Cosa Nostra News

The Chin's Triangle social club suffered the same fate as the Ravenite: gentrification. "We got 30, 40 guys. Don't let anyone tell you that we're dead, 'cause we're here."   --Genovese capo Alan "Baldy" Longo speaking in October 2000 with Michael "Cookie" D'Urso, a mob turncoat..... UPDATED Jerry Capeci of Gangland News discussed last month's bust of dozens of mobsters for large-scale racketeering conspiracy on an episode of MetroFocus hosted by PBS show producer William Jones. Reputed members of an East Coast crime syndicate were charged in midsummer with racketeering, extortion, loansharking, gambling, credit card fraud and healthcare fraud. The indictment depicts an interesting version of how the New York Mafia seems to be evolving. Though largely focused in New York, crimes alleged in the case also occurred in Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Florida and New Jersey.

This has been quite a news-filled period for the New York Mafia. We were counting on writing an entirely different slate of stories, but then the barrage of busts, sentencing hearings and what not interrupted. This cafe actually is linked to a mobster and a notorious gangland hit. (See story here ) That trio of mob-linked bank burglars was busted. Law enforcement hinted strongly that the arrests were only the beginning, and that there would be more to come. (And they were correct, just not the way we thought.) A few days later and Philadelphia mob boss Joseph "Skinny Joey" Merlino and more than 40 made members and associates of four of New York's Five Families were arrested in a massive Cosa Nostra takedown. The federal indictment alleges the existence of a unique criminal operation dubbed the "East Coast Syndicate" in the indictment. (On the same day, we were all shocked to learn about the other, unrelated bust of a small drug ring in Queens.)

AMC's ongoing miniseries... This was written by a guest columnist for Cosa Nostra News.... The AMC miniseries " Making of the Mob: New York " will be be shown over the next two months, highlighting the history of the American Mob and making it a topic of discussion around many water coolers. Movies like Goodfellas and Donnie Brasco, mixed with The Sopranos, and other guilty pleasures such as Vh1’s Mob Wives and previously high-rated exploits like Growing Up Gotti have always generated huge interest referencing the affects that the Mafia has had on pop culture. Making of the Mob: New York is an eight-part docudrama chronicling the rise of successors like Carlo Gambino , John Gotti, “Lucky” Luciano, Frank Costello and many more who have inspired countless hit films and TV stories- oftentimes glamorizing the reality behind the myths and every generation’s fascination with the major head bosses of the most infamous crime families.

By Nick Christophers , from the May issue of Saint Red Magazine . People look at him and think 'there goes a good looking man with style'. But when they learn about his checkered past, fear sets in. It is a normal reaction and comes with the territory for someone like him. John Alite was John Gotti Jr.'s bodyguard and did what he was told within the world of the mafia. But those days are over as he begins to build a new life. Coming from an Albanian family the world of crime was not so foreign to him. Albania itself has been pegged as a breeding ground for criminality. Yet not all Albanians follow that lifestyle. John himself attempted to lead a law-abiding life but somehow was side-tracked. He was raised in Jamaica, Queens in the 1970's were it was a strong-hold for the mob.

The Gigliottis, husband and wife, was the U.S. connection between the Ndrangheta and South American drug cartels. A savage freelancing mobster arrested in New York for his part in a transcontinental cocaine trafficking network boasted to his wife that he ate the heart and kidney of a rival who owed him money, it is alleged . Gregorio Gigliotti was the U.S. broker between the Ndrangheta , considered Italy's richest and most brutal organized crime syndicate, and the South American drug cartels. Despite reports to the contrary, it doesn't appear the New York families are directly implicated in this case. Longtime Calabria-based anti-Mafia prosecutor Nicola Gratteri said the 'ndrangheta has for some time been beefing up its presence in the United States: "In New York, right under the Brooklyn Bridge."

