To all Sho 'nuff Mob Study readers everywhere, we extend our unmitigated "WELCOME." We urge publishers who read our series to send us a complimentary copy of any recently, and/or soon-to-be, released organized crime book.
In the order in which they are received, the books will be read, then reviewed, and subsequently, cited in upcoming editions of the series. We ask only that our book donors remain patient.
Thank you.
Tuesday, May 3, 2005
In Today’s column: MADE MEN OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY WHO SUFFERED FROM ‘BLEEDING CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION SORES’ AND/OR THE ‘ORAL DIARRHEA’ SYNDROME and THE WORLD WANTS TO KNOW.
All 26 of the Cosa Nostra Families of the United States are insulated from prosecution. But, some Cosa Nostra Families are better insulated than others. The Chicago Outfit is among the best insulated criminal organizations in the world today.
What Is ‘Criminal Insulation?’
A criminal organization is said to be "insulated" when its members and associates enjoy absolute minimal risk of prosecution, e.g. accusation, indictment, arrest, criminal trial, conviction and severe sentencing.
Relative Degree of Criminal Insulation: A Comparison
As John J. Binder (May 1, 2003) tells us in The Chicago Outfit (Images of America), Arcadia Publishing, ISBN: 0738523267,
"Eighth, while this may simply reflect the Outfit's accomplishments, there have been fewer turncoats in Chicago than in other cities, where underbosses or (according to the author's sources) the serving boss turned government informant.
Due to these factors, there has been great stability at the top in Chicago----unlike, for example, in New York City----as well as throughout the organization. Only one boss, Jim Colosimo, was deposed from below and no one has ever been overthrown from the outside. Even Sam Giancana lasted 10 years and was ousted from above with a minimum of instability. At the other end of the spectrum, Accardo's nearly 50 years of leadership are virtually unrivaled in the history of the Cosa Nostra" (p. 120).
When we make a cursory comparison of some of the major cases of "made men of the twentieth century who suffered from 'bleeding confidential information sores' and/or the 'oral diarrhea' syndrome" can we readily observe that, of all the U.S. Cosa Nostra Families, members and/or asoociates of the Chicago Outfit are least represented.
The following list is not exhaustive. For example, the name "Vincent 'Fish' Cafaro" is missing from the list even though Fish was a mob rat who suffered from the "oral diarrhea" syndrome.
Vincent "Fish" Cafaro
Vincent "Fish" Cafaro was the second soldier in the Genovese Crime Family of New York to break the code of omertà. Fish began cooperating with the feds in 1986, renounced his agreement in 1987 and returned to turncoat status in 1989. In 1989 and 1990, Fish testified against Genovese Cosa Nostra Family of New York guys and John J. Gotti, the boss of the Gambino Crime Family and, then; he disappeared into the Witness Protection Program.
Fish Cafaro's lyrics included song about Vincent "The Chin" Gigante.
"According to Cafaro's sworn statement, Gigante also ran the family from behind the scenes while pretending to be mentally ill. Cafaro stated that this behavior helped to further insulate Gigante from authorities while he ran the Genovese family's criminal activities. Gigante's odd mannerisms and practice of mumbling while walking around the East Village of New York City in a bathrobe earned him the nickname "the Odd Father." As a result of an FBI investigation, Gigante was convicted of racketeering and murder conspiracy in December 1997. Another FBI investigation led to his indictment on January 17, 2002, accusing him of continuing to run the Genovese LCN family from prison." See: http://www.fbi.gov/hq/cid/orgcrime/lcn/genovese.htm
Another name that is not mentioned on the list below is "Ken 'Tokyo Joe' Eto." Ken Eto is a former Chicago mob gambling boss who on February 10, 1983 was shot multiple times in the head and lived to talk about it.
Suffering from the "oral diarrhea" syndrome, Ken Eto turned mob rat.
Ken "Tokyo Joe" Eto
Eto oversaw bolita, which is a type of lottery game popular in the latino community, for the Chicago Outfit.
