Cosa Nostra News

Frank Cali, a mobster with strong Sicilian roots, has been named as the Gambino family's new underboss, according to Jerry Capeci's PPV column Ganglandnews.com. Frank Cali circa 2008. Cali, along with Gambino family boss Domenico "Italian Dom" Cefalu, who officially named Cali his number two, and Gambino capo Bartolomeo "Baboots" Vernace are believed to all have strong ties to Sicily. In fact, although all five New York crime families have ties to the old country, the Gambinos are believed by law enforcement to have the strongest. Cali had been on the Feds' radar. He has been considered to be the Gambino "ambassador to Sicilian mobsters" and he is linked to the Inzerillo Mafia family , from Palermo. "Cali is seen as a man of influence and power by organized crime members in Italy," according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Lipton. Salvatore Inzerillo (Palermo, 1944 – Palermo, May 11, 1981) was an Italian drug dealing...

Bonanno boss Vinny "Gorgeous" Basciano is imprisoned, serving a life sentence. From NBC New York : The son of an infamous mobster was arrested for allegedly helping to run a $50 million sports betting ring that stretched from New York to California Vincent Basciano Jr, son of Bonnano mafia leader Vinny "Gorgeous" Basciano, was among those charged. Gadoon "Spanky" Kyrollos, 34, of Freehold, N.J., was also arrested. Fifteen of those charged are accused of being bookmakers who took bets on football, baseball and basketball games as well as horse-racing. The owners of Pinnacle Sports, based in California and Las Vegas, were also charged in connection with what police said is a mob-linked enterprise. "Illegal gambling is not a victimless crime," said Queens District Attorney Richard Brown. "Those who participate in these criminal enterprises often use threats, intimidation and even  physical force to collect debts....

Caponigro didn't like it when Sinatra told him to shut up.... A Philly mobster wanted to kill Frank Sinatra, or he seemed to want to... This was one of the hundreds (or thousands?) of conversations caught on tape by Gambino mobster Nicholas "Nicky Skins" Stefanelli , who committed suicide earlier this year. He had a lot weighing on him since he flipped for the Feds two years ago and began wearing a wire on his former friends in the New York and Philadelphia Mafia families. The tapes are making their debut at the trial of Joseph "Uncle Joe" Ligambi, reputed head of the Philadelphia mob, which began last Thursday. One Philly big shot wanted to whack Frank Sinatra. One conversation took place between 69-year-old Stefanelli and [Joseph "Scoops"] Licata at the American Bistro in New Jersey last April. Louis Fazzini, 45, and Nicholas Mitarotunda, 74, were also allegedly at the meal. READ: Sinatra Once Proposed for "Honora...

Convicted mobster Salvatore "Chuckie" Merlino (the father of the man believed to be boss of the Philadelphia mob, Joseph "Skinny Joey" Merlino) died at a low-security federal prison in Fort Worth, Texas. Salvatore "Chuckie" Merlino, father of Joseph,underboss to Nicodemo Scarfo. The elder Merlino, 73, had spent the last quarter-century behind bars. The federal Bureau of Prisons listed his potential release date as August 2016. Merlino's death comes amid the region's biggest mob trial in years: Current Philadelphia boss Joseph "Uncle Joe" Ligambi and six other defendants are facing federal racketeering charges. The trial was on break Tuesday. The court papers described Ligambi as "acting boss" and suggested that Merlino had been running the crime family while serving a 12-year prison sentence. Salvatore Merlino rose through the crime family to become Nicodemo "Little Nicky" Scarfo's underboss in the ...