Which rats told the truth?

[Browniety86]

Little al. They all hold back no matter who. Maybe nick the crow. Martorano could have put alot of guys away he held back or lied

Hold back info and you end up dying in the can like Cadillac Frank did..

[newera_212]

D'Arco always seemed truthful to me, but that's bias speaking - I only say this because of how he "carried himself" in his own biography, which he helped author. The whole humble, approachable, everyman he portrays himself to be could just be an act - regular people are capable of putting on masks like that when it serves them, so people who lived "that life", especially people who have lived that life and flipped...are more than capable. But given the reasons he states for flipping, plus how he talks about people and how he talks about himself, he seems to "come off" truthful at least.

In his book and his retelling, he really did have a lot of opportunities to badmouth people and he never did. Never says a bad thing about Amuso and never says a bad thing about Casso, nor does he ham up a story to make Casso look bad - he just said there were things being done by Casso he either didn't understand or didn't like. There were people he said he didn't like or care for. But, that's it. His encyclopedic memory of NYC in general, and it's history - also makes me believe he probably really is that good with recalling mob related names, situations, events, etc.

Maybe it was due to Capeci's involvement (say what you will about him and/or the column today but he is a real writer and a real professional) but there wasn't this narrative throughout the whole story that everyone in it was bad, or a scumbag, or was wrong, and the rat playing the main character is the only stand up, tough, moral man of substance in the world. I feel like we get that in a lot of other rat biographies, even some of the other bigger ones also co-authored by real, professional writers of merit.

[West Coast1]

Newark family guy tells the truth
he did it to live a new life a get free pass


https://www.nj.com/hudson/2022/12/video ... ckers.html

[West Coast1]

sorry that was for gun control

here is the nj guy that got out for free
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWzoXOtxXuc

[chin_gigante]

Another consideration is what is meant by “truthful”. Some guys are intentionally misleading and dishonest. Others are just mistaken, either in details or more substantive questions.

A very important point to take into account. A guy can be mistaken about something but believe it to be true and him being wrong doesn't make him a liar necessarily. For example, Michael Franzese is mistaken about the date of his induction ceremony but it doesn't seem like he's intentionally being dishonest about it. I mean, what would he have to gain from lying that he was inducted a few years before he actually was? That's not to say there aren't other things he may deliberately exaggerate or exclude from his stories. There's nuance to this discussion.

[CornerBoy]

How about Sonny Mercurio from the Boston LCN? He gave up the Mafia induction ceremony in Medford and also provided information about the state of the Patriarca crime family according to this document below.

https://archive.org/details/366007-dc-1 ... ew=theater

thats a good one although i don't know shit about him but he did get the ceremony.

to reward these guys with time served or 5 yrs in a rat camp is fucking nuts and totally immoral.

Especially if they're just piling on other rats and may not even have to testify.

How can they expect lfielong drug dealers, armed robbers and con artists will tell the truth?

Joe Pistone and Tommy Dades did real detective work.

[NYNighthawk]

Sal Viatle - he was so good he had his brother-in-law Joe Messina the Boss of the Bonanos flip!

[CornerBoy]

but maybe they are coerced to make certain assertions by the cops..............

[SonnyBlackstein]

D'Arco always seemed truthful to me, but that's bias speaking - I only say this because of how he "carried himself" in his own biography, which he helped author. The whole humble, approachable, everyman he portrays himself to be could just be an act - regular people are capable of putting on masks like that when it serves them, so people who lived "that life", especially people who have lived that life and flipped...are more than capable. But given the reasons he states for flipping, plus how he talks about people and how he talks about himself, he seems to "come off" truthful at least.

In his book and his retelling, he really did have a lot of opportunities to badmouth people and he never did. Never says a bad thing about Amuso and never says a bad thing about Casso, nor does he ham up a story to make Casso look bad - he just said there were things being done by Casso he either didn't understand or didn't like. There were people he said he didn't like or care for. But, that's it. His encyclopedic memory of NYC in general, and it's history - also makes me believe he probably really is that good with recalling mob related names, situations, events, etc.

Maybe it was due to Capeci's involvement (say what you will about him and/or the column today but he is a real writer and a real professional) but there wasn't this narrative throughout the whole story that everyone in it was bad, or a scumbag, or was wrong, and the rat playing the main character is the only stand up, tough, moral man of substance in the world. I feel like we get that in a lot of other rat biographies, even some of the other bigger ones also co-authored by real, professional writers of merit.

Great post.

One of the best assets of the forum this guy.

[newera_212]

D'Arco always seemed truthful to me, but that's bias speaking - I only say this because of how he "carried himself" in his own biography, which he helped author. The whole humble, approachable, everyman he portrays himself to be could just be an act - regular people are capable of putting on masks like that when it serves them, so people who lived "that life", especially people who have lived that life and flipped...are more than capable. But given the reasons he states for flipping, plus how he talks about people and how he talks about himself, he seems to "come off" truthful at least.

In his book and his retelling, he really did have a lot of opportunities to badmouth people and he never did. Never says a bad thing about Amuso and never says a bad thing about Casso, nor does he ham up a story to make Casso look bad - he just said there were things being done by Casso he either didn't understand or didn't like. There were people he said he didn't like or care for. But, that's it. His encyclopedic memory of NYC in general, and it's history - also makes me believe he probably really is that good with recalling mob related names, situations, events, etc.

Maybe it was due to Capeci's involvement (say what you will about him and/or the column today but he is a real writer and a real professional) but there wasn't this narrative throughout the whole story that everyone in it was bad, or a scumbag, or was wrong, and the rat playing the main character is the only stand up, tough, moral man of substance in the world. I feel like we get that in a lot of other rat biographies, even some of the other bigger ones also co-authored by real, professional writers of merit.

Great post.

One of the best assets of the forum this guy.

Thanks man - really appreciate you and the kind words. I can be a little long winded at times... but hey.. sometimes I just like to type lol. Buon Natale