Tuesday, February 22, 2005
In Today’s column: Information, Misinformation, Disinformation...Part I, WHY ARE GIANCANA AND CORBITT (MARCH 1, 2003) SINGING PRAISES TO HY LARNER?, SOME LISTINGS TO BE FOUND ON JOE PINEY ARMONE'S CRIMINAL RESUMÉ, JOSEPH MASSINO AND WITNESSES FOR THE PROSECUTION TO SING HARMONY?
Carmine Galante was also known as "Lilo" and "The Cigar." He was called "The Cigar" because of the ever present cigar clenched between his teeth.
At least until July 12, 1979, when it became necessary for Salvatore Catalano to become the boss of the Bonanno Cosa Nostra Family, Philip "Rusty" Rastelli was effectively its "invisible" boss. Long after July 12, 1979, many people continued to believe that Carmine Galante had been the boss of the Bonanno Crime Family.
During the years that he was undercover as "Donnie Braco," Joseph Pistone probably believed that Carmine Galante was the boss of the Bonanno Cosa Nostra Family.
In his book, "Donnie Brasco: My Undercover Life In The Mafia," Joseph Pistone (May 1, 1990) New American Library Trade, ISBN: 079171411X, wrote:
"The Bonanno boss when I went undercover (in 1976) was Carmine Galante." On February 20, 1977, the New York Times reported in a front page story that acting boss Philip Rastelli has "eagerly turned over leadership to him" in 1974, and that Galante' was "moving to merge the five New York families under his own leadership."
In "The Boss," chapter 14 of The Way of the Wiseguy, Joseph Pistone (March 1, 2004), Running Press Book Publishers; Book & CD edition, ISBN: 0762418397, makes reference to Carmine "Lilo" Galante as the alleged boss of the Bonanno Cosa Nostra Family.
"Not every boss is liked or admired, but every boss is feared and sometimes loathed. Carmine Galante, for instance, was not particularly liked by many wiseguys in the Bonanno family. But he was known as a serious wiseguy who not only made his bones under the family's legendary boss Joe Bonanno but also served a hard twelve years in jail for dealing heroin. That explains why we were out there that night in front of that restaurant and why he was afforded total respect by all the wiseguys. That is, until he was murdered by his underlings in 1979---but we'll get to that" (pp. 81-82).
"I certainly experienced the madness and uncertainty of a leadership change during my time as Donnie Brasco. After the Bonanno family's longtime boss, Joe Bonanno, was forced to retire to Tuscson, Arizona, under the threat of being whacked, three consecutive bosses either stepped down for health reasons or died of natural causes. Then Carmine Galante got whacked in 1979. After that, Rusty Rastelli was the boss, even though he was in jail much of the time I was undercover. According to the government, when three Bonanno wiseguys organized an attempt to remove Rastelli from power, my captain, Sonny Black, got together with Joe Massino and some other wiseguys and killed the three plotters. Rusty remained the unopposed boss of the family, but the killings led to a brief family war, as a way to settle things down" p. 85).
In "He Needed a Favor and That Was That," chapter twenty-four of I Heard You Paint Houses, Steerforth, ISBN: 1586420771, Charles Brandt (June 1, 2004) quotes Frank "The Irishman" Sheeran discussing Jimmy Hoffa:
"At this time Jimmy assumed that he was very strong with the alleged mob. He had Russ, Carlos, Santo, Giancana, Chicago, and Detroit. While he was in Lewisburg he got close with Carmine "The Cigar" Galante, from Queens, the boss of the Bonanno crime family. Galante was very rough. He took no prisoners" (pp. 213-214).
In the "invisible style of leadership," disinformation is disseminated in an effort to obfuscate the perceptions of the general American public. Disinformation
appears along side of the objective facts. Such disinformation the American Mafia's true organizational hierarchy.
What is "disinformation?" According to the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, "disinformation" is "false information deliberately and often covertly spread (as by the planting of rumors) in order to influence public opinion or obscure the truth."
Carmine "The Cigar" Galante (1910-1979) was a capo in the Bonanno Cosa Nostra Family.
Carmine Galante's life of crime dated back to when he was 11 years old. He was the executioner of a number of murders ordered by Vito Genovese.
It was not long before Galante began to associate with the Bonanno Cosa Nostra Family. Even though The Cigar was Joseph Bonanno's (November 1, 1984) chauffeur and eventually his underboss, Bonanno (November 1, 1984) makes no mention of Carmine Galante in A Man of Honor: The Autobiography of Joseph Bonanno, Simon & Schuster, ISBN: 0671467476.
