Maxie's Colombo Profiles

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NICHOLAS BOTTA - born 1924 in Brooklyn (Greenpoint) section. By the late 1950’s, moved to Elmont in Nassau County (1412 L. Street). Activities: bookmaking (horses and sports), shylocking. He operated several “wire rooms” over the years in the Queens-Nassau area. Botta was identified as a notorious “KG” (known gambler) by authorities. He partnered with Albert Maione and later Lawrence Messina, both were active gamblers operating on Long Island. In 1956, Botta was identified by the waterfront commission as a principal in a loan-shark ring run at the Port Washington plant of what was once Republic Aviation Co. He had listed his occupation as holding an interest in a Manhattan printing firm. Operated a mob social club in Franklin Square as a base. He was a close associate of mob boss John (Sonny) Franzese, who was Botta’s partner in his gambling operations. Starting from the 1960’s through the 1980’s, he was arrested numerous times on promoting gambling charges. He had been arrested for; possession of smuggled goods, bookmaking (four times) maintaining a gambling establishment, possession of gambling records, possessing a stolen car, civil contempt, bribery and conspiracy. Convicted of bookmaking (thrice - served two jail terms of 1 year, and 18 months). In the mid-1980’s, Botta was indicted for the bribery of Queens Supreme Court Judge Michael Brennan. Botta, Colombo member Dominic Cataldo, Larry Messina, Salvatore (Crazy Sal) Polisi and several other mob figures had made a connection to pay bribes to Judge Brennan through a friend of the judge to have criminal cases either outright dismissed or have their sentences vastly reduced in severity. This went on for years until an informant ran to the FBI with the information. Botta and the others were all indicted for bribery and conspiracy. Nicky Botta chose to turn informant and ended up testifying in open court against both the Judge and his associates. This case was a huge scandal and an embarrassment to the justice system in New York. It ran in all the newspapers. Botta disappeared into the Witness Protection Program and was never seen or heard from again. Botta was believed to have died in appx. 1996. But of course no official dod is available for confirmation.

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PAUL (PORK CHOP) FLAMMIO - born 1925 in Brooklyn (68 Hull St). By 1965 moved to Centereach, LI (189 Mark Tree Road). “Associate” in the Colombo Family. Activities:
hijacking, extortion, strong-arm, auto-theft, burglary. As a youth he was arrested and convicted several times for armed robberies of various businesses. Flammio was identified by local authorities as a close friend and associate of Franzese crew members William (Red) Crabbe and John (Johnny Irish) Matera. In 1968, Flammio was accused by the Suffolk district attorney’s office of the strong-arm attempt to muscle in on a Port Jefferson restaurant owner. Flammio seems to have been a strong-arm and “enforcer” type hoodlum. He had arrests for grand larceny (twice), assault and robbery, illegal gun possession, receiving a stolen car, possession of stolen property, attempted extortion. He was convicted of robbery (7.5-15 years in jail). In later years nothing is heard from Flammio. And no dod was available.

