Ed Scarpo's Blog, page 20

Colombo Turncoat Tied to Three Hits Wins Big

Tommy McLaughlin has a secret
A mob turncoat who flipped on a multitude of Colombo gangsters, including Thomas "Tommy Shots" Gioeli, and whose cooperation was described as "historic" was sentenced last Friday to no jail time.

Thomas McLaughlin, the turncoat, was himself involved in three gangland hits, two of which were tied to the 1990s Colombo civil war. He'd also was a member of the Bay Parkway Boys, a farm team for the mob. In McLaughlin's case it gave him entre into the Colombo crime family, one of the youngest and most violent of New York's Five Families.

"I just want to apologize for my past and look forward to the future," McLaughlin, 46, told Judge Brian Cogan last week in Brooklyn Federal Court.
One year after he'd finished serving a long prison term for a drug conviction, McLaughlin voluntarily began informing in 2009, and secretly recorded thousands of hours of conversations with mobsters.

McLaughlin's testimony against Gioeli in 2012 helped convict his cousin of the killing of Frank "Chestnut" Marasa, which was key to convicting Tommy Shots.

Gioeli is serving 18 years in prison. Initially his split verdict stunned many trial watchers. Gioeli was acquitted of several murders that could have sent him away for life -- among them the 1997 hit on NYPD cop Ralph Dols, who married the ex-wife of Joel “Joe Waverly” Cacace, a former Colombo consigliere.

Joey Caves and Tommy Shots in (somewhat) happier times.
Gioeli also was cleared of the 1999 slaying of Colombo underboss William “Wild Bill” Cutolo, and the 1995 execution of Colombo associate Richard Greaves.

Gioeli was convicted of plotting the murders of Frank Marasa and John Minerva. Tommy Shots was also found guilty of crimes committed on his quest to win power.

In testimony, McLaughlin, "caused a a stir in the courtroom when, on cross examination, he claimed that the former Colombo boss approved a killing."

Tommy Shots lawyers had called McLaughlin to testify on the accused murderer’s behalf, only the plan backfired (detonated, is more like it) when McLaughlin claimed that the Colombo chief had approved a gangland slaying.

The Brooklyn federal courtroom "erupted in pandemonium after the bombshell testimony by Thomas McLaughlin, who had described how Gioeli approved the 1991 revenge killing of Frank “Chestnut” Marasa," the New York Post reported.

After Gioeli's cousin's cross-examination by prosecutor, Tommy Shots couldn't resist taunting McLaughlin.

“How’s ‘Joey Caves’?” Gioeli shouted at McLaughlin. He'd been referring to mob turncoat Joseph Competiello, who had already testified against him.

"Richie says hello!” McLaughlin, then-42, quickly shot back an apparent sarcastic reference to Colombo crime associate Richard Greaves, who was rubbed out in 1995.

Gioeli was accused of OK’ing the Greaves murder and had even allegedly directed subordinates on where to bury he body.

Gioeli’s lawyers knew they were courting potential disaster when they called McLaughlin to the witness stand. Although he was a blood relation of Tommy Shots, McLaughlin also was a government witness.

“I know Gioeli since I was a kid,” McLaughlin had testified.

He said he had introduced his cousin to Dino “Big Dino” Calabro, a Colombo capo who also had testified against Gioeli earlier in the trial.

McLaughlin said he became affiliated with Gioeli and his crew in the 1980s.

Asked by Gioeli’s lawyer, Adam Perlmutter, what role he played in Marasa’s murder, McLaughlin answered, “I drove Richie Greaves and Dino Calabro” to the scene where Greaves and Calabro fatally shot Marasa.

Under cross-examination by Assistant US Attorney Liz Geddes, McLaughlin added another detail about Marasa’s murder.

He said that, right before the killing, Calabro told him that Gioeli had approved both the hit and the two men assigned to carry it out.

Gioeli and his alleged associate, Dino “Little Dino” Saracino, were charged with six murders in total -- including Marasa; John Minerva and Michael Imbergamo in 1992; Richard Greaves in 1995, and former Colombo underboss William "Wild Bill" Cutolo, whose body was finally unearthed a year prior to that trial, not far from Gioeli’s home in Farmingdale, L.I.

Joey Caves and Gioeli went on vacations together with their families.
Gioeli is actually suspected of committing many more murders, including the Deep Throat murders.

"Joey Caves" was sentenced to 12 years in prison for five gangland murders, including the rubout of an off-duty police officer.

Competiello helped law enforcement authorities crack the long-unsolved murder of Ralph Dols. All the while he'd maintained that he did not know Dols was a cop when his former mob superiors handed him the contract in 1997.

Last week the judge called McLaughlin's assistance "historic" and "beyond anything I've ever seen" in his decade on the federal bench.

"I'm confident that he's gone straight and he is going to stay straight," Cogan said.
McLaughlin and his family are in the witness protection program and have been relocated with new identities for their safety.


Unknown Side to Tommy McLaughlin
The Mafia Hitman's Daughter, Linda Scarpa's story about life as the daughter of ruthless Colombo capo/FBI informant, Gregory Scarpa, includes a chapter with interesting information about McLaughlin.
Click to purchase....
According to the book, he married Linda Scarpa before he was sent away for drugs.

Tommy was quick tempered and during the Colombo war had actually turned on his cousin to support his father-in-law Greg Scarpa’s crew.

According to the book, McLaughlin spent a lot of time at the Scarpa home.