Carmine Galante's roles as drug trafficker and dealer are probably not the least reasons for this apparent oversight. Carmine Galante and Salvatore "Charlie Lucky" Luciano and Frank Petrula, Montréal crime boss, organized the infamous French Connection, i.e. heroin pipeline.
The Solution To "The Cigar Problem"
Meanwhile Carmine "The Cigar" Galante plotted his strategy behind bars. He regarded no one in the Bonanno Family as his equal and looked forward to accomplishing what his old boss had failed to do.
Galante got out on parole in 1974 after doing 12 years. Then in 1978 Galante was grabbed by federal agents again and returned to prison for violating his parole by associating with known criminals-----other mafiosi.
The government tried to keep him behind bars, claiming a contract had been issued against Galante. Using lawyer Roy Cohn, who labeled the story a trick by the feds, Galante won his release.
Over the next several months Galante's men fought other gangsters in a war for control of a multimillion-dollar drug operation. With Gambino dead, Galante leaned on the other crime families to fall in behind him----or else.
A meeting was held in Boca Raton, Florida, to decide how to solve "The Cigar Problem." In the conclave, a "solution to the Cigar Problem" was prescribed, i.e. a contract on Carmine Galante's life was approved.
The last time Carmine "The Cigar" Galante dropped into Joe and Mary's Restaurant in the Bushwick section of Brooklyn, New York was July 12, 1979. The Cigar felt "safe" at Joe and Mary's Restaurant. Carmine Galante went to Joe and Mary's Restaurant to say goodbye to a cousin who
was leaving on vacation.
Carmine Galante was finishing the main course in the restaurant's rear outdoor area when three ski-masked gunman opened fire with machine guns and eliminated the alleged would-be boss of bosses. His cousin and another associate were also shot dead.
Anthony "Bruno" Indelicato was the lead gunman in the Carmine Galante Hit.
Anthony "Bruno" Indelicato
Anthony "Bruno" Indelicato was convicted of murdering Galante in the historic Mafia Commission Trial in 1986. He served 12 years in federal prison.
In the United States of America v. Joseph Massino et al. Defendants, 2004, Joseph Massino was convicted of murdering Bruno's dad, Alphonse "Sonny Red" Indelicato, in a Bonanno Crime Family purge of three capos.
On May 5, 1981, Alphonse "Sonny Red" Indelicato, Philip "Philly Lucky" Giaccone and Dominick "Big Trin" Trinchera were summoned to a sitdown in an effort to resolve the ongoing disputes. While in attendance, they were killed by members of the Philip "Rusty" Rastelli faction and, the "resolution" was achieved. Sonny Red's body, with at least three bullet wounds, was uncovered three weeks later in a shallow grave in an Ozone Park, Queens lot, the Ruby Street lot.
Agents from the FBI's Bonanno and Gotti squads along with the New York City Police Department's Cold Case Squad had dug through concrete and sifted through dirt since October 4, 2004 following a tip by an informant. Giaccone's remains were identified by pieces of personal property found with his bones, including a Piaget Watch which matched a description given by family associates.
Authorities identified Trinchera's remains after finding his credit card and other pieces of personal property with his bones.
On Monday, December 20, 2004, it was announced that DNA tests had confirmed that the skeletal remains are those of Big Trin Trinchera and Philly Lucky Giaccone. In February 2005, the feds identified the "informant" as Joseph Massino himself.
Bruno Indelicato, as a cocaine addict, was probably high on coke when he escaped getting killed by not going to the meeting. In the aftermath of the bloody "sitdown," the contract to kill Bruno Indelicato was given to Donnie Brasco.
During the weeks that the trial proceeded, both Big Joey Massino and Bruno Indelicato were housed on the same floor of the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) in New York City. Big Joey Massino knew that Bruno Indelicato is a stand up guy, but, so was Sonny Red.
The mob did not kill Carmine Galante because he was an errant boss. Carmnine Galante was killed to prevent him from upsetting the mob and law enforcement status quo. The notion that Carmine Galante was the boss of the Bonanno Cosa Nostra Family was misinformation. Somewhere along the line, mob informants revealed to FBI agents The Cigar's true status. Because the FBI found the discontinuation of this misinformation to be inexpedient, it was transformed into disinformation.