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ROBERT (BOBBY GREEN) FALVO - born 1926 as Saverio Falvo (TN), in the (Williamsburg area) of Brooklyn. By 1949, he had relocated to the Corona section (37-22 108th Street) of Queens. By the early 1960’s, he had migrated out to Nassau County (1 Livingston Ave., Jericho). FBI # 322863D, NYCPD #B-31636, NCPD # 41178. Arrest record started 1951, includes; bookmaking, operating floating dice games, assault, sale of untaxed alcohol and tax stamp conspiracy, unlicensed driver, resisting arrest, criminal contempt of a racket grand jury, racketeering, racketeering conspiracy, wire fraud, mail fraud, extortion, tax evasion. Convictions for: bookmaking, dice, untaxed liquor, disorderly conduct (reduced from contempt), racketeering conspiracy (6 years-federal prison). Identified in U.S. Senate hearings and by federal and local authorities as a documented “soldier” (inducted member) in the Colombo Family of LCN. Legitimate ownership interests over the years included several garment factories, nightclubs and restaurants, import-export firms (Europe), a freight stevedoring firm, drycleaner, Florida construction firm, a wholesale food distributor, and real estate. Federal prosecutor Lothar Genge once described Falvo as “a major money maker for the Colombo Family of LCN”. LE viewed him as a wealthy “soldier” in the family, active in Europe, Florida and the NYC-LI area. (Falvo was said by LE to have earned his nickname Bobby Green because of his money making prowess, hence “green” being the color of money). Highly independent hoodlum. Falvo was alleged to be actively engaged for many years in the Mafia’s “stock in trade” of ......bookmaking, shylocking, extortion, floating dice games, after-hours clubs, stock fraud, labor (union) racketeering, race-fixing.... and more intricate activities such as the garment rackets, business infiltration and bankruptcy frauds (bust-outs). By the mid-1960’s he had established several businesses in Brussels, Belgium with a lifelong business partner, thief and former NY shylock named Solomon (Solly the Fox) Richman. LE lists other close associates including the infamous John (Sonny) Franzese -his reputed capo, Paul Vario, Ralph (Ronnie) Esposito, John Malizia, Dominick Santoro, Frank Dante, capo Joseph (Joe Beck) Lapi, John (Johnny Irish) Matera, George Papageorge, Frank (Frankie Camp) Campione. In 1951, police raided a Corona “wire-room”, Falvo was one of several men arrested for gambling. In 1957, he was arrested for running a floating dice game in East Harlem. In 1966, U.S. Treasury agents and Nassau D.A. William Cahn raided the Tivoli Accent Room, a plush “after-hours” nightclub in Jericho, arresting Falvo and several of his men (Santoro, Esposito and Joseph “Joe Nap” Napolitano) on federal alcohol tax counts. Then in 1967, DA Cahn started a grand jury probe of harness race-fixing at Roosevelt Raceway. The allegations were that Malizia, Falvo and Santoro had bribed, then strong-armed top ranked harness drivers William (Buddy) Gilmour and Robert Shuttleworth to throw several harness races. He subpoenaed Malizia, Falvo, Santoro, and two others to testify. The NYS Racing Commission issued a “notice of expulsion” against the five, citing them as “convicted bookmakers, gamblers, thief’s and persons of ill
repute, banned them from all racetracks in the state. By the late 1960’s the atmosphere in the NY metropolitan area was becoming increasing “hot”. Falvo had been subpoenaed before several federal and county rackets grand juries investigating organized crime. Rather than face criminal contempt citations, Falvo went “on the lam”, living first in Europe, and later (1972) relocating to south Florida, where he acquired interests in a disco and the C.& F. Construction company, building condominiums in Fort Lauderdale. This is where through an associate of his, Falvo became aware of, invested in, and as prosecutors would later allege, “took extortionate control of the pharmaceutical fraud network, pushing out several participants”. By 1975, Falvo had developed an international smuggling network to handle (pharmaceuticals) shipped overseas then smuggled back into the states, defrauding major drug manufacturers such as Johnson & Johnson, Ciba-Geigy, A.H. Robbins,
Lederle Laboratories, Pfizer, Syntex, Wyeth Laboratories, and Parke-Davis (utilizing his close associate Richman as pointman and overseer of the operation). By 1977, the FBI started a major Florida based investigation into this wide ranging alleged international pharmaceutical charity fraud scheme, which prosecutors alleged had defrauded 28 major drug companies of over $10,000,000. in product. Falvo was named as a central target in this long running [1975-1983] elaborate fraud scam - FBI probe. By 1980, informants also link Falvo as the “point man” in efforts of the Colombo Family’s infiltration of a Great Neck based private guard union, The Federation of Special Police & Law Enforcement Officers (several mob associates were eventually indicted)......
[1980 Det. Nassau County Rackets, advised Falvo is very close to John (Sonny) Franzese, was made into Colombo family, has maintained a low profile but “made a ton of money in Europe. Brooklyn/Queens division FBI-92-A-9348 case].
