New Decavalcante book notes

[West Coast1]

I figured it was a nickname for the book, but Kyle Ragusa was a real Gambino associate busted with Merola some years back.

He must be the first made member named "Kyle".

I think I read somewhere he was going to be on the list but some shit happened and it didn;t happen

I think the kid went to a location right from college and they followed him

[JohnnyS]

Thanks for this Dave. Good job.

[NJShore4Life]

I figured it was a nickname for the book, but Kyle Ragusa was a real Gambino associate busted with Merola some years back.

He must be the first made member named "Kyle".

The year 2040 there will be made guys “Brad” and “Chad” next lol.

-Dante

[JohnnyS]

The Genovese guy "Johnnie Blue" is most likely John Defroscia. As B. said, Kyle Ragusa was busted with Merola years back and is 44 now according to BOP locator. Never heard of the other two Gambino guys. I found a Daniel Bertelli (45?) living in Hillsdale, New Jersey.

[newera_212]

so Oliveri was right the entire time?

[NJShore4Life]

Ragusa was busted with Merola back in that big 2007 bust in Jersey that took down Merola and his entire crew:

ELIZABETH -- An East Hanover man with alleged ties to organized crime has been charged with running a major gambling operation and with taking over two labor unions, authorities announced Wednesday.

He and six other Morris County men were among 25 people charged Monday after a yearlong investigation into gambling and racketeering operations allegedly run by organized crime. The investigation was dubbed "Operation Family Ties" because it involved dealings between the Lucchese and Gambino crime families, authorities said.

The main target of the investigation was Andrew Merola, 38, of East Hanover, who is a soldier of the Gambino crime family, Union County Prosecutor Theodore J. Romankow said at a press conference held at the Union County courthouse.

Merola was engaged in racketeering involving labor unions, and also ran a large-scale illegal gambling operation, Romankow said.

Also arrested was Martin Taccetta, 56, of East Hanover, who authorities said is a soldier in the Lucchese crime family.

The investigation began in spring 2006 after state police received information about a large-scale gambling operation in central New Jersey. When Merola's name emerged as its leader, the Union County Prosecutor's Office and the FBI were brought in, officials said.

Merola operated his alleged criminal activities out of a construction site under the Goethals Bridge in Elizabeth after he obtained a job there through the union Operating Engineers Local 825, according to law enforcement officials.

Merola had assumed control of two labor unions -- the Operating Engineers Local 825 based in Springfield, and Laborers Local 1153 based in Newark, Romankow said. An organizer for Local 825 and the business agent for Local 1153 were also arrested.

One of the most "shocking revelations" of the investigation was the power that Merola exerted over the unions, Romankow said.

In one instance, he allegedly sought a bribe of $20,000 from Jonathan Lanza, 24, of Florham Park, in exchange for not reporting Lanza's use of nonunion labor, authorities said. Lanza has been charged with bribery and racketeering conspiracy charges.

Merola also allegedly ran an illegal gambling operation based in north and south New Jersey and New York, and headed a hierarchy that managed more than 100 gamblers, officials said. The operation involved a Web site called TopBettors.com, based overseas, which offered casino-style gambling, and also allowed gamblers to place wagers on sporting events, authorities said.

East Hanover resident Kyle Ragusa, 30, was one of two lieutenants who supervised the gambling operation, officials said. Ragusa had been recently released from prison where he served a 10-year sentence for shooting a man five times, authorities said. He had been out of prison for less than a day before he reintegrated himself into Merola's enterprise, according to officials.

Two other East Hanover men, Christopher Doscher, 28, and Vincent Derogatis, 43, were among suspects arrested for their alleged roles in the racketeering and gambling enterprise, authorities said.

Merola was also charged with loan-sharking, for charging exorbitant interest rates on loans, typically born of gambling debts, and he often resorted to violence or threats of violence to collect his debts, according to officials.

Merola was also involved in an old organized crime scam, the "no-show" job, Romankow said. Merola and Charles "Buddy Mask" Muccigrosso, 67, of Newark, another alleged Gambino soldier, would cover for each other when they didn't show up for work at the construction project under the Goethals Bridge, but continued to collect full pay, the prosecutor said. Muccigrosso also was arrested.

In addition, Merola was the head of a sophisticated theft operation that involved fraudulent purchases of high-end merchandise from home improvement stores in north and central New Jersey, officials said. The extent of the loss to the stores is not yet known but is expected to reach six figures, they said.

Merola, formerly known as Andrew Knapik, had a legal name change when he became a Gambino soldier, according to authorities.

The arrests followed raids on Monday evening by more than200 law enforcement officers at 20 locations, including the homes and places of business of the suspects. One of the locations raided was the Godfather Pizzeria on Route 10 in East Hanover, where one of the suspects, Gennaro Forte Jr., 32, of West Caldwell, worked, Union County assistant prosecutor Julie Peterman said. Data from a computer seized at the restaurant is being analyzed, she said.

Authorities also seized several more computers, more than $300,000 in cash, gambling and loan-sharking records, four handguns, and cocaine and marijuana from the various locations searched, Peterman said.

Taccetta was charged with conspiracy to commit theft by extortion, conspiracy to commit aggravated assault, and racketeering. Taccetta and Merola cooperated in several criminal ventures even though they were from different crime families, Romankow said.

"This investigation was dubbed 'Operation Family Ties'because of Merola's unique position of trust in both the Lucchese and Gambino families," he said.

Merola helped Taccetta collect a debt, and shared in the proceeds, the prosecutor said. Merola also shared with Taccetta the alleged $20,000 bribe paid by Lanza, Romankow said.

