Copyright 2008 The New York Sun Wed, 18 Jun 2008 16:38:14 -0400 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Jerry Capeci :: Stories from The New York Sun http://www.nysun.com/authors/Jerry+Capeci istoll@nysun.com (Ira Stoll) webmaster@nysun.com en-us JERRY CAPECI http://www.nysun.com/new-york/feds-try-new-angle-to-get-junior-gotti/63969/ Thu, 4 Oct 2007 00:00:00 EST Coming soon to a courthouse near you: The John "Junior" Gotti Case — Take Four. Or is it Take Five? While the feds have dropped their efforts to prosecute the ex-Mafia boss one more time in the kidnap-shooting of Curtis Sliwa, they have a new plan to nail him for some other alleged mob violence, including a 24-year-old murder, Gang Land has learned. Law enforcement sources say the FBI and federal prosecutors have their sights set on the Junior Don in the 1983 slaying of Danny Silva, a... JERRY CAPECI http://www.nysun.com/new-york/preliminary-theatrics-in-fbi-murder-trial/63498/ Thu, 27 Sep 2007 00:00:00 EST Murder trials, even sensational cases filled with gut-wrenching testimony, usually begin slowly, with a staid jury selection process. The trial of a former FBI agent, R. Lindley DeVecchio, however, should be action-packed from the get-go. That's because the first order of business next week will be for the trial judge to decide whether mobster Gregory Scarpa Jr. — whose late father, Gregory Sr., was the exagent's informer and alleged accomplice in four murders — is a credible witness whose... JERRY CAPECI http://www.nysun.com/new-york/30-year-old-mob-tale-gets-new-spin/63076/ Thu, 20 Sep 2007 00:00:00 EST A storied 30-year-old mob murder case that was supposed to be clinched through the use of modern DNA testing is now in jeopardy of becoming just one more whodunit. Sophisticated FBI testing that was expected to put an accused mob hit man, Genovese capo Michael "Mikey Cigars" Coppola, at the scene of the Easter Sunday slaying of mob rival John "Johnny Cokes" Lardiere on April 10, 1977, has come up empty — or, as the test results would have it, way too full. According to the DNA tests, Mikey... JERRY CAPECI http://www.nysun.com/new-york/turncoat-turns-mob-justice-into-federal-justice/62533/ Thu, 13 Sep 2007 00:00:00 EST An imprisoned Colombo capo, John "Sonny" Franzese, should be beaming with pride right about now — assuming news has reached him about how three of his upand-coming mob underlings allegedly took speedy and fierce action last week when two shotguntoting, masked bandits robbed their high-stakes card game on Long Island. The next day, the angry trio are alleged to have armed themselves with handguns and confronted two card players they suspected of being involved in the brazen stickup. Mob justice... JERRY CAPECI http://www.nysun.com/new-york/prosecutors-murder-is-fbi-mans-bad/62046/ Thu, 6 Sep 2007 00:00:00 EST As if four murders weren't enough, Brooklyn prosecutors want to throw another mob hit at a former FBI agent, R. Lindley DeVecchio. And this time, the victim is a former Manhattan abortion doctor who was shot to death at his Queens home. Citing the murder as a "prior bad act" similar to the four slayings charged in the indictment, prosecutors have sought permission to introduce evidence of Mr. DeVecchio's alleged involvement in the 1980 rubout of Eliezer Shkolnik at the ex-agent's upcoming trial... JERRY CAPECI http://www.nysun.com/new-york/singing-scammer-to-audition-at-hearing/61623/ Thu, 30 Aug 2007 00:00:00 EST A turncoat stock swindler who had been primed to testify against John "Junior" Gotti Jr. two years ago — but was never called — is slated to be a witness against a rival Gambino mobster whom Gotti allegedly marked for death in the 1990s, Gang Land has learned. Salvatore Romano, a convicted scammer who fleeced more than $20 million from investors in "pump and dump" stock schemes, will take the stand against wiseguy John "Johnny G" Gammarano, a