Joseph Bruno's Blog, page 65

Joe Bruno on the Mob – Thomas E. Dewey – The Prosecutor From Hell

 

 

He was a mean-spirited runt; a little man with a large mustache that seemed to dominate his snarling face. But liberal Republican Thomas E. Dewey, a man who made his bones as a Special Prosecutor in New York City and who would stop at nothing to further his skyrocketing career, was just an eyelash away from becoming the President of the United States.

Dewey was born on March 24, 1902 in the little town of Owosso, Michigan. Dewey's father was the editor and publisher of the local newspaper — the Owosso Times. Dewey senior's mission in life was to right the wrongs of the political world, especially the tyranny of Tammany Hall, a corrupt Democratic political machine, based in New York City, but with tentacles all around America. Dewey Jr. admired his father's zeal, and it was this that later motivated Dewey to go after organized crime figures in New York City, with a vengeance that not always adhered to the letter of the law.

But first Dewey wanted to sing.

Dewey was a talented operatic baritone, and while he was attending the University of Michigan he joined the Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, a national fraternity for men of music. Dewey was also a member of the University of Michigan Men's Glee Club. Following in his father's footsteps, Dewey wrote for The Michigan Daily, the university's student newspaper. However, Dewey was better at singing than he was at writing, so much so, in 1923, Dewey finished third in the National Singing Contest. However, Dewey soon developed throat problems, and although he briefly considered a career in music, he changed his mind and opted to be a lawyer instead.

With his father's money, Dewey traveled to New York City and enrolled at the Columbia Law School. One of his classmates was the radical socialist/communist Paul Robeson, who became a singer and actor of some note, in between moving to and from the country he really loved – Russia. However, Dewey was no idealist like Robeson. After he graduated law school in just two years, Dewey decided to hang up his own shingle and go into private practice, which he did from 1925-31. In 1928, Dewey married actress Frances Hutt. After their marriage, Dewey's wife quit acting, and they eventually raised two sons: Thomas E. Dewey, Jr., and John Martin Dewey.

In 1931, Dewey was named chief assistant to George Medalie, and was given the official title of Chief Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. This was the springboard Dewey needed to further a political carer that knew no boundaries, and counted heavily on legal improprieties.

In 1933, Dewey first major case was the prosecution of former pickpocket Irving Wexler, better known as Waxey Gordon. Gordon was a protégé of Arnold Rothstein, considered "The Godfather" of the modern gangster. In 1928, after Rothstein was killed over a large gambling debt, Gordon took over all of Rothstein's operations — in the bootlegging, and in the gambling business. Gordon's partners in crime included such illustrious gangsters like Lucky Luciano, Louis "Lepke" Buchalter, Gurrah Shapiro, and Meyer Lansky. Even after cutting in his partners, Gordon was said to have made over $2 million a year in profits.

However, Gordon and Lansky hated each other, and after Dewey unsuccessfully tried to prosecute Gordon for his crimes, Lansky, with the blessing of Luciano and Buchalter, funneled information, including documentation to Dewey that showed that maybe Gordon was not paying his fair share of this income taxes. Using the same tactic the government had used against Al Capone, Dewey, now in the possession of books that said Gordon had hidden $5 million in taxable income over a ten-year period, lowered the hammer on Gordon. He cross-examined Gordon with such cruelty, spit was proverbially flying from Dewey's mouth and down his copious mustache. Gordon, basically an oaf with the mentally and vocabulary of a ten-year-old, was no match for Dewey on the witness stand. After the most one-side trial that could possibly occur, Gordon was slapped with a ten-year prison sentence.

Dewey next set his sights on Dutch Schultz.

By the time Dewey was ready to prosecute Schultz, it was alleged that District Attorney William C. Dodge was not aggressively going after the mob and crooked politicians, and there were plenty of both in New York City. In 1935, Dewey got a bump up in rank, when Governor Herbert H. Lehman, bypassing Dodge, appointed Dewey as Special Prosecutor in New York County (Manhattan). With the backing of Governor Lehman, Dewey assembled a crack staff of more than 60 assistants, investigators, process servers, stenographers, and clerks. New York Mayor Fiorello H. La Guardia chipped in with 63 of his best police officers to the cause, and Dewey was on top of the prosecutorial world.

Dutch Schultz, born Arthur Flegenheimer on August 6, 1902, was the most visible mobster in New York City, but he was only one of the nine-member National Crime Commission, that included Italians gangsters Lucky Luciano and Frank Costello, as well as fellow Jewish members Meyer Lansky, Bugsy Siegel, and Louis "Lepke" Buchalter. During Prohibition, Schultz made millions in the sale of illegal beer, and was nicknamed "The Beer Baron of the Bronx." In the early 1920′s, Schultz bulldozed his way into the Harlem numbers rackets, pushing aside notable black number kings Madame Stephanie St. Clair, Bumpy Johnson, and Casper Holstein. Noted crime author and former cop Ralph Salerno once said, "Schultz asked the black numbers to a meeting in his office. When they came in, Schultz put his forty-five on the desk and said, "I'm your partner.'"

Holstein backed off quietly, but St. Clair, and her muscle Johnson, decided to fight back against Schultz. Johnson went as far as to visit Lucky Luciano downtown in Little Italy to plead his case. Luciano admired the spunk of Johnson, but he told Johnson that Schultz was his partner in other endeavors, and that he had to back his partner. Luciano advised Johnson to tell St. Clair it was in their best interest to work under Schultz in the Harlem numbers game. St. Clair refused at first, but after the word was put out on the Harlem streets that St. Clair was to be shot on sight, she agreed to Luciano's proposition.

Schultz also made a ton of cash taking bets on illegal sporting events. Schultz owned the Coney Island racetrack in Cincinnati, Ohio, where the daily Harlem number were used from the last three digits of the total mutual handle for the day. Schultz was able to manipulate those daily numbers by having his numbers wiz Otto "Abbadabba" Berman determine which three-digit numbers were bet heavily that day, then call the track before the last race to change the last three digits to numbers which were bet lightly, or maybe not at all. Schultz also had a vast array of illegal slot machines placed all over New York City, that pumped out cash like water gushing down Niagara Falls.

As much money as he had accumulated, Schultz dressed like a broken-down valise. Luciano once said of Schultz, "He has all the money in the world, but he dresses like a bum."

Schultz claimed he never spent more than two dollars for a shirt in his life. "Only queers wear silk shits," Schultz said.

The Feds had their first shot at Schultz, when they indicted him on income tax evasion. But the wily Schultz went into the wind for several months, and when he did turn himself in, his lawyer was somehow able to move the venue to the sleepy upstate town of Malone, New York. Schultz went to Malone months before the trial and gave out money to local worthy causes like he was the Salvation Army. Schultz, a non-practicing Jew, even converted to Catholicism in order to garner the support of the Malone locals, who were overwhelmingly Catholic. The trial was a slam dunk for Schultz, and he walked out of the Malone courtroom with a loopy smile on his face, a free man.

However, a prosecution ordered by the mighty Dewey was a different proposition for Schultz. When Schultz got word that Dewey had Schultz right in his cross hairs, Schultz called for an emergency meeting of the nine-man National Crime Commission. At this meeting Schultz said, "Dewey will not stop until all of us Commission members are in jail." Schultz then slammed his hand on the table for emphasis, "We have to take Dewey out!"

The other commission members were skeptical of Schultz's demands. But they decided to table Schultz's request to see how easy it might be to gun Dewey down. They gave the chore to Albert Anastasia, a ruthless killer, and one of the bosses of Murder Incorporated. Anastasia was known on the streets as the "Lord High Executioner." In order to clock Dewey's movements, Anastasia borrowed a baby from a friend for several days. Anastasia pushed the baby in a carriage around 214 Fifth Avenue, the posh apartment building where Dewey lived. As Anastasia strolled the streets pushing the baby carriage, he was able to ascertain Dewey's exact daily movements.

Dewey exited the apartment building at 8 a.m. sharp every weekday morning. Surrounded by a phalanx of bodyguards, Dewey would walk a few blocks to a neighborhood drug store for his morning cup of coffee, and to make a phone call from a pay phone in back. While Dewey was alone in the back of the drug store, his men stood guard like mastiffs out front. Anastasia figured he could be waiting at the counter when Dewey entered, and kill him before he could reach the pay phone in back. Other Murder Incorporated killers would take care of Dewey's bodyguards in front of the drug store.

The following week, after Schultz was asked to leave the room, Anastasia presented his plan to the rest of the Commission. Even though the deed could possibly be done, it was decided that if they did kill Dewey, all hell would break loose on their rackets. The only one, besides Schultz, who voted for the hit was Gurrah Shapiro.

Manhattan D.A. Frank Hogan later said, "I suppose they figured the National Guard would have been called out if Dewey was killed. And I guess they wouldn't have been far wrong."

When Schultz was called back into the room and told the bad news he exploded in rage. "Dewey's got to go! I'm hitting him myself in 48 hours."

This did not please the rest of the Commission members too much. They immediately decided that Schultz was the one who had to go.

Luciano and Lansky figured that since Schultz was Jewish, Jewish gangster were the proper choice in ending the life of a mob boss. Lansky decided to use two of Murder Incorporated's best men: Charlie "The Bug" Workman, and Mendy Weiss. The place for the hit was set to be Schultz's hangout — The Palace Chop House in Newark, New Jersey. A nobody named Piggy, who was familiar with the Newark streets, was selected to be the getaway driver.

On October 23, 1935, at approximately 10:15 pm, Piggy parked a dark sedan outside The Palace Chop House. Workman and Weiss exited the car, guns drawn. They entered the restaurant and found the front room empty, but there was lively chatter coming from the back room. When the killers entered the back room, they spotted Schultz's top men — Lulu Rosenkrantz, Abe Landau, and Abbadabba Berman finishing the remains of their last supper. With blazing guns in both hands, Workman and Weiss opened fire. Landau and Rosenkrantz returned fire after they were hit, but were turned into swiss cheese and rendered quite dead.

