Celebrity chef admits to secret life as a soldier in the Gambino crime family

Celebrity chef admits to secret life as a soldier in the Gambino crime family

  April 17, 2022    Dapper_Don

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He’s now dishing on his main course with the mob.

One-time TV chef and lauded Big Apple restauranteur David Ruggerio has admitted to a secret life as a made man for the mob — even involved in a series of underworld murders, starting when he was age just 11.

“I was living two lives,” Ruggerio, 59, told Vanity Fair in an extraordinary interview breaking omertà, the mob’s sacred code of silence.

Throughout his celebrated decades-long career in the kitchen — cooking for presidents and royalty and even landing his own Food Network show — Ruggerio was also an active soldier for the Gambinos, he said.

Even as he enjoyed greater celebrity in the 1990s running Manhattan restaurants La Caravelle, Maxim’s and Le Chantilly, Ruggerio said he grew ever-deeper in his mob life — getting actively involved in heroin dealing, loan-sharking, extortion and helping several notorious gangland murders.

“I did things when I was pushed that I’m not proud of,” he told the magazine of the mob life he also hopes to publish in a biography.

“But to really, truly be in the streets, you gotta have a black heart. When you turn that switch, there can be no emotion. You have no pity. You gotta just do it,” he said.

“I didn’t want to be a criminal. I want you to understand that. I loved being a chef,” he insisted.

His secret life involves his famous name — which hides the obvious mob ties of his birth name, Sabatino Antonino Gambino.

His Sicilian father, Saverio Erasmo Gambino, was a cousin of Carlo Gambino, the infamous “boss of bosses,” who ruled New York’s five Mafia families in the 1960s and ’70s, he revealed.

His dad took him to Sicily in 1977 — just before he started high school — where he was made by Santo Inzerillo, the brother of Palermo boss Totuccio Inzerillo, he said.

The ceremony included him getting a homemade tattoo on his right shoulder with a fiery cross image and the words Uomo de Fiducia, Italian for “man of trust.”

Ruggerio said he had already been readied for a life of crime after a series of tragedies as a youngster, including finding his infant sister dead when he was four, getting beaten by a stepfather — and then seeing his pregnant mom die of an asthma attack when he was just five.

“I learned early that I had a very cold side to me,” he told Vanity Fair of those painful early experiences.

“Did I want to be a gangster? Never one day did I say to myself, ‘Yeah, I want to be a gangster when I grow up’ … All I wanted to do was survive the next day.”

Still, as a child, he said he was mentored as a mobster by “the most ruthless gangster I ever saw,” Egidio “Ernie Boy” Onorato, who was nicknamed Ernie “M&M,” short for “murder and mayhem,” he said.

Ruggerio was just 11 when he watched Onorato beat to death Anthony Finn — who he said was a federal informant — beating him to death then shooting him and stuffing cocaine in his mouth near the Alley Cat bar on the Lower East Side.

We loaded the body into a car and drove it over to Avenue A and Ninth Street,” Ruggerio said.

He was even more involved in other murders, he admitted, saying he helped Onorato torture and kill a 56-year-old Genovese and Colombo associate named Pasquale “Paddy Mac” Macchirole in 1978.

But the violence also came close to home, losing a girlfriend as well as his best friend, whose body he says he left sleeping with the fishes, dumping it in in the waters near Sheepshead Bay.

Still, he got to enjoy the trappings of the life of crime, saying he earned $50,000 — equivalent to about $230,000 today — from drug dealing when he was still a teen, he told the mag.

He would also party at his mentor’s home in Florida where “there was always a quarter or half kilo of coke piled up” on a coffee table.

“Ernie used to have girls over and everybody was naked. For me, sex at 14 and 15 wasn’t a big deal,” Ruggerio told Vanity Fair.

He would soon make his name in the kitchen, too, becoming La Caravelle’s executive chef at 26 — a sideline that he thinks may have saved his life.

After mob boss Constantino Paul Castellano was gunned down in front of Sparks Steak House in midtown Manhattan in 1985, Ruggerio said he and his crew feared they would be next in the coup by John Gotti’s crew.

But “what wiseguys do most of the time is they talk about food,” Ruggerio said — and “Gotti loved Maxim’s,” he said of the hip restaurant he was hired to reinvent for fashion-mogul owner Pierre Cardin.

Ruggerio ended up throwing a 50th birthday party for Gotti at Maxim’s, the mob boss’s last birthday as a free man before his arrest and death in prison.

His life as an enforcer eventually switched over to his restaurant career, too, he said, admitting he obtained ownership of Le Chantilly in 1995 by kidnapping partner Camille Dulac and throwing him in a hole dug in a remote beach in Breezy Point, Queens.

“He was on his knees, begging for mercy,” he said, although Dulac denied it.

But it was ultimately credit card fraud that brought him down in July 1998,
with Ruggerio pleading guilty to attempted grand larceny in a deal the next year. He got five years’ probation and paid $100,000 in restitution.

Worse, he was ridiculed by his mob bosses, and “the press just categorized me as a moron because I f—ed up my TV career,” he said.

“I had five restaurants, 650 employees. And it was gone,” he recalled to Vanity Fair, with all his comeback attempts doomed. “Overnight it was gone.”

However, it was not until the overdose death of his oldest son, in June 2014, that he ultimately decided he would break his gangland code of silence, feeling slighted by the mob boss.

“He did a lot of OxyContin and drank. He went to sleep and never woke up,” Ruggerio said of his son, who had also been an aspiring gangster.

But the ultimate wound came when Daniel Marino, the capo of his Brooklyn crew, made no effort to get out of house arrest to attend the funeral, he said.

“When Danny didn’t come, that’s when I said, ‘F—k this. I’m done,’ ” Ruggerio told Vanity Fair

Now, he is further dishing in a yet-unpublished biography, writing that “there was no need to embellish; the truths were horrific enough.”

He insists, however, that he “will not cooperate against anyone.”

“That isn’t why I did this,” he told Vanity Fair, saying he will also accept any blowback coming his way, from his former mob pals and the authorities.

“I’ll let the chips fall where they may. After I lost my son, I knew that this has to end with me,” he said.

https://nypost.com/2022/03/25/celeb-chef-david-ruggerio-admits-to-life-in-the-mafia/

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Former Gambino underboss reveals $100K murder contracts given to Aryan Brotherhood by jailed boss John Gotti to kill him

Former Gambino underboss reveals $100K murder contracts given to Aryan Brotherhood by jailed boss John Gotti to kill him

  March 10, 2021    Dapper_Don

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More FBI documents related to deceased turncoat Springfield gangster surface

More FBI documents related to deceased turncoat Springfield gangster surface

  June 09, 2017    Dapper_Don

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Chapter 1: Bologna's beginnings with the FBI

Bologna was from Port Chester, New York, a largely working-class village in Westchester County just outside the city. Its main landmark was the former Life Savers candy factory, which closed in the early 1980s. Its population of around 29,000 has remained nearly the same since the 1950s.
He was born in Yorktown, a nearby community with historical links to the American Revolution — including the notable fact that an ally of Benedict Arnold enjoyed his last breakfast at a restaurant there, before being captured and hanged as a spy.
Records show that Bologna racked up several arrests for illegal gambling in the 1960s and 70s, was a target of the FBI in the early 1970s and became a tipster by 1996.
While he was initially a valuable trove of information for the FBI about other gangsters, Bologna ultimately became a nuisance — and a liability as a potential trial witness — for federal prosecutors after they discovered he had concealed his own illegal activities for years while serving the government.
Court testimony and documents show he continually lied to his minders until they finally took him off the streets in 2010, revoking a $1 million bail agreement that also allowed him travel in the continental U.S. This came months after he pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge P. Kevin Castel and federal prosecutors took care to label him only as "John Doe" in court records.
Reached for comment, his longtime handler, retired New Jersey FBI Agent Robert Bukowski, said he had lost track of Bologna years ago and was unaware he had died. Of Bologna's duplicity, Bukowski said it is one of the perils of infiltrating a criminal enterprise using one of their own.
"Occasionally in law enforcement we try to use one bad guy to catch other bad guys. Sometimes this works out and sometimes is does not. When they violate our trust and commit or are suspected of committing a crime we immediately stop any association with them, as in this case," Bukowski wrote in an email.
"Unfortunately we cannot keep 24-hour tabs on these individuals, but when information surfaced of his involvement in a crime he was immediately turned over to the investigating squad and I had no other contact with him. He was not the first one to violate this trust and I'm sure he will not be the last. What I find very telling is the fact that he died in prison," Bukowski added, signing off to a reporter with: "Be faithful to the truth."

