John Pennisi Sighting / Sit Down News

[Antiliar]

They now have Bobby Luisi (caporegime of the Boston crew of the Philadelphia Family) and Paul Tanso, who was in Luisi's crew. I still find it strange that a crew from the Philadelphia Family operated in another Family's territory.

[PolackTony]

I’m from La and it’s crazy for some reason a lot of the weed game is moving back to the streets/ black market.. and the prices have also been on the rise... it’s just so fucking saturated here it’s insane...
the people I’ve known of who make real, real money, are the people who move it from California to nyc or the east coast.. set up a delivery service... and you’re making insane money... obviously most difficult part is the logistics of how to continuously get the weed from Cali to the east coast without losing loads/getting caught... I’ve heard of all sorts of ways that still work.. I know someone who moved to Brooklyn like 6 years ago to take over an operation and it’s still running smooth til this day... big money... like 100lbs a month or more...
wondering if the “legalization” in ny will affect it at all...

Legalization in NYC will likely just grow the market even further. All sorts of people will be more than happy to buy tax free weed now that they won’t be stopped for possession or use.

[B.]

- Pennisi politely questioned Luisi about the whole plan to break off from Philly after two years and form the "Luisi family". Pennisi tried to ask how he was planning to do that and you could tell he didn't quite get it from a formal point of view (as we've talked about, Pennisi is surprisingly sharp about protocol/formalities), but Luisi just sort of bulldozed past the question and said he could do whatever he wanted and that Merlino had more or less done the same thing in Philly. Luisi said he had Merlino's approval. Pennisi didn't press it.

- I don't think Luisi understood what Pennisi was getting at, i.e. how were you planning to become a recognized family? Merlino didn't just start a random new family in Philly, he helped take over an existing family and while there were ups and downs in terms of recognition from New York, it was still an existing family with longtime members in it. Luisi might as well say he was planning to start the "Luisi gang" or something.

- Luisi also said he had "more than half a dozen" made members in his crew. So what, at least seven soldiers? Eight total members in Boston? Philly makes the brothers of high-ranking South Philly members wait twenty years to get made, but allowed Luisi to make all of his friends over the span of a few years? I don't know what to make of these claims.

- Had to laugh when Pennisi was saying Luisi would have controlled the whole state of MA if he had five soldiers like Paul Tanso in his crew. Just imagining Tanso getting cloned and a whole army of them running around Boston...

[Ozgoz]

he’s strange that Tanso he doesn’t really speak it’s more central casting sound clips and muffles every time Luisi pulls his string.

The crew does have a Pygmy vibe like the Boston couldn’t-be-mades that Merlino scooped up to fund his lifestyle. We need some insight from the NE family as to why this was allowed.

[Ozgoz]

The other thing that makes me laugh is Luisi’s production for his intro credits. It’s on par with an early 90s WWF pay per view event with the faded red slides and spinning plain text. “Good laughs between old friends” and Tanso doing his best Robert Dinero impression huhh huhh ya hff

[chin_gigante]

- Luisi also said he had "more than half a dozen" made members in his crew. So what, at least seven soldiers? Eight total members in Boston? Philly makes the brothers of high-ranking South Philly members wait twenty years to get made, but allowed Luisi to make all of his friends over the span of a few years? I don't know what to make of these claims.

Looking at the well over half a dozen claim:

In 1999, Luisi and Shawn Vetere are indicted in the drug case. Luisi is a captain and Vetere is a soldier.

Paul Pepicelli is also identified in paperwork Stroccos found as a member.

At the 2001 RICO trial, Peter Caprio testifies that Merlino sent him to talk to the Genovese family and get permission to induct two members from Boston. Permission wasn't granted but Merlino made them anyway.

In 2012, AUSA John Durham identifies Robert Gentile in court as a made member of Luisi's crew

In 2016, Luisi does an interview for the Boston Globe where he talks about how he planned to break off from Philadelphia and start his own family. He says he wanted Robert Guarente to be his underboss and Gentile to be consigliere.

In 2018, Luisi does an interview for an article with George Anastasia. Anastasia writes that Luisi and Borgesi traveled to Boston to induct a half dozen of Luisi's guys including Robert Gentile. Luisi also repeats the claim about wanting to start his own family. (In a later edition of Mob Talk, GA talks about how Luisi told him that he and Borgesi made 6 or 7 guys in Boston).

Undercover FBI agent Mike McGowan repeats Luisi's claim about wanting to start his own family in his book "Ghost".

In 2020, Luisi and Paul Tanso go on what was then called the Johnny and Gene Show. They repeat the claim about wanting to start another family in Boston and identify Tanso as a soldier. Luisi claims they had "a few different ceremonies" in Boston.

In 2021, while having a discussion with Anthony Arillotta, Luisi talks about how he wanted to bring in two guys from the Springfield area who knew Guarente. One of these individuals was Robert DeMarco and another was "Joey". DeMarco was with Frank Pugliano and had done time with Ralph Natale. Luisi wanted to straighten DeMarco out and Arillotta claims he encouraged him to leave Pugliano to get his button with Luisi. "Joey" was from Italy and his father had been in prison with Guarente. Neither ended up going with Luisi.

