Gangland January 16th 2025

[Dr031718]

The New Italian American Civil Rights League Wants To Trump A Sammy Bull Gravano TV Show

Joe Colombo's long-defunct Italian American Civil Rights League (IACRL) is back in business, Gang Land has learned. And it's got a plan of action that the late Colombo crime family patriarch would have loved. For starters, the group seeks to block FX Network from airing a weekly TV show about Salvatore (Sammy Bull) Gravano. How come? Because it glorifies the life of a vicious mobster responsible for 19 brutal murders and perpetuates "harmful stereotypes" about Italian Americans.

Things are much different than they were 53 years ago when Colombo was able to keep Marlon Brando and the entire cast in The Godfather from using the word "Mafia" in the classic 1972 mob film. But the revived IACRL, which calls Prez-elect Trump a "modern day Columbus," has some political juice of its own: Longtime Trump ally and dark-arts advisor Roger Stone is a major player in the League.

The IACRL's 300 dues-paying members are gearing up to use New York's Son of Sam Law in federal court to eliminate Gravano's profit motive. They also plan to use the bully pulpit of the IACRL in the court of public opinion to get FX to change its mind about airing the "Sammy The Bull Gravano" show, says attorney Gerard Marrone, the vice president of the IACRL

FX's plans to air "an epic crime series weekly" about the turncoat Gambino family underboss written by The Sopranos and Boardwalk Empire screenwriter Terence Winter, were disclosed last month by deadline.com, an online news outlet that focuses on the entertainment industry.

"They agreed, we're working on it already," Gravano confirmed this week. "We're in contract," he told Gang Land. "We're in pre-production right now," he said.

That announcement was like waving a red flag at the reborn IACRL bull: "The decision to greenlight a show centered on Sammy Gravano is a slap in the face to the Italian American community," Marrone states in an IACRL news release. "There is nothing honorable or redeeming about profiting from the notoriety of a cold-blooded killer," he said, noting that the Bull is "also a convicted drug dealer" whose Arizona based-ring was selling 10,000 Ecstasy pills a week when he was arrested in 2000.

Gravano began his podcast on December 16, 2020, 35 years after his greatest hit, the execution of Mafia boss Paul (Big Paul) Castellano. The podcast came three years after he was released from concurrent federal and state prison terms for earning what authorities said was up to $1.2 million a week selling Ecstasy pills in the Phoenix area. He relocated there after his release from the sweet five year term he'd gotten for testifying against John Gotti and dozens of other mobsters.

Marrone told Gang Land this week that the League, and several family members of Gravano's murder victims whom he represents as an attorney, decided to move now to stop Sammy Bull, because he's taking his four year-old Our Thing podcast about his life of crime and his so-called redemption from "the shadows" to a "major television network."

"He's a serial killer," and the IACRL has "hundreds of members telling us to go ahead with this and press FX to cancel" its plans to air a weekly series about Gravano, Marrone said. "And this has nothing to do with the fact that he was an informer, that he's a rat," the lawyer continued. "It has to do with the fact that he continues to open up these wounds."

"The families say, 'Enough is enough,'" said Marrone. "It's really outright disrespectful that these victims have to be victimized again by Sammy The Bull while he continues to profit from his violent crimes," he said. "He's made money, but his blog is kind of in the shadows. Now that he's going to a major network, he's coming out of the shadows and we're going to go after him."

Another reason is that the IACRL, a non-profit organization that Marrone called the "successor of the former organization" that Colombo created in 1970 is a relatively recent phenomenon. "It was reformed in 2023 as a new corporation with the same name," he said.

"A lot of the old members from the '70s are current members," Marrone said. "This is nice," he continued. "We go into the old neighborhoods and are very well received by them."

The IACRL website makes no bones about its ties to the defunct so-called civil rights group that Joe Colombo founded in 1970 to protest the FBI's arrest of his son Joseph for melting down silver coins, charges for which young Colombo was acquitted at trial less than a year later.

The site features a huge 1970s IACRL billboard with a picture of Colombo's mobster son Anthony in front of it, and an Associated Press photo of three young boys standing in front of a Brooklyn storefront. The storefront boasts a sign stating it is the national headquarters of the IACRL. Its home page unabashedly claims: "Founded in 1970" and "Made Great Again in 2023."

That pronouncement is no surprise since Stone, the lobbyist whose 40-month sentence for obstruction of justice was commuted by Trump in 2020, is an IACRL member who addressed the group at its Christmas party last month on Mulberry Street at the Caffe Palermo

On Instagram, in a pre-2024 election posting, the IACRL "proudly" endorsed Trump for president, asserting that he is a "modern day Columbus" who "made America great again" after "Marxist radicals" had made the country Columbus discovered "unrecognizable."

Marrone poo-pooed the assertion that the organization had mob ties since it held its Christmas party at the Caffe Palermo, which is owned by Gambino soldier John (Baby John) Delutro. "I don't know that," he said. "I met him for the first time that night." Delutro, 73, claims to have opened the place when he was 17. His last trouble with the law, 25 years ago, was for witholding informaton of a crime, natch, from the law.

