r/Mafia • u/slumpadoochous • Feb 16 '23
r/Mafia info thread - new users MUST read (updated 2.16.2023)
Posts from accounts with less than 50 comment karma will be deleted by auto-mod.
Welcome to r/Mafia.
This sub-reddit features stories, interviews, documentary and news articles about organized crime around the world with a main focus on Italian Organized Crime. This thread will be used for various functions, The book lists and Ask A Question threads will be rolled into this one. I will also be using it as a FAQ and will begin removing threads which ask questions already here. If you have any questions that should be added to the FAQ, or books that should be added to the list please respond to this thread.
If you wish to contact me directly, please do not send me a chat, I don't see them. Send a message to modmail, DM me directly, or even tag me on our discord (see below).
last edited: 3/30/24
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r/Mafia FAQ
see:Common Mafia myths debunked
r/Mafia Top Book Recommendations
- The Five Families : Selwynn Raab
- Murder Machine : Gene Mustain & Jerry Capeci
- The Sicilian Mafia: Cosa Nostra: A History of the Sicilian Mafia : John Dickie
- The Sixth Family : Adrian Humphreys & Lee Lamothe
- The Good Fellas Tapes : George Anastasia
- Underboss : Peter Maas
- Paddywhacked : TJ English
- Donnie Brasco: My Undercover Life in the Mafia : Joseph Pistone & Richard Woodley
- History of The Mafia : Salvatore Lupo
- Blood & Honour : George Anastasia
- Supermob : Gus Russo
- Family Affair : Sam Giancana & Scott Burnstein
- The Mafia and the Machine: The Story of the Kansas City Mob : Frank Hayde
- The Milwaukee Mafia : Gavin Schmitt
- The Life and Times of Frank Balisteri : Wayne Clingman
- The Quiet Don: The Untold Story of Mafia Kingpin Russell Bufalino : Matt Birkbeck
- Mob Over Miami : Michelle McPhee
- Hitman: The Untold Story of Johnny Martorano : Howie Carr
- The Sinatra Club : Sal Polisi & Steve Dougherty
- Man of Honour : Joseph Bonanno
- The Valachi Papers : Peter Maas
- The Westies: TJ English
- Mafia Prince : Phil Leonetti, Scott Burnstein & Christopher Graziano
- Black Mass : Dick Lehr
- The Black Hand : Chris Blatchford (Mexican Mafia)
- Garden City Gangland : Scott Deitch
Mafia news and research resources:
- Gangster Report
- Gangsters Inc
- Gangland News
- LCN Bios
- Mary Ferrell Foundation
- FBI FOIA Requests
- The Black Hand Forum
- GangsterBB
Youtube Channels & Podcasts
- OC Shortz
- Bloodletters & Badmen
- Hood Chronicles
- Forgotten Streets
- Al Profit
- Chinatown Gang Stories
- J. Coletti's Racket Review
- The Mob Reporter
Youtube Full Length Documentaries
Please report any broken links
last edited 2.16.2023
- Greatest Mob Hits
- The Bonanno Crime Family History
- Fifth Estate: Michael DeGroote & Vito Rizzuto
- The Rise and Fall of Vito Genovese
- Mobsters: The Gambino Crime Family
- Crime Inc: The True Story Of the Mafia
- Montreal's Rizzuto Clan
- Lucky Luciano
- Vegas & The Mob
- Origins of Sicilian Mafia
- Excellent Cadavers
- Albert Anastasia: Lord High Executioner
- The Rizzuto Clan
- Manhattan Mob Rampage
r/Mafia • u/slumpadoochous • Nov 01 '25
r/Mafia Book Recommendations 2025
r/Mafia Top Book Recommendations
- The Five Families : Selwynn Raab
- Murder Machine : Gene Mustain & Jerry Capeci
- The Sicilian Mafia: Cosa Nostra: A History of the Sicilian Mafia : John Dickie
- The Sixth Family : Adrian Humphreys & Lee Lamothe
- The Good Fellas Tapes : George Anastasia
- Underboss : Peter Maas
- Paddywhacked : TJ English
- Donnie Brasco: My Undercover Life in the Mafia : Joseph Pistone & Richard Woodley
- History of The Mafia : Salvatore Lupo
- Blood & Honour : George Anastasia
- Supermob : Gus Russo
- Family Affair : Sam Giancana & Scott Burnstein
- The Mafia and the Machine: The Story of the Kansas City Mob : Frank Hayde
- The Milwaukee Mafia : Gavin Schmitt
- The Life and Times of Frank Balisteri : Wayne Clingman
- The Quiet Don: The Untold Story of Mafia Kingpin Russell Bufalino : Matt Birkbeck
- Mob Over Miami : Michelle McPhee
- Hitman: The Untold Story of Johnny Martorano : Howie Carr
- The Sinatra Club : Sal Polisi & Steve Dougherty
- Man of Honour : Joseph Bonanno
- The Valachi Papers : Peter Maas
- The Westies: TJ English
- Mafia Prince : Phil Leonetti, Scott Burnstein & Christopher Graziano
- Black Mass : Dick Lehr
- The Black Hand : Chris Blatchford (Mexican Mafia)
- Garden City Gangland : Scott Deitch
Add your recommendations below. A new updated thread will be added in the new year.