Convicted mob boss John Gotti sits in New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan, listening to opening arguments in his trial in this Jan. 20, 1990. According to a source, John Bologna switched alliances between the Gambino crime family — which Gotti once led — to the Genovese faction.

Chapter 2: "I'm better than a made guy"

A former associate of Bologna who spoke on condition of anonymity said Bologna was known as a "puddle jumper" who switched alliances between the Gambino crime family to the Genovese faction. Bologna ultimately became Nigro's "right hand," according to court records, though Bologna had his own crew in Port Chester, the associate said.
According to the man — who lost touch with the burly gangster after Bologna entered the Witness Security Program in 2010 — Bologna resisted overtures to being formally inducted into the Mafia.
"I'm better than a made guy, JB would say," according to the associate. "JB thought once you were made it was like putting a target on your back for the Feds."
He said, and court records support, that Bologna owned a social club in Port Chester, where he held meetings and hosted high-stakes card games. The associate said Bologna once ordered him to go "destroy a car" owned by another man who opened another social club Bologna felt was in too close proximity.
"I set it on fire," the associate said. The club closed shortly after, he said, adding that it was not the first or the last time he wreaked havoc on behalf of Bologna, a benefactor whom he met at his father's restaurant in the 1980s.
Bologna seemed bigger than life, the associate recalled. He himself was dazzled by the "respect" paid to local wiseguys and was taken in by television and movies. The associate began taking bets for Bologna around 1990. While Bologna was not beyond ordering his crew to deliver beatings or commit arson, he was likable and recognized the value of good manners, according to his former crew member.
"He remembered to ask after everyone's family. Anyone who was in jail — they got a Christmas card from JB. Guys like that remember those things once they get out," the former associate said.
So, Bologna gained access to the meetings and dealings and gossip of the underworld up and down the East Coast. Big John also had "good connections" with local politicians, according to the associate.

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Chapter 3: Bologna the historian

Included in the reams of FBI "302 reports" obtained by The Republican, a Sept. 23, 1996, account flagged an upcoming political fete "for the conservative party" at Alex and Henry's restaurant in Westchester County:
"Following that party there is going to be a private party at the home of Al Pirro, husband of (then) Westchester County DA (Jeanine Pirro). This party is by invitations only and the attendees will be businessmen as well as others. Source continued that other people connected to Pirro's dealings may also be present at the party ... Source further stated that Pirro was presently doing construction work in California and is also involved in a business deal with Donald Trump."
Indeed, the Pirros' wealth and influence in the New York Republican party was well-documented. Jeanine Pirro was once labeled "The Golden Girl of the New York GOP" by New York Magazine and one of People Magazine's "50 Most Beautiful People." Jeanine Pirro's promising political future was dogged by her husband's alleged ties to the mob and his philandering, according to published reports. Jeanine Pirro unsuccessfully challenged Hillary Clinton for her New York Senate seat in 2005.
Al Pirro, a real estate attorney, served time in prison for tax fraud. The couple split in 2007, and Jeanine Pirro is now featured on a Fox News show called "Justice with Judge Jeanine."
Bologna also detailed his involvement in New York's lucrative garbage hauling business, its storied link to the mob and infighting between investors and family members:
"Source stated that all the monies paid to Matthew 'Matty the Horse' Ianniello by (garbage carting magnate) Tommy Milo was paid in cash. Ianniello's 'boy' was Nick Milo (Tom Milo's brother). Nick was closer to Ianniello and in close contact with him every day. Tommy Milo was very mad at this close relationship between Ianniello and his brother. Source continued that when Ianniello went to jail, Tommy Milo brought the monies to Barney Ida. The exchange of monies took place in Lou Cherico's office."
In 1996, a sweeping federal indictment out of a New York federal court came down. The charges were aimed at the trash industry, its mob ties and bribery of local politicians. Tom Milo and several mob heads connected to the Gambino and Genovese crime families were ensnared. Ianniello, who died in 2012, had his hands in labor unions, adult entertainment and garbage, reports state.
Ianniello was once identified as acting boss for the Genovese family, succeeding Vincent "The Chin" Gigante when Gigante died in 2005. Ianniello was indicted several times for mob-related activities, but died at home after his last release in 2009.
New York attorney Louis Cherico — whose name is littered through the hundreds of pages of Bologna's reports — was convicted in a mortgage fraud scheme in 2012 and sentenced to one year and a day in prison. He argued at trial that he was only trying to help his clients.
Bologna was involved in "building the business" for Milton Sanitation and did that primarily by underbidding other companies, he told Bukowski. Bologna claimed he did not participate in extortion or pay any money to the "wise guys downtown." He nonetheless was paid $2,000 per week and received a company car and health benefits, he reported to the agent.
"Source further stated that if problems would arise due to territories or business moves, the problems were then taken to downtown New York City to be settled. Decisions made down there were never challenged by any of the 'wise guys' in Westchester County," Bologna told his handler.

In addition to the maneuverings of mobsters within the ranks of their respective families, John Bologna provided information about a range of topics, such as the infamous wait list at the East Harlem restaurant Rao's. 

Chapter 4: Local color

In late 1996, Bologna informed the FBI there had been changes in regime in terms of Gambino mob captains. All had their eyes on a player they regarded as a vulnerable and well-known mark.
"Sonny Ciccone has taken over for Jimmy Brown's spot on 86th Street in Brooklyn. Joe Gambino has taken over 'Little Tony's' spot in New Jersey. Joe Gambino is 'head captain' out of Connecticut with Louie Rico and Tony Migal. '(Michael DiLeonardo) Mikey Scars' has taken over for Danny Marino in Brooklyn. 'Nicky Coraho' has taken over for his father 'Joe Butch's' spot. Craig DePalma has taken over for his father Greg DePalma," he reported to Bukowski.
"Source further stated that all four 'crews' are getting strong together to knock out John Gotti Jr. He is considered trouble and not smart enough to perform his job," one report stated.
After his father "The Dapper Don" or "Teflon Don," feared head of the Gambino family, went to prison in 1999, "Junior" Gotti assumed power — but published reports featuring his former running buddies show they privately considered him a simpleton and a coward.
Junior Gotti was tried four times in federal court, and prosecutors missed every time. They announced they had given up after his last trial in 2010. The lead prosecutor on his last trial in 2009 was Assistant U.S. Attorney Elie Honig — the same prosecutor who headed up the first Bruno trial in Manhattan in 2011. Honig has since gone on to be New Jersey's top prosecutor at the state level.
In addition to the maneuverings of mobsters within the ranks of their respective families, Bologna provided local color that could only be offered up properly by an insider.
For instance, in 2005 Bologna reported on the business model of "Rao's," a wildly popular Italian restaurant on Pleasant Avenue in Harlem. The owner, the late Frank Pellegrino, died in late January. He was unapologetic about the organized crime control of the few tables in the small restaurant and its two-year waiting list.
According to Bologna, even the absurdly long wait list was a myth. In fact, it was longer.
"The individual (Bologna) stated that the restaurant is totally controlled by organized crime. The individual said the only way to get a reservation at a table is to be 'sponsored' by a Wise Guy," Bukowski wrote.
"The individual stated that if you can obtain the exact table a politician, celebrity or even a prominent doctor or lawyer sat at, you can tell exactly what Organized Crime family ties they may have, and even who would have to give the OK for them to get a table there. The individual added that recently Madonna walked in without a table and was turned away," Bukowski wrote of Bologna's account.