Martin Taccetta is the brother of incarcerated Lucchese boss Michael Taccetta. Martin Taccetta is currently out on bail, and awaiting re-trial on racketeering charges after a previous verdict was overturned by a Superior Court Judge in 2005, due to ineffective assistance of counsel. He had previously been sentenced on those charges to life imprisonment.

The investigation was a joint effort by several law enforcement agencies, including the state police, the Union County Prosecutor's Office, the Morris County Prosecutor's Office and the Florham Park police.

[Pogo The Clown]

The Genovese guy "Johnnie Blue" is most likely John Defroscia.

Defroscia was also Jersey based so yeah most likely him.

so Oliveri was right the entire time?

Yeah. Funny how Oliveri gets dumped on a lot but he was smarter/more perceptive than all of the others members in sensing that the new guy was not what he claimed.

[quote=B. post_id=196882 time=<a href="tel:1623211870">1623211870</a> user_id=127]
I figured it was a nickname for the book, but Kyle Ragusa was a real Gambino associate busted with Merola some years back.

He must be the first made member named "Kyle".

The year 2040 there will be made guys “Brad” and “Chad” next lol.
[/quote]


Walden... The fuck kinda name is that for an Italian?


Pogo

[johnny_scootch]

Yeah. Funny how Oliveri gets dumped on a lot but he was smarter/more perceptive than all of the others members in sensing that the new guy was not what he claimed.

From what it says in the book ‘Giovanni’ didnt actually meet many made DeCavalcante guys. Oliveri and Stango is who he dealt with 90% of the time. It has him meeting Nigro, Merlo and Castaldi one time each and that’s it besides a couple run ins with made guys from other families.

Oliveri was suspicious off the bat but not suspicious enough to stop doing business with him. The incident in the car when the other undercover text Oliveri by accident is what really set off his radar.

[Pogo The Clown]

He also met Majuri and Carl Corsentino. Did he ever end up meeting Joe Collina? He was told to go see him by Stango but I don't know if he ever did. Was he at the social function where Oliveri blew up st Scalfsni? It is not clear from the excerpt I read.


Pogo

[Dave65827]

One thing that was not in the book was that the administration wanted Manny Riggi killed as well if they went through with the hit on Luigi that they “didn’t want no problems”


Ironically Luigi may be the smartest guy in the fucking book avoiding all this shit. He was also correct about Stango being the “Hottest motherfucker out here”. Not to mention I think he barely got any jail time from when the indictments came down

[Dave65827]

He also met Majuri and Carl Corsentino. Did he ever end up meeting Joe Collina? He was told to go see him by Stango but I don't know if he ever did. Was he at the social function where Oliveri blew up st Scalfsni? It is not clear from the excerpt I read.


Pogo

He met him and Joey warned him about Luigi and Jimmy Smalls

Hope I don’t get copyrighted for this lol

[Tonyd621]

He also met Majuri and Carl Corsentino. Did he ever end up meeting Joe Collina? He was told to go see him by Stango but I don't know if he ever did. Was he at the social function where Oliveri blew up st Scalfsni? It is not clear from the excerpt I read.


Pogo

isn't Corsentino the double decker coffin guy? I thought he died in the mid 90s. how would he meet him if this was in the 2000s?

[Tonyd621]

One thing that was not in the book was that the administration wanted Manny Riggi killed as well if they went through with the hit on Luigi that they “didn’t want no problems”


Ironically Luigi may be the smartest guy in the fucking book avoiding all this shit. He was also correct about Stango being the “Hottest motherfucker out here”. Not to mention I think he barely got any jail time from when the indictments came down

your right. I remember a few months, myself included we were ragging on his appearance, but it seems he is alot smarter than he looks

[Pogo The Clown]

He also met Majuri and Carl Corsentino. Did he ever end up meeting Joe Collina? He was told to go see him by Stango but I don't know if he ever did. Was he at the social function where Oliveri blew up st Scalfsni? It is not clear from the excerpt I read.

isn't Corsentino the double decker coffin guy? I thought he died in the mid 90s. how would he meet him if this was in the 2000s?

That was the father Carlo. He met the son Carl. Both of them are made members.

He met him and Joey warned him about Luigi and Jimmy Smalls

Thanks for the info. Shows how sloppy the DeCavalcantes are. It took Pistone years before he was dealing with any major players yet Giovanni appears out of nowhere and within months is dealing with Capos and being introduced to the administration.


It also looks like untaxed cigarettes and stolen property is a main racket for the family with the Riggi, Stango and Collina Crews all being involved with it.


Pogo

[Tonyd621]

He also met Majuri and Carl Corsentino. Did he ever end up meeting Joe Collina? He was told to go see him by Stango but I don't know if he ever did. Was he at the social function where Oliveri blew up st Scalfsni? It is not clear from the excerpt I read.

isn't Corsentino the double decker coffin guy? I thought he died in the mid 90s. how would he meet him if this was in the 2000s?

That was the father Carlo. He met the son Carl. Both of them are made members.

He met him and Joey warned him about Luigi and Jimmy Smalls

Thanks for the info. Shows how sloppy the DeCavalcantes are. It took Pistone years before he was dealing with any major players yet Giovanni appears out of nowhere and within months is dealing with Capos and being introduced to the administration.


It also looks like untaxed cigarettes and stolen property is a main racket for the family with the Riggi, Stango and Collina Crews all being involved with it.


Pogo

haha, the sopranos was big into the stolen goods and untaxed cigarettes there was a good plot or two surrounding those rackets.