Carmine Galante Was Never The Boss Of The Bonanno Crime Family!
"But Galante was never the boss, Gang Land has learned. He was merely an arrogant, steel-willed capo who thought he could bully his way to the top after serving 12 years for heroin trafficking, and 17 more months for parole violations. His correct rank has been supplied in new intelligence from longime family underboss Salvatore "Good Looking Sal" Vitale and other turncoats.
'Despite everyting you may have seen, heard or read before, he was never the boss of the family,' said one knowledgeable law enforcement source, confirming that the feds had amassed an astounding amount of misinformation about the Bonannos in the past, and that a more accurate history will emerge at the racketeering and murder trial of Joseph Massino.
But not everyone is convinced. An otherwise in-the-know law enforcement official contacted about the revelation by Gand Land, said: 'My information, today, is that when Galante was killed he was boss of the family. Not the pretender, the boss.'
A story written by Jerry Capeci appeared on January 3, 1977 on the front page of the New York Post. In the story, Jerry Capeci reflected the prevailing wisdom that Carmine Galante was the boss of the Bonanno Cosa Nostra Family. The New York Times made the same mistake six weeks later.
See: http://www.ganglandnews.com/column383.htm
The Feds Used Disinformation As A Weapon Against Carmine Galante
Carmine Galante was an intimidating individual. Whether he was on the street or behind bars, people in the know tended to be afraid of The Cigar. By the late 1970's, The Cigar was dreaded by the Mafia underworld. After Carlo Gambino's death in 1976, Galante was considered to be the toughest mobster among the five families of New York. No one boss was considered mean, cunning or ruthless enough to stand up to The Cigar.
It was a relief to most other mobs, if not to Joseph "Joe Bananas" Bonanno himself, when Galante was sent to prison for 20 years in the early 1960s for a narcotics violation. In 1964 Joe Bananas further engaged the other mobs by plotting to eliminate most of the governing leadership of the rival families, which led to the famous Banana War that ended in the ruination of Bonanno's plans and his hopes to install his son, Salvatore "Bill" Bonanno, as his successor as the head of the crime family.
Carmine Galante may have wanted to become the acknowledged "under the table," i.e., the de facto, "boss of bosses." But, de facto "boss of bosses" is a status that most mob capos seek to achieve. The FBI's disinformation was that Carmine Galante sought to become acknowledged as the "on the table," i.e., the de jure "boss of bosses."
Notions of "Il Capo di Tutti Capi," de jure, have been a plague on the foundations of the Italian-American underworld since the early years of the twentieth century.
A De Jure “Boss of Bosses” Of The Italian-American Underworld
A cursory examination of the Italian-American underworld’s de jure “boss of bosses” quagmire, leading up to the 1931 establishment of the American Mafia, is revealing.
In 1920, rum-running in Cleveland and Pittsburgh exhausted Nicola Gentile, and he droped out of sight for a while. Umberto Valenti, the New York ally and apparent successor to the Lupo-Morello organization, visited Gentile. He was concerned that an attempt had been made on his life. Gentile-Valenti decide to oppose Toto D'Aquila, the New York boss of bosses. Gentile traveled to Sicily for a rest and to begin organizing resistance to D'Aquila.
In 1920, "Big Joe" Lonardo, the leader of the Cleveland Mafia group, allied with Toto D'Aquila, the self-proclaimed boss of bosses of New York.
Umberto Valenti is believed responsible for the murder of Vincent Terranova, i.e. Vincent Morello, on May 8, 1922, outside of his home at 116th Street and 2nd Avenue.
Giuseppe "Joe the Boss" Masseria acts immediately to avenge the death of Vincent Morello. He personally sets up an ambush for Valenti and his bodyguard Silva Tagliagamba at the curbside liquor exchange, where bootleggers meet openly to swap their surpluses. Valenti escapes unharmed, but Tagliagamba is mortally wounded. Masseria is apprehended while fleeing from the scene. The police are surprised to find that he has a gun permit. Masseria is charged with the Tagliagamba killing but the case is never prosecuted.
Masseria is apparently ambushed on August 8, 1922 outside of his home at 5th Street and 2nd Avenue. (Masseria's home address at the time is #80 Second Avenue.) He ducks into Heiney's Millinery and then ducks at least four bullets fired at close range, escaping unharmed but with bullet holes through a new straw hat. Umberto Valenti believed responsible for the attack.
