Joseph Bruno's Blog, page 80

Joe Bruno on the Mob – Dominick Cefalu is One Stand-Up Guy.

It seems more information has been coming out abut the new Gambino Crime Family Boss Dominick Cefalu, and was provided by Mob Scribe Jerry Capeci is his wonderful website gangland. (Pay the $45 bucks a years for the subscription to this site. You'll get your money's worth.)

The new Gambino Crime boss Cefalu, who was born in Sicily, made his bones in 1982, when he served six years in the slammer for a heroin smuggling conviction, which was the precursor to the Pizza Connection trial later that decade. After the got out of jail, Cefalu was inducted into the Cosa Nosta by John Gotti himself in November of 1990. The mob boss who proposed Cefalu for induction was Sicilian Pasquale (Patsy) Conte, who made tons of money in the New York Key Food Supermarket chain.

The strange thing was that, according to law enforcement sources, Gotti had no use for the Sicilian faction of the Mafia, which is ironic since the Mafia started in Sicily, and Gotti's family originated in Naples. Gotti used to refer to the Sicilians as "Zips," a slur which made fun of the way the Sicilians spoke in rapid-fire, "zipping" sentences.

Cefalu's served 20 months behind bars for a 2008 extortion rap, and is now out on parole and gainfully employed as a salesman for a local bakery. It seems one of the reason's Cefalu now heads the Gambino family is that all the other Gambino big shots, like Peter Gotti and Bartolomeo (Bobby Glasses) Vernace, and John (Jackie Nose) D'Amico, are all in prison, and won be released any time soon.

That left the door wide open for Cefalu to take the rains of the struggling family. Apparently, according to Capeci, Cefalu has a three-headed capo, with Venace, old timer Daniel Marino, and 71-year old John Gambino sharing the capo duties.

Even though he inducted Cefalu, it was reported that John Gotti never was crazy about Cefalu, or John Gambino. And now they basically run Gotti's former family.

Things don't always work out how people plan them.

The links for the article below is:

http://www.ganglandnews.com/members/c...

This Week In Gang Land July 28, 2011

By Jerry Capeci

Gambinos Pick A New Boss

In a surprise move, the Gambinos have gone back to the old-fashioned way of running a crime family. They have selected a boss who is not in prison. He is a convicted drug trafficker with a well-earned reputation as a stand-up wiseguy who would never flip, Gang Land has learned.

The new Gambino godfather is Domenico (Italian Dom) Cefalu, a 64-year-old Bensonhurst, Brooklyn resident who was inducted into the crime family during John Gotti's reign. Cefalu's served 61 months of a six-years prison term for a 1982 heroin smuggling conviction, and served 20 months behind bars for a 2008 extortion rap. Cefalu is now gainfully employed as a salesman for a local bakery.

Sources tell Gang Land that the battered crime family – three brothers of the late Dapper Don, including deposed boss Peter Gotti, and dozens of other wiseguys and associates are behind bars – chose Cefalu, a powerful leader of the family's Sicilian faction, as its official boss earlier this year.

Despite having close ties to imprisoned capo John (Jackie Nose) D'Amico, the swashbuckling Gotti's longtime aide de camp, Cefalu's selection as family boss clearly marks the end of the crime family's Gotti era.

"There are still a lot of his players on the team but it's a whole new ballgame now," said one law enforcement source.

During Gotti's short but volatile reign, he was not shy about taking cash "tributes" from drug-dealing members of the Sicilian faction. But sources say he often badmouthed them as "sneaky" and "untrustworthy" to his Administration members – underboss Salvatore (Sammy Bull) Gravano and consigliere Frank (Frankie Loc) Locascio.

"Gotti had no use for Sicilians," said one law enforcement source, adding that Gotti often used a demeaning tone and the derogatory term "Zips" when discussing Sicilian-born gangsters.

Ironically, Cefalu became a "made man" in the last induction ceremony that Gotti himself conducted, sources said. It took place in November, 1990, at a safe-house in Queens. Cefalu was sponsored by capo Pasquale (Patsy) Conte, a rich and powerful member of the family's Sicilian faction.

A month later, Gotti, Gravano and Locascio were hit with racketeering and murder charges and detained without bail to await trial – one that featured Sammy Bull on the witness stand, and Gotti and Frankie Loc convicted and sentenced to die in prison. This month, the Daily Beast said it was the "biggest" mob trial of the last 20 years. Overall, it ranked #11"of the most-watched, most covered cases" since 1991.

The initiation rite – the logistics were arranged by Junior Gotti, who had been promoted to capo that summer – had been scheduled for October. It was abruptly canceled when Gambino mobster Edward Lino was shot to death on his way to the event, a killing that was later proven to be carried out by corrupt NYPD detectives Louis Eppolito and Stephen Caracappa on orders from Luchese family underboss Anthony (Gaspipe) Casso.

Cefalu earned his stripes as an old-school wiseguy in the mid-1990s. That's when he spent 51 months behind bars for civil and criminal contempt rather than testify before a grand jury or at the trial of Patsy Conte for the 1990 murder of Gambino soldier Louis DiBono.

Not only did he refuse to testify at either proceeding. When he was prosecuted for criminal contempt, he waived a jury trial, and refused to present a defense. It was a similar tactic that he, his cousin Dominick Cefalu, 54, who sources say is now a Gambino capo, and an uncle used at their 1982 drug trial.

In that case, the Cefalus were found guilty by Brooklyn Federal Judge Eugene Nickerson on a "stipulated record" that was agreed to by defense lawyers and prosecutors. The ring used Belgian "mules" to import $90 million of heroin from Sicily to the U.S. in 1979-80 in a pre-cursor to the historic Pizza Connection case. That evidence was introduced at an earlier trial that ended in a mistrial after jurors saw a 60 Minutes segment about the case.

"You can't call it a plea bargaining arrangement because there was no plea," prosecutor Victor Rocco told New York Times reporter Joe Fried back then. "In effect, we agreed to sentences, and they agreed to waive a jury trial."

In recent years, through underlings and a trucking company he controlled, Cefalu allegedly was involved in several extortion schemes involving a Staten Island cement company and the planned construction of a NASCAR racetrack. He ultimately pleaded guilty to a single extortion count and was sentenced to two years. He did not admit any connection with the Gambino family.

During the height of those schemes, a state Organized Crime Task Force bug in his 1999 Lexus captured a June, 2006, conversation in which Cefalu was overheard telling his wiseguy cousin Dominick that, because of his rank in the crime family, he knew the details of a recent mob shooting, according to assistant U.S. attorney Daniel Brownell.

During the conversation, Cefalu is heard stating, "I'm the underboss of the family," Brownell stated at the gangster's sentencing. Cefalu's words, said Brownell, were "as clear as a bell."

Cefalu's attorney, Joseph Ryan, (right) who disputed Brownell's sentencing remarks, would only issue a brief statement when Gang Land asked about his client's current status: "Mr. Cefalu has resumed his employment in the bakery supply business, lives with his mother and is under the close supervision of the U.S. Probation Department."

Italian Dom's elevation to boss has been "in the works for a while," said one source, but its timing has some mob watchers a bit surprised since Cefalu, who was released from prison in November 2009, will be under strict supervised release for 16 more months.

Sources say the move was triggered by the arrest in January of Bartolomeo (Bobby Glasses) Vernace, a Queens-based capo who was indicted on racketeering charges by federal grand juries in Brooklyn and Manhattan and jailed without bail on Mafia Takedown Day. Vernace, 62, is the second member of a three-capo panel that was put in place to run the family after its entire administration was indicted and jailed in 2008 to be hit with racketeering charges.