In fact, when the war began and a Colombo crew tried to ambush Greg Scarpa (putting Linda and her baby in a deadly crossfire) Tommy was one of the first Scarpa loyalists on the scene, packing a .38.

Footage of Drita D'Avanzo Fight, Before & During

In the above video, a woman is clearly taunting Lee and Drita D'Avanzo, with Drita apparently screaming in the background. (Note: we don't see what happened prior to the beginning of the filming.)

Then, reportedly a few moments after the above was filmed, the fight took place, with a next-door neighbor filming it. (See fight video on jump page, at end of story.) I, for one, have problems with this scenario. These videos were clearly filmed separately, and in one version, not posted here, they were fused together in the sequence I described, with the above video comprising part one.

The problem is the second part doesn't seem like it was filmed immediately following the first. Or to put it another way, what proof is there that the one sequence immediately followed or preceded the other? We have two incidents captured on different cameras -- and I have seen nothing definitive that says which one came first. It's possible and quite likely the two sequences were filmed on the same day (Lee is wearing the same clothing), but again I saw no definitive proof. One website that posted the two videos edited together even put its name on the footage -- how do we not know they're not trying to edit a story that didn't happen?
As noted D’Avanzo, 40, was busted after she visited Mary Bratti, 38, on Amboy Road in Tottenville about 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday. During an argument, she punched Mary Bratti, a former chef, in the face and ran off, police said. The reality television star later surrendered at the 123rd Precinct stationhouse and was charged with misdemeanor assault.

Anyway what's amazing is how Lee can just stand there while his wife engages the woman in a fistfight, apparently over a parking spot. Also, exactly who is Lee speaking to on his cellphone the whole time? (Don't know what you all think, but it isn't at all clear to me who threw the first punch. Drita seems to duck, then launch...)

Fast forward about 25 seconds to see fight footage, which is, quite annoyingly, looped...
And, hey, since I am posting fight videos, here's an amazing fight from season one between Drita and Karen (unedited). You'd have to be pretty ballsy to be a chick and fight Drita, she's definitely willing to go mad-dog crazy when it comes to throwing down -- she'll go at the drop of a dime.....

Footage of Drita D'Avanzo Fight, Before & After

In the above video, a woman is clearly taunting Lee and Drita D'Avanzo, with Drita apparently screaming in the background. (Note: we don't see what happened prior to the beginning of the filming.)

Then, reportedly a few moments after the above was filmed, the fight took place, with a next-door neighbor filming it. (See fight video on jump page, at end of story.) I, for one, have problems with this scenario. These videos were clearly filmed separately, and in one version, not posted here, they were fused together in the sequence I described, with the above video comprising part one.

The problem is the second part doesn't seem like it was filmed immediately following the first. Or to put it another way, what proof is there that the one sequence immediately followed or preceded the other? We have two incidents captured on different cameras -- and I have seen nothing definitive that says which one came first. It's possible and quite likely the two sequences were filmed on the same day (Lee is wearing the same clothing), but again I saw no definitive proof. One website that posted the two videos edited together even put its name on the footage -- how do we not know they're not trying to edit a story that didn't happen?
As noted D’Avanzo, 40, was busted after she visited Mary Bratti, 38, on Amboy Road in Tottenville about 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday. During an argument, she punched Mary Bratti, a former chef, in the face and ran off, police said. The reality television star later surrendered at the 123rd Precinct stationhouse and was charged with misdemeanor assault.

Anyway what's amazing is how Lee can just stand there while his wife engages the woman in a fistfight, apparently over a parking spot. Also, exactly who is Lee speaking to on his cellphone the whole time? (Don't know what you all think, but it isn't at all clear to me who threw the first punch. Drita seems to duck, then launch...)

Fast forward about 25 seconds to see fight footage, which is, quite annoyingly, looped...

Longtime Bonanno Santora Faces Trial of His Life

Nicky Mouth's 2012 arrest by federal agents.
What is most amazing about reputed capo/former underboss Nicholas "Nicky Mouth" Santora -- whose criminal roots go back to the 1960s and whose mob career included years in Greenpoint's Motion Lounge social club during the FBI's 1970s Donnie Brasco infiltration of the Bonanno crime family -- is the fact that he's still alive and a power in gangland.

At least he was a power on the street until his 2012 arrest by federal agents in an unrelated case. In 2013, he copped to a federal extortion charge in Brooklyn and was sentenced to 20 (or 30, reports disagree) months in prison. He was serving that sentence in the Federal Correctional Institution in Loretto, Pa., when he was indicted in 2013 along with his alleged crew, which consisted of associates and soldiers, by Manhattan's DA, Cyrus Vance. (See actual indictment, which is 158-pages long and can be saved as a PDF.)

Santora didn't bite when he was offered a plea agreement in the Manhattan case. Reputed Bonanno associates Dominick Siano, Nicholas Bernhard, Scott O'Neil, Anthony Urban and Richard Sinde, originally part of this case, signed plea agreements; interestingly they also were permitted bail following their 2013 arrests in a sweep.



The three mobsters now on trial with Santora were not granted bail. Prosecutors described Santora's fellow defendants as Bonanno family soldiers. Their names: Ernest Aiello, 36; Vito Badamo, 53; and Anthony Santoro, 52.

