Apalachin forced FBI to act against mob

The discovery of a meeting of Italian and Sicilian racketeers from around the U.S. 50 years ago today pushed the FBI into a fight against organized crime.

Many of the nation's reputed crime bosses attended the mid-November 1957 convention at Joseph Barbara's home in rural Apalachin, NY (above right). When police, alerted by State Police Sergeant Edgar Croswell, crashed the party, they found mob bigshots like Vito Genovese, Carlo Gambino, Joe Profaci, Santo Trafficante and Russell Bufalino.

Though there were insufficient grounds to hold any of the more than 60 mobsters rounded up, the documented presence of so many underworld characters from so many U.S. regions made the existence of a nationwide network of crime undeniable. FBI chief J. Edgar Hoover, who had repeatedly insisted that there was no such network, was compelled address the problem.

Italy arrests LoPiccolo lieutenants

Italian police reported the arrest yesterday of five high-ranking lieutenants of supreme Palermo Mafia boss Salvatore Lo Piccolo, according to a story published by the Reuters news agency. Lo Piccolo was arrested last week after a quarter century as a fugitive.

The police characterized the suspects as "military commanders" of the Mafia. The five were charged with drug trafficking, arms trafficking and extortion.

A story in the International Herald Tribune indicated that four men - not five - were arrested. It identified the suspects as brothers Nunzio and Domenico Serio, 29 and 28 respectively, Vincenzo Mangione, 28, and Andrea Gioe, 40.

At the same time, the police moved against the Bottaro-Attanasio crime family in Syracuse. Arrest warrants were obtained for 70 suspected members of that criminal organization.

CT legislator resigns over mob link

Connecticut State Senator Louis DeLuca (above) resigned from the legislature yesterday, just hours before a Senate panel was to acquire subpoena power in its investigation of DeLuca's relationship with an indicted trash hauler, according to a story by Mark Pazniokas and Christopher Keating of the Hartford Courant.

The panel sought subpoena power in order to acquire FBI surveillance tapes of a meeting between DeLuca, 74, and an undercover agent posing as an associate of western Connecticut trash czar James Galante. Galante has been charged with overseeing a monopolistic property rights scheme in the hauling industry. He maintains his innocence.

The undercover agent failed in an attempt to bribe DeLuca, but reportedly won his agreement to protect Galante's interests in the legislature. DeLuca has insisted that he agreed with the request in order to end the meeting.

DeLuca received the FBI tapes of the conversations as he reached a plea bargain with federal investigators. He refused to turn them over to the state.

A Republican from the town of Woodbury, DeLuca served in the state senate for 17 years. He pleaded guilty in June to asking Galante to threaten his granddaughter's husband, Mark Colella. DeLuca said he believed Colella was abusing his granddaughter. Colella has denied the charge.

Schiro says DA's office betrayed her

Linda Schiro, the key witness in the recently abandoned case against former FBI supervisor Roy Lindley DeVecchio, feels betrayed and tossed aside by the Kings County District Attorney's Office, according to an interview with Sarah Wallace of WABC-TV.

Schiro's testimony in the DeVecchio trial connected the former FBI supervisor with four gangland killings. A reporter subsequently came forward with details of a Schiro interview that contradicted her testimony. Kings County prosecutors quickly dropped the case against DeVecchio and stated that Schiro (left) could face perjury charges.

In Schiro's interview with Wallace, she insisted that her court testimony was accurate and that the prosecutors were earlier aware of the apparently conflicting interview. She complained about how the DA's office has treated her. "I told the truth... I'm hurting because like I said, I can't believe what they did. I really can't."

During the WABC interview, Schiro recalled the FBI assistance provided by her longtime mobster boyfriend Gregory Scarpa. In 1964, Scarpa persuaded members of the Mississippi Ku Klux Klan to provide information on the murders of three missing civil rights workers. For many years, Scarpa secretly cooperated with the FBI.

DeLuca panel seeks FBI tapes

A Connecticut Senate subcommittee looking into allegations of impropriety against State Senator Louis DeLuca voted this week to seek subpoena power to obtain FBI tapes now in DeLuca's possession, according to a story by Christopher Keating of the Hartford Courant.

