Gang Land News 31 December 2020

[chin_gigante]

Former Manhattan College Hoops Star Is Prosecutor Of The Year

Vincent (Grady) O'Malley, a college hoops star at Manhattan College in the 1960s who played pro ball for the NBA Atlanta Hawks in 1969 before going to law school and becoming a federal prosecutor in 1976, has done it again. For the second time in four years, the veteran New Jersey assistant U.S. attorney is Gang Land's Prosecutor of the Year.

This time O'Malley, 72, wins the Gang Land Seal of Approval for his excellent work in not one, but two, 2020 mob cases, both rooted in 2015. One of those cases is a matter of public record and details are below. In the other, sources say O'Malley played "an important role" in convincing the New Jersey-based Philadelphia wiseguy who tape recorded his crime family's induction in October 2015 to cooperate and wear a wire for the FBI.

Sources say that earlier that year, O'Malley teamed up with a Newark-based FBI agent to get mobster Anthony Persiano, who was on parole for a 1991 gangland-style slaying, to turn on the mob rather than go back to prison for the murder. Persiano's conversion took place when he was arrested by the FBI for the 2014 armed robbery of $235,000 in cash and jewelry from a Union County pawnshop, The Pawn Shop LLC.

According to court filings, Persiano, then 54, was picked up after the FBI got video footage from a nearby business that showed Persiano and fellow mobster Salvatore Piccolo removing "disguise items" they wore during the "robbery." The footage also showed them discarding the items that included gloves, a baseball cap, sunglasses and a "nylon mask" into a "trash barrel" at "an adjacent abandoned gas station."

Persiano "agreed to enter into a cooperation plea agreement with the government" and "began providing information to the FBI in 2015," according to an affidavit by FBI agent Mark Hindle. Persiano told agents that what they saw on the video and retrieved from the dumpster was really evidence of a "staged robbery" in a "wire fraud" scheme that reaped a $174,000 payout from an insurance company, wrote FBI agent Christopher Martinelli.

Persiano, who is not named in either affidavit, insisted that nothing was stolen from the safe, which had been opened by the owner at gunpoint. Instead, he explained, it was part of a plot by him, Piccolo and the owner to "file a false insurance claim" to "recoup the loss" of several "large business checks" that Persiano had cashed "at the Pawn Shop which subsequently bounced," Martinelli wrote.

A plea agreement signed in 2018 by prosecutor O'Malley and defense lawyer Richard Coughlin calls for a recommended sentence of seven years for the Pawn Shop scam along with a second fraud. In that scheme, Persiano used his company, Code Red and Assured, to steal hundreds of thousands of dollars from home owners for work that was faulty, or never done in 2014 and 2015.

Persiano is currently slated to be sentenced in April by Camden Federal Judge Robert Kugler. Sources say that before that date he will receive a so-called 5K1 letter seeking leniency in return for his undercover work with the FBI as well as with federal prosecutors in New Jersey and Philadelphia since he flipped.

Persiano's biggest coup was tape-recording a 2015 induction ceremony, a secret ceremony that was a major factor cited by prosecutors in last month's racketeering indictment of Philadelphia underboss Steven (Handsome Steve) Mazzone and 14 cohorts. In addition, Persiano snared Piccolo and two others on federal drug charges in New Jersey for which they received heavy prison terms. Piccolo got 12 and a half years; the others got 10, and 15 year sentences.

While O'Malley is Prosecutor of the Year, he had lots of help along the way. He got it from law enforcement colleagues in the Persiano case and in the prosecution of Luchese mobster John Perna. Perna pleaded guilty to taking part in a scheme that David Chase and his award-winning screenwriters could never have dreamed up for The Sopranos: assaulting the sweetheart of a TV star in return for a free wedding party.

O'Malley was also Prosecutor of the Year in 2016 for winning convictions of DeCavalcante capo Charles (Charlie the Hat) Stango and six crew members for a slew of racketeering crimes. If he could talk to Gang Land, the prosecutor would surely credit his FBI colleagues and co-prosecutors in New Jersey for their work in both cases.