"It was like a Wild West show," Workman said later.

However, Dutch Schultz was nowhere to be found.

Workman emptied his .38, dropped it to the floor, then rushed with his .45 into the bathroom, where he found Schultz in a stall. Workman fired the .45 twice. Schultz ducked the first slug, but the second slug found its mark just below his chest. The bullet blasted through Schultz's stomach, large intestine, gall bladder, and liver, before falling on the floor next to him. Schultz was rushed to the hospital, and was in the state of delirium, taking utter nonsense, until he passed away the following evening.

Before Schultz died, a telegram was delivered to his death bed. It read, "As ye reap, also shall ye sow." It was signed "Madame St. Clair."

With Schultz out of the way, and Dewey still very much alive, Dewey turned his sights on the second most visible mobster in New York City: Charles "Lucky" Luciano.

Luciano was a high-ranking member on the National Crime Commission, and he metaphorically spat in Dewey's face by showing up almost every night in swank nightclubs all around town with a knockout broad on his arm. The problem was, Luciano, along with his close friend Meyer Lansky (who was a quiet homebody and didn't irk Dewey as much as Luciano did), were almost untouchable, because of the several layers of insulation they had placed between themselves and the crimes committed on the streets by their underlings. Plus, both Luciano and Lansky had several legitimate business interests, with savvy accountants, who made sure the proper amounts of taxes were paid to the government.

So what was Dewey to do?

Simple — he would frame Luciano for one of the few crimes Luciano wasn't committing.

At the time, Luciano lived in a swank apartment (room 39D) at the Waldorf-Astoria under the name of Mr. Ross. Dewey was cutting a wide swath through New York City; first going after the gambling rackets, then setting his sights on prostitution. On January 31, 1936, Dewey order his men to raid more than 80 brothels, pick up every prostitute in sight (even ones walking the streets), arrest pimps of all colors and nationalities, and bring them one-by-one to his offices in the Woolworth Building. The broads were hardened hookers with colorful names like Lulu Rosenkrantz, Abe Landau, and Abbadabba Berman The pimps were low-level street hustlers who kicked up their money to mobsters, who in turn kicked it up the ladder, until some of it finally made its way into the hands of "a Mr. Ross." All of the arrestees had one thing in common: they did not want to go to jail.

So even though Luciano detested prostitution and never had his fingers in its dirty pie, it was inevitable that some of the dough kicked up to him by his captains had sometimes originated in sex dens.

In mid 1936, spurred on by testimony of hooker and pimps who had never even met Luciano, Dewey ordered a warrant for Luciano's arrest on the charge of running a huge prostitution ring. Luciano, outraged at being charged with something he had nothing to do with, dodged the warrant by traveling down to Hot Springs, Arkansas, to a resort run by his old pal Lulu Rosenkrantz, Abe Landau, and Abbadabba Berman . After making untold millions in the rum running and gambling enterprises, Madden had retired from the rackets, and re-invented himself as a successful businessman and hotelier.

If it had been a gambling pinch, Luciano would have lawyered up with the best attorneys in town, turned himself in, and would have stood a decent chance of beating the rap. But prostitution was uncharted territory for Luciano. His pal Lanky would later say, "Charlie had the same revulsion about running brothels that I did. He believed no respectable man ever made money from a woman in that horrible way."

It took four months for Dewey to locate Luciano, and when he did, he sent twenty Arkansas Rangers to Madden's resort, where they cuffed Luciano and threw him on a train back to New York City.

It was a three-week trial, and Luciano never stood a chance. Dewey paraded hooker after hooker, and pimp after pimp onto the witness stand. The hookers told of the degradation they had suffered toiling in the field of their choice. And the pimps testified that the money the hookers handed over to them eventually made it into the hands of Mr. Ross – Lucky Luciano. When Luciano took the stand, his course manner stood in stark contrast to the intelligent and erudite Dewey, who had been training for this moment all his life. When the verdict came in, Luciano was found guilty of 558 counts, and sentenced to 30-50 years in prison; the longest prison sentence ever rendered for prostitution.

There was immediate rage in the ranks of organized crime throughout America. All the top gangsters knew for certain Luciano never had a thing to do with prostitution. Dewey had broken the rules, and he showed no shame in doing so. In 1941, the imprisoned Gurrah Shapiro sent a note to his pal Louie Lepke who was awaiting the electric chair, "I told you we should have killed Dewey when we had the chance."

In Rich Cohen's book "Tough Jews," Cohen said crime writer and former cop Ralph Salerno had once told him on this subject, "The gangsters said to us: Don't frame me. Don't drop a little envelope in my pocket, then run up and say 'I caught you with narcotics.' That's a frame up. That's a no-no. That's what I demand of you, Ralph. But what I give you in return is, if you ever catch me right, I go to jail and do my time. And they don't drag me out of the courtroom saying, 'You son of a bitch, you and your family are dead.' None of that crap. I'm a professional. And if you be a professional too, and catch me right, then it's not personal."

Luciano did a little over 10 years in the slammer. But after World War II, he was freed from jail, and as part of his deal with the government for having his men protect the waterfront from enemy sabotage, Luciano was deported to Italy. One of the men who signed off on this deal was New York Governor Thomas E. Dewey. It was also alleged that Luciano's pals had contributed $600,000 to Dewey's campaign coffers, when Dewey was running for President of the United States.

In 1962, before he died of a heart attack at the Naples International Airport, Luciano wrote in his autobiography The Last Testament, which he planned to make into a movie, "After sittin' in court and listenin' to myself being plastered to the wall, and tarred and feathered by a bunch of whores who sold themselves for a quarter, and hearin' that no-good McCook [the judge] hand me what added to a life term, I still get madder at Dewey's crap than anythin' else. That little shit with the mustache comes right out in the open and admits he's got me on everythin' else but what he charged me with. I knew he knew I didn't have a fuckin' thing to do with prostitution, not with none of those broads. But Dewey was such a goddamn racketeer himself, in a legal way, that he crawled up my back with a frame and stabbed me."

With the Luciano trophy on his prosecutorial mantle, Dewey set his sights on one of Luciano's fellow National Crime commission members: Louis "Lepke" Buchalter. But Buchalter, still seething over the way Dewey railroaded Luciano, went on the lam for four years to avoid prosecution. When Lepke finally turned himself in 1939, Dewey already had bigger fish to fry: he decided he wanted to be governor of the state of New York.

In 1938, Edwin Jaeckle, the New York Republican Party Chairman, selected Dewey, only 36 years old, to run for governor against the extremely popular incumbent governor Herbert H. Lehman. The liberal Republican Dewey ran his entire campaign on his record as "racket-buster," especially the successful prosecution (frame-up) of Lucky Luciano. However, Lehman, on the coattails of his association with the popular President of the United States – Franklin D. Roosevelt – won a close election, beating Dewey by a mere 1.4% of the vote. But Dewey's good showing against Lehman propelled him into one of the leaders of the Republican party.

In 1940, Dewey tried to get the Republican nomination for President to run against FDR. Although he was considered an early favorite, most Republican bigwigs thought Dewey, then 38, was too young and inexperienced to go against a titan like FDR. With the threat of World War II imminent, the Republicans wanted a leader more experienced than Dewey to lead our nation in wartime. They instead selected Wendell Willkie to run for president. Willkie lost by a landslide to FDR, who won his third term as President.

In 1942, Dewey ran for governor of New York again, and this time he won bigtime, over Democrat John J. Bennett. Dewey would run for governor twice more, in 1946 and 1950, and would be successful both times. But Dewey's goal was the presidency, and when Dewey sunk his teeth into something, he never let go.

In 1944, Dewey again sought the Republican nomination for president. At the 1944 Republican Convention, Dewey's two main rivals were Ohio governor John Bricker and former Minnesota governor Harold Stassen. After some back-room dealing, both men withdrew from the nomination, and Dewey was selected unanimously as the Republican candidate. Dewey immediately named Bricker as his running mate.

Using his usual tactics, during his campaign against Roosevelt, Dewey, without any proof, insisted there was corruption and communist influences in Roosevelt's New Deal Policies. Then Dewey was ready to throw a bombshell that would devastate America: he was ready to claim that Roosevelt had known in advance about the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor. It was only through the intervention of Army General George C. Marshall that Dewey decided against using this dirty and unprovable tactic. Roosevelt won the election handily by a 54% to 46% margin. But Dewey's showing was better than any other Republican had done running against FDR for President.

Roosevelt died on April 12, 1945, a mere 82 days into his fourth term as president. This made Roosevelt's vice-president Harry Truman the new President of the United States. However Truman, a conservative-leaning Democrat, was a polarizing figure as president, even in his own party. In early 1948, Truman's approval rating as president was a paltry 36%. As a result, as the 1948 Presidential Elections loomed, at the 1948 Democratic Convention, the Democrats, totally divided, nominated three Democrats to run for President: Truman, Henry A. Wallace, and Strom Thurmond. Dewey easily garnered the Republican nomination, and the feeling was that because of the split in the Democrats, Dewey only had to play it safe to win the election.

The 1948 Presidential Election ran long into the night and through the early morning hours of the next day. The liberal press was so confident of Dewey's win, on the morning of November 3, 1948, the Chicago Tribune ran the front page headline: "Dewey Defeats Truman!"

However, the man who railroaded Lucky Luciano into a long jail term could not convince the American public he was the man to be the President of the United States. Even with the Democratic nomination split three ways, and the liberal press in the tank for Dewey, Truman beat Dewey fairly easy. Truman garnered 303 electoral votes, the liberal Republican Dewey — 189, Thurmond — 39, and Henry Wallace got no electoral votes at all.

