Now that the suspect has been named as a
http://www.fivefamiliesnyc.com/2018/10/ ... ested.htmlHigh ranking Bloods gang member
Is it safe to assume the mob are still working with some blacks to do some of their dirty work?
Gangland - 10/25/18
Moderator: Capos
Re:Re: A reputed mobster shot dead in McDonalds drove thru
Without getting into some racist discussion
Now that the suspect has been named as a
Is it safe to assume the mob are still working with some blacks to do some of their dirty work?
Now that the suspect has been named as a
Is it safe to assume the mob are still working with some blacks to do some of their dirty work?
Gangland - 10/25/18
Hey guys, I was stuck on overnight shift at the hospital so I'm late posting this, good column this week.
This Week in Gang Land
By Jerry Capeci
Feds Look For Albanian Connection In Plot By Bloods Gangstas To Whack Sally Daz
The dramatic execution-murder this month of Sylvester (Sally Daz) Zottola, the longtime Bonanno crime family associate who was gunned down at a Bronx McDonald's was carried out by a loosely connected gang of Bloods street gangstas who were possibly hired by Albanian gangsters, Gang Land has learned.
The slaying, New York's first Mafia-related killing in five years, came after the hired-guns had stalked Zottola and his son for more than a year, sources tell Gang Land. They finally caught up to Sally Daz, a close associate of former acting boss Vincent (Vinny Gorgeous) Basciano during the 1990s, as he waited for a coffee to go in the drive-thru lane of a Webster Avenue Mickey D's.
A week after the murder, the FBI arrested a high-ranking Bloods member named Bushawn (Shelz) Shelton and charged him with being part of a murder-for-hire plot to kill Zottola and his son Salvatore between March and July 11 of this year. That was the day Salvatore was shot outside his Bronx home in a dramatic hit attempt by unknown assailants that was captured on videotape.
At this point, as Shelton, 34, cools his heels in the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, sources say the FBI and federal prosecutors in Brooklyn are close to snaring at least one, and most likely more suspects, in what appears to be a bizarre modern-day murder plot against a mob associate by organized crime groups not known to have worked together.
At Shelton's arraignment in Brooklyn Federal Court, assistant U.S. attorney Lindsey Gerdes stated that Shelton was a high-ranked member of the Bloods and that arresting FBI agents had seized several loaded weapons and $45,000 in cash from the Brooklyn apartment he shared with his grandmother.
"It's the first time I've heard of those groups teaming up, but that is what it looks like," said one law enforcement source, referring to a "very real" possibility of an unlikely alliance of Bloods and Albanian gangsters.
It would also be somewhat surprising for Albanian gangsters, who have a long and well-established history of standing up to mobsters, to move out of their own circle and hire hit-men to retaliate against a relatively low-level mob associate.
Albanian hoods have flexed their own muscles several times in recent years as the clout of the traditional Mafia has waned. In 2001, Albanian gangsters led by Alex Rudaj invaded an Astoria social club that the Gambino family used as a gambling club, trashed the place, and told the proprietor who ran card games there, that they were now in charge.
At a tense "sitdown" at a New Jersey gas station between Rudaj and a small crew of Albanian gangsters and a much larger group of Gambino mobsters led by Arnold (Zeke) Squitieri, Rudaj ended the discussion by threatening to shoot up the gas pumps and blow up the station and everyone in it, according to a 2004 bail hearing in Manhattan Federal Court.
"The Rudaj organization then operated without retribution in Astoria after that," assistant U.S. attorney Timothy Treanor told the court.
In the arrest complaint against Shelton, FBI agent Michael Zoufal, whose squad investigates Balkan and Middle Eastern crime groups, wrote that the feds learned from a cooperating witness (CW) that Zattola was the main target of a murder plot that began in September of last year.
From the informer, who accepted an undisclosed fee to kill Salvatore Zottola in March or April of 2018, the FBI learned that "the purpose of killing (Salvatore) was to lure out (his father) whereupon the CW would kill (Sylvester Zatolla)," wrote Zoufal, using John Doe #1 to refer to Sylvester Zattola and John Doe #2 to refer to his son Salvatore.
