Joseph Bruno's Blog, page 76

Joe Bruno on the Mob – Bulgarian Killer Captured in Portugal

You can call this guy the "Almost Whitey Bulger" of Bulgaria. (Sort of rolls off the tongue, doesn't it?)

It seems that Plamen Dishkov, a Bulgarian mobster who was tried and sentenced in absentia to 20 years in the slammer for a murder he committed in 2002, has been arrested in Portugal, after 10 years on the lam in Europe (Whitey hid from the government for 16 years, before he and his girlfriend Catherine Grieg were arrested in Santa Monica, California, earlier this year.)

Kela, as he is known in the Bulgarian "hood," disappeared a day after the murder of Dimitar Stamatov, known as "Mastera," who was whacked in front his hotel in the Bulgarian city of Burgas.

Kela must have a father who either loves him or hates him severely. While Kila was in the wind, his father, Kolyo Dishkov, blew up Kela's luxury three-story sea-side house – himself! Either pop was hiding evidence that implicated Kela in other crimes, or he hated his son's guts so much, he made Kela's house go KABOOM.

There is no confirmation as to whether Kela's father has visitation rights, while his son's spends the next 20 years in a Bulgarian prison.

The article below appeared at:

http://www.novinite.com/

Emblematic Bulgarian Mafia Killer Captured in Portugal

August 26, 2011

Plamen Dishkov aka Kela, a Bulgarian mobster sentenced for a gangland murder committed in 2002 has been arrested in Portugal after 10 years in international hiding.

Diskov, more widely known as Kela, was arrested Thursday in Cascais, Portugal, based on a European arrest warrant, the Bulgarian Interior Ministry announced. He is now to be transferred to the Bulgarian authorities.

34-year-old Kela (born in Burgas in 1976) disappeared on November 22, 2002, a day after the murder of Dimitar Stamatov aka Mastera, a businessman dealing with meat production who was gunned down in front his hotel under construction in the Bulgarian Black Sea city of Burgas.

In 2007, the Burgas Appellate Court sentenced Plamen Dishkov in absentia to 20 years in jail for ordering and acting as an accomplice in the murder of Dimitar Stamatov, after it was proven that Kela committed the murder together with two other men.

Before that, in 2004, Kela was acquitted on charges of organizing the murder by the Burgas Regional Court, which said that there was not enough evidence linking him to the crime.

Kela, a well-known brutal young mobster who was known as the representative of the Bulgarian criminal empire SIC along Bulgaria's southern Black Sea coast in the mid and late 1990s, was revealed to have received USD 10 000 for carrying out Stamatov's murder.

The murder itself was directly committed by Boyko Stoyanov, who also received a 20-year sentence in 2007; the third man, Todor Nedelchev, was sentenced to 16 years in jail as an accomplice.

Long before Kela's sentence was announced, however, just days after Stamatov's murder, he fled by plane to Poland. Since then Kela is rumored to have been hiding in Germany, France, the USA, and Cyprus.

Kela has been wanted by Interpol since December 12, 2002, and with an European arrest warrant since July 18, 2008.

Dishkov's career is emblematic for many of the medium-level mobsters in Bulgaria in the 1990s, which was marked by the war for control of the country between two criminal empires – VIS (later VIS-2) and SIC.

Kela is a graduate of the Burgas Sports High School specializing in boxing. His qualities are said to have led to his quick growth in the underground in Burgas, and he quickly got very rich in the late 1990s, moving subsequently to legalize his riches through fuel trade, real estate business, bars, and trade with agricultural products.

Back in January 2001, two SIC lower-ranking SIC mobsters were killed in Burgas in an bomb attack in a Burgas bar that was believed to have been targeting Kela, who was only lightly wounded, and was reported to have been hidden by family members and the local police to keep him alive.

The attack against Kela is believed to have organized by rival mafia boss Dimitar Zhelyazkov, aka Mityo Ochite ("The Eyes") (who is currently imprisoned on organized crime charges), in response to an earlier attack Kela staged against Zhelyazkov killing his ex wife and her brother.

In April 2011, Kela made headlines in absentia when his father Kolyo Dishkov demolished himself Kela's luxury three-storey sea view villa, which was proven to have been built illegally for at least EUR 100 000.

Source: novinite.com

Joe Bruno on the Mob – "Rat Thy Neighbor" Goes Mainstream

When I first read the article in the Wall Street Journal, that is referenced in the article below, I couldn't believe what I was reading.

The IRS has created a whole new cottage industry based on the ability and willingness to rat out your neighbor. They call it the "IRS' Whistleblower Program." If you provide the IRS with information that shows you neighbor has been cheating on his taxes, or is not reporting all his income, you will get a 10-30% finders fee, based on the money the IRS recovers from your "neighbor." And apparently, over 10,000 people (rats) have done just that.

Growing up in the streets of New York City, being a "rat" was one of the worst things you could possibly be. Child molesters, and rapists were lower than rats, but that's about it (There might be more, but right now I can't think of any).

Now the IRS is making it fashionable, and even profitable, to blow the whistle on your buddy.

Makes me sick to even think about it.

The link to the article below is:

http://www.mahanyertl.com/mahanyertl/...

"Rat Thy Neighbor" Goes Mainstream

by Brian Mahany

The headline on the front page of the Weekend Investor section of today's Wall Street Journal reads "Should You Blow the Whistle on Your Neighbor?" And apparently over 10,000 people have done just that according to the IRS.

Turning in tax cheats in the hopes of getting a cash reward is nothing new. The present program can trace its roots back to 1867, a time that long predates the income tax. Although the program has been around for decades, it was pretty dormant until Congress in2006 increased the amount of payouts that can be received by claimants – up to 30% of the amount of unreported tax that is ultimately collected.

The IRS' whistleblower program, recently adopted in concept by the SEC, has spawned a new cottage industry. People looking to cash in on those that try to cheat Uncle Sam. While deliberate tax cheats are not well liked – after all, most of us pay our fair share of taxes and hate to think that others are not – many whistleblower cases involve simply different interpretations of tax law or honest mistakes.