---

So breaking all of this down:

Confirmed members:

- Robert Gentile
- Paul Pepicelli
- Shawn Vetere

Mentioned as members on the podcast but no other confirmation exists:

- Thomas Caruso (deceased)
- Paul Tanso

Other names Stroccos and TJ got from him that he hasn't talked about so far:

- Robert Paleo
- David Pepicelli

Guys he claims to have wanted to make but didn't:

- Robert Guarente
- Robert DeMarco
- "Joey"

---

Compare that to guys who got straightened out in the mid-late 1990s in Philadelphia proper:

Present at Natale's ceremony as members:

- Martin Angelina
- George Borgesi
- Michael Lancellotti
- Steven Mazzone

November/ December 1994:

- Frank Gambino
- Ralph Natale

January/ June/ October 1996:

- John Ciancaglini

It's also possible that Philip Ligambi was made by 1999 though that's not a solid confirmation like the guys above. As I've talked about in the past, I also think it's likely that Joe Curro got made after Merlino was arrested.

So if Luisi is to be believed, the Philly family made more guys from Boston during that era than they did in Philly proper.

I'm only giving this any credence for a couple of reasons:

- Luisi has been quite consistent with his story since his release from prison. He's been making the claim about wanting to start his own family since 2016 and hasn't changed it.

- If he wanted to inflate the number of made guys under him he could very easily claim that Robert Guarente was made. Luisi doesn't mind talking about guys who are dead but he went out of his way to tell TJ and Stroccos that Guarente wasn't made. If Luisi starts saying that Guarente was a member that'll set my bullshit detector off big time.

- He started off in 2016 telling GA he made 6 or 7 guys and now he says he made "well over half a dozen", but he's still circling around that half a dozen figure. I think also his vagueness on this is because he's working on his book (despite what he says about not wanting to cause problems for living guys), so again, if he veers too far off the half a dozen figure that's a big reading on the bullshit detector.

- We know that Merlino disregarded the order from the Genovese family about making two Boston guys. It doesn't seem like too much of a stretch then for him to let Luisi make as many guys as he wanted as long as he paid him his $100,000. We know that when it comes to money, Merlino has historically made mistakes or broken rules (e.g., getting close to Previte, allowing Luisi to buy his membership).

- Merlino thumbing his nose at New York gets overblown and we know he still has a relationship with the Genovese family to this day, but when it comes to Boston at least we know from Caprio that he was willing to ignore them and do his own thing. Caprio specifically testified about asking for permission to induct two Boston guys when we know that they made at least four (Luisi, Vetere, Gentile, Pepicelli).

[newera_212]

Maybe it's just me but I'd rather have another hour of Pennisi and Tom just shooting the shit and hearing Pennisi tell random stories, versus another interview with one of these guys on the interview circuit

[JohnnyS]

Same here but it seems they are going the guest route for views.

[B.]

Chin -- good job breaking it down for me. I can't challenge what Luisi says and don't necessarily want to. If nothing else, it seems like he just didn't really understand the organization he was a part of, which I know is an audacious opinion for me to have as an outsider, but you can see where Pennisi was confused as well and decided not to press it. Similar to when Hootie Russo was talking himself up as Trucchio's main man and then said he was never "on record" -- Pennisi and LaVecchia raised their eyebrows and tried to press him on that, but let it go.

It's funny because what we're seeing is "mob politics" play out on podcasts. These guys want to maintain good relations with other guys on the podcast circuit because they're all friendly and promoting each other, so splitting hairs over some of these claims isn't in their interest.

Then you have Gene Borello who tried to act like an expert on the organization who knows more than the members and they put him in his place. You can kind of get a feeling for how he conducted himself on the street even just from that.

Maybe it's just me but I'd rather have another hour of Pennisi and Tom just shooting the shit and hearing Pennisi tell random stories, versus another interview with one of these guys on the interview circuit

I agree with that. I'm hoping Pennisi talks more about the Bonanno members in Queens and if he knows about the Sicilian faction in Queens. He mentioned a story about Sal Montagna investing in a business and the Bonannos making a claim based on that, but it was after Montagna was dead. I wonder if he heard any stories about Montagna.

Would be great if they can grab an interview with one of the older witnesses... would love to see Caramandi or someone like that get pulled out of the cupboard and dusted off for a new interview.

[PolackTony]

Just a guess, but maybe Luisi’s crew was able to somehow gain a foothold due to internal fractures or tensions in the NE family, legacy of the 1990s war? I imagine there is of course some story lurking under this that we don’t know. But maybe Philly was able to exploit something going on during that period and got a toehold in the area when it was chaotic.

Guarante I understand to have gone back to the Boston faction that sided against Salemme in the ‘90s. It’s probably nothing, but wasn’t Guarente working for a made guy named Carmello Merlino from the East End? Any relation lol?

