Gangland April 24th 2025

[Dr031718]

Bobby Manna: Still Alive At 95; He'll Be Back In New Jersey Soon

The oldest federal prison inmate in the United States is 95 years old, has 36 years behind bars under his belt, and is dying of cancer. This past September, he suffered a stroke and landed inside a 24-hour prison hospital "Full Watch" room, where the feds wanted him to die.

But former Genovese consigliere Louis (Bobby) Manna will return to New Jersey soon, as early as tomorrow, to live with flesh and blood family members, Gang Land has learned. The wiseguy stands alone as the oldest of the 155,979 inmates currently housed by the federal Bureau of Prisons.

Manna, sentenced to 80 years for the storied 1987 murder of mob-linked millionaire businessman Irwin (The Fatman) Schiff as he dined in an Upper East Side restaurant, and for plotting to kill Gambino boss John Gotti and his brother Gene, received the good news last week. It came five months after several social media reports had wrongly given the sickly goodfellow his last rites.

Manna received compassion from Trenton Federal Judge Robert Kirsch, sparing the mobster from the same fate as his father Mauro. The old man died behind bars in the New Jersey State Prison in Trenton in 1952, the same year that Bobby Manna, then a 22-year-old longshoreman, officially began his criminal career by assaulting a victim trying to recruit workers to join a rival union.

In a 19-page decision, Kirsch wrote that the "up-to-date picture" of the "violent mobster of 36 years ago" who exhibited "particularly brazen depravity" in orchestrating the execution murder of Schiff in a New York City restaurant is "vastly different" today than it was when he was sentenced. In 1989, the judge wrote, "The intention was for him to die in prison."

The government noted in a filing with Kirsch shortly after the case was assigned to him in August that Newark Federal Judge Maryanne Trump Barry (Yes, the late, older sister of President Trump) "had necessarily contemplated (Manna) spending the remainder of his life in prison" when sentencing Manna to 80 years in prison.

"Nothing that has occurred in the intervening years has fundamentally altered the factors" that Barry considered in 1989 or that Judge Peter Sheridan considered in 2023 when he rejected compassion for Manna, assistant U.S. attorney Alexander Ramey wrote.

The judge finally granted attorney Jeremy Iandolo's fourth compassionate release motion for Manna and ordered the inmate's release within 14 days following three sealed sessions Kirsch had with Iandolo and Ramey on April 14, 15 and 16, according to the docket sheet in the case.

Judge Robert KirschKirsch ruled that Manna's "significantly advanced age, failing health, and the substantial amount of time that he has deservedly spent incarcerated for his egregious criminal conduct," along with his "clean disciplinary record," his devotion to his family and "bettering himself while incarcerated," now "tips (the scales) ever-so-slightly in favor of Mr. Manna's early release."

Medical records at the prison hospital in Rochester Minnesota where he was transferred in 2020 because of declining health indicate that Manna "has noticeably deteriorated in the last two years," the judge wrote. Kirsch noted that a September medical report lists 40 separate diagnoses, including "lung cancer, stroke, Parkinson's disease, and chronic kidney disease." For the year 2024 alone, the government had "over 1,200 pages of medical records."

Manna's stepson, daughter, and granddaughters have each written letters extolling "the support and love (he) has provided them even while incarcerated" and "he has earned over 2,017 days in Earned First Step Act Time Credits" for completing "Evidence-Based Recidivism Reduction (EBRR)" Bureau of Prison programs, Kirsch wrote.

The warden at the prison hospital has recommended Manna’s release, and federal prosecutor Ramey has conceded that the gangster's failing health is an "extraordinary and compelling" reason for his release under the First Step Act of 2018.

But Ramey still argued against the aging mobster's release.

Ramey contends that "due to the nature and circumstances of Manna's offense, a RICO (racketeering) conspiracy to commit murder, (his) release would not be consistent with the relevant sentencing factors" for the slaying of Schiff and the crime family's failed plot to murder the late Dapper Don and his brother Gene.