As a criminal tax attorney, I have yet to cross examine and IRS agent yet who can claim to have read the entire Internal Revenue Code. If the people paid to enforce the tax laws haven't even read it, how can we possibly be held to a high standard of knowing every section and every regulation? The regulations alone are numbered in the tens of thousands of pages.

The current program encourages people to turn in their boss or neighbor. In my experience, disgruntled employees, jilted lovers and competitors have all jumped on the band wagon. Anyone looking to make a buck or with an axe to grind stands to gain if their information is accurate and the IRS likes the case.

What does this mean for businesses and individuals? Make sure your financial house is in order. It probably pays to have professional help with your tax planning too. Lawyers and CPA's have ethical rules that generally prevent them from throwing their clients under the bus. That means they can't collect a reward for turning in their clients. Financial planners and "mom & pop" tax preparers are generally not bound by the same stringent ethical rules.

If you have an unreported offshore account, have a welfare benefit plan that is on shaky ground or simply have two sets of books, it might be better to come forward with a voluntary disclosure than wait to get caught. With so many potential whistleblowers out there, it's probably a good time to come clean.

Voluntary compliance almost always avoids criminal prosecution and can be the basis for a reduction of penalties. Waiting until you are caught makes the case more difficult to defend.

If you have a tax problem and don't know how to come into compliance, call us. All calls are confidential. We have helped people across the U.S. and the world resolve their tax compliance problems, quietly and effectively. For more information, contact attorney Brian Mahany at (414) 704-6731 (direct) or by email at brian@mahanyertl.com.

Joe Bruno on the Mob – Cop Killer May Not Be Eligible for Death Penalty

Whether you agree with the death penalty or not (I do in most cases), the situation in the article below can make a terrible precedent for a killer to scam the government into not hitting him with a lethal injection.

Cop killer Ronell Wilson was found guilty of murdering undercover NYPD Detectives Rodney Andrews and James Nemorin during a gun buy-and-bust. As is the law in NY State, killing a cop is one of the few instances when the death penalty can be applied. Wilson faces re-sentencing in Brooklyn Federal Court after the U.S. Court of Appeals tossed out his death sentence last summer due to prosecutorial error, which mean the prosecutors somehow screwed up during the sentencing phase of the trail.

Now, given a second bite of the apple, Wilson's lawyers are saying Wilson is ineligible for the death sentence because he is "mentally retarded." The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2002 that it is unconstitutional to execute the mentally retarded, which is generally defined as a person with an IQ below 70.

The way I see it is this: The two cops are just as dead, no matter who did the killing. And their families receive no comfort in knowing that the man who killed their kin, may or may not have been mentally retarded.

But the main issue is this: How are we going to be sure that Wilson is retarded, or is just pulling a dumb act? Chin Gigante played this same insane card for years, before he was finally exposed as a faker.

What else is problematic, is if the IQ test is accurate? Suppose one expert gives Wilson an IQ of 69, and another gives him an IQ of 70, or higher. What happens then? This is not an exact science. Mistakes can be made and two honorable people can disagree as to the question of Wilson being retarded.

Life sentence for Wilson? Or a lethal injection?

I'm not smart enough to know the answer. But I'm pretty sure I know how the families of the dead cops feel.

The article below appeared in the NY Daily News.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_cr...

Ronell Wilson lawyers say cop killer likely mentally challenged, ineligible for death penalty

BY John Marzulli

DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Thursday, September 1st 2011, 6:08 PM

Lawyers for cop killer Ronell Wilson said Thursday "there's a good chance" he's mentally retarded, making him ineligible for the death penalty if experts agree.

Wilson faces re-sentencing in Brooklyn Federal Court after the U.S. Court of Appeals tossed out his death sentence last summer due to prosecutorial error.

He was convicted of murdering undercover NYPD Detectives Rodney Andrews and James Nemorin in cold blood during a gun buy-and-bust.

Wilson's lawyers in the 2007 trial suggested he was borderline retarded – an older brother nicknamed him "Spesh" for special education.

His new legal team argued that there have been at least four death penalty cases involving mentally retarded murderers in the past year which have more clearly defined how this defense strategy should be carried out.

"We need time to investigate this," lawyer David Stern said.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2002 that it is unconstitutional to execute the mentally retarded, which is generally defined as a person with an IQ below 70.

Federal Judge Nicholas Garaufis declined to postpone the March 2012 date for a penalty phase in which a new jury will be selected to decide whether Wilson should die by lethal injection or get life in prison.

The judge acknowledged the government will want Wilson to undergo a mental evaluation by its own expert as well which will certainly delay the proceedings for months.

"I appreciate your desire to leave no stone unturned in your defense of Mr. Wilson …but I'm not going to delay the trial a minute longer than I have to consistent with the defendant's constitutional rights," Garaufis said.

Detectives Endowment Association president Michael Palladino denounced the defense tactic.

"I think it's a charade to further delay the trial," Palladino said.

"And I think it's an insult to those individuals who God did not bless with an intellect," he added.

Joe Bruno on the Mob – Firefighter Reputed member of Bonnano Crime Family

Who is doing the screening for potential New York City Firemen? Mr. Magoo??

It seems that NY City fireman Anthony Cilento was an associate of the Bonnano Crime Family before he was made a fireman. To make matters worse, Cilento, who was assigned to Ladder 166 in Coney Island, was arrested last week by the Feds for being, "a former coke-snorting tough guy who acted as 'the muscle' for a crew that delivered drugs the way Domino's delivers pizza."

Cilento, whose nickname for some reason is "December," has also been accused of being a member of Bonnano Crime Family made man Anthony (Little Anthony) Seccafico's crew. Seccafico was gunned down at a Staten Island bus stop in 2009, in what appeared to be a mob hit.

The people of New York City expect their policemen and firemen to be above reproach, and they assume that the proper screening is done before someone is given the hat and the uniform of the New York's Bravest and New York's Finest. How Cilento, who is an obvious violent, drug-dealing bad guy, got through the cracks is mind-boggling.

A Federal monitor is expect to be appointed soon to figure out what happened in the Cilento case. It looks like when they special monitor gets his teeth into this situation, heads will roll at The NYFD.

And well they should.

The article below appeared in the New York Daily News/

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_cr...