Eto ran into the arms of the government and began telling what he knew not just about the mob but about its long reach into the upper echelon of the Chicago Police Department and a former deputy superintendent there named William Hanhardt. Hanhardt is now in prison.
The following are ten made men whose infliction with "bleeding confidential information sores" and/or the "oral diarrhea" syndrome was devastating to the American Mafia. It is interesting to note that there is only one Chicago Outfit member on the list. Nothing can reverse the damage the mouthing and/or carelessness of these men have done and continues to do to the American Mafia.
Ten Made Men of the Twentieth Century Who Had It Bad
Joseph Valachi - was the American Mafia's first publicly acknowledged victim of the "oral diarrhea syndrome." His words were also recorded into a Memoir that has become an organized crime classic. Therefore it is safe to say that Valachi suffered, too, from the "bleeding confidential information sores." This Genovese Cosa Nostra Family of New York gangster publicly exposed Mafia history and structure. After Vito Genovese, Joe Valachi's boss, administered the kiss of death to Valachi in their prison cell, Valachi began to sing.
Carlo Deluna - As the underboss of the Kansas City Cosa Nostra Family, Carlo Deluna suffered from "bleeding confidential information sores." He taped conversations he had about skimming from Las Vegas casinos with Nicholas Civella, the Kansas City Family boss and his brother. The fact that Carlo DeLuna had an anal retentive personality becomes apparent when we realize that he kept boxes of records and copious notes about his expenses in the skimming operation. Deluna's carelessness helped to bring down the mob's hold on America's gambling paradise.
Raymond Patriarca Jr. - The boss of the New England Cosa Nostra Family, was a victim of "bleeding confidential information sores." He presided over the first mafia induction ceremony to be tape recorded for posterity. It was tape recorded by the FBI. The FBI, in turn, used the tapes to nail Patriarca Jr. and dozens of mobsters from Boston to Rhode Island on racketeering and other charges.
John J. Gotti - The former Dapper Don was a victim of a bad case of "oral diarrhea syndrome." Words flowed loosely from Johnny Boy's lips only to be captured on FBI tapes. Those words blew the lid off the Gambino Cosa Nostra Family, making John J. Gotti the Velcro Don and putting him in the slammer for life. After the tapes of John J. Gotti's conversations became public, some were placed into books. See: THE GOTTI TAPES (Sammy the Bull Gravano) by Ralph Blumenthal (June 7, 1992), Three Rivers Press, ISBN:0812921119. The Velcro Don then began to suffer from "bleeding confidential information sores."
Joseph Bonanno - The patriarch of the Bonanno Cosa Nostra Family, Joseph Bonanno is a good example of the different ways in which a made man can suffer. He had the "oral diarrhea syndrome" and also suffered from "bleeding confidential information sores." Don Peppino's words were not captured by an FBI tape. recorder. No. Don Peppino wrote A Man of Honor: The Autobiography of Joseph Bonanno, (November 1, 1984), Simon & Schuster, ISBN: 0671467476, a book that got him hauled before a federal grand jury.
The autobiography inspired the Mafia Commission Trial (1985), the historic racketeering case against the American Mafia's ruling body whose inner workings Joseph Bonanno (November 1, 1984) detailed in his book.
Simone Rizzo De Cavalcante - "Sam the Plumber" was an "oral diarrhea syndrome" sufferer. The Plumber was the boss of the Cosa Nostra Family headquartered in Kenilworth, New Jersey, the DeCavalcante Crime Family.
Sam The Plumber was tape recorded by the FBI from 1961-to-1965. The Plumber asked the feds to release the transcripts of his taped conversations. The conversations had been illegally tape recorded. On June 10, 1969, the feds released thousands of pages of transcripts in which The Plumber openly discussed mob doings from New York to California. In so doing, The Plumber dispelled forever any doubt of the Mafia's existence.