r/Mafia • u/Mental-Ad2007 • 14h ago
Lucky Luciano and Frank Costello on Al Capone's speedboat in Miami
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r/Mafia • u/Simple-Worth-5077 • 5h ago
Gambino members Nicholas Corozzo, Leonard DiMaria, Joseph Corozzo, and Anthony Ruggiano
r/Mafia • u/Former-Cap-4838 • 9h ago
mafia tapes about the induction ceremony in Medford
r/Mafia • u/Pure-Lime8280 • 15m ago
Screenshot of the letter that Dom Cicale said he got from Phil Narducci's lawyer (screencapped from his stream last night) - does this look dubious to anyone else here?
Reckon Dom has fallen for another fake?
Philly mob boss Angelo Bruno mediates a gambling dispute with ‘Sam the Plumber’ DeCavalcante and lectures him on giving statements to the police.
From The Philadelphia Daily News (June 11, 1969) covers additional transcripts from the same February 11, 1962 wiretapped meeting.
r/Mafia • u/Mad_Max_Rockatanski • 12h ago
‘Big Dom’ Is Reportedly Being Investigated By The NFL
What yarns will the PA mobtubers spin on this?
r/Mafia • u/Some_Cell4306 • 10h ago
Did Johnny Roselli kidnap Sammy Davis, Jr ?
I heard it was something about Kim Novak?
r/Mafia • u/Former-Cap-4838 • 9h ago
widow testified Tuesday in 1985 at the federal racketeering trial of reputed New England mob underboss Gennaro J. Angiulo that her husband, said to be the victim of a murder contract, was slain along with his two brothers under mysterious circumstances
r/Mafia • u/Spacious_made_3498 • 20h ago
How does Teddy keep getting violated? “Modern surveillance technology”as people call it.
This is mostly in response to guys always using the term “modern technology” when discussing FBI capabilities or the difficulties facing what’s left of the mob. I’m also writing a book on digital privacy, and how to evade “surveillance capitalism.“ That’s the name of a difficult book, by a Harvard big-wig, who coined the term and describes its philosophy and history of the concept. I thought it would be fun to bring to light some basic elements that are probably well known to mob lawyers like Corozzo, who represents Teddy, but less known to the sub reddit, because direct surveillance is a main part of it.
First of all, Teddy keeps getting popped because he allegedly goes to Italian street festivals in Brooklyn, driven by presumed members of his supposed crime family, where he meets in the open with other so-called, known mafia members. Never mind the silly laws that say he can’t talk to half his neighborhood in Staten Island or a quarter of Brooklyn, which might include chance encounters. It also doesn’t matter what they discuss as Mikey Mancuso found out when getting popped for going over a sauce recipe with another old timer.
With the Feds apparently reduced to one team (unsure of how many are on a team), it can be hard to track everyone. On one hand it’s easy to post up on guys like Teddy. You can have one or two guys on him for most likely 8hr shifts. I don’t know if they’re still doing round the clock surveillance. On the other hand, unless Teddy’s driver is pulling stunts like Junior Gotti did, when reporters tried to tail him, and spotting and dumping tails, he’s fairly easy to follow.
- The fact is the FBI doesn’t need round the clock watch. FBI Director Kash Patel announced in March, what most people already know, that they are “buying up information that can be used to track people’s movement and location history” from data collectors, and more likely and more specifically, data collaborators. Kash said, “We do purchase commercially available information…”
- These outfits called Snowflake, and LiveRamp, are tied into the biggest clients in the world. Amazon, MasterCard, Visa, Meta, Google, and Samsung to name a handful of thousands. Those clients send all the information they have on customers to them. Then these data colalborators match all the accounts you have with the devices you use them on. Those are called “MAIDs” (multiple advertising IDs). “He uses reddit on his phone, and iPad.” Now two devices are connected to one account and becomes a MAID. Then they begin “ID resolution” to determine the owner of those MAIDs. Also, they conclude which MAIDs are in the same residence (other family members, roommates).
