This article titled “FBI arrests 127 in its biggest ever Mafia crackdown” was written by Ed Pilkington in New York, for The Guardian on Thursday 20th January 2011 20.24 UTC

The charge sheets read like a script from the heyday of Hollywood’s love affair with the mob, replete with made men, consiglieres and vows of undying loyalty to the boss. In a move that made it seem time had stood still since The Godfather first astonished America in 1972, the FBI today renewed its decades-long battle against the US mafia.

In a devastating blow to the organised crime families of the north-eastern US, more than 800 FBI and police officers made the largest roundup of Cosa Nostra bosses and soldiers in US history. Some 127 mafia members and their accomplices were charged.

The arrests in New York, Newark in New Jersey and Rhode Island were both an indication of the mafia’s enduring power in the US and of the determination of the FBI to regain the initiative in its struggle with the organisation.

Announcing the arrests, Eric Holder, the US attorney general, said they “send a clear message that we are committed – and determined – to eradicate these criminal enterprises once and for all and to bring their members to justice”.

The sweep struck seven families: all five with headquarters in New York – the Bonanno, Colombo, Gambino, Genovese and Luchese – as well as the largely New Jersey-based DeCavalcante family and the New England branch centred on Providence in Rhode Island and Boston. Among those in custody are top figureheads, including the former boss of the New England branch, Luigi Manocchio, 83.

The scale of the assault on the mafia is underlined by the fate of the Colombo family, which has had its entire leadership other than those already in jail taken down: its street boss, acting underboss and consigliere, as well as four captains and eight of its soldiers.

The charge sheet includes alleged murders dating back to the 1980s. Holder said they included not only “classic mob hits to eliminate perceived rivals” but also senseless murders such as the killing of two victims in a public bar in a dispute over a spilled drink. Other charges run from narcotics trafficking to extortion, illegal gambling, arson, loan sharking and trade union racketeering.

Defendants are listed with their mob aliases and nicknames: Fed Alesi aka Whiney; Anthony Cavezza aka Tony Bagels; Giovanni Vella aka Mousey; Bartolomeo Vernace aka Pepe or Bobby Glasses.

The indictments lay out the hierarchy of families that have changed remarkably little. Cosa Nostra is ruled by a panel drawn from all its families called the “Commission”. Each crime family is headed by a boss, assisted by an underboss and adviser, known as a consigliere. They manage “crews” headed by a captain or “capodecina” and consisting of soldiers and associates.

To become a member of the family, or in the vocabulary a “goodfella” or “wiseguy”, individuals go through an initiation ceremony in which they commit themselves to a life of crime.

Such a dramatic move against the mob is not just good publicity for the FBI and the justice department, it also signals a change of gear within law enforcement with regard to the mafia. In recent years there has been a perception that the authorities took their eye off the ball, allowing organised crime to regroup.

“After 9/11 the emphasis of law enforcement shifted, with resources going to fight terrorism,” said Jon Shane, a professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and a former police captain in Newark. “Investigations died down, allowing the mafia to make a resurgence.”

Shane said the law enforcement agencies were now having to make a sustained effort to regain the initiative. “There’s always a time lag getting back into the game: players change, operations change.”

Last September Holder redirected additional firepower to the fight. As a further boost, yesterday he announced the merger of the organised crime division and the gang unit of the department of justice, to create an elite group of prosecutors devoted to running down the mafia.

The focus of the arrests suggest the crime families have once again tightened their grip on certain areas of the economy, notably illegal gambling, drug trafficking and construction. Holder says their influence amounts to a tax on various sectors.

They also maintain a stranglehold on some unions. Several arrests were made of officials belonging to the Longshoremen’s Association working on the New Jersey waterfront, as well as a cement and concrete union prevalent on New York building sites.

The FBI has gained the upper hand by securing the co-operation of a number of high-profile “super grasses”, who have been prepared to drop the sacred “omerta” – the eternal vow of silence – in exchange for a plea bargain.

Decline of the family: Mighty mobs that stumbled

Gambino

At its most powerful under “Teflon Don” John Gotti, the organisation had coast-to-coast reach and was the most influential of New York’s five families. But it was penetrated by the FBI, culminating in the 1990s defection of second-in-command Salvatore Gravano.

Genovese

The family displayed an ambition which, under Lucky Luciano, laid the foundation for a multinational crime empire. In the 1950s, the same ambition sparked infighting that almost crippled the organisation. After this, Frank Costello – having survived a hit – became one of the few mob bosses to retire, dying in his sleep in 1973.

Lucchese

Named after Gaetano “Three Fingers Brown” Lucchese, the family had strongholds in East Harlem and the Bronx. But in the 1990s, former acting boss Alphonse D’Arco turned informer.

Bonanno

Joseph Bonanno’s career included gun- running for Al Capone. The family is best known for its infiltration by FBI agent Donnie Brasco and for boss Joseph Massino turning informer in 2004.

