Cosa Nostra News

After years of eking a living on the streets around Springfield, Mass. via the illicit book-making business, David (Chicky) Cecchetelli has embarked upon a LEGITIMATE career (in film), but faces a significant obstacle: On an upcoming date, he will stand before a judge to be sentenced for a charge he caught following a December 2019 arrest.  Chicky, right, and Damian, Mt Carmel Italian Social Club. (Source: Twitter ) That pinch was as unlikely as they come. It was part of  Operation Throne Down, an FBI-DEA operation that targeted the Latin Kings  street gang organization. It had nothing to do with ex-mob guys—Chick was simply wrong-place-wrong-time tertiary damage. Cecchetelli was caught up in the massive sting by virtue of the fact that his nephew (slash roommate) Michael Cecchetelli was an East Coast leader of the street gang and consequently, was the Feds' key focus. Law enforcement hit the apartment the two shared expressly to carry out an arrest warrant for Michael, a...

But if they do, they should NOT store their guns and ammunition in the bedroom, especially if they are a convicted felon.... David (Chicky) Cecchetelli, 54—reputedly a retired bookmaker associated with the Genovese family’s Springfield crew who was arrested in 2019 with his nephew, a big-shot in the Latin Kings—yesterday  pleaded guilty to one count of being a felon in possession  of ammunition before U.S. District Court Judge Patti B. Saris. Chicky, who was nabbed in a Latin King round-up, isn't a Latin King (source: Twitter ). The judge slated Cecchetelli’s sentencing for March 17, 2022, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts. He faces up to 10 years in prison, up to three years of supervised release, and a potential $250,000 fine. (See Twitter video of Chicky below.) The trouble came early one morning in December 2019, when over 500 Federal, state, and local law enforcement officers raided the Latin Kings in the Northeast United States,...

EXPANDED Just about every wiseguy who ever lived, no matter how smart he is—no matter how low he holds his head—sooner or later will find himself in a prison cell. The only mystery is the duration of the sentence (which, depending on the content of the indictment, could be a couple of years or decades—or centuries).  Freddy (right), Ty (center), Arillotta (second from left). Spending time in the can is as much a certainty for wiseguys as death and taxes are for the rest of us. Case in point: even the  recently departed Gambino capo Anthony Scotto , who died at age 87 earlier this month, eventually went to the clink... Scotto was a powerful figure in the Mafia whose story heralds an earlier era of America's Cosa Nostra, when mobsters could discreetly rise high in big business. Scotto (pronounced SKOE-toe) was 29 years old when he became president of the Brooklyn-based Local 1814 of the International Longshoremen’s Association in 1963, succeeding his father-in-law, Anthony ...

" Freddy was extremely mild mannered. Every morning (we) would pick up the three of them for trial (Freddy and Ty Geas, and Arthur Nigro).... I always patted down and shackled Freddy. He always walked out of the cell first, followed by Ty, and Nigro lagging behind last. They walked out in the same order every day for four months. That stuck in my mind because I knew Nigro was a “boss” but to me, Freddy seemed to take on that role ." That was one of the things we learned during a recent chat with a former deputy marshal who spent considerable time on the job getting to know numerous members and associates of organized crime in New York, including former Genovese family acting boss Arthur Nigro and brothers Ty and Freddy Geas, both former members of the Genovese family's Springfield Crew.  Fotios, left, and brother Ty, who got life sentences for the slaying of mob boss Big Al Bruno. Freddy Geas also is the number one suspect in the brutal murder of James (Whitey) Bulger , ...

REVISED James (Whitey) Bulger, one of the most notorious gangster snitches of the 20th century, was found viciously beaten to death inside a West Virginia prison on October 30, 2018. Two years and seven months later, no one has been charged with the murder—but three inmates—suspects in the case—remain in the special housing unit at US Penitentiary Hazelton, locked in tiny cells for 23 hours a day, t he Boston Globe recently reported . Whitey Bulger was given two life terms for participating in 11 murders. Relatives of the three prisoners have said that the trio is being denied "basic human rights."  The COVID-19 pandemic is part of the reason why the Bulger murder probe is still open with no charges filed. Other than that and the grievances of suspects’ family members, practically no new developments in the Bulger case have come to light. We know about as much as we did in 2018.... Bulger had a hip injury and was in a wheelchair when he was brought to Hazelton that year. Bulg...

T rue crime Mafia shows on mainstream TV usually focus on the same handful of figures: John Gotti, Al Capone, etc..... Recently we realized some could construe that we've also been focusing on mobsters with mainstream appeal, with tons of blog space devoted to two of the most high-profile mobsters in US history: John Gotti and Salvatore (Sammy the Bull) Gravano. Our coverage included publishing transcripts related to the former Gambino boss and underboss.  Albert (Chinky) Facchiano As we've previously noted (somewhere), our motive is only to publish historical information that previously wasn't accessible online. Nevertheless, we decided to balance the scales somewhat by focusing on the following unknown wiseguy.... Before we leave the topic, the two series: 1992 Testimony of Gambino Underboss Salvatore (Sammy the Bull) Gravano The Ravenite Transcripts: John Gotti's Secret Meetings In Mrs. Cirelli's Apartment Real-deal wiseguys are ready to kill for their mob family...