The subcommittee decided that DeLuca (right) "brought dishonor on his office and the institution of the state Senate" but refused to make a recommendation to the full Senate until it could listen to the full tapes of DeLuca's Sept 5 and Sept 7, 2006, conversations with an FBI agent posing as an associate of Danbury-area trash hauler James Galante. Excerpts from the tapes were transcribed into an arrest warrant affidavit. The U.S. Attorneys office gave copies of the full tapes to DeLuca's attorney. The state senator pleaded guilty in June to a misdemeanor charge of conspiring with Galante to threaten DeLuca's granddaughter's husband. (See related story.)

One of the excerpts suggests that DeLuca would be willing to do favors in the legislature for Galante. DeLuca's attorney has pointed out that other statements on the tapes portray DeLuca in a more favorable light. The tapes reportedly show that DeLuca immediately turned down an offered bribe from the undercover agent. However, DeLuca stated last month that he would not turn over copies of the tapes.

"The recordings are not publicly available information and will not be disclosed," he said.

Galante has been indicted in connection with a property rights racket in the western Connecticut waste hauling industry. Federal prosecutors say he supervised a non-competitive affiliation on hauling companies that sent regular payments to a New York Mafia family. Galante says he is innocent of the charges.

The six-member subcommittee investigating DeLuca can recommend expulsion, censure, reprimand or no action.

Italy nabs top Mafia boss Lo Piccolo

The Italian police this morning arrested Salvatore Lo Piccolo, 65, reputed leader of the Sicilian Mafia, according to stories by Jeff Israely of TIME and Elisabetta Povoledo of the International Herald Tribune.

Lo Piccolo (right) had been a fugitive since 1983, when he was convicted of murder. Italian authorities believe he became the most powerful boss of the Sicilian Mafia after the April 2006 capture of Bernardo Provenzano near Corleone.

Lo Piccolo, his son Sandro, 35, and two other associates - Andrea Adamo and Gaspare Pulizzi - were arrested in homes in the town of Cinisi, just west of Palermo. Three dozen police surrounded the house. The four men surrendered after police fired warning shots.

During the arrests, police discovered weapons, cash, fake identification and the small handwritten notes that Provenzano used to communicate to other Mafiosi.

Police believe Lo Piccolo served as Provenzano's top lieutenant in the Sicilian underworld. They believe the mob boss was actively involved in strengthening ties between the Sicilian and American branches of the Mafia.

Matteo Messina Denaro, 45, of Trapani, long considered a contender for supreme boss of the Mafia, might take the opportunity of Lo Piccolo's arrest to seize control of the criminal society, investgators say. Also wanted by authorities, Denaro's location is not known.

Reputed crime boss Leo faces up to six years

Daniel Leo, 66 (left), reputed boss of the Genovese Crime Family, faces up to six years in prison and $75,000 in fines after admitting today to engaging in an extortion racket, according to stories in the New York Post and the New York Daily News.

New Jersey resident Leo admitted that he ordered underlings to extort money from an East Harlem gambling enterprise and from taxi company. Prosecutors say Leo threatened harm to the taxi company owner if he did not pay back $150,000 owed to Leo-affiliated creditors.

His nephew, underworld confidant and codefendant in the federal case, Joseph Leo, 45, could be sentenced to more than four years in prison after pleading guilty to one count of extortion. Sentencing for the pair is scheduled for Jan. 31 in Manhattan Federal Court.

Federal investigators believe Daniel "the Lion" Leo, of Rockleigh, NJ, took the reins of the Genovese clan after the 2005 death of Vincent "the Chin" Gigante. His name surfaced in news reports one year ago. The extortion case was based upon FBI electronic surveillance. Agents placed a listening device in Joseph Leo's car after failing in more direct attempts to listen in on Daniel Leo's conversations. Daniel Leo was initially charged May 30 with four counts of extortion.

Witness's apparent perjury clears DeVecchio

State prosecutors dropped their murder case against retired FBI supervisor Roy Lindley DeVecchio today and began looking into the alleged perjury of witness Linda Schiro (right), according to stories by Scott Shifrel and Helen Kennedy of the New York Daily News and Michael Brick of the New York Times.