Cefalu is the only 2008 Administration member no longer behind bars. D'Amico, the acting boss at the time of the massive 62-defendant Gambino family indictment, and then-consigliere Joseph (JoJo) Corozzo are still incarcerated.

Sources say Vernace currently serves as the family's consigliere, even though Corozzo is listed as the consigliere in the Manhattan racketeering indictment in which they are both defendants.

Sources say that a longtime thorn in the side of the late Dapper Don, the Brooklyn-based capo John Gambino, 71, who was previously on a three-capo ruling panel with Vernace and longtime capo Daniel Marino, is another powerful, well-respected member of the family's Sicilian faction these days.

"Gotti would be horrified to learn about the prominence that Cefalu and John Gambino have today in his crime family," said one law enforcement source.

_________________________

Joe Bruno on the Mob – Catherine Greig Moves to Protect Properties

Anyone who spent 16 years living on the lam with Whitey Bulger has to have some guts, but what Bulger's gal-pal Catherine Greig is trying to get away with now takes some big onions.

It seems that Greig is trying to protect her $343,700 home in Quincy, Massachusetts, by declaring it covered by the state's Homestead Act. According to the article below in the Boston Globe, "That would potentially safeguard the house against creditors, up to a $500,000 limit, as long as she can prove that it is her primary residence or that she intends it to be."

Now the law is very ambiguous on this. Greig and her twin sister (last name McCluster) have already asked the courts to let them use this same home, which they co-own, as bail collateral to allow Greig to stay out of jail while awaiting trial for "harboring a fugitive" – Bulger. This request has so far been denied by the courts.

However, if convicted, or maybe even if Grieg is not convicted, the families of Bulger's alleged 19 victims (There are more than 19, if you ask me), could put a lean on this same house if they are awarded damages in a civil trail against Grieg.

So, in my opinion, she can't have it both ways. Or could she? Laws, and the way they are interpreted, can sometimes go against common sense.

A good question to ask Greig, who lists her previous occupations as a " dental hygienist," is how she ever came up with the money to buy this house in the first place. Was the money provided by Bulger, who never worked an honest day in his life? If that can be proved, then of course the government should seize the house right now and sell it later, to compensate any of the victim's families who may be awarded judgments in future law suits.

It will be interesting to see how this scene plays out. Justice is not always done.

The link is for article below is:

http://articles.boston.com/2011-07-27...

July 27, 2011|By Milton J. Valencia, Globe Staff

Earlier this month, Greig's representatives sought to protect her $343,700 home in Quincy by declaring it covered by the state's Homestead Act. That would potentially safeguard the house against creditors, up to a $500,000 limit, as long as she can prove that it is her primary residence or that she intends it to be.

The maneuvers come as Greig and her twin sister McCusker have proposed using both properties as security for Greig's release while she awaits trial for harboring a fugitive.

But legal analysts say Greig's efforts to protect her assets could be fruitless if courts determine the measures were taken to defraud creditors.

"It would be one thing if it were to help her sister pay legal fees; it would be another if this were more or less a shell transaction to shield assets she has against creditors. You're not allowed to do that,'' said attorney Jeffrey Denner, who successfully represented the family of one of Bulger's alleged victims in a civil lawsuit against him.

Denner said Greig may not be subject to a lawsuit by his client, the family of alleged Bulger victim John McIntyre, because of legal issues. But he said other victims could consider claims against Greig for helping Bulger remain at large. She could also face hefty fines if convicted in federal court.

"Certainly, if there's forfeitures, if there's fines, any property she had … could be subject to being taken,'' Denner said.

A spokeswoman for pretrial services in US District Court in Boston, which oversees a defendant's bail conditions, would not comment on Greig's assets.

Greig, 60, a dental hygienist by trade, was arrested June 22 inside the Santa Monica, Calif., apartment she shared with Bulger, just days after the FBI initiated a media blitz featuring a 30-second television spot publicizing the worldwide hunt for the couple. The spot aired during commercial breaks of daytime shows such as "The View,'' "Ellen,'' and "Live with Regis & Kelly.''

Joe Bruno on the Mob – "Big Bill" Dwyer – King of the Rum Runners

He started off as a simple dockworker, segued into bootlegging on a large scale, and was known and the "King of the Rum Runners." Big Bill Dwyer made so much money, he was partners with known gangsters in several swanky New York City nightclubs. Dwyer also owned two professional hockey teams, including the New York Americans, and was owner of the Brooklyn Dodgers football team. However, in the end, when Big Bill Dwyer passed away, he died out of the limelight, and flat broke.

William Vincent Dwyer was born in 1883 in the Hells Kitchen area on the west side of New York City. Two gangs, the Hudson Dusters and the Gophers, ruled Hell's Kitchen at the time, but Dwyer avoided joining both gangs, and instead took a job on the docks as a stevedore for the International Longshoremen's Union (ILU).

While working on the docks, Dwyer started his own bookmaking operation. After the Volstead Act was enacted in 1919, banning the distribution of alcohol, with the money he made from bookmaking, Dwyer branched out into the bootlegging business. Dwyer purchased a fleet of steel-plated speedboats, each with a mounted machine gun, in case crooks tried to hijack a shipment. Dwyer also purchased several large rum-running ships, which were needed to offload the illegal hootch from whatever boat was supplying it.

Dwyer traveled to Canada, England, and the Caribbean to establish ties with those who sold him the liquor he needed to smuggle into the United States. Then Dwyer set up a system whereby his ships would meet the ships, that were supplying him the liquor, many miles out at sea. There the booze was transferred to Dwyer's ships, then quickly transported to Dwyer's speedboats, which were closer to the shore of New York City.

The speedboats were unloaded at the docks, which were protected by Local 791 of the ILU, of which Dwyer was a charter member. From the docks, the liquor was moved to several warehouses in the New York area. When the time was right, trucks filed with illegal alcohol, and protected by convoys of teamster members, transported the booze all over the country: with heavy shipments going to Florida, St. Louis, Kansas City, Cincinnati, and as far away as New Orleans.

Dwyer was able to smuggle large amounts of booze into New York City because he knew one simple fact: you had to bribe the police and the Coast Guard if you wanted to be successful in the bootlegging business. And that Dwyer did, handing over thousands of dollars to whomever needed to be greased.

Paying off New York City cops was easy. The cops who didn't have their hands out for graft money were far and few between. However, Dwyer was especially skillful in recruiting Coast Guard members to look the other way, when his speedboats were entering New York waters.

Dwyer's first contact was Coast Guard Petty Officer Olsen. Through Olsen, Dwyer met scores of Coast Guardsmen, "Guardies" he called them, who might be willing to take bribes. Dwyer would bring these Guardies into the bright lights of New York City, where he would feed them sumptuous meals, take them to Broadway shows, and even get them a swanky hotel room, occupied by the lady of their choice, whom Dwyer would pay for too. Once a Guardie took a bribe from Dwyer, he was informed that he could earn hundreds, and sometimes thousands of dollars more, if he could enlist other Guardies to help protect Dwyer's shipments.

Soon, Dwyer was making so much money through bootlegging, he was considered the largest distributor of illegal alcohol in the entire United States of America. However, Dwyer had one huge problem, which he needed help in solving. Whenever one of his trucks left New York to distribute the booze to other parts of the country, they were vulnerable to being seized by the hundreds of hijackers who operated throughout the country. Dwyer knew to stop this from happening he had to take in partners – members of the Italian mobs, and the Jewish mobs. Since he was raking in millions in profits, Dwyer didn't mind, and certainly could afford to share the wealth. The problem was, Dwyer considered himself no more than a businessman, and wasn't a gangster himself. Dwyer needed someone in the underworld who could make the contacts Dwyer needed to continue to operate without fear of being hijacked.

