I almost hate to say it....

[dack2001]

That's a really good post B. That makes a lot of sense and jogs my memory from around the time when Camden Yards died. You are most likely correct, I had forgotten that chain of events.

[B.]

Along with saying that NJ soldier Jack Panels Santoli was Catena's choice for underboss, Picasso also loved to claim that Santoli was the real shooter in the Costello murder attempt, not Gigante. One other person has made this claim -- Steve Lenehan, in his American Mafia interview w/ Scott. Both Picasso and Lenehan claimed this was a well-known rumor in Jersey. Every report has Gigante as the shooter and Santoli isn't even mentioned as one of the other alleged participants. The police sketch based on witness testimony is of a very fat guy who looks nearly identical to Gigante... Santoli was of average to thin build in photos I've seen of him. For whatever reason, Picasso fuckin' LOVED "Panels". I think he just liked saying the word "Panels". Hell, I kind of like saying it myself. Panels.

[Pogo The Clown]

There were also other circusmtanital evidence pointing to them being one and the same even before then. During a period in the mid-2000s Picasso "took a break from posting" which coincided with the period Lenehan was in prison for fraud. "Picasso" mentioned spending most of his time in Florida which is where Lenehan was living. "Picasso" talked about having cancer which Lenehan did have a one point if I remember right. Most telling of all was how "Picasso" (despite being a supposed well connected Genovese member) seemed to know an awful lot about Steve Lenehan (a low level associate mostly around the Philly NJ Crew). Whenever Lenehan would get the "he is a low life rat bastard" treatment from posters "Picasso" would always come to the defense of Lenehan and excuse away his cooperating. He would have been exposed long before (and saved the forums a lot of problems, lost members and general bullshit) but the various mods always ran interference and protected him.


I was gone by then but wasn't "Smarten Up" exposed as Lenehan when he absent mindedly made a post where he signed off as "pic" the way Lenehan use to do?


Pogo

[B.]

SmartenUp was definitely not Lenehan. Picasso probably lost his password or something and he either posted for him or they shared the account later on. Remember he was always starting new accounts, probably because he couldn't remember the password. He would show up, make posts identical to his old ones and then it would be some big "reveal" that it was Picasso all along and his fans would be like, "I knew it was you old pal!"

Augie was a different guy as well, despite how similar his "grammar" was to Picasso. He made a couple mistakes and it was figured out that he was a former low-level Gambino associate in NJ who had also been a professional bodybuilder.

I don't feel right listing Augie and SmartenUp's actual names, as I don't feel they did anything wrong aside from enable Picasso's bullshit. Lenehan on the other hand continued to be engaged in criminal activity and scammed elderly people and migrant workers after he flipped, like an extremely pathetic, low-level Gravano. I don't feel bad using his name publicly for that reason.

[DPG]

Along with saying that NJ soldier Jack Panels Santoli was Catena's choice for underboss, Picasso also loved to claim that Santoli was the real shooter in the Costello murder attempt, not Gigante. One other person has made this claim -- Steve Lenehan, in his American Mafia interview w/ Scott. Both Picasso and Lenehan claimed this was a well-known rumor in Jersey. Every report has Gigante as the shooter and Santoli isn't even mentioned as one of the other alleged participants. The police sketch based on witness testimony is of a very fat guy who looks nearly identical to Gigante... Santoli was of average to thin build in photos I've seen of him. For whatever reason, Picasso fuckin' LOVED "Panels". I think he just liked saying the word "Panels". Hell, I kind of like saying it myself. Panels.

I remember when he said Chin missed on purpose

[B.]

He put a spin on almost everything he ever posted. What's funny is most sources share knowledge that is pretty consistent with other sources, and of course each source has some unique information that others might not have and stories differ here and there, but overall there is more consistency between them than not in my experience. One of the big red flags if you look at Picasso as a source is that everything he said had to be at odds in some way with "common knowledge", like he was giving us all a fresh take on virtually everything related to the Genovese family.

Like a good con man, though, he knew what people wanted and he knew how to sound convincing. People come to these boards wanting to get new info and interesting stories and he played right into that.

[Wiseguy]

Agree with both Pogo and B. The mods giving Pic carte blanche was half the problem. The other half was how so many posters, wanting so badly to believe they had an insider on the forum, would hang on his every word.

[dack2001]

There wasn't anything for the moderators to shut down. Just like in real life, some are posers and some are real. The reader can choose to read and agree or disagree or disregard entirely. Lenehan, for everything said about him, was legitimately involved in the life in Jersey. He shouldn't be shut down for claiming to be someone he wasn't anymore than the people who exposed him if the moderators disagreed with them. It's a forum for a reason, save for trolling.

[B.]

I agree it's a slippery slope once the moderators start policing members, but the RD admin banned people for challenging Picasso's bogus information and built the forum around him. Tommy PM'd me on the RD before I was banned and told me that he and David knew that Picasso was Lenehan but he was too big of a draw for the forum to do anything about it. It's one thing for the admin to be indifferent or ambivalent toward an egregious liar, but to actually advocate for one is another story and they basically lost their forum because of it.

[Wiseguy]

I agree it's a slippery slope once the moderators start policing members, but the RD admin banned people for challenging Picasso's bogus information and built the forum around him. Tommy PM'd me on the RD before I was banned and told me that he and David knew that Picasso was Lenehan but he was too big of a draw for the forum to do anything about it. It's one thing for the admin to be indifferent or ambivalent toward an egregious liar, but to actually advocate for one is another story and they basically lost their forum because of it.

Exactly. Couldn't have said it any better. And Tommy told me essentially the same thing. "Pic is an institution on the forum" and all that. Look how that turned out.

[SILENT PARTNERZ]

Along with saying that NJ soldier Jack Panels Santoli was Catena's choice for underboss, Picasso also loved to claim that Santoli was the real shooter in the Costello murder attempt, not Gigante. One other person has made this claim -- Steve Lenehan, in his American Mafia interview w/ Scott. Both Picasso and Lenehan claimed this was a well-known rumor in Jersey. Every report has Gigante as the shooter and Santoli isn't even mentioned as one of the other alleged participants. The police sketch based on witness testimony is of a very fat guy who looks nearly identical to Gigante... Santoli was of average to thin build in photos I've seen of him. For whatever reason, Picasso fuckin' LOVED "Panels". I think he just liked saying the word "Panels". Hell, I kind of like saying it myself. Panels.

I remember when he said Chin missed on purpose

THATS RIGHT! I remember now. He said that the shooter missed on purpose,
just grazed his skull to scare Costello into retiring. That it was a shot that only
the best hit man alive could make.

[DPG]

Thread is completely fucked now

[SILENT PARTNERZ]

I agree it's a slippery slope once the moderators start policing members, but the RD admin banned people for challenging Picasso's bogus information and built the forum around him. Tommy PM'd me on the RD before I was banned and told me that he and David knew that Picasso was Lenehan but he was too big of a draw for the forum to do anything about it. It's one thing for the admin to be indifferent or ambivalent toward an egregious liar, but to actually advocate for one is another story and they basically lost their forum because of it.

Wow! Did not know this. Very disigenuous for David and Tommy to put ratings
or 'draw' over correct and solid information & honest posters. IMO.
B., was you old RD avatar the Baltimore Ravens logo?

[SILENT PARTNERZ]

Thread is completely fucked now

Why? whats wrong with remembering and discussing PIC.

[DPG]

Thread is completely fucked now

Why? whats wrong with remembering and discussing PIC.

Not blaming you at all just saying there is a thread in the GY for the discussion of pic, considering how it has gotten to where it has nothing to do with the current subject matter anymore.