By Nick Christophers It was an odd warm evening in October as a crowd gathered in the outdoor yard of Bacaro Restaurant in Massapequa, Long Island. Why did such a crowd begin to fill the outdoor yard? It was for another smoking event hosted by San Giuseppe Cigars. On the heels of their last party at Patrizia’s this was on a smaller scale but was a rocking evening, nonetheless. Owner Joe Bonnano, left, Nick Christophers, far right, and John Michael The cigar company has been in business for over two years and has made a mark in the cigar industry.  The owner, Joe Bonanno, ha ..read more

With apologies to Andrew Machin for taking way-too long to post this first-rate story (probably the longest story in this blog's history). By Andrew Machin The 'Ndrangheta is a secret society. Its organizational and operational rules and rites are based on this inherent characteristic. Therefore, it is no coincidence that there are various similarities with Freemasonry, which has a particularly large membership in the Italian region of Calabria, where the 'Ndrangheta is rooted. A valuable source in this regard proved to be Giuliano De Bernardo, former Grand Master of the Grande Oriente d’It ..read more

"Things aren’t black-and-white with cooperators, or with any of us. We all make mistakes; Michael made worse ones than most. But, as Michael proved before he died, all too young: there’s always a chance for redemption." --Elie Honig, former Federal prosecutor, SDNY "Angelo Prisco's mentor was Mario Gigante. (Prisco) was a very strong guy. He ran the Purple Gang along with Danny Leo in Harlem, and they came up through the ranks together." Visconti enters court in 2006. Credit: RecordOnline. "Angelo was a drug dealer. So was Danny Leo. So was Vinny Gorgeous (aka former acting Bonanno ..read more

Five members of an alleged robbery crew linked by law enforcement to two of the Five Families were arrested Tuesday morning in connection with the heisting of $2 million from two Manhattan jewelry stores. DiPietro, pointing gun, and Sellick burst into Bayco Jewels on January 3 (without an appointment). The two complaints (which make no mention of Cosa Nostra) charge Frank (Frankie the Fish) DiPietro, 65, of Red Bank, New Jersey; Vincent Cerchio, 69, of Howard Beach, New York; Vincent Spagnuolo, 65, of Monmouth Beach, New Jersey; Michael Sellick, 67, of Franklin Square, New York ..read more

Turncoat Bonanno associate/former podcaster Gene Borrello has been sent back to jail again for violating the conditions of his supervised release. Gene Borrello in hot water once again. Borrello, 38, was given a six-month sentence by a judge in Brooklyn federal court on Wednesday for participating in podcasts about organized crime and for associating with other criminals while doing so. “You want to know [why] I went out there?” Borrello said of his podcasting antics as per a Daily News report. “I’ll be honest with you. Every other cooperator is on there and I’m not allowed to. S ..read more

Four members and two associates of the Genovese crime family pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy on Thursday, February 9, according to .Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York. Genovese associate Thomas Poli. Genovese Family associate THOMAS POLI pled guilty before United States District Judge John G. Koeltl on September 29, 2022, and is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Koeltl on April 13, 2023. Genovese Family Captain NICHOLAS CALISI, Solider JOHN CAMPANELLA, and associate MICHAEL POLI pled guilty before Judge Koeltl on February 8 ..read more

An unassuming Instagram post will lead curious mob watchers to some potential intrigue, assuming they value recent Bonanno crime family history. Dom Cicale's podcast will debut next week. The Instagram post touts an upcoming podcast by former Bonanno capo Dom Cicale. Cicale briefly mentioned the podcast, Mafia RoundTable, in a recent story we did on some of his legit post-Cosa Nostra doings. Cicale is planning to launch the podcast series with an historical bang: The debut episode, to be posted online next week on Valentine’s Day, will touch on secret codes, schtupping a Lu ..read more

The following guest post is courtesy of The Mob Wife, an online merchant that offers high-quality clothing, home décor, and accessories at affordable prices. For more information, click here. The website offers a vast array of products, and we do mean vast: coffee cups, beach blankets, necklaces, phone cases, t-shirts, slippers, fleece jackets, canvas paintings, clocks, sculptures, shower curtains, rugs, and on and on. The mob figures prominently in the design of many of the items, either as an image of a well-known gangster (or non-Mafia villain) or mob-like quote that maybe w ..read more

How did former Gambino associate John Alite make it inside Donald J. Trump’s gilded Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida, long enough to be photographed alongside the former president?  Just two guys from Queens chatting. He didn’t need a gun. Rather, one of his close friends—Brazilian businessman Pedro (Peter) Alberto Leite, president of Hichens, Harrison & Co., who is a years-long member of Mar-a-Lago—brought him in as a guest. “He’s a good friend of mine,” the Palm Beach-based investment banker said of Alite. Leite grew up in New York and knew Alite “for a long time ..read more

By Nick Christophers We have all heard stories about Al Capone—maybe too many. I once was sent to investigate a home in Amityville, Long Island, where he supposedly briefly lived when they were loading booze from Canada, but didn't find any convincing evidence that the house, located in an area called “Rum Row," was his.   Did Capone run a floating speakeasy aboard the Keuka?  Recently, I came across an interesting find by underwater photographer and author Chris Roxburgh, who claims to have found the floating speakeasy Capone had in the late '20s. The wreck was the vessel ..read more