Almost by accident, that person fell right into Dwyer's lap. In 1924, two of Dwyer's shipments were hijacked in upstate New York. Dwyer leaned on the cops on his payroll to find out who was responsible for the hijackings. Word soon came back to Dwyer that the perpetrator, who was arrested for the hijackings, was none other than Owney Madden, an Irishman himself, who grew up in Liverpool, England, before he emigrated to New York as a teenager. Madden was a vicious con nicknamed "The Killer" and had once ruled the murderous Gopher's gang in Hell's Kitchen.

Dwyer paid whomever needed to be paid to get the charges dropped against Madden, with the order, "Get me Owney Madden. I want to talk to him. I've got a business proposition we need to discuss."

Madden got the word who his benefactor had been, and that a meeting with Dwyer was expected of him in return. The two men met at Dwyer's office in the Loew's State Building in Times Square. There is no recording, or transcript of this meeting, but T.J. English, in his masterpiece on Irish gangsters called Paddy Whacked, said the conversation between Madden and Dwyer might have gone something like this:

"You've got a problem," Madden would have told Dwyer. "Gangsters have been picking off your trucks like sitting ducks and what are you going to do about it?"

"That's why I called you here."

"You gotta organize the shooters and the cherry-pickers, not to mention the bulls (cops) and the pols (politicians)."

"You're right. I need the hijackings to stop. I need a place to make my own brew right here in the city. Protected by the Tiger and the coppers. And I need outlets – speakeasies, nightclubs, you name it."

"You need a lot, my friend.

"Are you with me, you Liverpool mick bastard?"

"Give me one reason why."

"I can make you rich."

"Pal, you and me are two peas in a pod."

And that was the start of the New York City Irish Mob, which would then unite with the Italian and Jewish mobs to control the bootlegging business throughout the United States of America. The grouping of the three ethnic mobs was known as the "Combine."

With Dwyer's millions, Madden oversaw the creation of the Phoenix Cereal Beverage Company, which was located on 26th Street and 10th Avenue, right in the heart of Hell's Kitchen, where both Madden and Dwyer had grown up. This red-brick building, which comprised the entire block, was originally the Clausen & Flanagan Brewery, which was created to produce and sell near-beer, which no true beer-drinker would ever let pass their lips. The beer produced at the Phoenix was called Madden's No 1.

With Dwyer basically the money man behind the scenes, Madden became the architect who created and nurtured their empire. Madden brought in a former taxi business owner named Larry Fay as the front man for several high class establishments, that were needed to sell Madden No. 1, plus all the scotch, rum, vodka, Cognac and champagne that the Combine was smuggling into the city. One of these places was the El Fay at 107 West 54th Street.

The main attraction at the El Fay was Texas Guinan, a bawdy cabaret singer/comedienne, who was later copied by May West. To entice Guinan to work at the El Fay, Madden and Dwyer made Guinan a partner. Guinan was famous for her wisecracks, which she belted out between clacks from a clacker, or toots from a piercing whistle, while she was sitting on a tall stool in the main room. Guinan's signature saying was "Hello Sucker," which is how she greeted all the well-healed El Fay customers.

When a singer or a dancer finished their performance at the El Fey, Guinan would exhort the crowd to "Give the little lady a great big hand!"

One day, a prohibition agent, who couldn't be bought by Madden or Dwyer, raided the El Fey. He marched over to Guinan, put his hand on her shoulder and said to his fellow agent, "Give the little lady a great big handcuff."

Dwyer did what he did best, Guinan was released from prison, and the El Fey was soon hopping again, making everyone involved very rich indeed.

Madden and Dwyer also partnered with former bootlegger Sherman Billingsley at the very fashionable Stork Club on East 53rd Street. The two Irish gangsters spread their wings to the north part of Manhattan when they bought the Club De Luxe from former Heavyweight Boxing Champion Jack Johnson. They inserted Big Frenchy De Mange as their operating partner, and changed the name to the Cotton Club. At the Cotton Club, De Mange instituted a "Whites Only" admittance policy, despite the fact the waiters, dancers, and headline entertainers, like Cab Calloway, Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Lena Horne, Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, and the Nicholas Brothers, were all black.

Still, the Cotton Club was wildly successful with the big spenders from downtown, putting tons of cash into Dwyer and Madden's pockets.

In 1925, Dwyer was arrested for attempting to bribe Coast Guard members during a sting operation headed by the Prohibition Bureau. Dwyer was sentenced to two years in prison, but he was released after 13 months for good behavior. With Dwyer in the can, Frank Costello took over Dwyer's bootlegging business.

While he was in prison, a despondent Dwyer said to one of his cell mates. "I wish I had never seen a case of whiskey. I spent years in daily fear of my life, always expecting to be arrested, always dealing with crooks and double-crossers, and now look at me. My wife is heartbroken and I am worse than broke."

As we shall see, that was not exactly the truth.

When Dwyer hit the streets again, he eased out of the bootlegging business, leaving the rum-running operation to Costello and Madden. To pass his time, Dwyer started investing in legitimate business, especially sports teams.

In 1926, boxing promoter Tex Rickard conned Dwyer into buying the Hamilton Tigers of the National Hockey League. Dwyer did so, and he moved his team into New York's Madison Square Garden, and re-named them the New York Americans. As smart as Dwyer was in running the bootlegging business, he was just as dumb in running a hockey team. His pockets bursting with bootlegging cash, Dwyer's strategy for winning was basically to over-pay everybody on his team. With the average hockey player making between $1500-$2000 a year, Dwyer gave Billy Burch a 3-year $25,000 contract. Shorty Green also got a huge raise, when Dwyer awarded him a $5000 a year contract.

Being an old crook at heart, Dwyer took an active part in running his team, even going so far as to try and rig the games. Dwyer paid off goal judges to rule his team had scored a goal if the puck just touched the goal line, instead of completely passing the goal line, which was the rule.

At a game in 1927 in Madison Square Garden, the goal judge, whom Dwyer had in his pocket, for some unknown reason started taunting Ottawa goalie Alex Connell. Connell responded by butt-ending his hockey stick into the goal judge's nose. Dwyer became incensed at the Ottawa goalie's actions (You don't manhandle one of Dwyer's employees), and Connell was told to leave town quickly after the game. A police detail took Connell to the train station, and protected him until the train was safely out of town. After the train left the station, a man asked Connell if he was the Ottawa goalie Alex Connell. Connell afraid for his life, told the stranger no. And, as a result, he lived to goalie other hockey games.

Bypassing a league rule that a person can't own two hockey teams, in 1929, Dwyer, using ex-lightweight boxing champ Benny Leonard as his front man, purchased the NHL's Pittsburgh Pirates. In 1930, Dwyer inserted his grubby fingers into the newly-formed National Football League too, by buying the Dayton Triangles for $2,500. Dwyer moved the team to Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, and renamed them the Brooklyn Dodgers.

In three years, Dwyer, again overpaying all his players, began losing so much money, he sold the Brooklyn Dodgers to two former New York Giant Football players: Chris Cagle and John Simms, for $25,000. Even though he sold the team for 10 times more than he had paid, Dwyer estimated he still lost $30,000 in the three years he owned the team.

In 1934, having his fill of America sports teams (he stilled owned the New York Americans, but they were bleeding money), Dwyer bought the famed Tropical Park Horse Racing Track in Miami, Florida.

