In an article this past June 22 by William K. Rashbaum, the reporter discusses the now famous "Gambino Crime Family’s Class of 1991" chart. The listing and photos of Gambino higher-ups, including 21 capos, appears on the cover of Howard Blum’s Gangland: How the FBI Broke the Mob.

     Rashbaum points out that of the 25 mobsters on the chart only two, Giuseppe Arcuri and George DeCicco, have avoided death or prosecution.

     So what happened to the entire management staff of the Gambino Family circa 1991? With the help of master mob historian Charles "Charlie the Moose" Molino, here is the rundown:

Guiseppe Arcuri – On the outside

George DeCicco – On the outside

     Gregory DePalma’s penchant for talking mob business on bugged telephones resulted in his arrest and imprisonment not once, but twice. First it was the Westchester Premier Theater incident that earned the handsome gangster four and a half years. Then in the mid-1990s not only was he nailed with a seven-year sentence but his son, Craig received eight. In addition his chatter brought down Gambino Family "acting boss" John A. "Junior" Gotti, who got six and a half years.

     Had Greg DePalma learned his lesson? Or from his place of incarceration, in the Medical Center for Federal Prisoners in Springfield, Missouri, could he pull it off one more time?

     Incredibly, DePalma’s careless yakking would bring on yet another federal indictment in September 2001. This time is was for plotting to kill a Bronx automobile dealer.

     John Lehmann of the New York Post reported that in May 2001, "Gambino bosses cut DePalma loose when word spread that his son, Craig DePalma, secretly testified to a grand jury two years ago in the Atlanta Gold Club racketeering case against one of the crime family’s rising stars, Michael "Mikey Scars" DiLeonardo. In his grand-jury testimony, Craig DePalma linked DiLeonardo to a $100,000 extortion bid on the New York strip club Scores."

     "No one wants Greg or his big mouthed son around," a source informed Lehmann. "If you’re a made man, you don’t go opening your mouth to a grand jury."

     The target of Greg DePalma’s wrath was Nicky LaSorsa, owner of an automobile showroom on Webster Avenue in the Bronx. The 66 year-old LaSorsa did five years on a drug conviction in the 1970s. In 1992 he pled guilty to lying to FBI agents regarding the leasing of an automobile to a murder suspect in 1989. In 1993 he was again indicted on drug charges.

     The reason DePalma wanted LaSorsa hit, according to prosecutors, was two-fold. First, LaSorsa allegedly "tried to force a businessman (who was never named) to pay $2,500 in protection money to him instead of to DePalma." Second, LaSorsa "coveted" DePalma’s table at Rao’s, a popular 106-year-old restaurant in the East Harlem section of Manhattan.

     When DePalma heard his regular table had been violated, he was recorded on a prison telephone stating, "I hope it ain’t Nicky. I’m going to stomp him."

     It would have been comical to see the wheelchair bound Gambino mobster, who is STILL dying from an assortment of ailments, carry out this action. However, his other recorded threats sounded a bit more menacing.

     "You’ll see when I get home – I want to step on Nicky’s prick with my golf shoes." And, "I can’t wait to get your friend Nick – and make chopped meat out of him."

     The ailing, 69 year-old DePalma needed a younger, healthier mobster to help him plan his revenge. He chose the 66 year-old, Sam "Fat Man" Cagnina, another wheelchair-bound, medical disaster, to assist him.

     "I weigh 270," Cagnina claimed. "I can hardly walk, I can hardly breathe. I’ve been walking in pajamas for three years, and when I get outside, I won’t be able to wear clothes."

     Good choice, Greg!

     Scott Deitche, our Tampa mob expert, is familiar with the "Fat Man" from Florida. He provides us with the following information:

     "Cagnina was born in Tampa on December 13, 1935. He is a former associate of the Tampa mob. Cagnina’s father was a local gambling figure with ties to the Trafficantes and Harlan Blackburn’s cracker mob.

     Despite their obvious physical limitations and questionable mental limitations, the two old mobsters set out to find someone to assist them in hiring a hitman to kill LaSorsa. Their choice, if you can believe it, was a man in worse physical condition than they were – fellow inmate, Jose Reyes.

