Results tagged “ganglandnews”

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...

Over a week ago, prosecutors were forced to drop charges against ex-FBI agent R. Lindley DeVecchio after their star witness's credibility came into question. DeVecchio's trial was as high-profile as they come, as the Brooklyn DA's office charged him with tipping off mobster-turned-FBI information Gregory "The Grim Reaper" Scarpa Jr. with information that led to four murders, and their case hinged on the testimony of Scarpa's mistress, Linda Schiro. In late October, Schiro had testified...

Blockbuster trial no more: Former FBI Agent R. Lindley DeVecchio escaped four murder charges when the Brooklyn DA's office decided to dismiss its case accusing him of helping a mobster kill his rivals. The move became clear after Village Voice reporter Tom Robbins realized that the prosecution's star witness had told him very different things in a 1997 interview.

Last week, reputed Bonanno crime family boss Vincent Basciano - aka "Vinny Gorgeous" - was upset about not having a proper dress shirt to wear during his racketeering trial, only for the judge to step in and lend him a shirt and tie. This week, Basciano is complaining to Brooklyn federal judge Nicholas Garaufis about how prison life is cramping his style.

What's eBay good for if not finding a place to buy and sell things like...John Gotti's cufflinks?

If you have ever thought that the language in The Sopranos or The Godfather or any mob movie was made up, we urge you to read about the secret prison tape of John Gotti Jr. ranting and raving about, oh, wanting to kill his uncles. While Gangland News had these tapes where Gotti complains about uncles Peter and Ricahrd exclusive back in 2004, the NY Times had a short and sweet excerpt:

“I’ve made a pact,” Mr. Gotti told John Ruggiero, a member of the Gambino family, during a September 2003 conversation secretly recorded by the F.B.I. at the federal prison in Ray Brook, N.Y. “I made a pact with myself one night in my bed, on my father’s and brother’s grave. I will beat them down like a two-dollar French hooker.

Continue reading "You Don't Want Junior Gotti Mad at You"

If you've ever been interested in the mafia, either the real live mob or the movie kind, Gothamist highly recommends that you follow the trial of former NYPD detectives Stephen Caracappa and Louis Eppolito, who are accused of racketeering (and being involved in eight murders), which is going on in Brooklyn Federal Court right now. The lead witness for the prosecution was a 72 year old convicted pot dealer, another witness said one of the cops used mob money to launch his screenwriting dreams in Hollywood and one of the defendants eats lunch at the Park Place diner - Newsday notes Eppolito likes pastrami on rye with mustard (but who doesn't?). All the local papers have had coverage that goes beyond colorful - it's like you're watching an episode of The Sopranos, only if that were crossed wtih NYPD Blue and The Shield. Today, the NY Times looks at how Eppolito's autobiography, Mafia Cop, is at the center of the trial, since Eppolito comes out seeming like a very "conflicted but ultimately dedicated" (NY Times) police officer as well as an imaginative writer; the Daily News' Denis Hamill mentioned a Mafia Cop quote: "I learned something about myself during that gunfight. I not only had the capacity to kill. I had the capacity to forget about it, to not let it bother me." Huh. [Fitting for this digital age, Pocket Books is offering the Mafia Cop for download on Amazon - and you don't have to feel like you might be supporting a possible murderer, as Eppolito doesn't get any residuals.]