Saturday, March 31, 2007

Pondering Sicilian succession


A March 28 article from Janes Intelligence Review mulls the transfer of power within the Sicilian Mafia after the April 11, 2006, arrest of boss Bernardo Provenzano.

There is speculation that the Cosa Nostra is ruled at the moment by a triumvirate of Matteo Messina Denaro (right) of Trapani, Salvatore Lo Piccolo of Palermo and Domenico Raccuglia from Piana degli Albanesi.

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Two convicted of strip club extortion


A federal jury in Manhattan yesterday convicted Salvatore "Fat Sal" Scala and Thomas "Monk" Sassano of shaking down the Manhattan VIP Club, according to a report by 1010 WINS.

The two men were found guilty of extortion and conspiracy to extort. Prosecutors said they used "actual and threatened force" to extract payments from the strip club.

Scala (right), 64-year-old reputed captain in the Gambino Crime Family, was also found guilty of four counts of tax evasion. He reportedly did not file income tax returns for the years 1998-2001. Authorities labeled Sassano, 61, a soldier of the Gambino family.

The two men are in prison awaiting a sentencing date. Scala has reportedly been in poor health. He has cancer and a heart-related ailment.

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About Me

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Writer, editor, researcher, web publisher, specializing in organized crime history. (Available to assist with historical/genealogical research, writing, editing. Email at tphunt@gmail.com.)
Editor/publisher of crime history journal, Informer; publisher of American Mafia history website Mafiahistory.us; moderator of online forums; author of Wrongly Executed?; coauthor of Deep Water: Joseph P. Macheca and the Birth of the American Mafia and DiCarlo: Buffalo's First Family of Crime; contributor of U.S. Mafia history to Australian-published Mafia: The Necessary Reference to Organized Crime; writer/co-writer of crime history articles for several publications.
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