     Cagnina met with Reyes to discuss a murder plot. He told the paraplegic that Vincent "the Chin" Gigante "personally wanted him [Reyes] to arrange the hit because the feds would be tricked into thinking the murder was connected to a Hispanic drug gang, rather than the mob." Reyes was told he would be paid off with "valuable real estate and lucrative drug-delivery routes." How this was going to benefit him from a wheelchair in a Missouri prison was never explained.

     Robert Gearty of the New York Daily News, provides us with the following background on Reyes:

     Reyes embellished his reputation by telling Cagnina that he had murdered 41 people and ordered the deaths of 14 more. While DePalma’s plan was to get even with LaSorsa. Reyes’ plan was to find a fast way to reduce his prison time. This wasn’t Reyes’ first bid for freedom. According to John Lehmann, "he helped the feds locate a wanted person in the Dominican Republic, but had been waiting three years for his prison sentence to be reduced when he decided to tip the feds off about the gangsters’ plan." Reyes contacted agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms and let them know about the LaSorsa murder scheme.

     The feds planted a microphone in the seat cushion of Reyes’ wheelchair and he recorded several conversations with the aging, but proud, mobsters. In addition, the ATF arranged for a New York City police detective to become the "killer for hire."

     On a bugged telephone at the Springfield prison, DePalma contacted Richard Famiglietti and told him to meet the hitman and take him to where LaSorsa could be found.

     "Whatever he tells you, it’s all right, he’s a good guy," DePalma assured Famiglietti. "Whatever he wants to do, just do it."

     DePalma let Famiglietti know that he was going to get even with LaSorsa, "That fat fuck. I’ll show him a thing or two."

     Famiglietti drove the undercover detective/hitman to the Bronx automobile showroom lot and pointed out LaSorsa to him. Famiglietti said to notify him when "the hit was successful." Before dropping him off, Famiglietti advised the hitman-for-hire to be careful because LaSorsa had "feds poking around him."

     In early September 2001 DePalma, Cagnina and Famiglietti were indicted and charged with plotting to kill LaSorsa. Was DePalma ready to accept responsibility for once again getting caught on a tapped telephone? No!

     When charged DePalma was said to have cried out, "I love Cagnina, but look at the mess he has gotten me into."

     In April 2002 Richard Famiglietti pled guilty and was handed a 41-month sentence for his role in the plot.

     On July 23 jury selection got underway in the trial of DePalma and Cagnina in the Manhattan Federal Courtroom of Judge Barbara Jones. The following day, during opening statements, prosecutor Karl Metzer outlined the government’s case for the jury and explained to them all of the evidence they would be presenting on the murder plot.

     Despite his voice being recorded on the prison telephone and on the bug in Reyes’ wheelchair, DePalma’s attorney, Robert Ellis, told the jury his client "did not participate in any such plot." He accused Reyes of fabricating the whole story to get a reduction on his sentence.

     "This is the last shot," Ellis barked out. "This is where he has to perform."

     Jose Reyes testified on July 25. He told the court that DePalma had told him, "He [DePalma] was the reason Nicky was a made guy – and this was the way Nicky was repaying him."

     On tape DePalma was caught crowing," When I left he was so…jealous of me, of everything I did…He was nobody. I brought him all around, I gave him a name…"

     Recordings of Cagnina showed he was proud of his efforts in the set up. "The thing that I like best, that nobody [has] this figured out. If anybody decided to talk, there ain’t nobody [who] could put it together…nobody knows the whole thing of this, and there’s no lead back."

     On August 1 the two sides presented their closing arguments. Ellis made fun of the government’s claim that LaSorsa took over DePalma’s table at Rao’s. "Who do you have to support that?" he questioned.