During that same period, the CW and Shelton made several visits to places where the Zatollas lived or hung out "for the purpose of planning and executing the scheme to kill John Doe #1 and John Doe #2," Zoufal wrote.
There is no indication in the complaint that the CW was the ski-masked gunman who jumped out of the passenger seat of a red Nissan Altima and shot Salvatore Zattola on July 11 when he got out of his car in front of his home. After chasing his victim and shooting him several times, the gunman got back into the car which drove away.
A law enforcement source has told Gang Land that the shooter and the driver of the car were both black men, but declined to provide any further details about them.
The arrest complaint indicates that the CW, who has pleaded guilty to murder-for-hire and weapons charges hoping to "receive leniency" for his crimes, has fingered several other members of the murder for hire plot in addition to Shelton.
On occasions when he did not accompany the CW on runs to locate and kill either of the Zatollas, "Shelton arranged for different drivers to accompany the CW on his visits to those locations and provided the CW with a firearm to be used in killing (the Zatollas,)" Zoufal wrote.
The complaint also indicates that the Zatollas were sloppy about safeguarding important details about themselves as the plotters managed to gain access to information about the Zatollas' homes and safe houses.
"On one such occasion," the agent wrote, "Shelton provided the CW with a key and passcode to enter one of the locations."
All told, according to the complaint, the plotters were involved in four prior "acts of violence" against the Zattolas before the one in which Salvatore, 41, was wounded in front of his Throggs Neck home.
In the first one, on November 26, 2017, a dark van "pulled up next to and then in front of" a car that Sally Daz was driving, forcing him to stop: "A masked individual wearing gloves exited the van and pointed a gun at (Sylvester who) drove away unharmed," the agent wrote.
A month later, on December 27, three masked gunmen who had gained entrance to Sally Daz's Bronx home, stabbed him several times in the neck and chest and bashed him over the head and robbed him, Zoufal wrote. Sources say that Sally Daz moved out of the neighborhood following this attack. He started carrying a gun, but refused to cooperate with police.
On April 16 of this year, perhaps because the plotters were unable to locate their primary target, a gunman confronted Salvatore Zattola near his home, and pointed his weapon at Zattola before driving off.
The last confrontation with the plotters before they shot his son Salvatore, took place on June 12, not far from Sally Daz's home. In that incident, Sally Daz was the only one who got off a shot, when he spotted an unidentified gunman pointing his weapon at him. Sally Daz "fired a shot at the individual" who drove away in his own car, Zoufal wrote.
Shelton's lawyer did not respond to Gang Land calls about the defendant. A Shelton LinkedIn page states that he is a Branch Manager of a Hempstead L.I. firm, a former senior account manager for a Bethpage L.I. firm, a former Distribution & Logistics Manager for a Bronx firm, and is a graduate of Lehman College in the Bronx.
Waterfront Watchdogs KO ILA Gig For Son Of Labor Racketeer
His dad was nailed for stealing money from a longshoremen's union. And when the feds put together a major racketeering case against Local 1814 of the International Longshoremen's Association back in 2002, his old man was a codefendant of Gambino boss Peter Gotti and capo Anthony (Sonny) Ciccone. But Anthony Pansini III wanted a better gig than the one he had at a parking garage. So last April 26, with Local 1814 as his sponsor, he sought a $145,000 a year job on the still-active Brooklyn piers in Red Hook.
As job applications go, it didn't work out so well.
Last week Pansini withdrew his job bid rather than contest 49 separate allegations about his ties and friendships with Ciccone and other wiseguys from three crime families, as well as a string of lies he allegedly told investigators. Those associations put him in violation of the Waterfront Commission Act of 1963, argued investigators, and made him unfit to work on the docks.