Busted firefighter Anthony Cilento is reputed associate of the Bonanno crime family, sources say

BY John Marzulli

DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Thursday, September 1st 2011, 4:00 AM

A Brooklyn firefighter arrested by the feds for drug trafficking is also a reputed associate of the Bonanno crime family, sources told the Daily News.

Anthony Cilento managed to hide his underworld ties from FDNY screeners who cleared him to enter the Fire Academy, the sources said. He was fingered by the feds last week as a former coke-snorting tough guy who acted as "the muscle" for a crew that delivered drugs the way Domino's delivers pizza.

But news of his ties to a Bonanno wiseguy who was slain on July 2, 2009, was not revealed.

Until now.

Assigned to Ladder 166 in Coney Island, Cilento was a member of Anthony (Little Anthony) Seccafico's crew, sources said.

Seccafico was gunned down at a Staten Island bus stop in what appeared to be a mob hit. A "made member" of the Mafia cannot be killed without permission of the Bonanno hierarchy.

Sources said neither Seccafico nor his murder appear to be linked to the cocaine delivery service. No one has been charged in the gangland hit, but it remains under active investigation, sources said. Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicole Argentieri revealed at Cilento's bail hearing that the firefighter had a "very close relationship" with Seccafico.

The 27-year-old Cilento, whose nickname is December, was deeply involved in all aspects of the drug trafficking from 2002 to 2009 – and would rough up fellow members of the drug crew who stole cocaine, the feds said.

"He's a very violent individual," Argentieri told Magistrate Cheryl Pollak, according to a transcript of the hearing.

After joining the FDNY, Cilento allegedly visited a former co-conspirator in jail and urged him to keep his mouth shut and do the right thing, which the co-conspirator took as a threat, Argentieri said. Despite Cilento's apparent desire to put his criminal life behind him, his past caught up when three snitches ratted him out to the FBI.

In a financial affidavit filed in Brooklyn Federal Court, Cilento claimed he netted $2,000-a-month from the FDNY, had $12,000 in credit card debt and moonlighted at Court St. Bagels in Cobble Hill.

The feds also have charged retired NYPD cop John Avvento as being a co-conspirator of the drug crew. Avvento's lawyer, Arthur Aidala, told The News that his client does not know the firefighter.

The revelation that Cilento got past FDNY screeners comes as a federal judge is likely to appoint a special monitor for the department.

A black firefighters group, the Vulcan Society, has argued that, among other complaints, black candidates face tougher screenings than whites. Cilento is white.

jmarzulli@nydailynews.com

Joe Bruno on the Mob – Brother of Monterrey Mayor Allegedly Took Payoffs From Drug Cartels

This is a follow-up to yesterday's blog about the horrible fire set by the Mexican drug gangs in Monterrey, Mexico, at the Casino Royale gambling casino, which killed 52 people.

It now seems that the brother of the mayor of Monterrey has been receiving payoffs from the Mexican drug gangs prior to the fire. Gov. Rodrigo Medina said video footage appears to indicate "complicity and corruption," of images from surveillance cameras at at least three Monterrey casinos in which Manuel Jonas Larrazabal, brother of Mayor Fernando Larrazabal, is seen receiving stacks of bills." Manuel Jonas Larrazabal's lawyer said the money his client received was for cheese that he sold to the casino.

Yeah right.

Mayor Larrazabal, of course, is very upset that his brother was seem taking the money (I wonder if the Mayor got his cut) and has said that "no friend or family member" has anything to do with his leadership of Monterrey."

Yeah right, again.

In addition, Nuevo Leon state police officer Miguel Angel Barraza Escamilla has been arrested as one of the six men who were responsible for actually setting the fire at the Casino Royale. Barraza is alleged to have been an occupant of one of the vehicles that stopped and waited in front of the Casino Royale while it was being attacked.

So what we have here is one of the most corrupt countries in the world, both political and police corruption, as our neighbor to the south, practically begging us to take in their citizens so that they can live a better life.

I say, nuts to that.

If you think this is an isolated incident indicative of Mexico's inbred corruption, you haven't been following the news the past 20-something years.

And this problem, through illegal immigration, can travel to our country real fast, if we don't do something to more thoroughly secure our boarders.

You can bet on that.

The article below can be view at:

http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/life...

Mexican mayor's brother suspected of taking bribes from casinos

Published September 01, 2011

Monterrey – The brother of the mayor of this northern Mexican industrial city – where an arson attack at a gambling house last week killed dozens – will be investigated for allegedly receiving payoffs from casinos, the governor of Nuevo Leon state said.

Video footage appears to indicate "complicity and corruption," Gov. Rodrigo Medina said of images from surveillance cameras at at least three Monterrey casinos in which Manuel Jonas Larrazabal, brother of Mayor Fernando Larrazabal, is seen receiving stacks of bills.

One of the videos posted on the Reforma newspaper's Web site is dated Aug. 19, just six days before suspected members of the Los Zetas drug cartel set fire to the Casino Royale in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon's capital, and killed 52 people who were unable to escape the flames and smoke.

In remarks to the media, Monterrey's mayor distanced himself from his brother's activities and said if there is evidence that he accepted bribes he should be "brought to justice like any other person."

Fernando Larrazabal, who did not take any questions, said he will ask the Nuevo Leon Attorney General's Office to investigate his brother and added that his sibling will have to clarify any doubts authorities have.

The mayor stressed that his position is "extremely personal" and that "no friend or family member" has anything to do with his leadership of Monterrey.

Larrazabal said that upon taking office he pledged to obey and enforce the law and has since taken decisive action against illegal establishments, including casinos operating outside the law.

For his part, Gov. Medina said an investigation will be conducted "to the end … no matter who falls," especially considering the "tragic events in which 52 people died."

Authorities must provide clarity and transparency in the wake of the attack on the Casino Royale, according to Medina, who said Mayor Larrazabal should offer an explanation to citizens and indicate if he plans to resign.

A group of criminals set fire to Casino Royale on Aug. 25 in broad daylight. Five suspected Los Zetas members subsequently arrested in the attack told investigators they did not plan to kill anyone and only wanted to intimidate the establishment's owners into paying extortion money.