Maybe next year, when he passes 45 years of service as a federal prosecutor, the two-time winner will be able to chat. But in the meantime, Gang Land notes that his co-prosecutor in Persiano's case is Camden AUSA Patrick Askin. In the prosecution of Perna for assaulting David Cantin, the fiancé of reality TV star Dina Manzo in July of 2015 in return for a free wedding party a month later, O'Malley's co-prosecutor is Newark AUSA Kendall Jackson.

Since the FBI likes to credit the bosses and not the agents who do the work — and O'Malley was mum on who they were as well — Gang Land won't be able to name the case agent(s) in either case.

Just for nailing Perna, O'Malley deserves to be Prosecutor of the Year. Perna faces a recommended prison term of 28 to 30 months on racketeering charges for his 2020 conviction. By obtaining a conviction of the wiseguy, O'Malley accomplished something that no New York federal prosecutor could do in this COVID-19 plagued year: indict and convict a mobster for a crime.

Thomas Manzo, Dina's ex-husband, faces trial next year for giving Perna what the feds say was a "deeply discounted" wedding party for 330 guests at The Brownstone, an upscale catering hall that Manzo owns in Paterson in return for the beating.

O'Malley's main competitor for this year's award was an ex-Manhattan AUSA who has been on the federal bench since 2007 and was elevated to the 2d Circuit Court of Appeals by President Trump in 2018. Judge Richard Sullivan earns an Honorable Mention for doing the work of the Manhattan U.S. Attorney's Office and the U.S. Department of Probation in slamming mob snitch John (J.R.) Rubeo for publicly violating the supervised release restrictions of his time served sentence by associating with two convicted felons on a podcast about organized crime.

Rubeo, who faces a recommended three to nine month return to prison later this month, gets the Ralph Kramden Big Mouth Award for boasting that he made more money committing crimes while working for the feds than as a gangster. He also gets a Knucklehead Award for stating on Instagram that he had approval to go on the podcast when he didn't.

Prosecutors Andrey Spektor and Lindsay Gerdes also get an Honorable Mention for charging Genovese soldier Christopher Chierchio with swindling three lottery winners of $100 million along with Frangesco (Frankie) Russo, a grandson of acting Colombo boss Andrew (Mush) Russo, and two others. Chierchio is the only mobster that NYC prosecutors were able to indict.

On Tuesday, four days after Christmas, Washington D.C. prosecutor Alexander Gottfried tried to play Scrooge during a video conference bail hearing for the Philadelphia underboss by citing a host of charges against him and his role at the taped induction ceremony in 2015. But City of Brotherly Love Federal Judge Barclay Surrick heeded the arguments of New York lawyer John Meringolo and sounded like Santa Claus as he wished Handsome Steve a Happy New Year and ordered his release from the Philadelphia lockup on a $200,000 bond.

Editor's Note: We're taking a slide next week but we'll be back at you in two weeks, on January 14, 2021. In the meantime, no matter where your current station in life is located these days, Gang Land wishes you a healthy and Happy New Year!


Grim Reaper Summons Dozens Of Notable Gang Land Victims in 2020

There were no guns involved, no knives, no piano wires, and no bombs. But 2020 was still a deadly year for residents of Gang Land, as a deadly virus claimed several lives, and old age took most of the rest.

The Grim Reaper came as well for some of the leading figures in the courtrooms where the fates of gangsters are often decided. Among them were Federal Judge Kevin Duffy, former mob prosecutor William Aronwald, and longtime defense lawyers Albert Brackley and Martin Geduldig.

Heading the list of 22 wiseguys and associates of the city's Five Families who were summoned to The Great Gang Land in the Sky (or down below) are the legendary Colombo wiseguy John (Sonny) Franzese, who was 103; Joseph Gambino, the easy-going son of Mafia Don Carlo Gambino, who was 82, and the notorious Luchese crime family underboss Anthony (Gaspipe) Casso, 78.

The powerful Genovese crime family was hit hardest. It lost eight family members, including two octogenarian mobsters whose deaths we chronicled. Joseph Zito, 83, died in April; Charles (Chuckie) Tuzzo was 86 when he passed in July. Two Genovese associates also bought the farm, including the son of capo Alfonso (Allie Shades) Malangone, Alphonse Jr., who died in July at age 55.