longtime foe of the Junior Don as well as his late... JERRY CAPECI http://www.nysun.com/new-york/alleged-fbi-hit-man-hit-banks-too-mobster-says/61145/ Thu, 23 Aug 2007 00:00:00 EST If the ongoing hearing is any indication, next month's long awaited trial of a former FBI supervisor, R. Lindley DeVecchio, is going to be a blockbuster event. Last week, for example, it was disclosed that a key prosecution witness would testify that Mr. DeVecchio served as a lookout/protector for a band of bank burglars headed by the late Gregory Scarpa Sr., a murderous mobster who was also an informer for the ex-FBI agent. The witness, Scarpa's son, Gregory Jr., says he was a member of his... JERRY CAPECI http://www.nysun.com/new-york/alleged-fbi-hit-man-sparks-cutthroat-rivalry/60193/ Thu, 9 Aug 2007 00:00:00 EST Ever since the Brooklyn district attorney accused a decorated FBI agent of helping his mob informant murder his rivals, there has been much bitter talk about the case. This week, Gang Land heard the worst yet: One insider was called "a slime bag." Another was accused of having "delusions of grandeur." A third had "radical mood swings." One was said to be so dangerous that the Department of Homeland Security had been notified about him. But the oddest thing about these nasty attacks is that none... JERRY CAPECI http://www.nysun.com/new-york/pyrrhic-victory-judge-grants-a-hearing-cancer/59691/ Thu, 2 Aug 2007 00:00:00 EST An ailing Colombo soldier, Joseph "Jo Jo" Russo, was on the verge of winning at least one little skirmish with the feds this week. The victory was going to taste sweet, coming as it did after Jo Jo's mostly losing 13-year battle to overturn a murder conviction because of allegedly corrupt activities by a scandal-tarred FBI agent. Citing his rapidly failing health, the imprisoned Russo, 53, had won an unusual hearing on a possible medical furlough as the court weighed a motion to dismiss his... JERRY CAPECI http://www.nysun.com/new-york/insult-to-fatal-injury-whacked-wiseguy-ends/59207/ Thu, 26 Jul 2007 00:00:00 EST Like ancient Indian burial grounds in a horror movie, mob graveyards have popped up all over town lately. Since 2004, law enforcement agents digging in backyards, vacant lots, and garages on Staten Island and in Queens and Brooklyn have unearthed the remains of a New York Post executive, two Bonanno capos, and the first murder victim of Mafia Cops Louis Eppolito and Stephen Caracappa. Now, the FBI has added a more unlikely location to the list: Potter's Field. Gang Land has learned that a team... JERRY CAPECI http://www.nysun.com/new-york/skinny-dom-seeks-mafia-cops-treatment/58731/ Thu, 19 Jul 2007 00:00:00 EST What's good for the Mafia Cops should also be good for an old-time wiseguy, Dominick "Skinny Dom" Pizzonia claims. The Gambino capo is looking for the same relief a maverick Brooklyn federal judge gave the murderous mob-cop tandem of Louis Eppolito and Stephen Caracappa last year when he reversed their murder convictions on statute of limitations grounds. Like the murders attributed to the ex-detectives, Pizzonia, 66, says, the 1992 slayings of a Bonnie & Clyde robbery team and a 1996 gambling... JERRY CAPECI http://www.nysun.com/new-york/where-theres-smoke-theres-pj-pisciotti/58287/ Thu, 12 Jul 2007 00:00:00 EST No matter which way he turns, the smoke keeps getting thicker around acting Bonanno capo Nicholas "P.J." Pisciotti. P.J. became a mob poster boy of sorts for Mayor Bloomberg's Smoke Free Air Act last year when Gang Land disclosed that he allegedly sent a rival crime family associate to the hospital in a bloody Little Italy brawl sparked by the associate, the manager of a Broome Street eatery, telling P.J. and his pals they shouldn't be lighting up inside his place. Pisciotti was scheduled for a... JERRY CAPECI http://www.nysun.com/new-york/indictment-lights-mikey-cigarss-fire/57890/ Thu, 5 Jul 2007 00:00:00 EST As