Gangland June 20th 2024

[Dr031718]

Budding Actor Gives It Up To Join The Mob; But His Old TV Show, Gravesend, Makes It Big

His family members were "legitimate people," but as a kid growing up in Bensonhurst, the late Tony Sirico saw "a lot of mob-type people" and he became enamored by "the way they walked, the cars they drove, (and) the way they approached each other." As a result, he said, he did "a lot of bad things" with local mob-tied folks, right up to and including his 1971 conviction for gun possession which sent him to Sing Sing.

While doing his bid — he served 20 months of a four year sentence — Sirico saw a performance by a group of actors, all ex-cons. "I said to myself, 'I can do that.'" As a result, he soon gave up The Life, and became an actor, he told the Daily News in 1999, a move that led to his now famous role as mobster Paulie Walnuts in The Sopranos, as a sidekick of New Jersey mob boss Tony Soprano.

Things were very different for Robert Giardina. His grandfather, Louis Giardina, was a Gambino mobster-union official convicted of racketeering and sentenced to five years in prison. Robert, however, shunned wiseguy life, turning to acting. He played a wiseguy in Season 1 of Gravesend, the hot Amazon Prime TV show now shooting Season 3 in Brooklyn. But the mob life beckoned, and he soon gave up playing a mobster and became one. He was later inducted into the Gambino family, Gang Land has learned.

Actor William Demeo, a Gravesend denizen who created Gravesend and stars in the Mafia-based TV show set in 1986, the same year Robert's grandpa was indicted as a bagman for the late Mafia boss Paul (Big Paul) Castellano during the years before he was whacked, didn't want to talk about that.

What Demeo wanted to talk about is Season 3, and two new cast members, Vincent Curatola, who played New York mob boss Johnny Sack in The Sopranos, and Shaq, aka Shaquille O'Neal, the former NBA super star who plays a Bed-Stuy gangster named Mustafa.

But Demeo, 52, told Gang Land that Giardina, 51, who "had one little scene" in a single Season 1 episode that aired in 2020, "grew up in Brooklyn, (and) wanted to do a little acting." The veteran actor stated he "knew him from growing up in the neighborhood. I didn't know anything about his personal life, or what he did after that."

Giardina had other employment opportunities. He holds science-related degrees from St. John's and Rutgers Universities, as well as a certificate in Radiologic Technology from Long Island College Hospital. He worked for several years in the "nuclear medicine" field in the testing of cancer patients.

But sources say that about two years after his acting gig, Giardina decided to follow in his grandpa's footsteps, and became a "made man."

By 2022, according to court filings, Giardina had made millions of dollars in "several business ventures" in the Merchant Cash Advance (MCA) industry in which entrepreneurs can often triple their money by providing cash to businesses against future earnings, even without cheating and stealing from their customers.

But according to the feds, Giardina pushed the envelope. From at least June of 2015 through June of 2020, Giardina, and several companies he owned made untold millions of dollars by using "unlawful acts and practices" in his MCA venture by swindling thousands of customers by "underfunding" the loans they were providing to the needy business owners and "over-collecting" money their customers owed them.

In June of 2022, Giardina agreed to settle a civil lawsuit filed by the Federal Trade Commission. He agreed to fork over $1.5 million on the same day that Giardina signed the stipulation settling the case for himself and his companies. He also agreed to pay another $1.2 million to the FTC by June of last year and cooperate with the FTC in its continuing investigation of the case.

The stipulation that Giardina signed seems to imply that he submitted information to the FTC about his codefendant, and partner, Jonathan Braun, a marijuana dealer who once told a rabbi who owed him money, "I am going to make you bleed." But Giardina's attorney, Jeremy Iandola, insisted that Giardina gave information about himself, and his dealings, and no one else.

"The man said nothing about anybody," Iandola told Gang Land. "He took the Fifth" at Braun's trial. "He's a standup guy in every sense of the word," the lawyer said, noting that Giardina "was not charged with a crime. It was a civil case. He was operating a business thinking he was doing everything alright and then he had a problem because of his last name."

Giardina isn't the only Gambino wiseguy to have struck it rich in the MCA industry.

