moneyman wrote:Sorry dumb post, Massino obviously heard about it via Bellomo, do we know when Bellomo told Massino? Was it prior to Massino treating Vitale like shit?
Turns out Massino said one of his captains had heard about it from Bellomo in the early 90s and passed it on to Massino around 93/94 but the info was unclear. Massino then heard about it directly from Bellomo in more detail when they were in jail together in 2004. He then discussed it with Basciano while he was making the recordings.
This is from the article about it:
Ex-Bonanno boss Joseph Massino testified Monday that he learned of the plot against him - involving Gotti and Massino's treacherous brother-in-law Salvatore Vitale - years later from a wiseguy in another mob family.
The scheme was apparently hatched in the late 1980s while Massino was still in prison and Vitale was serving as his hand-picked underboss on the street. The coup was never carried out because Gotti was arrested by the feds in 1990 on racketeering and murder charges.
"If he [Gotti] wasn't arrested, I probably wouldn't be here today," Massino said in Brooklyn Federal Court at the trial of former Bonanno acting boss Vincent Basciano.
Massino was secretly recording Basciano when he related the never-before-disclosed plot.
Shortly after Massino was sprung from prison in 1993, one of his captains received a vague message from Genovese gangster Barney Bellomo that his crime family was not going to tolerate "another Paul situation," according to the tape. Gotti had ascended to Gambino boss after engineering the infamous murder of then-boss Paul Castellano outside Sparks Steak House in midtown in December 1985.
"The other families weren't going to go for it if I got killed. There would be war," Massino testified.
Gotti and Massino were neighbors in Howard Beach, Queens, and committed several gangland murders together.
Massino said he did not fully understand the ominous message to his captain until he spoke to Bellomo in jail in 2004 when they were both awaiting trial and he "put the pieces together."
"He [Vitale] would have killed me in a f---ing heartbeat," Massino told Basciano.
Vitale, whose sister Josephine is married to Massino, has testified at several mob trials since he became a government witness and never stated that he was planning a coup d'état.
So it seems likely that the Massino/Vitale animosity started at least partially because of what Bellomo told the Bonanno Captain in 93/94, if that is indeed true. It does make you think Barney was trying to cause a rift with Massino and Vitale for whatever reason.
Are there any other cases of the Genovese using similar tactics?
What are the documented reasons for the Masino/Vitale rift? I've read the Vitale wikipedia page saying he was acting like Gotti etc but I was curious if anyone had anymore reliable info.
moneyman wrote:So it seems likely that the Massino/Vitale animosity started at least partially because of what Bellomo told the Bonanno Captain in 93/94, if that is indeed true. It does make you think Barney was trying to cause a rift with Massino and Vitale for whatever reason.
Are there any other cases of the Genovese using similar tactics?
What are the documented reasons for the Masino/Vitale rift? I've read the Vitale wikipedia page saying he was acting like Gotti etc but I was curious if anyone had anymore reliable info.
Most notoriously, they did it with Philly , pitting Caponigro against Bruno. Doing so basically made the Genovese the representatives for Philly LCN for some time , as opposed to the Gambinos. So the "Ivy League" of LCN benefitted from that whole situation , which they themselves helped escalate. I don't think that may have been the case though, I think Bellomo really had info of a Gotti/Vitale plot.
Does anyone have some info on Salvatore D'Ottavio? recently i v been received response from fbi about request that i made for photographs and mugshots of D'Ottavio and they said to me that they are identified records that i need.iam gonna post photos here soon as i get them.
I was under the impression Gotti and Massino were somewhat close. Gotti et al cleaning up after the three captains murders, lived close to each other etc etc.
I would've assumed Gotti would've considered Massino an ally against Gigante. The Vitale, Gotti 'coup' is somewhat surprising in this context.
I'm beginning to think Massino see's coups under his bed at night.
Looks like it was the mid 90s when the Bonannos were allowed back into the fold.
Pogo
It's a new morning in America... fresh, vital. The old cynicism is gone. We have faith in our leaders. We're optimistic as to what becomes of it all. It really boils down to our ability to accept. We don't need pessimism. There are no limits.
JeremyTheJew wrote:Wouldnt that of been woth gottis help?
I believed gotti got him on bc he needed someone to back him against gigante and casso?
The last godfather and also the sixth family talked about gottis relationship w massino.
So i dont believe that theory. Pogo, wg, what would u guys think about that plot?
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Gotti didn't get Massino back on the Commission. And prior to John Gotti going to prison for life, the Bonannos still didn't have a Commission seat.
I don't think that's stated in Sixth Family either. I'm currently reading The Last Godfather, and haven't seen that mentioned yet. But I haven't seen a single source that said Gotti got Massino & The Bonanno's back on the Commission. It's been mentioned that Gotti proposed bringing Massino & The Bonannos back on the Commission, during a Commission meeting with himself, Gravano, Casso & Amuso, and The Chin. But that Gigante ultimately shot it down, seeing through Gotti's request and recognizing it as the bid for power that it really was.
And I'm almost positive the Bonannos didn't get back on the Commission until after Chin Gigante was incarcerated.
Massino regained some influence in NY on behalf of the Bonannos, but by his own admission there was no Commission left to be a part of. At Basciano's trial Massino testified that "There ain't no commission" and hadn't been since Paul Castellano was killed in 1985. There were articles that talked about this at the time of the trial.