BQMRA - (1981) advised Falvo is involved with Allied International Union of Security Guards. of Great Nk [FBI memorandum-#302 report].
Falvo was also tied into a 1982 gasoline-tax bootleg ring run by the Franzese regime. Falvo was able to avoid arrest in both probes but by 1983, he was indicted down in Florida on federal charges of being the “behind the scenes leader pulling the strings” (according to prosecutors) in the pharmaceutical fraud. He and Richman were two of nine people charged...... [prosecutors stated - “Defendant Falvo played a major role in this multi-year RICO conspiracy. Falvo is a close associate of John (Sonny) Franzese, a documented capo in the Colombo La Cosa Nostra (LCN) Family in New York and is said to be a major money maker for the Colombo family. After a period of time Falvo took over the operation of this pharmaceutical scam through threats and other acts of intimidation and a portion of the profits undoubtedly went into the coffers of organized crime.” -
quoted by Lothar R. Genge - Spec. Atty. U.S. Dept of Justice, Organized Crime & Racketeering section - Ft. Lauderdale field office].
He served a six year sentence. Once paroled, he seems to have settled back into the Long Island area. By all accounts, Bobby stayed “active but with a very low-keyed profile” (according to FBI agents), overseeing his investments (among them The Polo Club Restaurant in Roslyn), living very comfortably! Falvo died in 2010 (at 84 years old). From his first arrest at the age of 24 in 1951, (believed jailed only once), Bobby survived and thrived for over sixty years as a racketeer. Alleged to have become a multi-millionaire along the way ......a mob success story if ever there was one!
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ANTHONY PERAINO - born 1915 in the Red Hook section (110 Baltic St., and later lived at 375 Hicks St.). He later relocated out to Bellmore LI (2156 Legion St.). NYPD # B-305996. The son of the notorious mafioso and underworld leader Giuseppe (The Clutching Hand) Peraino of South Brooklyn. His father and uncle were murdered in 1930 during a gangland struggle for power. He was ordered out of New York by the late crime boss Albert Anastasia, but returned after Anastasia’s death. Peraino became an inducted member of the old Joseph (The Olive Oil King) Profaci Family. Peraino’s father and uncle had been early members of the precursor gang that would become the Profaci crime group. Because of his father’s reputation, Anthony was an accepted and respected soldier in the family. He became active in the gambling rackets around the waterfront Brooklyn docks. Also handled “swag” (stolen goods) from pier thefts. He was a friend and ally of Lucchese capo Andimo Pappadio and boss Joseph Colombo. Arrested over the years for homicide, income tax evasion, disorderly conduct and obscenity (pornography) charges. By the early 1970’s, Peraino and his brother, son and nephews became involved in the pornogrphic book and film industry. They hit it wildly successful when they invested and produced the infamous smut film “Deep Throat”. They parlayed that success into a nationwide network of books, films, peep shows and porno theatres. They filmed, produced and distributed their products themselves, from New York to California (and everywhere in between). It became a multi-multi million dollar racket. His brother Joseph, nephew Louis (Butchie), and his son were indicted several times during the 1970’s on obscenity charges. For the most part, they beat the charges or received minor imprisonments. But there was a problem. Money and power breeds jealousy and contempt. Even within families (and mob families at that). Anthony went to Family Boss Carmine Persico and complained of his brother cheating Anthony and the Colombo family out of their fair share of the porno-profits (untold millions of dollars). Giving his loyal soldier Anthony his “satisfaction”, Persico ordered the execution of the father and son renegade Peraino’s. On a summer night, on a quiet Brooklyn street, Joseph and his son Louis were “set up” and shotgunned, with the son dying, and the father badly shot but surviving his wounds (hit team members allegedly included Joseph”Jojo” Russo, Salvatore “Big Sal” Miciotta, Anthony “Chuckie” Russo and John Minerva). During the contract “hit”, an innocent neighborhood resident, a ex-Catholic nun no less, was shot through the door by stray buckshot and killed. It became an indelible “black mark”, or “infamnia” so to speak, against the Colombo family members who participated in the murders. On later wiretaps of several soldiers, they spoke hauntingly of this Godless tragedy (remember, although mafiosi may break just about every law there is, most are still devoutly Catholic and
very religious in their own way)! A custom and “fact” that so-called legitimate people can’t comprehend..... There was no information available as to Anthony’s death, but he would be 104 years old if still alive today. (and he was a very overweight, obese guy. This is NO Sonny Franzese we talking about here)! Lol