However, the roof fell in on Dwyer, when in 1935, he was indicted on a gambling charge. Dwyer beat that case, but then the government did to him what they did to Al Capone: they hit him with tax evasion charges. Those charges stuck, and Dwyer was stripped of all his assets, except the New York Americans, and a house in Belle Harbor, Queens. Almost penniless, Dwyer no longer had the money to keep the New York Americans afloat.

In 1937, the National Hockey League temporarily took control of the New York Americans. To show the NHL that he was financially solvent, Dwyer borrowed $20,000 from Red Dutton. However, instead of paying his team's salaries, Dwyer decided to try to multiply his money in a craps game. That didn't go over too well, when Dwyer busted out, and lost the entire twenty grand. Unable to pay his team, and unable to raise any more capital, the NHL booted Dwyer out permanently, and took final control of the New York Americans. Broke and despondent, Dwyer retired to his Belle Harbor home.

On December 10, 1943, Big Bill Dwyer, the "King of the Rum Runners" died at the age of 63. Dwyer was reportedly penniless at the time of his death, his only asset being the roof over his head.

Joe Bruno on the Mob – According to the NRA – "The Banning of Handguns Leads To More Crime."

No matter what you think about the National Rifle Association (NRA), they are right about this one.

Ever since one nut walked into a school in Dunblane, Scotland and killed 16 children and one teacher, guns have been banned in England. The thinking was that if you take away the access handguns, you reduce crime.

Total nonsense.

A July 3, 2009, Daily Mail article reported that "Britain's violent crime record is worse than any other country in the European Union. Official crime figures show the U.K. also has a worse rate for all types of violence than the U.S. and even South Africa."

Why? Because the criminals have guns and everybody else doesn't.

In 1919 the Volstead Act prohibited the sale and distribution of alcohol. The reasoning, by the Woman's Temperance Movement, was that if you took away the alcohol, less people would become alcoholics.

So what happened?

The underworld moved in, smuggled in bootlegged whiskey, and more people became alcoholics than ever before. Fourteen years later, the Volstead Act was repealed. Fourteen years too late.

Government intervention of this kind just doesn't work, because if you ban something, organized crime, or disorganized crime for that matter, will find a way to provided the banned item to the segment of the public that wants that item. In the case of guns, that segment of the population are mostly criminals, who will use their illegal guns in the commission of crimes. The average person is afraid of breaking the law by obtaining illegal firearms, so, with no legal guns to protect themselves, they are more susceptible to becoming a victim of a crime.

Bottom line: If you ban firearms from the public, the criminals have guns – honest citizens don't.

I owned a parking lot in New York City for 27 years. In New York City, it is almost impossible for a person to obtain a license to buy and carry a weapon. Sure celebrities pull stings with politicians and they get carry permits. And if you can show you carry substantial amounts of cash to and from your business per month, you have a slight chance of getting a carry permit. But the last time I checked, about 25 years ago, that amount was $30,000 a month, and you had to have the bank receipts to prove it.

So I never had a gun permit, or an illegal gun, but all the crooks that might want to rob me, did have guns. Thank God I was never robbed, but thousands of other small businesses in New York City have been robbed. And if the owner of a business fired an illegal gun in order to save his own life, or protect his property, guess what happened? They went to jail for possessing an illegal firearm.

Just plain stupid.

I live in Florida now, and crime is increasing by the minute. Not wanting to be a person who gets a gun after he's been robbed, burglarized, or mugged, I took a mandated state gun course, private guns lessons, and then I applied for my carry permit, which I received. I am now the proud owner of two hand guns: a Glock 17, 9 mm semi-automatic, and a Ruger 38 caliber small carry pistol. The Glock is for home protection, and the Ruger I carry concealed when I leave my house.

And it's all perfectly legal.

If guns were legal in England, do you think several days of rioting, burning of buildings, and looting of small businesses would have occurred?

Of course not. Punk criminals would have crapped their pants if they saw the owner of the store they intended to rob had a gun pointed at their feeble brains.

The fact is, legal guns decrease crime. Not increase crime.

America has a Second Amendment to the Constitution that allows people to arm themselves to protect themselves. It's up to each state as to how it distributes gun licenses, and what are the provisions for getting a gun license. Obviously, its easier in some states than other to get a carry permit. Yet states, like Texas for instance, that make it easier for citizens to arm themselves, experience less crime than other states, who make it more difficult to get gun permits. It's simply a fact.

England has no such Second Amendment law. Guns are illegal. Period.

It's time England brought itself out of the dark ages and allowed its honest citizens to protect themselves by allowing legal gun possession. Sure, once in a while, some lunatic will go off the deep end and shoot innocent people, but that should not disallow the public of the right to arm themselves to protect themselves from crime.

I'm sure bleeding-heart liberals will disagree with everything I just said. But these same people are notorious for ignoring the facts and basing their actions on supposition, or things as they should be in a perfect world.

Unfortunately, this is not a perfect world.

I hope and pray I will never have to fire my guns, except at the practice range. But I'm prepared to do whatever is necessary to protect myself, my family, and my possessions.

The honest, God-fearing people in England should be allowed to do the same thing.

The article below appeared on the NRA website.



UK Mayhem Leaves Disarmed

Citizens at the Mercy of Criminals

By now you have seen the headlines and images of destruction: the rioting, looting, violent assaults, and arson. London and other UK cities look like war zones and their citizens are afraid to venture out, because the danger is very real. It?s a view of the temporary breakdown of society. It is gut check time; a time when the concept of being able to defend oneself gives way to the stark reality that few viable options to do so exist.

Gun laws in the UK are among the most restrictive in the world. In March of 1996, a deranged man walked into a school in Dunblane, Scotland and killed 16 children and one teacher. In the aftermath of this tragedy, British politicians sought to reduce violent crime by enacting a ban on all handguns. Handgun owners were given a February 1998 deadline to turn in their firearms–and they did. The UK was supposed to become a much safer place–but dramatic increases in crime following the gun ban proved it didn't.

A July 3, 2009, Daily Mail article reported that "Britain's violent crime record is worse than any other country in the European Union, it has been revealed. Official crime figures show the U.K. also has a worse rate for all types of violence than the U.S. and even South Africa."

Joe Bruno on the Mob – Whitey Bulger's Moll Catherine Greig Indicted For Harboring Bulger for 16 Years

To me, this is justice and a no-brainer.

Sixteen years ago, Whitey Bulger went into the wind after he discovered from crooked FBI agent John Connelly that he was about to be arrested for 19 murders, and numerous other acts of ill will. After first leaving with another woman, who was 15 years older than Catherine Greig, Bulger snuck back to Boston, dropped off the old hag, and picked up the voluptuous Greig.

For the next 16 years, Bulger and his young broad had a grand old time together. They moved deftly around the world using several different aliases to avoid detection. Greig, now 60 years old, went under several aliases, including, Carol Gasko, Carol Gasco, Helen Marshall, Carol Shapeton, and Mrs. Thomas Baxter. According to the new indictment against Greig, she did everything from "buying his groceries to ordering his pills." The prosecutors also accuse Greig of "using cash and money orders "to conceal their true identities and the source of the funds."

If that isn't harboring a fugitive, I don't know what is.

Bulger, now a spry 81 years old, faces certain life imprisonment, no matter what he is convicted of, and he'll be convicted of something (19 murders?). Grieg's only faces 5 years in the slammer if she is convicted, but at her age, 5 years places Greig firmly into the category of "old age."

I don't feel too sorry for Catherine Greig. She lived high on the hog, for 16 years, with one of the most despicable men in the world.

Now it's the time for her to pay the piper.