Joseph Columbo - His tenure as boss of the former Profaci Cosa Nostra Family is accurately characterized as symptomatic of the "oral diarrhea syndrome." That "oral diarrhea syndrome" and Joe Columbo's community organizing gave his criminal career a HIGH MEDIA PROFILE. Joe Columbo seemed to relish this media profile even though it was easier gained than lost. He became, in effect, the Martin Luther King of the underworld. Joe Columbo appeared on the Dick Cavett Show on television to discuss his formation of the Italian-American Civil Rights League in 1970.
The publicity earned the Columbo Cosa Nostra Family special attention from the FBI. Mob maverick Crazy Joe Gallo sent a gunman from New York City's black ghetto who happened to be upathts to Columbus Circle to put Joe Columbo out of his misery.
Joe Columbo was shot in Columbus Square during an Italian-American Civil Rights League rally. The gunman was immediately eliminated but, Joe Columbo lived the last seven years of his life as a vegetable.
Aladena ‘Jimmy the Weasel’ Fratianno - Like most mobsters whose criminal careers have been closely recorded in books, Jimmy the Weasel suffered from the "oral diarrhea syndrome" and also the "bleeding confidential information sores." The Weasel was a made man in the Chicago Outfit who went to the Los Angeles Cosa Nostra Family on loan. The Weasel had badmouthed his mob rivals, who, in turn, marked him for death. This only served to trigger more badmouthing from The Weasel, this time to the feds. The Weasel was the Acting Boss of the Los Angeles Crime Family when he flipped.
Angelo ‘Quack Quack’ Ruggiero - Quack Quack suffered a severe case of the "oral diarrhea syndrome." He was a member of the John J. Gotti's crew. Willie Boy Johnson could not get made because he was Italian and American Indian on the wrong side. But, Willie Boy, as a life long friend of John J. Gotti, was a floating associate of New York's Five Families. An FBI snitch, Willie Boy informed on John J. Gotti for 19 years before his duplicity was revealed.
It was Willie Boy who suggested to the feds that a bug be placed on Quack Quack's telephone. Paul "Big Paulie" Castellano, the boss of the Gambino Cosa Nostra Family and Gene Gotti, John J.'s brother are among the bug's victims. Quack Quack's mouthing were also caught on bugs at other gangster's homes and in restaurants. The mouthing inspired the line by John Carneglia, the Gambino mobster: "Dial any seven numbers and it's 50/50 Angelo will pick up the phone."
Salvatore ‘Sammy the Bull’ Gravano - Sammy Bull's criminal career was committed to paper in a best seller. So, it is not surprising that he suffered from both the "oral diarrhea syndrome" and "bleeding confidential information sores." "The incredibly light sentence Gravano received for the murders of 19 people sent shock waves throughout the ranks of the American Mafia, and the message was clear; if a Mob figure got caught red-handed committing crimes, including murders, no matter how many murders, all one had to do was enter into a plea bargain with the Feds, offer up some ‘big fish’ such as a Godfather or crooked cop, and you would be ‘wined and dined’ while a member of the Witness Protection Program before receiving your ‘get-out-of-jail-free’ card" (p. 3). See: http://www.americanmafia.com/Feature_Articles_297.html
Members and associates of the Chicago Outfit are more resistant to successful FBI undercover infiltration than are members of the Five Families of New York. Undercover FBI Agent Joseph D. Pistone infiltrated the Bonanno Cosa Nostra Family from 1976--to-1981 as "Donnie Brasco."
Joseph D, Pistone, FBI Special Agent, A/K/A "Donnie Brasco"
Joseph D. Pistone, alias "Donnie Brasco," is an FBI special agent who worked undercover for years to infiltrate the Bonanno Cosa Nostra Family. Joe Pistone worked his way inside the crew of Dominick "Sonny Black" Napolitano, a Bonanno Crime Family capo, by pretending to be a specialist in swag - stolen goods.
Because any small detail could blow his cover, Pistone adjusted his personality and habits to earn the trust of Mafia soldiers, connected guys, captains, and godfathers. He was so successful that many FBI surveillance teams assumed that he was yet another Mafia guy.