"The Government also argues," the judge wrote, that "Manna's early release would not reflect the seriousness of his conduct, promote respect for the law, or provide just punishment."

Kirsch agreed with Iandolo's argument that Manna displayed "extraordinary rehabilitation" while behind bars, posed "a low risk of recidivism" and that his "lengthy sentence" had satisfied the core justice system goals of "retribution, deterrence, incapacitation, and rehabilitation."

The judge also noted that Manna's 80-year prison term "far exceeds the median sentence for other defendants convicted of graver offenses."

"At the age of 95," the judge wrote, "he has lived significantly longer than the average male life expectancy, meaning he has also spent more time incarcerated than reasonably expected." The judge noted that since "the average life expectancy" for men in the U.S is 74.8 years, "Manna has exceeded the average life expectancy by more than two decades" while behind bars.

When he gets out, Manna's supervised release conditions will be very strict. They include "24-hour house arrest with GPS monitoring, the cost of which will be borne," Kirsch wrote, by "his Court-approved custodians" who testified at the April 14 session "that they would ensure this Court's orders were followed by Mr. Manna through their 24-hour supervision."

Manna will be allowed to communicate only with them and persons who are "pre-approved and authorized" by U.S. Probation officials, the judge wrote. The custodians are not identified in the judge's opinion, but according to sources that include other filings in the case, they are Manna's stepson and his wife, who live in Bayonne.

Any non-compliance by Manna or his custodians of the mobster's supervised release would lead to "his immediate return to federal prison," the judge wrote.

"These conditions," Kirsch wrote, "essentially render Mr. Manna a dying prisoner in his custodians' home" and they "reflect the seriousness of Mr. Manna's crimes and are just punishment for a man at the very last stage of life who has spent the last 36 years incarcerated."

Detective May Have Worked For The Mob, But Lawyers Say He's Not Guilty As Charged

The parade of cops, FBI agents and turncoat gangsters testifying at the trial of Hector Rosario left little doubt that the fired Nassau County detective committed crimes with the mob — and lied to the FBI five years ago about his mob ties. But his lawyers insist the ex-gumshoe's claims were not a crime and his conviction last month should be tossed.

The "false statements" Rosario gave the G-man who quizzed him on January 27, 2020, were "not material" to any issues that the feds were investigating at the time — a prerequisite for a guilty verdict for lying to the FBI, his attorneys argue in a motion seeking a directed verdict of acquittal from Brooklyn Federal Judge Eric Vitaliano.

Rosario was convicted of lying twice to the agent: First, when he stated he did not know Damiano (Danny) Zummo, a Bonanno mobster whose home he had visited. And again when he claimed no familiarity with Sal's Shoe Repair, a Genovese gambling club that Rosario had raided for the Bonannos a dozen years ago, according to testimony by Zummo and two other mob turncoats.

"Neither of these statements were material under the law," his lawyers argued in court papers. The "government's evidence" at trial, they wrote, "supports the fact that the FBI" had interviewed Rosario "not to further their investigation" into alleged racketeering by the Bonanno and Genovese families but "to obtain admissions of guilt" from him.

"The trial record clearly establishes” that on the day FBI agent Orlando Tactuk interviewed Rosario in the hallway outside his apartment, the attorneys wrote, the feds were already aware of all the info he sought. The FBI had received it from Zummo and his cousin Salvatore Russo, a second turncoat Bonanno gangster, and the FBI's actions during its investigation were "at odds" with Tactuk's testimony in the case, they wrote.

On the stand, the lawyers wrote, Tactuk testified that the purpose of Rosario's interview was "to identify other members of organized crime that were operating in Nassau County as well as other illegal gambling operations in the area" and "to potentially identify other members of the Nassau County Police Department or law enforcement that were corrupt."

"This simply feigns legitimacy," defense attorneys Louis Freeman, Nadjia Limani and Kestin Thiele argue in their 14-page filing. "The answer to every question by the FBI was long known to the agency."