Colombo

Named after Joseph A Colombo, who became boss in 1963. The family is known for its violent internal conflicts, including the Gallo wars of the 1960s and a battle for control in the early 1990s.

guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010

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This is a pretty amazing story. Mob boss John “Sonny” Franzese is the real deal. He’s one of the few original old school mafia bosses still breathing. He’s 93-years old and used to hang out with Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr. at the Copacabana nightclub. His first arrest was in 1938.

A federal judge sentenced Franzese to 8-years in prison for extorting Manhattan strip clubs. The judge said it was difficult to send such an elderly man to prison, but wanted to send a message that advanced age won’t absolve someone of their crimes. Franzese is in a wheelchair and can barely speak.

It would be easy to get sentimental and want to let the old man off the hook. He’s just an old gangster in the final years of his life. But when you really look at his life you realize he deserves to die in prison. He’s murdered dozens of people throughout his life and ordered the murder of dozens more. He’a also a convicted rapist and bank robber.

Franzese’s first arrest, for assault, came in 1938. Prosecutors say he was kicked out of the Army four years later after displaying “homicidal tendencies.”

In 1947, court papers say, he raped a waitress in a garage. In 1966, he beat a murder charge accusing him of killing a rival and dumping the body — cement blocks chained to the feet — into a bay.

Franzese was convicted in 1967 in a bank robbery, sent to prison and paroled in the late 1970s. Though never convicted of another crime, authorities say he rose to second in command of the Colombos, one of New York’s five Italian crime families.

the government said Franzese’s true legacy was something more akin to “Goodfellas.”

The main reason Franzese dodged arrest in other murders is that he became good at making bodies disappear, the papers said. Investigators caught him on tape in 2006 describing his favorite recipe for that: Dismember victim in kiddie pool. Cook body parts in microwave. Stuff parts in garbage disposal. Be patient.

“Today, you can’t have a body no more,” the latest court papers quote him saying. “It’s better to take that half an hour, an hour, to get rid of the body than it is just to leave the body in the street.”

He may look like your grandpa, but he’s an evil guy. Fascinating for sure, but nevertheless evil.

This is a fascinating interview. John Gotti Jr. son of the late John Gotti (bad ass Mob boss) sat down with 60 Minutes. Do yourself a favor and watch the entire thing…

Watch CBS News Videos Online

Watch this amazing footage of Italian mob boss Mario Bacio Terracino getting whacked outside a Naples Bar.

(hat tip Breitbart TV)

John “Junior” Gotti, son of the late Mob boss John Gotti was indicted today for consipracy linking him to three murders.

A Manhattan judge has ordered John A. “Junior” Gotti held without bail after his arrest on conspiracy charges linking him to three killings and large-scale cocaine trafficking.

Gotti will remain in custody until his removal to Florida. Earlier Tuesday, federal prosecutor Robert O’Neill in Tampa announced the indictment of the 44-year-old Gotti and five other men. The allegations include the three New York slayings in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

The FBI arrested Gotti , the son of the late Gambino family crime boss John Gotti , at his Long Island home.

The indictment accuses him of leading a branch of the Gambinos that operated in Florida, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania since about 1983.

If convicted, he faces life in prison.

Gotti was serving time in prison from 1999 until 2005 on a previous conviction for racketeering, extortion, and bribery. Gotti has said subsequently that he’s “retired” from the mafia and no longer wants to associate himself with any criminal organization.

He’s also accused the federal government of trying to get him killed by implying to the media that he has cooperated with investigators.

From WNBC:

The entire hierarchy of the Gambino organized crime family is being rounded up Thursday morning in what law enforcement officials are calling the biggest mafia bust in more than 20 years, WNBC.com has learned.

Investigators said powerful capos and dozens of its members and associates are being arrested Thursday morning by teams of federal, state and local investigators.

The Gambino family was once headed by John Gotti until his incarceration and subsequent death behind bars from cancer.

Gotti’s reckless disregard for the old time rules and rituals that made the mafia such a successful organization, really spelled the beginning of the end for the American mafia.

Whatever “honor” these thugs once had is long gone. Murder is no longer a last resort, but instead a first option. They routinely deal drugs which would have been unthinkable just a couple of decades ago due to the extremely stiff prison sentences it can bring.

Probably the biggest problem the Gambino family and the mafia in general has faced in recent years is the failure of its members to honor the “code of silence.” Meaning you don’t rat other people out just to save your own skin.

John Gotti was convicted in 1992 on federal racketeering charges. It was during that trial that Gotti’s close associate Sammy “the Bull” Gravano became a witness for the government.

Even though Gravano had personally committed some 20+ murders on behalf of the family, he received full immunity from the government. Over the last decade, law enforcement has been able to turn the screws on mafia members and systematically dismantle the organization.

This latest string of arrests of the top leadership (such as it is) for murder, racketeering, and conspiracy means that the few people left of any consequence are probably looking at life sentences in a super max prison.

-Chris Jones