According to one of John Bologna's accounts, in 2002 there were only six "made guys" in Springfield — including, left to right above, Albert "Baba" Scibelli, Adolfo Bruno and Anthony Delevo.

Chapter 5: Welcome to Springfield

As for his first forays into Greater Springfield, Bologna began providing fragmented reports to his handler in 2002 about the players and the landscape.
There were only six "made guys" in Springfield including Bruno, Delevo (who died in prison in 2005), Albert "Baba" Scibelli (who died of an illness in 2012) and others whose names he claimed he did not know. Bologna portrayed his presence in Springfield merely as window dressing to help advertise Bruno's stock with New York City bosses, after Bruno's underlings became occasionally impertinent.
But in fact, Bologna was pocketing thousands in illegal proceeds derived from Springfield, he later disclosed to his handlers.
Many of the "rent" payments were coming from James Santaniello's bars, Bologna reported. The Longmeadow businessman's strip clubs and other spots had become longtime feeders for organized crime. Bologna said he had known Bruno for years, and that Bruno's reach extended far beyond Springfield.
"The individual further added that Bruno meets regularly with 'Louie Shanks' from Providence, Rhode Island and Carmine (last name unknown) the Consigliere from Boston. Bruno is also known to travel around Springfield with an older unknown individual who is reportedly a legitimate person, uninvolved with the business," Bukowksi write on Aug. 8, 2002, based on Bologna's accounting.
A month later, Bologna told the agent he had met with Bruno and Boston mob lawyer Anthony Cardinale. Bologna labeled Cardinale as a "loudmouth" and a braggart about his association to "wise guys" in the Boston area. The attorney even cited the chapter in which he appeared in the novel "Black Mass," which chronicles the collusion between Irish mobster James "Whitey" Bulger and a corrupt FBI agent.
Bologna continued "that there are two former FBI employees or agents that are reportedly providing information to Bruno and his people," without being more specific. Bukowski noted that he could not verify that information.
A month after that, Bologna reported that Bruno and Baba Scibelli were profit-sharing and providing financial backing for all the area's sports-betting and numbers businesses.
"(Bologna) said that 'Rico,' who is described as an older gentleman, makes the pick-ups of the 'works,' all the paperwork for the numbers business, from Our Lady of Mount Carmel Club. The individual added that they use the Massachusetts state lottery number as their number ... The individual added that there are many internal problems in the operations and the people involved," the account continued.
As the club was the site where Bruno was fatally shot one year later, one could read some foreshadowing into the report.
Bologna later reported that Patsy "Scop" Deluca, a Genovese captain from New York City, planned to travel to Springfield and stay at the Sheraton, where Bologna himself often slept, for the "making" of seven new members: two from Boston and five from New York, he said. The two from Boston were "Rooster" and Tony Volpe, Bologna reported.
The pair from Boston was later rejected because one reportedly had a drug problem and the other was "too old," according to Bologna, who also suggested induction may have been losing its cache.
"The individual added that the 'Family' has a new way to get rid of people they do not want around anymore. They promote them, believing they will draw attention to themselves by law enforcement, making them targets. This is easier than 'whacking them.' Law enforcement does their dirty work for them," he told his handler.

Springfield detectives at the shooting scene of Adolfo "Al" Bruno in November 2003.

Chapter 6: Bruno's last year

A March 2003 report includes more detail about the players in Greater Springfield. Mobsters were warned not to pester Santaniello too much, as he had a relative on the police force. The account referred to Santaniello's many business holdings with his wife, and referred to the ill-fated Gold Club in Chicopee as "Bruno's place, although he claimed to have two 'front men.'"
Bruno also established new "bag men" in Donald Hykel and Jake Nettis, Bruno's co-defendant in the botched 1981 murder of small-time New York hood Joseph Maruca. Bruno was acquitted at his second trial in 1994 in Hartford. Nettis was sentenced to nine-to-10 years for murder conspiracy.
"Nettis is in his mid-70s and brings in the 'ribbons and guns,'" Bologna noted.
The same report identifies former Western Massachusetts energy broker Michael Armitage as the "money man, backing the gambling and (loansharking) operations for Bruno. Armitage is allegedly worth approximately $500 to $600 million ... The individual indicated that Armitage would be a good person to approach and attempt to obtain his cooperation," Bukowski reports, based on Bologna's feedback.
Armitage was never charged with fronting money for Bruno, but was a frequent companion of Bruno at son Victor Bruno's Worthington Street bars and restaurants in the late 1990s — flashing cash, drinking heavily and buying rounds for other patrons.
Armitage was sentenced to more than five years in federal prison for fraud and tax evasion in 2011 in connection with a handful of investment schemes. He was released in September 2016, according to records made public by the U.S. Bureau of Prisons.
He could not be reached for comment for this story.
The next report on Springfield, according to materials obtained by The Republican, was a brief accounting of Arillotta potentially being "made" in February of 2004 — three months after Bruno died in a hail of bullets in the social club's parking lot.
Oddly, there are no accounts or a whiff of gossip about the murder at that time from Bologna, who said he stopped coming to Springfield on Nigro's advice. Tranghese had been made acting boss, he told his handler, but Deluca was in charge.
Records show Bologna was quizzed by Bukowski about Roche after Roche's arrest in Florida in 2004, but he shrugged off the inquiry, saying he had never met him and knew nothing of the plot — a barefaced lie, subsequent records indicate.
Bologna continued to feed the FBI about new bosses and underbosses in the Gambino and Genovese crime families, plus a shady group of "Albanians" in 2005 and 2006. Danny Leo became the new Genovese boss in 2006, according to Bologna, with Mario Gigante as his acting underboss. Trash carting businesses were beginning to thrive again after former New York Gov. Rudy Giuliani's crackdown in the 1990s, Bologna reported.
In 2007, Bologna's briefings with Bukowski appear to end.

Anthony Arillotta in Hampden Superior Court in January 2008.

Chapter 7: Bologna is forced to "come clean"

Bologna's thick FBI file contains pages of hand-written notes from Jan. 18, 2010, after Arillotta's arrest and after Bologna had worn a wire during a meeting  with Arillotta in an attempt to get him to talk about his involvement in Bruno's murder.
Arillotta didn't bite, according to court testimony, but it spooked him enough to cut his own deal with the government.
In the end, Arillotta was Bologna's undoing as much as Bologna was Arillotta's, according to Arillotta's testimony in two murder trials in 2011 and 2012.
Arillotta appeared as the government's star witness in the first trial of Nigro and the Geas brothers — all serving life sentences for murder conspiracy and other crimes — and the second trial of Emilio Fusco, a Longmeadow gangster serving 25 years in prison for racketeering.
Bologna never made it to the witness stand, given how testimony and court documents suggest he bamboozled the government and only came clean about his own crimes in dribs and drabs, and under duress. In turn, defense lawyers apparently thought calling him to the witness stand, with all his knowledge, was too much of a gamble.
According to a sentencing memo drafted by the government in 2013, Bologna was caught in a an illegal gaming ring in 2007. He ended up offering himself up to agents not only as an informant, but as a "cooperating witness" — a different level of collaboration that included wearing a wire on his friends and associates.
He identified as a Gambino associate for 30 years. However, he met Nigro in the late 1990s and became his driver for a time, he told FBI Agent Joy Adam, a New York city agent.
Nigro introduced Bologna to Bruno while they were mulling a deal over a trash dump in Ohio, according to FBI reports. The deal never materialized. However, Bologna spent more time at Bruno's side at Nigro's request, a 2010 report by Adam reads.
"Bruno was not being respected by his crew members, who were doing things without checking with him," Bologna told her. "Bruno used (Bologna) to show that Bruno had New York's backing."
Bologna traveled to Springfield nearly every weekend, identified new extortion marks, and shared in the profits, he ultimately admitted to Adam. Bruno's relationship with Nigro eventually began to sour and the ambitious Arillotta stoked the flames.
Shortly before Bruno's murder, Bologna and Arillotta met under the awning of a beauty parlor in Port Chester during a rainstorm, he told agents.
"Arillotta began complaining about Bruno and saying Bruno was a rat and Bruno was not paying the money that he should," according to Adam's report. "Arillotta told Bologna that Arillotta was told to do something."
Bologna ultimately admitted that he recognized only Nigro could have given the order to kill Bruno, knew Tranghese had been made acting capo in Springfield, and knew Arillotta had been "made." The shifts in power took place behind Bruno's back, Bologna told agents. Bologna considered these "red flags" that Bruno was not long for this world, he told agents.
Bologna also noted that Arillotta gave him some pricey cigars as thanks for his induction, and that he joined in urging Arillotta to have Bruno murdered.
"(Bologna) told Arillotta that Arillotta had been told something to do, so then Arillotta should do it," Adam's report reads.
Two weeks after Bruno's murder, Freddy Geas came to Bologna's club and whispered in a back room that "he had a guy named Frankie shoot Bruno ... four or five times, including being shot in the testicles," according to the records.
Nigro's reaction to Bruno's murder, according to Bologna: "F--- it, he's dead."