The suspects told investigators they were scolded by their bosses for killing so many people at the casino, which was the target of an extortion racket common in several parts of Mexico, officials said.

Investigators have obtained videos showing the suspects filling containers at a service station with the gasoline they later used to torch the casino, as well as other images from security cameras that show the suspects' vehicles arriving at Casino Royale, Nuevo Leon Attorney General Adrian Emilio de la Garza said Tuesday.

Since the massacre, authorities have shut down several casinos in various states that were found to be operating outside the law – some protected by controversial court rulings – and lacked basic safety measures.

Owners of some Nuevo Leon casinos have complained that they are extorted by organized crime elements and also by the authorities, who threaten to shutter their establishments if payments are not made.

Several casinos in Monterrey have been attacked by criminals in recent months.

Home to many of Mexico's industrial giants, Monterrey long seemed immune to the drug war that has claimed more than 40,000 lives nationwide since December 2006, when newly inaugurated President Felipe Calderon militarized the struggle with the cartels.

But the metropolis and its suburbs have been battered by a wave of drug-related violence since March

2010.

http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/ame...

Police officer arrested in deadly casino fire investigation

By the CNN Wire Staff

September 2, 2011 — Updated 1313 GMT (2113 HKT)

Thick smoke billows from the Casino Royale as firefighters attack the fire, in Monterrey, Mexico on August 25.

Mexico City (CNN) — A Mexican state police officer has been arrested in connection with the drug cartel casino fire that killed 52 people in the northern industrial town of Monterrey last week, federal officials said Thursday night.

The announcement of the arrest of Nuevo Leon state police officer Miguel Angel Barraza Escamilla brings to the forefront the issue of police corruption. Police corruption is one of the biggest obstacles the country faces in its fight against the cartels. It is not uncommon for local and state police departments to occasionally purge officers believed to be working with drug cartels.

Barraza is alleged to have been an occupant of one of the vehicles that stopped and waited in front of the Casino Royale while it was being attacked, said Jose Cuitlahuac Salinas of the federal prosecutor's office.

Surveillance video footage of the entrance to the casino shows a gray Nissan Xterra that comes to a stop in a center lane and waits for 19 seconds before taking off, Cuitlahuac said.

Authorities had arrested five suspects already, and they said the appearance of the Xterra and other vehicles led them to believe that others were involved.

Investigators identified Barraza as one of the occupants of the vehicle, Cuitlahuac said. He was arrested Thursday and was taken before federal investigators for interrogation.

The five suspects arrested earlier were identified as members of the Zetas drug cartel. The men told investigators they carried out the attack because the owners of the casino had not complied with their extortion demands.

The fire they set inside the casino spread quickly, leading to one of the deadliest cartel attacks since the start of Mexico's offensive against the cartels.

In a separate action Thursday, state authorities detained the brother of Monterrey's mayor for 30 days while they investigate a video obtained by a newspaper that shows him accepting money from the owners of another casino.

The video stirred controversy in Monterrey in light of the casino fire, but the mayor's brother, Manuel Jonas Larrazabal, has said that the payments were not acts of corruption. The money was for cheese and other products that he had sold to the casino, his attorney said.

Joe Bruno on the Mob — Mexican Mobsters Casino Attack Kills 53 People.

One thing for sure, the Mexican mobsters are a thousand times more vicious than the Italian Mafia, especially the Italian Mafia in America.

In an attack of arson allegedly committed by Mexican drug dealers, 53 people were killed at the Casino Royale in the Mexican city of Monterrey. According to the article below, "Casinos in Monterrey have recently been targeted because some owners have refused to pay protection money demanded by criminal gangs linked to the country's booming drugs trade."

Casinos hold hundreds, and sometimes thousands of people at one time. A fire can cause tremendous loss of life.

Apparently, six men in two vehicles arrived at the Casino Royale. Once screamed out, "Everyone hit the floor." Then a huge explosion immediately followed. Most of the victims died because of smoke inhalation.

One rule in the Italian Mafia, which is almost always adhered to, is "We only kill our own. No innocent people."

Once in a while a hit is screwed up and an innocent person gets whacked. But you can count those instances on two hands. Maybe even one hand.

But to cause the death of 53 people because of a refused protection money payoff, smacks of barbarianism.

And please, when will these publications stop calling every nationality's crime family "The Mafia?"

The Mafia originated in Sicily, and has branches in the United States. You have to be Italian to be a member of the Mafia. Mexican gangsters are not members of the Mafia, nor do they have any connections to the Mafia. I wonder if these heathens can even spell "Mafia."

And if this isn't the time to seal our boarders to illegal Mexican immigrants (I said "ILLEGAL" Mexican immigrants!!), I don't know if there ever will be a time. What's to stop these Mexican maniacs from crossing the boarder and pulling the same stunts in Las Vegas casinos, filled with Americans.

Pay or Boom!!

Nothing I can think of.

The article below appeared on:

omantribune.com

Mexico casino attack kills 53, mafia hand suspected

August 27, 2011

An arson attack on a casino in the northern Mexican industrial city of Monterrey sparked a massive fire and killed at least 53 people, the governor of the state of Nuevo Leon said late on Thursday.

Governor Rodrigo Medina announced the grim toll in an interview with the Televisa network, adding that the vast establishment, the Casino Royale, had been set ablaze using some kind of flammable liquid "like gasoline."

President Felipe Calderon condemned the attack, calling it an "abhorrent and barbaric act of terror" in a message on Twitter and expressing his solidarity with the people of Nuevo Leon, of which Monterrey is the capital.

Casinos in Monterrey have recently been targeted because some owners have refused to pay protection money demanded by criminal gangs linked to the country's booming drugs trade, local media have reported.

Medina said the attack was carried out by six men who arrived at the casino in two vehicles around 4pm on Thursday.

Some men entered the casino "and screamed out 'everyone hit the floor,'" a witness who spoke on condition of anonymity told Mexican media.

"I don't know if there was a weapon that makes such a noise, but an impressive explosion followed — I never want to go through something like that again," said the witness, who fled to the rooftop with a friend to escape the flames.