Marrone insisted that "some of our members, like Stone, have political associations and affiliations with the Trump Administration, but as an organization we're not political." Regarding its decision to endorse Trump for President in November, Marrone said: "Now as an organization, we have changed that. We do not support, as an organization, President elect Trump, or any other political entity."

But it's not hard to imagine that Trump, who has stated his angry displeasure with "flippers" just might try and be helpful to the IACRL's angst with FX's plans to air a series about Gravano.

Marrone said the League is "going to bring in a law firm" with expertise in civil rights law to sue Gravano under New York's so called Son of Sam Law that permits victims of crimes to seize money that convicted criminals earn that are proven to be "profits of a crime."

If so, they'll have to do without the services of lawyer Ron Kuby, who filed a Son of Sam lawsuit in 1998 on behalf of two daughters of a slain demolition contractor. "I am not interested," Kuby told Gang Land. Kuby's lawsuit was one of four suits that were dismissed in 2000 because Sammy Bull was guilty of federal crimes that were not covered by the state law, which had been written with the .44 caliber killer David Berkowitz in mind.

In 2001, the law was amended to include profits from convictions in federal court, but Kuby, who recalls nightmares of becoming The Bull's 20th victim, says don't call him.

“The first rendition almost got me killed," Kuby said. "If people think I'm a coward for not doing it again, they can think that. Mr. Gravano, as I now call him, hopefully has been fine with the current situation, the case being dormant for 20 years. If he's happy to keep it that way, it's certainly fine for me to keep it that way."

As it turns out, Gravano's not concerned about any lawsuits.

"I don't have three cents," he told Gang Land. "They can sue me all they want. I got no money. I don't own anything." The Bull declined to discuss where the funds his podcast earned during its five seasons have gone, or who's been pocketing the money from the sales of T shirts, mugs, and a slew of other Sammy The Bull paraphernalia that is sold on his site.

Gravano noted that relatives of several murder victims have already shared $400,000 he earned from Underboss, the book Peter Maas wrote about him. But that was seized by Arizona authorities under their state's racketeering laws. And instead of being used for law enforcement purposes, as is normally the case, the state prosecutor decided otherwise.

As for the Sammy The Bull TV show, "It's the story of my life," said Gravano, who seemed to be bored with the subject, which is after all, old news, to him. "It's gonna start the same way as The Sopranos, a one or two episode pilot, and then they'll bounce back and forth with it, and it'll be a weekly thing."

Gambinos Tap An Octogenarian Wiseguy As Acting Consigliere

Two decades ago, the Gambino crime family plotted to kill Salvatore (Sammy Bull) Gravano for his mortal sin of cooperating against John Gotti. Two mobsters, including Gotti brother and then acting boss Peter Gotti, were convicted and jailed for that crime. The family had it in for Gravano, but it has not held a grudge against Louis (Big Lou) Vallario, an old wiseguy pal of the turncoat underboss, Gang Land has learned.

Sources say that Vallario, 83, who took over Gravano's crew when he became a member of the family Administration with John Gotti, has recently been serving as an acting consigliere for the borgata's official counselor, Lorenzo Mannino. That's because Mannino has been doing double duty as the crime family acting or "street boss" for the family's official boss, Domenico (Italian Dom) Cefalu.

For years, the Gambinos wondered about the family loyalty of Vallario and other members of Sammy Bull's crew. They noted that years after Gravano flipped and was rewarded with a five year sentence, none of his pals were charged with any crimes. That was despite the fact that The Bull told the FBI back in 1991 when he flipped that Big Lou was involved in three hits with him.

Eventually, the family came to believe that neither Vallario or the others had known about Gravano's decision to flip. And, as Gang Land has reported, that Sammy Bull had wangled a secret handshake deal with the FBI and Brooklyn U.S. Attorney's office that he would not have to testify against any members of his old crew.

Officially, the FBI and Brooklyn U.S. Attorney's office's say they didn't prosecute Sammy Bull's crew because his agreement mandated that he testify only in cases that were made within two years of his deal. They just ran out of time to get enough evidence to make a case against any crew member, they say.

That explanation is nonsense. There had to be a few days during that two year stretch when they could have gotten an indictment or three.

Still, the agreement with Gravano didn't stop the feds from going after his ex-crew members. In 2002, the Manhattan U.S. Attorney's office, armed with information supplied by DeCavalcante family turncoats, hit Vallario with racketeering charges, including the 1989 murder of Staten Island businessman Fred Weiss who was gunned down by the New Jersey mobsters as a favor for John Gotti.

Two years later, sources say, Sammy Bull sent a message to defense lawyer James DiPietro that Big Lou had "nothing" to do with the plot to kill Weiss, and that he would agree to testify for the defense. Prosecutors, who had offered a plea deal calling for 24 years, dropped it to 13 years. Vallario pleaded guilty, was released from custody in 2013, and has not had any future trouble with the law.

