In his blog, Gioeli further reports that his own lawyers asked him to at least temper his postings and that the prosecution complained that some of its content violated court guidelines. The sleepy-looking Tommy was hit with a barrage of cameras as he did the 'perp walk' outside Brooklyn Federal Court, shouldered by two typical-looking FBI agents. A lawyer for Gioeliwho you might remember suffered a stroke in jail last year after his bid to be released to do ill health was turned downsays that the photos are inadmissible as they were taken from Gioeli's house without a warrant. Vincent 'Vinny Sicilian' Gugliaro, 72, an elderly mobster and former caporegime.5. In 1993, one of Orena's last remaining allies, Joseph Scopo, was killed and Orena was sentenced to life in prison. "Well, we're definitely giving this place an earthquake.". Franzese's nephew, Michael Catapano, garnered a reputation as an up-and-comer in the family whose underlings grew pot, sold coke, and shook down area businesses. At the conference, Big Dino bragged that Junior praised his abilities as a "money-maker," and outlined how Calabro would run the union as his capo; "I'm in charge of Local 6A and control everything that happens in that local," he told Dino, "My son is a delegate and he runs the Local. For that depot, the crew stole a tractor unit to break in, hitched it to a trailer and drove off with the loot. In a panicked escape, Big Dino totaled his car and then mangled his hand while jumping a fence. He has his daughter post his TRULINGS musings in a blog called Alleged Mob Boss Tommy Gioelis Voice. Unfortunately, Tommy Shots was a no-show at the ceremony - he had an FBI tail behind him on his way to the Bronx, and he didn't want to risk exposing the sacred liturgy. "A bunch of people are going to go down," said another source familiar with the case. When he emigrated to the United States as a child, Calabro knew no English and flunked out of school, opting instead to deal drugs on Bensonhurst street corners. Dealing in the millions, the Califanos were some of the Big Apple's biggest gambling kingpins, but it's unknown how much they kicked up to Gioeli and Calabro. If I repeat anything that happens in here, I should die and burn in hell, Calabro recalled. At first, the two Souzas planned on assaulting Pagan by surprise - a so-called "jack in the box," as Souza called it on tape. Calabro testified that Gioeli had been something of a mentor, advising him on how to kill. Former Colombo street boss Thomas (Tommy Shots) Gioeli, 67, is seeking to get out of prison about four years early because of the COVID-19 public health emergency, according to an email sent by the Victim-Witness Coordinator for the U.S. Attorney's Office of the Eastern District of New York, a copy of which was forwarded to Cosa Nostra News today. He clearly preferred the risk of that to spending the rest of his life in prison. 2008. When Miciotta started blabbing about the murder in 1993 as part of his cooperation with the government, nobody was left to prosecute. In fact, Vinny Gorgeous would later be proven right. Over in Long Island, Gioeli had the following crew members;1. In fact, despite his low-key persona, the acting boss gave the murder contract of Lombardo to his acting capo, Paulie Bevacqua. McLaughlin, his brother-in-law Peter Tagliavia, Ilario' Fat Larry' Sessa, Gaetano' Tommy' Gallo, possibly Jerry Ciauri, and other violent associates formerly under Greg Scarpa's Dyker Heights decina were all under the wing of Little Dino, according to court records from Saracino's indictment, Sessa's sentencing memo, and Gallo's indictment. The Persico faction now claimed victory and Persico's son, Alphonse "Little Allie Boy" Persico took effective control of the family. That was all it took for the powerful godfathers world to come crashing down. It wasnt made clear why Joe the Banker deserved such an attack; all Calabro remembers was that Gioeli raved about the victim as being a dirty old man. Regardless, the message was clear; Gioeli now had a crew of young and able hoodlums beneath him that didnt hesitate to get their hands dirty. Originally Published: Wednesday, November 16 2011, 3:01 AM. At a glance, it appears Bevacqua ran the portion of Gioeli's crew that was based in Long Island, while Carna, who allegedly sat in a crash car with Gioeli back when ex-nun Veronica Zuraw was murdered, kept the crew in Brooklyn. Even with the heat, the crew was always scheming, and in 2000, Tommy Shots suggested that Big Dino rob the owner of Lotus Garden, a Chinese restaurant. "Calabro kept $1000 for himself; Scopo Jr. took $1500 for himself, and the remaining $7500 went to the Colombo Family Administration" (Thomas Gioeli and John Franzese). Such personas, while it might not have been good for the wiseguys' street cred, would hopefully make them look less like Mafiosi in the eyes of a jury. They had been collared as being two of the "45 top porn wholesalers across the country.". [2], In 1997, Gioeli allegedly participated in the murder of Ralph Dols, a New York Police Department (NYPD) officer. 