Back in the 1970s and 1980s, Pistone had one thing going for him - the element of surprise. The infiltration of a Cosa Nostra family by an FBI special agent was, as yet, unprecedented. The mob wouldn't see it coming.
Joseph Pistone (January 1, 1988) recorded his Bonanno exploit in a book, Donnie Brasco: My Undercover Life in the Mafia, New American Library Trade, ISBN: 0453005578. Joseph Pistone (March 1, 2004) revisited his experiences as "Donnie Brasco" in another book, The Way of the Wiseguy, Running Press Book Publishers; Book & CD edition, ISBN: 0762418397.
Following his emergence from his "Donnie Brasco" cover, Joe Pistone entered the Witness Protection Program and assumed a new identity. Some say La Cosa Nostra placed a $500,000 open contract over Joseph Pistone's head. Despite the fact that almost no one in law enforcement believes that there ever was a contract over his head, Joseph Pistone wore a disguise in an effort to keep hitmen from collecting the bounty.
The debate as to whether or not the mob ever really placed a contract over Joseph Pistone's head goes on. Those observers who are skeptical point out that the mob itself would take care of any wiseguy who had the audacity to whack a federal agent. They point to the case of Costabile Farace Jr.
Constabile 'Gus' Farace Jr.
Commonly known as "Gus Farace," Costabile Farace Jr. (June 21, 1960-November 17, 1989), was a low-level l Mafia "wiseguy," or associate, who made national headlines in 1989 after he became a fugitive suspected in the murder of Everett Hatcher, a federal Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) officer on Staten Island, New York. Critics note that, in 1989, nine months after he killed Everett Hatcher, the DEA officer, Gus Farace was blown away. Gus Farace was riding in the front passenger's seat of a car when he was shot nine times from a moving van that drove alongside his vehicle.
Still others argue that Paul "Big Paulie" Castellano, the late boss of the Gambino Cosa Nostra Family, lifted the open contract in the early eighties. After all, these observers say, Joseph Pistone is an FBI agent.
The Bonanno Cosa nostra Family murdered Tony Mirra, a Bonanno Cosa Nostra Family solider, because it was he who had first befriended "Donnie Brasco." Tony Mirra introduced "Donnie Brasco" to Benjamin "Lefty Guns" Ruggiero, the Bonanno soldier. Benjamin Ruggiero, in turn, tutored "Donnie Brasco" in the way of the Mafia.
Dominick "Sonny Black" Napolitano, the capo who intended to proposed "Donnie Brasco" for induction into the Bonanno Cosa Nostra Family, was murdered. Joseph "Big Joey" Massino, the former Bonanno boss, was convicted in 2004 of ordering Sonny Black's murder. Through wiretaps, the FBI picked up the mob's plans to whack Benjamin "Lefty Guns" Ruggiero in retribution. On his way to the site of his own murder, Ruggiero was arrested by the FBI for his own protection.
Al Pacino portrayed Lefty Guns Ruggiero in the movie "Donnie Brasco (1997)," directed by Mike Newell. Johnny Depp portrayed "Donnie Brasco." The real life Lefty Guns was convicted of racketeering and served 13 years in prison. He died of natural causes in his bed on Thanksgiving Day, 1995.
Joseph Pistone's work led to the conviction of more than 100 mobsters. He continues to be active today as an author and consultant to law enforcement agencies world-wide.
Robert Persico, FBI Special Agent, A/K/A "Jack 'Jack The Jeweler' Falcone"
Now we find the Gambino Cosa Nostra Family, the criminal organization of Albert "The Mad Hatter" Anastasia, Carlo Gambino and John J. Gotti, has been successfully infiltrated by one Robert Persico, an FBI undercover Agent who posed as "Jack 'Jack the Jeweler' Falcone."
Robert Persico, is a 6-foot-plus, 250-pound veteran agent. "Jack 'Jack the Jeweler' Falcone" could move swag. He was a money maker.
