Results tagged “gambino”

Brooklyn's Anthony (Todo) Anastasio, 80, a member of the Gambino family, was convicted yesterday on racketeering and other charges, and faces up to 20 years in prison. He shook "down a trucking company on the Staten Island waterfront, the owners of an Italian bakery in Brooklyn and order[ed] a Dunkin Donuts torched for the insurance money." There were also secret recordings of him at the Guys and Dolls hair salon in Staten Island, where he held business meetings during his haircuts. His uncle, Albert Anastasia, the head of Murder, Inc., was gunned down while getting a shave at the Park Sheraton Hotel in 1957.

A gunman for the Gambino family has taken the unusual and dangerous step of outing himself as homosexual, as a gambit to obtain a lower sentence for killing a Queens bagel store owner in 2003. Robert Mormando had already confessed to the murder, and his decision to out himself in court was intended to show the judge that his cooperation was riskier than most, because, as we know from The Sopranos, the mob kills gay members. In fact, the NY Times even gets the actor who played a homosexual gangster on the series to weigh in!

During the trial of an alleged Gambino mobster, the Daily News reports that a Brooklyn and S.I. bakery chain owner Giuseppe "Joe" Generoso told jurors how he stood up to "reputed mobsters Anthony (Todo) Anastasio and William Scotto - telling them he was his own 'strongman.'" However, "What jurors in Brooklyn Federal Court didn't hear was how nine months later, gunmen ambushed Generoso at his Staten Island home and shot him in the face."

John Gotti Jr., scion of the Gambino crime family and its alleged leaders, decided to greet potential jurors to his racketeering trial, "Good morning, I am John Gotti. Here I am again." It was a reference to how this is his fourth trial (the other three times ended in hung juries); the NY Post reports that while "Manhattan federal Judge P. Kevin Castel said that while Gotti's remark was 'undoubtedly innocent and made in the utmost of good faith,' it amounted to 'improper argument.'" Castel added it could have been misconduct. Of course, it might be a long jury selection process—many people are apparently afraid of the Teflon Don's son and associates—but Gotti is ready, with his "scholarly" glasses and note-taking.

John Gotti Jr. pleaded not guilty once again to two new murder charges. Though the feds could have opted for the death penalty, they won't be. Gotti Jr. has been tried on other murder and racketeering charges many times before without a conviction. Curtis Sliwa, the Guardian Angels founder who was allegedly targeted by Gotti Jr.'s henchman, told NY1 that he hopes the Gambino family scion finally stays behind bars, "I've got the target on my back, but you know something, I still walk those neighborhoods. I still deal with those cafones. Those guys, they threaten to bend my leg and stuff it in my pocket but I'm going to continue to talk what has been the truth for years."

Carmine Agnello Jr., son of Victoria Gotti and grandson of the late Teflon Don John Gotti Sr., spoke out about the foreclosure proceedings on his family's mansion in Old Westbury. Agnello told the Post, "My dad"—and his namesake, Carmine Sr.—"did this to us. He decided once he got out of jail he was going to get another life, and he left us behind with the burden. He did his kids wrong, and he did his wife wrong... To be honest with you, we don't consider him our father." (Still, last year, little Carmine told Grub Street he hung out with his dad.) Victoria Gotti claims that her ex-husband took out a $850,000 mortgage on the home without her knowledge; Agnello Sr. now lives in Cleveland and is remarried to the daughter of a "former leader in Armenian terrorism." As for Carmine Jr., he revealed that he and brothers John and Frank are going to be in a new reality show set in LA.

Victoria Gotti, daughter of the late Teflon Don John Gotti, is "bitter" about the foreclosure of her Old Westbury mansion. A panel of judges allowed Chase to start foreclosure proceedings; Gotti says that her ex, Carmine Agnello, took out a $700,000 mortgage behind her back (Chase says she never paid all the $25,000 monthly payments that were owed). Her mother told the Post that her daughter was "not in the mood to talk to anybody" and offered her own thoughts on her former son-in-law, calling him a creep. But Victoria Gotti did tell Newsday, "The house, all the marital assets, are part of a divorce package (settlement) I have never seen yet." The white brick, five-bedroom, and five-and-a-half bath home was seen on the A&E reality series Growing Up Gotti—in the past few years, Gotti has listed the home on the market for $4.8 million, $3.995 million, $3.899 million and most recently, between $3.2 million and $3.5 million.