Dewey declined to run for president in 1952, but he was instrumental in getting moderate General Dwight D. Eisenhower the Presidential nomination over Dewey's conservative foe Robert Taft. Eisenhower won two terms, but in 1964, when Taft's protégé Barry Goldwater was nominated for president, Dewey, stewing in his own juices, declined to even attend the GOP Convention in San Francisco. It was the first Republican Convention Dewey had missed since 1936.

When Dewey's third term as governor expired in 1955, Dewey decided he had gone as far as he could in the political arena, and would make his fortune in private law practice with his law firm Dewey Ballantine. And that Dewey did, making himself a millionaire many times over by 1960.

Dewey's wife Frances died of cancer in 1970, and within months Dewey was dating sultry actress Kitty Carlisle. There were rumors of an imminent engagement, but before there was any formal announcement, Thomas E. Dewey died of a sudden heart attack on March 16, 1971, eight days before his 69th birthday.

Somewhere Lucky Luciano must have been smiling. Lucky might have even met his old foe face-to-face; most likely in a hot joint with no air conditioning.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Joe Bruno on the Mob – Little Nicky Scarfo Denied Bail

 

 

 

 

I guess if you an alleged member of the Mafia you get treated worse in court than child molesters.

 

 

 

Nicodemo "Junior" Scarfo, the son of jailed-for-life Philly mob boss Nicodemo Scarfo Sr. has been denied bail by a Camden, New Jersey judge while he awaits trial for a "white collar" crime. Yet former Penn State coach Jerry Sandusky, who is alleged to have abused more than 40 boys, is given bail at the reasonably low figure of $250,000. Even disgraced former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, who was recently sentenced to 14 years in the slammer, is out on bail until he surrenders to prison officials on February 16, 2012.

 

 

 

Scarfo is accused of masterminding a plot to take over FirstPlus, an Irving, Texas-based mortgage company, and draining it of assets alleged to be in excess of $12 million. He also allegedly used the proceeds to buy a luxury yacht called "Priceless," a $217,000 Bentley, and a private plane.

 

 

 

Scarfo's attorney Michael Riley said in court filings, after U.S. District Judge Robert Kugler issued the "no bail" decree, that Scarfo Jr. is being punished for the "sins of his father."

 

 

 

"There are some of us who go through life maybe benefiting from our family's name and reputation," Riley told Kugler. "There are others that are hurt."

 

 

 

Still Judge Kugler was unmoved, saying that Scarfo is "a danger to the community because the 46-year-old has had nearly continuous involvement in the criminal justice system over the last 24 years."

 

 

 

Judge Kugler went one better, when he insisted that Scarfo Jr. must stay in protective custody in prison because the "Federal detention center in Philadelphia also houses five members of a La Costra Nostra group that tried to kill him."

 

 

 

Riley told Kugler that this imposes an unreasonable hardship because "the special confinement makes it hard for him to have access to his client to prepare for trial, a daunting task that involves going through more than 1 million pages of documents."

 

 

 

Going back to the 1930′s, when Special Prosecutor Thomas E. Dewey railroaded Charles "Lucky" Luciano on a trumped-up charge of prostitution into a 30-50 year jail sentence, alleged members of the Mafia are not treated the same in the court of law as are other criminals. The court system seems to say to them that "anything goes" as long as the desired result is obtained: their incarceration in prison for a very long time, if not for the rest of their natural lives.

 

 

 

This people, can happen to you, if one day some ambitious prosecutor decides that the group of people you are associated with fall within their imagined guidelines of "a danger to the public."

 

 

 

Even Muslim terrorists are treated with more respect in court than members of the Mafia.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can read the article below at:

 

 

 

http://www.publicopiniononline.com/st...

 

 

 

Son of mob boss argues he's being held unfairly

 

By GEOFF MULVIHILL Associated Press

 

 

 

CAMDEN, N.J.—Nicodemo "Junior" Scarfo will not be allowed out of prison on bail while he awaits trial in a financial crimes case, a federal judge ruled Monday.

 

 

 

Scarfo, the son of imprisoned former Philadelphia-south Jersey mob boss Nicodemo "Little Nicky" Scarfo, tried to make a case to a judge on Monday that he's being treated unfairly because of his name and is neither a risk of flight nor a danger to the community and should be allowed to post bail and go home.

 

 

 

U.S. District Judge Robert Kugler found that Scarfo is a danger to the community because the 46-year-old has had nearly continuous involvement in the criminal justice system over the last 24 years.

 

 

 

Scarfo was arrested last month on charges that he and other reputed mob figures took over FirstPlus, an Irving, Texas-based mortgage company, and drained it of $12 million in assets through their salaries and purchases, including a luxury yacht called "Priceless," a $217,000 Bentley and a private plane.

 

 

 

His lawyer, Michael Riley, argued in court filings last week and in the courtroom on Monday that the government was trying to link Scarfo to the sins of his father.

 

 

 

"There are some of us who go through life maybe benefiting from our family's name and reputation," Riley told Kugler on Monday. "There are others that are hurt."

 

 

 

He argued that his client was in the latter group. He said that there's no evidence he engaged in criminal activity after May 2008, when authorities

 

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conducted searches related to their FirstPlus investigation, tipping off the alleged schemers that they were being watched. And he said that the case should not be seen as a matter of organized crime but rather a white-collar crime.

 

 

 

Federal prosecutors, however, said that the alleged scheme relied upon the reputation of Scarfo's ruthless father—and that he benefited as a higher-up in the Mafia.

 

 

 

Justice Department lawyer Lisa Page pointed to some of the 7,500 recorded phone calls that are part of evidence, saying they show an associate making threats on Scarfo's behalf.

 

 

 

She also said he drew $33,000 per month from the scheme though he did not make much of an effort.

 

 

 

"The reason he was able to do virtually no work and get 33 grand per month is because of his name," Page said.

 

 

 

Prosecutors also said that Scarfo launched the FirstPlus plan while he was in home confinement following another conviction.

 

 

 

Eleven co-defendants in the case, including Scarfo's wife, four lawyers and an accountant, are free on bail. Only Scarfo and Salvatore Pelullo remain held.

 

 

 

Monday's hearing shed light on some of the practical difficulties of being an alleged mobster.

 

 

 

Scarfo is in the federal detention center in Philadelphia. Authorities say he's in protective custody there because the facility also houses five members of a La Costra Nostra group that tried to kill him.

 

 

 

But Riley said the special confinement makes it hard for him to have access to his client to prepare for trial, a daunting task that involves going through more than 1 million pages of documents.

 

 

 

Kugler said he would not object if Scarfo wanted to be moved into the general population of the prison—but warned him that he could face dangers.

 

 

 

Scarfo said he understood the risks.

 

 

 

"I want to be in general population. I don't share the same concerns about my safety that the government shares," he told Kugler. "I just don't feel like my life's in danger."

 

 

 

————

 

 

 

 

Joe Bruno on the Mob – Mobster Shot in Montreal

 

It seems like there's a full-scale Mafia war going on in Canada.

 

Antonio "Tony Suzuki" Pietrantonio was gunned down last week in what police describe as an attempted "underworld hit." Pietrantonio was seriously wounded in the upper body but is expected to survive. Pietrantonio is alleged by the police to have ties to the Canadian Rizzuto Crime Family.

 

This shooting comes on the heels of the murder of Salvatore Montagna, who was gunned down two weeks prior to the Pietrantonio shooting. Montagna was alleged by the police to be conducting a campaign to take over as head of the Rizzuto Crime Family.

 

Police have also said that Lorenzo LoPresti, who was shot and killed Oct. 24 on his condo balcony in St. Laurent, was Pietrantonio's "right-hand man."

 

Pietrantonio has a long criminal record. As far back as 1993, he was arrested for participating in a plot between the Hell's Angel and the Mafia to smuggle cocaine into Canada. Pietrantonio was convicted and served a three-year sentence.

 

Keep tuned for further Canadian Mafia developments. Things just might be warming up in Canada.

 

 

 

The article below can be viewed at:

 http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/A...

 

Antonio "Tony Suzuki" Pietrantonio was target of Mob-style hit: cop

 

 

By Jan Ravensbergen, The Gazette December 14, 2011 2:47 PM

 

 

 

Story

Photos ( 1 )

 

 

Montreal police refused Wednesday morning to confirm a report that the 48-year-old man shot and critically wounded outside the Imperio restaurant on Jarry St. E. Tuesday night is Antonio Pietrantonio, a reputed mobster with links to the embattled Rizzuto clan.

 

Montreal police refused Wednesday morning to confirm a report that the 48-year-old man shot and critically wounded outside the Imperio restaurant on Jarry St. E. Tuesday night is Antonio Pietrantonio, a reputed mobster with links to the embattled Rizzuto clan.

Photograph by: Google street view, Google

 

MONTREAL – Antonio Pietrantonio – also known across the Montreal Mafia as Tony Suzuki – is the man shot and severely wounded outside a Jarry St. E. restaurant Tuesday night, an inside police source confirmed Wednesday.

 

Pietrantonio has a colourful criminal record which includes time in the slammer springing from a plot by the Mob and biker gangs to smuggle cocaine into Canada.

 

He's expected to survive the attack, the latest in a series on various underworld figures that have marked a violent power struggle within the city's organized-crime circles.

 

The multi-fatality saga has coincided with the decline of the Rizzuto family.

 

Police were called to Tuesday's scene, near the corner of Chambord St., at 8:50 p.m.

 

The attempted hit took place near the entrance to the Imperio restaurant, a dining spot just south of the Metropolitan Expressway between Christophe Colomb and Papineau Aves.

 

The victim remains in critical but stable condition in hospital, Montreal police Constable Yannick Ouimet said.