     Meanwhile, Cagnina’s lawyer, Jennifer Brown, explained away the "Fat Man’s" gangster macho talk by claiming her client "is a guy who watches ‘The Godfather’ and ‘The Sopranos’ too many times." While it’s hard to tell just how many times Cagnina has watched the "Godfather" trilogy, AmericanMafia.com wonders how the "Fat Man" gets to watch "The Sopranos" from behind bars. When did they start piping premium channels into federal prisons?

     On August 5 the jury returned with a not-guilty verdict for the wheelchair bound mobsters. DePalma turned to his lawyer and cried out, "Oh, my God; Oh, my God!"

     Yes, folks, DePalma himself couldn’t believe the asinine decision.

     The jury foreman, Christopher Ebert, told reporters, "We did not believe Jose Reyes. We had just the tapes and we didn’t find them sufficiently strong in swaying us that there was a murder-for-hire conspiracy." Perhaps what Ebert needed was the dead carcass of Nicky LaSorsa before he could be "swayed."

     AmericanMafia.com wonders, since the jury has determined the entire murder-for-hire conspiracy never took place, that it was a lie by Reyes to get his sentence reduced, does this mean that Richard Famiglietti pled guilty to false charges? Or was he the only victim of this nefarious scheme?

     Greg and the "Fat Man" will be wheeled back to prison to complete their sentences. It remains to be seen if the pair will get time off for good behavior. In the meantime, we’ll wait for DePalma’s next tapped phone conversation – and indictment.

     The fallout continues from the request for leniency letter for "Dishonest John" Connolly from Senior US District Court Judge Edward F. Harrington to US District Judge Joseph L. Tauro, despite the fact Harrington hand delivered a letter of withdrawal just days later.

     The brunt of the latest attack on Harrington comes from Boston radio personality and Herald columnist Howie Carr. The fiery journalist is taking Harrington to task – if not out behind the wood shed – with some of his statements. "He’s got the workload of a state rep, plus he makes $150,000 a year, which is pretty damn good for a guy who was, let’s face it, starving to death in private practice."

     Carr and Harvard Law School professor Alan Dershowitz have taken on Harrington and "Dishonest John" in a tag-team attack. Comments from both men insinuate that Connolly has something to say and Harrington wants something kept quiet.

     "I don’t know if he is protecting himself or his office," Dershowitz said of Harrington, "but he certainly seems to want a short enough sentence so that Connolly can be a stand-up guy, do his time and get out without ever opening his mouth."

     Carr came in swinging with, "No way does Zip Connolly stand up if he’s looking at not getting out of prison until he’s past 70. And loose lips sink ships."

     Dershowitz, back in the ring, "There is enormous pressure to keep him quiet. The same law firm that represents [Billy] Bulger is representing him. No one wants Connolly to roll over. He knows too much. And that’s why this letter was so particularly in appropriate."

     Howie Carr, back in for the final takedown. "Wasn’t it embarrassing enough for Harrington when he had to testify before a congressional committee involving the FBI frame-up of four guys for a gangland murder they didn’t commit back in the ‘60s? Wasn’t it appalling enough that the mob hitman who perjured the innocent parties into prison for 30-plus years dedicated his paperback autobiography, ‘To Edward F. Harrington, With Respect.’"

     Despite this beating, praise and requests for leniency are still coming into Judge Tauro. To the dismay of AmericanMafia.com, as well as many of our readers, one of the requests came from legendary former FBI Agent Joseph "Donnie Brasco" Pistone.

     Pistone wrote, "My friend John was one of only a handfull of FBI agents who was ever aware that I was ‘under.’ I trusted him with my life then and I would trust him with my life now."

     While AM.com doesn’t question the sincerity of Pistone’s statement, it needs to be pointed out that Pistone and Connolly worked together prior to "Dishonest John" transferring to Boston and climbing aboard the "Whitey" Bulger money train. There’s no doubt at our end that Connolly, once an honest agent, was corrupted by the sociopathic Bulger, like so many other people.

     It was Bulger’s deceitful nature that helped the local FBI bring down the Italian Mafia in Boston, which made Connolly look like a hero.