Gambino soldier James (Jimmy) Laforte, and his brother Joseph, are charged in a Philadelphia indictment with swindling scores of investors out of $550 million in two MCA businesses they ran. They allegedly used threats and violence against customers who came up short or were believed to be cooperating. Jimmy Laforte is also charged with racketeering in Brooklyn, where prosecutors noted that he funneled $1.5 million in illicit proceeds to family leaders.

It's still unclear to Gang Land why Giardina opted to embrace the mob life he had shunned for years. His decision to go into the MCA business with Braun after the pot dealer had pleaded guilty in 2011, but while he was still awaiting sentencing in 2015 and thought to be working out a cooperation deal with the feds, is also curious.

There's another very curious aspect of the case, one The New York Times has noted in two major stories. Braun, 41, was finally sentenced in May of 2019, and got 10 years for drug-dealing. He self-surrendered to his assigned facility on January 2, of 2020. On January 20, 2021, President Trump on the last day of his presidency, at 12:51 AM, commuted Braun's prison term.

In the FTC case, a jury found Braun guilty of swindling his customers of $3.5 million and fined him $7.5 million. Manhattan Federal Judge Jed Rakoff, who presided over the trial, more than doubled the fine to $16.9 million because Braun "gleefully" took part in years of "illegal conduct" with "little remorse" and "a complete disregard for how his actions would affect his customers, most of whom were small businesses."

As for Giardina, sources say the Gambinos have placed him in the crew of acting capo Joseph Traina, 60, who like his late father Mario, a family skipper for both Big Paul Castellano and John Gotti, has managed to avoid any serious troubles with the law.

Gravesend stars Demeo as Benny Zerletta, a soldier in the Colezza crime family whose boss Cesar Tremaldo, is played by Chazz Palminteri and whose consigliere, Donnie (Glasses) Sisto, is played by Sopranos alum, Vincent Pastore. In addition to Curatolo, who joins the cast as capo Larry Sisto, the brother of Donnie Glasses, who runs the family's Staten Island crew, another Sopranos alum, Dominic Chianese, of Uncle Junior fame, will be featured in Season 3.

"The locations we shoot at," Demeo told Gang Land, "are authentic places where real wiseguys hung out in the past. Places like Luigi's Pizza in Park Slope (it replaces Lenny's of Bensonhurst, which has shuttered) the Spumoni Gardens and Brennan and Carr," where the hierarchy of the Colombo family met to talk business twice in November of 2020, according to court filings.

About 80% of the filming will take place in Brooklyn, Demeo said, with much of the rest taking place in the Sunshine State, where many wiseguys like to work and play. The scene with Shaq was shot in Coney Island on the roof of Larry's Radiator Shop which featured a real live pigeon coop, like the ones that the late Bonanno consigliere Anthony Spero had in Bath Beach and Luchese underboss Steven (Stevie Wonder) Crea had in The Bronx.

"It's all authentic stuff," said Demeo, who cautioned viewers who have been following the action in recent weeks that Season 3, which will have 8-10 episodes, "which is like five movies," will not air until 2025. "We just started shooting," he said, noting they were delayed for about five months by strikes by actors and screen writers.

Tony Sirico, whose first acting job was as an uncredited extra in The Godfather: Part II in 1974, had roles in several Woody Allen films and numerous other movies before he landed the role as Paulie Walnuts that he often noted made him "famous." And he gave up the violent life that sent him to Sing Sing, except for scripted roles like the killing of Big Pussy Bonpensiero when he became a snitch.

Bazoo: That Was No Threat! It Was Just An 'Angry Retort'

Mobster John (Bazoo) Ragano twice told a wired-up snitch who had taken off all his clothes to prove he wasn't wired up that Ragano wanted the money he was owed. But his lawyers say that taken "in context," his words were not an effort to use extortion to collect a loan. They were "an angry retort" to a false accusation that Bazoo was tape-recording the snitch.

The lawyers argue Ragano's tape-recorded remarks last July were an "understandably vehement response" to a "preconceived plan" by the feds to use a "provocative false accusation" from Vincent Martino to get Bazoo to utter angry words that prosecutors could use to convict him of a crime of which they had not been able to obtain any evidence in the prior eight months.

