James “Whitey” Bulger on trial for racketeering charges which include charges of his participation in 19 murders that occured in the 1970’s and 80’s will not take the stand in his own defense. The judge asked Bulger if he was giving up his right to testify freely which cause him to go on a … [Read more…]
Joseph Massino former boss of the Bonanno crime family was the first official American Mafia boss to publicly testify against his fellow wiseguys. His cooperation was a key tool used by the feds in a decade long effort to dismantle La Cosa Nostra. Massino turned rat and agreed to a cooperation deal after he … [Read more…]
Former Colombo crime family boss Thomas “Tommy Shots” Gioeli may get one more shot at beating racketeering charges including murder conspiracy. Gioeli was scheduled to be sentenced next week but that has been postponed after prosecutors informed the judge about new information from an undercover informant. This new information indicates that some one other … [Read more…]
Philadelphia mafia leader Anthony Staino has decided to plead guilty to racketeering conspiracy and gambling charges and avoid a retrial. Staino was already found guilty during an earlier trial on two counts of extortion and is awaiting sentencing on those charges. He is set to enter a so-called “open” plea in court this afternoon. … [Read more…]
Daniel Farma a Gambino family associate has been charged for his role in the 1990 mafia hit on demolition contractor Edward “Eddie the Chink” Garofalo outside of his home in Brooklyn. The feds claim that this was the last hit ordered by notorious Gambino crime family boss John Gotti. He suspected that Garofalo may … [Read more…]
Authorities in Quebec have charged Pietro Magistrale for his alleged role in the mob hit of former mafia boss Salvatore Montagna. Montagna was the former boss of the New York based Bonanno crime family before being deported back to Canada. Police believe that Montagna aligned himself with mobster Raynald Desjardins among others in a … [Read more…]
The alleged Colombo crime family acting boss Andrew “Mush” Russo was sentenced to 33 months in prison on racketeering charges. But he was also given credit for time served which means he will be out of prison and back on the streets of New York in May. Russo was one of the 127 alleged … [Read more…]
The retrial of reputed Philadelphia mafia acting boss Joseph “Uncle Joe” Ligambi and fellow mobsters George Borgesi and Anthony Staino has been postponed. Judge Eduardo Robreno agreed to move the start of the retrial from April to October after lawyers for the defendants cited some scheduling conflicts during a conference call. Ligambi was acquitted … [Read more…]
Prosecutors plan to use a new tool at their disposal against alleged Philadelphia mobster Anthony Nicodemo. The District Attorney’s office in Philadelphia has opted to use an indicting grand jury in the murder case against Nicodemo. Using an indicting grand jury to bring charges against the alleged mob soldier over a public forum preliminary … [Read more…]
After twenty-one days of deliberations, the jury in the Philadelphia mafia trial against reputed Philly mob boss Joseph Ligambi and co-defendants reaches a partial verdict today. The jury convicted three of the six defendants which included alleged underboss Joseph “Mousie” Massimino, soldier Damion “Dame” Canalichio, and associate Gary Battaglini on trial with Ligambi on … [Read more…]
Long time mobster Benjamin “The Claw” Castellazzo has been sentenced to 63 months in prison on racketeering charges. Castellazzo currently holds the rank of underboss or second in command in the Colombo crime family according to authorities. He pleaded guilty on charges of mob extortion linked to a dispute over a red sauce recipe … [Read more…]
Notorious mob killer Frank Calabrese Sr passed away on Tuesday in a prison in Butner, NC while serving his life sentence. Calabrese now 75 died of apparent cardiac seizure according to his longtime attorney Joe Lopez and he said the former mob boss had been in ill health. He was nicknamed “The Breeze” and … [Read more…]
Convicted Philadelphia mobster Salvatore “Chuckie” Merlino died in federal prison on Monday. He hit the top ranks of the Philadelphia Mafia in the 1980’s serving as underboss to Nicodemo “Little Nicky” Scarfo and even served as the acting boss for a short period when Scarfo was in prison for a weapons charge. Salvatore along … [Read more…]