Michael "Mikey Cigars" Coppola sweats out DNA tests that could mean an indictment for a 1977 mob hit, the feds have ratcheted up the pressure on him, his family, and his associates as they seek to tie him to a 2005 mob rubout, Gang Land has learned. Federal prosecutors have charged a longtime Genovese associate with providing the hideaway Mikey Cigars allegedly used to evade the law for 11 years — a condo on Manhattan's Upper West Side — in a new indictment that also raised the stakes for... JERRY CAPECI http://www.nysun.com/new-york/mob-scion-may-bolster-turncoat-case/57477/ Thu, 28 Jun 2007 00:00:00 EST The Brooklyn district attorney's office has taken a bold step to beef up its sensational case that charges a retired FBI agent, R. Lindley DeVecchio, with aiding a Colombo capo, Gregory Scarpa, in committing four murders between 1984 and 1992, Gang Land has learned. Sources say prosecutors plan to use a long-imprisoned mobster son of the late Scarpa, Gregory Scarpa Jr., to back up their key prosecution witness — Scarpa's longtime lover, Linda Schiro — regarding two mob rubouts the son was... JERRY CAPECI http://www.nysun.com/new-york/it-seemed-like-a-good-plea-at-the-time/57012/ Thu, 21 Jun 2007 00:00:00 EST One-time acting Genovese boss Liborio "Barney" Bellomo has to be kicking himself for taking what seemed like a sweet plea deal: about four years in prison for a host of racketeering charges, including a 1998 murder for which he once faced the death penalty. The deal looked a lot less attractive last Thursday, when the cagy gangster learned that the government's murder case had fallen apart and that prosecutors were concerned that he could win an outright acquittal. Barney got the news directly... JERRY CAPECI http://www.nysun.com/new-york/real-case-makes-point-in-sopranos/56550/ Thu, 14 Jun 2007 00:00:00 EST No matter what the outcome of his upcoming murder trial in Brooklyn, R. Lindley DeVecchio, a former FBI agent, has already left his mark on American pop culture. Sunday night, as an estimated 12 million viewers looked on, a fictional FBI agent cheered the news that a mob rival of Tony Soprano had been whacked by voicing a quote lifted directly from one allegedly uttered by Mr. DeVecchio during the bloody 1990s Colombo family war. "We're gonna win this thing!" Agent Harris exclaimed. Earlier... JERRY CAPECI http://www.nysun.com/new-york/perrone-retrial-spurs-strategic-moves/56050/ Thu, 7 Jun 2007 00:00:00 EST In an effort to salvage a seemingly snake-bit racketeering indictment — and try to end a spate of mistrials in mob racketeering cases — Manhattan federal prosecutors made some intriguing strategic moves for the retrial of an aging Genovese capo, Ciro Perrone. Prosecutors often revamp their game plan after a mistrial, especially when a jury acquits on lesser charges and deadlocks 10–2 in favor of acquittal on the main counts. But the new strategy rarely includes dropping racketeering charges... JERRY CAPECI http://www.nysun.com/new-york/delight-at-mob-deaths-dogs-lawmen/55593/ Thu, 31 May 2007 00:00:00 EST The Brooklyn district attorney, Charles Hynes, and a retired FBI supervisor, R. Lindley DeVecchio, are adversaries today — enemies is probably a better word — but 15 years ago they were law enforcement allies who appeared to share a cavalier mind-set about an early 1990s phenomenon: mobsters killing mobsters. During the bloody 1991–93 Colombo family feud, both men voiced a rather bizarre approval of the growing gangster body count as two rival factions of the crime family waged a bloody battle... JERRY CAPECI http://www.nysun.com/new-york/encoded-lips-sink-mikey-cigars/55136/ Thu, 24 May 2007 00:00:00 EST During his 11 years as one of America's most wanted mob fugitives, a Genovese capo, Michael "Mikey Cigars" Coppola, kept close tabs on his business while enjoying life on the lam as a well-heeled gangster with homes in Manhattan and San