[gohnjotti]

Loved those last two articles Maxie especially because these are very interesting figures to me. I should note that the alleged triggermen of the Peraino hit team were Salvatore Miciotta, Frank Sparaco, John Minerva and Vincent ‘Jimmy’ Angelina, with Joseph Carna and Thomas Gioeli as the crash car drivers. Greg Scarpa reported that Andrew Russo and his nephew Anthony Russo were responsible for passing down the contract IIRC.

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Thanks Gohn. I agree. All the profiles are interesting, but I especially like to profile guys that were not as well known. Guys like Pepitone, Malizia, Peraino and Falvo were not as publicized as say a Mussachio or Aloi but we’re instrumental to the very fabric of the families. I’m glad you are reading my profiles and enjoying. And I know that you especially wrote about the Peraino’s hit and the Colombo’s too. I always enjoy your articles.

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JOSEPH (JOJO) VITACCO - born 1927 in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn (201 South 4th Street). A lifelong resident of the Williamsburg-Greenpoint area where he also operated. For many years Vitacco ran the JV Lounge (a gin mill ) on Metropolitan Avenue, that also served as his base of operations. During the mid-1970’s he also had an interest in the Shades of Blue, another cocktail lounge on Queens Blvd., in the Forest Hills section of Queens, and a pizzeria around the block. A very close associate of Caporegime-underboss John (Sonny) Franzese, considered one of an inner circle of Franzese’s regime. At 5’-3” tall, and 135 lbs soaked and wet, Vitacco was a very unassuming figure. Yet, looks can be very deceiving. Jojo was known as a “stone killer”, an enforcer for the Franzese faction and the Colombo Family for decades. A little known hoodlum outside of the underworld, he was active in armed robbery, burglary, truck hijacking, extortion, shylocking and murder. In 1956, Vitacco was arrested and held as a material witness in the double “ax” slay murders of two hoodlums and accused truck hijacking suspects, found on the LES in an abandoned car parked on a lower east side street. They had been badly bludgeoned and hacked to death. One detective said it was one of the most gory murder scenes he had ever witnessed, and was obviously a gangland “buckwheats” killing (in which the victims are purposely tortured). The victims, Richard Langone and James Rocereto (both well known hoodlum), were being sought by the FBI as bail jumpers when they failed to show up in court earlier that week for a $30,000. Brooklyn fur theft.
In 1957, Vitacco was one of four suspects charged with the armed robbery of $60,000. in mink coats and jackets from a Manhattan wholesale furrier firm (Bobby Brown Fur Co.). Co-defendants included John (Johnny Tarzan) Lusterino, Langone, and John O’Connell, an Irish hoodlum from Elmhurst. After Vitacco and the others had been indicted, police revealed that they had trailed Vitacco, O’Connell and several others on a cruise to Italy in search of evidence. And it was revealed that he had be given the “tail” because he had become a prime suspect in the $350,000. armed robbery of the Chase Manhattan Bank branch in Woodside, Queens (at the time one of the largest robbery’s in history).
In 1958, a squad car became suspicious of a 10-ton tractor trailer following a dark green sedan on a Williamsburg street early one morning and pulled over the occupants. Ordered from the sedan were Vitacco and Pasquale DeRosa of Lower Manhattan, and from the tractor-trailer came Benjamin (The Claw) Castellazzo, of Manhattan and Lazzaro (Larry) Sangiovanni, of Greenpoint, all of whom were Colombo associates (several of whom would go on to be inducted in later years). Under the front seat of the car was a fully loaded revolver. And in the trailer was $13,000. worth of stolen rugs and carpeting. All four were arrested for grand larceny and hijacking. Vitacco was additionally charged with possession of the revolver. He had a long police record for; vagrancy, felonious assault, armed robbery (twice), possession of hijacked goods, grand larceny, possession of a gun (twice), homicide, homicide investigation. Jojo’s known associates included: John (Sonny) Franzese, Joseph Brancato, Castellazzo, Sangiovanni, Louis Musto, Langone, Rocereto, O’Connell, Lusterino, George Papageorge, Vincent Potenza. By the early 1970’s after Franzese’s conviction and fifty year sentence, Vitacco was placed first under Jerry Langella, later under Andrew Russo.
No more is heard from Vitacco and he was believed to have died young (53 years old) by 1980-81..... Jojo will be remembered as a “one of a kind character” and loyal mob soldier!

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Many South Brooklyn guys in 80s stayed in a bar on Smith street i cannot remember the name of bar

Smith Street is in the Red Hook/Carroll Gardens area no?

[johnny_scootch]

Many South Brooklyn guys in 80s stayed in a bar on Smith street i cannot remember the name of bar

Smith Street is in the Red Hook/Carroll Gardens area no?

Carroll Gardens

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ROBERT (BOBBY GREEN) FALVO ..... continued part # 2
This section of his profile digresses and attempts to track his early life as a youth, highlighting him through the early decades. Born in the Williamsburg/Downtown Brooklyn section (67 Franklin Avenue) of the borough near the Brooklyn Navy Yards, Falvo had grown up with two uncles Francesco (Frank) Serpe and Gaetano (Tommy) Serpe, mob associates of the Genovese Family [they were close with Joseph “Joe Tobin” Scarpinito - a fellow “Napolitano” and family friend], who lived with their nephew Falvo in the same apartment house at 67 Franklin Ave. Frank, called “Snakey”, “The Snake” or “Frankie Brooklyn”, was a notorious hoodlum and gunman from the neighborhood who had been arrested ten times on armed robbery, theft, extortion and murder charges, and had previously served several terms in Sing Sing.
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1917 - a judge refused Serpe’s offer to join the armed services to avoid jail, stating that our government wants men of good moral fiber, not hoodlums and gunman, then sent Serpe to prison for 5 years.
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1923 - Serpe is one of two men arrested in an East Harlem jewelry store robbery (349 E.118 St), jeweler Emanuel Serrentini was shot and killed by Serpe after trying to grab the robbers pistol. After a gun battle with police Serpe was apprehended.
Serpe got a 10 year term.
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In 1931, he would go on to be arrested for another murder at the old Paramount Dance Hall on the Flatbush extension. During a night of clubbing, rival gangs confronted each other at the dance hall, and Serpe was said to have pulled a revolver and shot a man (Charles Barnes) who started a fight with Snakey’s buddy, Joseph Coventini. Indicted, tried and convicted during a very publicized, contentious trial, (worthy of a Jimmy Cagney gangster film), “Frankie the Snake” was sentenced to life in prison, which he served at Sing Sing in upstate NY. Gaetano or “Tommy” was arrested as a young hoodlum for a series of 17 area armed robberies. It was reported in the local newspapers that young Tommy, kid brother of Frank, had “gone bad” after his mother had passed away. She had tried keeping him on the “straight and narrow”, not for him to become a criminal like his brother had. But with her death, Tommy Serpe turned “to the streets”, committing a series of robberies until some “Irish” cops picked up “the little wop”, charging him with multiple counts of assault and armed robbery..... This was the atmosphere that Saverio, or “Bobby” as his friends now called him, grew up in. Joining the Navy in appx. 1941 during World War II (lying about his age, with forged papers stating he was seventeen, when in fact he was underage at 15), Falvo served in combat on a destroyer “escort” in the North African “Theatre”. On one run, he was wounded when his ship was hit by a torpedo and sank, stranding him and fellow sailors in shark infested ocean waters until rescued. He was awarded the “Purple Heart”. Released from service in 1944, he returned home to Brooklyn for awhile, only to move out to Corona, Queens by the late 1940’s. There, the story gets interesting. After working a series of odd jobs as a salesman, bouncer and bartender, it seems that Bobby gravitated to the gambling racket, becoming a bookmaker. First as a runner, then operating a wire-room for members of the Lucchese Family, (for which he took a “pinch” in 1951 at age 24). In time, he tried being his own “bank”, financially backing his own operation..... underworld legend has it this is when he earned his nickname of “Bobby Green”. He won a “ton of money - a lot of green” that betting season, which become his original “bankroll” and cemented his nickname..... from that time forward, it seems Bobby never looked back. Besides engaging in extensive “street” activities and affiliating with the Colombo Family of Brooklyn, as previously discussed in Part # 1, He parlayed his financial success, over and over, into a dazzling array of legitimate business ventures over the years, which included:

