Cosa Nostra News

Does the old saying "All's fair in love and war" still apply when the romance in question involves a wiseguy? Birthday boy: Joey Amato, Colombo capo. Picture courtesy of Sitdown News blog... While we can’t definitively answer that question, we can tell you about one particular wiseguy who turned the game of love into a war that he sought to win using decidedly unfair means—and in the process got himself, his crew, and others indicted. It  all began (ended, technically, but for our purposes, we'll stick with began) in October 2019 when three indictments were unsealed in Federal court in Brooklyn  charging 20 defendants  (of which 11 were members and associates of the Colombo family) with racketeering, extortion, loansharking, stalking, attempted sports bribery, and related offenses.  Among those charged were Joseph Amato, an alleged captain; Daniel Capaldo and Thomas Scorcia, alleged soldiers; and Joseph Amato, Jr. and Anthony Silvestro, alleged associates. This case...

The first Q&A with former Luchese wiseguy John Pennisi ...These are the first few questions, followed by John's answers. QUESTION : The prevailing thought on mafia hits is that they no longer happen. The 2013 Meldish rubout was seen as brazen and uncommon and of course Caldwell, Londonio and the entire administration paid dearly for it. However, in John's story there are at least two instances which suggest hits are still a viable option. 1) When Big John tells John two family members are wearing wires John immediately suggests whacking them without hesitation. 2) John eventually walks into the Federal Building when he becomes convinced the Lucchese family was planning to kill him. Michael Meldish's boots were still outside his apartment days after he was killed in 2013. So, my question is - how prevalent are mafia hits? Was the Meldish rubout in 2013 really the only one in modern mafia history (or at least since the mid-2000s)? Or does the mafia still carry out hits bu...

COSA NOSTRA NEWS EXCLUSIVE In April 2013, in a house on Staten Island, acting Luchese boss Matty Madonna inducted John Pennisi and two other Italian American men into the Luchese crime family. Pennisi -- a member of Big John Castellucci's "Brooklyn" crew, which is now based on Staten Island -- was a loyal wiseguy and a hardcore believer in The Life. Luchese bust: Madonna, left, DeNapoli But after a few years as a wiseguy, Pennisi realized that being a member of Big John's crew wasn't all that it was cracked up to be. By 2017, Big John and others started to wrongly suspect him of being a rat. After Pennisi spotted two men sitting in a car suspiciously parked outside his home on Long Island, he knew that the rift between him and his crime family had become insurmountable. Pennisi armed himself and after a couple of close encounters grew increasingly concerned about innocents getting caught in the cross fire. He tried to resolve the "problem" in less letha...

COSA NOSTRA NEWS EXCLUSIVE The Feds know lots of wiseguys out there on the street—some of them very well. But there also are wiseguys the Feds don't know at all. Guys who are not on the "radar" at the present moment. John Pennisi was one of those guys.... Recent pic of John Pennisi. The Feds weren't building a single case against John Pennisi when he first went to them to talk in 2017, and it took a while for them to fully comprehend what had happened, that a guy who knew a hell of a lot about current goings-on inside the Luchese family had just fallen into their lap. Pennisi -- who flipped and testified in detail about certain events related to the Luchese family (plus the other families that comprise the New York Mafia) (and if you are wondering, yes, wiseguys are still out there hustling) -- was following in the footsteps of another former member of the Luchese family: Onetime acting boss Alphonse (Little Al) D'Arco , who flipped and testified in the early 1...