A screen capture from the Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate locator.

Chapter 8: Dueling informants

In 2003, when Bologna received a subpoena about the Bruno murder from Massachusetts State Police on his front steps, Nigro advised that "it would pass." And, it almost did.
Six years passed after Bruno's before law enforcement got a real break in the case that would result in its sweeping resolution: Arillotta came clean; truly clean. He confessed to many crimes involving Nigro and Bologna, which then led authorities to confront Bologna anew about minimizing his involvement in and outright lying about crimes.
For one, he neglected to mention the attempted 2003 murder of New York masonry union official Frank Dadabo, who was believed to have defected to the Luchese family after he had long been "Artie's guy."
Bologna was present when Nigro recruited Arillotta and the Geases to execute Dadabo and scouted Dadabo's neighborhood and car. Arillotta and Ty Geas shot Dadabo at point-blank range in May of 2003 as Dadabo was starting his car for his commute to work. But, Dadabo survived.
Arillotta testified that Nigro advised him to work on his head shots.
On the witness stand in 2011, Dadabo said he and Nigro remained friends and only had a slight disagreement — over Tony Bennett concert tickets. He never identified his shooters.
Bologna also left out an attempt on Nigro's life. During his own information dump with law enforcement officials, Arillotta said that, in retrospect, Bologna was adept at creating strife among mobsters where there had previously been none.
A federal prosecutor wrote in Bologna's sentencing memo that Bologna had been afforded many opportunities to "come clean."
But, clean was never his style.

http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2017/05/john_bologna_new_york_mob_ency_2.html

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Junior Gotti says he lied to the feds and he is not a rat

Junior Gotti says he lied to the feds and he is not a rat

  February 18, 2015    Dapper_Don

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John "Junior" Gotti wants to make one thing perfectly clear — he’s not a rat.

In a sitdown with the Daily News, the mob scion and his lawyer Jeffrey Lichtman gave their most detailed explanation to date of Gotti’s stunning decision to sit down with federal prosecutors in 2005 for a proffer session where he discussed crimes of his own — and of other mobsters in the Gambino crime family.

But he insists the “rat” label is unfair, because he intentionally provided bad information to the feds he felt sick talking to.

“No one got indicted,” said Gotti, who recently published a memoir titled “Shadow of My Father.”

“No one suffered but me.”

Gotti acknowledged that his old-school father, the late Gambino boss John Gotti, would never have approved of the legal strategy. But Junior said he was in a bad place at the time.

He was facing trial on racketeering and stock fraud charges that could put him away for 100 years if he were convicted. Gotti was furious over the indictment because he thought federal prosecutors had given him coverage on those alleged charges from a prior plea agreement with the U.S. attorney’s office.

Gotti said he planned to give the feds information that was either useless or out-and-out false, and refused to ever testify against anyone. He hoped that prosecutors would give him a sweetheart plea deal while he would get two of his archenemies, reputed capo Daniel Marino and associate Joseph "Joe the German" Watts, jammed up with the feds.

The plan made no sense to anyone except Gotti — and got him excoriated as a “rat” by his ex-underling John Alite.

Joseph "Joe the German" Watts was an archenemy of Gotti.

Alite cut a deal to get out of prison and somehow got ahold of the five-page summary of Gotti’s blabbing, and published the secret FBI report in his memoir, “Gotti’s Rules.”

“I gave (prosecutors) inaccurate information,” Gotti insisted. “I’m not proud of this. To this day it still bothers me. I will never, ever, ever be a cooperator. I made a mistake. Just the fact that I was in the room with them (feds) made me physically sick. I gamed them and gamed myself.

Just the fact that I was in the room with them (feds) made me physically sick. I gamed them and gamed myself.

“That was 45 minutes I’m still paying for. Not one person was incarcerated. I never even offered to be debriefed, I refused to ever testify and I even walked in with my own script of notes to just give them information on a handful of useless subjects and false information.”

Lichtman said he was initially against the idea of his client meeting with prosecutors but came around when he was able to work out unique ground rules: Gotti would not discuss the pending charges in the indictment and would only talk about subjects of his own choosing.

Gotti speaks to the press from his home in 2009.

“The information he wanted to provide was useless as it was either beyond the statute of limitations, insignificant state crimes or, as I learned afterward, actually filled with falsehoods,” Lichtman told The News.

“It was an utter scam in the sense that it was not a real proffer — it was a ‘meet and greet’ with our providing some token good faith with this information. What he did, I learned later, was putting people into crimes who were already dead.”

Lichtman was referring to Gotti’s recounting of the 2003 murder of Danny Silva in a Queens bar.

Gotti claimed among those involved in the melee was Joey Curio — but Gotti said he knew full well that Curio wasn’t there because he had been slain three years earlier.

“It was an utter and complete farce,” Lichtman said of the proffer.

“I didn’t know he was going to lie, but we were clear with each other that he was going to give them bulls — that couldn’t go anywhere. In the end, he felt that by just going in as a Gotti for a proffer he might be able to hurt his enemies. It was a crazy idea and once we refused to go back for another debriefing that was the end of it and we mercifully could start and finish trial preparation.”

Gotti can’t be prosecuted for providing the feds with phony info, because the statute of limitations has run out.

Two former federal prosecutors who attended the session declined to comment on Gotti’s assertions.

Gotti, who turned 51 on Valentine’s Day, also gave The News his first public explanation of his mysterious stabbing outside a Long Island drugstore in 2013.

He said he was wounded breaking up a fight between two crackheads he knew — and has no regrets.

“If I had to do it all over again I would,” Gotti said.

Gotti was stabbed in the parking lot of a CVS drugstore in Syosset in 2013.

Daniel Marino was another mob foe.

Gotti refused to cooperate with Nassau County cops and prosecutors investigating the Nov. 10, 2013, stabbing in the parking lot of a CVS drugstore in Syosset.

Adding to the mystery, there were no witnesses, no surveillance video cameras at the parking lot, and cops found no bloodstains.

Gotti said he was home watching the Sunday night football game between the Saints and the Cowboys when “someone I’ve known my whole life called and said he had a problem at the CVS parking lot in Syosset just 2 miles from my house and asked for my help.”

“I got to the parking lot and two guys were fighting. I knew both of them,” he said, adding that they were “crackheads.”

“I tried to break up the fight and one of them pulled out a knife, swung it wildly, and the knife caught me in my lower abdomen,” he said. “The second cut missed my heart and caught the back of my stomach, about 4 inches deep.”