The Waterfront Commission charged that Pansini, 43, lied on the application by stating that "the only person" with mob ties that he associated with was his father, when "in truth and in fact," Pansini also associated with Ciccone and two other mobsters — DeCavalcante soldier Ciro (Jerry) Balzano and Philadelphia capo Joseph (Scoops) Licata.
Pansini also "falsely indicated," the Commission alleged, that he didn't know anyone convicted of crimes including drug dealing, bribery, and extortion when, "in truth and in fact," he knew Ciccone, 84, Balzano, 57, and Licata, 77, who had convictions for those, and other cited crimes.
And Pansini allegedly knew Gambino gangsters Richard (The Lump) Bondi, Primo Cassarino and Jerome Orsino Jr., who were all convicted of labor racketeering in the same 2002 waterfront case in which his father pleaded guilty to defrauding Local 1814.
To close out their case against Pansini III, investigators summoned him for questioning at the Commission's Manhattan office and caught him in four more alleged lies on June 6.
On that occasion, he "falsely testified" that he didn't know his "father was accused of committing crimes against Local 1814 " and that his father "was accused of facilitating" Sonny Ciccone's "de facto control over Local 1814" for years, the Commission charged.
In addition, Pansini also "falsely testified" that he didn't know Scoops Licata "was a member of the Philadelphia crime family," and that he had "no relationship" with Jerry Balzano when he actually has "a friendship" with him, the Commission charged. Ciccone, Bondi, Cassarino, and Orsino Jr. all completed their prison terms and have avoided any further difficulties with the law.
So has Anthony Pansini II, now 68, who received three year's probation, and was ordered to pay $2500 in restitution, which he did to Local 1814's then-secretary treasurer, Louis Pernice, who dutifully replenished the union's benefits funds with the money.
Pernice, who is the current president of the 1152 member union, obviously decided against holding Pansini III responsible for his old man's crimes against Local 1814 when he sponsored him for a longshoreman's job for which he was unable to pass muster.
Contacted yesterday by Gang Land, Pernice, who is also an ILA vice president, recalled that when Pansini III stopped by the 1814 office and "filled out a questionnaire for an application into the longshore industry" Pernice did "not make any inquiries about his father, or associations. That's not my job. It's the Waterfront Commission's job."
"To me," added Pernice, "he seemed like a young man that was ready to get married. Very stable. I didn't know whether or not (the Pansini convicted in 2004) was his father. And if it was his father, I'm not in a position to disqualify him, let the Commission (do that.) If they find out something, let them take the action, not me. He seemed like a nice kid."
It's not clear if there's still a vacancy for the six-figure, no-experience-required job on the piers that Pansini lost out on. But if so, it'd be nice to see the job advertisement. In Brooklyn, there'll be a long line of applicants who won't have to fib on their applications.
Skinny Joey Takes Two With A Smile; Endorses President Trump's View Of Stool Pigeons
Joseph (Skinny Joey) Merlino won't be able to vote for President Trump anytime soon — or for that matter, any of the President's candidates during the mid-term elections in two weeks. But the often-convicted Philadelphia mob boss is on the same page with The Donald when it comes to stool pigeons.
Merlino made that perfectly clear after he was sentenced to two years in prison last week for illegal gambling to close out the controversial racketeering conspiracy case in which Skinny Joey and 45 other defendants with ties to five crime families were snared by a Genovese family associate who flipped on the mob after he was caught selling drugs.
"President Trump was right; they need to outlaw the flippers," Merlino cracked to reporters outside Manhattan Federal Court.
Skinny Joey was of course recalling Trump's remarks made the day after his former close pal and personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, pleaded guilty to numerous fraud charges and implicated the President in payoffs the lawyer made to silence porn star Stormy Daniels during the 2016 presidential campaign.
During a rant to Fox & Friends host Ainsley Earhardt back on August 22, Trump sounded more like John Gotti or an angry mob lawyer than the POTUS when he stated that the "thing about flipping" was that "it almost ought to be outlawed" because "it's not fair."