At the same time, according to knowledgeable Gang Land sources, Big Lou has remained in good stead with the Sicilian faction of the crime family that has been running the family for more than a decade.

State Organized Crime Task Force Tries To Make Hay Where The Feds Failed Twice

Since Gambino wiseguy Daniel Fama was released from prison back in 2009 after 17 years behind bars, the Manhattan U.S. Attorney's Office has twice failed to nail him on federal charges. Now, Gang Land has learned, New York State's Organized Crime Task Force has joined the hunt with hopes that this third effort to bag him will be the charm.

Sources say that last month NYPD detectives working in conjunction with the Attorney General's 55-year-old OCTF unit searched Fama's Staten Island home, seizing books and records, as well as his cell phone, in an effort to tie him to bid rigging and other labor racketeering activity for the Gambino crime family.

The sources say that Fama, in addition to other Gambinos, including consigliere Lorenzo Mannino, was implicated in money laundering in a 2022 complaint by the Manhattan U.S. Attorney's office but never charged. Fama also dodged another federal bullet when he won an unprecedented dismissal in 2014 of a murder indictment lodged by the office a year earlier.

The money laundering probe ended up with fraud charges being filed against only one defendant, Gambino associate Mileta (Michael Michael) Miljanic, the accused leader of the violent Serbian American gang, Grupo Amerika. Miljanic, 65, pleaded guilty, and was released from prison six months ago.

The feds did manage to jail Fama — improperly it turned out, as an angry federal judge stated from the bench — for eight months when they wrongly charged him in 2013 with federal murder charges that they dropped when lawyer Charles Carnesi used information from Gravano to convince prosecutors that the murder charge was bogus.

In addition to Fama, 60, the investigators also seized books and records from the Queens home of mobster Caesar Gurino, an old John Gotti pal who along with his late brother Anthony, owned a plumbing company that gave the late Dapper Don a no-show salesman's post in the late 1970s when he needed a job after he was released from prison.

Gurino, 71, was released from prison in 1994 after a short stretch for obstruction of justice. He was also investigated by the Manhattan U.S. Attorney's office during the investigation that led to the bribery conviction of Plumbers Union leader James Cahill. Gurino was tape recorded by a wired up plumbing contractor. But unlike Cahill, Gurino did not implicate himself in any crimes.

Lawyers for each wiseguy declined to comment about the case when contacted by Gang Land.

[Dr031718]

Louis Vallario

[Cheech]

Do you know what a coffee boy is?

[TommyGambino]

Great GL this week.

[TommyGambino]

Vallario is a name nobody expected to see in the admin.

[Ivan]

Vallario is a name nobody expected to see in the admin.

Yeah that came out of fucking NOWHERE. I thought he had died years ago.

Upon review, it looks like I might have confused him with the somewhat similar-looking Jack Giordano.

[JogodoBicho]

The last thing I would have imagined in early 2025 would be to hear about the return of the Italian American Civil Rights League.

Great post, thanks

[Juice Terry]

Wonder whose gonna play Gravano in this new series?

[OmarSantista]

Wonder whose gonna play Gravano in this new series?

It’s about him, he’s playing himself I’m guessing it’ll be documentary style

[Juice Terry]

Wonder whose gonna play Gravano in this new series?

It’s about him, he’s playing himself I’m guessing it’ll be documentary style

Apparently it's a drama. Terence Winter (Sopranos, Boardwalk Empire, Tulsa King) is Producing with Antoine Fuqua (Training Day) directing...

https://deadline.com/2024/12/sammy-the- ... 236196544/

[OmarSantista]

The last thing I would have imagined in early 2025 would be to hear about the return of the Italian American Civil Rights League.

Great post, thanks

Seriously came from left field. I think it’s kind of ironic that it says the Joe Colombo would’ve loved the plan of taking Sammy’s plans down. It’s like how would they know that when Joe can’t speak for himself & Sammy was first inducted into the Colombo’s lol.
Thanks for the post Dr03

[OmarSantista]

Wonder whose gonna play Gravano in this new series?

It’s about him, he’s playing himself I’m guessing it’ll be documentary style

Apparently it's a drama. Terence Winter (Sopranos, Boardwalk Empire, Tulsa King) is Producing with Antoine Fuqua (Training Day) directing...

https://deadline.com/2024/12/sammy-the- ... 236196544/

Ohhhh this is the Antoine fuqua film yeah idk how Sammy pulled this one off

[NYNighthawk]

A lot of people flipped from Gravano's crew. That pic in his book with vallario - Fappiano and D'Angelo all flipped! And your'e making the guy consigliere? The Gambino's must be desperate or very stupid!

[SonnyBlackstein]

Vallario.

In the same week as Gene and Lenny. This couldnt get any funnier.

[funkster]

Do you know what a coffee boy is?

Ha.

Good lord Sammy is such a grifter.