Francisco. It wasn't quite business as usual, but through numerous coded conversations with a son and other trusted aides, Coppola is alleged to have overseen his crime family's lucrative New Jersey waterfront rackets right up to the time that he was nabbed last... JERRY CAPECI http://www.nysun.com/new-york/godfather-betrayed-by-his-namesake-part-ii/54689/ Thu, 17 May 2007 00:00:00 EST "I have a sentimental weakness for my children, and I spoil them, as you can see." - Don Corleone, "The Godfather" Even grizzled old mobsters like legendary Colombo capo John "Sonny" Franzese find such sentiment hard to avoid. Franzese learned that lesson one more time last week when he was arrested on a parole violation charge for consorting with his old hoodlum pals. The FBI's key informer in the case, Gang Land has learned, was a source very close to the 90-year old mobster: his son, John... JERRY CAPECI http://www.nysun.com/new-york/barneys-bravado-gives-the-feds-fits/53741/ Thu, 3 May 2007 00:00:00 EST The Genovese family lived up to its reputation of the "Ivy League of the underworld" in the late 1980s when it tapped a tough, savvy — and quite young — wiseguy to take over as acting boss. Liborio "Barney" Bellomo was only 30 when he stepped into the shoes of aging veteran Anthony "Fat Tony" Salerno after Salerno's conviction and 100-year sentence in the historic Commission case. Today, at 50, Bellomo is still relatively young. And despite two federal raps and more than a decade in prison, he... JERRY CAPECI http://www.nysun.com/new-york/for-mob-prosecutor-a-string-of-defeats-and-one/53235/ Thu, 26 Apr 2007 00:00:00 EST Prosecutors with the Brooklyn district attorney's office seemed almost giddy after a spirited state Supreme Court appearance last week regarding the pending murder case against a former FBI agent, R. Lindley DeVecchio. Under aggressive urging by lead prosecutor Michael Vecchione during a pretrial conference, Judge Gustin Reichbach agreed to put the trial off until September 10 — a move that will allow Mr. Vecchione and a co-prosecutor to enjoy previously scheduled summer vacations. Outside the... JERRY CAPECI http://www.nysun.com/new-york/prosecutors-may-have-more-junior-gotti-ammunition/52773/ Thu, 19 Apr 2007 00:00:00 EST A tough Queens gangster who defied the feds and took the stand as a defense witness for John Gotti in the historic trial that ended with an astounding acquittal in 1987 is a budding prosecution witness against John A. "Junior" Gotti, Gang Land has learned. The new turncoat is Peter "Bud" Zuccaro, a longtime mob associate who will soon make his debut as a government informer at the ongoing trial of capo Dominick "Skinny Dom" Pizzonia. Pizzonia, 66, is charged with three mob rubouts, including... JERRY CAPECI http://www.nysun.com/new-york/celebrating-15-years-since-the-fall-of-the-don/52308/ Thu, 12 Apr 2007 00:00:00 EST When a bevy of law enforcement officials went looking for a venue for a party to mark the 15th anniversary of the landmark conviction of late godfather John Gotti, an obvious first choice for the bash was Sparks Steak House, the Midtown eatery where Gotti spectacularly rubbed out his predecessor, Paul Castellano. Like Big Paul, however, that idea was quickly shot down. "Having it at Sparks would [have] put us on Page Six the next day," said one attendee who, like most of the bashful celebrants... JERRY CAPECI http://www.nysun.com/new-york/remembering-petey-17-gambler-nice-guy/51899/ Thu, 5 Apr 2007 00:00:00 EST No more bets. The game of life is over for a venerable Brooklyn wiseguy, Peter "Petey 17" Piacenti. A longtime Gambino soldier who focused primarily on games of chance during his chosen career, Piacenti cashed in his chips last week at age 85. Like most of his mob life, his passing — he was buried on Saturday — was little noticed as his widow, children, other family members, neighbors, and many wiseguy