The article below appeared in the Boston Herald

http://bostonherald.com/news/regional...

Whitey's on-the-lam gal Catherine Greig indicted

Joe Dwinell By Joe Dwinell

Friday, August 12, 2011

Mobster galpal Catherine Greig was indicted yesterday by a federal grand jury on conspiracy to harbor and conceal her Top 10 most wanted lover — doing his bidding while on the lam, from buying the groceries to ordering his pills, the feds said.

The U.S. Attorney's Office said the 60-year-old Quincy woman faces up to five years in jail if convicted of "harboring and concealing" James "Whitey" Bulger from January 1995 to June 22 of this year, when the couple was caught holed up in a seaside apartment in Santa Monica, Calif.

UPDATE: Greig's arraignment will be Thursday at 9 in the morning, the feds said today.

The indictment lists Greig as having aliases while on the run that included Carol Gasko, Carol Gasco, Helen Marshall, Carol Shapeton and Mrs. Thomas Baxter.

The feds also accuse Greig of using cash and money orders "to conceal their true identities and the source of the funds."

They communicated with people in Massachusetts using "methods of communication that masked their true identities and locations," the indictment states.

A Bulger "relative" also posed for a photo and "wore a fake moustache for the photographs in order to make him look like Bulger, who had altered his appearance as a fugitive by growing a mustache." The image was used for fake IDs.

Greig, who is locked up in a Rhode Island jail, is fighting to post bail. Bulger, who is accused of 19 murders during his reign of terror in South Boston, is being held without bail.

-— joed@bostonherald.com

Joe Bruno on the Mob – British Prime Minister David Cameron Considers Banning Social Media

I have mixed emotions about the article below.

Of course, British Prime Minister David Cameron should do all he can to stop the ridiculous riots that are plaguing his country. These creep rioters are not trying to make a political, or sociological statement. They are crooks and thieves, plain and simple. If this happened in America, the National Guard, locked and loaded, in addition to the local police forces, would be out in full riot gear, squelching this riots in any way possible, before more innocent people were looted, or even seriously hurt.

However, in Great Britain the average policeman on the street is not allowed to carry a gun. Cameron muttered something inane about shooting "rubber bullets," but they are not as effective as real bullets, which may be desperately needed to stop the burning of stores and buildings, and the riots in the UK in the past few days.

According to Cameron, "Many of the riots were either organized on or spread via messages on Twitter and Facebook. BlackBerry's private group messaging service, BlackBerry Messenger (BBM), appears to have played a powerful role as well."

So now Cameron is considering shutting down all social media sites in the country.

No Facebook. No Twitter. No smart phone messaging services.

Opponents of Cameron's plan plead that social networking is actually helping the police, by pinpointing where riots and looting are about to take place, so that the police can respond before any great damage is done.

There are no First Amendment Rights in the UK. In America, what Cameron proposes would certainly not pass muster with the "freedom of speech" crowd, or with the United States Constitution.

But what if it were a national emergency? What if by shutting down social networks, the government can save lives and property.

Good questions. I wish I had the answers.

The article below appeared in the New York Daily News.

http://www.nydailynews.com/tech_guide...

Prime Minister David Cameron considers banning suspected criminals from social media

BY Anjali Mullany

DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Thursday, August 11th 2011, 4:02 PM

British Prime Minister David Cameron raised the possibility Thursday of a government clampdown on individual users' social media access as authorities try to put a stop to a spree of riots.

Cameron announced the possible move, which has sparked alarm among Internet-rights advocates, during a statement to Parliament.

"We are working with the police, the intelligence services, and industry to look at whether it would be right to stop people communicating via these websites and services when we know they are plotting violence, disorder, and criminality," Cameron said.

Cameron's statement came after days of violent rioting and looting have rocked London and several other British cities.

Many of the riots were either organized on or spread via messages on Twitter and Facebook. BlackBerry's private group messaging service, BlackBerry Messenger (BBM), appears to have played a powerful role as well, according to reporters like the Guardian's Paul Lewis, who received riot-rousing BBM messages from tipsters.

Cameron's comments touched off a firestorm of criticism on Twitter. Many social media enthusiasts from around the globe drew parallels between the possibility of social media censorship in the U.K. and ongoing Internet shut-downs in North Africa and the Middle East – including a current Internet cutoff in parts of Syria.

"Rumor has it Cameron wants to quench social media to stop rioters from communicating. That is sooo Syria…" wrote Anders Sikvall in Stockholm, Sweden.

"Egypt, Syria…UK?" wrote Bill Nobles, a Democratic candidate for the Florida House of Representatives.

Londoner Debbie Le'cand tweeted: "Cameron, don't you dare touch our social media, as Egypt, Syria, China, et al. have done, if you want to keep your job. Get a grip, man."

Peter Bradwell of the Open Rights Group told the Daily News that British Foreign Secretary William Hague "recently criticized oppressive regimes for trying to control the Internet. So it's a little rich to propose vague new powers to control social media in the U.K."

"The actions of a couple thousand people should not lead to the curtailing of communications for the remaining population," added Bradwell.

"It is important to remember the many, many positive uses of social networks, from reporting on the location of trouble through to the organization of clean up efforts," said Bradwell.

Privacy advocates have been on alert since the riots began last weekend. On Monday, BlackBerry U.K. tweeted: "We feel for those impacted by the riots in London. We have engaged with the authorities to assist in any way we can."

That statement led to public speculation that BlackBerry's parent company, Research in Motion (RIM), might hand user data over to the British government.

The Guardian reported that British Home Secretary Theresa May plans to meet with RIM, Facebook and Twitter as the U.K. government considers options for exerting greater control over social media in times of chaos.

Blocking individual users' access to social media won't be easy, even if British authorities decide to pursue that route. It is easy to create new social media accounts using different email addresses, IP addresses, Internet service providers, and devices.

Joe Bruno on the Mob – Lucali Pizzeria Should Be Re-Named Wiseguy's Pizzeria

What toppings are they putting on the pizza in Lucali in Brooklyn? Anabolic steroids.

First of all, just because Jay-Z goes to Lucali doesn't make it a great pizzeria. Celebrity pizzeria? Maybe. But only if Frank Sinatra frequents the joint. Dean Martin too.

It seems that Dominick "Black Dom" Dionisio, a former employee at Lucali, is a Columbo crime family associate, and has been for 20 years. (I'll bet dollars to donuts "Black Dom" wasn't flipping pies at Lucali. Nor do I think he was a a waiter either. The only time guys like Black Dom wait on people, is when they are waiting to rob them, or smash a few fingers.)

It also seems that "Black Dom" is catching a break from the prosecutors. This week, Black Dom pleaded guilty to a 1991 robbery of an employee of the Magen David Yeshiva on McDonald Avenue in Brooklyn. Black Dom said he stole cash and checks worth more than $50,000. For his guilty plea, the DA is dropping an attempted murder charges against Dionisio for allegedly trying to whack two mobsters from a rival Colombo faction during the Colombos' internal family war in the early 1990s.

When Black Dom is sentenced next January, he will get anywhere from 70-87 months in the slammer from Judge Dora Irizarry. That means Black Dom has a few months to earn a few bucks to get him through his stretch in the can. Maybe he'll be working at Lucali again. But I kinda doubt it.

Black Dom is not the only mobster who's been associated with Lucali. Lucali's owner Mark Iacono was in a recent knife fight with Gambino crime family associate Benny Geritano, Both guys were sliced up worst than an eight-slice pizza pie. Both lived, and both, abiding to the code of the streets, refused to identify the other man as his fellow combatant. So the charges have been dropped against both.

