chink" Garofalo ordered by then Gambino boss John Gotti . But for about one year, he's been psychologically dealing with the pressure of a possible mandatory life sentence. On top of that, he lost eight months of his life in jail -- and all probably because he wouldn't roll for the Feds. According to papers announcing the  indictment , filed in New York's Southern District, Fama had been charged with the crime of killing a person who was believed to be a government informant, a federal charge. The case was filed against Fama in the first place due to testimony, ironically enough, from another member of the Garofalo hit team--  Joseph “Little Joey” D’Angelo , who was one of the two men who actually fired the fatal shots into Garofalo outside his home in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn. Th...