Maxie's Bonanno Profiles

[maxiestern11]

Loving the articles Maxie!

[AlexfromSouth]

You should do the one about philip rastelli

[maxiestern11]

You should do the one about philip rastelli

I agree Alex, I WILL put it on my list to def get to ok my friend. Rusty was an interesting guy!

[Super]

With out rusty no Massino or at least not fast tracked how he was.

[maxiestern11]

With out rusty no Massino or at least not fast tracked how he was.

Rusty was a hellava tough guy..... lot of people don’t know he whacked his own wife. She was a screwball and although he loved her, she became too much of a liability and embarrassment to him....... she was shot to death in the late 1950’s I believe

[Super]

Heard that max she caught him cheating and was Gona spill the beans also his step son killed

[maxiestern11]

Heard that max she caught him cheating and was Gona spill the beans also his step son killed

Correct, she was a tough Mitch too! Lol...pegged shots at him ..... had to clip her

[maxiestern11]

Heard that max she caught him cheating and was Gona spill the beans also his step son killed

Correct, she was a tough Mitch too! Lol...pegged shots at him ..... had to clip her

Bitch lol

[maxiestern11]

Garafolo is a guy I've always found particularly interesting.... he was close to the man who had the either the largest construction company, or the largest Italian owned construction company, I forget which off the top of my head.

Generosso Pope was his name, I think. In that movie dramatization, they made it seem the Tresca murder was related to the pressure he was putting on businessmen like Pope, who were close to the mafia.

I always wondered why the Bonnanos weren't bigger in construction, just based on Pope.

I agree, hes a VERY underrated figure in LCN history... seemed to be very powerful, linked to politics and big business on both sides of the Atlantic...

I forgot to tell you, Generoso Pope was an extremely wealthy businessman and publisher of the famed “Il Progresso” Italian newspaper published in America

[CornerBoy]

also national enquirer, correct?

[maxiestern11]

also national enquirer, correct?

Yes, I believe so!

[maxiestern11]

PHILIP (RUSTY) RASTELLI - born 1918 in the Greenpoint-Williamsburg section of North Brooklyn. He lived at (473 Vandervoort Ave.) before moving to Middle Village (69-90 74th St), and later to Lefrak City in Corona (97-20 57th Avenue), both Queens.

Had a brother Marinello (Marty), and a nephew Louie Rastelli (who tried committing suicide, became paralyzed and wheelchair bound afterwards), both involved with the Family.
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FBI # 1200987, NYCPD # B-152029.
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Identified by the early 1950’s as a Bonanno “soldier”. By the mid-1960’s he was elevated to “Capo” status. By 1970 he was being carried on LE charts as the new Boss of the Family.
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Activities: extortion, hijacking, shylocking, gambling, strong-arm enforcement.
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Close criminal associates:
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John (Sonny) Franzese - boyhood friend, lifelong buddy and onetime running partner of Rastelli.
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Joseph Massino - young protege of Rusty who he proposed for induction
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Pasquale (Patty Mack) Macchiarole - neighborhood friend, who later became a high-ranked Genovese member.
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Vincent (Jimmy Nap) Napoli - another boyhood friend who migrated to the Genovese.
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Anthony (Tony D) Di Gregorio - son of Gaspare, ran a loansharking ring for Rusty.
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In 1940, Rastelli (22) was arrested with buddy Santo Bretagna for a $226. payroll robbery in Manhattan. Rusty was armed with a .32 caliber pistol.

Both were sentenced to serve 5-10 years in Sing Sing.
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In 1953, he was arrested in Manhattan for operating a large dice game.

The charge was dismissed.
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In 1954, Rastelli and Ralph Santoro were arrested for the killing of paroled burglar Michael Russo in 1953. The year before they had shot him four times but he survived, the next year they allegedly finished the job!
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In early 1954, Connie Rastelli, Rusty’s wife, was arrested for attempted bribery of a witness after offering $5,000. to the wife of Michael Russo to change testimony against her husband and Santoro for his attempted murder.
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In 1965, Rusty hit two women pedestrians, killing one, in Rego Park while driving one night. He was given a criminal summons for reckless driving.
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In 1970, he was investigated as one of several mobsters who received special privileges while serving time at Nassau County jail. Guards were bribed to bring in liquor, foods, drugs and women for mob figures.
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In 1970, he was charged with criminal contempt by the Nassau County Rackets grand jury probing the Bonanno’s.

He served several 30-days “bits” for contempt at the Nassau jail.
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Rastelli, Di Gregorio and three others were arrested in a sixteen count indictment for an extensive loansharking ring run on Long Island in 1971 after a two year investigation.

Rusty pled out and received an eighteen-month jail term.
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1971, Rastelli is among five indicted for their control of a Bonanno “lunch wagon” extortion racket. He was charged with extorting a chain of mobile-lunch wagons to make regular payments to a “Lunch Wagon Association” he operated.

He was convicted and served a ten year jail term.
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In 1985, Rastelli was indicted but later severed (after suffering a seizure at arraignment) from the famed “Mob Commission” case. Having been convicted, sentenced to twelve years and jailed in a labor rackets case and several other legal entanglements, authorizes felt it was “cleaner” to keep him out of additional indictments.
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In 1987 after a five month long trial, he received a twelve-year federal sentence for labor racketeering for Bonanno Family domination of the moving and Storage industry. (12 men were convicted)

Years before he had installed several minions to head Local #814 of the Teamsters Union, which organized workers in the moving industry. It was proved that over a twenty year period he had extorted payments from moving companies and bid-rigging.
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Also in 1987, LE made judicial history after charging the entire “Bonanno Crime Family” as an illegal “entity” under the civil Rico provisions on the books.

Both individually and as an “entity”, dozens of members and their organization alike were enjoined from operating, and millions of dollars were assessed against them; seizures of properties, buildings, houses, businesses, labor unions and any assets that could be identified were frozen by the federal government ..... It was ground breaking! A first of its kind!
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A classic story is that of Rusty’s first wife, Constance (Connie) Rastelli - a mob wife who thought she was a mobster herself. She drove the getaway car after several robberies, kept the gambling ledgers, ran an abortion clinic and bribed potential witnesses against her husband on several occasions... but she was also a very jealous woman, especially after finding out that Rusty had cheated on her several times.

It got so bad that Connie actually once tracked down and beat a mistress senseless. After another incident of infidelity, Connie shot Rusty twice, wounding him, with a pistol on a Brooklyn Street. After that Rusty understandably left her, which only made her more vindictive.

She started providing confidential information to authorities. Eventually Rusty was ordered to silence her which he did by having her shot to death.
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To encapsulate a very complex arrangement, as an overview of Rastelli’s influence, by 1970-71 he was running the Family. Although jailed he was looked at as Boss. With Carmine Galante being paroled, Rastelli faded into the background rather than go to war with Galante, especially that Rastelli was jailed at the time.

Everyone from Family members, LE and other mobsters viewed Galante as “Boss”. Eventually, Galante’s heavy-handed style of leading, his greed and arrogance brought about the decision to kill him, which was carried out in 1979.

At that point, Rastelli clearly was declared as “official” Boss of the borgata!
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Philip (Rusty) Rastelli died in a prison hospital in 1991. He was 73 years old and had served many years in jail!
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[maxiestern11]

Here you go Alex...... Rusty!

[Super]

Little bit about him in Donald Frankos book took it with a pinch of salt though.

[maxiestern11]

Little bit about him in Donald Frankos book took it with a pinch of salt though.

Frankos was a fraud