Schiro, 62, the prosecution's star witness, was a longtime girlfriend of Colombo Crime Family bigshot Gregory Scarpa. She testified that DeVecchio provided information to Scarpa about a fellow gangster who was secretly cooperating in a federal investigation and aided Scarpa in setting up four mob killings. After hearing of Schiro's testimony, reporters Tom Robbins and Jerry Capeci came forward with 10-year-old audiotapes of conversations they had with Schiro to research a book. In those conversations, Schiro reportedly contradicted her sworn testimony in the DeVecchio case.

The reporters had promised Schiro confidentiality. Robbins said he felt he had to come forward after noting the contradictions in her testimony. Robbins described the contradictions in an article for the Oct. 30 Village Voice. In the taped interviews, Schiro did not link DeVecchio (left) with three of the four murders. She said nothing of DeVecchio's alleged involvement in the murder of Mary Bari and expressly excluded him from involvement in the murders of Joseph DeDomenico and Lorenzo Lampasi.

Assistant District Attorney Michael Vecchione asked Justice Gustin Reichbach to dismiss the case against the 67-year-old DeVecchio. Vecchione said the case would not have gone to trial "had we been provided these tapes much earlier in the process."

As Capeci noted in his online Gangland column today, the dismissal of the charges in such a high profile case is a public relations nightmare for Kings County District Attorney Charles J. Hynes (right). There was no announcement related to the case on the prosecutor's website today. Hynes reportedly told the press, "There's no way we would have brought a prosecution if we had that kind of information."

During the investigation for the case, Hynes publicly blasted federal agencies for their slow response to Kings County requests for information. Federal prosecutors had investigated the charges against DeVecchio earlier but decided not to prosecute. Current and former FBI agents came out in support of DeVecchio.

In the 2005 election, Hynes had to defeat primary election challengers from within his own Democratic party in order to run for reelection.

Mob put Giuliani hit to a vote

The bosses of New York's five crime families voted in 1986 on whether to whack then-U.S. Attorney Rudy Giuliani (left), according to a story by Murray Weiss, Patrick Gallahue and Alex Ginsberg of the New York Post and a story by Scott Shifrel and Helen Kennedy of the New York Daily News. The motion was defeated by a 3-2 margin.

The vote came to light as FBI records were made public in connection with the murder trial of former FBI supervisor R. Lindley DeVecchio Oct. 24.

Vincent "the Chin" Gigante (Genovese family), Philip "Rusty" Rastelli (Bonanno) and Anthony "Tony Ducks" Corallo voted against assassinating the federal prosecutor who secured convictions against many of New York's leading mobsters and went on to serve as mayor of the city. John J. "Teflon Don" Gotti (Gambino) and Carmine "the Snake" Persico (Colombo) voted in favor. (Mugshots of the five Mafia bosses are shown at right.)

According to a 600-page informant file entered into evidence by DeVecchio's defense team, DeVecchio became aware of the underworld vote on Sept. 17, 1987, about a year after it occurred. DeVecchio, 67, is on trial in Brooklyn on murder charges. Prosecutors say he provided information that aided Colombo Crime Family bigshot Gregory Scarpa in planning four murders.

At the time of the vote, Giuliani was prosecuting the Commission case. That trial ended with the November 1986 convictions of Corallo, Persico, Genovese family bigshot Anthony "Fat Tony" Salerno and five other defendants. Rastelli was convicted in a separate trial. "Big Paul" Castellano (Gambino) was indicted with his fellow New York bosses, but he was assassinated and replaced by Gotti before the trial began.

Giuliani, now a Presidential candidate, would not discuss the incident in detail. He has previously joked about threats on his life, noting that an $800,000 price on his head was insultingly later reduced to $400,000.

CT panel mulls DeLuca's future

A six-member bipartisan committee of the Connecticut State Senate is considering what action should be taken with regard to State Senator Louis C. DeLuca's (left) admitted link to organized crime, according to a story by Christine Stuart of the New York Times.

DeLuca pleaded guilty June 4 to a misdemeanor charge of threatening and acknowledged asking a Danbury-area trash hauler with reputed ties to the Mafia to threaten his granddaughter's husband in April 2005. Through a plea deal, federal agents dropped their investigation of the legislator. DeLuca claims his granddaughter was a victim of domestic violence. DeLuca also asserts that he repeatedly informed Waterbury Police Chief Neil O'Leary of his granddaughter's plight but received no help. Chief O'Leary insists that DeLuca never mentioned the abusive relationship.

