Colombos and Gambinos Clashed Over Stabbed Associate's Medical Bills
You know who needs ObamaCare? Mobsters.
Tucked deep within a mountain of papers detailing the biggest Mafia bust in history is a strange but true tale of how one organized crime family shook down another -- over a wiseguy's medical bills.
The Colombos' curious foray into health care came last spring, when family associate Walter Samperi was stabbed by a low-level Gambino thug -- a major faux pax in gangland, where rules call for such violence to be sanctioned by bosses.
After Samperi was attacked and racked up hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical bills, Colombo and Gambino higher-ups had several formal sit-downs about who was going to cough up the cannolis.
One meeting was presided over by Colombo street boss Andrew "Andy Mush" Russo in a Staten Island house.
Naturally, a rat was wearing a wire.
It was decided the Gambinos would cover Samperi's medical expenses with a one-time payment of $150,000 -- $100,000 of which would come from that clan's illegally skimmed cut of the proceeds of the annual Figli di Santa Rosalia celebration on 18th Avenue in Brooklyn.
Samperi never saw that money. Like a bad health-insurance claim, the Gambinos didn't pay out.
Samperi, it is believed, then traveled to Italy to take advantage of its free health-care system.
An indictment unsealed Thursday charged Russo, acting Colombo underboss Benjamin "The Claw" Castellazzo, consigliere Richard "Richie" Fusco, captain Dennis "Fat Dennis" DeLucia and acting captain Anthony "Big Anthony" Russo with extorting the Gambinos.
In another wiretap, the same Russo was overheard laughing about a stray bullet that had blown the hat off his head.
According to the tale, he had been in car watching psycho Colombo associate John Pappa fatally shoot gang member Joseph Scopo in 1993 in Ozone Park, Queens, when the ricocheting bullet whizzed by.
"I jumped out of the car. I was like a f- - -ing mad hatter!" he tells a friend. "I didn't know what to do."
Last year, Gambino associate Howard Santos had his own close call in a car.
He was outed as a rat because he was spied in a tete-a-tete with a fed in his own vehicle.
Gambino captain Alphonse Trucchio spotted Santos' empty car parked near the FBI's office in Kew Gardens, Queens.
Trucchio, according to a story veteran mob reporter Jerry Capeci detailed for the Huffington Post, doubled back to find Santos sitting in the car with a G-Man. Trucchio quickly spread the word about Santos' betrayal -- but the damage was done.
Trucchio, Gambino consigliere Joseph "JoJo" Corozzo, the clan's ruling panel member Bartolomeo "Pepe" Vernace and others were charged Thursday with crimes based on secret recordings Santos made.
Even when mobsters take steps to thwart feds' mob-busting efforts, they can still step in trouble with their big mouths.
Last month, the Colombo street boss Anthony Russo canceled a mob induction ceremony that was supposed to welcome associate Illario Sessa on Dec. 7 as a "made" man. He had caught wind that federal agents would be watching the proceedings.
In a recording made by a turncoat, Sessa frets that he is no longer in the running to be made.
He also admits having traveled to retrieve a pistol that was to have been used in the ceremony -- which could mean big problems for him with authorities, given his prior criminal record.
"What do think happened? The whole thing's dead," Sessa said, according to the filing. "This guy shut it down, closed down or stopped it completely."
"[Anthony] makes me go all the way back to the place to get the pistol . . . I didn't want to start," Sessa said. "I got three felonies, too."
When mobsters try to help out their mammas, they get into trouble.
Before Thursday's indictment on charges of extortion, elderly Patriarca clan boss Luigi "Baby Shacks" Manocchio's only recent conviction dated back to 1999, when he pleaded guilty to giving his then-90-year-old mom a stolen fridge and dishwasher for her Providence, RI, home.
"What can I say?" Manocchio told reporters after his guilty plea.
Where’d they get a name like that?
* John “Johnny Bandana” Brancaccio
Gambino associate
He’s a fan of wearing a bandana.
* Giovanni “LITTLE John” VELLA
Gambino family
Giovanni is short for John in English.
* Daniel “Uncle Danny” Cilenti
Genovese soldier
He’s the uncle of two other made men who were also busted.
* Michael “Jello” Kuhtenia
Gambino associate
Has a physique that looks like he’s been enjoying way too many Pudding Pops.
* Luigi “Baby Shacks” Manocchio
Former boss of Patriarcas
Had a reputation for “shacking up” with women, and an older mobster already had the nickname “Shacks.”
* Tony “Bagels” Cavezza
No rank or affiliation
Has owned several “legitimate” businesses, including a bagel shop on Long Island.
* Frank “Meatball” Bellantoni
Gambino associate
He looks like two meatballs on top of each other.
* Vincenzo “Vinnie Carwash” Frogerio
Gambino soldier
Runs a “legitimate” carwash in Queens.
* Ilario “Fat Larry” Sessa
Colombo associate
Law enforcement says he weighs 400 pounds.