Guarente and Gentile were both implicated by the Feds in the famous Gardner Museum heist in 1990, supposedly pulled off by Carmello Merlino’s crew. The thinking was that Guarente used Gentile to send the stolen artwork to Philly. I recall reading somewhere that Luisi first heard about the art from Gentile in ‘98, but don’t know if it was before or after Gentile was made. Either way it seems like the whole thing could’ve just been some scheme for Philly to make some cash by trading the art (and charging Luisi for membership), while Luisi got to play Godfather to a couple of aging Boston mob associates.

On the last note, Gentile should’ve been like 60ish when Luisi inducted him (Guarente in the same age range). Maybe NE just didn’t much care if Philly wanted to make a couple of old guys that NE clearly never saw fit to make, especially in the wake of all of the heat and violence of the ‘90s.

(Apologies if all this has already been covered and discussed in the forum)

[Pmac2]

weird part babys shacks settle the fracture in the boston area in 1995 96. he had some guys in revere and guys in eastboston and the north end. he inducted big cheese and his brother that year 1996. im guessing sonny rizzo or some old guy in boston proposed them. so the books were open in boston. luisi must have been a real weirdo to go all the way to philly to buy his button. im sure all the boston guys new it

[B.]

Philly making a crew in Boston is a matter of record, whether they had two or ten members, but what gives me pause is the imminent plan for a "Luisi Family".

Wouldn't be surprised if Merlino nodded along if it's true they discussed it, but what could he have done to make it happen? The Gambino family didn't recognize Philly in the 90s, the Luccheses didn't recognize Merlino as of 2010, and Gambino and Genovese members were plotting against Merlino loyalists and looking to install their friend as boss.

Politically it would have been a non-entity and it's hard to imagine Philly sending muscle up their way to help them break off. Just hard to understand the angle.

I get it's not 1910 and they aren't going to hold an Assemblea Generale to ask Famiglia Todaro for their vote on a new Boston family but you know.

[PolackTony]

Just a guess, but maybe Luisi’s crew was able to somehow gain a foothold due to internal fractures or tensions in the NE family, legacy of the 1990s war? I imagine there is of course some story lurking under this that we don’t know. But maybe Philly was able to exploit something going on during that period and got a toehold in the area when it was chaotic.

Guarante I understand to have gone back to the Boston faction that sided against Salemme in the ‘90s. It’s probably nothing, but wasn’t Guarente working for a made guy named Carmello Merlino from the East End? Any relation lol?

Guarente and Gentile were both implicated by the Feds in the famous Gardner Museum heist in 1990, supposedly pulled off by Carmello Merlino’s crew. The thinking was that Guarente used Gentile to send the stolen artwork to Philly. I recall reading somewhere that Luisi first heard about the art from Gentile in ‘98, but don’t know if it was before or after Gentile was made. Either way it seems like the whole thing could’ve just been some scheme for Philly to make some cash by trading the art (and charging Luisi for membership), while Luisi got to play Godfather to a couple of aging Boston mob associates.

On the last note, Gentile should’ve been like 60ish when Luisi inducted him (Guarente in the same age range). Maybe NE just didn’t much care if Philly wanted to make a couple of old guys that NE clearly never saw fit to make, especially in the wake of all of the heat and violence of the ‘90s.

(Apologies if all this has already been covered and discussed in the forum)

Again, this is probably nothing, but it’s possible that Carmello Merlino could have had some family relation to Chuckie Merlino (and they were rough contemporaries). I have Chuckie Merlino’s grandfather as a Salvatore Merlino of Messina. Carmello was born 1934 in Boston, his father was a Paolo Merlino born ~1905-1908 in Italy. In 1923 a Paolo Merlino re-entered the US for Boston, where his mother Antonia was living, from Messina. In 1906 an Antonia Merlino of Messina and her infant son Paolo had previously entered the US at Philadelphia. By 1910 the family was settled in Boston, with Antonia’s husband, also named Paolo Merlino.

Probably nothing, but possibly at the least an interesting coincidence that all those years later Joey Merlino winds up approving a Philly crew in Boston that recruits two associates of Carmello Merlino’s East End crew.

Anyone ever come across any info that Chuckie Merlino had any personal connects in Boston?

Philly making a crew in Boston is a matter of record, whether they had two or ten members, but what gives me pause is the imminent plan for a "Luisi Family".

Wouldn't be surprised if Merlino nodded along if it's true they discussed it, but what could he have done to make it happen? The Gambino family didn't recognize Philly in the 90s, the Luccheses didn't recognize Merlino as of 2010, and Gambino and Genovese members were plotting against Merlino loyalists and looking to install their friend as boss.

Politically it would have been a non-entity and it's hard to imagine Philly sending muscle up their way to help them break off. Just hard to understand the angle.

I get it's not 1910 and they aren't going to hold an Assemblea Generale to ask Famiglia Todaro for their vote on a new Boston family but you know.

I admittedly haven’t followed the Bobby Luisi story closely, but isn’t it possible that Joey just played him?

[PolackTony]

Double post

[Pogo The Clown]

Does anyone know when Thomas Caruso died? Thanks.


Pogo