"If the confrontation was about money," the lawyers wrote, why did Martino "begin the conversation by launching into and continuing his barrage of false accusations" instead of "discussing" the $150,000 extortionate loan that Ragano had pleaded guilty to giving to Martino in November of 2022.

Ragano: Come here. What's going on?
Martino: I gotta end this thing.
Ragano: What do you mean end it?
Martino: Because you fucking snitched on me bro.
Ragano: I snitched on you?
Martino: Yea.
Ragano: What are you talking about?
Martino: You gave me up on the weed case bro.
Ragano: I gave you, get the fuck out of here? What are you losing you fucking mind? Are you trying to get stupid on me bro? Is that what you’re trying to do?
Martino: No.
Ragano: How the fuck are you gonna tell me I snitched on you on the weed case? What are you losing your fucking mind? I'm going to jail for 57 months.

Joel Stein"Instead of arguing relevant facts," wrote attorneys Joel Stein and Kenneth Womble, the government made "an irrelevant reference" that two of Ragano's co-workers were holding a tire iron and a crowbar "in an obvious attempt to protect their colleague" in case he needed it.

Even if it were true, the lawyers wrote, the men were "behind the defendant so that they would not have been in his field of vision and there were no reported verbal threats by them" or any "verbal encouragement" by Ragano that constituted threats of any kind.

They also wrote that the word "hurt" that a Ragano pal dubbed "co-conspirator#1" uttered to Martino in a tape-recorded talk was not, as the feds argued, a threat of violence against Martino if didn't pay the loan. It was "a clear reference to money," they wrote, underlining the word "pocket" that he uttered twice that they believe makes their point.

CC#1: Yea, listen, at the end of the day, he just wants all this to go away.
Martino: Right, right, yeah.
CC#1: So, that's it, there's no, nobody's looking for, nobody's looking for anybody to get hurt, nobody's looking to hurt your pocket or hurt his pocket.
Martino: Yeah.

During the July 5, 2023 conversation, after Martino accused Ragano of cooperating against him, Bazoo accused Martino of being a wired-up snitch which he denied.

"Okay, well then take off your fucking shit right now my man," Ragano shouted, according to portions of the tape recorded conversation that were detailed in a filing by federal prosecutor Devon Lash. "Take off your fucking pants right now, lemme see, I want to see," he said.

Bazoo continued berating Martino, who is identified only as "John Doe," after he complied with Ragano's order and stripped nude, according snippets of the tape-recorded talk that were submitted to Brooklyn Federal Court Judge Hector Gonzalez.

Ragano: You owe me my fucking money, let's see how you're gonna do when I get out.
Martino: Okay.
Judge Hector GonzalezRagano: You want to duck me right now? Fine, that's what I want to know.
Martino: I'm not ducking you, I'm here, I'm here.
Ragano: So if I fucking slap the shit out of you, you're gonna tell on me?
Martino: No.
Ragano: I try to make this like a friendly thingMartino: [UI]
Ragano: I said you give me my fucking money and we'll call it even.

The two references to "money" by Ragano "in the context of the entire conversation, were merely incidental and an afterthought to (Martino's) premeditated provocations concerning the false accusation" that Ragano was cooperating, the lawyers wrote. "Fundamentally and in substance, this was about 'snitching,' and not the money," the attorneys argued.

Gambino Gambling and Loansharking Operation On Staten Island Truly A Family Affair

If the 20 members, associates and other friends of the Gambino crime family who were rounded up and charged earlier this month with gambling, loansharking and mortgage fraud had a theme song it would definitely be Family Affair, the smash 1971 hit by Sly & The Family Stone that was Number One on the Billboard Hot 100 list for three weeks.

The 84-count enterprise corruption indictment accuses three members of the Gambino family, John (John The Hammer) LaForte, Anthony Cinque and John Matera, along with a dozen family associates, including Edward LaForte, with being part of an illegal gambling operation that handled $22 million in wagers and had a loansharking book of $500,000.