At the Spaghetti Western, "Jack Falcone" offered cigarettes with counterfeit tax stamps. Gregory DePalma, the Gambino Crime Family capo, was interested - to the tune of 350 cases.
Hands were shaken all around. "Jack the Jeweler" handed the gangster a cell phone, said he could keep it for free. He didn't mention the device inside that allowed the FBI to hear conversations, even when the phone was off.
"Jack Falcone" did not have the advantages that "Donnie Brasco" enjoyed. But, Brian DePalma nevertheless indicated that he intended to sponsor 'Jack the Jeweler's' induction into the Gambino Cosa Nostra Family. The new Donnie Brasco had arrived, and the mob didn't know it. Yet.
Relative Comparative Degree of Criminal Insulation and the Chicago Outfit in the Twenty-First Century
In the twenty-first century, the the flip rate among members of the Chicago Outfit is likely to increase. It will probably remain lower than other Cosa Nostra Families. There already are four Chicago Outfit names to mention, i.e. "Nick Calabrese," "Frank Calabrese Sr.," "Frank Calabrese Jr." and "James 'Jimmy the Man' Marcello." To tell if they deserve mention on the list, it depends upon how much of the soup The Man and Frank Calabrese Sr. have spilled.
James "Jimmy the Man" Marcello
Jimmy the Man is the Chicago Outfit's street boss. In that capacity, he answers to Joseph "Joey the Clown" Lombardo, the Chicago Outfit's Chairman of the Board. To the upperworld, Marcello is the "boss" of the Chicago Outfit.
For years Marcello's underlings would regularly make a pilgrimage from Chicago to Milan, in southeastern Michigan, to consult on outfit business. In a visiting room, Marcello allegedly directed mob rackets back in Chicago in anticipation of his release and elevation to the Chicago Outfit throne.
Federal agents installed hidden microphones inside a prison visiting room at the Milan, Michigan, prison where Marcello was serving out a lengthy federal sentence for racketeering. The bugs were placed where the feds allege The Man conducts business. The meetings were supposed to be private. The conversations were intended to be secret. But for as long as two years, the FBI covertly listened in on and recorded regular prison meetings between The Man and his top lieutenants.
In addition to the mob murders, authorities charged James Marcello's brother, Michael Marcello, with helping his brother run Chicago Outfit operations while The Man was in prison.
Frank Calabrese Sr.
The loan sharking activities of the Frank Calabrese Sr. street crew ended with a thud after seven of the Chicago outfit's most efficient extortionists entered into a plea agreement with U.S. Attorney Jim Burns in order to reduce their prison time and related fines in return for full cooperation with the government.
Frank Calabrese Sr. was the Chicago Outfit's most notorious loan shark.
The plea agreements between Frank Calabrese, Sr., his son Frankie, Jr., Frank Senior's brother, Nicholas Calabrese of Norridge; Kurt Calabrese; Terry Scalise; Philip "Philly Beans" Tolomeo, a former Chicago Police officer now in witness protection, Louis Bombacino, and the U.S. Attorney provides some degree of closure to the victims of this vicious extortion racket which flourished in the Western Suburbs of Chicago in the late 1970s up through the early 1990s.
Nick Calabrese
The former longtime Chicago Outfit capo Nick Calabrese has been spilling out Chicago Outfit secrets to the feds for several years. He and Calabrese Sr., both made men in the Chicago Outfit, allegedly participated in mob hits together.
Nick Calabrese was motivated to cooperate with the feds in part by a personal betrayal -- by his own brother.
Frank Calabrese Sr., while in prison, allegedly was presented with the possibility that Nick Calabrese could be cooperating.
If that was true, Frank Calabrese Sr. allegedly had no objections to his brother being murdered.
When Nick Calabrese learned of this, it persuaded him to cooperate.
Another factor that persuaded him to flip was that agents tied Nick Calabrese to the 1986 hit of John Fecarotta, a mob enforcer. Fecarotta was killed because he botched an initial attempt on the life of mobster Anthony Spilotro, who was later beaten to death on June 14, 1986, with his brother Michael in a home in Bensenville, Illinois.