* Michael “Roc” Roccaforte
Gambino soldier
Fellow mobsters were too lazy to say his whole last name, according to a mob-world watcher.
Tucked deep within a mountain of papers detailing the biggest Mafia bust in history is a strange but true tale of how one organized crime family shook down another -- over a wiseguy's medical bills.
The Colombos' curious foray into health care came last spring, when family associate Walter Samperi was stabbed by a low-level Gambino thug -- a major faux pax in gangland, where rules call for such violence to be sanctioned by bosses.
After Samperi was attacked and racked up hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical bills, Colombo and Gambino higher-ups had several formal sit-downs about who was going to cough up the cannolis.
Naturally, a rat was wearing a wire.
It was decided the Gambinos would cover Samperi's medical expenses with a one-time payment of $150,000 -- $100,000 of which would come from that clan's illegally skimmed cut of the proceeds of the annual Figli di Santa Rosalia celebration on 18th Avenue in Brooklyn.
Samperi never saw that money. Like a bad health-insurance claim, the Gambinos didn't pay out.
Samperi, it is believed, then traveled to Italy to take advantage of its free health-care system.
An indictment unsealed Thursday charged Russo, acting Colombo underboss Benjamin "The Claw" Castellazzo, consigliere Richard "Richie" Fusco, captain Dennis "Fat Dennis" DeLucia and acting captain Anthony "Big Anthony" Russo with extorting the Gambinos.
In another wiretap, the same Russo was overheard laughing about a stray bullet that had blown the hat off his head.
According to the tale, he had been in car watching psycho Colombo associate John Pappa fatally shoot gang member Joseph Scopo in 1993 in Ozone Park, Queens, when the ricocheting bullet whizzed by.
"I jumped out of the car. I was like a f- - -ing mad hatter!" he tells a friend. "I didn't know what to do."
Last year, Gambino associate Howard Santos had his own close call in a car.
He was outed as a rat because he was spied in a tete-a-tete with a fed in his own vehicle.
Gambino captain Alphonse Trucchio spotted Santos' empty car parked near the FBI's office in Kew Gardens, Queens.
Trucchio, according to a story veteran mob reporter Jerry Capeci detailed for the Huffington Post, doubled back to find Santos sitting in the car with a G-Man. Trucchio quickly spread the word about Santos' betrayal -- but the damage was done.
Trucchio, Gambino consigliere Joseph "JoJo" Corozzo, the clan's ruling panel member Bartolomeo "Pepe" Vernace and others were charged Thursday with crimes based on secret recordings Santos made.
Even when mobsters take steps to thwart feds' mob-busting efforts, they can still step in trouble with their big mouths.
Last month, the Colombo street boss Anthony Russo canceled a mob induction ceremony that was supposed to welcome associate Illario Sessa on Dec. 7 as a "made" man. He had caught wind that federal agents would be watching the proceedings.
He also admits having traveled to retrieve a pistol that was to have been used in the ceremony -- which could mean big problems for him with authorities, given his prior criminal record.
"What do think happened? The whole thing's dead," Sessa said, according to the filing. "This guy shut it down, closed down or stopped it completely."
"[Anthony] makes me go all the way back to the place to get the pistol . . . I didn't want to start," Sessa said. "I got three felonies, too."
When mobsters try to help out their mammas, they get into trouble.
Before Thursday's indictment on charges of extortion, elderly Patriarca clan boss Luigi "Baby Shacks" Manocchio's only recent conviction dated back to 1999, when he pleaded guilty to giving his then-90-year-old mom a stolen fridge and dishwasher for her Providence, RI, home.
"What can I say?" Manocchio told reporters after his guilty plea.
Where’d they get a name like that?
* John “Johnny Bandana” Brancaccio
Gambino associate
He’s a fan of wearing a bandana.
* Giovanni “LITTLE John” VELLA
Gambino family
Giovanni is short for John in English.
* Daniel “Uncle Danny” Cilenti
Genovese soldier
He’s the uncle of two other made men who were also busted.
* Michael “Jello” Kuhtenia
Gambino associate
Has a physique that looks like he’s been enjoying way too many Pudding Pops.
* Luigi “Baby Shacks” Manocchio
Former boss of Patriarcas
Had a reputation for “shacking up” with women, and an older mobster already had the nickname “Shacks.”
* Tony “Bagels” Cavezza
No rank or affiliation
Has owned several “legitimate” businesses, including a bagel shop on Long Island.
* Frank “Meatball” Bellantoni
Gambino associate
He looks like two meatballs on top of each other.
* Vincenzo “Vinnie Carwash” Frogerio
Gambino soldier
Runs a “legitimate” carwash in Queens.
* Ilario “Fat Larry” Sessa
Colombo associate
Law enforcement says he weighs 400 pounds.
* Michael “Roc” Roccaforte
Gambino soldier
Fellow mobsters were too lazy to say his whole last name, according to a mob-world watcher.
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