 

Ouimet refused to confirm the victim's name, before a law-enforcement insider did.

 

The nickname Tony Suzuki derives from a period when Pietrantonio was involved in a car dealership in eastern Montreal.

 

Pietrantonio was arrested in 1993 after an RCMP investigation into a plot hatched by the Hells Angels and the Mafia to smuggle cocaine into Canada.

 

In that instance, he was sentenced to a three-year prison term.

 

Police spokesperson Ouimet wouldn't confirm a report that Lorenzo LoPresti, shot and killed Oct. 24 on his condo balcony in St. Laurent, had been the right-hand man of the Jarry E. victim.

 

Pietrantonio and LoPresti have been reported to have been involved in the downtown-Montreal parking-lot business.

 

Ouimet did confirm that the Tuesday-night shooting bore all the hallmarks of an underworld hit.

 

According to bystanders, one or more suspects made a getaway in a car that was found torched several blocks away.

 

Arson-squad investigators have been assigned to the burned-out vehicle.

 

Its hulk was found about 9:20 p.m., near the corner of Jacques Casault and Joseph Quintal Sts.

 

Ouimet said he might be able to confirm sometime later Wednesday a report that the car had been stolen before the shooting.

 

The man was shot in the upper body, Ouimet said.

 

Ouimet said he couldn't say if the victim had been hit by more than one bullet.

 

Given the man's medical condition, he hasn't been questioned by investigators, Ouimet said.

 

Ouimet said he was not in a position to say how many gunmen were involved in the attack, or provide descriptions.

 

janr@montrealgazette.com

© Copyright (c) The Montreal Gazette

 

Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/A...

 

 

Joe Bruno on the Mob – Carlo Gambino

 

 

He was a quiet man who dressed inconspicuously and was known to never loose his temper. But there is no doubt, Carlo Gambino, with his huge hawk nose and enigmatic smile, was one of the most powerful mob bosses of all time.

Gambino was born in Palermo, Sicily on August 24, 1902. The area of Palermo, called Caccamo, in which Gambino grew up in, had such a intense Mafia presences, the police and even the military, were afraid to enter into its domain. That left the Mafioso to rule the area with impunity, knowing whatever they did would not be reported to the police, if the police even cared what happened there in the first place.

Carlo's mother's maiden name was Castellano, and she used her influence with her family, who were Mafiosos, to introduce Gambino to "Men of Respect" when Gambino was barely a teenager. Gambino, who was slight of built and only 5-foot-7, quietly impressed his superiors with his calmness, his intellect, and his ability to do what was necessary to be done, even if it mean killing someone who needed to be killed.

In 1921 right before his twentieth birthday, Gambino was rewarded for his good work by being inducted into the Mafia, or what was known in Italy as the "Honored Society." However, because of Benito's Mussolini's vendetta against the Mafia (Mussolini had arrested many Mafioso, including top Mafia boss Don Vito Cascio Ferro, who was sentenced to life in prison), many Mafioso, including Gambino, decided that Sicily was too dangerous for them to exist in the manner that they had been accustomed to. As a result, there was a huge exodus of Mafioso to that mountain of gold across the Atlantic Ocean called America.

In late 1921, Gambino left Sicily on the freighter SS Vincenzo Florio, which was headed for America. For the entire trip, Gambino subsisted on nothing but wine and anchovies, which besides olive oil, were the only food substances on the ship.

The SS Vincenzo Florio docked in Norfolk, Virgina, on December 23, 1921, and Gambino disembarked as an illegal immigrant. Wearing a natty three-piece suit and a black fedora, Gambino walked down the gangplank looking for a car, he was told when he left in Palermo, would be waiting for him when he docked in America, with flashing lights at the end of the dock. He spotted the car and when he arrived at it, Gambino saw a Castellano cousin sitting behind the wheel. The two men embraced, and in seconds they were headed to New York City.

When Gambino arrived in New York City he was pleased to discover that his Castellano cousins had already rented him an apartment on Navy Street in Brooklyn, near the waterfront. They also put Gambino to work in a trucking company owned by his first cousins Peter and Paul Castellano. Soon Gambino segued into the illegal bootlegging business, run by his Palermo pal Tommy Lucchese. Prohibition was instituted by the passing of the Volstead Act in 1919, which banned the manufacture, sale, or transport of intoxicating liquors, but not the consumption. On thing led to another, and soon Gambino was a main cog in the crew of Joe "The Boss" Masseria, the most powerful Mafioso in America.

However, another Mafioso had escaped Mussolini's wrath and arrived in America in the mid-1920′s. His name was Salvatore Maranzano, second in command to Don Vito Cascio Ferro in Sicily. Maranzano figured the Sicilian Mafioso were much superior to those in America, so it was only natural that he should become the top Mafia boss in America. This did not sit well with Masseria, and the result was the Castellammarese War, which flooded the streets of New York City with scores of dead bodies from 1929-31.

Masseria's crew was soon joined by top Mafia men like Lucky Luciano, Frank Costello, Albert Anastasia, and Vito Genovese, who were well-connected to Jewish gangsters Meyer Lansky and Bugsy Siegel. However, since Masseria did not like his men doing business with non-Sicilians (Costello, real name Castiglia, was from Calabria), Luciano, Costello, Anastasia, and Genovese bided their time, hoping that maybe both Masseria and Maranzano would knock each other off, so that the younger men could take control of all their operations.

However, it was Gambino who made the first move in rectifying this situation. Sensing that he was on the losing side of the battle, Gambino secretly approached Maranzano and offered to jump to Maranzano's side. Maranzano readily agreed, and soon Luciano, Costello, Anastasia, and Genovese, also wanted to join Maranzano's forces. Maranzano accepted their offer, on the stipulation that they do away with Masseria, once and for all. That task was accomplished on April 15, 1931, when Luciano lured Masseria to the Nuova Villa Tammaro Restaurant in Coney Island. While Luciano was taking a bathroom break, Siegel, Genovese, Anastasia, and Jewish killer Red Levine burst though the front door and filled Masseria with lead, rendering him quite dead and ending the Castellammarese War.

Maranzano immediately called for a meeting of all the top Mafioso in the city (reportedly over 500 men) in a warehouse in the Bronx. At this meeting Maranzano said, "Whatever happened in the past is over. There is to be no more hatred between us. Those who lost someone in the war must forgive and forget."

Maranzano then proceeded to form five families, each with a boss and an underboss. Under the two top men each family would have capiregimes, or captains, who would rule over the rest of the family: soldatos, or soldiers. The five bosses were Joe Bonanno, Joe Profaci, Lucky Luciano, Tommy Lucchese, and Vincent Mangano. Albert Anastasia became Mangano's underboss, and Carlo Gambino – a captain in Mangano's family. Of course, Maranzano made himself "Boss of All Bosses" (Capo Di Tutti Capi), which did not sit well with the rest of the young Mafioso.

Despite all the nice talk about "no more hatred between us," Maranzano had a secret plan to kill Luciano, Genovese, and Costello — men Maranzano thought to be ambitious and a threat to his rule. Maranzano called on vicious Irish killer Vincent "Mad Dog" Cole to eliminate his perceived competition. Maranzano paid Cole $25,000 on the spot, with another $25,000 forthcoming when the dirty deed was done. To set the trap, Maranzano invited Luciano, Genovese, and Costello to his office in Midtown Manhattan.

However, Luciano caught wind of the plot through an informer close to Maranzano, believed to be Tommy Lucchese. Instead of showing up at Maranzano's office, Luciano sent four Jewish killers to the proposed meeting, led by Red Levine, one the men who had offed Masseria. The four men, posing as detectives, bulldozed their way past Maranzano's bodyguards in the outer office. Then they blasted into Maranzano's office, where they stabbed and shot him to death. On the way out of the building, the four killers ran into "Mad Dog" Cole. They told him not to bother — that Maranzano was dead and the police were on the way. Cole did an about face, whistling a happy tune, having made a $25,000 payday without firing a single shot.

Luciano soon called the bosses of the other four Mafia families and told them the title of "Boss of All Bosses" was eliminated with Maranzano. Luciano then formed a National Crime Commission, which included Jewish mobsters Meyer Lansky, Bugsy Siegel, and Dutch Schultz.

Gambino, now firmly entrenched as a captain in the Mangano family, became the biggest money-maker in all the New York Mafia. And in the Mafia, money brings prestige.

In 1932, his pockets bursting with cash, Gambino married his first cousin, Catherine Castellano Carlo and Catherine Gambino eventually raised three sons and a daughter. (Marrying a first cousin was common in Italy, and not frowned upon in the United States as it is today. In fact, marrying a first cousin is now illegal in most, but not all, states. Editors note: My grandparents on my father's side were first cousins, married in Sicily in the early 1900′s.)

When Prohibition was repealed in 1933, Gambino was already set to cash in on the now legal booze business, but he did so in an illegal way. While Prohibition was booming in illegal sales for the Mafia, Gambino planned for the days when he knew Prohibition would end. To achieve his goals, Gambino scooped up as many illegal stills that he could; in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and even as far as Maryland. When Prohibition ended and the price of alcohol blasted through the roof, Gambino had the largest illegal liquor distribution system on the East Coast of America. And since he was producing the booze himself and not paying any government taxes, Gambino could undercut the legal distributors, thereby making himself, and the Mangano family, a small fortune all through the mid-to-late 1930′s.

The start of World War II gave Gambino another opportunity to make even more illegal cash, through his wartime rations stamps racket. With war imminent against both Germany and Japan, on August 28, 1941, the United States government created the Office of Price Administration (OPA), whose job it was to print and distribute rations stamps to the American public. Without these stamps, people could not buy gasoline, tires, shoes, nylon, sugar, fuel oil, coffee, meats, and processed foods. Gambino figured the only way he could get his hands on ration stamps to sell on the black market was to steal them outright.