Capo Anthony (Tico) Antico, who fought the good fight and was acquitted of a 2008 robbery murder he was charged with, but got hammered at sentencing anyway, managed to survive his prison term and spend about three years at his home in Gravesend, Brooklyn before cashing in his chips. Antico, 85, passed away two days before Christmas.

Carmine (Papa Smurf) Franco, who pleaded guilty to heading a multi-million dollar a year labor racketeering scheme in the waste hauling industry from 2009 to 2013, passed away last month. Franco, who received a sweet plea deal in which he agreed to forfeit $2.5 million in illegal profits, spent about 10 months behind bars. He was released from prison in 2015. He was 85.

Capo Augustino (Crazy Augie) Cataldo, a Brooklyn-born and raised wiseguy who could have followed relatives into the Colombo or Luchese families, but instead chose to follow the lead of cousins Carmine and Peter Romano into the Genovese family, died in October. He was 77.

The Romanos were famously convicted of racketeering for running the Genovese crime family's interests in the Fulton Fish Market, back when it was actually near Fulton Street, and they spent some time in stir. So did Crazy Augie's relatives in the Colombo and Luchese families — Dominick (Little Dom) Cataldo and Alfonso (Tic) Cataldo. Crazy Augie likewise spent some time behind bars before he cashed in his chips.

But Cataldo enjoyed his golden years as a distinguished member of the Genovese family's Garden State wing. His survivors include his wiseguy son, Peter (Scarface) Cataldo.

Acting New Jersey capos Michael (Tona) Borelli, 82, and Ludwig (Ninny) Bruschi, 85, who were arrested together on racketeering charges in 2005, and were each released from prison in 2007, were also victims of the Grim Reaper in 2020. So were wiseguy John (Moose) Marone, 85, who died in prison while serving a three year bid for racketeering, and James (Jimmy Calabrese) Martino, 73, a former driver for onetime acting boss, Dominick (Quiet Dom) Cirillo.

In addition to Joe Gambino, the Grim Reaper called four Gambino wiseguys — Edward Garafola, 82, Riccardo (Richie) Cefalu, 92, Augustine (Augie) Guido, 79, and Anthony Corozzo, 77 — as well as associate Frank Roccaforte, 39, whose family members and friends attended a somber prayer service in the parking lot of St. Helen Church in Howard Beach.

Bonanno soldier Ronald (Ronnie Mozzarella) Carlucci, a major earner for 30-plus years for the crime family as a legitimate businessman owner of Lioni Latticini, which purports to be "the largest importer of 100% grass-fed buffalo milk" from the Campania region of Italy, succumbed to the deadly coronavirus in April. He was 77.

A former dock worker, Ronnie Mozzarella was a rare bird in the world of organized crime. The longtime mobster managed to steer clear of any hassles with the law while maintaining his status with the crime family. Carlucci had no convictions, or even any arrests for a serious crime.

Like Carlucci, Bonanno associate Anthony Moccia, a member of Ronald (Ronnie G) Giallanzo's Howard Beach crew, was felled by the COVID-19 bug. He died in March, a few months after he completed an 18 month sentence for racketeering crimes, including running a Queens card game for Ronnie G.

In addition to Casso, who died from COVID on December 15, a few weeks after Brooklyn Federal Judge Frederic Block, who had sentenced Casso to life behind bars for 14 mob murders, denied his motion for a compassionate release, the Lucheses lost two other inducted members in 2020.

In July, Christopher (Jumbo) Furnari, 60, the namesake son of the family's former consigliere Christy Tick Furnari, died from an undisclosed illness in Nags Head, North Carolina, where he relocated after his late father was sentenced to 100 years in the historic Commission case.

In October, Luchese soldier Michael Perna, 78, whose nephew John recently copped a plea deal in the assault of Dina Manzo's husband, died on October 28. Michael Perna was released from prison in July of 2015 and attended his nephew John's wedding party at The Brownstone in August along with his son, Joseph (Big Joe) Perna, according to Luchese defector John Pennisi.

"He had just gotten home," Pennisi recalled. "He was on the shelf," said Pennisi, referring to the common mob protocol these days of relieving wiseguys of their rights and responsibilities for one transgression or another. "They used to kill you for violating the rules," Pennisi told Gang Land recently in a discussion that had nothing to do with Michael Perna. "Now, they put you on the shelf," he said.

