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, November 1, 2005
In Today’s column: "The Mob Hit Ban (1993);" "LCN U.S.A.'s 'On The Shelf' Designation;" "The Mob Hit Ban (1993) and the 'On The Shelf' Designation Are Still On LCN U.S.A.'s Books;" "Punishable By Death;" "Who is Peter Gotti?;" "Who is Primo Cassarino?;" "What Mob "No-No's" is Primo Cassarino Committing?;" "'Peaceful Pete' Gotti Not So Benign;" "Future Prospects."
The Mob Hit Ban (1993)
Quoting my discussion of the mob hit ban of 1993 in the "SICILIAN MAFIA HIT BAN" of the Sho 'nuff Mob Study, Tuesday, 28 December 2004 - Made Men Who Attended College:
"The National Mafia Commission in the United States banned mob hits in 1993. So many mobsters were facing life long jail terms, and; the feds were getting so much leverage against the mob with the murder raps, that too many guys were turning state's evidence. The mob called a moratorium on hits. That does not mean the mob is no longer in the business of homicide. Rather, it means homicide has become the mob's very last alternative" (pp. 9-10).
Due to the mob hit ban of 1993, in the United States there has been a paucity of recent mob murders. The feds are therefore trying to make mobsters pay for murders they committed decades ago. In this effort the feds are using forensic analysis, undercover agents, electronic surveillance and mob snitches, etc.
On Tuesday, September 30, 2003, the feds hit Joseph "Big Joey" Massino, the boss of the Bonanno Cosa Nostra Family, with three 1981 murders and a 1982 murder conspiracy to top off a racketeering indictment in which Massino and three others were charged with seven additional mob hits between 1980 and 1992.
In my own words, from "If You Can't Beat 'em, Join 'em," of the Sho 'nuff Mob Study, Tuesday, 8 February 2005 - Guess Again Donnie Brasco, the "Last of the Real Gangsters" is Talking:
"In the United States of America v. Joseph Massino et al. Defendants, 2004, Joseph "Big Joey" Massino faced eight mob rats. It seems his court experiences with those rats had a great impression on Big Joey Massino. Today, Big Joey Massino himself is a mob rat" (p. 4).
I typed the following lines in "The Federal 'Operation Family Secrets,' from the Sho 'nuff Mob Study, Tuesday, 3 May 2005 - Made Men of the Twentieth Century Who Suffered From "Bleeding Confidential Information Sores",
"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" (p. 8).
Operation Family Secrets Charges
Operation Family Secrets
United States v . Calabrese, et al., 02 CR 1050
Count One Racketeering Conspiracy (RICO)
James Marcello, Joseph Lombardo, Frank Calabrese, Sr., Nicholas W. Calabrese, Frank Schweihs. Frank Saladino, Paul Schiro, Michael Marcello, Nicholas Ferriola, Anthony Doyle and Michael Ricci
Count Two Conducting an Illegal Gambling Business
James Marcello, Michael Marcello, Thomas Johnson, Joseph Venezia and Dennis Johnson
Count Three Obstructing a Criminal Investigation
James Marcello and Michael Marcello
Count Four Extortion
Frank Calabrese, Sr., and Nicholas Ferriola
Count Five Conducting an Illegal Gambling Business
Frank Calabrese, Sr., and Nicholas Ferriola
Count Six Extortion
Frank Schweihs
Count Seven Extortionate Collection of Credit
Frank Schweihs
Count Eight False Statements
Michael Ricci
Count Nine Tax Fraud Conspiracy
James Marcello, Michael Marcello, Joseph Venezia and Thomas Johnson
Forfeiture $10 Million
and 5533 West 25th St., Cicero
LCN U.S.A.'s 'On The Shelf' Designation
The National Mafia Commission created a “shelf” designation years ago to give mob bosses some leeway whenever a “made man” violated one or more crime family rules and, out of fear or favor, the family desired an alternative punishment than execution. A mobster "On The Shelf" is essentially suspended from all family business activities, but like most mob rules, many wiseguys ignore the ruling.
Because of his violation of the code of omertà, the mob is unlikely to place Primo Cassarino 'on the shelf."
The Mob Hit Ban (1993) and the 'On The Shelf' Designation
Are Still On LCN U.S.A.'s Books
In the "1999/2000 - Vitale testimony" there is no mention of either the mob's Hit Ban or the mob's current "On The Shelf" designation. We may therefore assume that these national policies have been neither amended nor repealed.
The GangsterInc WebMaster's post of July 1, 20004, "L.C.N. commission meeting in 1999/2000 - Vitale testimony," noted:
"According to Vitale in a 1999/2000 commission meeting the following was decided:
* "They all agreed that from now on we will have to be 100 percent Italian to get straightened out [become a made member]. Your mother couldn't be Irish and your father Italian. Both had to be Italian."
* "They agreed to take five new [made] members" each into their families.
* "If a person was arrested for drugs and went to jail, you would have to wait five years to straighten him out [let him become a made member]."
Again, according to Vitale, the following were present at the meeting besides Massino: Peter Gotti, acting boss of the Gambino Cosa Nostra Family was there, as were Louis "Louie Bagel" Daidone, acting consigliere of the Lucchese Cosa Nostra Family; Lawrence "Little Larry" Dentico, acting consigliere of the Genovese Cosa Nostra Family; and Joel "Joe Waverly" Cacace, consigliere of the Colombo Cosa Nostra Family."