Calabrese left behind a bloody glove after he nearly botched the Fecarotta hit and got shot himself. Years later, investigators using DNA technology linked the bloody glove to Nick Calabrese. Frank Calabrese Sr. also allegedly participated in the murder.
Frank Calabrese Jr.
When Frank Calabrese Sr. was in prison with his son Frank Jr., he spilled some of the Chicago Outfit's secrets.
Secrets involving details of mob murders.
Secrets that Frank Calabrese Sr. never should have uttered once the deadly deeds were done, according to Chicago Outfit code.
Secrets that were caught on tape.
Doing the taping was Frank Calabrese Jr., who put his life on the line by wearing a listening device while in prison to help build a case against his father.
The Federal "Operation Family Secrets"
Some of the secrets that Frank Calabrese inadvertently revealed unfolded into public view Monday, April 25, 2005, as federal prosecutors unsealed a 41-page mob indictment. Squads of FBI and IRS agents fanned out before dawn's early light, rounding up mobsters, mob associates and even two retired cops in what amounts to the most sweeping organized crime indictment ever seen in Chicago. As part of the federal Operation Family Secrets, prosecutors charged the entire Outfit as a criminal enterprise and laid 18 murders and one attempted murder at the doorstep of the Chicago mob.
In all, 14 people were charged in the indictment, which sketches how the Outfit makes its money in the Chicago area, from running video poker machines to shaking down businesses. Seven men were in court Monday, all of them pleading not guilty. Another man, alleged mob killer Frank Saladino, was found dead in a Hampshire hotel, apparently of natural causes, when FBI and IRS agents went on their early Monday morning sweep to round him and other mobsters up.
The 11 defendants charged with conspiracy include Lombardo; Marcello and his brother Michael Marcello, 55, of Schaumburg; the Calabrese brothers; Frank Schweihs, 75, of Dania, Fla.; Frank Saladino, 59, of Hampshire in Kane County; Paul Schiro, 67, of Phoenix, Ariz.; Nicholas Ferriola, 29, of Westchester; and former Chicago cops Anthony Doyle, 60, of Wickenburg, Ariz., and Michael Ricci, 75, of Streamwood.
Three other defendants were charged in taking part in an illegal video gambling operation allegedly run by Michael Marcello out of Cicero.
Damage Assessment: Audio Tapes
Of James "Jimmy the Man" Calabrese's prison conversations, what exactly has been recorded on the FBI audio tapes? We know that The Man was suffering from a case of the "oral diarrhea syndrome." But, we don't know yet how badly he was/is suffering.
Until recently, I would not suspect that Jimmy the Man might also become a victim of "bleeding confidential information sores." But, since the news broke in February, 2005 that Joseph "Big Joey" Massino, the mob rat and former boss of the Bonanno Cosa Nostra Family, flipped as of September, 2004, anything is possible.
Of Frank Calabrese Sr's prison conversations, what exactly has been recorded on the FBI audio tapes? Especially for Frank Senior, this is a very very important question. If the words the FBI has recorded from Frank Calabrese Sr.'s lips are particularly damaging, even he might flip.
Frank Calabrese Sr. suffered from the "oral diarrhea syndrome." If his self-incriminating statements are very damaging to the Chicago Outfit, Frank Calabrese Sr. might easily develope a case of the "bleeding confidential information sores." He might do this by selling his story.
Nick Calabrese is a victim of the "oral diarrhea syndrome." There's no reason why he shouldn't sell his story and also suffer the symptoms of "bleeding confidential information sores."
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, two students of organized crime, mutually extolling their 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. Lansky was Larner's 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, on the part of Giancana and Corbitt (March 1, 2003), maintained and increased these attitudes and their rate of _expression? 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) extoled the alleged criminal virtues of Hyman Larner because they were 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 asserting itself and is on the verge of taking over.