tagged w/ Italian Mafia
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Women have risen to top rungs in the Camorra, unlike in Italy's other mafias. They're also violent.Women have risen to top rungs in the Camorra, unlike in Italy's other mafias.... more
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This has to be one of the scariest things I've seen in a while.
And the Italian Mafia thing's no joke either - these mobile phone guns were actually discovered by Naples police on a raid at a Mafia hideout. The .22 calibre device can hold four rounds, each one fired out of the fake phone's aerial.This has to be one of the scariest things I've seen in a while.
And the... more
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TAMPA, Fla. (AP) -- The ghosts of Tampa's old-time wiseguys awakened this summer when Mafia scion John "Junior" Gotti came to town in handcuffs, accused of pulling the strings in a bunch of classic mobster crimes.
The federal indictment against him reads like a plot summary for "The Sopranos." The 44-year-old Gotti - son of the late "Dapper Don" of the notorious Gambino crime family - allegedly had his fingers in everything: whacking rivals, trafficking cocaine, bribery, kidnapping and money-laundering. Earlier convictions show Gambino crews have worked for years to get a foothold in the Tampa area's criminal underworld.
If the charges against Gotti are true, then he was a Johnny-come-lately to organized crime around here.
The fabric of the Tampa region's history is richly woven with stories of ruthless gangsters who first grabbed control of illegal gambling and liquor distribution during Prohibition, executed rivals with point-blank shotgun blasts, bribed public officials, controlled the narcotics trade and eventually broadened their influence across the Sunshine State and pre-Castro Cuba.TAMPA, Fla. (AP) -- The ghosts of Tampa's old-time wiseguys awakened this summer... more
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Lews Kasman, shown seated (far r.) beside John (Dapper Don) Gotti, admitted hiding $80,000 scam from feds.
The late John Gotti's "adopted son" admitted Friday he continued his criminal ways while working as an FBI informant.
Lewis Kasman had a lot of 'fessing up to do in a Florida courthouse where he's star witness against reputed Gambino gangster Vincent Artuso.
The trial is essentially a rehearsal for his next turn on the stand at the upcoming murder trial of John A. (Junior) Gotti in Tampa. "I came down here to Florida to get away from the rat race," Kasman, 51, said, prompting laughter from those who got the joke.
The FBI recruited Kasman as a snitch 12 years ago, when the elder Gotti was still boss of the Gambinos. He was promoted to full-fledged cooperating witness in 2005 as the mob family struggled with internal turmoil and some Gotti relatives leaned on Kasman for money.
Even a $12,000-a-month retainer from the feds wasn't enough to keep Kasman straight.
Under the noses of his handlers, Kasman tipped off a pal who was under investigation for selling steroids, lied to his wife's divorce lawyer, withdrew money from his children's trust fund and scammed a businessman out of $80,000.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian McCormick asked why he hid the scam from the FBI, and Kasman replied, "I wanted to keep the 80 grand."
The prosecutor played secretly recorded tapes of Kasman and Gambino consigliere Joseph (JoJo) Corozzo discussing the dysfunctional Gottis.
"He [John Sr.] died hating that kid [John Jr.], you know that," Kasman told Corozzo.
At one point, as Kasman was testifying, a loud clanking noise was heard, caused by construction work in another part of the courthouse.
"There must be a rat in the building," one spectator cracked.Lews Kasman, shown seated (far r.) beside John (Dapper Don) Gotti, admitted hiding... more
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MIAMI, Florida (AP) -- John J. Connolly was hundreds of miles away in 1982 when gambling executive John Callahan's bullet-riddled body was discovered in the trunk of his Cadillac at Miami's airport.
The admitted shooter says he never met Connolly, the disgraced ex-FBI man at the heart of the agency's sordid dealings with Boston's Winter Hill Gang.
Yet Connolly will stand trial on murder and conspiracy charges this month as if he had pulled the trigger himself, because prosecutors say he secretly gave information that was crucial in setting up the hit. Jury selection is to begin Monday in a trial that figures to rehash some of the ugliest episodes in the Boston FBI's handling of the gang, once led by James "Whitey" Bulger and convicted killer Stephen "The Rifleman" Flemmi.
For years, both were top FBI informants on rival Italian mobsters. Connolly was their handler -- and Connolly made sure they were shielded from prosecution for murder and many other crimes, a service for which he was eventually sent to federal prison on a racketeering conviction.MIAMI, Florida (AP) -- John J. Connolly was hundreds of miles away in 1982 when... more
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