1 2 Marzulli, John (July 15, 2010). Scarpa explained that the murder attempts were a culmination of several incidents that left the Perainos in poor standing with the mob. To blog from behind bars, Gioeli begins by writing a missive by hand. Shockingly, Robert hooked up with his brother in the late '90s and the pair became friendly. He was scribbling busily on a notepad--and some of it might even end up in the first accused-mob-boss blog. Calabros short-lived time as a Wimpy Boys wannabe was cut short when he received a 1.5-to-4.5 state sentence for attempted burglary and grand larceny. Law enforcement sources told the Daily News on May 31 that "reputed Colombo soldier" Dino Calabro was eyed as a suspect. This was revealed on December 21, 2003, when the Bonanno family had a sitdown regarding a list of proposed "made members" passed around by the Colombos. In 1992, Orena was arrested and indicted on racketeering and murder charges. Gothamist is a website about New York City news, arts, events and food, brought to you by New York Public Radio. Both Calabros are currently in the witness-protection program. Even if the small businessman refused, the Mafia always managed to push them into shops one way or another. Due to his allegiance to Vic Orena during the Colombo war, Bevacqua helped "bridge the gap" between Gioeli and the remaining Orena holdouts.3. But in the underworld, Tommy was anything other than low-rent. Gioeli had in fact touched index fingers to keyboard back before he was arrested, when he said it came time to prepare one of the traditional induction lists by which a crime family must secure approval from all the other crime families of its candidates for membership in the Mafia. In the blog, Gioeli proclaims himself an unconvicted American man being denied basic rights and health care, a victim of the tactics of Nazi Germany and Stalins Russia. Gioeli assigns insulting nicknames to the prosecution team and accuses an FBI agent of being inappropriate with the wife of an informant. Gioeli accuses the informant, Big Dino Calabro, himself of beating his wife, poisoning a supposed buddys pet fish, shooting his own dog, and murdering numerous enemies and friends. Calabro is unreachable in protective custody and has no blog of his own with which to respond. It's hard to overstate Pagan's importance in the Bonanno clan. This included the legendary Califano family, a tight-knit kindred of bookies and card game operators that have been associated with the Colombo and Lucchese borgatas since the 1990s. Descriptions of Tommy's role in the family from Bonanno underboss Sal Vitale show that Gioeli had all the trappings of a 'street boss' during the 1990s - he was the eyes and ears on the street of whomever was in charge at the time, and held all the weight of a boss in meetings with other families (Cacace quote from 2000; "If you need to see me, tell Tommy. They had received a tip that a Coney Island. Gioeli the Blogfather protested vehemently when the government filed court papers alleging that his own crimes included unintentionally killing a former nun with a shotgun blast in 1982. The murdered cop was left to stagger bleeding into his house and die before his horrified wife. By the summer of 2002, Big Dino Calabro was also an official capo, thanks to his relationship with Tommy Shots. They conducted the ceremony as usual despite the boss' absence; Ren put his hand on a gun, he got his finger pricked, and a saint was burned in his hand. Ren was given all the family's Florida-based made members who were previously split among other crews. When he wasn't being schooled on crime by Gioeli and Calabro, The Rock could be found at a candy store called "The Corner" on 75th St. and 20th Ave. Gioeli, at least a decade older than his underlings, became almost like a surrogate father for the group and schooled the delinquent teens on how to stick up stores, burglarize banks, and pull off home invasions. Tommy had inside knowledge that the owner carried a lot of cash on him, and even introduced Dino to a Colombo associate who had a history of burglarizing houses. Nicky Rizzo, 73, an old-school shylock with longstanding ties to the Bonanno family.3. But, Basciano pondered; "He's in some shape, Bo. Subpoenas were flying, search warrants were being executed. My saintly elderly mother who just buried my father, my poor wife, my precious children, my priests, the rest of my family, friends and the people I just know he wrote. That's because Souza was not only a brazenly aggressive mobster who found himself ready to go to war with the Bonanno family, but he also ended up ratting out his whole crew. Almost as soon as he was inducted, however, he was officially "shelved" from family affairs after his son, Junior, got into some serious debt with the wrong wiseguys. That day, he took Fatato along with a bunch of crew members to pistol-whip and interrogate the gamblers as to who conducted the actual robbery. Anthony