Gotti drove himself to Syosset Hospital, where he underwent surgery. While he was recovering in the hospital, he used the alias “Critical Kane” for privacy, he said.

“The one person who got me involved apologized for it, but I still don’t know which of the two stabbed me,” Gotti said.

Gotti explained that he did not meet with authorities because the stabbing was “a complete and total accident.” His wife, though, took a dimmer view of his rush to be a good Samaritan.

“The way my wife looks at it, ‘After all, you’ve been through, to be laying dead in a parking lot?’ ” Gotti said.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/exclusive-john-junior-gotti-brags-lied-feds-article-1.2118025

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Sicilian Wiseguy Domenico Cefalu becomes Boss of the Gambino crime family once ruled by Gottis

Sicilian Wiseguy Domenico Cefalu becomes Boss of the Gambino crime family once ruled by Gottis

  July 29, 2011    Dapper_Don

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The new boss of the mob clan once ruled by the late John Gotti is Sicilian-born gangster Domenico Cefalu, an ex-con who lives with his mother.
Sources say Cefalu, 64, has taken the reins of the Gambino crime family - a move that marks a stunning break with the late John Gotti's infamous era.
"I think they picked a Sicilian because they're tired of the old, fat, lazy American Italians who turn into rats," said a law enforcement source.
Cefalu's ascension, first reported by the Gang Land News website, comes at a sensitive time for the crime family - but even more so for the convicted felon. Two fellow gangsters on the family's ruling panel - Bartolomeo "Baboots" Vernace and Daniel Marino - are in jail, leaving Cefalu as the lone made man standing.
Cefalu is also still on supervised release for a 2008 extortion conviction and was warned at his sentencing by Federal Judge Jack Weinstein not to associate with any mobsters.
Cefalu is a low-key wiseguy who couldn't be more different than the flamboyant Gotti.
He lives with his mother in Bensonhurst and says he's a salesman for a baking supply company. He's also served time for a heroin conviction and for refusing to answer questions before a grand jury about his then-captain Pasquale Conte.
Lewis Kasman, the late Gotti's so-called "adopted son," disputed the opinions of law enforcement experts who say Gotti hated Sicilian mobsters.
"I think John was not a fan of [Cefalu] because of his involvement with narcotics," Kasman told the Daily News.
"John always said the Sicilians did the best work."

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/the_mob/2011/07/29/2011-07-29_wiseguy_sicilian_the_capo_of_the_gambinos.html#ixzz1TUWkFYjh

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Gambinos name Sicilian as new boss signaling end to the Gotti era

Gambinos name Sicilian as new boss signaling end to the Gotti era

  July 28, 2011    Dapper_Don

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Image via Wikipedia

The Gambino crime family has promoted former acting underboss Domenico "Italian Dom" Cefalu as the new official boss. Cefalu, currently on parole, was serving as acting underboss on the street for the jailed Arnold "Zeke" Squitieri. This change signifies the end of the leadership of the Gotti clan with previous boss Peter "One Eye" Gotti in jail serving a life sentence.

Recently on the street the family was being run by a three man ruling committee/panel which consisted of Daniel Marino (jailed), Bartolomeo "Bobby" Vernace (jailed), and John Gambino. John Gambino is reportedly on a wheelchair and gravely ill, and Vernace was recently named the family's new consigliere. The current leadership now consists of:

• Boss: Domenico "Italian Dom" Cefalu (Paroled)
• Underboss: Arnold “Zeke” Squitieri (Jailed)
• Consigliere: Bartolomeo "Bobby Glasses" Vernace (Jailed, Under Indictment)
• New Jersey Faction Boss: Alphonse "Funzi" Sisca
• Estimated Membership: About 260 Made Members

Look out for an update to our current leadership charts section by the end of the year.

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6 Staten Islanders sentenced in wide-ranging mob case

6 Staten Islanders sentenced in wide-ranging mob case

  May 13, 2011    Dapper_Don

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Some of the mobsters extorted victims, beating one with a baseball bat and another into unconsciousness. 
Others loansharked, ran illegal gambling rackets or trafficked in sex involving a 15-year-old girl.
Six Staten Islanders were among nine members and associates of the Gambino crime family sentenced in Manhattan federal court on convictions for wide-ranging criminal activities, said Preet Bharara, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York.
Sentenced yesterday were Thomas Orefice, 34, of Huguenot; Dominick DiFiore, 31, of Willowbrook; Anthony Manzella, 32, of Pleasant Plains; Michael Scotto, 25, of Charleston; Michael Scarpaci, 35, of Prince's Bay, and Keith Dellitalia, 34, of Great Kills.
Orefice, a Gambino soldier, received the most time -- eight years in prison -- and was ordered to forfeit $100,000, stemming from convictions for racketeering conspiracy, including extortion, loansharking and gambling, said prosecutors.
Prosecutors said the crew used violence to collect debts.
Orefice, DiFiore and Dellitalia beat an extortion victim with a baseball bat, Orefice and DiFiore assaulted another victim on the street, while Scotto beat a victim unconscious to collect an extortion payment for DiFiore, said authorities.
In the summer of 2009, Orefice, DiFiore, Manzella, Thomas Scarpaci, 36, of Bay Terrace, and Anthony Vecchione, 41, of Dongan Hills, plotted to extort the owner of a Staten Island financial services business, prosecutors said.
DiFiore was sentenced yesterday to 92 months in prison and ordered to forfeit $25,000 for convictions on extortion conspiracy and conspiracy to distribute narcotics.
Manzella was sentenced to four years behind bars for convictions on racketeering conspiracy, including mail fraud and gambling. Scotto received 37 months in prison for racketeering, including extortion and gambling, Michael Scarpaci got 18 months for racketeering, including gambling and Dellitalia was sentenced to 21 months for extortion.
The six defendants sentenced yesterday were among nine borough residents nabbed in April of last year in a mob sweep.
Previously convicted and sentenced were Richmond resident Steve Maiurro, 32, to 21 months for sex trafficking; Thomas Scarpaci, to 30 months for racketeering, including extortion and gambling, and Vecchione, to 15 months for extortion.
Prosecutors said Maiurro and others advertised a prostitution ring on Craigslist and other Web sites.
Between 2008 and 2009, the women were driven to Manhattan, Brooklyn, New Jersey and Staten Island to have sex with clients, while mobsters pocketed half the money paid to the girls.
Feds said one of the girls was 15 years old at the time.
The girls also were made available for sex to gamblers at a weekly high-stakes poker game run by mobsters.
Mob boss Daniel Marino, 70, of Brooklyn, also arrested in April 2010, was previously sentenced to five years in prison and ordered to forfeit $1.25 million.
Prosecutors said Marino admitted to green-lighting the 1998 hit on his nephew, New Springville resident Frank Hydell, 31, in front of the former Scarlett's nightclub in South Beach. Hydell had been co-operating with authorities.
Also sentenced yesterday was Gambino soldier, Onofrio Modica, 47, of Manalapan, N.J., to 100 months in prison.
In August 1987, Modica's motorcycle was used in connection with the drive-by murders of James DiGuglielmo and Richard Sbarra on Staten Island, prosecutors said.
Modica and other Gambino members also tried to tamper with jurors in the 1992 trial of mob don John Gotti in Brooklyn federal court, said prosecutors.

http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2011/05/6_staten_islanders_sentenced_i.html

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Nine Gambino Crime Family Members Sentenced in Manhattan Federal Court for Racketeering, Murder Conspiracy, Extortion, Sex Trafficking, and Other Crimes

Nine Gambino Crime Family Members Sentenced in Manhattan Federal Court for Racketeering, Murder Conspiracy, Extortion, Sex Trafficking, and Other Crimes