John Gotti Jr., on trial yet again (he's been tried three times before, each time ending in mistrials) for murder and drug trafficking charges, was defended by his mother yesterday. Victoria Gotti, widow of the Teflon Don, unleashed torrent of words at her son's pretrial hearing. She yelled, "Excuse me, your honor, may I speak? I am his mother!" to which the judge said no. But that didn't stop her: She shouted "How do you feel about perjury?" "Why don't you just hang him now?" "The government is suborning perjury. This trial is rigged," "They're trying to kill him before trial. These are the good guys? God help us!" and that the feds were "fighting like little b----es, instead of men." Unsurprising, the judge ended the hearing. In spite of being in jail, Junior told his lawyer he was feeling good, though his lawyer pointed out Gotti needs treatment for kidney stones. Curtis Sliwa, Guardian Angels founder who was the target of a hit, told the Daily News, "I'd be more than happy to break up his kidney stones with a nice therapeutic massage."

Yesterday, a former Gambino associate told the court that the late John Gotti Sr. was unhappy his daughter's boyfriend beat her up. "We were instructed to go slaughter Carmine [Agnello]. Find him and slaughter him. Don't kill him," Peter Zuccaro, a self-proclaimed "career criminal," said. Agnello eventually married Victoria Gotti, in spite of being shot in the buttocks and beaten with ax handles by Zuccaro, accused mob hitman Charles Carneglia and Carneglia's brother. Zuccaro was testifying against Carneglia, who is on trial for five murders, including that of a court officer, and Newsday said Zuccaro's stories "seemed like a soap opera about Howard Beach." Zuccaro also drew the line somewhere, explaining why he didn't want to kill a man who lived across from St. Helen church, "Killing in front of a church was a despicable act. Many families went to that church in the neighborhood."

Saying no to John Gotti proved deadly for one man, as federal prosecutors claimed that a hit was ordered because he "ignor[ed] Gotti's invitation to his social club." The feds say that Gambino soldier Charles Carneglia shot the man four times in the head at the World Trade Center parking lot in 1990. Carneglia is also accused of four other murders, but the crime he is most notoriously associated with (but not charged with) is the 1980 murder of Gotti's neighbor John Favara. Favara fatally struck Gotti's bike-riding son with his car; Carneglia allegedly dumped Favara's body in a vat of acid. Now feds say Carneglia "did not choose an appropriate type of acid," which upset his boss Anthony Ruggiero because getting rid of Favara's body was taking too long. Apparently Carneglia's second try worked out better and he threw one of Favara's finger bones in Ruggiero's soup to prove he got the job done.

John Gotti Jr. returned to the NYC court scene —his past three trials have ended in mistrial, but the feds are still going after him—and was remanded without bail. The Daily News reports, "Manhattan Federal Judge Kevin Castel cited government claims that Gotti ordered three murders and oversaw a multimillion dollar cocaine trafficking network in Queens as reason for keeping the mob scion locked up ahead of his Sept. 14 trial date," and added Gotti "might have had a better shot if he stole $50 billion." Well, Gotti did manage to have the trial moved from Florida to NYC, so you win some, you lose some. The Teflon Don's son told Castel he was feeling "pretty good" except for a kidney stone issue. Junior also apologized, via his lawyer, to Castel for wearing prison garb and showing off a tattoo, but the judge said, "I'm familiar with the dress code of the place where he resides."

An informant says that Gambino family soldier Charles Carneglia killed John Gotti Sr.'s Howard Beach neighbor and got rid of the body by dumping him in a vat of acid. Carneglia, who has been behind bars since the feds' big sweep of the Gambinos last year, is accused of being part of a group of men who targeted Gotti neighbor John Favara, who fatally struck Gotti's bike-riding 12-year-old son Frankie in 1980. The Daily News explains that Favara "found the word Murderer scrawled on his auto and was attacked with a bat by Gotti's wife, Victoria, but failed to heed repeated warnings to move out of the area." The Post reports the feds originally thought Favara's body (in a barrel of concrete) was thrown off a Brooklyn pier, but "Carneglia's love of acid and his use of it in Favara's case came to light thanks to new information from the cooperating witness." Carneglia allegedly kept vats of acid in his basement and had asked the informant for help in moving them.