After attending what was supposed to have been a successful peace conference with Masseria men (Masseria said he would resign from his position as "boss"), on August 11, 1922, Valenti was shot down in the street by Masseria forces. Chandler says Valenti's murderer was Charlie Luciano, then a lieutenant under Masseria. The murder took place as Valenti was departing from a restaurant near #233 East 12th Street.
In 1930, Masseria designated Giuseppe (a.k.a Peter, "The Clutch Hand") Morello as "Boss of all Bosses," or supreme arbiter of Mafia disputes. Joe the Boss probably sought self-enhancement by appearing to turn over supreme authority to Morello.
The Castellammarese will not be fooled by Masseria's August 11, 1922 machinations. Maranzano men gun down Morello, 60, at his offices, 362 E. 116th Street on August 15, 1930. Morello bodyguard Piranio is also killed. Joe Valachi says "Buster" from Chicago was the gunman, indicates that Morello put up a fight even after being shot.
Salvatore "Charlie Lucky" Luciano arranged for Joe the Boss Masseria to be assassinated after a big lunch at Coney Island's Nuova Villa Tammaro restaurant, i.e. also known as "Scarpato's Restaurant." In the rest room when the Boss got his, Charlie Lucky was indisposed.
After Salvatore Maranzano was eliminated on September 10, 1931, Charley Lucky dissolved the de jure boss of bosses position. All the boodletting taught Charlie Lucky something about secession of power in the underworld. Since then, the American Mafia only tolerates a de facto capo di tutti capi.
The Mob Used Disinformation As A Weapon Against the Feds
Carmine Galante had the power to intimidate and the feds focused on that power and exaggerated it out of proportion. In so doing, they inadvertantly created a phenomena soon to go out of control. Carmine Galante's enemies in the mob, his rivals, exploited the misperception the feds had encouraged, using it as an excuse to whack Galante.
Carmine Galante and Carlo Gambino brought Zips or young sicilian mafiosi into the United States. Many American mobsters viewed the Zips as imported "crazies" who were not to be trusted.
The "good ole days" were those in which we could rest assured that the Zips were being restrained by men like Carmine Galante.
The use of the "Boss of Bosses" disinformation about Carmine Galante by the feds backfired because the his murder led to the ascendancy in the American underworld of the Zips. Now we know that the Zips are an autonomous entity.
The criminal career of Salvatore Catalano, the Sicilian who headed the Bonanno Cosa Nostra Family, indicates that the Zips can realize their true potential.
Salvatore Catalano
Salvatore Catalano filled the gap after the sensational murder of Carmine Galante. Catalano, a native Sicilian born in Cimminia, Sicily in 1941, was only the boss of the Bonanno Cosa Nostra Family for a short time..
About a year after Catalano took over as the boss of the Bonanno Crime Family, he decided to step down and let the jailed Philip "Rusty" Rastelli once again assumed leadership. Toto Catalano received 45 years for his participation in the Pizza Connection. This brought an end to his influence with the Zips.
What is meant by the phase "invisible" boss? By "invisible" I mean not cognizent to the general American and world populations. Up until July 12, 1979, most mob watchers thought Carmine "Lilo" Galante was the boss of the Bonanno Cosa Nostra Family. The fact that Philip "Rusty" Rastelli was the boss of the Bonanno Family may have been apparent to some members of the FBI through their access to informants.
In the aftermath of the assassination of The Cigar, the Zips rose to prominence in the Pizza Connection. The Zips became the key factors in the so-called Pizza Connection.
The Pizza Connection
In "Gaetano Badalamenti and the Pizza Connection," Mike La Sorte (July 2004) writes,
"Thousands of Sicilian Mafiosi slipped into the country vitually unnoticed. Most who entered illegally were fugitives from Italy on charges ranging from murder to narcotics trafficking. Italoamerican congressmen successfully sponsored a few. During the sixties and seventies these men set up a heroin net. The authorities at first believed that the zips constituted simply the Sicilian faction of the Bonanno family and assumed a purely American operation. They were mistaken—the zips were under no one, a force unto themselves. “If you are made in Sicily, your allegiance is to Palermo.” The American mafia stood by and profited from the drug trade by allowing it to occur under their noses, but the Sicilians were the ones who put the pieces together to develop and then control the international drug conspiracy." See: http://www.americanmafia.com/Feature_Articles_271.html
The Bonanno Cosa Nostra Family Today
As Jerry Capeci reported in "What's left of the mob?," the Bonanno Cosa Nostra Family currently consists of 130 to 145 members. Since the article was published early this year, it has become apparent that Joseph "Big Joey" Massino, 62, the Bonanno boss, is cooperating with the feds. Massino has been cooperating since September 2004 when he sparked the FBI's massive dig for bodies at a Ruby Street lot in Queens, New York near its border with Brooklyn. The Bonanno Underboss and Consigliere positions are vacant, too.