     However, Pistone’s statement asking Tauro "not to penalize Connolly for decisions made by FBI higher-ups," doesn’t quite make sense. Pistone can’t hold the Boston FBI responsible for Connolly’s greed and disgraceful conduct. "Dishonest John" knew the difference between right and wrong. He has to take responsibility for his own actions and he hasn’t.

     In addition to Pistone’s letter, the judge received requests from two bleeding-heart Hollywood personalities. William Friedkin, a movie-maker whose credits include "The French Connection" and "The Exorcist," urges "your Honor and pray to God that you will grant John the leniency I believe he so deserves."

     The second note was from screenwriter and former World Alai executive Alan Trustman, who wrote "The Thomas Crown Affair." You gotta wonder about someone who’s associated with World Alai and H. Paul "What do you want Tears" Rico. What’s up with these guys? Are they connected with Connolly’s effort to produce a movie about his life as a former mob buster? Can’t you just see "Dishonest John" cleaning up Beantown the way Hollywood had Robert Stack, ala Eliot Ness, cleaning up Chicago? Perhaps they can get Arnold Schwartzenegger to play Connolly.

     If that happens I can’t wait to read Howie Carr’s review of this silver screen gem.

Boston – "Big Paul" DeCologero was back in the Beantown newspapers last week. The "reputed head of a mob faction" is in a Rhode Island federal prison serving eight years for a drug conviction. He is also charged with ordering the death of 19 year-old Aislin Silva back on November 13, 1996. At that time Silva was the ex-girlfriend of Stephen DiCenso, an associate of DeCologero. Police uncovered guns and silencers belonging to DiCenso under Silva’s bed during a search of her apartment. DiCenso claims he told DeCologero that Silva couldn’t be trusted and the mobster ordered her death. Silva was brutally murdered by a man who broke her neck. The following year her killer committed suicide by hanging himself in his prison cell. Another man, accused of dismembering Silva, is currently serving 30 years for extortion in another case. Silva’s body was never recovered. On August 12 it was announced that prosecutors would not seek the death penalty in the case. DeCologero, who will be acting as his own counsel, was interviewed by the Boston Herald’s J. M. Lawrence. "They want me to go to prison because some kid killed his own girlfriend. All he has to say is I did it and he gets out." Shortly after Silva’s disappearance, DiCenso tried to commit suicide by overdosing on drugs. He failed, but claimed he was brain damaged and left incompetent to stand trial. However, DiCenso recovered enough of his mental capacities to cut a deal with prosecutors. Thomas Regan will also testify against DeCologero. Regan is currently serving 12 years on a firearms conviction. DeCologero once filed a $5 million federal lawsuit "accusing 15 FBI agents of covering for Bulger during Mob Battles affecting his family." Judges tossed out the suit in 2000. AM.com surmises the case was dismissed because DeCologero had the wrong number of agents – it was only half that amount. Cologero’s trial is scheduled for January 2003.

Las Vegas – The sentencing of Anthony "Cuckoo" Cuccia, Jr. took place on August 6. Cuccia was convicted of murdering Philip Greenspan in the Stardust Casino on February 7, 2000. Cuccia claimed Greenspan was hired as a hitman by the Gambino Family to kill him. Prosecutors said Greenspan had no organized crime connections. Cuccia, described as delusional – to put it mildly – requested to act as his own counsel during the trial, but relented at the last minute and allowed Jay Siegel, a court-appointed attorney, to represent him. Cuccia later bemoaned his decision and claimed, "I gave him 14 witnesses and he didn’t call a one." In a letter laced with profanity and "sexually explicit" suggestions, Cuccia told the judge, his lawyer and the prosecutors what they could do with their case. He told District Judge Jeffrey Sobel, that he "didn’t care if he got life with or without the possibility of parole." Sobel did him one better and sentenced him to two no-parole life terms. Attorney Siegel claimed that "This case screamed out for a different type of defense." At AM.com we’re guessing perhaps an insanity defense.