With a big grin on his face, Skinny Joey, who was brought down this time by a low-level flipper named John (J.R.) Rubeo, heaped praise on Trump without mentioning dealings that The Donald had with Merlino's relatives and other wiseguys from the City of Brotherly Love when he was a mega Atlantic City developer cashing in on New Jersey's decision to legalize casino gambling.
In those heady days, as Gang Land reported two years ago Trump used a rebar company run by Merlino's father Salvatore, and his uncle Lawrence (Yogi) Merlino, and Scarf Inc., a cement company owned by then-Philly mob boss Nicodemo (Little Nicky) Scarfo for his building projects. And in 1985, Trump paid $1.1 million to the sons of two Philadelphia mobsters for property that The Donald used as a parking lot for his Trump Plaza Hotel in Atlantic City.
Not that anyone's conducting a poll, but Merlino is the second wiseguy we've heard speak admiringly of the fact-challenged, shoot-from-the-lip President. As Gang Land reported in April, Salvatore (Sammy Bull) Gravano also spoke glowingly about Trump (of course, that was before his ban-the-flippers comment, something the Bull might dissent from).
As for Skinny Joey, he comported himself as a gentleman both in and out of court. You'd never know he was a lifelong mobster who, according to federal law enforcement officials in New York and Philadelphia, got away with murder as he fought his way to the top of the Philadelphia crime family.
Unlike one vocal supporter, Merlino listened dispassionately as Manhattan Federal Court Judge Richard Sullivan listed a litany of crimes that the 56-year-old mobster has been convicted of over the years as he explained why he was going to give him two years — the maximum sentence for his conviction not a term between 10 and 16 months, the guidelines cited in his plea agreement.
The unidentified supporter loudly labelled the crimes as "bullshit" and called Sullivan a "rat bastard." He left the courtroom before deputy U.S. Marshals summoned by the angry judge to evict the man could get to the courtroom.
Merlino, the only defendant to go to trial after prosecutors offered sweet plea deals all around following disclosures that three FBI agents in the case were the focus of an internal probe, pleaded guilty to a minor gambling charge in April, two months after jurors could not reach a verdict on serious racketeering charges including health care fraud and bookmaking.
The maximum two year sentence, despite a recommendation for a 10 month sentence from the Probation Department, was not a surprise.
As Sullivan said back when Skinny Joey pleaded guilty in April, the judge stated he had listened to the evidence, determined that Merlino had gotten a very good plea deal from the government, and that he was going along with the government's request to impose a maximum sentence, followed by one year of strict post prison supervised release.
"I don't think anyone who saw the trial would think that less than two years is appropriate," said Sullivan, who ordered Merlino, who has spent more than half of his adult life behind bars, to begin his next prison bid on December 3.
Before imposing his sentence, which "maxes out" at about 20 months according to usual federal prison calculations, Sullivan asked Skinny Joey if there was anything he wanted to say.
With more than a trace of sarcasm, Merlino, who had complained frequently about Sullivan's trial rulings, responded: "Thanks for the fair trial."
This Week in Gang Land
By Jerry Capeci
Feds Look For Albanian Connection In Plot By Bloods Gangstas To Whack Sally Daz
The dramatic execution-murder this month of Sylvester (Sally Daz) Zottola, the longtime Bonanno crime family associate who was gunned down at a Bronx McDonald's was carried out by a loosely connected gang of Bloods street gangstas who were possibly hired by Albanian gangsters, Gang Land has learned.
The slaying, New York's first Mafia-related killing in five years, came after the hired-guns had stalked Zottola and his son for more than a year, sources tell Gang Land. They finally caught up to Sally Daz, a close associate of former acting boss Vincent (Vinny Gorgeous) Basciano during the 1990s, as he waited for a coffee to go in the drive-thru lane of a Webster Avenue Mickey D's.