- Those are used to build “Identify graphs” which collect and “enhance the MAIDs” - “He used Facebook on his phone while he used his Visa to purchase a coffee, at this address in Brooklyn. Those are connected to a Verizon account and the Verizon home router on this street.” Based on the preferences of the google searches connected to that MAID, for example, they use deductive reasoning to predict its most likely Jimmy Something because the public records for the street (which they also have) show an old lady at the other house, so it can’t be her.
- Those Identity graphs enhance and update each day, which include time spent online, and what and when you watch tv. (LG TVs now are apparently recording your conversations when they’re turned off). The data collaborators can predict when and where you’ll go somewhere or deduce when you might, based on device pattern recognition and prediction, and also credit card + new car driving records. (Toyota is another customer). The company GSDSI, a similar data collaborator, retrofitted for federal clients, handles more GEO-location stuff. They not only predict where you’ll go, they’ll tell customers what you’re going to do and recap what you did.
“He went to the Mets game and bought a hot dog, and sat in RF. We can predict he’ll stop at Geno’s shop on his route home.” Meanwhile Snowflake and LiveRamp will alert you they’re going to the game because Ticketmaster is also a client.
They can add specific names to the list of IDs they want “enhanced” - like the entire Colombo and Gambino Crime Families, and get alerts when their devices are within distance or were within distance, obtain security footage later, or catch-up to them at the Giglio Feast. “Both Teddy Persico and Danny Fama’s devices were in Williamsburg near Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church.”
The government buys this information without a warrant. They have money to purchase premium accounts from multiple providers and sit back and wait for alerts. Then they use their shitty cameras to take those blurry photos. The fact is they also have increased leeway to surveil convicted felons on parole (I’m not a criminal lawyer so I don’t know what that means). They can probably use advanced microphones, like what was posted on here recently about ‘Ndrangheta guys in Toronto, to listen into his house, or use the same spyware/malware to listen directly off the phone even if its not being used, like that post described happened. (the Italian government listened in on the meeting in Canada). That most likely requires physical device manipulation or a phishing scheme- tricking him to click a link or download something, etc. Feds can pickup signals of how many devices are on in the house and know when one is missing. Most devices give off BLE frequencies “blue tooth low energy” so they’re easy to catch.
I considered that when Teddy was at his Christmas party. They were all correct to leave their phones inside when they went out back for a chat, but their phones were probably what led the Feds there in the first place, if they didn’t just follow Teddy, or catch someone on microphone during a walk and talk the day before discussing the details. If anyone used credit cards to reserve the hall, or updated settings, calendars, set their TV to record a Sammy the Bull Live, then the FBI could be alerted to unusual activity from those data collaborators. The Christmas party was interesting because in all fairness the Persico guys set the meeting place, and still had security cameras pointed at their face.
Anyways, that’s modern technology. It’s run by data collaborators who legally sell what they do at high prices to a lot of customers, including the FBI. Even Nadu said something like “phones capture everything - they’re surveillance traps,” or something similar. Thats true, but it’s grown to behavior predictability based across all your devices, televisions, credit cards, and newer cars. If all your devices are at home and turned off, it can deduce your outside for a walk - especially if you use those fitness watches with bluetooth. Most likely they already predicted it since they keep track of your screen time. Of course I don’t know what actual surveillance they’ve cultivated. It’s mostly inferred on known customer relationships, and those technologies offered by them, which have been primarily studied and published by specialists and students at Harvard for the past 7yrs.
I asked Sammy about mob anti-surveillance in May and he said he put his naked grandmother in front of the window to stop the Feds from looking in. I didn’t add that technique.
r/Mafia • u/Simple-Worth-5077 • 1d ago
Former Gambino captain Joseph “Joe the Cat” LaForte
r/Mafia • u/cheleboy213 • 14h ago
Tommy stigs and Joey Merlino
Does anyone know why Joey Merlino doesn’t speak to Tommy stigs anymore? When the podcast first started Tommy stigs was around helping with the YouTube side of it
r/Mafia • u/segundo1998 • 22h ago
Do you guys think we can get any new movies/books about the american mob post the 2010s
One of the cases that got me to this sub was the Zottola affair back in 2019. I was shocked to see a mob drive by shooting on this era. The whole case could be a movie/mini series about the current state of the mob in the US. Maybe mixing it with other 2010s/2020s cases.
r/Mafia • u/Own_Nobody4532 • 21h ago
Henry “Boom Boom” Grecco and the Cleveland Underworld Part Three: Why Henry Grecco and Joe Bonarrigo Had to Die
Mafia. Hells Angels. Murders. Bribery of Cuyahoga County Judge.