friends and associates paid their respects at the Aievoli Funeral Home in Bensonhurst. Nearly... JERRY CAPECI http://www.nysun.com/new-york/voodoo-defense-of-vinny-gorgeous-judge-readies/51404/ Thu, 29 Mar 2007 00:00:00 EST Here's a switch: Gang Land has learned that Vincent "Vinny Gorgeous" Basciano, the dandy former acting boss of the Bonanno crime family, has agreed to wear a wire for the feds. Sorry if we made you spill your morning espresso. It's not that kind of wire. Basciano hasn't "gone bad," as one wise guy might say about another becoming an informant. Vinny Gorgeous, desperate to avoid a possible death penalty at his upcoming federal murder and racketeering trial, has volunteered to strap on a set of... JERRY CAPECI http://www.nysun.com/arts/tony-soprano-looks-for-the-road-less-traveled/51075/ Fri, 23 Mar 2007 00:00:00 EST The steady genius that David Chase and his crafty crew of co-conspirators have brought to "The Sopranos," their award winning HBO series, has been to blend the antics of genuine wiseguys with a whiff of whimsical fantasy, ranging from pesky ducks to dream sequences. Given that extra pinch of oregano that Mr. Chase mixes in each week, it would be foolhardy to predict what he has in store for Tony Soprano and all the familiar characters as the show sets out for its homestretch on April 8. This is... JERRY CAPECI http://www.nysun.com/new-york/in-fbi-murder-trial-some-missteps-and-one-big/50990/ Thu, 22 Mar 2007 00:00:00 EST There have been more than a few setbacks and embarrassments recently in the sensational year-old murder indictment against a former FBI supervisor, R. Lindley DeVecchio, who is accused of helping his mob mole wipe out his enemies. Last month, a female investigator for the Brooklyn district attorney's office was forced to resign after carrying on an affair with an informer in the case. The investigator even hatched a plan to bear a love child with the informer while he was an inmate at a federal... JERRY CAPECI http://www.nysun.com/new-york/after-11-years-the-law-catches-up-with-slaying/50492/ Thu, 15 Mar 2007 00:00:00 EST "What're you gonna do now, tough guy?" Those were the words hanging in the air 30 years ago by a rookie Genovese soldier, Michael "Mikey Cigars" Coppola, after his silencer-equipped .22 pistol allegedly misfired two times. His alleged intended victim, mobster John "Johnny Cokes" Lardiere, uttered his mocking retort as he moved toward his would-be killer. It was a classic line — one that has lived in Gang Land lore for decades since the Easter Sunday showdown in 1977 between the two gangsters on... JERRY CAPECI http://www.nysun.com/new-york/half-irish-detective-allegedly-sought-to-become/50040/ Thu, 8 Mar 2007 00:00:00 EST A Florida police detective snared in an FBI sting operation allegedly was so enamored with the wiseguy life that he planned to retire to New York, where he hoped to become a "made guy" and work full time for a mob capo he had formed a strong bond with, Gang Land has learned. Unfortunately for the detective, the capo, known as "Big Jack," was really an FBI undercover agent in the midst of multiple investigations, Joaquin "Jack" Garcia. Sources said detective Kevin Companion, the ringleader of a... JERRY CAPECI http://www.nysun.com/new-york/meet-the-fbis-best-undercover-agent/49571/ Thu, 1 Mar 2007 00:00:00 EST At 6-foot 4-inches and more than 300 pounds, veteran FBI agent Joaquin "Jack" Garcia is a small mountain of a man who is hard to miss. That's never stopped him from being a master of disguises. In recent years, the expert undercover agent's appointment calendar must have read a bit like the script for the 1960s screwball comedy "If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium." Mr. Garcia surfaced last year when he took the stand in a closed courtroom to describe how he had played the role of a Gambino... JERRY CAPECI