The granddaughter's husband, Mark Colella (right), has denied the allegations of abuse, according to a Sept. 10 story by Paul Hughes of the Waterbury Republican American newspaper. He insists that DeLuca disapproved of the granddaughter's marriage and approached organized crime to have him eliminated. Colella also charged that DeLuca was prepared to his influence as state senate's Republican leader to pay back the favor.

As it looks into DeLuca's relationship with a reputed underworld figure, the senate committee is mulling four options for DeLuca's future: expulsion, censure, reprimand or no action. DeLuca has stepped down from his leadership of Senate Republicans but has dismissed suggestions that he should resign from his legislative position. DeLuca has served in the senate since 1990 and is a ranking member of the Banks, Executive Nominations, Insurance and Real Estate, and Legislative Management committees. He is also a director of the Connecticut General Assembly's Italian-American Legislative Caucus.

When questioned by the committee on Oct. 15, DeLuca refused to answer questions under oath. The committee took hours of unsworn testimony and then asked DeLuca to review a transcript and submit written verification or correction for his answers. DeLuca reportedly submitted an affidavit with some corrections.

The committee is probing DeLuca's relationship with trash hauler James Galante, who is awaiting federal trial. Galante was one of 29 people named in a 117-count federal indictment related to the monopolistic waste disposal industry in western Connecticut. He is accused of running a "property rights scheme" and of making large payments to Genovese Crime Family bigshot Matthew "Matty the Horse" Ianniello (left). Many of his codefendants, including Ianniello, have already reached plea deals with prosecutors.

According to the Republican American, "federal investigators determined that DeLuca and Galante (right) had a close and confidential relationship." A heavily redacted FBI report implied a greater connection between the two men than that described by DeLuca.

When DeLuca reached out for help from Galante, the legislator did not realize that federal agents were nearing the end of an investigation of the trash hauler. The April 2005 meeting between the two men came to the attention of investigators. An undercover agent posing as a Galante associate was sent to meet with DeLuca on Sept. 5 and 6, 2006, three months after Galante had been indicted. During the meetings, DeLuca reportedly pledged political assistance to Galante but rejected a $5,000 bribe offer.

DeLuca has stated that his promise of assistance was merely an effort to placate a frightening visitor.

Ex-cop Coffey crooked: DeVecchio memo

A document to be used in the defense of former FBI supervisor R. Lindley DeVecchio charges that celebrated New York Police Detective Joe Coffey (right) was a mob informant, according to a story by Scott Shifrel of the New York Daily News.

Coffey, who solved more than 80 murders and led New York's Organized Crime Homicide Task Force, said the charge was "absolutely outrageous. I never in my life dealt with the Mafia other than to lock them up. They hated me. To this day, they hate me."

The defense document is a Sept. 4, 1984, memo relating to Mafia bigshot Gregory Scarpa (left), in which DeVecchio noted, "The source could not furnish specific details, but has longtime street knowledge of Coffey's dealings with La Cosa Nostra members."

That memo appears to have been the catalyst for an investigation of Coffey. "There was an investigation, and it was disproved," Coffey said. He suggested that DeVecchio might have fabricated the "tip" about his mob involvement. The two men feuded for some time.

DeVecchio (right) is standing trial in Brooklyn on murder charges. Prosecutors say his cooperation with Scarpa aided the Mafioso during the violent 1990s civil war in the Colombo Crime Family. Scarpa died in prison in 1994 at the age of 66. DeVecchio maintains his innocence. He is supported by a number of current and former FBI agents.

Coffey's law enforcement career is the subject of:
The Coffey Files: One Cop's War Against the Mob

Palminteri, 'A Bronx Tale' open on Broadway

Chazz Palminteri is bringing his one-man show, A Bronx Tale, to Broadway, 17 years after its initial LA and off-Broadway run, and 14 years after the story was brought to the big screen by Chazz and first-time director Robert Deniro.