A week after the murder, the FBI arrested a high-ranking Bloods member named Bushawn (Shelz) Shelton and charged him with being part of a murder-for-hire plot to kill Zottola and his son Salvatore between March and July 11 of this year. That was the day Salvatore was shot outside his Bronx home in a dramatic hit attempt by unknown assailants that was captured on videotape.
At this point, as Shelton, 34, cools his heels in the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, sources say the FBI and federal prosecutors in Brooklyn are close to snaring at least one, and most likely more suspects, in what appears to be a bizarre modern-day murder plot against a mob associate by organized crime groups not known to have worked together.
At Shelton's arraignment in Brooklyn Federal Court, assistant U.S. attorney Lindsey Gerdes stated that Shelton was a high-ranked member of the Bloods and that arresting FBI agents had seized several loaded weapons and $45,000 in cash from the Brooklyn apartment he shared with his grandmother.
"It's the first time I've heard of those groups teaming up, but that is what it looks like," said one law enforcement source, referring to a "very real" possibility of an unlikely alliance of Bloods and Albanian gangsters.
It would also be somewhat surprising for Albanian gangsters, who have a long and well-established history of standing up to mobsters, to move out of their own circle and hire hit-men to retaliate against a relatively low-level mob associate.
Albanian hoods have flexed their own muscles several times in recent years as the clout of the traditional Mafia has waned. In 2001, Albanian gangsters led by Alex Rudaj invaded an Astoria social club that the Gambino family used as a gambling club, trashed the place, and told the proprietor who ran card games there, that they were now in charge.
At a tense "sitdown" at a New Jersey gas station between Rudaj and a small crew of Albanian gangsters and a much larger group of Gambino mobsters led by Arnold (Zeke) Squitieri, Rudaj ended the discussion by threatening to shoot up the gas pumps and blow up the station and everyone in it, according to a 2004 bail hearing in Manhattan Federal Court.
"The Rudaj organization then operated without retribution in Astoria after that," assistant U.S. attorney Timothy Treanor told the court.
In the arrest complaint against Shelton, FBI agent Michael Zoufal, whose squad investigates Balkan and Middle Eastern crime groups, wrote that the feds learned from a cooperating witness (CW) that Zattola was the main target of a murder plot that began in September of last year.
From the informer, who accepted an undisclosed fee to kill Salvatore Zottola in March or April of 2018, the FBI learned that "the purpose of killing (Salvatore) was to lure out (his father) whereupon the CW would kill (Sylvester Zatolla)," wrote Zoufal, using John Doe #1 to refer to Sylvester Zattola and John Doe #2 to refer to his son Salvatore.
During that same period, the CW and Shelton made several visits to places where the Zatollas lived or hung out "for the purpose of planning and executing the scheme to kill John Doe #1 and John Doe #2," Zoufal wrote.
There is no indication in the complaint that the CW was the ski-masked gunman who jumped out of the passenger seat of a red Nissan Altima and shot Salvatore Zattola on July 11 when he got out of his car in front of his home. After chasing his victim and shooting him several times, the gunman got back into the car which drove away.
A law enforcement source has told Gang Land that the shooter and the driver of the car were both black men, but declined to provide any further details about them.
The arrest complaint indicates that the CW, who has pleaded guilty to murder-for-hire and weapons charges hoping to "receive leniency" for his crimes, has fingered several other members of the murder for hire plot in addition to Shelton.
On occasions when he did not accompany the CW on runs to locate and kill either of the Zatollas, "Shelton arranged for different drivers to accompany the CW on his visits to those locations and provided the CW with a firearm to be used in killing (the Zatollas,)" Zoufal wrote.
The complaint also indicates that the Zatollas were sloppy about safeguarding important details about themselves as the plotters managed to gain access to information about the Zatollas' homes and safe houses.
"On one such occasion," the agent wrote, "Shelton provided the CW with a key and passcode to enter one of the locations."
All told, according to the complaint, the plotters were involved in four prior "acts of violence" against the Zattolas before the one in which Salvatore, 41, was wounded in front of his Throggs Neck home.