Punishable By Death
The American Mafia has drawn the line in the sand, the line that divides "acceptable" from "unacceptable" behavior among its dissident members and associates. For a made man and/or an associate to testify against a cosa nostra boss continues to be "unacceptable." Such "unacceptable" behavior is punishable by death.
Who is Peter Gotti?
Peter Gotti was the acting boss of the Gambino Crime Family from 1999 to 2002. Peter Gotti, the elder brother to John "The Dapper Don" Gotti and a former sanitation worker, was the Gambino boss from 2002 until 2003. The Gotti's no longer rule the Gambino Cosa Nostra Family.
Arnold Squitieri was the Gambino acting boss from 2003 until 2004.
The Gambino Crime Family has been run by Nicholas "Little Nick" Corozzo from 2004 until the present time.
Who is Primo Cassarino?
Primo Cassarino is a onetime bagman and enforcer for the Gambino Cosa Nostra Family's waterfront rackets. As a Gambino soldier, Primo Cassarino was a feared strong arm for Anthony "Sonny" Ciccone, the longtime docks boss. He was found guilty of shaking down Steven Seagal, the action movie star.
Cassarino has admitted to a broad spectrum of violent criminal activity, e.g. extortion, assault and arson before and after he got "straightened out" with the Gambino Cosa Nostra Family.
Primo Cassarino's crime portfolio also includes several non-violent crimes including marijuana and cocaine usage, Social Security fraud, gambling, loansharking, wire fraud, and stealing cable television service.
What Mob "No-No's" is Primo Cassarino Committing?
After Cassarino was convicted of waterfront racketeering along with Peter Gotti, the Gambino Family boss, he began to cooperate with the feds. He is currently serving a 135-month sentence for that conviction.
Primo Cassarino has taken the stand against the Genovese Cosa Nostra Family of New York's capo Lawrence Ricci and two high-level International Longshoreman's Association officials, Harold Daggett and Arthur Coffey. As ILA officials, Daggett, 58, earned $480,000 and Coffey, 63. earned $378,000 in 2003. Ricci, Daggett and Coffey are charged with diverting hundreds of thousands of dollars in worker's benefit funds to the Genovese Cosa Nostra Family of New York from 1996 until 2004.
Daggett and Coffey have also been charged with extorting millions of dollars from waterfront businesses that operate on the New York, New Jersey and Miami docks and from ILA workers from 1997 until 2004. Cassarino is expected to testify that the Gambino and Genovese Crime Families of New York shared a $400,000 payoff in a medical fund fraud scheme in which Ricci received a $70,000 kick back as his end of the deal. Rick describes himself as a dairy supply salesman.
See: http://members3.boardhost.com/NewYorkMafia/msg/16546.html
http://members3.boardhost.com/NewYorkMafia/msg/16543.html
http://members3.boardhost.com/NewYorkMafia/msg/16545.html
In the words of Anthony M. DeStefano (October 17, 2005) in his New York Newsday article, "Cassarino testifies in Ricci trial,"
"Asked by assistant U.S. attorney Taryn Merkl why he decided to cooperate with investigators, Cassarino said he wanted to be let out of prison.
"I want to tell the truth and get a reduction in sentence," he said.
When he was sentenced in August 2004 Cassarino made news by saying the mob life was finished and by imploring his children to continue with their education and make a decent life for themselves.
"I really made a terrible mistake by choosing that life," he said in 2004."
'Peaceful Pete' Gotti Not So Benign
Anthony M. DeStefano's (October 19, 2005) New York Newsday article, "'Peaceful Pete' not so benign, witness testifies.' discusses the parameters of the Mob Hit Ban of the early nineteen-nineties.
"But imprisoned Gambino crime boss Peter Gotti ordered that if any of his associates became an informant, they and their families should be killed, according to testimony Tuesday in a federal racketeering case in Brooklyn.
Gotti's alleged order to seek retribution was disclosed by ex-Gambino soldier Primo Cassarino, 49, now a government witness in a waterfront racketeering case... '
...When he was sentenced to more than 10 years in prison last year, Cassarino turned his back on his old mob associates and agreed to help the FBI. Cassarino said he actually flirted with the idea of cooperating while he was awaiting trial with Gotti.
On cross-examination Tuesday, Cassarino said he was glad he made bail during his earlier federal case because he feared retribution from Gotti if he stayed in jail.
"If anybody cooperates, kill them and their families," Cassarino said a jailed Gotti ordered in an effort to squelch informants.
Cassarino testified that Peter Gotti allegedly made that statement to his brother Richard V. Gotti, 63, a reputed Gambino captain who also was convicted in 2003 and spent about a year in prison.
'It is absolutely nonsense,' said Gerald Shargel, Gotti's defense counsel in the 2003 trial. 'Peter Gotti didn't want to have anything to do with him and made clear his conduct, the way he talked to people, was horrible."
Future Prospects
The Witness Protection Program has proven itself. Primo Cassarino has a good chance of surviving as long as he adheres to the rules and regulations of the Witness Protection Program.
Primo Cassarino, if he survives, is likely become a FLOATING RAT, i.e. a mob turncoat who testifies for the prosecution not only against members and associates of his own cosa nostra family but; also against members and associates of other cosa nostra families.