Palminteri reportedly based A Bronx Tale on an actual event from his childhood. The writer/actor says he witnessed a murder from his front stoop (a concrete stairway leading into his building). "At that time, I thought they were fighting over the parking space in front of my building," Palminteri recalls. "I never did find out what they were fighting over."

Palminteri's story emphasizes the nobility of the working man over the gangster and warns that "the saddest thing in life is wasted talent."

A Bronx Tale is currently running previews at the Walter Kerr Theatre in New York City, with its official debut this Thursday, October, 25th. Information on the show is available online at http://www.abronxtaleonbroadway.com and www.myspace.com/abronxtaleonbroadway . Additional information in video form can be found at http://www.youtube.com/abronxtaleonbroadway .

Palminteri will be answering questions about the show sent to askchazz@abronxtaleonbroadway.com . From now through Nov. 1, those e-mailing questions will be entered in a weekly drawing for a free pair of tickets to the show.

Mobster weeps during DeVecchio testimony

Testifying Oct. 18 about his experiences within the Colombo Crime Family, ex-mobster Lawrence Mazza, 46, broke down and cried on the witness stand, according to a story by Scott Shifrel of the New York Daily News. Mazza was testifying for the prosecution in the murder trial of former FBI supervisor Roy Lindley DeVecchio.

Mazza recounted his work, which included shooting and killing underworld rivals, on behalf of Colombo capo Gregory "the Grim Reaper" Scarpa (left). "I was his right hand man - very, very close," Mazza said. During the 1990s Colombo Family civil war, Mazza and his underworld colleagues would cruise around Brooklyn streets looking for their human targets.

When Mazza told of his personal background and his early desire to follow in the footsteps of his father, a New York Fire Department lieutenant, he began to cry. He noted that he spent a year at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, studying police and fire science, while he worked as a supermarket delivery boy. A chance meeting with Scarpa's girlfriend, Linda Schiro, changed all of his plans. Mazza wept uncontrollably, and a break had to be called in the trial.

Prosecutors charge that DeVecchio (right) provided information to Scarpa that aided him in his attacks on his rivals. DeVecchio insists he is innocent of wrongdoing. A number of current and former FBI agents have publicly supported him.

Mazza was arrested in 1993 and began cooperating with authorities the following year. He served time in prison for racketeering and murder.

Scarpa died in prison in 1994 at the age of 66. His son, Gregory Scarpa Jr., followed him into the mob and into prison. He is now serving time on a racketeering conviction.

Pope denounces "disgraceful" Camorra

On his first papal visit to the city of Naples, Pope Benedict (right) denounced yesterday the criminal activity and culture of violence of the Camorra criminal society, according to a report by Phil Steward of the Reuters news service.

"...That violence tends to become a widespread mentality... with the risk of especially attracting the young," the pope warned.

Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe of Naples delivered a similar message, stating, "Violence is always an offense against God."

Naples, somewhat ironically, is hosting an inter-faith conference on the role of religion in combatting worldwide violence. The city, which is the traditional home of the Camorra, has been plagued by violence. Last November, the Italian government considered sending in military forces to halt the clashes between Camorra gangs.

At that time, Campania regional Governor Antonio Bassolino called the Camorra, "a deadly cancer."

U.S. won't extradite drug criminal

U.S. Immigration Judge D.D. Sitgraves cited humanitarian reasons for refusing an Italian extradition request for convicted drug trafficker Rosario Gambino, according to an Oct. 15 story by Anna Gorman of the Los Angeles Times.

The judge was concerned that Gambino would be subjected to physical and psychological pressure amounting to "torture" while in Italian custody.

According to a story by John Hooper of the UK Guardian, Italy routinely places restrictions on imprisoned organized criminals. They spend much of their time in solitary confinement, have limited access to open air and to family visits. Their mail is censored. Italian officials say the restrictions are necessary to ensure that Mafiosi do not continue to run their criminal enterprises while in prison.

Gambino's attorney P. Joseph Sandoval explained, "It's a humanitarian issue. The prison conditions in his specific case will be life-threatening and life-shortening."

Gambino, a reputed member of the crime family sharing his name, has served 22 years in a California prison on a drug trafficking conviction. He was removed to an immigration detention center last year, as his appeal against the Italian extradition request was processed.

U.S. immigration officials plan to appeal the judge's decision.