In this latest round, it's federal prosecutors 0, and John Gotti Jr. 1. A federal judge denied the feds's attempt to try Gotti in Florida and ordered the trial be moved to NYC. Judge Steven Merryday said the case, which includes three murder charges, against the supposed Gambino crime family boss is "unmistakably the same" as the, um, three trials Gotti went through in Manhattan in 2005 and 2006. Those NYC trials ended in mistrial, and the feds were hoping that a change of turf to Florida could change their luck. The feds had no comment, but Gotti's mother groused to the Daily News, "They can't find Osama Bin Laden but a Gotti at any given moment is a sure thing. ... The bruised egos from three hung juries will ensure [my son] will never, ever live his life in peace again."

trials against Gotti Jr. ended in mistrial. The two sides await the judge's decision.

John Gotti Jr., who was recently arrested by the feds on charges of murder and drug running, pleaded not guilty in a Florida court. Though the murders were allegedly in NY, he is being prosecuted in Florida because prosecutors say the Gambino crime family was "trying to gain a foothold" in Tampa. Which his lawyers are trying to change, saying, "The events happened in New York, and it's a disadvantage to transfer everything here." Prosecutors have unsuccessfully tried Gotti Jr. in NYC three times, and some suggest NYC-area jurors are too impressed by the mob. Still, the AP described Gotti as "looking upbeat and waving confidently to his family."

In the latest case against John Gotti Jr., federal prosecutors claim the Teflon Don's son orchestrated three mob hits in NYC and ran a huge coke ring in Florida. A U.S. Attorney said, "This indictment captures a lifetime of criminality." The Daily News has a timeline (time horizon?) of cases brought against the two John Gottis and also details crimes of the friend who ratted Junior out (the friend had once smuggled another mobster's sperm out of jail). And Gotti Jr.'s alleged would-be hit victim, Curtis Sliwa, says he'd be happy to testify in this next trial.

John Gotti Jr. is like the FBI's Great White Whale! After his three recent trials ended in mistrial--prompting a prosecutor to say that going after Junior "was above his pay grade"--the feds are at it again, arrested the former Junior don of the Gambino crime family at his Oyster Bay home this morning.

The NY Post must have a quota of Gotti front pages it must fill each year, because today's big news--according to the Post--is that the Gotti family is fighting over money that may or may not exist.

Alleged Gambino family consigliere Joseph "Jo Jo" (or "Miserable") Corozzo decided to represent himself in a racketeering trial. Corozzo, 66, told federal Judge Jack Weinstein yesterday, "I would like to represent myself."

The Smoking Gun, via a Freedom of Information Act request, received the last photograph taken of John Gotti, the former Gambino crime family head also known as the Dapper Don or Teflon Don.

If your actions helped lead to what many called the biggest mob bust in two decades, would you be showing your face in the five boroughs for the Five Families to see? Well, Joseph Vollaro, who is supposed to be in witness protection, seems to live life to its very edge, as the Post reports he "brashly strolled into a Staten Island sushi restaurant Saturday night," picking up take-out.

It turns out that Thursday's take down of 62 mob figures, many of them high-ranking members of the Gambino crime family and called the biggest mob bust in decades, was spurred by a Staten Island trucking company owner. Joseph Vollaro, who made a lot of money for the Gambinos, ended up becoming a government informant after being caught in a drug deal.

Sixty-two men associated with the Gambino, Genovese and Bonanno crime families were arrested yesterday in a federal, state and local coordinated sweep in the New York region. A number of Gambino-related arrests were also made in Italy, and authorities have described this as the biggest mob bust in decades. Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Benton Campbell said, "Our goal is and always has been simple: to dismantle the Gambino organized-crime family in a coordinated and consistent fashion."

This morning, federal agents have arrested over 50 members of the Gambino, Genovese and Bonanno crime families in New York City, New Jersey, and Long Island. Authorities are calling this the "biggest mafia bust in more than 20 years."

The feds must believe if you try, try, try and fail, fail, fail, you must try again, because it seems they are going to charge John Gotti Jr. with a new set of murder charges. The Post reports "Junior will likely be charged with at least five murders," including a Queens man who Gotti Jr. "allegedly disemboweled" in 1983, using a boxcutter or linoleum knife. And that's not all: Junior allegedly got help from "more...