And despite his has-been brokester reputation Santora was something of a mob innovator (or at least he was smart or fortunate enough to have an innovative guy or two under him), according to prosecutors.Santora and members of his Bonanno crime family crew reportedly developed some novel tweaks to the mob's old-school systemic rackets. For example, prosecutors highlighted how Nicky Mouth's crew had formulated new methods for earning that relied less on violence.Violence, or the lack thereof, could be a key hurdle for Manhattan prosecutors in the courtroom in this case, as the indictment doesn't include a single murder. Prosecutors will recall Vincent Asaro's fresh acquittal on racketeering and other charges, including an alleged vicious murder committed with a dog chain used as a garrote.
Asaro and Nicky Mouth also are somewhat close to the same age, 80 and 73, respectively, and some pundits believe age was a likely key factor contributing to Asaro's getting off.

The Santora case also is somewhat reminiscent of the one Philly acting boss Joseph "Uncle Joe" Ligambi faced. On May 23, 2011, Ligambi and others were arrested by the FBI and held without bail on racketeering, loan sharking and gambling-related charges. Nearly three years later, on January 28, 2014, Ligambi was released from prison after two mistrials.

A unanimous verdict against Ligambi proved elusive for two different juries. That case was viewed by many as a steroid-infused nickel-and-dime gambling charge. It also had no murders attached to it, which may have been an important factor among the jurors in deciding (or failing to decide) that case.

Defendants "Skinny" Santoro, Vito Badamo, and Ernest Aiello in Manhattan Criminal Court on July 9, 2013.
Asaro and Ligambi also benefited from jurors failing to believe government turncoat witnesses. Asaro's included a parade of government witnesses, including the prosecutors' most important turncoat in the Asaro trial, Gaspare Valenti. An Asaro relation, he was ultimately viewed as flawed and was probably a liability. There was an especially strong sense that Valenti was seeking a nice payday from the government rather than justice against the Mafia.

As for Uncle Joe's case, jurors from one of the trials had problems with at least one witness. In fact jurors reportedly were quoted saying that they found Louis "Bent Finger Lou" Monacello especially troubling to believe because while testifying he evidenced clear bitterness towards his cohorts in crime from the witness stand.
Truth is, many mob cases in recent years have not been the clear cut unparalleled successes that prosecutors such as New York's Rudolph Giuliani achieved against the Mafia in the huge RICO victories of the 1980s and 1990s.

In some instances, particularly the trials of Joel "Joe Waverly" Cacace and Thomas "Tommy Shots" Gioeli (both longtime Colombo members who'd held top slots in the hierarchy for years), the mobsters were acquitted by jurors of top-count murder charges, but were found guilty on conspiracy and / or lesser charges, allowing federal judges to impose draconian sentences anyway. Since many of these wiseguys are also oldfellas, chances are strong that they will die in prison.

Manhattan DA Showing up Fed's?Santora and others were charged only two weeks after the New York FBI office had, for the third time, reduced its number of agents working organized crime, the New York Times reported, noting that the decision to implement the LCN cutbacks was due to heightened threats posed by cybercrimes and global terrorism

The total remaining FBI agents investigating the Mob adds up to roughly three dozen, according to the Times sources, who are facing the entire New York Mafia "some 700 so-called made members and 7,000 associates." Back in 2008, there was — and had been for decades — a separate squad of 10 to 20 agents devoted to each crime family.

When announcing his indictment, New York County District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr. noted that "Today’s indictment is the absolute heartland of what organized crime prosecutions are about – prosecuting in one fell swoop the diversified rackets of organized crime families.
“The charges against this Bonanno crew and their captain, Nicholas Santora, make clear that traditional organized crime refuses to go away. ...."

Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly said: “The organized crime activity described in the indictment is as old as the Bonnano crime family, and as relatively new as on-line betting and trafficking in highly addictive Oxycodone. Either way, it’s corrosive to society and lines the pockets of those who use or sanction violence to enrich themselves....."

Prosecutors said Santora's crew ran a multimillion-dollar Costa Rican-based online sports betting operation. Some were recorded planning to sell hundreds of thousands of pills (at $5 a pop) to treat pain (oxycodone) and erectile dysfunction (Viagra). Other charges include running a loan-sharking business.

In a 2014 courtroom proceeding, recordings were played. In one, Santora told Vito Badamo, who he allegedly was grooming, to quit "acting like a clown."

"You gotta start conducting yourself in a certain way, you understand?" Santora added.

"When I leave, you're going to take over this neighborhood — you got to know how, what the f--k you're doing," the then-71-year-old capo added.

"Acting like a clown — those days are over," Santora said. "You gotta act like you're supposed to act. You understand?"

Santora's dressing down is interesting and even somewhat comical. All this talk of acting appropriately, etc., comes from a mobster who showed up at a sitdown clutching a pillow.

At the sitdown, at Tony's Pizzeria in Corona, Queens, Santora represent mob associate Joseph Galante, Jr. in a sitdown over a $30,000 debt. Galante owed that amount to a mortgage broker. The associate had flipped and was secretly recording the sitdown.

Santora, who admitted his presence was intended to enforce the threat of violence to support whatever was decided at the meeting, had undergone heart bypass surgery shortly before the sitdown. Holding the pillow tightly to his chest helped relieve his pain. Or so he said.
The longtime gangster was also caught on a wire saying ostensibly incriminating statements to Bernhard, the president of Local 917 in the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.

Santora had said he'd "put two holes in the head" of a crime family enemy. (Wonder who that could be....)
Santora's roughly two-dozen arrests, a rap sheet that dates back to 1966, and his most recent federal conviction in which he's serving 24 months in prison for extortion also were spotlighted.Santora's attorney, Michael Alber, at the time expressed his intent to argue that "double jeopardy" applied in the DA's case — since Santora was already charged in federal court for the alleged crimes. He also said Santora was in prison during the time when some of the newer alleged mob activity occurred.


Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance announcing indictment.
Low-key enterprise corruption case
Specifically, Santora, sometimes called "Nicky Cigars," and the others are on trial for enterprise corruption, the state's version of the RICO act.

Prosecutors said the evidence included recordings (of telephone calls as well as 10 months' worth of discussions inside Santora’s car) and testimony from at least two former members of the Bonanno family. One reportedly is James Tartaglione. As noted, Joseph Massino is likely the other. 
Still, press reports haven't named the second witness. In fact this trial hasn't generated a fraction of the attention the Asaro case did. This could mean the media, including wire services, overall, are less fascinated by a mob figure whose only claim to fame was his association with Donnie Brasco. Another potential contributing factor to this lack of coverage: Manhattan prosecutors are perhaps not leaking as much information to reporters. Perhaps, still stung by Asaro, they are looking for this to play out as a low-key trial. However, Asaro was on federal trial. While Nicky Mouth was arrested by federal agents, including the DEA, his trial is playing out in Manhattan.
Other points prosecutors say they will prove:Santora ran a tight ship, collecting a portion of all the proceeds from criminal activities in which his underlings were involved. (Which is exactly how Cosa Nostra is supposed to work.) Santora was proactive, stepping in to settle disputes. 
Santora also seems to have engendered an extremely loyal crew. According to the DA, his crew is protecting him as much as possible.

“One of the most important rules of the enterprise was to protect the members at the top from criminal liability,”one prosecutor said. This seems to hold true more for Santora than it did for Joseph "Big Joey" Massino, whose own brother-in-law flipped on him, as well as a legion of turncoats. One of them told me he believes that, during the end of Massino's reign, he'd been calling in his guys a lot more often than was usual. My source thought Massino may have been preparing for a sort of housecleaning. Now he says he believes Massino may have foreseen the possibility of losing at trial and was looking to accumulate intel he could use as bargaining chips.

Defense lawyers said their clients had been unfairly targeted by aggressive law enforcement agencies desperate for a major bust.

They described the case as an amalgamation of several small crimes committed by separate individuals that had been deliberately linked to Santora, including an Internet gambling site in the Bronx and a loan-sharking business run by two officials at Long Island's Teamsters Local 917, which represents beer truck drivers.

“The cops got it in their heads the Bonanno organized crime family was involved,” Adam Konta, Santoro's lawyer said. “They were like children who couldn’t accept a puzzle piece not fitting, so they smashed it until it was close enough.”

Santora’s lawyer, Michael Alber, said the evidence the police had amassed through months of wiretaps and recorded conversations amounted to “snippets, distorted and out of context."

The recordings, he added, failed to even prove that Santora was associated with the loan-sharking and gambling operations.

“It will be crystal clear at the end of the trial that you will have every reason to doubt Mr. Santora’s involvement in this case,” Alber said

One witness against Mr. Santora will be James Tartaglione, a onetime Bonanno family captain flipped in 2003. He was supposedly made into the Mafia with Santora in the same ceremony.

Joseph "Big Joey" Massino is likely also testifying. The scant coverage hasn't identified him specifically, and Nicky Mouth's fate likely will be decided by the formerly venerated mob boss.

Massino "Key" in Manhattan Bonanno Trial?

From Left, Vito Badamo, Anthony Santoro, Ernest Aiello, Nicholas Santora.

REVISED:
On the heels of longtime Bonanno mobster Vinny Asaro's stunning acquittal in Brooklyn last November, federal prosecutors this past week rolled out the long-brewing enterprise corruption trial of Bonanno capo Nicholas “Nicky Mouth” Santora and three crew members in Manhattan Supreme Court.

And it seems that none other than Joseph "Big Joey" Massino is the prosecution's star witness. According to defense attorneys, he fits the description of the "key" turncoat, who reportedly had seven kills under his prodigious belt. The former Bonanno family's official boss faced seven murder charges. It also makes sense that it'd be Massino considering the lead defendant, Nicky Santora, has held a leadership role since the 1970s. Who else would have the institutional knowledge to finally pin enough on Nicky Mouth to possibly put him away for the rest of his life (and faced seven murder charges)?

I'm digging into this in a follow-up but Massino doesn't seem to have done much on the witness stand to justify the Fed's allowing him to flip in the first place. He's failed lie detector tests and has made some bizarre statements on the witness stand, some having to do with the Donnie Brasco fallout. In the 1970s, an associate in former capo Dominick "Sonny Black" Napolitano's crew was identified as FBI agent Joe Pistone. Shortly afterward Sonny Black and Anthony "Tony" Mirra were reportedly slain over Brasco, only Massino later said they weren't.


As for the Manhattan trial unfolding, Santora and others were arrested back in July 2013, having been indicted for a slew of mob crimes. Murder, however, is not one of them.

Of the original number arrested, only Santora, Anthony “Skinny” Santoro, Vito Badamo and Ernest Aiello are on trial.Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., unveiled the indictment, noting that it followed a two-year investigation into the Bonanno crew's $10 million infiltration of a labor union as well as the usual wiseguy slew of charges: extortion, loan sharking, gambling, selling prescription drugs ranging from oxycodone painkillers to Viagra, as well as perjury and possession of firearms.