Youngstown – There’s a certain irony to disgraced former US Congressman’s James A. Traficant’s legal demise – and incarceration. In my research in Youngstown on the bald infidel, people that were close to him that I have interviewed told me that Traficant was a "skirt chaser" who had only one use for women. During his 1983 trial for accepting bribes during his campaign for Mahoning County Sheriff, he ended up with a woman jurist – US District Judge Ann Aldrich – who Traficant constantly battled even though she went out of her way to assist him. When the government began to close in on him in 1999 Traficant lashed out with his policy of the "best defense is a good offense." The target of his offense was Attorney General Janet Reno. The attack was offensive calling Reno a dyke and accusing her of having a lesbian affair with a mobbed-up hooker. Of course the affidavits Traficant promised that backed up his claims never materialized. When indicted in 2001 Traficant’s case was again assigned to a woman, US District Judge Lesley Brooks Wells. The same badgering attempts Traficant used against Aldrich were pulled out of mothballs and used to aggravate Wells. Only this time nothing worked for the arrogant Traficant. A jury, that included ten women, found him guilty on all counts and in the end Wells had the last laugh as federal marshals slapped the handcuffs on him and hauled him out of the courtroom. If Traficant thought Wells was to be his last female adversary for a while he was sadly mistaken. Traficant was shipped off to the Federal Correctional Institution Allenwood, which is under the control of Warden Susan Gerlinski. The warden, described as "hard nosed" by Jerry Capeci, gained national attention for her "tough" handling of certain inmates and family visitors during the recent "Sperm Gate" investigation. Jimbo, you and Susan enjoy your next eight years together.

AmericanMafia.com attempts to keep its audience advised of ongoing legal matters in the world of organized crime. New entries and additions to existing information will appear in RED.

September 9, 2002 – Boston – The racketeering trial of Robert Luisi, Jr. is scheduled to get underway before US District Court Judge Reginald C. Lindsay. Luisi at one time had a plea agreement which called for him to testify against Joseph "Skinny Joey" Merlino last year. On December 27, 2001 Luisi withdrew the plea.

September 9, 2002 – Camden – The trial of Daniel M. Daidone is scheduled to begin. He is charged with corruption involving disgraced mayor Milton Milan. Daidone answered to former Philadelphia mob boss Ralph Natale, who is expected to testify. The federal trial will be in the courtroom of US District Judge Joseph H. Rodriquez.

September 17, 2002 – Boston – Retired state trooper Richard J. Schneiderman goes on trial on charges that he hampered the FBI’s search for James "Whitey" Bulger by letting Bulger family members know that the FBI had requested pen registers on their telephones. The trial was originally scheduled for January 28, then rescheduled for June 24. AM.com thanks J. M. Lawrence for this update.

September 2002 – Hackensack, NJ – The racketeering trial of Danny Provenzano is "tentatively" scheduled to get underway. The great-nephew of Anthony "Tony Pro" Provenzano is charged with extorting hundreds of thousands of dollars through fear, intimidation and violence.

November 12, 2002 – Cleveland – Richard E. Detore goes to trial on one count of conspiring to violate a federal bribery statute involving United States Congressman James A. Traficant, Jr. This was rescheduled from July 29, 2002.

December 3, 2002 – Camden – The trial of James R. Mathis, Jr. is scheduled to begin. He is charged with corruption involving disgraced mayor Milton Milan. The federal trial will be in the courtroom of US District Judge Joseph H. Rodriquez.

POSTPONED INDEFINITELY – Rochester, NY – Albert M Ranieri goes on trial for conspiracy to traffic cocaine. Since his arrest on December 29, 2000, another defendant, prominent defense attorney Anthony Leonardo, Jr., has pled guilty and implicated Ranieri in the May 2000 murder of his former business partner Anthony Vaccaro. Authorities also suspect Ranieri of a 1990 armor car heist of $11 million. On July 8 the deputy court clerk for Judge Jonathan Feldman has informed AM.com that no date has been established for this trial.