Sadly, Bad Benny is going to jail for an unrelated offense: bank robbery, or something guys like him frequently do.

As for me, I'm staying clear of Lucali. If Jay-Z is the best brand of person you're going to meet at Lucali, I'll stick to Lombardi's in Manhattan's Little Italy. Lombardi's has the best pizza in the five boroughs.

The below article appeared in the New York Post

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/mo...

Mobster pleads guilty to $50K Yeshiva heist

By MITCHEL MADDUX

A Colombo crime family associate who worked at a Brooklyn celebrity pizzeria pleaded guilty today to robbing a yeshiva of more than $50,000.

Dominick "Black Dom" Dionisio was employed until recently at Lucali, the Carroll Gardens eatery loved by Jay-Z and other celebs.

In a deal with the feds, Dionisio pleaded guilty to racketeering charges and admitted his role in the yeshiva heist and several other gunpoint robberies.

As a consequence, the feds will drop attempted murder charges against Dionisio for allegedly trying to assassinate two mobsters from a rival Colombo faction during the crime family's internecine war in the early 1990s.

Brooklyn federal prosecutors had believed that Dionisio and an accomplice opened fire in broad daylight on a crowded New York street, injuring one of the rival wiseguys and some innocent passersby.

On Wednesday, the 41-year-old mobster told Judge Dora Irizarry that in 1991 he had waylayed an employee of the Magen David Yeshiva on McDonald Avenue in Brooklyn and stole cash and checks worth more than $50,000.

Dionisio, who's been a Colombo associate for 20 years, also admitted in Brooklyn federal court that he robbed Hispanic marijuana traffickers in Baltimore, Maryland, in the late 1990s.

The mobster donned a bulletproof vest and wielding an automatic weapon in those drug heists, the feds say.

He will face a prison term of 70-87 months when he is sentenced by the judge in January.

Dionisio's former employer at Lucali, pizza whiz Mark Iacono, engaged in a knife duel this spring with Gambino crime family associate Benny Geritano, authorities said.

Although both Iacono and Geritano were badly injured the fight, the case evaporated after neither man agreed to testify before a state grand jury.

mmaddux@nypost.com

Joe Bruno on the Mob – European Drug Dealers Are Not the Sharpest Knifes in the Drawer

Fourteen European crooks are now in jail for drug smuggling and money laundering because one moron left a receipt for 100,000 pounds for ship repairs in the wastepaper basket.

Scotland Yard detectives said they got their first clue in smashing an International drug trafficking ring, with links to the Albanian Mafia, and a 10 million pound money-laundering racket, when they, and the Spanish Navy, stopped a ship on the high seas. Upon searching this ship — low and behold — they found this receipt which led to the arrests of Anthony Briggs and Rayner Jane Rothery. One thing led to another and before you know it – bango! – 300 million pounds of cocaine was found in a pleasure boat in Southampton docks. As a result, Scotland Yard says 14 people in Britain have been jailed for a total of 77 years. In addition, in Spain, another 10 people are awaiting trail.

Didn't any of these fools ever watch television, or even a movie? When a piece of incriminating evidence needs to be disposed of, it is always burned, until it is nothing more than smoldering ashes. The evidence is never discarded into a wastepaper basket, just waiting to be found.

Bottom line, if you burn the evidence, not even Sherlock Holmes, or Hercule Poirot, or even Jane Marple can crack your case. You drop the evidence in a wastepaper basket, you're begging to get caught.

Morons!



The article below, which first appeared in the London Evening Standard, was re-printed in Mafia Today. The link is below.

http://mafiatoday.com/general-breakin...

£350m drug plot foiled by receipt

August 4, 2011

"Detectives today revealed how they smashed a £350million cocaine smuggling plot – after spotting a receipt in a waste paper basket.

The find led to the unravelling of an international drug trafficking ring with links to the Albanian mafia and a £10million money-laundering racket.

A tonne of high grade cocaine bound for London was recovered when Scotland Yard detectives and the Spanish navy stopped a ship on the high seas.

The former Canadian coastguard vessel was identified after a £100,000 receipt for ship repairs was found in a waste bin during a drugs raid in Hillingdon in 2009.

Two members of the drugs ring were jailed at Kingston crown court yesterday. Anthony Briggs, 55, was given 12 months for money laundering, possession of a class A drug and possession of CS gas. Rayner Jane Rothery, 46, also received 12 months after admitting money laundering and conspiracy to pervert the court of justice.

The case comes after details were revealed yesterday of a haul of £300million of cocaine found in a pleasure boat in Southampton docks.

Scotland Yard said 14 people in Britain have now been jailed for a total of 77 years in connection with the plot. Spanish authorities arrested 10 people who are all awaiting trial in Spain.

Detectives unpicked an international network stretching from London to Spain, Albania, the Caribbean and Colombia.

Source: thisislondon.co.uk

Joe Bruno on the Mob – Albert "The Mad Hatter" Anastasia

He was a violent killer, and along with Louis "Lepke" Buchalter, the head of Murder Inc. The way he lived his life, Albert Anastasia must have thought he was bulletproof: until he made one too many trips to his barbershop.

Albert Anastasia was born Umberto Anastasio on September 26, 1902 in Calabria, located in the southern part of Italy. When he was 15, Albert and his brother Tony hopped on an Italian ship and snuck off illegally on the docks of Brooklyn, New York. It was said that Albert was so poor, he arrived in America with no shoes. Albert lived with a relative in Brooklyn until he finally found work on the Brooklyn docks as a longshoreman, alongside his brother Tony.

Albert Anastasia had a violent temper, and it was manifested in 1920, when he was arrested for killing fellow longshoreman Joe Torino. Anastasia strangled and stabbed Torino, over who had the right to unload ships with the most precious cargo. Anastasia was tried, convicted, and sentenced to death. It was at this time he changed his last name from Anastasio to Anastasia, he said, "not to sully his family's name." His brother "Tough Tony," who later ruled the Brooklyn docks, kept the last name of Anastasio.

Anastasia had spent eighteen months waiting to be executed in Sing Sing Prison, when his lawyer was somehow able to obtain a new trial. At the second trial, several witnesses to Torino's murder changed their statements as to who the killer was, and four more witnesses disappeared from the face of the earth, never to surface again. With no evidence against Anastasia, the prosecutors had no choice but to drop their case, and Anastasia became a free man. Anastasia would use this tactic of "eliminating witnesses" several more times throughout the years to avoid prosecution for murder.

Upon his release from prison, Anastasia joined the gang of Joe "The Boss" Masseria, considered the top Mafioso in America. During this time, Anastasia became tight with fellow mobsters Charles "Lucky" Luciano and Frank Costello, and it became clear that Anastasia was more of a follower than a leader.

In 1930, Luciano formed a plan to get rid of his boss – Masseria – then get rid of Masseria's successor – Salvatore Maranzano. Luciano's ultimate goal was to unite all the crime families in America: Italian Mafia members, Irish gangsters like Owney Maddon, and Jewish gangsters like Meyer Lansky, into one National Crime Commission.

When Luciano told Anastasia about his plans, Anastasia was ecstatic. He told Luciano, "Charlie, I've been waiting for this day for at least eight years. You're going to be on top, if I have to kill everyone for you. With you up there, that's the only way we can have any peace and make real money."

With Anastasia's help, Luciano did what he set out to do. Anastasia, along with Bugsy Siegel, was one of the four gunman, who in 1931, shot Masseria to death in a Coney Island restaurant. With Masseria out of the way, Luciano formed the remaining made mafia men into five separate crime families. As a reward for his good work, Luciano made Anastasia the underboss in the family of Vincent Mangano.