  May 13, 2011    Dapper_Don

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PREET BHARARA, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced the sentencing of nine members and associates of the Gambino organized crime family of La Cosa Nostra (the “Gambino Family”) who were charged, along with five others, in Manhattan federal court in April 2010 with crimes including racketeering, murder, sex trafficking, extortion, and wire fraud. THOMAS OREFICE, DAVID EISLER, SALVATORE BORGIA, ANTHONY MANZELLA, ONOFRIO MODICA, DOMINICK DIFIORE, MICHAEL SCOTTO, MICHAEL SCARPACI, and KEITH DELLITALIA were sentenced yesterday and today by JUDGE LEWIS A. KAPLAN based on their convictions on various federal charges. The other five defendants were sentenced over the past several months. They are: DANIEL MARINO, THOMAS SCARPACI, STEVE MAIURRO, SUZANNE PORCELLI, and ANTHONY VECCHIONE.
Manhattan U.S. Attorney PREET BHARARA said: “The successful prosecutions of Daniel Marino and his cronies dealt a significant blow to the Gambino Family—a “family” that will stop at nothing to wield power, extract illegal profits, and exact revenge against its enemies. But we are far from finished, and our goal of disrupting and dismantling organized crime throughout the City of New York and beyond its borders will continue unabated.”
According to the indictment, the guilty plea proceedings, and the record of the case:
DANIEL MARINO, a longtime member of the Gambino crime family, was a boss who presided over at least 200 fully inducted, or “made,” mafia members, as well as hundreds of associates who committed crimes on behalf of the family. THOMAS OREFICE and ONOFRIO MODICA were soldiers of the Gambino Family, acting under MARINO’s supervision. OREFICE and MODICA each supervised crews that included DOMINICK DIFIORE, ANTHONY MANZELLA, MICHAEL SCOTTO, MICHAEL SCARPACI, THOMAS SCARPACI, DAVID EISLER, and SALVATORE BORGIA. The indictment also charges other individuals who committed crimes with and for the Gambino Family, including STEVE MAIURRO, KEITH DELLITALIA, SUZANNE PORCELLI, and ANTHONY VECCHIONE.
In addition to racketeering charges, the defendants were charged and have pled guilty to the following crimes:
Murder of Frank Hydell
In 1997, suspicion arose within the Gambino Family that FRANK HYDELL, MARINO’s nephew, was cooperating with law enforcement, which he was. Based on these suspicions, various Gambino Family members and associates plotted to kill HYDELL and sought MARINO’s approval for the hit. In his guilty plea, MARINO admitted that he gave his co-conspirators the “green light” for the murder to proceed. Upon MARINO’s authorization to kill HYDELL, various Gambino Family members and associates lured him to a strip club in Staten Island where he was shot three times in the face and back. HYDELL, 31, died in the strip club’s parking lot.
Accessory to Murder of James DiGuglielmo and Richard Sbarra
On August 22, 1987, MODICA’s motorcycle was used in connection with the drive-by shooting of two individuals in Staten Island, JAMES DIGUGLIELMO and RICHARD SBARRA. After the murders occurred, MODICA made false statements to the police and helped to hide and destroy evidence in an effort to protect the individuals who killed DIGUGLIELMO and SBARRA from being arrested and convicted.
Sex Trafficking and Sex Trafficking of a Minor
From 2008 to 2009, numerous defendants, including OREFICE, DIFIORE, MANZELLA, SCOTTO, EISLER, MAIURRO, and PORCELLI, operated a prostitution business where young women and girls were exploited and sold for sex. The defendants first recruited various young women and girls to work as prostitutes. They then advertised the prostitution business on Craigslist and other websites. The defendants drove the women to appointments in Manhattan, Brooklyn, New Jersey, and Staten Island to have sex with clients. They then took approximately 50 percent of the money paid to the young women. They also made the women available for sex to gamblers at a weekly, high-stakes poker game.
Jury Tampering
In 1992, then-boss JOHN J. GOTTI was on trial for federal racketeering and murder charges in the Eastern District of New York. MODICA, along with various other Gambino Family members, took part in a plot to locate the anonymous, sequestered jurors sitting on that trial. MODICA and the others eventually penetrated various security measures, and located the jury at the hotel where it was sequestered. The plan to tamper with the jury was called off, however, when GOTTI came to believe that the jury would not convict him, even without outside interference.
Extortions and Assaults
Between 2005 and 2009, OREFICE, DIFIORE, MANZELLA, SCOTTO, THOMAS SCARPACI, DELLITALIA, EISLER, and VECCHIONE extorted payments from various businesses and individuals through the use of violence and threats. The defendants targeted businesses in the construction, home heating oil, and financial services industries, as well as various individuals in and around New York City.
Several of the extortions resulted in serious beatings. For example:

• In December 2005, after an extortion victim failed to make a payment, OREFICE, DIFIORE, and DELLITALIA used a baseball bat to beat the victim, causing the victim’s hospitalization.
• In 2008, OREFICE and DIFIORE tracked down another extortion victim who failed to make a payment, beat him viciously, and left him on the street. The victim was hospitalized and received emergency surgery.
• In the summer of 2009, OREFICE, DIFIORE, MANZELLA, THOMAS SCARPACI, and VECCHIONE plotted to extort the owner of a financial services business in Staten Island. Members of OREFICE’s crew went to the victim’s office in an attempt to shake him down, demanded to see the victim, and, ultimately, threatened the victim’s office staff.
• In the summer of 2009, SCOTTO assaulted an individual to collect an extortion payment for DIFIORE, leaving the individual unconscious.

Wire Fraud
OREFICE and MANZELLA defrauded various high-end restaurants in New York City by inflating invoices for meat orders placed with MANZELLA’s company and paying kickbacks to the chefs responsible for ordering the meat. The invoices were sometimes inflated by as much as 40 percent of actual costs. To ensure that the chefs at the restaurants would continue ordering meat from MANZELLA’s company, and to encourage them to turn a blind eye to the scam, MANZELLA kicked back about five percent of the proceeds to them.
Narcotics Trafficking
OREFICE, DIFIORE and BORGIA trafficked in narcotics—including cocaine, marijuana, and oxycodone—for and on behalf of the Gambino Family.
Gambling
OREFICE, MODICA, DIFIORE, MANZELLA, MICHAEL SCARPACI, THOMAS SCARPACI, EISLER, BORGIA, and DELLITALIA ran various illegal gambling operations for the Gambino Family. These operations included an Internet-based sports betting, or “bookmaking,” operation and a regular, high-stakes card game.
The charges contained in the indictment against each defendant, and the corresponding sentences, are contained in charts attached to this press release.
Mr. BHARARA praised the investigative work of the FBI.
The case is being handled by the office’s Organized Crime Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys ELIE HONIG, NATALIE LAMARQUE, DANIEL CHUNG, and JASON HERNANDEZ are in charge of the prosecution.
United States v. Daniel Marino et al.

Defendant	Charges of Conviction	Sentence
DANIEL MARINO	Conspiracy to murder Fran kHydell	60 months in prison;$1.25 million forfeiture
THOMAS OREFICE	Racketeering conspiracy, with objects including extortion, sex trafficking, loansharking, gambling	96 months in prison; $100,000 forfeiture
ONOFRIO MODICA	Racketeering conspiracy, with objects including accessory to murder, jury tampering, extortion, gambling	100 months in prison; $11,490 in forfeiture
DOMINICK DIFIORE	Extortion conspiracy,narcotics distribution	92 months in prison;$25,000 in forfeiture
ANTHONY MANZELLA	Racketeering conspiracy, with objects including extortion, mail fraud, sex trafficking, gambling	48 months in prison
MICHAEL SCOTTO	Racketeering, with underlying acts including extortion and gambling	37 months in prison
MICHAEL SCARPACI	Racketeering, withunderlying acts includinggambling	18 months in prison
DAVID EISLER	Racketeering, with underlying acts including sex trafficking, extortion, and gambling	33 months in prison
THOMAS SCARPACI	Racketeering, with underlying acts including extortion and gambling	30 months in prison
SALVATORE BORGIA	Racketeering, with underlying acts including narcotics distribution and gambling	21 months in prison
STEVE MAIURRO	Sex trafficking	21 months in prison
KEITH DELLITALIA	Extortion	21 months in prison
SUZANNE PORCELLI	Sex trafficking	3 years of supervised release
ANTHONY VECCHIONE	Extortion	15 months in prison