http://www.nysun.com/new-york/sad-saga-of-wannabe-wiseguy-johnny-capone/49107/ Thu, 22 Feb 2007 00:00:00 EST He's big and he's tough. And 10 years ago, when he ran with the Colombo family and was known as Johnny Capone, he demonstrated that he could slap people around, act like a wiseguy, and strut like the most infamous gangster of his generation, John Gotti. Try as he might, however, John Compono — his real name — could never move up in the mob. Today, at 47, he faces 20 years in prison as a co-defendant of high-level Bonanno mobsters in a major racketeering indictment handed up two weeks ago. But... JERRY CAPECI http://www.nysun.com/new-york/mobsters-toughest-foe-his-mother/48757/ Thu, 15 Feb 2007 00:00:00 EST Tommy Cappa made it through the bloody Colombo family war that left 12 dead on the streets of Brooklyn, Queens, and Long Island between 1991 and 1993. A soldier in that fratricidal battle, Cappa did a six-year stretch for participating in a botched murder plot. Now, the mob associate is engaged in an even tougher family feud: He's at war with his mother, Ellen. In addition, Cappa is battling his brother, Richard, and sister-in-law, Laura. The clash stems from a decision he made five years ago... JERRY CAPECI http://www.nysun.com/new-york/once-a-wiseguy-always-a-wiseguy/48289/ Thu, 8 Feb 2007 00:00:00 EST He stands about 5 foot 5, has thinning white hair, and could easily pass for your next-door neighbor's grandfather. Uh, make that greatgrandfather. Albert "Chinky" Facchiano will be 97 next month, right around the time he becomes the oldest wiseguy ever to plead guilty to wiseguy-type crimes. A quintessential old-school gangster, Facchiano is a Genovese soldier with a rap sheet that began in 1930, when he was arrested for rape in New York — a charge that was later dismissed. Since then, Chinky... JERRY CAPECI http://www.nysun.com/new-york/mobsters-son-may-try-to-help-convict-ex-fbi/47786/ Thu, 1 Feb 2007 00:00:00 EST Brooklyn prosecutors are seeking to line up a star witness for their sensational upcoming trial of a former FBI supervisor, R. Lindley DeVecchio, who is charged with helping legendary mob capo Gregory Scarpa commit four murders. The prospective witness is none other than Gregory Scarpa Jr., the imprisoned son of the late Colombo crime big, who after his death in 1994 was revealed to have been a much-prized government informant (and whose handler was Mr. DeVecchio). Unfortunately, the would-be... JERRY CAPECI http://www.nysun.com/new-york/with-the-boss-behind-bars-a-borough-battle-brews/47392/ Thu, 25 Jan 2007 00:00:00 EST Fifty years after zealous Yankees and Dodgers fans duked it out in the bleachers of Yankee Stadium and Ebbets Field, there's a new Bronx-Brooklyn feud brewing that could be every bit as intense. This one is between factions of the Luchese crime family, and through it hasn't gotten bloody like the all-out Colombo family civil war that left 12 dead around the city in the early 1990s, law enforcement sources say the potential for violence clearly exists. Sources say the feud has been festering for... JERRY CAPECI http://www.nysun.com/new-york/strong-case-against-tony-muscles/46909/ Thu, 18 Jan 2007 00:00:00 EST Anthony "Tony Muscles" Guardino, the luckless boss of the city's roofers union, had two marriages go bad recently. One was his stormy relationship with now ex-wife, Connie Billotti, niece of the Gambino underboss shot dead with Big Paul Castellano in 1986, Tommy Billotti. The other was his union's close affiliation with the Genovese crime family. Of the two relationships, the one with his wife got closer to actual violence, according to tapes played at Guardino's two-month trial on labor... JERRY CAPECI http://www.nysun.com/new-york/late-guilty-plea-for-green-eyes/46468/ Thu, 11 Jan 2007 00:00:00 EST After 30 months awaiting trial on "house arrest," Colombo soldier Gerard "Green Eyes" Clemenza made a strategic decision: He would plead guilty