The state head of civil protection, Jorge Camacho, said that the death toll was so high because many people hid in bathrooms and offices when they heard the explosions instead of heading to the emergency exits, and were trapped by the flames. Most of the victims had died of smoke inhalation, he said.

It took firefighters four hours to control the flames, and Medina warned that more bodies could be found inside the casino.

Calderon ordered interior minister Francisco Blake to Monterrey to head the government probe into the attack. Only a few years ago, Monterrey had been seen as one of Mexico's safest cities.

But Nuevo Leon state and its capital, which is home to four million people, have seen an increasing amount of drug-related violence, with more than 70 people killed in Monterrey last month alone.

Nearly 850 people were killed in the state in the first half of the year, compared to 278 murder victims for all of 2010, according to a tally by the national newspaper Reforma.

More than 41,000 people have died in violence linked to Mexico's organised crime gangs since Calderon launched a military crackdown in December 2006.

Source: omantribune.com

Joe Bruno on the Mob – Charges Dropped on Knife Fight Between Pizza Chef and Reputed Gangster

This is the way things were always solved in the old neighborhood, and the police would have never been called in the first place.

It was alleged that Brooklyn pizzeria owner Marc Iacono and reputed gangster Batista "Benny" Geritano got into a knife fight in front of Joe's Superette, a deli in the Carol Gardens section of Brooklyn. Both men were badly injured. Geritano was brought to the hospital by his girlfriend. Iacono was taken by ambulance to a different hospital. The police, after putting two and two together, arrested both men.

The only problem was, both men, true to the code of the streets, didn't rat out the other man as the one who knifed him. So with no witnesses, and no cooperation from either stabbee (I just made that word up), the police had no alternative but to drop the case completely.

Like I said up top, this is the way things were always handed in the old neighborhood (in New York City's Little Italy).

Three words I never heard uttered there were, "Call the Police."

Could never happen.

The article below appeared in the New York Times.

http://www.nytimes.com/

All Charges Are Dropped in an Attack in Brooklyn

June 22, 2011

The scene, on a Friday afternoon in April, seemed a chaotic clash of old and new Brooklyn: A celebrated pizza chef and a mob henchman, acquaintances from the neighborhood, were slashing each other on Smith Street.

The fight occurred outside a weathered institution, Joe's Superette, a deli in Carroll Gardens well known for its deep fried prosciutto balls. It was just a few blocks from Lucali, over on Henry Street, where the pizza chef, Mark Iacono, 44, tended to the thin-crust pies he made in his wood-burning oven, which have drawn rave reviews, along with A-list celebrities, since 2006.

But Mr. Iacono, who suffered significant blood loss, was not the only victim. The police said the other man in the fight, Batista Geritano, known as Benny, was a victim as well, and eventually the police charged both men with attempted murder and other crimes.

Both, however, declined to testify against the other, fearing self-incrimination. Neither blinked, and so each walked away happy on Tuesday, when the Brooklyn district attorney dismissed all charges.

"At the end of the day, we did not have a case to take to the grand jury," said Jerry Schmetterer, a spokesman for the Brooklyn district attorney's office.

According to the police, Mr. Iacono and Mr. Geritano, who is described by a law enforcement official as a Genovese family associate with several convictions for weapons possession and jumping bail, became involved in a furious argument inside Joe's Superette. The dispute spilled onto the street, the police said.

Mr. Geritano's girlfriend pulled up, the police said, and drove him to the hospital, where he was treated for slash wounds. Officers arrived at the hospital to arrest him.

Mr. Iacono, meanwhile, was taken to Lutheran Medical Center by ambulance. Three days later, he also was charged.

The police tried to figure out how the fight began. Speculation included a romantic dispute, money issues and an attempt by Mr. Geritano to force Mr. Iacono to cooperate with the mob.

Since it was not clear just who was the victim and who the attacker, prosecutors would not grant immunity to either man were he to testify before a grand jury. The risk of self-incrimination was apparently too high, and without the cooperation of at least one of the men, the case could not go forward.

"We have been insisting that Mr. Geritano was the victim in this situation, having suffered the first blow in this melee between the two men, a stab wound to his back," his lawyer, Steven R. Kartagener, said. "We are quite pleased that justice was done in the charges being dismissed against Mr. Geritano."

Mr. Iacono's lawyer, James Frocarro, said Mr. Iacono was "very happy with the result."

Mr. Iacono, whose brother Chris is also a pizzaiolo and recently opened a restaurant in South Park Slope, spent two years building Lucali, creating it out of what was once his favorite neighborhood candy store, Louie's. His artisanal pies draw the foodies and the famous to the modest brick restaurant with the farm tables inside.

Lucali was briefly closed after the fight, but Mr. Iacono eventually returned to work. "He is fine," Mr. Frocarro said.

Mr. Geritano, 38, is under house arrest, facing federal charges that he violated the conditions of his release from an earlier prison sentence.

The longtime owner of Joe's Superette, Leo Caladonato, died in May, and the deli, along with its deep fried prosciutto balls, are now gone.

Source: nytimes.com

Joe Bruno on the Mob – James Farley — "King of the Strikebreakers"

He started out as a simple alter boy in upstate New York, but during his fast and furious life, James Farley became known as "The King of the Strikebreakers."

James Farley was born in 1874, in the sleepy town of Malone, New York, just miles from the Canadian boarder. Although he became an alter boy in a Malone Catholic Church, Farley was a rough and tumble kid, always looking for trouble and mostly finding it.

When he was 15 years old, Farley ran away from home and headed south in New York State. In 1889, Farley took a job with Frank Robinson's circus. The circus ran its course in Middletown, New York, so Farley traveled to nearby Monticello, when he found employment at the Madison House. There he worked as a poolroom attendant, a clerk, and then a bartender. His bosses liked Farley's intelligence and toughness, and soon he was made the manager of the Madison House.

One day, Farley needed some dental worked done. While he was sitting in the dentist chair, Farley accidentally swallowed a huge lump of cocaine, which was then used as a painkiller. Farley completely freaked out, and instead of getting his dental work completed, he bolted from the dentist chair, ran madly out of the dentist's office, and disappeared into the nearby woods. For weeks, Farley lived like an animal in the woods, while the local police sent out a search party looking for him.