John Alite, left, George Anastasia at Free Library event last night. PhillyVoice : "George Anastasia, nationally renowned crime reporter, author and Philadelphia Inquirer writer, will make an appearance at the Free Library on Tuesday, Feb. 24. He will be reading from his new book, " Gotti's Rules: The Story of John Alite, Junior Gotti, and the Demise of the American Mafia ." "Gotti's Rules," which was released last month by Harper Collins, goes behind the scenes of New York City's Gambino crime family from the point of view of the man who betrayed them, John Alite . Alite was a hit-man who later testified against close friend Junior Gotti. "In his book, Anastasia uses FBI documentation and interviews to construct the story of John A. Gotti's rise to notoriety and how Junior later filled his big shoes.

Mara Salvatrucha (MS, Mara, and MS-13) is a transnational criminal gang that originated in Los Angeles. This post is a reworking of an actual story I found on the Internet with the above headline.  I have to say I honestly think it is the most irresponsible and dangerous act of  "content creation" in the infamous format of a "list" on the Internet. The five steps to "acting like a gangster" can easily get you killed if you're foolish enough to try them. It only depends on how far you are willing to take your "acting."

Smiles Everyone, Smiles! The Casalesi Camorra boss The following story regarding the capture of the first Casalesi Camorra boss to flip includes a wealth of details about the man who folded under the pressure of solitary confinement. The information to which O'Ninno, or "Baby Face," as he is known, is privy can “make the Italian political and business worlds tremble,” world-famous journalist Roberto Saviano told The Daily Beast, which obtained a copy of the mob boss's court testimony. O'Ninno, known widely as a bookkeeper for the Naple-based Mafia outfit, was also a quite prolific killer. “I started killing in the '80s,” he said, and his "hit lists" included police officers, bodyguards, opposition clan members, and "people in discotheques, on lonely roads and in broad daylight." He also took his wife and daughter with him as far away as Brazil and Portugal to participate in killings, "while they enjoyed what amounted to f...

William  Cutolo dances  with daughter BJ.  ( CNNews ; Cutolos) Cosa Nostra News Exclusive Thanks to the American public's ongoing obsession with La Cosa Nostra – duly noted by the constant airing of shows like Mob Wives, I Married a Mobster, Mobsters, Bill Kurtis, Biography and even National Geographic (as well as the increasingly competitive blog landscape) – those formerly connected to “the life” but now out can still find ways to earn off the mob, lending their insight and perspective to the aforementioned television shows, as well as consulting with filmmakers (lot of money there). The types of people who make money off mob involvement, and their reasons for doing so, are as varied as the people doing it. As the great French filmmaker Jean Renoir famously said: "Everybody has their reasons" -- and those in the audience can react however they like, spanning the full range of emotion, from incredulity to apathy.

Grim Reaper/informer Scarpa shows off the fashion of the day. Gregory Scarpa, Sr. (May 8, 1928 – June 4, 1994) was a fiercely loyal capo in the Colombo crime family with cojones the size of coconuts -- something this family is known for producing, probably because of all the inter-family wars following the early '60s insurrection by the Gallo brothers against old man Profaci, original boss of the Colombo family, which actually carried Profaci's name at the time. Known as "The Grim Reaper," for decades, especially from the1970s through early 1990s, Scarpa was Colombo boss Carmine Persico's chief enforcer, doling out the proverbial dirt nap to whoever defied the administration before dying of AIDS, contracted from a crew member during a blood transfusion.

Gotti killed four more, according to son Junior's film of his life. (Unless it's from one of the fake scripts sent to the media.) EDITOR'S NOTE: Fiore Films has admitted sending out phony copies of the script for its upcoming Gotti biopic, apparently to fool the media. Mr. Fiore, trust me when I say: The media won't forget this dirty trick, especially when you expect them to hang laurels from the film in their reviews. This was a dumb, arrogrant move on your part, my friend. Anyway, readers, this post may be based on a fake script for all I know, but it was reported on by several sources, including the one and only Jerry Capeci. John Junior Gotti blames his Mafia father for four additional murders -- heretofore unknown by any sources -- in the upcoming film about the Teflon Don, according to published reports, including in the U.K.'s Mail Online . "Gotti, who never took the stand in any of the four racketeering trials where he escaped a federal conv...