Tactuk's "testimony shows no attempt to gather new information about others' criminal activity, nor does it show attempts to identify other members of NCPD or law enforcement that were corrupt," they wrote, noting: "The interview did not include a single question about other law enforcement officers engaging in corrupt activity."

"Zummo and Russo armed the FBI with knowledge that allowed Agent Tactuk not only to ask Mr. Rosario pointed questions in January 2020, but also to know which answers were truthful, regardless of Mr. Rosario's responses," the lawyers wrote.

"Most notably," they argue, their client's "false statements" about not knowing Zummo or Sal's Shoe Repair "did not have the capacity to influence the FBI" and act on them … because the FBI had existing relationships with cooperating witnesses Zummo and Russo at the time of the interview" and had received that information "from the two cooperators."

"It follows that the Agent Tactuk and the FBI's true intention in interviewing Mr. Rosario was to elicit either admissions of guilt or false statements," they wrote. The lawyers noted the G-man brought "two incriminating audio recordings" of Rosario and Russo, along with an NCPD police report about their client, so he could confront "Rosario's anticipated false statements."

Rosario, 51, earned about $8,000 from Bonanno family gangsters for crimes committed while working for them, according to trial testimony. The statute of limitations had run by August of 2022, when eight members and associates of two crime families were hit with illegal gambling charges.

Rosario was charged only with lying to the FBI and obstructing a federal grand jury probe.

The gangsters all copped plea deals. Rosario was acquitted of obstructing a grand jury investigation of illegal gambling operations by the Genovese and Bonanno crime families at several locations in Queens and Long Island. That was a big win for Rosario. The crime carries a maximum penalty of 20 years.

If his conviction for lying to the FBI is upheld, he faces up to five years behind bars. Prosecutors are slated to respond to the defense claims next month.

Georgie Neck Back Behind Bars For Racketeering And Gambling In The Garden State

Even before he was straightened out in 1988, Luchese wiseguy George (Georgie Neck) Zappola had a friend in high places. And now, 37 years later, he's got another one.

In the 1980s it was underboss Anthony (Gaspipe) Casso; today it's acting boss Michael (Big Mike) DeSantis. So it's no surprise that Zappola, who now hangs his hat in Red Bank, was tagged as the head of the family's illegal gambling business in New Jersey.

It's also no surprise that Zappola, who served 19 years for six murders and a slew of rubouts he attempted for Casso in the 1980s and '90s, was held without bail as a danger to the community after his arrest two weeks ago on state racketeering and money laundering charges alongside dozens of wiseguys and mob associates.

And it was no surprise that Morris County Superior Court Judge Claudia Jones rejected his request to remain free on bail yesterday and ordered his detention while the case against him, the Perna cousins — capo Joseph (Big Joe) Perna and soldier John Perna — and 36 other defendants moved through the court system.

Big Joe was ordered detained last week, and his rap sheet pales when compared to the case for detention against Georgie Neck. Zappola, 65, pleaded guilty to his involvement in ten successful murder plots — including the 1986 Christmas Day mistaken-identity murder of a 26-year-old telephone installer who shared the same name as a 29-year-old Gambino associate who tried to kill Casso a few months earlier.

Georgie Neck was on the scene when Luchese wiseguy Joseph Testa shot and killed the wrong Nicholas Guido in front of his Brooklyn home in a monumental screwup that involved Casso and the two rogue NYPD detectives he had on his payroll, Louis Eppolito and Steve Caracappa, who were found guilty of Guido's murder and seven others in 2006.

The corrupt cops provided Casso with a picture of the right Guido and his address, located only a few blocks from the wrong Guido's home, according to FBI reports. Testa fired the fatal shots when the third member of the hit team, Frank (Big Frank) Lastorino, saw the wrong Nicky Guido walk out of his house toward his car that they thought belonged to the right Nicky Guido, and said, "That's him."

Zappola confessed to pulling the trigger in a half-dozen killings between 1987 and 1992 when he pleaded guilty in 1996 to murder and racketeering charges — including his role in helping the fugitive Casso elude the law for 32 months between 1990 and January of 1993.