The effects of the cocaine overdose having finally wore off, and Farley knowing his managerial position at the Madison House was toast, headed further south, until he reached Brooklyn, New York. Farley's first job in Brooklyn was as a rail guard for the Revenue Service, but soon Farley transferred to the the Brooklyn City Railroad Company, where he toiled in the power house, mostly shoveled coal.

In 1895, the relationships between the railroad workers union (District Assembly No. 75 Knights of Labor) and the Brooklyn City Railroad Company, had frazzled to the point where a strike was inevitable. There had been a collective bargaining agreement in place since 1886, which was renewed yearly. However, this time the owners insisted on bringing in non-union workers, who would work cheaper. The union would have none of that. So the owners employed "strikebreakers" to convince the workers, mostly by force, that the owner's way was the right thing to do.

Farley, for some reason, abandoned his union, and started fighting for his bosses. During the riots between the union workers and the strikebreakers, according to various accounts, Farley was shot at, stabbed, hit with bricks, clubs, and baseball bats. And he had the scars to prove it. In the end, the owners won the battle, and the union was marginalized.

One local newspapers reported on the Brooklyn City Railroad Company, "Strikebreakers came from all parts of the country and as a result the railroad companies were able entirely to reorganize their working staffs. When the strikers sought to interfere with operations, 7,500 State troops were sent into the city at the request of the mayor. Cars began operating under military protection on January 22. Two soldiers rode on each car. In one encounter, shots were exchanged among strikers, strikebreakers, and troops; one man was killed and a number wounded."

With the strikebreaking working in the owner's favor, they looked kindly on Farley for the work he had done on their behalf. As a reward for his loyal service, the Brooklyn City Railroad Company put Farley in charge of fifteen special officers. And this was how Farley's strikebreaking career began.

For the next seven years, Farley engaged in strikebreaking throughout the country, almost all of them having to do with the railroad industry. He hired men who were rough and tumble, and some of them carried guns, which they were not afraid to use. Farley paid them more than other agencies did for their strikebreaking activities, and this bought Farley a great bit of loyalty.

Farley himself set an imposing figure, with a Colt .38 revolver in a holster dangling on his right hip, like he was ready for a fight at the O.K. Corral. Farley smoked cigars like he was a chimney. Rumor had it that he smoked 50 cigars a day, usually fat maduro coronas from Havana, Cuba.

According to an article in the United Mine Workers Journal, Farley "Stood before his mercenaries, mostly tough lumpenproletarians from big city slums, 'with the air of a potentate', wearing a long Cassock overcoat. And the men looked up at him with gaping mouths."

In 1902, Farley, having already broken many strikes, opened his own detective agency, which was in direction opposition to the more famous Pinkerton Detective Agency for the strikebreaking jobs. However, the Pinkertons were more diversified, while Farley stuck strictly to strikebreaking.

In 1905, just after the construction of the IRT subway system in New York City, the workers went out on strike. The owner of the IRT was August Belmont, one of the richest men in America. Belmont hired Farley to do the strikebreaking, and Farley and his men immediately went to work.

While the tension intensified between Farley's men and the strikers, a reporter tried to interview one of the strikebreakers about Belmont's strategies in ending the strike. The strikebreaker barked at the reporter, "Who the hell is Belmont? Farley is running the show."

At the successful conclusion of Farley's work for Belmont, Farley was reportedly paid the kingly sum of $300,000.

Farley's biggest strikebreaking coup took place not in New York City, but more than 3000 miles away in San Francisco, California. Patrick Calhoun, an official of San Francisco's United Railroad, contacted Farley in New York and implored Farley to come out west to handle the insurgence of the streetcar Carmen's Union. On May 5, 1907, after their demands for an 8-hour work day and a salary of $3 a day was turned down by the San Francisco's United Railroad, the Carmen's Union went on strike.

On Tuesday morning May 7th, called "Bloody Tuesday," the strikebreakers and the strikers finally met face to face. A brigade of Farley's men were locked and loaded, and looking for trouble, as they stood inside six railway cars that had just pulled out of the Turk & Fillmore car barn. The six cars were immediately pelted by bricks and rocks thrown by the strikers. Rather than jump off the cars and engage in hand-to-hand combat, Farley's men opened fire into the crowd, estimated at 300 people.

An eyewitness said the strikers "had been shot down like dogs."

The police came in to squelch the riot, and were caught in the crossfire. When the dust cleared, three strikers had been shot dead and another dozen wounded. Two policemen were also shot, but they survived. As a result, the police arrested twelve of Farley's strikebreakers, and charged them with murder or attempt to commit murder.

Farley and the San Francisco's United Railroad turned out to be the big winners, when the following day, the union called off their strike and ordered their men back to work.

You would have thought, due to the rough, and sometimes deadly tactics Farley employed, he would have been portrayed in the press as somewhat of a thug and a gangster. However, that was not always the case. After the San Francisco railroad strike of 1907, the San Francisco Chronicle spoke of Farley in a soft tone as "a man who prefers hot blood to water as a beverage." Newspapers throughout the country took Farley's part, portraying him as a noble figure, protecting businesses against "communist agitators," and "foreign bomb throwing activists."

Farley himself hid behind the cloak of decency, when he claimed, that although he had broken up 50 straight strikes throughout America, in not one instance did he defend businesses that he considered to be in the wrong. Farley stated that, if after he examined the circumstances and determined that the worker were right in their actions, he would turn the strikebreaking job down flat.

However, Jack London, the most prominent journalist of that time, did not think so kindly of Farley. In London's novel The Iron Heel, London even mentioned Farley by name. London, a left-wing union sympathizer, wrote that Farley, "Was an example of a pernicious trend, men who were 'private soldiers' of the capitalist…thoroughly organized and well armed…held in readiness to be hurled in special trains to any part of the country where labor went on strike or was locked out by employers. Strikebreakers were an ominous sign of bad times ahead."

No matter which way you felt about Farley, one thing was true. He was paid millions by railroads companies, and irregardless of the brutal tactics Farley used, he did his job well.