Kenny, a little-known thief with ties to the Bonanno family.Joseph 'Joey Caves' Competiello, 19, a self-described protg of Calabro.Dino 'Little Dino' and Sebastiano 'Sebby' Saracino, 18 and 26, respectively. Little Dino and Sebby tried to track down the man they deemed responsible, Michael' Squirts' Burnside, and called upon some other Colombos to help them out. In fact, Tommy Gioeli even rented out a warehouse in Long Island to store hot goods that came from swiped trailers, such as one stolen from the Macy's Long Island parking lot at Massapequa Mall. Twenty years later, when he moved to Ft. Lauderdale, Maragni became the "liaison" to New York for Floridian associates. Presumably, Saracino was getting a cut of the thousands of dollars that the Wimpy Boys had on the street, which they were collecting from prison using a vast pool of young associates. Mugshot of Thomas Gioeli from the 1970s (Source: LCNBios.blogspot.com), Mugshot of Joseph 'Junior Lollipops' Carna from 1977, Joseph Peraino Sr. following the shooting (Source: NY Daily News), Andrew 'Andy Mush' Russo, 1984 (Source: Getty Images). Trailer loads proved to be more reliable to rob than banks or stores. Franzese was one of the first family pioneers to make the journey to Long Island in search of new suburban rackets, according to Daily News articles from the time. Zuraw was killed by a stray bullet during the assassination of Colombo mobster Joseph Peraino. The Colombos held an iron grip over the union since the days when all Five Families rigged bids and inflated prices on major building sites in New York City. The father-son partners-in-crime had apparently progressed from dealing porn to narcotics, and Joe Jr. had refused to take part in a hit that was requested by Gambino boss Big Paul Castellano. Gioeli allegedly murdered Marasa because he was falsely accused of being involved in the murder of another Colombo associate. Zuraw, who had no ties whatsoever to organized crime, was hanging shirts in a closet and was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. The FBI were casting an ominous shadow on Gioelis life, as well as the day-to-day lives of his two disciples Dino Calabro and Joey Competiello. Representing the Colombo crime family was Joel 'Joe Waverly' Cacace, who had taken over as acting boss once Allie Boy was sentenced the previous October. Fifteen years his junior, Dino owed his rise in the Colombo family entirely to Tommy, whom he met in 1989 and quickly latched onto him as Tommys full-time "driver" and chief enforcer. Tommy Shots apologized to Ren at the wedding of Allie Russo, which took place shortly after Ren's induction. These locations included; Jimmys, an after-hours bar on Coney Island Avenue between O and P; the Getty Gas Station; The Glory Club in Downtown Brooklyn; a candy store owned by mob associate Lenny the Barber.. It was a typed list Tommy had made downstairs in his basement on his computer, capo Dino Big Dino Calabro would testify after he became an informant. FOLLOW MORE IBT NEWS ON THE BELOW CHANNELS, IBT Fast Start - Let the best of International News come to you. he mused. He had apparently had lengthy discussions with lawyers, analyzing the strength of the feds' case, and came to the conclusion that he could take a 17-year plea deal. They then drew guns and handcuffed the store's owners, Alexandra Hatzis, 56, and her son Gus, 25. If he wasn't at church, Gioeli would hold court while practicing bowling at the Country Line Bowling Alley, just like he did during the Greaves hit. Be- fore betraying their crime leader as government witnesses, Competiello and Calabro had been loyal dogs. But on this pleasant Spring morning, Tommy wasnt there to mull over Bible verses. On that day, Allie called Tommy's phone, then he called Long Island marina. Government witness Dino Calabro claimed that Gioeli told him he was "going to hell" for killing a nun. By John Marzulli, Daily News. His public appearance in the underworld goes to show that Tommy Shots always kept up appearances, even when the government made it clear that he was under intense scrutiny. Twenty years later, the power continued, and Ralphie Jr. - who was convicted of illegal gambling with Genovese mobsters in 2005 - eventually passed the torch onto his son, Ralph III. His first taste of organized crime came through a high school friendship with John Parlagreco, a low-level hoodlum who brought Calabro along to a Mafia social club. On January 7, 2005, turncoat Bonanno boss Joey Massino - who had been wearing a wire in a Brooklyn detention center against his acting boss Vinny Basciano - was shocked to hear news of Franzese's ascension, despite Sonny having held the title of underboss in the 1980s as well. [3] On May 9, 2012, the jury returned a mixed verdict. So I saw Tommy Shots yesterday. But when Little Dino, the lookout, spotted a security guard stumble onto the scene, the plan was ruined, and they hastily aborted. The photos in . Hey, we didn't allow too many people in our lives; we really didn't," Dino noted. That was the basis for the get-together at Our Lady of Lourdes Church, a location picked specifically because it was so quiet and unassuming that the FBI didnt think about staking out the place. Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2023. Deen J. Castronovo (born August 17, 1964) is an American drummer and singer, best known for being a member of classic rock band Journey and hard rock acts Bad English and Hardline.He currently plays drums and shares lead vocals for the bands Journey, Generation Radio, and Revolution Saints.He has been a touring and studio player for Ozzy Osbourne, Steve Vai, Paul Rodgers, and Black Sabbath . [5] Gioeli's position included meeting with Carmine Persico and conveying messages to family leaders such as Vincent and Benny Aloi, John Franzese and John DeRoss. With these three loosely connected facts, the feds fleshed out an incorrect analysis of what happened to Cutolo's body. A very merry Christmas, the accompanying message read. were given to Calabro with Gioeli's wife's permission. Allie, the son of imprisoned-for-life Colombo caporegime Anthony 'Chucky' Russo, sports a conviction from 1997 for assault but has not been linked to the affairs of his family's crime clan. A series of family snapshots showing an alleged Colombo mob boss interacting with members of his crime family have taken center stage in the case against Thomas "Tommy Shots" Gioeli. There is substantial incentive to authorize and direct his criminal associates to commit violence to preclude their perceived testimony or the testimony of other potential witnesses against him, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth Geddes in a NY Daily News report. And, when burying a victim, the standard practice was to dump in a bag of lime. Colombo consigliere Joel Cacace had ordered Dols' death because Dols had recently married Cacace's ex-wife, Kim Kennaugh. But shakedowns weren't the only hustle going on. The following day, Maragni met with Imbergamo at a Barnes & Noble bookstore in Staten Island to iron it out. Gioeli nixed the idea - "Absolutely not," he said. Nightlife magazine editor Michael Cutino explained Gioeli's press credentials as the magazine was doing a nightclub promotion in The Hamptons and Gioeli worked for a company that provided attractive "cigarette girls" for the event. In another project, the Saracino Bros. joined the trio to rob a Long Island night deposit box. It felt good when he won; no it felt great, Gioeli says. At a Chase Bank in Farmingdale, near Route 110, Calabro, Competiello and Greaves canceled their plan to steal the deposit box since there were always too many people around. An accused Mafia kingpin has started a blog from prison:. Joseph Jr. was hit in the chest by a shotgun blast and died instantly, but Joseph Sr. made it to the second-floor porch of Veronica Zuraw's apartment. He has been remanded for more than three years to the starkly real Brooklyn Metropolitan Detention Center, but he periodically manages a virtual escape into cyberspace, thanks to a restricted email system provided by the federal Bureau of Prisons and to the untiring efforts of a devoted daughter. But for Gioeli and Co., it had to be business as usual. Fatato was forced to be taken off the streets when he took part in - and recorded - the grueling beating and pistol-whipping of two dimwitted gamblers who orchestrated the robbing Uvino's Lindenhurst card game. Thomas "Tommy Shots" Gioeli had his request for a prison furlough to attend his daughter's wedding shot down by a Brooklyn federal judge. In one heist, Calabro broke through the wall of a Farmingdale bank, broke into an ATM, and emerged with a stack of cash. But by 2008, prosecutors had finally found their way in. The money that flowed up to Gioeli was invested in purchasing "Joker-Poker" machines, which were illegal video-poker machines that exploded in popularity in the 1990s. The triggerman, soldier Salvatore 'Big Sal' Miciotta - who was inducted in the same ceremony as Peraino Jr. - fled the scene, forced to report his failure back to his capo Chucky Russo. He never missed the parishs Sunday service, and was good pals with the pastor. Terrible, he said. Gioeli has also complained to the court about his dental problems, the poor quality of the jail food, and allegedly unsanitary practices in the dispensation of his medicine. Initially, according to JD, Joey Caves was told to report to capo Vinny Ricciardo, who was on bail on charges of labor racketeering. And even when he did favor a site to meet with associates, like the Our Lady of Lourdes Church, hard-to-decipher codewords and hand signals (like the ones used when he passed down the Cutolo contract) would prevent feds from gathering worthwhile bugs. Said the news; "When a union monitor challenged Local 6A's practice of designating the same members as coffee boys, the union claimed only laborers with "the necessary experience" were qualified for the job.

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