Oct 09 2008
A mob soldier who killed underboss William “The Wild Guy” Grasso in a failed attempt to hijack the Patriarca crime family two decades ago had seven years shaved off his sentence Wednesday. Continue Reading »
Sep 30 2008
TAMPA, Fla. — 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. Continue Reading »
Sep 25 2008
Frank J. Valenti, Rochester’s notorious mob boss who oversaw local organized crime during its heyday of gambling parlors, prostitution and extortion, died Saturday at age 97.
While atop Rochester’s organized crime mob hierarchy in the 1960s and ’70s, Mr. Valenti was so infamous that the Democrat and Chronicle ran a regular update on his doings under the heading, “Spotlight on Rochester’s Gambling Czar.” Continue Reading »
Sep 22 2008
Stephen ’The Rifleman’ Flemmi, a jailed Boston mob leader, testifies today in a Miami courtroom in the murder trial of former FBI agent John Connolly.
MIAMI – Boston mobsters paid former FBI agent John Connolly roughly $235,000 over the years for protection and information that included fingering gang turncoats, a jailed gangster testified today at the agent’s murder trial.
Stephen “The Rifleman” Flemmi, 74, spoke softly and sipped orange juice as he recounted his life of crime, including at least 10 murders, as a senior member of Boston’s Winter Hill Gang. The gang’s long relationship with Connolly included envelopes stuffed with $5,000 for yearly vacations and $10,000 at Christmas, Flemmi said. Continue Reading »
Sep 18 2008
The arrests of 175 drug-smuggling suspects provide a look into the Gulf Cartel, one of Mexico’s most fearsome drug-trafficking groups, and ‘Ndrangheta, perhaps Italy’s most powerful organized crime syndicate. Continue Reading »
Sep 18 2008
Louis J. Eppolito, left, and Stephen Caracappa were described as committing “despicable crimes of violence and treachery.” Louis Lanzano/Associated Press
The racketeering convictions of two retired New York City detectives who helped to kill at least eight men in their role as mob assassins were ordered reinstated on Wednesday by a federal appeals court. It ruled that a trial judge wrongly overturned the jury’s guilty verdicts two years ago. Continue Reading »
