by Costigan » Sat Jul 18, 2015 1:38 pm
It was Charles Caci AKA Bobby Milano that was the barroom singer. Carmen sang a little bit to the FBI but didn't go all the way.
mob kingpin sings to FBI about his L.A. ‘family’
Saturday, Aug. 29, 1998 | 4:40 a.m.
A secret FBI report is causing embarrassment on the street to Carmen Milano, the reputed underboss of the Los Angeles mob.
The five-page investigative report was transcribed on May 2, 1997, the day after FBI agents busted Milano at a Primm hotel-casino on money laundering charges out of Los Angeles.
It attributes some startling statements to the suspected mob kingpin and provides more insight into why the Los Angeles La Cosa Nostra (LCN) is not highly regarded among the nation's 26 crime families.
According to the report, which has been well-circulated among defense lawyers, Los Angeles and Las Vegas FBI agents decided not to arrest Milano on the spot after he agreed to cooperate ("roll over" in street terms) against his fellow wise guys.
Mob underbosses, with the exception of maybe Sammy "the Bull" Gravano in New York, don't usually break the mob's code of silence.
Milano's interrogation took place two weeks after FBI agents arrested a string of Los Angeles and Buffalo mob figures in an undercover racketeering probe. Some of the defendants were charged with the 1997 slaying here of Chicago mob associate Herbie Blitzstein.
Milano declined comment. But his court-appointed lawyer, Kevin Stolworthy, said Milano has taken the position that most of what is attributed to him in the report is not true.
"Carmen was very surprised when he read it, and he does not believe that it's accurate," Stolworthy said.
Stolworthy, however, acknowledged that Milano agreed to help agents at first, but later backed out of the deal.
"He did originally agree to cooperate because he didn't want to be arrested, but when he found out that he didn't have anything to offer the FBI, he changed his mind a few days later," Stolworthy said.
The 67-year-old Milano ended up being charged with 16 others in a more comprehensive racketeering indictment last February. The trial has been delayed until March 8, and the Los Angeles charges against Milano have been consolidated with that case.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Johnson, who is prosecuting Milano, refused to comment on the report. Las Vegas FBI boss Bobby Siller would only say: "There was an attempt by the Los Angeles mob to infiltrate Las Vegas, and we took that very seriously."
In an interview after his February indictment, Milano told me the Los Angeles crime family had been dissolved a decade ago.
"It's a figment of (the FBI's) imagination," he said. "It's dead, but they don't want it to die."
The family, however, seemed far from dead eight months earlier, when Milano secretly began singing to FBI agents about his pals in the underworld.
The names of a half-dozen FBI agents from Las Vegas and Los Angeles, including Michael Howey, the case agent in the local racketeering probe, appear on the May 1997 report.
Milano is quoted as acknowledging that he holds the title of underboss of the Los Angeles Mafia and that his brother, Peter Milano, is the boss. Milano identifies a number of other "made members," including Louis Caruso, one of his co-defendants in the expanded racketeering case. The FBI believes Caruso is a "capo," or captain, in the family, but Milano insisted during his interrogation that Caruso is only a "soldier."
Milano told agents he believes the family's only capo is another of his co-defendants, Vincent "Jimmy" Caci, who's in jail in California.
Then, Milano talked about his sometimes chilly relations with his brother.
"Milano stated that he does not always get along with Peter, and he realizes that Peter has said some bad things about him in the past," the report says.
Agents said Milano also discussed a local limousine service ensnared in the undercover Las Vegas probe. Milano, the report says, told agents that Caruso had ties to the company.
Milano, who said he became a made member about 15 years ago, also talked about the Los Angeles mob's bad reputation within the underworld.
"Milano said that the Los Angeles family is called the Mickey Mouse Mafia because they have very little control over the city," the report says. "Milano said that LCN family members from New Jersey and New York come into Los Angeles to make money and nothing is given to the Los Angeles family."
The Los Angeles mob, Milano indicated, isn't represented on the Mafia's national commission in New York.
Fallout from the FBI report could be far-reaching for Milano and his co-defendants in the racketeering case. Something tells me we haven't heard the last of this.
The man who broke the mob's code of silence, it turns out, had much more to say about his friends and family members. Stay tuned.