He also admitted his participation in a handful of failed mob rubouts, including the 12-shot barrage that 450-pound turncoat capo Peter (Fat Pete) Chiodo survived in 1991 – and plotting to kill two of Big Pete's relatives, his sister Patricia, who was wounded as she returned home after taking her kids to school, and his uncle, Frank Signorino, who was killed in February of 1993.

During that same time frame, specifically the years from 1989 to 1991, when he was closely aligned with the ultra-violent Gaspipe Casso, Georgie Neck had a completely different connection with the New Jersey wing of the Luchese crime family than state prosecutors alleged he had from December of 2022 until early this month.

"I conspired with others to murder Anthony Accetturo, Sr., Anthony Accetturo, Jr., Thomas Ricciardi, Joseph LaMorte, and others whom the government has referred to collectively as The New Jersey Faction" of the Luchese family, he told Brooklyn Federal Judge Frederic Block, noting that he "traveled to Florida in 1988 and 1989 to assist in efforts to locate these people."

In seeking his detention, prosecutor Heather Hausleben cited the 22-year sentence Zappola had received for multiple murders — he was released from federal prison in September of 2013 — plus his role as the main player in the state racketeering case and his current status as a high-ranking mobster who is a merber of the Luchese family’s ruling panel.

To no avail, defense attorney Marco Laracca argued his client had served his time for his earlier crimes, and was not charged with any violent activity in the current case. The lawyer also said it would be unconscionable to detain him for years while the case crawls through the state courts "on a gambling case" that involved sports betting and poker games.

Judge Jones told Zappola, who listened to the oral arguments on a telephone hookup from the county lockup, that he had seven days in which he could appeal her decision. She put the case off until June 12.

[rolotomasi]

Thanks so much

[Pmac2]

that's crazy. no bail for gambling and money laundering

[NorthBuffalo]

Crazy Zappola was one of the point guys to take out the entire Lucchese Jersey Crew...now he's running it.

[AntComello]

Crazy Zappola was one of the point guys to take out the entire Lucchese Jersey Crew...now he's running it.

That is pretty wild

[SonnyBlackstein]

Pennisi's latest term is Zappola is now a 'shadow boss'.
Ok pal

[SonnyBlackstein]

Crazy Zappola was one of the point guys to take out the entire Lucchese Jersey Crew...now he's running it.

Was that really a thing. Cmon

[NorthBuffalo]

Pennisi's latest term is Zappola is now a 'shadow boss'.
Ok pal

Definitely not if DeSantis put him in this position as Capeci claims...that contradicts Pennisi.

[Wiseguy]

Crazy Zappola was one of the point guys to take out the entire Lucchese Jersey Crew...now he's running it.

Was that really a thing. Cmon

Seems he was briefly in charge of the Jersey crew but is now running the Brooklyn crew.

[SonnyBlackstein]

Pennisi's latest term is Zappola is now a 'shadow boss'.
Ok pal

Definitely not if DeSantis put him in this position as Capeci claims...that contradicts Pennisi.

My point, DeSantis is the boss. Zappola is a captain. This shadow boss crap is, well, just that

[Adam]

Crazy Zappola was one of the point guys to take out the entire Lucchese Jersey Crew...now he's running it.

Was that really a thing. Cmon

Yeah I always thought that was more of a Volkman bullshit thing from Gangbusters.

[Pogo The Clown]

Crazy Zappola was one of the point guys to take out the entire Lucchese Jersey Crew...now he's running it.

Was that really a thing. Cmon

Yeah I always thought that was more of a Volkman bullshit thing from Gangbusters.

Whack Jersey


Pogo

[Ivan]

Whack Jersey

They're creeps.

[bronx]

he admitted the jersey faction of a crime family..hmm

[SonnyBlackstein]

he admitted the jersey faction of a crime family..hmm

bronx! How you been! Youre the most valued member here, dont be a stranger.

Hope you and yours are well mate.