Cosa Nostra News

"John Gotti (went around in) a suit telling everybody he’s the boss. Our guys (in the Genovese family) had mothball holes in their sweaters, but they had $50 million in cash in their apartment." —Michael Visconti, ex-Genovese family associate "Angelo Prisco's mentor was Mario Gigante. (Prisco) was a very strong guy. He ran the Purple Gang along with Danny Leo in Harlem , and they came up through the ranks together." Michael Visconti enters court in 2006. Credit: RecordOnline . The violent East Harlem-based Purple Gang reportedly boasted more than 100 members in the 1970s and was known for committing crimes ranging from narcotics and firearms trafficking to whacking and dismembering people, many of them informants for law enforcement. Members of the organization, who reportedly spent their youths running errands for local drug dealers, were linked to the Bonanno, Luchese, and Genovese families.  By the 1980s, the Purple Gang started to fade as members were incr...

By Nick Christophers The iconic 1993 mob film " A Bronx Tale ," based on Chazz Palminteri's autobiographical one-man show, tells the story of young Calogero (played by a pre-felonious Lillo Brancato ; more on him here ), who rejects the working class values of his loving father (Robert De Niro, who also directed) while falling in with Sonny, the local mob boss (Palminteri) who rules his piece of the New York borough from beneath a lamppost at the corner of Belmont Avenue and 187th Street. Pauly DiSalvo family with Chazz Palminteri and Sophia Milos. A Bronx Tale -- this year marks the film's  30th anniversary -- t ransformed Palminteri into one of Hollywood’s top go-to tough guys. And while the film was generally praised by critics and beloved by audiences, it didn't break any box office records and wound up stalling De Niro's directing career for over a decade. Nevertheless, A Bronx Tale is a  fan favorite that more than earned a place in the hall of fame of ...

Five members of an alleged robbery crew linked by law enforcement to two of the Five Families were arrested Tuesday morning in connection with the heisting of $2 million in gems from two Manhattan jewelry stores. DiPietro, pointing gun, and Sellick burst into Bayco Jewels on January 3 (without an appointment). The two complaints (which make no mention of Cosa Nostra) charge Frank (Frankie the Fish) DiPietro, 65, of Red Bank, New Jersey; Vincent Cerchio, 69, of Howard Beach, New York; Vincent Spagnuolo, 65, of Monmouth Beach, New Jersey; Michael Sellick, 67, of Franklin Square, New York, and Samuel Sorce, 25, of Florham Park, New Jersey. The heists took place at a midtown store on January 3, 2023, and at a downtown store on May 20, 2023. The five are charged with conspiracy, robbery, and brandishing a firearm in connection with a violent crime. Each faces up to 27 years in prison. NYPD Chief of Detectives James Essig said the five defendants were associates of the Lucchese and Genove...

Turncoat Bonanno associate/former podcaster Gene Borrello has been sent back to jail again for violating the conditions of his supervised release. Gene Borrello in hot water once again. Borrello, 38, was given a six-month sentence by a judge in Brooklyn federal court on Wednesday for participating in podcasts about organized crime and for associating with other criminals while doing so. “You want to know [why] I went out there?” Borrello said of his podcasting antics as per a Daily News repor t. “I’ll be honest with you. Every other cooperator is on there and I’m not allowed to. Sammy Gravano is on there talking about killing people.” “I don’t like being made a fool of,” the judge said. “It bothers you, of course — that’s the essence of trust.” Borrello helped Brooklyn federal prosecutors put away more than 21 mobsters and then spent about five years in prison for committing crimes that otherwise could've earned him a life sentence. A judge sentenced him to time served and probatio...