"Last year was a bad one for the Bonanno family—probably the worst in its history. Its boss since 1991, Joseph Massino, was convicted of seven murders dating from the eighties, and the Feds decided to try to execute him for a 1999 mob hit. Two dozen family members and associates, including three capos he selected to coordinate things while he battled the law from prison, were all indicted and jailed on racketeering and murder charges. This fall, Vincent “Vinny Gorgeous” Basciano, the capo he chose to replace the convicted trio and serve as acting boss, was himself socked with murder charges. Since November 19, Basciano, 45, has been awaiting trial at the same federal lockup in Sunset Park as his boss and the men he replaced. In the new millennium, more than 40 family wiseguys and associates have been convicted and imprisoned, including a former acting boss, Anthony Spero, 71. On top of all that, Joseph Massino, the Last Don, a wiseguy who surely amassed millions during his decade on top, says he can’t afford a lawyer and has told a federal judge that he needs a court-appointed attorney.
Meanwhile, Massino is expected to tap an old cohort, capo Anthony “Fat Anthony” Rabito, as his “street boss.” On his mob résumé, Rabito, 70, has a drug rap, a few dead bodies, and a keen business sense, according to FBI documents. He has owned a bakery, a café, and several nightclubs, all on Manhattan’s East Side. Unlike a Las Vegas business venture that failed—a New York–style pizzeria called Fat Anthony’s—his local endeavors were said to be moneymakers." See: http://newyorkmetro.com/nymetro/news/crimelaw/features/10870/index.html
Federal prosecutors signalled on Tuesday, February 1, 2005 that they are going to remove the threat of the death penalty from Joseph Massino now that he is cooperating with investigators.
Three members of the Bonanno Crime Family, including the former acting boss, pleaded guilty to murdering another mobster Friday, February 11, 2005 in the wake of family head Joseph Massino's deal with the feds.
Anthony "Tony Green" Urso, 68, former acting boss, pleaded guilty to racketeering murder, gambling, loan-sharking and extortion. Joseph Cammarano, 69, and Louis Restivo, 70, pleaded to racketeering murder.
Urso could face life in prison at his sentencing. Cammarano and Restivo could face 15 and 10 years behind bars, respectively.
Today the embattled Bonanno Cosa Nostra Family is in search for an "invisible" boss to call its own.
According to Double Deal: The Inside Story of Murder, Unbridled Corruption, and the Cop Who Was a Mobster, by Sam Giancana, Michael Corbitt, (March 1, 2003) , HarperCollins, ISBN: 0060195851. Hyman "Hy" Larner was the brilliant Chicago mobster who was the real power behind the Chicago Outfit's throne for almost thirty years.
There's a sociology here, e.g. the sociology of an Irish-American and an Italian-American, students of organized crime, mutually extolling a perception of an alleged Hebrew criminal mastermind. In Giancana and Corbitt's (March 1, 2003) view, Hyman Larner was smarter, wealthier and more powerful than his contemporaries with the possible exception of Meyer Lansky, his criminal peer. Hyman Larner ostensibly was such a criminal exemplar that he also managed to remain anonymous to John and Mary Universal.
What gives? What is maintaining and increasing the rate of _expression of these attitudes on the part of Giancana and Corbitt (March 1, 2003)? Just material reinforcers, e.g. currency, jewelry, gems, stocks and bonds? Or, social reinforcers as well, e.g. smiles, handshakes, applause, laughter? Probably both with the accent on the material.
Maybe Giancana and Corbitt (March 1, 2003) extol the alleged criminal virtues of Hyman Larner because they are convinced that he represented an ethno-religious segment of the American Mafia that they believe will never dominate
organized crime in America. Or, maybe Giancana and Corbitt (March 1, 2003) believe the segment of the American Mafia that is Hebrew is on the verge of asserting itself and taking over.
Joseph "Joe Piney" Armone (9/13/1917-02/23/92) was a made man in the Gambino Cosa Nostra Family.