In the first one, on November 26, 2017, a dark van "pulled up next to and then in front of" a car that Sally Daz was driving, forcing him to stop: "A masked individual wearing gloves exited the van and pointed a gun at (Sylvester who) drove away unharmed," the agent wrote.
A month later, on December 27, three masked gunmen who had gained entrance to Sally Daz's Bronx home, stabbed him several times in the neck and chest and bashed him over the head and robbed him, Zoufal wrote. Sources say that Sally Daz moved out of the neighborhood following this attack. He started carrying a gun, but refused to cooperate with police.
On April 16 of this year, perhaps because the plotters were unable to locate their primary target, a gunman confronted Salvatore Zattola near his home, and pointed his weapon at Zattola before driving off.
The last confrontation with the plotters before they shot his son Salvatore, took place on June 12, not far from Sally Daz's home. In that incident, Sally Daz was the only one who got off a shot, when he spotted an unidentified gunman pointing his weapon at him. Sally Daz "fired a shot at the individual" who drove away in his own car, Zoufal wrote.
Shelton's lawyer did not respond to Gang Land calls about the defendant. A Shelton LinkedIn page states that he is a Branch Manager of a Hempstead L.I. firm, a former senior account manager for a Bethpage L.I. firm, a former Distribution & Logistics Manager for a Bronx firm, and is a graduate of Lehman College in the Bronx.
Waterfront Watchdogs KO ILA Gig For Son Of Labor Racketeer
His dad was nailed for stealing money from a longshoremen's union. And when the feds put together a major racketeering case against Local 1814 of the International Longshoremen's Association back in 2002, his old man was a codefendant of Gambino boss Peter Gotti and capo Anthony (Sonny) Ciccone. But Anthony Pansini III wanted a better gig than the one he had at a parking garage. So last April 26, with Local 1814 as his sponsor, he sought a $145,000 a year job on the still-active Brooklyn piers in Red Hook.
As job applications go, it didn't work out so well.
Last week Pansini withdrew his job bid rather than contest 49 separate allegations about his ties and friendships with Ciccone and other wiseguys from three crime families, as well as a string of lies he allegedly told investigators. Those associations put him in violation of the Waterfront Commission Act of 1963, argued investigators, and made him unfit to work on the docks.
The Waterfront Commission charged that Pansini, 43, lied on the application by stating that "the only person" with mob ties that he associated with was his father, when "in truth and in fact," Pansini also associated with Ciccone and two other mobsters — DeCavalcante soldier Ciro (Jerry) Balzano and Philadelphia capo Joseph (Scoops) Licata.
Pansini also "falsely indicated," the Commission alleged, that he didn't know anyone convicted of crimes including drug dealing, bribery, and extortion when, "in truth and in fact," he knew Ciccone, 84, Balzano, 57, and Licata, 77, who had convictions for those, and other cited crimes.
And Pansini allegedly knew Gambino gangsters Richard (The Lump) Bondi, Primo Cassarino and Jerome Orsino Jr., who were all convicted of labor racketeering in the same 2002 waterfront case in which his father pleaded guilty to defrauding Local 1814.
To close out their case against Pansini III, investigators summoned him for questioning at the Commission's Manhattan office and caught him in four more alleged lies on June 6.
On that occasion, he "falsely testified" that he didn't know his "father was accused of committing crimes against Local 1814 " and that his father "was accused of facilitating" Sonny Ciccone's "de facto control over Local 1814" for years, the Commission charged.
In addition, Pansini also "falsely testified" that he didn't know Scoops Licata "was a member of the Philadelphia crime family," and that he had "no relationship" with Jerry Balzano when he actually has "a friendship" with him, the Commission charged. Ciccone, Bondi, Cassarino, and Orsino Jr. all completed their prison terms and have avoided any further difficulties with the law.
So has Anthony Pansini II, now 68, who received three year's probation, and was ordered to pay $2500 in restitution, which he did to Local 1814's then-secretary treasurer, Louis Pernice, who dutifully replenished the union's benefits funds with the money.