One year later the defendants rejected a plea deal. Santora's agreement included the longest prison stint. For copping to the enterprise corruption charge,  he would have been sentenced to 7 to 21 years behind bars.  “Skinny” Santoro was offered the next-longest term of  9-to-18 years.
"Skinny" Santoro's attorney said of the offer: “It’s ridiculous, it was a non-violent gambling offense."
Santora's lawyer, Michael Alber, said: “There’s absolutely no way he’s taking that disposition. He’s not involved in enterprise corruption. The prosecution is seeking to link people who don’t even recognize each other except when they come to court.”

They each face a maximum of up to 25 years behind bars for their alleged participation in a range of criminal activities.
Belinda Rossetti, Santora's ex-girlfriend. 

The defense came out swinging, arguing that the prosecutor's key witness was a mobster who'd killed numerous people, whereas none of the four facing charges had ever murdered anyone.
Turncoat James Tartaglione was incorrectly identified as the witness in question. This was based on an incorrect interpretation of source material.

It seems defense attorneys are naming Bonanno boss Joe Massino as the "key witness".

Adam Konta, "Skinny" Santoro's lawyer, noted that told jurors the District Attorney's office had chased down alleged gangsters who never killed anyone.

"Mr. Santoro did not make anyone 'sleep with the fishes,' " he said, quoting an often-quoted expression from The Godfather film.

Nicky Mouth, 73, now gets around via wheelchair.

"Nicky Mouth" Bonanno Trial Begins in Manhattan

From Left, Vito Badamo, Anthony Santoro, Ernest Aiello, Nicholas Santora.

On the heels of longtime Bonanno mobster Vinny Asaro's stunning acquittal in Brooklyn last November, federal prosecutors this past week rolled out the long-brewing enterprise corruption trial of Bonanno capo Nicholas “Nicky Mouth” Santora and three crew members in Manhattan Supreme Court.

Santora and others were arrested back in July 2013, having been indicted for a slew of mob crimes. Murder, however, is not one of them.

Of the original number arrested, only Santoro, Santora, Vito Badamo and Ernest Aiello are now on trial.

Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., unveiled the indictment, noting that it followed a two-year investigation into the Bonanno crew's $10 million infiltration of a labor union as well as the usual wiseguy slew of charges: extortion, loan sharking, gambling, selling prescription drugs ranging from oxycodone painkillers to Viagra, as well as perjury and possession of firearms.

One year later the defendants rejected a plea deal. Santora's agreement included the longest prison stint. For copping to the enterprise corruption charge,  he would have been sentenced to 7 to 21 years behind bars. Anthony “Skinny” Santoro was offered the next-longest term of  9-to-18 years.
"Skinny" Santoro's attorney said of the offer: “It’s ridiculous, it was a non-violent gambling offense."
Santora's lawyer, Michael Alber, said: “There’s absolutely no way he’s taking that disposition. He’s not involved in enterprise corruption. The prosecution is seeking to link people who don’t even recognize each other except when they come to court.”

They each face a maximum of up to 25 years behind bars for their alleged participation in a range of criminal activities.
Belinda Rossetti, Santora's ex-girlfriend. 

The defense came out swinging, arguing that the prosecutor's key witness was a mobster who'd killed numerous people, whereas none of the four facing charges had ever murdered anyone.
Turncoat James Tartaglione killed seven, a lawyer for one defendant said Tuesday when the trial, slated to last for two months, commenced. The defense strategy of attacking the "rat" has been used for decades; it has been gaining momentum as a strategy in recent years for the simple reason that it's proven to be quite effective.

Adam Konta, "Skinny" Santoro's lawyer, noted that told jurors the District Attorney's office had chased down alleged gangsters who never killed anyone.

"Mr. Santoro did not make anyone 'sleep with the fishes,' " he said, quoting an often-quoted expression from The Godfather film.

Nicky Mouth, 73, now gets around via wheelchair.

Alleged Mobster "Took Pleasure in Fear of Others"

Alleged mobster Paul Carparelli (see him above in 2010 photo looking all wacky) wants a button in the Chicago Outfit -- probably as much as I want a full-time job with benefits.

And most likely Paul will attain his goal before me... 

Last week, he was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison, as the Chicago Tribune reported.

The investigation that nabbed Carparelli has already resulted in prison sentences for several of his associates, including Robert McManus, who received five years; Michael “Mickey” Davis, four years; Frank Orlando, 46 months; and Vito Iozzo, 38 months.

Carparelli, of Itasca, was arrested July 23, 2013, as he drove up to his home. He was later found to have had cocaine in his blood, but that didn't stop him from driving around with his son, according to the Feds, who also discovered two pistols and $175,000 in cash in the Carparelli residence.

A lieutenant under the reputed acting boss of the Chicago Outfit, Salvatore "Solly D" DeLaurentis, Carparelli pleaded guilty last May to five counts based on a racketeering scheme that involved extorting deadbeat businessmen around the country.

U.S. District Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman told Carparelli that, based on the hundreds of hours of undercover recordings taken by the FBI, the young burly mobster "took pleasure in the fear and discomfort of others."

She added: "These are crimes of violence, sir, not just of poor decision-making. The public safety is at risk." Carparelli stood before her clad in his prison-issued orange jumpsuit and sporting a pair of ankle shackles.

According to the Trib:

Carparelli, 47, choked up as he apologized for his actions. He asked the judge for a moment to compose himself as he talked about embarrassing his young son. Carparelli said he's come to realize since his arrest in 2013 that he has "anger issues" and often can't control thoughts that "go straight from my brain to my mouth." (I may get that job before he gets his button after all. If the Outfit straightens out a whining bitch I'd be more than surprised.)