Gambino sent his best safe-crackers and second-story men to the vaults inside the Office of Price Administration, and they emerged with hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of ration stamps. When certain low-level employees of the OPA realized the ration stamps were being stolen by the mob, they decided to cut themselves in on the deal, by stealing the ration stamps themselves and selling them to Gambino and his boys, of course, at bargain-basement prices. Gambino figured why take a chance of stealing the ration stamps, with the possibility of getting caught. So he took the crooked OPA employees offer, and started buying the rations stamps from them in droves.

The beauty of this scheme was that Gambino already had a ready-made distribution network in place: his network of illegal booze distributors. In October 1963, Mafia informant Joe Valachi testified before Arkansas Senator John L. McClellan's Investigative Subcommittee on Government Operations, that in one rations stamp deal alone, Gambino made a profit of over $1 million.

Being the savvy businessman he was, Gambino knew he could not live the high life without reporting substantial income to the government. So Gambino invested the money he made from his illegal operations, estimated to be several millions of dollars, in legal businesses such as meat markets, pizza parlors, olive and cheese importers, carting companies, dress factories, bakeries, and restaurants.

By 1951, the Mangano family, thanks to Gambino's incredible ability to generate income, was one of the most prosperous in the Mafia. The problem was Mangano did not get along with his underboss Anastasia. Mangano was jealous of Anastasia's closeness with the other bosses, like Frank Costello and Lucky Luciano, who was in exile in Italy; a stipulation of the pardon agreement he received from the United States government after serving 9 years in jail on a trumped-up prostitution charge. Several times Mangano physically attacked Anastasia, a silly move since the younger and stronger Anastasia easily beat his boss in a fistfight.

With rumors abounding that Mangano was plotting to kill Anastasia, Anastasia, with the blessing a crime boss Frank Costello, decided to strike first. On April 19, 1951, the body of Phil Mangano, the brother of Vincent Mangano, was found in the marshes near Sheepshead Bay. He was shot five times in the head. When the police investigating the murder tried to contact Vincent Mangano about his brother's death, they could find no trace of him. Vincent Mangano's body was never found.

Within days, Anastasia sat down with the other bosses and explained that he killed Mangano before Mangano could kill him. With the backing of Costello, Anastasia was bumped up to the boss of the Mangano Family, and the name was changed to the Anastasia family. Anastasia made Frank Scalise and Joe Adonis his underbosses, and he gave his capo Carlo Gambino more men, and more power within the organization.

However, Anastasia's reign lasted less than seven years. Anastasia continually butted heads with vicious crime boss Vito Genovese, who was looking to take over all the rackets in New York City, even if it meant killing the other bosses one by one. Anastasia received a terrible blow when his underboss Joe Adonis was deported back to Italy as an undesirable alien. Anastasia knew his days were numbered, when in early 1956 Frank Costello was shot in the head by Genovese henchman Vincent "The Chin" Gigante. Costello survived the shooting, and at Gigante's trial, Costello, true to the Mafia code of "omerta," refused to name Gigante as his assailant.

However, this greatly diminished Costello's power in the Mafia, and at the insistence of Genovese, Costello was booted out as one of the fives bosses on the Mafia Commission. This left Anastasia without his closest ally, and put Anastasia in a vulnerable position. Soon after, Anastasia other underboss Frank Scalise was gunned down while shopping for fruits and vegetable on Arthur Avenue in the Bronx.

The final shoe dropped, when on October 25, 1957, Anastasia was shot to death while sitting in a barber chair in the Park Sheridan Hotel in Midtown Manhattan. With Anastasia now dead, Genovese called for a sitdown with the other bosses, and proposed that Carlo Gambino, whom he had let in on his plot to kill Anastasia, should take over Anastasia's family. The commission agreed and they renamed the family the Gambino Family.

The greedy Genovese called for a meeting of all the crime bosses, underbosses, captains, and respected Mafia men in America, which was to take place in the sleepy town of Apalachin, New York, at the home of Joseph Barbara, a capo in the crime family of Buffalo crime boss Stephano Magaddino. There were several items on Genovese's agenda, but the prime one was that Genovese would announce himself as the " Capo Di Tutti Capi," or "Boss of All Bosses," a title that had been vacant since the death of Salvatore Maranzano.

On November 17, 1957, scores of mobsters made their way to Barbara's home. Included in the group were crime bosses John Scalish, from Cleveland, Sam Giancana from Chicago, Frank DeSimone from California, Santo Trafficante from Florida, Gerardo Catena and Frank Majuri from New Jersey, and Carlo Gambino, Joe Profaci, Tommy Lucchese, and Vito Genovese from New York City.

However, before the festivities got under way, state Sergeant Edgar Roswell, along with a dozen state troopers, stormed the house. Roswell later said that he became suspicious when he saw Joseph Barbara Jr. make hotel reservation for a dozen or so out-of-towners. Roswell said he then drove by the Barbara residence and saw dozens of parked luxury car parked in and around Barbara's estate. Roswell said he called for heavy backup, and when his troopers arrived, they made their move.

Another rumor later circulated that it was Meyer Lansky himself, no big fan of Vito Genovese, who had tipped off the state troopers about the impending Mafia convention.

Be that as it may, when the troopers stormed the house, Mafioso, like in a Chinese fire drill, scattered in all directions. Men in expensive suits jumped though open windows, and if they could not make it to their cars, they hightailed it on foot through the woods, ruining their patent-leather shoes. Sam Giancana safely escaped by fleeing through the woods, as did Bonnano underboss Carmine Galente. But both men were a mess; their suits destroyed by thorny bushes. Some cars made it off the property before a roadblock was put in place, but most didn't. When the dust cleared 58 members of the Mafia were detained and told to empty out their pockets. A total of $300,000 in cash was found on the 58 men, making the state police all the more suspicious about the meeting.

What was notable about the meeting was the men who chose not to attend. Besides Lansky, those absent were Frank Costello, Carlo Marcello from New Orleans, and Lansky's pal Joseph "Doc" Stracher.

Of the 58 men detained, 27 were indicted on obstruction of justice, 20 of whom were convicted of refusing to answer questions about the purpose of the meeting. One of the men convicted was Gambino's cousin Paul Castellano, who wound up doing a year in the slammer as a result.

The aborted meeting, more than anything else, led to the downfall of Vito Genovese. Not only did he not get the exalted title of "Boss of All Bosses," but he became a pariah in the Mafia; ridiculed as being stupid and greedy for calling so many important men to the same place at the same time for his own purposes.

The day after the raid, the entire nation's newspapers ran front page stories about the incident. No longer could Mafia men claim that the Mafia did not exist. The police, and FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, who for years denied the existence of the Mafia, went on a rampage, putting extreme pressure on the Mafia's operations.

Although at first, Carlo Gambino seemed to be a victim of circumstances, the wily mob veteran plotted to turn the incident to his advantage. In fact, there was speculation that Gambino knew about the raid in advance, and went there purposely so that no would would suspect him of being in on the treachery; which would make sense in light of further developments.

With Genovese still stewing from his loss of face, Gambino colluded with Frank Costello, Meyer Lansky, and Lucky Luciano (still in exile in Italy, but able to move freely into Cuba to meet with his pals) to get Genovese up to his neck in a multi-million dollar international drug deal. Even thought dealing in drugs was forbidden by the Mafia, the greedy Genovese could not resist the urge to make a ton of dough.

When the time was right, Gambino tipped off the Narcotics Bureau about the drug deal, resulting in Genovese's arrest. At Genovese's trial, Gambino paid a false witness named Nelson Cantellops, who insisted on the witness stand that Genovese was not only involved in this particular drug deal, but was, in fact, involved in dozens of drug deals throughout the years. As a result, Genovese was sentence to 15 years in prison. Genovese served a little more than ten years of his sentence, before he died in prison on February 14, 1969.

With Anastasia dead, Genovese in prison, Luciano in exile, Frank Costello basically out of the Mafia loop, Joe Profaci getting older and weaker, and Joe Bonanno having a relatively small crime family, Carlo Gambino became undoubtedly the most powerful Mafia boss in America. His crew of over 500 made men out in the streets included his underboss Joe Biondo, his consigliere Joseph Riccobono, and capos Armand "Tommy" Rava, Aniello "Mr. Neil" Dellacroce, Paul Castellano, Carmine "The Doctor" Lombardozzi, Joseph "Joe Piney" Armone, and Carmine "Wagon Wheels" Fatico.

Gambino expanded his enterprises all over the United States. Besides New York City, Gambino had his fingers in the pot in Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, Boston, San Francisco, and Las Vegas. Gambino also ruled the powerful International Longshoremen Union, which controlled all the docks in New York, the main port for imports into America.

After Joe Valachi became the first known Mafia informer, Gambino reinforced the rule that forbade the sale of drugs in his crew. Gambino's rational was that the penalties for selling drugs were so severe, men might turn rat when arrested, rather than do their time in jail like the "real men" of the Mafia had done in the past. The Gambino family policy was "Deal and Die," and he enforced this rule with no exceptions.

Riding on top of the Mafia heap, Carlo Gambino became a popular figure in New York's neighborhood streets of Little Italy. While the other bosses barricaded themselves in their mansions, with armed bodyguard, burglar alarms and electrified fences, Gambino walked the streets with impunity, stopping to talk with old friends, while be bought vegetables and fruits from street vendors. Gambino went to Ferrara's on Grand Street, between Mulberry and Mott, for pastries. Then he would stroll down the block to get his Italian meats, cheeses, and Italian delicacies from Aleva's, on the corner of Mulberry and Grand.