Pernice, who is the current president of the 1152 member union, obviously decided against holding Pansini III responsible for his old man's crimes against Local 1814 when he sponsored him for a longshoreman's job for which he was unable to pass muster.
Contacted yesterday by Gang Land, Pernice, who is also an ILA vice president, recalled that when Pansini III stopped by the 1814 office and "filled out a questionnaire for an application into the longshore industry" Pernice did "not make any inquiries about his father, or associations. That's not my job. It's the Waterfront Commission's job."
"To me," added Pernice, "he seemed like a young man that was ready to get married. Very stable. I didn't know whether or not (the Pansini convicted in 2004) was his father. And if it was his father, I'm not in a position to disqualify him, let the Commission (do that.) If they find out something, let them take the action, not me. He seemed like a nice kid."
It's not clear if there's still a vacancy for the six-figure, no-experience-required job on the piers that Pansini lost out on. But if so, it'd be nice to see the job advertisement. In Brooklyn, there'll be a long line of applicants who won't have to fib on their applications.
Skinny Joey Takes Two With A Smile; Endorses President Trump's View Of Stool Pigeons
Joseph (Skinny Joey) Merlino won't be able to vote for President Trump anytime soon — or for that matter, any of the President's candidates during the mid-term elections in two weeks. But the often-convicted Philadelphia mob boss is on the same page with The Donald when it comes to stool pigeons.
Merlino made that perfectly clear after he was sentenced to two years in prison last week for illegal gambling to close out the controversial racketeering conspiracy case in which Skinny Joey and 45 other defendants with ties to five crime families were snared by a Genovese family associate who flipped on the mob after he was caught selling drugs.
"President Trump was right; they need to outlaw the flippers," Merlino cracked to reporters outside Manhattan Federal Court.
Skinny Joey was of course recalling Trump's remarks made the day after his former close pal and personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, pleaded guilty to numerous fraud charges and implicated the President in payoffs the lawyer made to silence porn star Stormy Daniels during the 2016 presidential campaign.
During a rant to Fox & Friends host Ainsley Earhardt back on August 22, Trump sounded more like John Gotti or an angry mob lawyer than the POTUS when he stated that the "thing about flipping" was that "it almost ought to be outlawed" because "it's not fair."
With a big grin on his face, Skinny Joey, who was brought down this time by a low-level flipper named John (J.R.) Rubeo, heaped praise on Trump without mentioning dealings that The Donald had with Merlino's relatives and other wiseguys from the City of Brotherly Love when he was a mega Atlantic City developer cashing in on New Jersey's decision to legalize casino gambling.
In those heady days, as Gang Land reported two years ago Trump used a rebar company run by Merlino's father Salvatore, and his uncle Lawrence (Yogi) Merlino, and Scarf Inc., a cement company owned by then-Philly mob boss Nicodemo (Little Nicky) Scarfo for his building projects. And in 1985, Trump paid $1.1 million to the sons of two Philadelphia mobsters for property that The Donald used as a parking lot for his Trump Plaza Hotel in Atlantic City.
Not that anyone's conducting a poll, but Merlino is the second wiseguy we've heard speak admiringly of the fact-challenged, shoot-from-the-lip President. As Gang Land reported in April, Salvatore (Sammy Bull) Gravano also spoke glowingly about Trump (of course, that was before his ban-the-flippers comment, something the Bull might dissent from).
As for Skinny Joey, he comported himself as a gentleman both in and out of court. You'd never know he was a lifelong mobster who, according to federal law enforcement officials in New York and Philadelphia, got away with murder as he fought his way to the top of the Philadelphia crime family.
Unlike one vocal supporter, Merlino listened dispassionately as Manhattan Federal Court Judge Richard Sullivan listed a litany of crimes that the 56-year-old mobster has been convicted of over the years as he explained why he was going to give him two years — the maximum sentence for his conviction not a term between 10 and 16 months, the guidelines cited in his plea agreement.
