Cosa Nostra News

Jimmy the General NY Daily News : "Former Bonanno capo Generoso (Jimmy the General) Barbieri, pictured, learned of Vincent (Vinny Gorgeous) Basciano's plan to assassinate Assistant U.S. Attorney Greg Andres and went to the feds. As a reward, he got out of jail more than two decades early. A Mafia rat who faced 30 years in prison for racketeering and murder conspiracy was sentenced to time served and praised by a federal judge for his “courageous” decision to come forward with information about a plot to kill a federal prosecutor. Former Bonanno capo Generoso (Jimmy the General) Barbieri was in jail when he learned then-boss Vincent (Vinny Gorgeous) Basciano was planning to assassinate Assistant U.S. Attorney Greg Andres." Read rest

Roy DeMeo was a ruthless killer—allegedly—and not a man worthy of admiration—but in the context of Cosa Nostra, he offers an example of a fascinating mobster with great business acumen.   DeMeo mugshot  Gambino boss Paul Castellano at least at first rejected the idea of straightening Roy out, but in the end was too greedy not to. Roy was bringing in too much cash to simply dismiss. Roy combined his skills with a blood lust that drove him to commit torture murders not common even among mobsters. (Or so we have been lead to believe.) Roy had a crew of young wannabes, some of whom would eventually be given buttons, such as Gemini Twins Anthony Senter and Joey Testa, who hooked up with the Lucheses after leaving Roy. Others wound up dead. (Like Roy when the Gemini Twins left him.) An FBI bug installed in the home of Gambino soldier Angelo Ruggiero picked up an intriguing conversation between Angelo and Gene Gotti, a brother of John Gotti. When Castellano finally decided ...

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.

Reems was just one of the boys back then. The NYTimes.com , among hundreds of other newspapers, ran an obit on Harry Reems, who supposedly was America’s first male porn star following his taking part in the 1972 porn classic “Deep Throat.” In true porn star fashion, he died last Tuesday in Salt Lake City, Utah, at age 65 -- with the cause of undetermined. "Mr. Reems had been in declining health for some years, his wife, Jeanne, said," in the Times article. Interestingly, the release this July of “Lovelace,” a biographical film about the female lead of the hit skin flick, will star Adam Brody as Reems. What I never knew was that Reems had been arrested for organized crime activity related to the film, which many know today was financed by the Colombo crime family. He was convicted "on federal conspiracy charges," the article relates. Reems’s was originally hired to be the lighting director of the film -- but then the original male lead -- his name seems lost to h...