The COVID Pandemic Is The Top Story Of The Year

The deadly coronavirus pandemic, the equal-opportunity killer that has raged through New York and wreaked havoc, chaos and tragedy after tragedy all over the globe, is the top Gang Land story of 2020.

Like it did all over the world, the COVID-19 bug not only killed and/or incapacitated folks on all sides of the law, it had a major impact on virtually every facet of the ever-changing cat and mouse game that the law enforcement community has been waging with wiseguys for decades.

As we detailed in our piece about the top prosecutor of the year, there were a grand total of one organized crime figure indicted in New York in 2020 for committing a crime. Meanwhile. the COVID virus has killed 175 inmates and two Bureau of Prison staffers in the country's federal prison system, and fueled scores of motions for early release, or for a transfer to home confinement, by convicted New York mobsters and associates.

The government has objected to every request that Gang Land has seen — even one by an aging and ailing union official whose request for a compassionate release had been approved by his prison warden. And the overwhelming majority of requests have been turned down by judges in the city's two federal courts. But seven gangsters, and a woman mob associate, Eleonora Gigliotti, have gotten an early release, in large measure due to COVID19.

Gigliotti, 60, whose husband and son are still behind bars for using their Queens restaurant to smuggle boatloads of cocaine into the U.S., was slated to be placed in a halfway house in October. She was granted a compassionate release in April from Judge Raymond Dearie.

Four mobsters have also been sent home early by Brooklyn judges.

The oldest, Bonanno soldier Vincent Asaro, 85, was serving an eight year sentence for a road rage fueled arson and wasn't slated to be released until 2022. Judge Alynne Ross sent him home in April, ruling that the gangster's age, combined with his "deteriorating health," and the dangers of death from the COVID-19 virus was "an extraordinary and compelling reason for his release."

Colombo soldier Greg Scarpa Jr., 69, was the big winner of the Brooklyn quintet. Scarpa, who has a myriad of ailments, walked out of prison 15 years before his scheduled 2035 release date last month when Judge Edward Korman reduced his 40 year prison term to time served.

Judge Pamela Chen reduced the 28 month sentence that she had given Gambino soldier Paul Semplici for loansharking to time served in May, effectively cutting a year off his prison term that had been slated to end in May of next year.

And as Gang Land reported last month, Judge Nicholas Garaufis ripped the BOP "for failing to prevent and control a COVID-19 outbreak" at the federal prison complex at Fort Dix and reversed a ruling he made three months earlier and released Bonanno soldier Daniel (Dirty Danny) Mongelli with less than three years left on a 24-year sentence for murder.

Manhattan Federal Judge Alvin Hellerstein was the first city jurist to cite the COVID pandemic in granting a release from prison. Hellerstein didn't reduce the 77 month prison term of Luchese soldier Eugene (Boobsie) Castelle, 60, that had begun last year, but granted his motion for home detention pending the appeal of his racketeering conviction in April.

In May, Judge Cathy Seibel ordered the release of 60-year-old Luchese soldier Joseph Venice, whose 18 month prison term for wire fraud was set to end in August, three months later.

That same month, Judge Edgardo Ramos ordered the immediate release of Anthony Fazio, 74, a convicted union official who had served eight years of a heavy 151 month prison term he had received for labor racketeering. "I think this is an easy one," said Ramos. "I absolutely agree with the warden at Fort Dix."

[JohnnyS]

Thanks for posting.

[Pmac2]

someone posted about allie shades son being a capo who had a big crew on staten island. he died without ever getting a big rico pinch i think.

[TommyGambino]

someone posted about allie shades son being a capo who had a big crew on staten island. he died without ever getting a big rico pinch i think.

Think pizza boy was the one who said his son Frank is a captain

[johnny_scootch]

Anthony Corozzo is straightened out???