"Sometimes it seems like the anger wells up inside me," he said. "In short, my big mouth gets me into trouble."

Despite her strong rhetoric, the Judge was nowhere near as harsh in her sentencing. At least according to seemingly pitiless prosecutors who eagerly sought an 11-year sentence for the beefy young wiseguy, arguing that Carparelli was looking to rise in the ranks after several of the Cicero crew's bosses were removed from the street courtesy of law enforcement.

Including his time-served credit, he should be back on the street in two years.

Longtime Outfit associate Davis, sentenced to four years in prison.

From 2011 to 2013, the government recorded dozens of conversations between Carparelli and the man Carparelli incorrectly considered his top enforcer, George Brown. Brown weighed 300 pounds and worked as a union bodyguard. He reportedly specialized in mixed martial arts fighting.

He also was secretly cooperating with the FBI..

Topics of discussion recorded by the Feds included such mob mainstays as extortion, contract beatings, and debt collections.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Heather McShain played excerpts in court.

In one meeting, Carparelli laughed as Brown described a beating he supposedly administered based on Carparelli's order. (The beating never took place because Brown was working for Uncle Sam and is not allowed to commit acts of violence on the street, etc.)


Brown: "They said they really did a number on his ribs. They are guaranteeing me that something broke."

Carparelli: Good.

In one case, Carparelli played a behind-the-scenes role in an Appleton, Wis., plot involving a businessman drowning in about $100,000 worth of debt.

In a Fuddruckers restaurant (wow, didn't know Fuddruckers was still around; they made an excellent burger), Brown and two other mobsters threatened the owner, who was willing to hand over the ownership papers to his special-edition Ford Mustang as a down payment.

According to the Trib:

Asked where the car could be found, the victim was "shaking and stuttering" so badly that one of the enforcers grabbed his driver's license and wrote the address down himself, prosecutors said. At a 2014 trial in Chicago, the victim had trouble reading the complaint he had filed with police, telling jurors he was still shaking when he filled it out and that his handwriting was almost illegible.

Carparelli also was nabbed on a surveillance video arranging for a suburban car dealership owner to get a beating. The dealer had failed to pay back a $300,000 loan.

Longtime Outfit associate Michael "Mickey" Davis, whose roots extend back to Peter and John DiFronzo, as well as the Outfit's current acting boss, "Solly D" DeLaurentis (whom Davis served as an occasional driver and bodyguard), loaned a businessman from Melrose Park the $300,000. The man wanted to fund a used-car dealership. The problem was the businessman wasn't making payments. Davis, quite naturally, was getting angry, with his fury probably exponentially rising with each missed payment. Eventually, using a go-between, he'd paid Carparelli $10,000 to put together a crew to beat the deadbeat and break his legs.

Davis was convicted of extortion for threatening the deadbeat car dealership owner. Apparently "Mickey" Davis indirectly brought in Carparelli and his goons to dole out a serious bone-crunching beating.

According to court testimony, Davis threatened the victim in January 2013 at a Melrose Park used car dealership.
"How are your wife and kids doing? Are you still living in Park Ridge?" prosecutors said Davis asked the man. "Does your wife still own that salon in Schaumburg?"

Davis, 58, faced up to 20 years in prison on each count; as noted above, he got far less time, too.

Davis' trial featured some of the biggest names from the recent Outfit, including the DiFronzo brothers and DeLaurentis, all of whom formerly held top positions in the Oufit's notorious Elmwood Park crew.

The old bosses weren't charged in the case but they might as well have been considering the array of photographs and the highlighting of their names before the jury.

R.J. Serpico, the car dealership owner on Davis's hook for big-time money, testified that he knew how close Davis had been to the DiFronzo brothers, noting that he occasionally noticed DiFronzo's black Cadillac Escalade -- with Davis and Peter DiFronzo inside -- driving by his Ideal Motors dealership.

Serpico, a nephew of longtime Melrose Park Mayor Ronald Serpico, said he also had heard that Davis was tied closely to DeLaurentis, a feared capo convicted in the 1990s of racketeering conspiracy in connection with Ernest Rocco Infelice's violent gambling crew.

Outfit acting boss Salvatore "Solly D" DeLaurentis
Prosecutors allege that within months of the ominous January 2013 confrontation at Ideal Motors, Davis ordered the brutal beating. This is where Carparelli comes in. Davis used as a go-between "the owner of a well-known Italian restaurant in Burr Ridge." Carparelli, according to Davis trial testimony, hired a team to carry out the beating for $10,000. Only there was one big, fat monkey in the wrench, however: the beefy union bodyguard tasked with coordinating the assault.

George Brown, had been nabbed months earlier in an unrelated extortion plot. As noted, he was secretly cooperating with the FBI.

In July 2013, agents swooped in to stop the beating before it was carried out, court records showDavis was sentenced to four years in prison for ordering the violent assault that a turncoat helped stop by tipping off the FBI.

"These kind of people are — they are ruthless," Serpico testified. "And they're going to do whatever they can to get their money."

Mob Wife Drita D'Avanzo Arrested for Beating Chef

Drita D'Avanzo
UPDATE #2: Drita D'Avanzo, a cast member of VH1's Mob Wives, was arrested on Tuesday, the NYPD confirmed.