to gambling and loan-sharking charges. Since he faced just 24 months in prison for those crimes, his decision came a little late in the day. Presumably he just wanted to get the whole thing over with, a common emotion among gangsters going through the legal wringer. Clemenza decided to throw in the towel after he lost all his pretrial motions to have... JERRY CAPECI http://www.nysun.com/new-york/witness-overprotection-program/46096/ Thu, 4 Jan 2007 00:00:00 EST For years, the hard-headed Irish-American gangster Frank Smith complained that he couldn't catch a break — despite the valiant efforts of his loving mother and sister — as he served time in prison for a drug crime he didn't commit. In fact, the drug bust was the least of it. As Smith later admitted, he'd done much worse, participating in five separate killings, including the vicious mistaken-identity execution of the father of a federal prosecutor who had ticked off rulers of the Colombo family... JERRY CAPECI http://www.nysun.com/new-york/undertaker-seeks-separation-from-the-murder-part/45805/ Thu, 28 Dec 2006 00:00:00 EST Ralph "the Undertaker" Balsamo is a gregarious Genovese family gangster who runs funeral homes. He would rather be caught dead than say anything bad about Liborio "Barney" Bellomo. The same could be said of Bellomo's brother-in-law, mob associate Gerald Fiorino. He has no real problems with Barney, who married his sister and has long been a devoted husband and doting father of three children. Both are Bellomo's co-defendants in a 34-defendant indictment, and they hope to be far away from Barney... JERRY CAPECI http://www.nysun.com/new-york/mobster-version-of-the-christmas-spirit/45548/ Thu, 21 Dec 2006 00:00:00 EST Christmas is always an eventful time for Gambino capo Dominick "Skinny Dom" Pizzonia. It was on Christmas Eve in 1988 that the now 65-year-old Queens wiseguy was inducted into the mob, during the same ceremony as John "Junior" Gotti and four other lucky rookies. Last Christmas, Skinny Dom was in the can, awaiting trial for the murders of a modern-day Bonnie & Clyde, an armed robbery team that preyed on mob social clubs during a wild, year-long fling in 1992. This year, Pizzonia is home for the... JERRY CAPECI http://www.nysun.com/new-york/mob-obituaries-boobie-redbird-and-the-brain/45135/ Thu, 14 Dec 2006 00:00:00 EST The mob has cut back on its own version of capital punishment these days, but the grim reaper that stalks us all recently caught up with three once-noted Gang Land denizens just shy of the holiday season. Since their formal obituaries are likely to omit some biographical details, Gang Land is marking their passing. Cancer was the cause of death last week for a longtime Bonanno soldier, John "Boobie" Cerasani, 68, the only defendant to win an acquittal at the 1982 racketeering trial that... JERRY CAPECI http://www.nysun.com/new-york/smoking-ban-sets-off-brawl-among-wiseguys/44755/ Thu, 7 Dec 2006 00:00:00 EST Everyone knew that banning smoking in all New York City public buildings, including bars and restaurants, was a volatile issue that would spark controversy and opposition. But who would've thought it would lead to a violent slugfest between two of the city's five families? A case that's playing out in Manhattan Supreme Court shows that the city's tough Smoke-Free Air Act did just that. A nasty dispute last year over the smoking act resulted in the indictment of a Bonanno soldier and an... JERRY CAPECI http://www.nysun.com/new-york/meet-the-genovese-crime-familys-new-boss/44363/ Thu, 30 Nov 2006 00:00:00 EST Less than a year after the death of legendary Mafia boss Vincent "Chin" Gigante, a cagy wiseguy who understands the wisdom of keeping a low profile has taken the reins of the powerful Genovese crime family, Gang Land has learned. Meet Daniel Leo, 65, a reputed member of the violent, East Harlem-based Purple Gang during the 1970s who now