STILL WAITING FOR RESULTS ON THIS ONE – May 28, 2002 – Boston – US District Judge Robert E. Keeton will hear arguments on the April 16 conviction of Michael L. Carucci. The judge will decide whether to uphold the conviction or overturn the six convictions the jury arrived at. Carucci was found guilty of transferring money earned from the criminal activity of Stephen "the Rifleman" Flemmi, who earlier pled guilty to the same charges. AM.com thanks our friend J. M. Lawrence of the Boston Herald for informing us "Keeton did the Carucci arguments but did not rule yet. His comments from the bench were critical of the prosecution. This is one to watch." In checking with Judge Keeton’s office AM.com has been told no decision has been made yet.

September 6, 2002 – Providence – Mayor Vincent A. Cianci, Jr. will be sentenced for his June 24 conviction on one count of federal racketeering conspiracy by US District Judge Ernest C. Torres. Cianci was cleared of 11 other charges. Being sentenced with him will be Frank E. Corrente, a former top aide, and Richard E. Autiello, a businessman. Cianci, the longest serving "big city" mayor in the United States, is looking at 37 to 46 months in prison.

September 9, 2002 – Boston – Michael Flemmi, the brother of notorious Winter Hill Gang member Stephen "the Rifleman" Flemmi, will be sentenced for his May 3 conviction of obstruction of justice and perjury. Michael Flemmi helped hide the arsenal of the Winter Hill Gang and lied to a grand jury about it. This sentencing was originally scheduled for July 15.

September 9, 2002 – Camden – Robert E. Gibson, the former Camden sewer superintendent and a 40-year employee of the city, will be sentenced for accepting illegal payments. Gibson claimed he was swept up in the corruption of disgraced mayor Milton Milan’s administration. He is looking at 18 to 24 months.

September 16, 2002 – Boston – Disgraced former FBI agent "Dishonest John" Connolly will be sentenced for his May 28 conviction on one count of racketeering and two counts of obstruction of justice and lying to investigators. He is looking at from 8 to 20 years. This was originally scheduled for August 7, then September 12.

September 26, 2002 – Cleveland – Henry DiBlasio, a former aide to US Congressman James A. Traficant, Jr., will be sentenced for lying to a Federal grand jury about paying kickbacks to the congressman. DiBlasio, 72 years old, could be sentenced to as much as 16 months in prison.

September 27, 2002 – New York – Alphonse "Allie Boy" Persico will be sentenced after pleading guilty to extortion, loansharking and money laundering. The son of jailed-for-life mobster Carmine "the Snake" Persico was the alleged "acting boss of the Colombo family. The sentencing date was originally scheduled for June 13, 2002. At that time Persico filed a motion to reverse his plea claiming prosecutor misconduct. The prosecutors were given two weeks to respond to the motion. A new date was then set for the sentencing.

September 2002 – Philadelphia – Albert R. Coccio, Jr. will be sentenced by US District Judge John P. Fullam after his May 28 guilty plea to charges of wire fraud, making false statements and money laundering. Coccio, a South Philadelphia contractor who at one time employed Joseph "Skinny Joey" Merlino, faces 6 to 18 months in prison.

October 11, 2002 – New York – Bonanno Family underboss Salvatore "the Chief" Vitale is scheduled to be sentenced after pleading guilty on June 14 to racketeering charges involving gambling, loansharking and money-laundering operations which he ran out of the European American Bank in Melville, Long Island. Vitale faces an incarceration period of 33 to 41 months.

October 28, 2002 – Newark – Eugene Wilson, indicted last year with eight others including Joseph "Skinny Joey" Merlino, will be sentenced after pleading guilty this past June 27 to gambling and running an illegal gambling operation.

October 29, 2002 – Boston – John J. "Mick" Murray will be sentenced by US District Judge Reginald Lindsay for his June guilty plea to charges of embezzlement, extortion, racketeering conspiracy and theft of interstate shipments.

NO WORD ON THIS – May 2, 2002 – Rochester Thomas Marotta plead guilty of federal narcotics charges and is waiting sentencing. US District Judge David Larimer’s deputy court clerk tells AM.com no date has been set for the sentencing.

Contact: AllanMay@AmericanMafia.com

AmericanMafia.com

Copyright © 1998 - 2002 PLR International