Defendant	Residence	Age
DANIEL MARINO	Brooklyn, New York	70
THOMAS OREFICE	Staten Island, New York	34
ONOFRIO MODICA	Manalapan, New Jersey	47
DOMINICK DIFIORE	Staten Island, New York	31
ANTHONY MANZELLA	Staten Island, New York	32
MICHAEL SCOTTO	Staten Island, New York	25
MICHAEL SCARPACI	Staten Island, New York	35
DAVID EISLER	Brooklyn, New York	24
THOMAS SCARPACI	Staten Island, New York	36
SALVATORE BORGIA	Brooklyn, New York	32
STEVE MAIURRO	Staten Island, New York	32
KEITH DELLITALIA	Staten Island, New York	34
SUZANNE PORCELLI	Brooklyn, New York	44
ANTHONY VECCHIONE	Staten Island, New York	41

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Gambino family mobster Daniel Marino gets five years

Gambino family mobster Daniel Marino gets five years

  January 25, 2011    Dapper_Don

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A dying John Gotti in jail.
Murderous reputed mobster Daniel Marino today landed five years behind bars and a $1.25 million forfeiture after pleading guilty to ordering a hit on his own nephew.
The alleged Gambino crime family boss had admitted to authorizing the killing of nephew Frank Hydell outside a Staten Island strip club in 2004 after Hydell cooperated with the feds.
Manhattan Federal Court Judge Lewis Kaplan recommended that Marino, 70, who reportedly suffers heart problems, be allowed to serve his time in a medical facility as close to New York as possible.
As part of the deal, Marino also must pay the forfeiture — a chunk of his ill-gotten gains, authorities said.

"For Marino, the Mafia comes before family and friends," said prosecutor Elie Honig. "That’s what he’s most proud of. In 1998, his nephew was cooperating and hurting the mob, and he chose the mob. That’s how he treats those in his family. He has not expressed any remorse. What about the daughter of Frank Hydell."
Marino’s lawyer, Gerald Shargel, had asked forleniency on where the reputed mobster would do his time.
"Yes, he pleads guilty, but at 70 years old, he’s asking for some level of compassion," Shargel said, adding that notorious late Gambino boss "John Gotti was housed in a medical facility — it’s not a security risk."
Marino grinned and waved at his wife before led off.
Nearly two dozen other reputed mobsters also appeared in Brooklyn and Manhattan federal courts for unrelated cases stemming from last week’s mega-bustup of local crime families.
In Manhattan, reputed Gambino crime-family consigliere Joseph "Jo-Jo" Corozzo had his namesake son as his lawyer.
The elder Corozzo — who faces drug-trafficking, gambling, extortion and racketeering raps — "is innocent," insisted his son, Joseph Jr.
"They just want to keep him in jail," said the son — who the feds have called the crime family’s "house counsel."
Joseph Jr. scoffed at claims that the feds will try to boot him off the case.
An alleged Colombo crime-family capo, Anthony "Big Anthony" Russo — no relation to fellow reputed Colombo boss Andrew Russo — was ordered to put his bail request in writing before it would be considered.
Russo — facing murder, extortion and loan-sharking charges — has his next court date in March.

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/gambino_family_mobster_daniel_marino_Du4jficgZxleA7rIJZNSjK#ixzz1C6j1qspU

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Feds Challenge Mob Boss To Apologize For Nephew's Murder

Feds Challenge Mob Boss To Apologize For Nephew's Murder

  January 19, 2011    Dapper_Don

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The feds are daring a reputed Mafia boss to apologize for authorizing a hit on his own nephew.
Daniel Marino "has yet to express any remorse" over the 1998 murder of Frank Hydell for becoming a government informant, prosecutors wrote yesterday.
"It remains to be seen whether he will do so at sentencing," the Manhattan federal court filing says.
In urging a maximum five-year sentence, the prosecutors said Marino's guilty plea was "a fitting end to his mob career" that "perfectly captures [his] characteristic penchant for brutality and betrayal of those closest to him."
They noted that Marino, 70, was also convicted earlier of conspiring to murder Thomas Spinelli, a "mob colleague and friend" who likewise "posed a threat to Marino and the Gambino family" by turning rat.
"In both cases, Marino put loyalty to the mob over loyalty to his own family and friends," court papers say.
Defense lawyer Gerald Shargel declined to comment.

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/thug_unsorry_state_bujf8fljSWCtOJPqwMPLTK#ixzz1BcV5JOel

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Guilty Pleas From Last Two Defendants In Gambino Round-Up

Guilty Pleas From Last Two Defendants In Gambino Round-Up

  January 10, 2011    Dapper_Don

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Two mob goons pleaded guilty this afternoon to charges that they viciously beat deadbeat gamblers during what prosecutors called a "staggering" spree of crimes.
Reputed Gambino crime-family soldier Thomas Orefice and the alleged right-hand man in his crew, Dominick Difiore, both face nine or more years in the slammer under terms of their deals with the feds.
The pleas closed the book on last year's massive crackdown on the Gambinos, in which 12 other reputed gangsters have already pleaded guilty.
Those cases included an admission from reputed mob boss Daniel Marino that he authorized a 1998 hit on his own nephew, Frank Hydell, for becoming a government snitch.

"As the result of our prosecution, one of the Mafia's preeminent leaders and many of its rising stars will now serve significant prison sentences," Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said.
"We are, however, far from finished with the Gambino family and will continue working with our law enforcement partners to put their members and associates out of business and behind bars."
Prosecutors said Orefice and Difiore were both caught blabbing about their criminal exploits on secretly made recordings, one of which captured Orefice administering a beating as his victim begged him to stop.
The hulking 34-year-old -- who spent time in the nuthouse as a teen -- allegedly became a "made" member of the Mafia in 2008 after befriending reputed Marino behind bars.
During his appearance in Manhattan federal court, he admitted loansharking, extortion and helping run a sports-betting ring and a weekly, high-stakes poker game.
Orefice was represented in court by lawyer Seth Ginsberg, who recently ran afoul of the law himself when guards at the downtown Metropolitan Correctional Center found a small bag of pot hidden in his briefcase.
Ginsberg, whose musician brother insisted the weed was his, said the feds recently told him he wouldn't be charged over the incident.
DiFiore -- already a two-time felon -- admitted that he also sold more than 1,000 potent oxycodone pills to a cooperating witness in 2009.
The heavily tattooed 31-year-old was promised full-fledged membership in the mob "as a reward for his criminal conduct," court papers say.

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/guilty_pleas_from_last_two_defendants_0fvTLsK9qEWQvV0wxMmuzM#ixzz1Ag8enYpX

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Gambino Family Boss Pleads Guilty In Nephew's 1998 Murder

Gambino Family Boss Pleads Guilty In Nephew's 1998 Murder

  December 22, 2010    Dapper_Don

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This mob murder was kept all in the family.
A reputed Gambino crime-family boss pleaded guilty yesterday to authorizing a hit on his nephew for cooperating with the feds.
Daniel Marino said he was visited in prison in 1998 by unidentified "co-conspirators" seeking his "permission" to murder mob rat Frank Hydell, who was later fatally shot outside a Staten Island strip club in 2004.
"I gave them the equivalent of a green light to go forward," gravel-voiced Marino, 70, said in Manhattan federal court.
Under terms of his guilty plea, Marino will serve the five-year max for conspiracy to murder a witness.