Reportedly, she had engaged in a "verbal dispute" with a woman on Staten Island. D'Avanzo "attacked" the woman and punched her repeatedly, then fled, police said.

Of course "the woman" -- a former chef on Staten Island -- wants money before she'll even respond to press inquiries.... 

And it seems she found a buyer! See below for details....how much do they apparently pay, I wonder...
The Albanian firecracker and mother of two was later arrested and taken to the precinct and processed.

The Daily News reported that D’Avanzo, 40, was busted after she visited Mary Bratti, 38, on Amboy Road in Tottenville about 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday.

"During an argument, she punched Bratti, a chef, in the face and ran off, police said.

"The reality television star later surrendered at the 123rd Precinct stationhouse and was charged with misdemeanor assault."

She was given a desk appearance ticket and sent home, cops said. She is due in court on March 9.

D’Avanzo is the wife of Lee D’Avanzo, a mob-affiliated bank robber who served two prison stints.

As for Bratti, the Staten Island Live reported that Bratti is a former chef at Staten Island's St. George Italian restaurant Enoteca Maria, a "convivial trattoria featuring homestyle Italian cuisine & fine wines in an intimate brick interior."

Reached for comment Wednesday, Bratti asked if the Advance would pay money for information on the case. When the answer was no, she had no comment.

Then, later today, TMZ reported:

The woman who was allegedly attacked by "Mob Wives" star Drita D'Avanzo says her family is now living in fear, terrified of Drita and her husband Lee. 

Mary Bratti has provided TMZ with the full video of her and Drita exchanging blows on Tuesday. Bratti tells us the brawl got so heated she later passed out from pain, and a CT scan at the hospital revealed a minor concussion. 

We're told the fight started over a parking spot -- Bratti says Lee D'Avanzo frequently uses her reserved spot outside her home. She also claims he's been harassing her since the fight. Bratti plans to request an order of protection, and she's having home security cameras installed. 

Lee is an alleged mob associate (hence Drita's TV gig) who's done time for bank robberies and other crimes. 

We've reached out to Drita, but no word back.

Apparently the VH1 reality show gets so heated, some cast members reportedly have refused to work with Drita. In fact, bodyguards were hired in case a fight broke out, sources have said.


Developing .....

No Respect for Merlino: "Corrupt and Dead" Director

This trailer packs a wallop...


Tigre Hill's new documentary on organized crime features real-life South Philly wiseguys, including Joseph "Uncle Joe" Ligambi, Joseph "Skinny Joey" Merlino and Angelo Bruno.

On Feb. 2, the "Shame of a City" and "Barrel of a Gun" director released the trailer for "The Corrupt and The Dead," his latest film.

Hill described the forthcoming documentary as focusing on the detrimental effect of organized crime on society, as well as its impact on the economies of its host cities. The film covers the mob's influence in cities across the country, but tightens its focus specifically on the mob's impact on Hill's native city of Philadelphia, Philly.com noted.
"Philly was so unique," Hill said, "even the Mafia was saying, 'What the f--k is going on in Philly?'"

The film bookends with Philly elite, beginning with Salvatore Sabella, who Hill claims is the first known Sicilian Mafia boss in Philly, and it concludes with Merlino's fall.

"A lot of old mobsters have no respect for Merlino," Hill said, "Not that they're worthy of respect."

Cop Joined Violent Albanian Crew, Will Pay Piper

Former NYPD officer/Albanian thug Besnik Llakatura during his 2013 arrest.

The NYPD Officer who copped to a guilty plea last December over his involvement in an Albanian crime ring focused on shaking down a couple of Queens-based business owners faces sentencing later this month.

Besnik Llakatura would have faced life in prison, but federal sentencing guidelines limit his term to anywhere from 12 years and nine months to 14 years and three  months. Brooklyn Federal Judge Eric Vitaliano is slated to pronounce the man's fate on Feb. 26.  Since his December 2013 arrest on extortion and gun-brandishing charges, Llakatura, 36, has been suspended without pay.

"Through his participation in these extortion schemes, Besnik Llakatura turned his back on his badge and his community, choosing [to] break the laws he was sworn to uphold, rather than enforce them, and to thereafter extort members of the community he had sworn to protect," U.S. Attorney Robert Capers said in a statement.



Restaurant Owner Opened in "Their" NeighborhoodVictims of the groups scams included the owner of an Astoria, Queens-based restaurant, as well as a nightclub proprietor.

Speaking of which, where's the Mafia in all this? Are various ethnic groups now planting their flags wherever they want and doing whatever they want? Or are there some covert agreements in place? I started writing this story wondering if I'd stumble, eventually, upon a member of one of the fabled five. I didn't. And this Albanian group, which likely has other crews operating here, unlike other Albanian groups, is based in Albania.
The scheme commenced in 2013, when Llakatura's two associates, Albanian thugs Redinel Dervishaj and Denis Nikolla, visited a newly opened Astoria restaurant -- and not to taste the cuisine.

Rather, they told the owner to pay them $4,000 for daring to open his eatery in "their" neighborhood.

By the time the two hoods showed up, the restaurant owner had befriended Llakatura, the cop. The businessman sought advice from his new pal who was, after all, one of New York's finest, only to be told  that one of the two thugs, Devishaj, would hurt him if he didn't pay up -- and that calling the police would only make the situation worse.