* Club Camillo’s Restaurant & Nightclub (103 St., Corona)
* Carol Cleaners (104 St. Corona)
* Carol Cleaners (51 Av., Corona Hgts)
* Fiddle & Bow Supper Club (Roosevelt Ave, Jackson Hgts)
* Panormus Dress Mfg., Co. (979 Morris Park Ave., Bronx)
* Top Notch Frocks (W. 35 St., NYC)
* The Clam Box Restaurant (Carle Place)
* Tivoli Accent Room (Brush Hollow Rd, Jericho)
* The University Club (Jericho)
* Hicksville Freight Loaders (497 W. John St., Hicksville)
* Western International S.A. (Brussels, Belgium)
* Electrogen Industries (Brussels, Belgium)
* Benegen S.A.(Brussels, Belgium)
* Bobby G’s Headliner Club (Ft. Lauderdale, Fl)
* C. & F. Construction & Development (Ft. Laud.,Fl)
* Compass Sales & Trading (Ft. Laud., Fl)
* Euro Import-Export Corp (NY)
* ABF Commission Brokers (NY)
* Gabar S.A. (Brussels, Belgium)
* Opus Christi of NY
* Last Chance Farmers Market (Hicksville)
* La Prima Wholesale Foods Inc. (Carle Place, NY)
* Financial Funding Analysts Ltd. (Amityville)
* Ciro Sales Inc (Utica Av.,Bklyn)
* Lebo Petroleum Corp (Plainview)
* The Polo Club Restaurant (Roslyn) ............By his profile history, he was a decidedly much more savvy and sophisticated racketeer and Mafioso than his violent relatives were, and was markedly more successful, having been jailed only once in his “career” (served 47 months of a 6 year sentence)!


Note: [the Navy Yard section where Falvo was raised was ground zero, home territory for the Neapolitan underworld known as the Camorra.
This area spawned the likes of Antonio (Tony the Shoemaker) Paretti, Alessandro Vollaro, and the notorious Alfonso (Scarface Al) Capone. In the era that Falvo was born into, the powers were Antonio (Tony the Sheik) Carillo, Anthony (Little Augie Pisano) Carfano and the above named (Joe Tobin) Scarpinito...... Falvo was born to parents of Neopolitan and Calabrian heritage. He lived several blocks from Capone]

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ARTHUR (THE ANIMAL) INTRATOR - born 1930 in NYC on the Lower East Side (Division Street) to Jewish parents. By 1956 he resided in the Kew Gardens section (152-38 Jewel Ave) of Queens. By the mid-1960’s he had relocated out to Nassau County on LI (452 South Marginal Rd., Jericho). Originally identified as a Bonanno associate, Intrator either re-affiliated or was mis-identified. He was later connected to John (Sonny) Franzese and the Colombo Family. He was active in the shylock rackets, union activities, strong-arm enforcer, and extortion in New York’s garment district.
In 1960, he was accused with five other Jewish hoods of operating a loan-shark ring that preyed on taxi-cab drivers working at Idelwild (JFK) and LaGuardia airports. Charging exorbitant interest (3-5% weekly) and threatening and assaulting any cab drivers who faulted in their payments. Among the hoodlums charged were; Arthur Shevrin, Lenny Baden, Samuel Krevoy, Allen Beinstein and Harry Gross (Gross was a well known bookmaker and Manhattan hood). Gross was brought over from Rikers Island where he was serving a three year term for a previous loan shark conviction. They were charged with violating state banking laws (usury), extortion, grand larceny, assault. Queens D.A. Frank O’Connor had run a six-month undercover probe to expose the operation. In 1961, he was again arrested for loansharking and the blackmail extortion of a victim. Another cab driver said that he had paid $1,350. on a $500. loan a year ago, and still owed the full $500. Intrator had assaulted him and threatened to approach his wife and tell her about his debt (the wife had paid off a previous loan after the husband promised not to borrow again). His arrest record included; assault (three times), robbery, attempted extortion, usury, rape, abortion, state bank law violations. He was convicted of robbery (indeterminate jail term, state bank law violations, extortion (1 year), abortion.
Intrator seems to have become involved in some labor union activities by the late 1960’s. After Franzese was imprisoned for fifty years on a bank robbery conspiracy conviction, Intrator was said to have gravitated to Family Boss Joseph Colombo..... One day, Intrator went missing, and several weeks later his partially decomposed body turned up in Staten Island, badly beaten and shot. There are several theories, one being that he was a very loud and obnoxious hoodlum who stepped out of line, possibly back talking, disrespecting Colombo in public. No one will ever know for sure. It was 1972, Intrator was only forty-one years old...... Bye bye “Artie the Animal”!