Jumbo was a made guy too?? He used to play cards at this social club run by Jody Calabrese cousin Frank. I was very good friends with franks son and we'd hang at the club all the time and do errands and shoot the shit with the guys there. Jumbo used to play cards every thursday night and we knew exactly what time he'd show up and we would wait outside to watch him get out of his car. He had a huge black lincoln town car that the driver seat had been readjusted on to accommodate such a large human being. We'd stand out there and watch him almost roll out of the car because he was so fat and we'd laugh like motherfuckers every single time. He was generous and a really nice guy all around I guess later on he got his button, I had no idea.

[johnny_scootch]

Something interesting I noticed.....This Frank I referenced above lasts name is Martino he's Jody Calabrese cousin

From above article

So were wiseguy John (Moose) Marone, 85, who died in prison while serving a three year bid for racketeering, and James (Jimmy Calabrese) Martino, 73, a former driver for onetime acting boss, Dominick (Quiet Dom) Cirillo.

There has got to be a connection there I'm unaware of.

[Pogo The Clown]

Great column to close out the year. Considering the advanced age of so many members we can expect every coming year to look a lot like this in terms of deaths even without Covid.


Pogo

[slimshady_007]

Good gangland. Was James Martino ever arrested for anything? Cant find anything on the guy.

[Rocco]

In October, Luchese soldier Michael Perna, 78, whose nephew John recently copped a plea deal in the assault of Dina Manzo's husband, died on October 28. Michael Perna was released from prison in July of 2015 and attended his nephew John's wedding party at The Brownstone in August along with his son, Joseph (Big Joe) Perna, according to Luchese defector John Pennisi.

"He had just gotten home," Pennisi recalled. "He was on the shelf," said Pennisi, referring to the common mob protocol these days of relieving wiseguys of their rights and responsibilities for one transgression or another. "They used to kill you for violating the rules," Pennisi told Gang Land recently in a discussion that had nothing to do with Michael Perna. "Now, they put you on the shelf," he said."

Mike Perna was on the shelf ?? I find that hard to believe. The guy was in prison since the early 90s. He was loved my everyone for decades . I'd love to hear what this is about?

[givememysocks]

I guess one of jerrys sources is wikipedia. Lol

[CabriniGreen]

Didnt know Semplice was out....the sicilian faction gained an asset.....

[Wiseguy]

Great column to close out the year. Considering the advanced age of so many members we can expect every coming year to look a lot like this in terms of deaths even without Covid.


Pogo

Just looking at the chart of known names...


Gambinos have 21 members in their 80's and 90's including Peter Gotti (80), Michael Paradiso (80), Nick Corozzo (80), Sal Franco (82), Sonny Juliano (80), Vincent Romano (80), Jackie D'Amico (81), Thomas Gambino (82), Anthony Scotto (83), and Patsy Conte (94).

Colombos have 17 members including Andy Russo (86), Benjamin Castellazo (83), Dominic Montemarano (82), Ralph Lombardo (90), Thomas Petrizzo (87), and Jackie DeRoss (83).

Genovese have 16 members in the 80's and 90's, including Dom Cirillo (88), John Barbato (85), Allie Shades (84), Anthony Romanello (80), Pasquale DeLuca (81), Albert Gallo (89), Mario Gigante (95), Larry Dentico (95), and Bobby Manna (90).

Bonannos have 11 members including John Palazzolo (83), Joe DeSimone (84), Frank Porco (88), Anthony Rabito (83), and Anthony Urso (84).

Luccheses have 9 members including Vic Amuso (85), Paulo LoDuca (81), Sal Avellino (81), Anthony Croce (82), Joe DiNapoli (84), and Matty Madonna (84).

[Pogo The Clown]

With the exception of the Colombo list most of the ages of the others are years out of date. So these families are a lot older than indicated on my charts.


Pogo

[B.]

So the internet was right about Augie Cataldo all these years. Curious if the Colombo relation was Dominick Cataldo.

[johnny_scootch]

So the internet was right about Augie Cataldo all these years. Curious if the Colombo relation was Dominick Cataldo.

It was.

The Romanos were famously convicted of racketeering for running the Genovese crime family's interests in the Fulton Fish Market, back when it was actually near Fulton Street, and they spent some time in stir. So did Crazy Augie's relatives in the Colombo and Luchese families — Dominick (Little Dom) Cataldo and Alfonso (Tic) Cataldo. Crazy Augie likewise spent some time behind bars before he cashed in his chips.