After Luciano's takeover, things ran smoothly for the Nation Crime Commission. The Commission made money in bushels, from running illegal liquor during prohibition, and from the old mob standards like bookmaking, gambling, hijacking, and the distribution of drugs. Of course, in order to keep the cash flowing in, sometimes people had to be killed. As a result of Anastasia's loyalty, Luciano, along with Meyer Lansky, put Anastasia and Louie "Lepke" Buchalter in charge of what the press called "Murder Incorporated."

This group of killers, which numbered over 100, was also called "The Boys From Brooklyn." With Anastasia being the exception, Murder Inc. was comprised of mostly Jewish killers, including Abe "Kid Twist" Reles, Allie Tannenbaum, Harry "Pittsburgh Phil" Strauss, and Gurrah Shapiro. It was estimated that under Anastasia and Buchalter's direction, anywhere from 500-1000 murders were committed throughout the country, and only a handful were ever solved. While bodies were piling up all over America, Anastasia was ostensibly working a honest job. The business card he always carried in his breast pocket said he was a "sales representative" for the Convertible Mattress Corporation in Brooklyn.

In the late 1930′s, Murder Inc. dissolved when it top killers were arrested, tried, and convicted on numerous murder changes. With Reles and Tannenbaum agreeing to testify in exchange for a lighter sentence, several Murder Inc. perpetrators were fried in the Sing Sing Electric Chair, including Buchalter, who was the only crime boss ever executed by the government.

Anastasia avoided prosecution for a while, until it was discovered that Reles was set to testify as to Anastasia's and Bugsy Siegel's involvement with Murder Inc. Reles was under 24-hour police guard at the Half Moon Hotel in Coney Island. Police were stationed to guard Reles, even when he was sleeping.

On the night of November 12, 1941, Reles was supposedly under police guard and sleeping in his room, when inexplicably he fell to his death from his 6th story window. The official report said Reles died while "attempting to escape." Years later, Luciano said that Frank Costello, in order to save Anastasia and Siegel's hide, paid the police $50,000 to look the other way, while Costello's men flung Reles from the window. Other stories said that the cops did the flinging of Reles themselves. Either way, according to District Attorney William O'Dwyer, "His case (against Anastasia and Siegel) went out the window with Reles."

In 1936, Luciano was arrested, tried, and convicted on a trumped-up charge of prostitution, and given a 30-year prison sentence. Luciano claimed he had been set up by Special Prosecutor Thomas E. Dewey, and there's evidence that Luciano may have been right. The witnesses against Luciano were all pimps and prostitutes, who later said they lied on the witness stand, rather than being thrown in jail by Dewey.

In 1942, with Luciano languishing in jail, Anastasia, with the help of his brother Tony, devised a scheme to spring Luciano. It was in the middle of World War II, and the plan Anastasia hatched was based on the old mob "protection racket." With Tony controlling the docks, it was quite easy for his men to sabotage ships on the New York waterfront. And that's exactly what they did.

After several ships were bombed and burned (the most famous being the French Luxury Liner S.S. Normandie, which was being converted into a troopship, when it was burned and capsized in New York Harbor), Anastasia offered assistance to the United States government, to protect the waterfront from saboteurs (from themselves, of course). The payback from the government was when the war ended, Luciano was to be released from prison, as payment for waterfront protection services rendered. And that's was exactly what happened, when in 1946, Luciano was released from prison, and deported back to Italy, where he ran his crime family until his death from a heart attack in 1962.

Anastasia had worked successfully as Vincent Mangano's underboss for 30 years, when in 1951, Anastasia suddenly got ambitious. Over the years, Mangano had grown resentful of Anastasia's closeness to Luciano and Frank Costello. Many times, Anastasia bypassed his boss Mangano and had, for one reason or another, gone directly to Luciano, or Costello. Several times, Mangano physically attacked Anastasia, which was a foolhardy move, since Anastasia was younger, and stronger, leading to Anastasia beating up his own boss in self defense.

Things in the Mangano family were not going well for Anastasia, when Anastasia asked permission from Costello, now the big boss with Luciano in exile in Italy, to whack Mangano. On April 19, 1951, Mangano's brother Philip was riddled with bullets and dropped in a swamp in Sheepshead Bay. Later that same day, Vincent Mangano disappeared, and his body was never found. In a few days, after he was sure Mangano was indeed dead, Costello appointed Anastasia the head of the former Mangano crime family, thereby making Anastasia part of the five-man Commission

Costello had a personal reason for why he wanted Anastasia on the Commission. After fleeing to Italy because he was wanted on a murder charge, Vito Genovese had returned to the United States. Genovese was angry because he thought that he, and not Costello, should be the head of the Commission. (Before escaping to Italy, Genovese was the Commission boss. With Genovese out of the country and Luciano still in jail at the time, Luciano then appointed Costello as top man on the Commission.) Genovese was known as a brutal man, who killed first and asked questions later. With Anastasia on Costello's side, Costello felt the had someone just as tough as Genovese, who could protect Costello's high ranking.

What Costello did not envision was that Anastasia was a bloodthirsty, homicidal maniac, who would kill anyone, for any reason, real or imagined. Anastasia's madness manifested itself one day when he was watching television. On the news, a 24-year old Brooklyn salesman named Arnold Schuster was basking in the limelight, as the person who was the main witness in the arrest of legendary bank robber Willie Sutton. Schuster had been riding the subway, when he spotted Sutton. Schuster followed Sutton after Sutton left the subway, and tracked him to a nearby garage. Sutton called the police and Sutton was arrested.

Seeing Schuster being treated like a hero by the press, Anastasia freaked out. "I can't stand squealers," Anastasia told one of his killers Fredrick J. Tenuto. "Hit that guy!" And that Tenuto did just that, gunning down Schuster on a Brooklyn street, not far from where Schuster lived.

Realizing that Tenuto was the only person who knew Anastasia had ordered Schuster's murder, Anastasia took care of Tenuto himself, filling Tenuto with bullets, before Tenuto could spill the beans about Anastasia's orders.

However, the word was already out that Anastasia, now called "The Mad Hatter," had gone overboard and had disobeyed one of the Commission's biggest rules, "We only kill each other."

As far as Genovese was concerned, Anastasia had made mistake #1. From this point on, Genovese began plotting Anastasia's demise.

Besides Costello, one of Anastasia's closest allies was Jewish mobster Meyer Lansky. Lansky, for a while, turned a deaf ear to Genovese's pleas to kill Anastasia. Lansky was big into the gambling industry on the island of Cuba. As all good mob bosses should, Lansky was cutting in the other Commission members for a piece of the pie on what he was raking in in Cuba. However, Anastasia wanted more. He approached Lansky about giving him a bigger slice, and when Lansky refused, Anastasia began plotting to open up his own gambling operation in Cuba.

That was a bad mistake on Anastasia's part. Lansky had agreed to the killing of his childhood friend Bugsy Siegel, when it was discovered Siegel had been skimming off the top in the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas. Money was sacrosanct to Lansky, and Anastasia was threatening to take money out of Lansky's pocket.

Make that mistake #2 for Anastasia.

Anastasia's mistake #3 materialized when Genovese found out Anastasia, in order to induct new made members into this family, was charging proposed members $50,000 apiece for induction into the Honored Society. This was a definite no-no in the Mafia. Men waited years, sometimes even decades, to "get their buttons." In addition, the rule at the time was that each proposed member had to have been involved in at least one murder to even be considered for induction. Genovese said Anastasia had devalued the entire Mafia organization by taking cash payments from men, who were not qualified to be inducted into the "La Cosa Nostra," as mob informer Joe Valachi later said insiders called their sacred group.