resides in a $2 million home in Rockleigh, N.J., a town on the Palisades that boasts the highest median household income in the state, according to the 2000... JERRY CAPECI http://www.nysun.com/new-york/why-fat-andy-may-be-turning-over-in-his-grave/44064/ Fri, 24 Nov 2006 00:00:00 EST Anthony "Fat Andy" Ruggiano, a belligerent, old-school Gambino soldier, never admitted anything to the feds. Before succumbing to a heart attack in 1999, he always fought them with everything he had, any way he could. Worst of all, he hated "rats" who became informers. Last week, sources tell Gang Land, Ruggiano's son, Anthony Jr., who followed his old man into the "life," officially turned on his bloodlines and agreed to testify at the upcoming murder and racketeering trial of the mobster who... JERRY CAPECI http://www.nysun.com/new-york/score-another-win-for-a-new-york-wiseguy/43630/ Thu, 16 Nov 2006 00:00:00 EST Maybe New York's wiseguys are getting luckier, or maybe the government's cases are getting weaker. Whatever the reasons, jurors Monday delivered a stinging rebuke to the FBI and federal prosecutors, the third such in recent weeks, at the end of another lengthy and hard-fought racketeering trial of a top-level gangster. Six weeks after jurors deadlocked on charges against ex-Gambino leader John "Junior" Gotti, another Manhattan jury announced that after 10 days of deliberations, it could not... JERRY CAPECI http://www.nysun.com/new-york/mobsters-would-call-reality-tv-show-throwing-up/43209/ Thu, 9 Nov 2006 00:00:00 EST It was the week before Christmas in 2004. There was food and wine on the table and an FBI bug hidden underneath. A trio of veteran wiseguys was trashing a reality TV show that struck close to their hearts, "Growing Up Gotti," the saga of John Gotti's racy, platinum blonde daughter, Victoria, and her three teenage sons, dubbed "Hotti Gottis" for their well-gelled good looks. "It's a soap opera, and the kids look like girls," the host, Genovese capo Ciro Perrone, 85, thundered. He is owner of a... JERRY CAPECI http://www.nysun.com/new-york/gotti-says-detective-helped-in-killing-of/42339/ Thu, 26 Oct 2006 00:00:00 EST At a secret session with the feds last year, John "Junior" Gotti fingered a former NYPD detective as a money-hungry rogue who gave up confidential information about a 1983 barroom murder — information that Gambino wiseguys used to kill a witness whose death has been officially ruled a suicide for more than two decades, Gang Land has learned. Law enforcement sources said Gotti attributed his stunning account about the death by hanging of Vinny Cennamo to what he was told several years after the... JERRY CAPECI http://www.nysun.com/new-york/dispute-over-super-bowl-helps-free-drug-dealers/41845/ Thu, 19 Oct 2006 00:00:00 EST After serving nine years of a staggering 27-year rap for marijuana trafficking, mob associate Burton Kaplan got out of prison three weeks ago, a payoff for his devastating trial testimony against the Mafia Cops, Louis Eppolito and Stephen Caracappa. The aging gangster isn't the only one enjoying a happy ending to the tangled case. Last week, Thomas Galpine, the right-hand man in Kaplan's lucrative drug ring, was also released in return for taking the stand against the ex-detectives, who were... JERRY CAPECI http://www.nysun.com/new-york/dont-buy-into-story-of-mob-terrorist-collaboration/41416/ Thu, 12 Oct 2006 00:00:00 EST The Associated Press recently moved a story out of Washington that attempted to conjure up fears that greedy New York wiseguys might peddle weapons of mass destruction to followers of Osama bin Laden looking to launch terrorist attacks on American soil. Dated October 1, the story ran under a scary headline: "Feds Worry That Terrorists, Mobsters Might Collaborate." Its impact however, was that of a report dated April 1 — April Fools' Day. Six knowledgeable Gang Land sources on both sides of the...