In addition to the brothers LaForte, the defendants include a nephew, their wives (one is of the common-law variety) and a stepson. There is also a father and son team, according to the state racketeering charges and a related mortgage fraud indictment filed by the Attorney General's office.

According to the charges, Edward LaForte's significant other, Amy McLaughlin, 44, served as the record keeper of the gambling and loansharking operations. McLaughlin's son, James Miranda, 23, occasionally helped out by picking up loanshark payments that customers often left at the China Chalet, a Staten Island eatery on Richmond Road.

John the Hammer LaForte, his wife, Tracy Alfano, 38, and LaForte's nephew, Joseph W. LaForte, Jr., 34, were all charged with mortgage fraud. The LaFortes allegedly recruited Joseph LaForte to fraudulently apply for a mortgage loan to purchase a $600,000 home in Monmouth County NJ where John LaForte and his wife currently live.

Under the supervision of Edward Laforte, former NYPD police officer Frederick Falcone, Sr., 66, allegedly served as a loanshark who "maintained detailed loansharking ledgers that included" the names of customers and what they owed. Falcone often used his son, Frederick Falcone, Jr., 41, to distribute loan proceeds and pick up payments from customers.

The father and son would sometimes meet the ring's customers by appointment at the Eltingville Shopping Center on Amboy Road or the Greenridge Shopping Center on Richmond Avenue. On occasion, customers would drop off payments at the elder Falcone's home. The Falcones also allegedly had a concierge service where they would arrange to pick up loan payment at customers' homes.

The racketeering indictment lists numerous conversations among the accused defendants in which they are heard discussing wagers and loans they had outstanding. It also lists conversations between the defendants, as well as talks they had with the gambling and loanshark customers they served during the two years the ring operated.

Like Sly & The Family Stone sang: "Blood's thicker than the mud. It's a family affair. Ain't nothing but a family. Nothing but a family affair. It's a family affair. Yeah."

Editor's Note: Gang Land is a taking a slide next week. We'll be back with more real stuff about organized crime in two weeks, on July 4.

[Dr031718]

[Wiseguy]

As for Giardina, sources say the Gambinos have placed him in the crew of acting capo Joseph Traina, 60, who like his late father Mario, a family skipper for both Big Paul Castellano and John Gotti, has managed to avoid any serious troubles with the law.

That's interesting. Assuming he took over for Joseph Marino?

[chin_gigante]

As for Giardina, sources say the Gambinos have placed him in the crew of acting capo Joseph Traina, 60, who like his late father Mario, a family skipper for both Big Paul Castellano and John Gotti, has managed to avoid any serious troubles with the law.

That's interesting. Assuming he took over for Joseph Marino?

Giardina's grandfather was also under Mario Traina, so it would make sense if it's the same decina. Given that Joseph Traina is listed as acting, perhaps Marino (if he's still alive) remains the official captain despite his advanced age.

[quadtree]

If so, this would make this crew the oldest in the United States.

[NorthBuffalo]

Traina is a doppelganger for Ronald 'One Arm' Trucchio and I wonder if that's honestly the wrong photo.

[MichaelGiovanni]

Traina is a doppelganger for Ronald 'One Arm' Trucchio and I wonder if that's honestly the wrong photo.

I had the same thought

[Juice Terry]

Sirico claims he quit the life in the 70s to become an actor. However, in Kenji's book (which I haven't read for a while so apologies if I'm wrong) he recalls being at a meeting wirh (I think) Ori Spado in LA in the 90s where Sirico seems to be touting for work. Seem to recall he mentioned 'being with Sonny' (Franzeze I assume). I may be wrong, as I said, it's been a long time, and Kenji isn't the most trustworthy of sources, but that's what I recall.

[B.]

Just for context Joe Traina traces his heritage back to the early 1900s and his namesake grandfather was Toto D'Aquila's consigliere and acting capo dei capi. We are talking at least 110 and probably closer to 120 years of lineage in the Gambinos that likely goes back further to Belmonte Mezzagno.

Not only were Giardina's father and two uncles members under Giuseppe and Mario Traina but his grandfather Giuseppe Giardina was an even older member of that crew.