However, Farley did not live long enough to enjoy all his money. Since his days in the circus, Farley had a fondness for horses. He invested huge sums of money in purchasing horses, both trotters and racers. He kept them in a huge farm he had bought in Plattsburgh, New York.

In 1913, Farley contracted a fatal case of tuberculosis. Farley knew he did not have long to live. Against his doctor's orders, Farley had a cot placed on the grass of the Yonkers Race Track so that he could watch his horses in competition.

Farley said, "My horses are all I have to live for now."

On September 11, 1913, a New York Times article said, "James Farley, the noted strike-breaker and horseman, died this morning at 12:10 am at his home in Plattsburgh, New York."

Farley was 39 years old at the time of his passing.

Joe Bruno on the Mob – Scot Mutilated Over Marijuana Debt

Damn, they must really take their drug dealing serious in Great Britain.

Poor Scotsman James Ross owned a debt of some 10,000 pounds to British drug dealer John Maclean. Maclean somehow lured Ross out of the UK to Portugal, ostensibly to work off his debt by toiling in MacLean's pot farm. But when Ross got to Maclean's property in the village of Alfontes, Portugal, instead of cultivating marijuana, he was tortured for 13 days.

Carlos Pereira found the terribly mutilated Ross walking aimlessly in the streets of Alfontes. Pereira told the local police, "He came staggering towards me, asking me to stop, waving his arms in the air. He had no left ear and was missing two fingers on his left hand, a toe from one foot and two from the other. He also had a leg wound."

All this because of a unpaid pot debt of 10,000 pounds.

Imagine what they would have done to Ross if Ross had owed Maclean 100,000 pounds instead. I don't think Ross would have had enough ears, toes, and fingers to pay off that figure.

The article below appeared in the Scottish Daily Record.

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/sco...

Scot has ear, fingers & toes chopped off during drug gang kidnap ordeal in Portugal

Oct 21 2010

By Paul O'Hare

A SCOT had an ear, two fingers and three toes chopped off during a horrific kidnap ordeal over an alleged £10,000 drug debt.

James Ross, 26, was tortured in a villa on the Algarve for 13 days after being lured to Portugal by a gang of Brits.

Dad-of-two Ross, from Wick, Caithness, was found bleeding in the street in the village of Alfontes, near Loule, by Carlos Pereira.

Carlos said: "He came staggering towards me, asking me to stop, waving his arms in the air.

"He had no left ear and was missing two fingers on his left hand, a toe from one foot and two from the other. He also had a leg wound."

Ross told him he had been involved in a road accident.

Mr Pereira said: "He was very white. He said, 'Please, please, telephone'. I decided to put him in my van and drove him to a square, near a cafe, and called the police."

Alerted Northern Constabulary had ranked Ross as a "high risk" missing person and alerted the UK Serious Organised Crime Agency and Portuguese cops.

Ross's sister Gayle last night said the family did not wish to comment, adding: "We actually don't know anything. The police have never been in contact with us so I don't want to say any more."

A Portuguese newspaper claimed Ross owed fellow Brit John Maclean £10,000 over a cannabis deal.

And it said Ross was lured to the Algarve on October 5 when Maclean told him he could pay off his debt working on a cannabis farm.

But the Rangers fan was kidnapped soon after landing at Faro airport at 9pm.

Two days later, his wife Donna, 26, got a call from the kidnappers and recognised the voice as John Maclean's.

The aspiring model was told her husband was being held in a cage, unconscious and with broken legs, arms, feet, ankles and ribs.

The caller warned Ross would be executed if she called the police.

But British cops were monitoring the line and tipped off Portuguese officers, who traced the call to a phone booth on an industrial estate near Lisbon.

Last Friday, armed officers from Portugal's National Counter-Terrorism Unit arrested Maclean and three other Brits, named by a Portuguese newspaper as Terrence MacGurk, Calum MacLeod and Ronnie Rose.

Three of them were held at a house near the popular holiday resort of Albufeira.

At the time, detectives were convinced Ross had been murdered and police divers were drafted in to look for his body.

Cops also found a burned out Mercedes said to have been used by the gang in a reservoir in nearby Santana da Serra.

A police source said: "Everything suggested he was dead."

But detectives were stunned when Ross turned up pleading for help at around 9am on Monday.

Northern Constabulary last night confirmed they launched the international probe.

A spokesman said: "Following a report of a high-risk missing person made to police at Wick over the disappearance of a 26-year-old local man who had travelled to Portugal, Northern Constabulary instigated a joint operation with the Policia Judiciaria and the assistance of the UK SOCA.

"This operation culminated in the arrest of four UK nationals on serious criminal charges in Portugal where court appearances are expected."

SOCA declined to comment on the operation.

Hours after Ross was discovered in the street, cops found the villa where he had been held in the village of Boliqueime.

The house is surrounded by a six-foot wall and a large iron gate.

British neighbour Jack Maculigan said he had seen people coming and going from the property. He added: "I saw various people and cars. I'm talking about Audis and Mercedes."

The four Brits are being held on remand after appearing in court in Lisbon.

They are said to be aged 20 to 50, all with police records and living in Portugal, where they were believed to be involved in trafficking hash.

Detectives fear Ross will refuse to cooperate with the investigation as he and his family have received numerous death threats.

The Manchester home he shared with Donna was raided by men armed with knives in August demanding payment of the debt.

Ross is being kept under armed guard at a hospital in Lisbon.

Ross and Donna, a contestant in the UberGirl model competition, have two young children.

Joe Bruno on the Mob – Scottish Supergrass (Informant) Finally Gets a Lucky Break

First of all, before I read the article below, I had no idea what a "Supergrass" was (There's a definition of Supergrass after the article below).

However, the gist of the story is that informant John Corkish, 46, was hit with a 12-month jail sentence for contempt of court, because he initially refused to rat on Scottish organized crime figures Raymond "Rainbow" Anderson and James McDonald. At the two murderer's trail, Corkish, scared spitless, originally clammed up, and actually gave false testimony. After being warned by Judge Lord Hardie (I wonder if there is a Judge Lord Laurel in Scotland), Corkish finally spit out the truth and identified Anderson as the killer.