Joe Armone had come through the ranks as a trusted capo and aide to Paul "Big Paulie" Castellano. Big Paulie was the Gambino Family boss during the years 1976 to 1985. Joe Armone had acted as Big Paulie's
eyes and ears on the streets. He operated in Manhattan and was represented in South Florida by Tommy Agro, the psychopathic soldier.
During the Great Depression, Joseph Armone earned the street name "Piney." At the time, Christmas trees were hawked by vendors on New York City streetcorners during the holidays. Joseph Armone decreed that each vendor had to donate a percentage of his merchandise to the poor. This donation was seen as part of his tribute. Hence, Joseph Armone
became known as "Piney," i.e. pine trees.
According to Gang Land News, Albert "The Mad Hatter" Anastasia was murdered by a three-man hit team selected by then-capo Joseph "Joe the Blond" Biondo. Biondo went on to become Gambino's underboss and held the position until shortly before he died in 1966.
"The primary shooter, sources said, was Steven (Stevie Coogan) Grammauta, then 40, a drug dealer who was convicted of heroin trafficking eight years later. Seemingly inactive for decades, Grammauta emerged in the late 1990s as a Gambino capo, several years after John Gotti, who also took over the Gambino family through murder, was jailed for life.
In the year 2000, the FBI began carrying Grammauta as the acting underboss of the family. Grammauta, 84, has been spotted at several Gambino family functions during the last two years, sources said, including a wake for soldier Liborio (Bobby Red) Crapanzano last March.
Today, a three-man committee---which includes Nicholas "Little Nicky" Corozzo---controls the affairs of the Gambino Crime Family.
Joe Piney had an older brother, Steve, who Gang Land News describes as a "pioneer" drug dealer. "He moved into the junk trade at the end of the Prohibition era, serving 28 months for a 1935 federal drug rap. He died of natural causes in 1960."
"Stephen Armone, then 57, was the leader of the crew. The third member of the team, and the second shooter, sources said, was Arnold (Witty) Wittenberg, then 53, a drug dealer and long-time cohort of the mobsters.
All three men hailed from the Lower East Side.
Sources said that Armone's younger brother, Joseph (Joe Piney) Armone---an early member of the Dapper Don's plot to kill Paul Castellano three decades later---was selected for the hit but was nabbed on a drug charge and replaced by brother Steve.
"In 1965, Grammauta and Joe Armone were convicted of smuggling heroin from the Netherlands. Grammauta served five years in prison. When he got out, he virtually disappeared from the feds's radar screen, although the FNI listed him as a made guy in 1988." When Joe Piney died in prison in 1992, Grammauta took over Piney's crew, later moving up to acting underboss, sources said." See, "The Men Who Hit Albert Anastasia: "44 Years Later, Gang Land Names the Real Barbershop Killers" at http://www.ganglandnews.com/column250.htm
Upon the bombing death of Frank De Cicco in 1986, John "The Dapper Don" Gotti made Joe Piney the Gambino Family Underboss. In December 1987, as a result of an associate tied to Agro, Armone was convicted of bribery charges and sentenced to twelve years. He would thereby serve the majority of his role as Underboss while in prison. Salvatore "Sammy Bull" Gravano, as the new Gambino Underboss, was Joe Piney's successor. He was switched to a role as Consigliere in 1990. In April 1992 Joe Piney died in prison at the age of 74.
Those who knew him remember Joe Piney Armone as a STAND UP GUY.
In an effort to convict other Bonanno Cosa Nostra Family members and associates, will Joseph "Big Joey" Massino sing harmony with any specific one, and/or all, of the eight mob rats who helped United States of America v. Joseph Massino et al. Defendants (2004) federal prosecutors convict him of racketeering? Such a development, including the co-testimonies of Big Joey Massino, boss, and Salvatore "Good Looking Sal" Vitale,
his underboss, childhood friend and brother-in-law, will make criminal justice history.
The other seven mob rats include: Richard "Shellackhead" Cantarella, Bonanno acting underboss, Paul Cantarella, Shellackhead's son, and Frank Coppa Sr., the capo, were the first of the eight to break omerta. James "Big Louie" Tartaglione, the Bonanno capo, Frank "Curly" Lino, the Bonanno soldier,
Joseph D'Amico, a member of Cantarella's crew and Duane “Goldie” Leisenheimer, the little known mob associate.
Will they "Sing Along With Joseph?"