Joe Bruno on the Mob – Anthony Graziano is Not Angry Anymore With His "Mob Wives" Daughters
Even though his two daughters, Jennifer and Renee Graziano, are involved in the TV tell-all "Mob Wives," reputed Bonnano crime family captain Anthony Graziano feels like it all water under the bridge. And despite the fact that Renee's ex-husband Hector Pagan joined Team America and was instrumental in having Graziano arrested again, according to Graziano's lawyer Patrick Parrotta, everything in hunky-dory in the Graziano household.
Parrotta told the press at Graziano's arraignment in late January, "He (Graziano) does not hold what Hector did against his daughters."
And that's the way it should be. No matter what, blood is blood, and just because Pagan became a scumbag of the first order, does not mean Graziano's daughters should be held responsible. Children make mistakes, and if every time a daughter or son pissed off a father he stopped talking to them, there would be stone silence throughout the world.
Parrotta also brought up an interesting point in his interview with the New York Daily News. Despite the fact that Pagan began wearing a wire in August 2011, at the same time he was appearing in an episode of Mob Wives, Parrotta said he was unsure if the government directed Pagan to go on the show as a way of "cozying up to the Grazianos."
The more I think of it, the more it starts to make sense. I wouldn't put it past the Feds to do anything legal they deemed necessary to put someone connected with organized crime behind bars. And where ordering Pagan to infiltrate the Graziano's inner circle again is certainly legal, it still stinks to the high heavens.
Remember one thing for sure. High-profile arrests and convictions (and anyone associated with the Mafia is certainly high-profile) generates promotions and fame for the Feds — agents and prosecutors alike. And promotions mean more pay, and more pay means higher retirement benefits, or maybe a future in politics, or a future judgeship … and so forth and so on.
In the final analysis, it all comes down to cash and notoriety with the Feds. And putting away anyone whom the Feds perceive as "the bad guys," is just an added bonus.
The only problem with that is, what if the Feds think you or I, unjustifiably, are the bad guys? Would they stop at anything to put us in prison?
It's happened before that certain people were unjustly targeted by the law. Wall Street people were arrested in droves during Giuliani's reign as US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, only for it to emerge later that the charges against some of these people were dropped for lack of evidence. This was after these people were forced to do the embarrassing "perp walk" in front of the cameras.
Could the same thing happen to us?
I hope not. But I'm not so sure.
You can read the article below at:
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/bonan...
Bonanno big Anthony Graziano has a 'Mob Wives' daughter who was married to a rat, but gangster's chipper in court
Wiseguy faces extortion trial based on wire worn by daughter's ex-husband Hector Pagan
By John Marzulli / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Tuesday, January 31, 2012, 9:45 PM
HIS LIFE may be a soap opera, but a top Bonanno gangster whose daughters hit the big-time with the "Mob Wives" reality show was all smiles at his arraignment Tuesday.
Reputed capo Anthony (TG) Graziano pleaded not guilty to extortion charges based on secret tapes recorded last year by his turncoat ex-son-in-law Hector Pagan.
Pagan was married to Graziano's daughter Renee, who stars in the VH1 show conceived by her sister Jennifer.
Graziano, 71, waved to wife Veronica and daughter Lana, then greeted Brooklyn Magistrate Marilyn Go in court Tuesday.
"Good afternoon, ya honor," Graziano said.
"Can you talk a little louder, I'm deaf in one ear."
"You look pretty good," Go said.
"What I got left," Graziano said.
Graziano was arrested last November while serving the last few months of a prior conviction in a Brooklyn halfway house. He is also named in the indictment unsealed last week against acting boss Vincent (Vinny TV) Badalamenti and fellow capo Nicholas Santoro.
Graziano's lawyer Patrick Parrotta insisted all is well in the Graziano family despite Pagan's treachery.
"He does not hold what Hector did against his daughters," Parrotta said outside court.
The mobster's mouthpiece said reports that Graziano was upset about the TV show were old news.
"There's no estrangement, everybody's talking," Parrotta said.
While Graziano may be in plea negotiations, he would never ever consider cooperating with the government, Parrotta insisted.
Pagan began wearing a wire last August and also appeared in an episode of "Mob Wives" shot last summer, but Parrotta said he was unsure if the government directed him to go on the show as a way of cozying up to the Grazianos.
jmarzulli@nydailynews.com