Starting in March of 1970, Gambino started having trouble with the law. While he was strolling down a Brooklyn street, Gambino was surrounded by New York City police and members of the FBI. They arrested Gambino and charged him with masterminding a scheme to steal $30 million in cash from an an armored truck company located in the Bronx. Gambino was eventually indicted, but the case was dropped due to lack of evidence.

This forced the Feds to try another tactic to take Gambino off the streets. In 1966 the government had issued a deportation order on Gambino, but for some reason the order was never implemented. In early 1971, after Gambino's wife Catherine had died of cancer, the Feds did indeed try to implement this order, but on hearing about his imminent danger, the wily Gambino faked a serious heart attack. The Feds were incensed at Gambino's ploy, so they had the U.S. Public Health Service give Gambino a complete physical. The Feds were aghast when it was determined that Gambino indeed had a severe heart condition. This was confirmed in 1972, when Gambino was rushed from his home at 2230 Ocean Parkway, in Brooklyn, to the Columbus Hospital in Manhattan with a massive heart attack. Why a hospital in Brooklyn was not suitable for Gambino was never revealed.

While recuperating at home, Gambino broke one of the laws he decreed himself — "Deal Drugs and Die." Acting Genovese boss Thomas "Tommy Ryan" Eboli approached Gambino with a "can't miss" proposition to broker a multi-million dollar drug deal with Louis Civillo, considered by the Feds to be the biggest narcotics dealer in America. The problem was, Eboli, a former boxing manager and notoriously bad gambler, did not have the $4 million needed to proceed with the operation. Gambino fronted Eboli the $4 million, but he lost it all when the Feds arrested Civillo, and confiscated the drugs and money. When Gambino approached Eboli about his missing $4 million, Eboli turned his pockets inside out, indicating he was flat broke.

This did not please Gambino too much. As a result, at approximately 1 a.m., on July 16, 1972, Eboli was shot five times while he was leaving his girlfriend's apartment in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. Eboli died on the spot, and Gambino had enough influence in the Mafia Commission to order that his close pal, Genovese captain Frank "Funzi" Tieri, would now be the new boss of the Genovese Family. And so it was done.

Gambino had another setback, when in early 1973, his 29-year-old nephew Emmanuel "Manny" Gambino was kidnapped for ransom. This same gang had previously kidnapped a Gambino Crime Family captain, Frank "Frankie the Wop" Manzo for $100,000. After that amount was paid for Manzo's safe return, the gang got more ambitious with the Manny Gambino kidnapping — this time asking for $200,000. Gambino tried to bargain, offering them only $50,000. Soon after, the body was Manny Gambino was found in a sitting position in a New Jersey dump near the Earle Naval Ammunition Depot. On June 1, 1973, degenerate gambler Robert Senter plead guilty to manslaughter and was sentenced to fifteen years in prison. Apparently, Senter had fallen in debt to Gambino and it was easier to kill Gambino then to pay the debt.

After the death of his nephew compounded the agony of the death of his wife, Gambino became a recluse in his house on Ocean Parkway. He surrounded himself with family members, most notably his cousin Paul Castellano. By 1975, it was clear Gambino's heart condition would not allow him to live much longer. So he began to plan for his succession as the head of the Gambino Crime Family. Wanting to keep power in his own family blood, Gambino anointed his cousin Paul Castellano to succeed him.

This did not go over well with the rest of the Gambinos, who expected longtime Mafioso Aniello Dellacroce to be the natural successor to Gambino. To appease Dellacroce, Gambino gave him all the Manhattan rackets controlled by the Gambino Family. And that was a big gift indeed.

On October 15, 1976, Carlo Gambino took his last breath, as his heart finally gave out. Gambino's funeral was one of the most elaborate ever to take place in the borough of Brooklyn. More than 100 cars took part in the funeral procession, which ended at the Saint John's Cemetery in Queens, New York City; the same cemetery his lifelong friend Charles "Lucky" Luciano had been buried at.

In the 1985 film "Prizzi's Honor," directed by John Huston and starring Jack Nicholson, actor William Hickey played Don Corrado Prizzi, a character based on Don Carlo Gambino.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Joe Bruno on the Mob – Sicilian Mafia Control Italian Television Drama

In an incredible turn of events which evoke memories of the production of the movie "The Godfather," Monica Vitale, a Sicilian Mafia boss' former girlfriend, has told police that members of the Sicilian Mafia received protection money from the producers of Squadra Antimafia (The Antimafia Team), in order to film in and around Palermo without any disturbances. Ms. Vitale also said that Mafia members "controlled the supply of goods and services for the drama."

Ms. Vitale told the police, "The Mafia controlled all transport services for the production as well as catering for the cast and crew."

When "The Godfather" was filmed in New York's Little Italy in the early 1970′s, there were also rumors that the American Mafia demanded protection money in order for the streets of Manhattan's Little Italy to be safely used for the filming of the movie. When "Godfather 2" was made two years later, the producers used the streets of New York City's Alphabet City to avoid paying protection money to the Mafia. The surrounding tenements in Alphabet City closely resemble the streets of Little Italy less than as mile away.

Paolo Piccinelli, a police colonel in Palmermo told the press, "We've verified that an employee of the production company was in league with a person close to the Mafia."

The TV show which stars the actress Simona Cavallari is broadcast on Channel Five, which is owned by Silvio Berlusconi, the disgraced former prime minister, who was recently forced to resign for various sexual and monetary improprieties.

No wonder the economy of Italy is going down the tubes.

You can see the article below at:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/world...

Italian mobsters 'demand protection money' from mafia TV drama

A mafia informer has alleged that the series Squadra Antimafia (The Antimafia Team), a popular Italian TV show, has come rather too close to its subject matter.

By Nick Squires, Rome

5:30PM GMT 14 Dec 2011

Monica Vitale, a mafia chieftain's former girlfriend, has told detectives that mobsters from Cosa Nostra, the Sicilian mafia, demanded protection money and controlled the supply of goods and services for the drama.

Ms Vitale, 28, who is now a pentita, or informer, is said to have claimed that the mob demanded payment — known in Italian slang as pizzo — from the production company Taodue in return for allowing the show to be filmed in and around Palermo. She is also said to have claimed that it controlled all transport services for the production as well as catering for the cast and crew.

The mob also had a man employed on the set of the show, which has been filmed in Sicily's largest city since 2009, according to Ms Vitale.

Paolo Piccinelli, a police colonel, said: "We've verified that an employee of the production company was in league with a person close to the mafia.

The series, which stars the actress Simona Cavallari as a detective leading a team of officers, is broadcast on Canale 5, a channel owned by Silvio Berlusconi, the former prime minister. One episode was based on the disappearance of a boy whose father was involved in the Basta Pizzo, which encourages businesses and shop owners to stand up to extortion.

Joe Bruno on the Mob – Bulger's Moll Catherine Greig Faces More Charges

Well it looks like the Feds are looking to sock it to Whitey Bulger's gal pal Catherine Grieg. Even though she is facing charges in Boston for harboring a fugitive (Bulger), assistant U.S. Attorney Jack Pirozzolo said prosecutors plan to seek new charges against Greig. And those charges might force the trial to be held in Santa Monica, California, where Bulger and Greig were captured after 16 years on the run.

 

Greig's lawyer, Kevin Reddington, said that if new charges were brought related to the couple's years in California, he would prefer to have Greig's trial in Los Angeles. "I think it would be a good place to try the case out there," Reddington said. "The witnesses are all out there."

 

Reddington also said that with new charges, a judge would likely combine the two cases and decide where the trial would be held.

 

Sure, maybe the witnesses to the days when Greig and Bulger strolled arm-in-arm on the Santa Monica Pier are in California, but all the witnesses against Bulger are in the area around Boston. And hitting Grieg with extra charges (she's facing five years on the original charge), and distancing herself from Bulger geographically, increases the likelihood that her lawyer might be seeking some kind of deal for his client.

 

Would a 60-year-old woman want to spend five years, or more in jail, when all she has to do is tell people where Bulger's money is hidden, and who helped him stay safely on the lam for 16 years? I think it's safe to assume that Greig and Bulger were not the only ones who knew where Bulger was hiding.

 

This case gets more interesting by the day.

 

 

 

The article below can be seen at:

 http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/11/29/...

 

Ex-Crime Boss Whitey Bulger's Longtime Girlfriend Faces More Charges

 

 

A lawyer for the longtime girlfriend of former crime boss James "Whitey" Bulger said Tuesday that he might ask that her trial be held in California if federal prosecutors bring additional charges against her for the time the couple spent living in Santa Monica.

 

Catherine Greig is charged in Boston with conspiracy to harbor and conceal a fugitive. Prosecutors say she helped Bulger elude authorities during the 16 years the couple spent together after fleeing Boston. They were captured in Santa Monica in June and have pleaded not guilty.

 

During a brief status conference in federal court Tuesday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jack Pirozzolo said prosecutors plan to seek new charges against Greig. He said the issue of where the charges will be brought was still being discussed.

 

Afterward, Greig's lawyer, Kevin Reddington, said that if new charges were brought related to the couple's years in California, he would prefer to have Greig's trial in Los Angeles.

 

"I think it would be a good place to try the case out there," Reddington said. "The witnesses are all out there."

 

Reddington said that with new charges, a judge would likely combine the two cases and decide where the trial would be held.

 

The 60-year-old Greig didn't attend Tuesday's status hearing. Her Boston trial has been scheduled for May 7.

 

Pirozzolo said in court documents that prosecutors expect to resolve the venue issue within the next few weeks and prosecutors will seek the additional charges shortly after that.

 

The 82-year-old Bulger, the former leader of the notorious Winter Hill Gang, is charged in connection with 19 murders.

 

 

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/11/29/...

 

Joe Bruno on the Mob – Not Many People Show at Funeral For Reputed Mobster Salvatore Montagna

 

I think it's pretty clear from the composition of his funeral that Salvatore Montagna was not a very popular man in Montreal, Canada.