He also agreed to forfeit $1.25 million in ill-gotten gains, $1 million of which he must fork over before his scheduled Jan. 25 sentencing.
The plea bargain almost fell apart when Marino initially said he "took no steps to stop" Hydell's murder, an inaction that Judge Lewis Kaplan noted was not a crime.
Defense lawyer Gerald Shargel quickly drafted an additional statement in which Marino implicated himself in the plot without admitting his alleged role in the Mafia.
Prosecutor Elie Honig said authorities struck the deal with Marino because of his age and history of heart trouble.


http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/wiseguy_ok_hit_on_my_nephew_DoySUGq4oOJGsNjAvH2iUL#ixzz18s7EF8oE

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Federal Appeals Court Denies Gambino Boss Bail

Federal Appeals Court Denies Gambino Boss Bail

  October 15, 2010    Dapper_Don

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A federal appeals court has unanimously affirmed a district court's finding that alleged Gambino crime family boss Dan Marino is a "danger to the community" who must remain in jail while awaiting trial:

[C]onsiderable evidence of Marino's prior conduct reveals his disturbing propensity for violence, often in the context of obstruction of justice. Of Marino's four prior felony convictions, two indicate that, at a younger age, Marino was willing to use violence himself, specifically, his 1963 conviction for assaulting a federal officer and his 1975 conviction for criminal possession of a weapon. Marino's other two convictions indicate his willingness to obstruct justice, including by resort to murder. Thus, he was convicted in 1994 for conspiracy to murder a cooperating witness and in 1997 for illegally intercepting the telephone calls of a cooperating witness. * * * The fact of his past violent activities, together with his ongoing ability to direct the conduct of criminal confederates, provided clear and convincing evidence of the present danger he posed. Indeed, this conclusion is reinforced by the grand jury's determination that, even from jail, Marino could order the murder of a government witness.

Marino was indicted last April with thirteen other suspected Gambino members and associates who were variously charged on racketeering, murder, sex trafficking, sex trafficking of a minor, jury tampering, extortion, assault, narcotics trafficking, wire fraud, loansharking, and gambling charges.  Last September defendant Suzanne Porcelli pleaded guilty for her role in the alleged Gambino teen prostitution ring which prosecutors say involved girls as young as fifteen-years-old.

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Gambino Madam Faces 2 Years In Prison

Gambino Madam Faces 2 Years In Prison

  September 17, 2010    Dapper_Don

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The Gambino Madam is headed to jail.
Suzanne Porcelli, 40, who was accused of helping the mob pimp out young girls, faces up to two years behind bars after pleading guilty in Manhattan Federal Court Friday.
"I knowingly aided and abetted the transportation of an individual to engage in prostitution by answering a telephone and making appointments for customers, which I knew was unlawful," the raven-haired Porcelli told Judge Ronald Ellis as her 20-year-old daughter looked on.
Porcelli was indicted earlier this year along with 14 members of the Gambino crime family, including current boss Daniel Marino.
One of the girls she allegedly pimped out from strip clubs was a 15-year-old runaway who looked even younger, a law enforcement source said.
Prosecutors say Porcelli set up the appointments and that Gambino soldier Thomas Orefice's crew delivered the women to johns in New York and New Jersey, pocketing half the $200-a-session payment.
Porcelli, who told the judge she was being treated for anxiety and depression and was taking anti-depressants yesterday, has no previous criminal record.
Sources said she became a madam after her husband was murdered.
"She had a minor role in this which was only clerical in nature," defense lawyer Vincent Romano said, adding Porcelli did little more than answer a cellphone for the crew for three weeks.
Porcelli is slated to be sentenced early next year.


Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2010/09/17/2010-09-17_suzanne_porcelli_the_gambino_madam_admits_she_aided_prostitution_ring_faces_2_ye.html#ixzz0zoqNReCs

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Gambino Mobsters Complain Prison Is Bad For Their Health

Gambino Mobsters Complain Prison Is Bad For Their Health

  July 19, 2010    Dapper_Don

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These are the tough guys?
Nearly half of the 14 accused Gambino mobsters rounded up in a recent bust are whining to the court about their weak hearts, bad backs and other aches and pains.
The chief complainer: reputed boss Daniel Marino, who insists his bum ticker should be his ticket out of prison.
Marino's lawyers argued last week that the 69-year-old needs to be released on bail - or else he risks a stroke.
The alleged wiseguy led a gang of mobsters and wanna-bes arrested this spring on a litany of charges from extortion to sex trafficking.
Among their prey, Manhattan federal prosecutors say, was a 15-year-old runaway sold on craigslist for $200 a session.
Prosecutors called the sex crime a "new low" and described the players as an explosive mix of experienced criminals and violent up-and-comers in the Gambino family.
But from their cumulative list of ailments, Marino's crew make it sound like they are lucky to get out of bed in the morning.
Manhattan Federal Judge Lewis Kaplan has not decided whether to release Marino - but he and other judges sure have gotten an earful of gripes:
- Onofrio (Noel) Modica - accused by prosecutors of being a made man overseeing his own crew - is only 46. But he has been "physically disabled for eight years, in constant pain," his lawyer has said.
Modica had two disks in his neck removed and another two fused in the hopes of ending his chronic pain from injuries suffered while running a successful bakery, his lawyer said.
He has been released on bail.
- Thomas Orefice, 33, is accused of coming up with the idea of making money off of young hookers and giving a thumbs up to adding a 15-year-old to the stable.
Orefice's underlings were "the youngest, most dangerous and most active crew," Assistant U.S. Attorney Elie Honig has said.
But when he was held without bail, he needed Percocet for a bad back, according to court records.
- Michael Scotto, 24, tested positive for opiates when he was busted. His lawyer said the drugs were actually pain meds for a back injury. The marijuana in his system went unexplained.
Scotto has been released on bail.
- Thomas Scarpaci, 35, needed his Percocet prescription when he was held in the Manhattan lockup. He also needed his Nexium for his acid reflux. He has since been released on bail.
- Steve Maiurro, 31, who reportedly rented an apartment for the 15-year-old prostitute, suffers from a ruptured disk and needs to be medically monitored while in lockup, according to court papers.

 

 http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/the_mob/2010/07/19/2010-07-19_wiseguy_crybabies_jail_bad_for_our_health.html#ixzz0u89fz8ly

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Gambino Soldier Wont Say Why He Turned Down FBI

Gambino Soldier Wont Say Why He Turned Down FBI

  April 23, 2010    Dapper_Don

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Official Jailed For Life Gambino Boss Peter "One Eyed" Gotti via Wikipedia

He's sticking to the vow of silence.
A reputed Gambino family mobster who turned down a deal with the feds refused to say why after getting sprung from jail this afternoon.
"No, sorry," Onofrio "Noel" Modica said after leaving the Manhattan federal courthouse.
Modica -- who's charged with two murders and plotting to tamper with the jury that convicted "Dapper Don" John Gotti in 1992 -- spent a week in the slammer after rejecting a offer to cooperate by telling two FBI agents: "Take me to court."
The 46-year-old, married father of three was released to house arrest at his Manalapan, N.J., home after signing a $2 million bond granted earlier this week.

Modica and 13 others -- including Daniel Marino, a reputed member of the Gambinos' panel of bosses -- are charged in a wide-ranging indictment that covers a slew of crimes dating stretching back from last year to the late 1980s.
Also today, a judge approved co-defendant Michael Scotto's release to house arrest if he posts a $3 million bond secured by $750,000 worth of property.
Prosecutors sought to keep the 24-year-old reputed mob associate locked up as a "danger to the community," citing secretly taped conversations in which he allegedly bragged of beating a loansharking victim and being able to obtain high-powered assault rifles.
Prosecutor Steve Kwok also said there's "overwhelming" evidence that Scotto, who lives with his parents on Staten Island, served as the driver for a 15-year-old girl who was pimped out as part of a prostitution ring allegedly run by the Gambinos.
Defense lawyer Robert Soloway said Scotto would likely make bail next week.

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/reputed_gangster_won_say_why_he_sOWL7pKqXcOlhkmknT7VJJ#ixzz0ly23vwkj

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