The business owner nevertheless wasn't so quick to hand over the cash. He first needed to be chased down the street by a gun-wielding Nikolla. From then on, the man paid, allowing the three Albanians hoods to split and pocket their third of the $24,000 total paid over six months. 
Llakatura's role in the scam -- befriending and advising the marks to pay up -- was uncovered based on wiretapped evidence from Nikolla and Dervishaj's phones.
Redinel Dervishaj  (U.S. Marshals)
In the other scam, the one related to the social club (which may have been a nightclub, based on other references I found), Nikolla and Dervishaj demanded $1,000 a week from the owner. 
The club owner was threatened by Dervishaj who apparently thought he had something in common with The Godfather part two's young version of Vito Corleone. The Albanian hood told the proprietor to "ask around" about him. 
The club owner consulted his new blueblood friend, who told him that Dervishaj was a "bad guy," who "run[s] Astoria" and could hurt the club owner's family members in both the U.S. and Albania.

Still, the club owner didn't take the advice, and hid out, then fled the country.

Soon enough Llakatura broke his cover, according to prosecutors, by joining Nikolla and Dervishaj in beating then holding a gun on one of the club owner's friends, demanding to know the mark's whereabouts.

Llakatura has been a cop since 2006, and was also accused of placing a GPS device on the car of his mistress, whom he also stalked, as well as threatened -- he threatened her family as well, though that charge was dropped as per Llakatura's plea deal.

The ex-cop wasn't lying about Redinel Dervishaj being bad (he seems quite evil, actually). This hoodlum murdered a man on the evening of his engagement and is the brother of a man wanted for founding an Albanian organized crime ring based in Albania that operated in the U.S. to some extent.

In 2012, Dervishaj fatally stabbed a groom-to-be outside a Staten Island restaurant, escaping the law's wrath with claims that the homicide stemmed from self-defense.


Anthony Lacertosa was murdered. With his then-fiancee Bridgette Schneider.

The Staten Island District Attorney's office dropped criminal charges against the Albanian after he killed Antonio Lacertosa. It was the evening that Lacertosa and others were celebrating his engagement. Redinal Dervishaj, said to be "a reputed gangster," fled for Chicago. When he was arrested there, he claimed self defense, and a surveillance video apparently backed his claim.

See video described as part one:



Unedited versions of the two videos are available here, and here -- some readers may consider them quite graphic.


Noted the gothamist:

Lacertosa, fiancee Bridgette Schneider, his brothers and their friends had been out celebrating the engagement on March 16; they ended up at España Restaurant for celebratory drinks around midnight. Two of the brothers were allegedly kicked out (possibly for drunkenness), and they retaliated by urinating on the side of the restaurant. A fight started with restaurant workers—manager Ridi Zeneli allegedly tried to shoot at them, but his gun's trigger jammed. A cop who saw surveillance video said, "The video was like a WWF Royal Rumble...People were being tossed on top of cars; it was crazy."



The Staten Island Advance noted of the video footage:

[Zeneli and Dervishaj, who were intending on closing the restaurant] approach the group, and within a few minutes the physical altercation begins, with one man shoving another—it's unclear from the video who those men are. Within seconds, the men are involved in a large fist fight. 

Dervishaj gets sent tumbling over the hood of a car parked in front of the restaurant. He quickly gets back onto his feet, hopping a bit before taking off. He runs into the alley of the restaurant. 

The camera in the alley shows Dervishaj stopping at the passenger side of the truck in which he arrived. But he is unable to open the door, so he keeps running, disappearing from the frame. 

Five men, including Lacertosa, follow in pursuit... Dervishaj and the men who followed him disappear from the video, and the stabbing happens out of the camera's view. 

Moments later, Lacertosa walks back into the alley. He opens his suit jacket and looks down at his torso, where he had been stabbed. He walks to the edge of the alley before he collapses. 

As Lacertosa falls to the ground and a few friends rush to help, Dervishaj and Zeneli re-enter the frame in the back of the alley—Dervishaj with a knife visible in his hand. A woman and two men approach them—one of the men identified by sources as the Port Authority police officer. 

Apparently Lacertosa's brother-in-law, Paul Como, is a Port Authority officer and is being investigated for his role in the incident. Also: "The video shows a large group of party-goers standing in front of the restaurant on the sidewalk, while a large white SUV limousine idles nearby. It appears that a man is urinating between two parked cars -- Reilly and law enforcement sources alike have identified that man as a Port Authority police officer."

Redinal Dervishaj Shot in 2007 Gunfight

He was shot in 2007 during a gun battle after he and an associate stopped by a Ridgewood, Queens house to collect a debt "for the mob." Apparently, the mob here actually was an organized crime ring formed by Dervishaj's brother Plaurenti, who remains among the world's most-wanted fugitives.

His picture can be viewed on the FBI's wanted list, as well as Interpol for four murders and his alleged role in founding the Albanian gang.

His Interpol profile notes:

Believed to be in: Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, Turkey, Serbia, United States

Wanted for: Premeditated homicide, illegal manufacturing and keeping military weapons and ammunition, criminal organizations

Wanted by: Albania

Case details: DERVISHAJ is believed to have been a leading member of a former Albanian organized crime organization in Durres, Albania. In October 1998 DERVISHAJ, along with three accomplices, is accused of murdering a rival gang member and wounding two others. In continuous conflict with rival criminal organizations in Albania, DERVISHAJ and accomplices carried out a series of attacks, including one with an anti-tank weapon.

Plaurent Dervishaj, wanted Albanian "Godfather" 


DERVISHAJ speaks Albanian and English. He is considered armed, dangerous and violent.