After the guilty verdicts were rendered (The two murderer's 35-year minimum term sentences were the largest ever handed down in Scotland), for some unknown reason, Judge Hardie sent Corkish immediately to jail for contempt of court, (Corkish did not pass "Go" and collect the customary $200), despite the fact that Corkish's evidence was the key in the two murderer's convictions.

Corkish languished in jail for a full 12 months, before three Appeal Court judges ruled Corkish could fly the coop, immediately. The reason for the reversal was because Strathclyde assistant chief constable Campbell Corrigan told the three judges it could hurt the fight against organized crime if a man ratted someone out, and was sent to jail anyway.

As we speak, Corkish is living somewhere in the Scottish version of the Witness Protection Program, which probably means he's drinking in some dingy pub, hidden in the mountainous moors of Scotland.

I guess the moral of this story is (at least the Scottish moral of this story), if you're going to be an informant, once the trial starts, immediately start ratting, put on your track shoes, and don a phony disguise.

Then get the heck out of Dodge City, Scotland.

The article below appeared in the UK Daily Record.

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/sco...

Supergrass freed after top cop says jail term 'could hinder war on organised crime'

Aug 28 2010 Gordon Mcilwraith

A SUPERGRASS jailed for giving false evidence at a gangland murder trial has been freed – thanks to a police chief's plea.

John Corkish, 46, was jailed for 12 months for contempt of court – despite later providing crucial evidence which led to the conviction of assassin Raymond "Rainbow" Anderson.

Yesterday, three Appeal Court judges overturned the jail sentence after Strathclyde assistant chief constable Campbell Corrigan told them it could hurt the fight against organised crime.

Corkish, who had been on bail pending his appeal and is living under a new identity at a secret location, was a key witness at the trial of Anderson, 48, and James McDonald, 36.

The pair, who shot a man dead in cold blood and wounded two others at a garage run by a rival crime clan, are now serving 35-year minimum term life sentences.

At their trial, Corkish, who was living in fear of his life, initially gave false evidence. But after a warning from trial judge Lord Hardie, he identified Anderson.

The judge went on to jail him for contempt, despite his evidence leading to the guilty verdict.

At the Appeal Court in Edinburgh yesterday, the judges said Mr Corrigan's intervention was the "most powerful consideration" in allowing Corkish to walk free.

Lord Osborne, who heard the appeal with Lords Carloway and Bonomy, said the senior cop had supplied a statement arguing that if the sentence remained, it might deter others from coming forward in similar cases.

He added that Mr Corrigan's plea was a "matter of great significance in a case in which charges of the most grave and sinister kind were brought to trial".

Admonishing Corkish, the judges agreed the jail term was inappropriate and excessive.

They also stressed that the prosecution accepted Corkish's fear for his safety before the trial was justifiable and that his life could still be in jeopardy.

The murder in 2006 at Applerow Motors in Lambhill, Glasgow, was part of a vicious turf war between the Daniel and Lyons crime families.

The gunmen opened fire just minutes after taxis collected pupils from a nearby special needs primary school.

The murdered man, Michael Lyons, 21, was the nephew of Lyons clan chief Eddie Lyons senior.

Steven Lyons, 29, one of the sons of Eddie Lyons, was shot in the leg as he tried to flee.

The third shot man, gangland enforcer Robert Pickett, 44, who had served time for attempted murder, was hit three times.

The hitmen's 35-year minimum terms are the heaviest handed down in Scotland in modern times.

Supergrass (informer)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Supergrass is a slang term for an informer, which originated in London. Informers had been referred to as "grasses" since the late-1930s, and the "super" prefix was coined by journalists in the early 1970s to describe those informers from the city's underworld who testified against former associates in a series of high-profile mass trials at the time.[1] One of the first police informers to receive the 'supergrass' nickname was Bertie Smalls.

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In Northern Ireland, the term "supergrass" especially refers to arrested paramilitaries who divulged the identities of their compatriots to the Royal Ulster Constabulary, possibly in exchange for immunity from prosecution. Sir John Hermon did not deny reports that inducements were paid but denied figures as high as £50,000 were involved.[2] The use of the term in Northern Ireland began with the arrest of Christopher Black in 1981. After securing assurances that he would have protection from prosecution, Black gave statements which led to 38 arrests. On 5 August 1983, 22 members of the Provisional IRA were sentenced to a total of more than 4,000 cumulative years in prison, based on Black's testimonies alone (eighteen of these convictions were overturned on appeal on 17 July 1986).[3]

By the end of 1982, 25 more 'supergrasses' had surfaced contributing to the arrests of over six hundred people from paramilitary organizations, such as the Provisional IRA, the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) and the Ulster Volunteer Force.

On 11 April 1983, members of the loyalist Ulster Volunteer Force were jailed on the evidence of supergrass Joseph Bennett. These convictions were all overturned on 24 December 1984. In October 1983, seven people were convicted on the evidence provided by supergrass Kevin McGrady although the trial judge Lord Chief Justice Robert Lowry had described McGrady's evidence as "bizarre, incredible and contradictory".[4] The last supergrass trial finished on 18 December 1985, when 25 members of the INLA were jailed on the evidence of Harry Kirkpatrick. 24 of these convictions were later overturned on 23 December 1986.

Many convictions based on supergrass testimony were later overturned, and the supergrass system was discontinued in 1985.

The term has been used more recently to describe an informant with al-Qaeda links testifying at the trials for seven British men conspiring to cause explosions between 1 January 2003 and 31 March 2004, and again on 2 July 2007 in an article in the Daily Mail describing a search for informants in the 2007 Glasgow International Airport attack.[5]

The term has also been used by The Royal Gazette, a daily newspaper in Bermuda, a British dependent territory. An article in the paper uses the term to describe a Transport Control Department worker convicted of selling driver's licenses to Portuguese applicants lacking the necessary English skills to pass the multiple choice exam. The worker was granted a conditional discharge in exchange for information on other Transport Control Department employees abusing the public trust.[6]

One of the most prolific supergrasses in recent British history was Michael Michael whose evidence in 2001 led to 32 criminals being convicted, including his own mother, and the disruption of a £132milllion drugs ring.