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FRANK RENDA - born 1912. Lived on the Lower East Side of Manhattan (28 Market St). By the 1940’s relocated to Glendale, Queens (84-01 Doran Avenue). By the mid-1960’s he had relocated out to Suffolk County’s Lake Ronkonkoma section (1 Joel Court). Authorities identified him as a Colombo Family associate, allied under (with), family soldier Vincent (Peg-Leg Jimmy) Giordano. Activities: organized auto-theft, bookmaking, pinball machines, shylocking. He operated in the used-car industry. In fact, for years he owned and operated a used-car lot in Huntington Station. Renda seems to have had an affinity for automobiles. He was a prime suspect in several stolen car investigations, being repeatedly indicted in 1953 and again in 1956.
He had a record of 12 arrests spanning decades for; possession of a gun, bookmaking (5 times), interstate auto theft (twice), criminally receiving stolen property, assault and operating pinball machines (which years ago was an illegal racket because they would pay off prizes or money if won). He had convictions for bookmaking (5 times), interstate theft (6 months in jail).
In the 1953 case, Renda was one of fourteen men arrested for what federal authorities called a multi-million dollar interstate stolen-car racket. The kingpin of the ring Gabriel (Bla Bla) Vigorito, was an old-time mobster connected to several families, most notably the Genovese crew. Renda was considered a key operative. Also arrested in this case was Vigorito’s sons Freddy and John (Jumbo) and nephew Sabato Vigorito.
Then in 1956, he was again indicted, with seventeen others, in what the FBI called one of the largest car-theft rings in the nation. U.S. Attorney Peter Passalacqua alleged the ring stole then sold more than 1,000 stolen automobiles between the years 1945 and 1953. Authorities alleged that ring members would quickly steal and run the cars to “workrooms” in Jamaica and Massapequa, where the cars would be “remodeled” and then quickly disposed of by used car dealers. (no wonder why Renda always owed used-car lots)..LoL!
By the late 1970’s, Renda was already nearing seventy, and no more was heard from him. No dod was available.
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Note: what I thought was a funny post script to Renda’s profile, and worth sharing, was back when he was in his thirties, Renda was arrested for the theft of 130 live pigeons... some were recovered by police, but the rest stayed unaccounted for, with police stating they feared Renda may have had pigeon pie recently!
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DOMINICK (MIMI) SCIALO - born 1927 in the Coney Island section of Brooklyn (2827 W. 15th Street), and later at (2323 E. 5th Street). A notorious “key” member of the old Profaci-Colombo Family of Brooklyn. Mimi Scialo was one of the “most” feared members of the family, who operated primarily in the Brooklyn and Manhattan sections of the city from his social club in Coney Island. Initially a soldier in the regime of John (Sonny) Franzese, Scialo would serve as Franzese’s first “Acting Captain” during the time (mid-late 1960’s) Sonny fought several criminal cases, trying to keep low key, he put Scialo “up front”. Mimi was active in nearly all criminal rackets; gambling, shylocking, extortion, strong-arm, murder, hijacking, arson. He had a large following and was not only very respected, but also very well liked by his men.
In 1951, he was charged in a shooting of a local Jewish hood and semi-pro boxer by the name of Allie Gordon, who had a run-in with Mimi and his friend in a local tavern after they insulted him with anti-semitic name calling. Gordon pulled a gun killing Joe Autori and wounding Mimi..... several months later, Mimi did a drive-by and shot Gordon repeatedly in front of his home, killing him. Scialo had a long police record of 14 arrests for; rape, robbery, assault (thrice), gambling, felonious assault, murder (three counts), contempt of court.
In 1958, Scialo came to national attention after two young hoodlums were found shot to death near Coney Island (one Alexander Menditto, survived long enough to make a death bed statement implicating Scialo, hood Angelo “Shelly” Pero and several others). They were both viciously beaten with tire irons and motorcycle chains, and one had had both his legs shattered, before being shot multiple times..... Scialo and Pero went “on the lam”, hiding out for 16 months while the FBI named them nationally on their “Ten Most Wanted List”. The FBI considered Scialo a very vicious and dangerous hoodlum, with large resources (the Profaci Family), by which to avoid apprehension. After almost a year and a half in hiding, Scialo gave himself up. The double murder indictment soon fell apart when it was revealed that the “deathbed statement” of Menditto had mysteriously disappeared from police files (Mimi’s associates had “reached” a few detectives who destroyed the evidence after receiving bribe money). In 1971, he was among dozens of top mobsters charged with criminal contempt for refusing to answer question about organized crime before a Kings County Grand Jury..... by the early 1970’s Scialo was at the top of his game, one of the most respected and feared capo’s in the family (heading a regime reputed to have had 15 soldiers and 30-40 top associates), and a possible contender for a position in the Colombo family “administration”.... maybe that was the problem. Although Scialo was a top mafioso, and well liked by his personal crew. He was also a very brash, loud and potentially abusive guy, easily drawn to violence. He was becoming maybe “too big for his britches”, not showing the proper decorum to fellow mafiosi. There were several possible theories put forth for what I’ll describe next; he badly insulted Carlo Gambino in public one night in a local restaurant, he was a “real” threat to the Persico faction to make a move for the boss seat..... and a little known theory that he had done something very “seriously” insulting against Sonny Franzese while Sonny was away serving a fifty year jail term..... in any case, Mimi disappeared, turning up several weeks later (obviously after informants gave info) under the flooring of a President Street social club in Red Hook. His badly decomposed body was one of two skeletons found encased under cement...... The year was 1974, Dominick (Mimi) Scialo was only 47 years old! [it is alleged that Charlie “Moose” Panarella and “Little Joey” Brancato were among the killers].


