by B. » Sat Dec 26, 2020 6:15 pm
Tommy Ferreri is from Ozone Park like his relatives, but is/was living full-time in Las Vegas. Gasper Valenti spent years in Vegas and maintained regular phone contact with Ferreri after Valenti returned to NYC. No clue who Ferreri reported to, maybe Jerry Asaro like the other relatives unless the west coast guys were with other captains. He may have been made in the 1990s like many Asaro relatives.
Asaro relatives who were members during this general period:
Vincent Asaro
Jerry Asaro
Nana Bonventre
Jack Bonventre
Thomas Ferreri
Sammy Valenti
Ronald Giallanzo
Gasper Valenti was proposed twice but screwed up so badly and repeatedly that he didn't get in. He easily could have been yet another made Asaro relative if he had cleaned up his act slightly.
While Asaro was an abusive tyrant who lorded over Valenti (and others), you get the impression from Valenti's testimony and tape transcripts that Asaro was fond of Valenti and wanted him to do better. The defense used this to their advantage and I believe it helped Asaro win the case, as it made Valenti a less sympathetic character.
It's actually incredible what Valenti got away with, by his own admission:
- Stole money owed to Anthony Spero and lied, saying one of Spero's own men stole it, resulting in a major controversy.
- Borrowed money from Vic Amuso and never paid any of it back.
- Borrowed money from other ranking mafia members in various families, never paid it back.
- Used Asaro's name in order to borrow more money despite his reputation for shirking on payment.
- Stole extra money from the stash of Lufthansa cash he was tasked with hiding, lied to Asaro about it.
- Fled to Las Vegas without approval to avoid retribution for all of his unpaid loans and misconduct.
- Repeated his earlier habits after returning to NYC, borrowing more money from Bonanno members that went unpaid.
- Fled to Vegas a second time, this time telling Asaro a fake story about going on the lam after committing a double murder related to a drug deal.
That's just off the top of my head. Valenti likely would have been maimed or even killed for some of his behavior had it not been for Asaro's protection. It's surprising Asaro put his neck out as much as he did.
Valenti even showed personal disrespect to the Asaros:
- Valenti was close to his uncle, Vincent Asaro's father Jerry, who as mentioned Valenti was originally on record with in the Bonanno family. When the elder Jerry Asaro died, his car was given to Valenti. Vincent Asaro also had a custom ring made for Valenti that was modeled after Jerry Asaro's signature cuff links.
- Valenti never made a single payment on the car and it was repossessed. After receiving the custom ring, Valenti almost immediately pawned it. It's not clear if Asaro knew about the ring, but he would have been aware of the car disappearing.
That said, Valenti is honest about his own degeneracy on the stand. You could tell he knew he was a piece of shit and didn't try to hide it. While I found him a pathetic character who won't achieve Nirvana in this soul cycle, I believe most of his testimony was truthful, especially when it came to background info on the Asaros and Valenti's activities with them.
Tommy Ferreri is from Ozone Park like his relatives, but is/was living full-time in Las Vegas. Gasper Valenti spent years in Vegas and maintained regular phone contact with Ferreri after Valenti returned to NYC. No clue who Ferreri reported to, maybe Jerry Asaro like the other relatives unless the west coast guys were with other captains. He may have been made in the 1990s like many Asaro relatives.
Asaro relatives who were members during this general period:
Vincent Asaro
Jerry Asaro
Nana Bonventre
Jack Bonventre
Thomas Ferreri
Sammy Valenti
Ronald Giallanzo
Gasper Valenti was proposed twice but screwed up so badly and repeatedly that he didn't get in. He easily could have been yet another made Asaro relative if he had cleaned up his act slightly.
While Asaro was an abusive tyrant who lorded over Valenti (and others), you get the impression from Valenti's testimony and tape transcripts that Asaro was fond of Valenti and wanted him to do better. The defense used this to their advantage and I believe it helped Asaro win the case, as it made Valenti a less sympathetic character.
It's actually incredible what Valenti got away with, by his own admission:
- Stole money owed to Anthony Spero and lied, saying one of Spero's own men stole it, resulting in a major controversy.
- Borrowed money from Vic Amuso and never paid any of it back.
- Borrowed money from other ranking mafia members in various families, never paid it back.
- Used Asaro's name in order to borrow more money despite his reputation for shirking on payment.
- Stole extra money from the stash of Lufthansa cash he was tasked with hiding, lied to Asaro about it.
- Fled to Las Vegas without approval to avoid retribution for all of his unpaid loans and misconduct.
- Repeated his earlier habits after returning to NYC, borrowing more money from Bonanno members that went unpaid.
- Fled to Vegas a second time, this time telling Asaro a fake story about going on the lam after committing a double murder related to a drug deal.
That's just off the top of my head. Valenti likely would have been maimed or even killed for some of his behavior had it not been for Asaro's protection. It's surprising Asaro put his neck out as much as he did.
Valenti even showed personal disrespect to the Asaros:
- Valenti was close to his uncle, Vincent Asaro's father Jerry, who as mentioned Valenti was originally on record with in the Bonanno family. When the elder Jerry Asaro died, his car was given to Valenti. Vincent Asaro also had a custom ring made for Valenti that was modeled after Jerry Asaro's signature cuff links.
- Valenti never made a single payment on the car and it was repossessed. After receiving the custom ring, Valenti almost immediately pawned it. It's not clear if Asaro knew about the ring, but he would have been aware of the car disappearing.
That said, Valenti is honest about his own degeneracy on the stand. You could tell he knew he was a piece of shit and didn't try to hide it. While I found him a pathetic character who won't achieve Nirvana in this soul cycle, I believe most of his testimony was truthful, especially when it came to background info on the Asaros and Valenti's activities with them.