 

Whereas in 2010, hundreds of people attended the funeral masses for Nicolo (Zio Cola) Rizzuto, 86, at Notre Dame de la Defence church in Little Italy, and hundreds more for Rizzuto's grandson, Nick Jr. at that same church, reportedly only 70 people, if that many, attended the funeral mass for Montagna, 40, at the Notre Dame de Pompeii church on Sauve St. E.

 

Another hint that maybe Montagna was not too popular in Montreal was that his wake was not held at the Loreto funeral home in St. Léonard, where all big mob wakes in Montreal usually take place. The Loreto funeral home is owned by close relatives of Nicolo Rizzuto and his 65-year-old son, Vito.

 

It is alleged in the press that Montagna was killed because he was trying to take over the crime family of the Rizzuto's. The only problem was, Vito Rizzuto – once referred to as "the godfather of the Mafia" in Montreal by the federal government, is still alive and kicking. Vito Rizzuto is presently serving a 10-year sentence in the United States and is scheduled to be released from prison on October 6, 2012.

 

According to the book Mafia Inc., by André Cedilot and André Noël, Montagna approached Nicolo Rizzuto Sr. in 2010, just before the he was was killed, "and tried to reason with him, telling the patriarch that his reign was over."

 

This book also claims that the reason that Montagna was not successful in his takeover of the Rizzuto family was because he was once the reputed head of Bonanno family in America, and it was a Bonnano family member who became the government informant who "gave evidence that led to Vito Rizzuto's arrest and incarceration in the U.S."

 

It will be interesting to see what happens when Vito Rizzuto is released from prison late next year. But one thing's for sure — Salvatore Montagna won't be outside the prison in a waiting limo when Rizzuto finally exits its locked doors.

 

As of this writing, the police have made no arrests in the slaying of Montagna, nor do they have any suspects. In gangland murders like this, there's maybe a 100-1 shot the killer, or killers will ever be discovered, or arrested.

 

In fact, they could already be dead themselves.

 

 

 

 

 

The article below can be seen at:

 

http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/s...

 

Few show up for funeral of reputed mobster Salvatore Montagna

 

 

By Paul Cherry, Gazette Crime Reporter November 30, 2011

 

 

 

MONTREAL – About 70 people gathered in a church in the city's north end to mourn the death of a man who, by all appearances, had little support in his bid to assume control over the Mafia in Montreal.

 

Police sources said few faces were recognized among the people who attended the funeral of Salvatore (Sal the Ironworker) Montagna, 40, at Notre Dame de Pompeii church on Sauve St. E. on Monday morning.

 

The dozens of people, including Montagna's widow and their three daughters, filed into the church under a grey sky. The funeral mass was said mostly in Italian while most of the pews remained empty.

 

It was a stark contrast to many of the funerals held in the recent past for men who held influential positions within the Mafia in Montreal.

 

The funeral for Nicolo (Zio Cola) Rizzuto, 86, was attended by hundreds who packed into Notre Dame de la Defence church in Little Italy. Rizzuto was killed inside his home on Nov. 10, 2010.

 

It was a similar scene at the funeral that same year for Rizzuto's grandson, Nick Jr.

 

And on July 5, 2010, hundreds of mourners filled Notre Dame du Mont Carmel church in St. Léonard for the funeral of Agostino Cuntrera, 66, an influential figure within the Rizzuto clan.

 

Montagna's funeral appeared to be attended mostly by close relatives and loved ones.

 

Before it began, two limousines carrying large floral arrangements, pulled up in front of the church. One included the names of Montagna's three young daughters and the message "We will never forget you." The other said simply "Caro Fratello" (Dear Brother).

 

Montagna was reputed to be the acting head of the Bonanno family in New York before American authorities realized he wasn't a U.S. citizen and deported him to Canada, his birthplace, in 2009.

 

When his funeral ended, dozens of people exited the church quietly except for a young woman who yelled "Go home!" to the many camera operators and photographers across the street.

 

A young man who was with her saluted the journalists with his middle finger.

 

In a sign that Montagna was considered an outsider to the Rizzutos, visitation over the weekend was not held at the Loreto funeral home in St. Léonard owned by close relatives of Nicolo Rizzuto and his 65-year-old son, Vito.

 

Police sources have said in recent months that Montagna appeared to be seeking a consensus among the city's underworld over who should assume control of the Mafia in Montreal in the aftermath of Nicolo Rizzuto's murder.

 

Raynald Desjardins, 58, a man with past ties to the Rizzutos, was believed by police to be part of a small group that supported Montagna. Desjardins escaped injury when someone tried to shoot him in Laval in September.

 

Several potential leaders within the Rizzuto organization are behind bars.

 

Vito Rizzuto – once referred to as "the godfather" of the Mafia in Montreal by the federal government – is serving a 10-year sentence in the U.S. It expires on Oct. 6, 2012.

 

Nicolo Rizzuto's son-in-law Paolo Renda, another past leader in the organization, disappeared on May 20, 2010 and is presumed to have been kidnapped. According to the English version of the book Mafia Inc., by Montreal journalists André Cedilot and André Noël, Montagna approached Nicolo Rizzuto Sr. in 2010, just before the octogenarian was killed, "and tried to reason with him, telling the patriarch that his reign was over."

 

The book says Montagna got a cold shoulder, presumably because of his ties to the Bonanno family that produced the informant who gave evidence that led to Vito Rizzuto's arrest and incarceration in the U.S.

 

The Sûreté du Québec have said little about their investigation into Montagna's killing, and no arrests have been made. He was shot Thursday morning as he exited a home on Île Vaudry, a tiny island east of Montreal that is part of the town of Charlemagne.

 

The home is owned by a man in his 60s who has a criminal record that dates to 1976 when he pleaded guilty to being in possession of stolen property. In 1993, the man pleaded guilty to obstructing justice and was sentenced to a 60-day prison term.

 

After he was shot, Montagna jumped into the Assomption River in an apparent attempt to elude the shooter. Police found him on the shore in Charlemagne, and an attempt was made to resuscitate him. He was declared dead after being taken to a nearby hospital.

 

pcherry@montrealgazette.com

© Copyright (c) The Montreal Gazette

 

 

 

 

Joe Bruno on the Mob – Hells Angel Cesar Villagrana Pleads Not Guilty – Judge Bans Hells Angels Duds in the Courtroom

Hells Angel's member Cesar Villagrana pleaded not guilty in court to a second-degree murder charge for his role in the death of his chapter president, Jeffrey "Jethro" Pettigrew, in a September 23 shootout in a Reno, Nevada casino. Villagrana is not accused of killing Pettigrew, but rather charged with murder because he was a "principal participant in the brawl the led to the death of Pettigrew."

 

However, the real story that came out of Villagrana's court appearance is whether other Hells Angels can appear in court at his trial wearing clothing that symbolizes membership in the Hells Angels. Villagrana's defense attorney Richard Schonfeld objected when the judge said she intended to ban "colors, patches, emblems or insignias showing gang affiliation in her courtroom during the trial."

 

Schonfeld told Judge Connie Steinheimer , "The Hells Angels are a motorcycle club, not a gang, and should be referred to that way."

 

To prove his point Schonfeld said, "There's a difference between a leather jacket and red clothing associated with the Hells Angels and a 'nice button up shirt' with a subtle insignia bearing the club emblem."

 

Schonfeld asked one member in the audience to stand and show his black shirt with the club's emblem about the size of the palm of his hand above his left pocket.

 

"It's not offensive, per se," Schonfeld said. "They are not ashamed of being members of the Hells Angels motorcycle club. They don't want to appear they are hiding from it."

 

But the judge insisted. "I don't want people identified as one motorcycle club against another motorcycle club when in the courtroom," she said.

 

Schonfeld also pointed out in 2003 a federal judge allowed Hells Angels members in the courtroom to wear "full leather jackets with patches" at a trial involving a deadly brawl between the Hells Angels and rival Mongols."

 

I agree with Schonfeld and I think the judge is overreacting. What's the difference if members of the Hells Angels wear clothing that identifies themselves as members of the Hells Angels motorcycle gang? Especially in light of the fact that Hells Angels members have already agreed not to wear leather jackets and red clothing associated with the Hells Angels in court, and have instead said they will wear a simple "button-down black shirt with a Hells Angels insignia over the left pocket."

 

Sometimes judges overstep their bounds, and in my opinion, this is one of those cases. The judge should worry about mediating the murder trial and not what kind of attire the people in the court audience are wearing.

 

 

 

You can read the article below at:

 

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/he...

 

Hells Angels Biker in Nevada Court Over Shootout

 

By SCOTT SONNER Associated Press

RENO, Nev. December 2, 2011 (AP)

 

A California member of the Hells Angels pleaded not guilty Thursday to second-degree murder for his role in the death of his chapter president in a September shootout in a Nevada casino.

 

Cesar Villagrana of Gilroy also pleaded not guilty to shooting and wounding two members of the rival Vagos motorcycle gang in the melee.

 

Villagrana is not suspected of shooting his longtime friend and San Jose chapter leader Jeffrey "Jethro" Pettigrew. However. authorities said he was charged with murder because he was a principal participant in the brawl the led to the death in Sparks on Sept. 23.

 

Washoe District Judge Connie Steinheimer set a tentative Jan. 17 trial date for Villagrana, the same day Ernesto Gonzalez of San Francisco — a Vagos member indicted for murder — is due to stand trial.

 

Authorities suspect Gonzalez fired the shots that killed Pettigrew

 

The judge, however, indicated the trial might not begin until the end of 2012.

 

Prosecutor Karl Hall expects suspect Gary Stuart Rudnick, who was arrested in Los Angeles in connection with Pettigrew's killing, to be returned to Reno and arraigned before Dec. 7.