On October 25, 1957, Anastasia's chauffeur parked Anastasia's car in the underground garage of the Park Sheridan Hotel in Midtown Manhattan. Instead of waiting inside the garage for his boss to return, the chauffeur decided to take a little stroll out of the building. Anastasia took a little stroll of his own, and he wound up sitting in chair No. 4 in the Park Sheridan Hotel barbershop. Sitting next to Anastasia in chair No. 5 was his old friend Vincent "Jimmy Jerome" Squillante. Anastasia sat with his eyes closed, appearing to have nary a care in the world. Soon he would be right.

Suddenly, two men walked into the barbershop. One was carrying a .38-caliber pistol; the other a .32 caliber pistol. One of the men told barbershop owner Arthur Grasso, " Keep your mouth shut if you don't want your head blown off."

Then the two men commenced shooting. One bullets lodged in the back of Anastasia's head and two shots hit him in the left hand. Another bullet hit him in the back, and another blasted through the right side of his hip. Anastasia stagged to his feet, facing the mirror of the barbershop. Seeing the refections of his two killers in the mirror, Anastasia lurched toward the mirror. The killers kept firing until their guns were empty, and Anastasia fell on his back, between two barber chairs, quite dead.

Squillante didn't know whether to cry, or go blind. Seeing the dead Anastasia on the floor, he screamed to no one in particular, "Let me out of here!" Then he exited stage right, into lobby of the Park Sheridan Hotel, and disappeared.

According to manicurist Jean Wineberger, one shooter was a white male, around 40 years old, 5-feet-10-inches, with a sight built, and a blond pompadour haircut. The second shooter was also a white male, around 45 years old, stockily built, and about 5-feet-7-inches. Wineberger thought the shooters looked Italian, but she said they could have been Jewish also.

No one was officially charged with Anastasia's murder and about a dozen people over the years have claimed they had been involved in Anastasia's killing. The most likely scenario was that Mob boss Joe Profaci was given the hit by the other Commissioner members. Profaci subcontracted out the actual shooting to his underling, the unpredictable "Crazy" Joe Gallo, from the Red Hook section of Brooklyn.

Gallo was not shy about taking the credit for the Anastasia hit. Soon after the hit, Gallo was talking to a crime associate Sidney Slater. Gallo told Slater that he, Sonny Camerone, Ralph Mafrici, Joe "Joe Jelly" Gioelli and Frank "Punchy" Illiano comprised the Anastasia hit-team.

The buttons on his shirt bursting in pride, Gallo told Slater, "You can call the five of us the barbershop quintet."

The most telling comment about Anastasia's murder was uttered by Anastasia's brother "Tough Tony" Anastasio.

"Tough Tony" told a mob associate, "I ate from the same table as Albert and I came from the same womb. But I know he killed many men and he deserved to die."

Joe Bruno on the Mob – The Newest Scam – Prison Consultants

Where there's a way to make a buck, nothing is sacred. Especially when it comes to career criminals.

The latest "scam" to hit the streets is the profession of "Prison Consultants." White collar criminals are the most vulnerable to this ruse, since they were most likely never tough guys in the first place. They probably embezzled a few bucks from their boss, or did a little insider trading in the stock market. No heavy lifting, so to speak.

After being convicted, this type of criminal is terrified of how they will survive in prison, living in tight quarters with guys resembling the cast of "Oz," or maybe even "Prison Break."

The first thing these "Prison Consultants," who are ex-cons themselves (no kidding), tell their clients is that if you want to have your sentence cut back you have to:

1.Become a rat against your fellow prisoners, or

2.Tell the Warden you are a junkie and need to be admitted into the Residential Drug Abuse Program.

First of all, becoming a rat in prison is not the smartest thing in the world to do. If word gets out you're an informant, and believe me, the walls have ears in prisons, the white collar criminal/informer could get a shiv in his heart, or maybe have his food poisoned. Or maybe both at the same time.

Secondly, if you go into drug rehab in prison, that goes on your permanent record, and when you do get out of jail, besides being an ex-con, you'll have strike two on your job resume as a rehabilitating ex-con/junkie. Do you think someone wants to hire an ex-con who might go out on a babania binge one day, and steal the whole store?

The cost of consultation with a "Prison Consult" is the biggest con (pardon the pun) of all: $2000-$5000. Truthfully, the information a "Prison Consultant" will give you most likely will hurt you, rather than help you in the long run.

This entire issue of "Prison Consultants" give much credence to the old street axiom, "If you can't do the time, don't do the crime."

The article below appeared on Forbes Online.

http://blogs.forbes.com/walterpavlo/2...

Walter Pavlo

A Booming Part of Economy – Prison Consulting

Aug. 4 2011

In New York, US Attorney Preet Bharara is just getting started on cracking down on white-collar crime, particularly insider trading. With all these folks heading to prison, there is a niche market that is growing in the midst of this stagnant economy….Prison Consulting.

Prison consulting is not new but it is growing. According to an article earlier this year by the Chicago Tribune's Lisa Black, the dominant players in the field are convicted felons who are passing on their lesson's learned from their experience in prison. Convicted felons on their way to prison often have questions ranging from the most obvious, "Where is the closest prison?" to "How will I survive?" Someone with first hand experience in this area is worthwhile.

I did my own research and found that the biggest selling point for these consulting services deals with ways to get out of prison sooner….not a bad pitch. At the risk of ruining the business model of many of those consultants out there, I will give away two ways of reducing ones sentence in federal prison, 1) Testify against somebody else, and 2) get into the Residential Drug Abuse Program (RDAP).

Throwing your co-conspirator under the bus in a white-collar crime is more acceptable than doing so in a drug crime. You might not get back into the country club but at least you won't be gunned down in a drive-by.

Have you noticed more white-collar felons stating that they have drug problems prior to sentencing? Barry Minkow (ZZZ Best and now Insider Trader) said he needed help for his addiction to pain pills while Noah Freeman (Formerly of SAC Capital and now Insider Trader) had a marijuana and mushroom habit. Believe it or not, this looks good on a pre-sentencing report when the government is thinking of the best ways to rehabilitate a person. Chances are, these guys will get the RDAP program and also qualify for an 18-month reduction (12 months early out of prison and 6 months in halfway house) from their sentence. The RDAP program has increased its annual output of participants by 22% over the past 10 years according the Bureau of Prisons annual report for 2010…they can probably thank these prison consultants for sending business their way.

However, the RDAP approach to lowering ones prison sentence is not without its pitfalls. Lawyers I have spoken to caution that clients should not rely on prison consultants for legal advice. Participation in a drug class, even one in prison, could affect things in ones personal life post prison, like child custody, ability to get employment in certain professions, higher cost or eligibility for life or health insurance. The prison time off is nice, but there are other considerations to be made prior to telling the judge, "I'm a drug addict!"

But the other reason people reach out to consultants is for piece of mind. Prison is survivable but heading into it is quite frightening. Speaking to someone who has been there before is worth the money, if you have it. It can be expensive for a one-on-one consultation, which can cost $2,000-$5,000. That personal approach is better than reading information on-line about prison or talking to someone who "knew someone" who went to prison.

Here are a few that I found out there:

Federal Prison Consulting Group

Federal Prison Alternatives

Federal Prison Consultants

Dr. Prison

American Prison Consultants

Larry Levine, a convicted felon who is now in the consulting business, even took advantage of the crime wave on Wall Street to lay claim to a new domain name to pitch his services, www.WallStreetPrisonConsultants.com. I bet he gets some hits on that site these days.