Note: [an interesting side tidbit is that the two young hoodlums tortured and killed in 1951, Menditto and Bart Garofalo had actually had the audacity and shear stupidity to raise their hands to Mimi - a made guy - and shove head into a toilet bowl flushing it.... any wonder why they got their “buckwheats”?]

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ANTHONY (THE FROG) FRANGIPANI - born 1915 in NYC (possibly Brooklyn). By the early 1960’s he was living out in Suffolk County, in East Setauket (24 Arrowhead Lane). He was identified by the Suffolk Rackets Squad as a Colombo “associate”. Activities: shylocking, card games, bookmaking. He was partners with a top Colombo Family associate and well known Franzese intimate named Felice (Philly Cigars) Vizzari, of Copiague. They operated a Deer Park Social Club where high-stakes card games and shylocking took place. Frangipani also dabbled in bookmaking, serving as a “runner” for a Colombo sports-betting ring. In the mid-1960’s he was arrested for loan-sharking out in Suffolk, for which he was convicted not jailed..... by the mid-1970’s, seems to faded from the mob scene. No more is heard from him. No dod available.

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RALPH (RONNIE) ESPOSITO - born 1938 in Hicksville, LI. By the early 1960’s he resided in Farmingdale (55 Elm Avenue). By 1971 he had relocated back to Hicksville (15 Notre Dame Avenue). Identified by both the Nassau County Rackets Bureau and the FBI, as a top Colombo family “associate”.
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Associates included: Joseph Colombo Sr., John (Sonny) Franzese - his Capo, Robert (Bobby Green) Falvo, Dominick Santoro, Joseph Napolitano, George Papageorge, Robert (Bobby Blue Eyes) Mauro, Frank Dante, John Malizia.
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Esposito first came to the attention of Nassau County Rackets Squad detectives in 1964, while surveilling family “soldier” Robert (Bobby Green) Falvo, for whom he was a driver and aide.
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In 1966, during a vice raid by federal U.S. Treasury agents on the Tivoli Accent Room, a plush illegal “after-hours” club operating in Jericho, Esposito was one of four hoods nabbed on federal alcohol tax violations and tax stamp conspiracy (the others were Falvo, Dominick Santoro and Joseph “Joe Nap” Napolitano). Esposito pled out to reduced charges (first arrest-no jail term).
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In 1968, he was required by a Nassau judge to attend a drivers clinic and to write a 300-word essay on his bad driving habits after speeding to elude Nassau detectives.
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By 1969, with Falvo “on the lam” hiding in Europe (to avoid grand jury appearances and contempt charges), Esposito was described as a close ally and sometime driver of mob underboss John (Sonny) Franzese.
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Also in 1969, he was publicly identified in an Newsday expose on the “Mafia” as a “key” figure in the Franzese regime’s gambling and loan-shark operations.
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By 1970, Ronnie Esposito was subpoenaed to testify before a Nassau grand jury investigating the Colombo Family’s infiltration of legitimate businesses and mob activity in general. He was indicted on criminal contempt charges and held in $10,000. bail (considered a high bail at the time, especially for a simple contempt charge).
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In early 1971, Esposito was one of five Colombo mob figures indicted for the 1968 theft of over $750,000. in jewelry at the Long Island Diamond Exchange at Roosevelt Field Mall.
Esposito had conspired with Robert Aaron, manager of the exchange, to stage a fake robbery, tying up Aaron and another employee, then heisting the jewelry. After Esposito agreed but hesitated for several weeks, Aaron approached another Colombo associate from his Brooklyn neighborhood, Robert Viggiano (brother-in-Law of Salvatore “Lefty”
Mangiamelli, a Colombo soldier), who agreed to pull the heist. Shortly thereafter, Viggiano and several other hoods successfully executed the robbery, disposing (fencing) of the load of gems and gold for $160,000., “in a foreign market”....(Esposito planned to fence the jewels through Falvo, who dealt oversees in the diamond capitol of the world - Amsterdam, Holland) .....
When Esposito found out, he became enraged and threatened Aaron’s life unless he received a full share of the loot. Concerned about Esposito, Aaron approached Viggiano who ran to Family Boss Joseph Colombo himself about the threats. Colombo instructed Viggiano to give $2,000. cash to Esposito as compensation. When Esposito received the money after a “meet” in a local diner, he wasn’t happy, but took the $2,000. and left.
Esposito then went to Aaron with a scheme to make an additional “score”. They approached Louis Savel, owner of the diamond exchange and told him that Esposito could retrieve the jewelry back for a $50,000. “finders fee”. (Esposito showed Savel the price tags that had been attached to the jewelry as proof of his sincerity).
Savel then called Lloyd’s of London (the insurers) with the proposal. They flatly refused!.....The FBI was called in, and everybody was promptly arrested (Joe Colombo included)...... all were charged with possession of stolen goods, grand larceny and conspiracy (defendants were Colombo, Esposito, Aaron, Viggiano and Mangiamelli).