 

Rudnick, vice president of the Vagos Los Angeles chapter, was indicted on a second-degree murder charge.

 

Rudnick, who goes by the nickname "Jabbers," is not accused of firing any shots, but police said he was to blame for starting the fight that turned the casino floor into a shooting gallery during a biker rally in Reno-Sparks.

 

Investigators later retrieved dozens of shell casings and bullets — one lodged in a slot machine, others in bar stools, a card table and a metal poker chip holder.

 

The two Vagos members shot that night survived. A third Vagos was shot near the casino the next morning and also survived. Police have no suspects in that shooting.

 

Villagrana's defense attorney Richard Schonfeld said after Thursday's arraignment that he intends to seek a separate trial for his client. He also plans to file motions challenging unspecified actions by the grand jury.

 

In court, Schonfeld objected when the judge said she intended to ban colors, patches, emblems or insignias showing gang affiliation in her courtroom during the trial.

 

The Hells Angels are a motorcycle club, not a gang, and should be referred to that way, Schonfeld said.

 

Schonfeld said there's a difference between a leather jacket and red clothing associated with the Hells Angels and a "'nice button up shirt" with a subtle insignia bearing the club emblem. He asked one member in the audience to stand and display his black shirt with the club's emblem about the size of the palm of his hand above his left pocket.

 

"It's not offensive, per se," Schonfeld said. "They are not ashamed of being members of the Hells Angels motorcycle club. They don't want to appear they are hiding from it."

 

Schonfeld said a federal judge in Las Vegas allowed full leather jackets with patches at a trial involving a deadly brawl between the Hells Angels and rival Mongols at a 2002 motorcycle rally in Laughlin, a resort town about 100 miles southeast of Las Vegas.

 

"I don't want people identified as one motorcycle club against another motorcycle club when in the courtroom," the judge said.

 

 

Joe Bruno on the Mob – Ex-Son-in-Law Rats on Anthony Graziano

 

If VHI wants to run another show to complement "Mafia Wives" named "Rat Ex-Husbands of Mafia Wives," Hector "Junior" Pagan would undoubtedly be the star.

 

In a shocking development, Pagan, who was married to "Mafia Wives" co-star Renee Graziano, and was a constant presence on the show last season, has joined Team America, and the first person he ratted on was his ex-father-in-law, reputed Bonanno crime family capo Anthony Graziano.

 

According to published reports on Jerry Capeci's "Gangland" website (ganglandnews.com), Pagan was looking at big time in prison for the armed robbery of a high-stakes poker game. Instead of doing his time like a man, Pagan agreed to wear a wire while talking to Graziano, while Graziano was finishing up the last stage an eight-year prison bit in home detention. On this wire, Graziano allegedly instructed Pagan to collect $25,000 to smooth over a long-stand loansharking debt of $150,000.

 

Since "Mafia Wives" is advertised as a "Reality Show," the news of her rat ex-brother-in-law didn't seem to faze the show's creator Jennifer Graziano, who is, amazingly enough, another daughter of Anthony Graziano. Ms. Graziano said, "It is a reality show, and I knew this was going to be personal to me going into this. But I didn't know this was going to happen. We're making a reality show, and this is the reality of what's going on."

 

It sure is.

 

Since the show started last season, Anthony Graziano, because he didn't like them airing out their dirty laundry in public, has refused to talk to either of his daughters. In light of recent developments, it's a safe bet Anthony Graziano now wishes he hadn't talked to his ex-son-in-law either.

 

 

 

 

 

You can see the article below at:

 

http://www.nypost.com/p/entertainment...

 

 

 

Hubby a snitch

'Mob Wives' goes from reality to real with arrests

 

By MICHAEL STARR

 

Last Updated: 7:00 PM, December 2, 2011

 

Posted: 11:54 PM, December 1, 2011

More Print

 

The "Mob Wives" yesterday found out that one of the cast members has been wearing a wire for the FBI.

 

Not as a reality TV stunt. For real.

 

The ex-husband of "Wives" star Renee Graziano, Hector "Junior" Pagan, who was seen regularly on the hit reality series last year and was set to play a prominent role in the upcoming season, was reportedly flipped by the feds last summer.

 

And his first victim was no less than Bonanno crime family capo Anthony Graziano — the father of Renee and show creator Jennifer Graziano.

 

But yesterday the cast and crew learned from a report in the online mob newsletter ganglandnews.com that Pagan had been secretly taping conversations with the elder Graziano for the government.

 

It was a jolt of real-life drama for the show that has relied heavily on mob stereotypes and hair-pulling brawls.

 

"The first inclination is always to say, 'Shut it down,' " a shaken Jennifer told The Post of the show yesterday.

 

"It is a reality show, and I knew this was going to be personal to me going into this," she said. "But I didn't know this was going to happen."

 

According to reports, Pagan — who was looking at a long prison term for armed robbery for his role in allegedly sticking up a high-stakes poker game — agreed to wear a wire and record conversations with his ex-father-in-law.

 

The tape reportedly caught the elder Graziano instructing Pagan to collect a $150,000 loanshark debt from an unidentified man.

 

Graziano, 71, recently finished a substantial prison sentence when he was arrested at home last week.

 

Pagan — father of Renee's 17-year-old son AJ, who also appears on the show — appeared in several episodes of the VH1 show last season and was slated to be a bigger character this season, Jennifer said.

 

In the first episode of the new season, set to begin Jan. 1, Pagan is shown pacing outside the federal courthouse in downtown Brooklyn, telling Renee via cellphone that he had been offered a deal by prosecutors on an earlier arrest.

 

The show has completed shooting seven of a scheduled 12 episodes and will incorporate yesterday's real-life drama into its storyline, Jennifer said.

 

"We're making a reality show, and this is the reality of what's going on," she said.

 

How is Renee reacting to the news?

 

"Renee is an open book and lets people into her life because she wants people to understand what she's going through," Jennifer replied.

 

The sisters claimed last year that their father had cut off all contact with them because he did not approve of the TV show.

 

Jennifer said her father is now "taking it as it comes."

 

As for learning that his ex-son-in-law helped put him in jail again, "I'm sure he's not thrilled," she said.

 

"He spoke to my mother and he just said he wished he could have had Thanksgiving with his family. He's [locked up] and he's going to deal with it."

/tv/hubby_snitch_e3t2UWrwv9nNiYsY0J7hgM#ixzz1fmZEem1p

 

Joe Bruno on the Mob – British Police Accused of Corruption

 

Well I guess the police departments of New York and Chicago don't have a monopoly on police corruption.

 

Former British army intelligence officer Ian Hurst made allegations at the Leveson Inquiry that there is corruption in the Metropolitan Police Force "at the highest levels."

 

And that's not all.

 

Hurst also claimed that the police corruption goes hand in hand with the corruption of certain British journalists. The journalist that Hurst explicitly mentioned was Andy Coulson, former editor of The News of the World, who has been accused of having his reporters hack into the computer and phone files of prominent people, in addition to the files of newsworthy people. Unfortunately, Hurst was not able to give the exact details of these corruption charges at the Leveson Inquiry due to a "gagging" order from the courts.

 

Earlier this year, Hurst said in an interview with BBC's Panorama that one of his own computers was hacked into by Coulson's underlings. Hurst also said that in April 2009, following the arrest of an man who possessed hacked documents, it was proven that the security of Hurst's wife had been compromised.

 

Hurst said at the Leveson Inquiry, "Andy Coulson was the editor of the News of the World and he is (expletive) big pals with a lot of powerful people including police officers. It is there, it is at the highest level and out there with journalists today. There's copious amounts of knowledge that the police had (concerning the journalists). That is exactly what you are dealing with here ladies and gentlemen – corruption."

 

Hurst added in court that it's time for the Metropolitan police to come clean. He said the Metropolitan police, "Has let society down, and they should be making a full disclosure."

 

What's baffling is why, when Hurst obviously has the goods on some people, police and journalists included, he is not allowed to divulge the exact details at the Leveson Inquiry. I don't know how the court system works in Great Britain, but in America when someone appears in court to give evidence, they are compelled to tell all they know. I don't understand how this "gagging order" comes into play, and why it was instituted concerning Hurst in the first place.

 

In America, when we appear in court to give testimony, or appear before an investigating committee, we promise "to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth."

 

I guess British law differs from American law in more ways than one.

Someone please enlighten me on this.

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can read the article below at:

 

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2011/...

 

Ian Hurst Describes 'Corruption At The Highest Levels' Of Metropolitan Police At Leveson

 

Former British army intelligence officer Ian Hurst has made strong allegations against the Metropolitan Police, claiming there is "corruption at the highest levels".

 

Giving evidence at the Leveson Inquiry on Monday he said the MPS should provide the probe into press ethics "with all intelligence of police corruption including that at very highest level.

 

"It is there, it is at the highest level and out there with journalists today," he said.

 

The remarkable claims came following a tense session at the London court, in which Hurst was unable to reveal full details of his evidence due to a "gagging" order.

 

Hurst previously worked in Northern Ireland where he was one of the British army's contacts for IRA spies.

 

Earlier this year he gave an interview to BBC's Panorama into computer hacking and he told the programme he believed one of his computers was hacked by the News of the World.

 

Hurst says that in April 2009 following the arrest of an unnamed man documents showed that the security of his wife had been compromised.

 

"There's copious amount of knowledge that the police had," Hurst claimed at the inquiry.

 

He added that the Met "has let society down they should be making a full disclosure".

 

He also read out a statement that was made during the filming of a Panorama programme into computer hacking.

 

"Andy Coulson was the editor [of the News of the World] and he is f*****g big pals with a lot of powerful people including police officers."

 

He then added: "That is exactly what you are dealing with here ladies and gentlemen – corruption."