The unidentified supporter loudly labelled the crimes as "bullshit" and called Sullivan a "rat bastard." He left the courtroom before deputy U.S. Marshals summoned by the angry judge to evict the man could get to the courtroom.
Merlino, the only defendant to go to trial after prosecutors offered sweet plea deals all around following disclosures that three FBI agents in the case were the focus of an internal probe, pleaded guilty to a minor gambling charge in April, two months after jurors could not reach a verdict on serious racketeering charges including health care fraud and bookmaking.
The maximum two year sentence, despite a recommendation for a 10 month sentence from the Probation Department, was not a surprise.
As Sullivan said back when Skinny Joey pleaded guilty in April, the judge stated he had listened to the evidence, determined that Merlino had gotten a very good plea deal from the government, and that he was going along with the government's request to impose a maximum sentence, followed by one year of strict post prison supervised release.
"I don't think anyone who saw the trial would think that less than two years is appropriate," said Sullivan, who ordered Merlino, who has spent more than half of his adult life behind bars, to begin his next prison bid on December 3.
Before imposing his sentence, which "maxes out" at about 20 months according to usual federal prison calculations, Sullivan asked Skinny Joey if there was anything he wanted to say.
With more than a trace of sarcasm, Merlino, who had complained frequently about Sullivan's trial rulings, responded: "Thanks for the fair trial."
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'three can keep a secret, if two are dead'
Re: Gangland - 10/25/18
Good article. Capeci doesn't give much in the way of new info but does confirm what we have read elsewhere about the Zatolla shooting. I'm still waiting to hear an Albanian name(s).
Great up to date pic of Ciccone. Capeci obviously has access to DMV photos sometimes. Wish we could get those on every mob guy.
Great up to date pic of Ciccone. Capeci obviously has access to DMV photos sometimes. Wish we could get those on every mob guy.
All roads lead to New York.
Re: Re:Re: A reputed mobster shot dead in McDonalds drove thru
This info came out 2 weeks ago.santos wrote: ↑Thu Oct 25, 2018 9:53 am Without getting into some racist discussion
Now that the suspect has been named as ahttp://www.fivefamiliesnyc.com/2018/10/ ... ested.htmlHigh ranking Bloods gang member
Is it safe to assume the mob are still working with some blacks to do some of their dirty work?
Speaking for myself, I'm fine with ongoing discussion on this but it should probably be kept to one thread. And today's Gang Land News thread covers this story.
All roads lead to New York.
Re: Gangland - 10/25/18
Only half joking, but does Licata know everyone?
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Ivan
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Re: Re:Re: A reputed mobster shot dead in McDonalds drove thru
Man, I was looking forward to having "some racist discussion". Stop ruining my fun!
Thanks for posting the column up, Chucky. Good one this week. I really like "Thanks for the fair trial."
My problem is I hate everybody.
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Ivan
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Re: Gangland - 10/25/18
I thought the same thing. I'm guessing he keeps popping up due to the location of his turf, which is sort of central between NY/NJ/Philly, and just sort of makes him a natural mediator for everything. Perhaps.
My problem is I hate everybody.
Re: Gangland - 10/25/18
How he hasn't spent more time in jail I have no idea.
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Confederate
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Re: Re:Re: A reputed mobster shot dead in McDonalds drove thru
The Defendant (34 years old) lives in an Apartment in Brooklyn with his Grandmother.
" Everything Woke turns to shit".
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SonnyBlackstein
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Re: Gangland - 10/25/18
Hey! It’s Jerry!
JER-REH!
Come in buddy, come in!
Welcome to the party pal.
Thanks Chuck.
JER-REH!
Come in buddy, come in!
Welcome to the party pal.
Thanks Chuck.
Don't give me your f***ing Manson lamps.
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slimshady_007
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Re: Gangland - 10/25/18
Good gangland. Anyone known if anyone in Alex Rudaj’s crew was released from prison?
Wise men listen and laugh, while fools talk.