...... Out on bail, and with Falvo still out of the country “on the lam”, and Franzese who was convicted and started serving a fifty-year prison term for bank robbery conspiracy, Esposito grew closer to, and started to hang around, Colombo himself.
Joe Colombo’s pet project, the “Italian American Anti-Defamation League” was in full swing. They were prepping for the first ever “Italian-American Unity Day Rally” at Columbus Circle in midtown Manhattan that June.
Ronnie Esposito was tapped by Colombo to serve as a league “organizer” , promoting fund raisers, marching at various league protest rallies, etc.
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1971 - while all these events were happening, Esposito (desperate for cash) was alleged to have gotten involved in several narcotics deals (heroin). [public records are sealed and under secrecy so his exact cooperation and the mob figures indicted/convicted by his testimony is not known], but this is where he is believed to have turned, becoming a “rat” (informant). Alleged to have utilized his mob connections to negotiate a drug deal with several associates of Lucchese mob captain Paul Vario.
.... Esposito had been indicted in “Operation Flanker”, a nationwide federal sweep of over 100 top narcotics traffickers across the region. I suspect these were the drug transactions where he turned informant .... (Bonanno Boss Paul Sciacca, capo Michael Casale, and Colombo mob figure John Malizia were but a few of those indicted).
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Note: [Newsday’s Pulitzer Prize winning expose - “The Heroin Trail”, later turned into a paperback book, listed Esposito as one of several L.I. Mafia figures involved in the heroin traffic].
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June 1971, Joseph Colombo is shot and incapacitated in an attempted assassination at the Columbus Circle Unity Day Rally.
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Despite being buried under three pending indictments for; conspiracy and grand larceny (the $750,000. jewelry heist), criminal contempt (of a Nassau grand jury) and the heroin trafficking conspiracy case ....... Ralph (Ronnie) Esposito was able to leverage his undercover informant status and subsequent cooperation with LE to wiggle free of any serious convictions or imprisonment...... he disappeared from the Long Island and New York metropolitan area, turning up in South Florida (Fort Lauderdale).
By shear happenstance or cunning ulterior “design”, he was able to reconnect with Robert (Bobby Green) Falvo, his old mob mentor from back on Long Island. Falvo had snuck down to Florida, still avoiding the NY-LI area and the pending state criminal contempt of court indictment awaiting him (Falvo ducked his appearance after learning of a possible additional bankruptcy fraud indictment for “busting out” a Great Neck auto-rental agency).
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In the dark about Esposito’s “rat” status because of his prolonged absence from Long Island, Falvo welcomed Ronnie with open arms (happy to have his close associate around again) and quickly put him to work as a “project manager” at his construction firm, C. & F. Construction & Development Co., which was building a 68-unit condominium complex in Fort Lauderdale......
Months past, before long several mob figures from other families spotted Esposito with Falvo, and passed the word to Falvo that Esposito was an informant. Falvo refused to take their word over a member of his own crew, but soon called his New York associates who confirmed what he’d been told....Falvo “chased” Esposito, who almost immediately packed up and disappeared from the area!
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The year was 1972, Ralph (Ronnie) Esposito was never heard from again!...... no dod or further tracking of him was available! .........another “rat” in the woodwork!
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