It was Charles Caci AKA Bobby Milano that was the barroom singer. Carmen sang a little bit to the FBI but didn't go all the way.
mob kingpin sings to FBI about his L.A. ‘family’
Saturday, Aug. 29, 1998 | 4:40 a.m.
A secret FBI report is causing embarrassment on the street to Carmen Milano, the reputed underboss of the Los Angeles mob.
The five-page investigative report was transcribed on May 2, 1997, the day after FBI agents busted Milano at a Primm hotel-casino on money laundering charges out of Los Angeles.
It attributes some startling statements to the suspected mob kingpin and provides more insight into why the Los Angeles La Cosa Nostra (LCN) is not highly regarded among the nation's 26 crime families.
According to the report, which has been well-circulated among defense lawyers, Los Angeles and Las Vegas FBI agents decided not to arrest Milano on the spot after he agreed to cooperate ("roll over" in street terms) against his fellow wise guys.
Mob underbosses, with the exception of maybe Sammy "the Bull" Gravano in New York, don't usually break the mob's code of silence.
Milano's interrogation took place two weeks after FBI agents arrested a string of Los Angeles and Buffalo mob figures in an undercover racketeering probe. Some of the defendants were charged with the 1997 slaying here of Chicago mob associate Herbie Blitzstein.
Milano declined comment. But his court-appointed lawyer, Kevin Stolworthy, said Milano has taken the position that most of what is attributed to him in the report is not true.
"Carmen was very surprised when he read it, and he does not believe that it's accurate," Stolworthy said.
Stolworthy, however, acknowledged that Milano agreed to help agents at first, but later backed out of the deal.
"He did originally agree to cooperate because he didn't want to be arrested, but when he found out that he didn't have anything to offer the FBI, he changed his mind a few days later," Stolworthy said.
The 67-year-old Milano ended up being charged with 16 others in a more comprehensive racketeering indictment last February. The trial has been delayed until March 8, and the Los Angeles charges against Milano have been consolidated with that case.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Johnson, who is prosecuting Milano, refused to comment on the report. Las Vegas FBI boss Bobby Siller would only say: "There was an attempt by the Los Angeles mob to infiltrate Las Vegas, and we took that very seriously."
In an interview after his February indictment, Milano told me the Los Angeles crime family had been dissolved a decade ago.
"It's a figment of (the FBI's) imagination," he said. "It's dead, but they don't want it to die."
The family, however, seemed far from dead eight months earlier, when Milano secretly began singing to FBI agents about his pals in the underworld.
The names of a half-dozen FBI agents from Las Vegas and Los Angeles, including Michael Howey, the case agent in the local racketeering probe, appear on the May 1997 report.
Milano is quoted as acknowledging that he holds the title of underboss of the Los Angeles Mafia and that his brother, Peter Milano, is the boss. Milano identifies a number of other "made members," including Louis Caruso, one of his co-defendants in the expanded racketeering case. The FBI believes Caruso is a "capo," or captain, in the family, but Milano insisted during his interrogation that Caruso is only a "soldier."
Milano told agents he believes the family's only capo is another of his co-defendants, Vincent "Jimmy" Caci, who's in jail in California.
Then, Milano talked about his sometimes chilly relations with his brother.
"Milano stated that he does not always get along with Peter, and he realizes that Peter has said some bad things about him in the past," the report says.
Agents said Milano also discussed a local limousine service ensnared in the undercover Las Vegas probe. Milano, the report says, told agents that Caruso had ties to the company.
Milano, who said he became a made member about 15 years ago, also talked about the Los Angeles mob's bad reputation within the underworld.
"Milano said that the Los Angeles family is called the Mickey Mouse Mafia because they have very little control over the city," the report says. "Milano said that LCN family members from New Jersey and New York come into Los Angeles to make money and nothing is given to the Los Angeles family."
The Los Angeles mob, Milano indicated, isn't represented on the Mafia's national commission in New York.
Fallout from the FBI report could be far-reaching for Milano and his co-defendants in the racketeering case. Something tells me we haven't heard the last of this.
The man who broke the mob's code of silence, it turns out, had much more to say about his friends and family members. Stay tuned.