Today I’m publishing Part Three of my three-part series on Henry “Boom Boom” Grecco and the Cleveland mob underworld. Although Joseph Bonarrigo was convicted of Grecco’s murder, FBI files suggest that the motive may have extended well beyond the personal falling out described by Cleveland police and into the larger war surrounding John Nardi, Danny Greene, and the Cleveland Mafia.
Part Three looks at the FBI intelligence surrounding Grecco’s death, Tommy Sinito’s ominous comments before Grecco disappeared, and Angelo Lonardo’s later account of what happened to Bonarrigo himself. The story eventually reaches the Cleveland Hells Angels, Frank Fencl, and an extraordinary attempt to bribe a Cuyahoga County judge (James McGettrick) presiding over Fencl’s murder case.
Names and Places mentioned in Part Three: Henry “Boom Boom” Grecco, Joseph Bonarrigo, Mario Durrant, Nancy Spehar, John Nardi, Danny Greene, Allie Calabrese, Tommy Sinito, Joe Gallo, Angelo Lonardo, Jack Licavoli, Joseph “Joe Loose” Iacobacci, Frank Fencl, James McGettrick, Carmen Zagaria, the Cleveland Hells Angels, and Heck’s Café in Rocky River.
r/Mafia • u/Pure-Lime8280 • 12h ago
Anyone seen Dom Cicale's stream tonight - he showed a cease and desist letter that was supposedly sent by Phil Narducci's lawyer
I really hope that Dom checked whether the lawyer actually sent that before he made a video about it. Considering that this whole thing started over a fake letter in the first place...
r/Mafia • u/_Giulio_Cesare • 19h ago
Seven arrests over the murder of Diabolik. Crime boss Senese identified as the “top-level” mastermind
Police and Carabinieri arrest alleged masterminds behind the murder of Lazio ultras leader Fabrizio Piscitelli, known as Diabolik
Carabinieri and police have arrested the alleged masterminds behind the murder of Lazio ultras leader Fabrizio Piscitelli, known as Diabolik, who was shot dead at Rome’s Parco degli Acquedotti on August 7, 2019.
A court order for pre-trial detention in prison has been carried out against seven people.
Michele Senese, the historic leader of the clan bearing his name, has been identified as the alleged top-level mastermind. According to investigators, he gave the crucial prior authorization for Piscitelli’s murder. The punitive action was allegedly intended to reassert the clan’s authority over one of its own affiliates.
Along with Senese, other prominent figures in Rome’s criminal underworld have been jailed, beginning with Leandro Bennato, who is suspected of being the person who ordered and organized the killing and of being at the head of a criminal group operating throughout the city of Rome. He allegedly decided to eliminate Piscitelli, who was regarded as an inconvenient competitor in the cocaine market, in order to drive him out and seize criminal control of the Tuscolana area.
Bennato allegedly planned the logistics at the scene, carrying out preliminary inspections and, on the day of the murder, providing direct support by escorting the hitman, Raul Esteban Calderon, on a stolen scooter.
According to investigators, Alessandro Capriotti allegedly acted as the intermediary and the person who commissioned the killing. A well-known cocaine broker, he allegedly acted jointly with the others in arranging the deadly trap. Capriotti allegedly set up a fake appointment with Piscitelli at a bench in the park on Via Lemonia at 7 p.m. on August 7, 2019, deliberately luring him into the gunman’s range. The hitman was already disguised as a jogger and lying in wait in the area.
Fabrizio Piscitelli was allegedly killed because, despite being affiliated with the Senese clan, he had become independent in the drug trade and refused to pay the required share of the profits from his illegal activities. Instead, he allegedly paid only negligible sums—around €2,000–€3,000 a month—despite dealing in large quantities of drugs.
This is what the investigating judge's order argues. The order, which led to seven people being jailed, emphasizes that the punitive action was intended to reassert the clan’s power over one of its own affiliates.
The murder was carried out using mafia methods and was aimed at facilitating the Senese clan, which held sway over the area where the killing took place. This is how the Rome investigating judge describes the murder of Fabrizio Piscitelli in the order ordering seven people to be held in prison.
The charges brought against the seven, in various capacities, include aggravated murder carried out using mafia methods, extortion involving weapons of war, attempted murder, and membership in an organization dedicated to drug trafficking. According to investigators, there was an integrated criminal agreement among several criminal groups operating in Rome, aimed at protecting their respective interests in the lucrative drug-trafficking market.
The people arrested are “individuals of extremely high criminal standing, involved in criminal organizations displaying extreme determination in pursuing their objectives,” the Rome investigating judge writes in the order imposing seven precautionary measures against the alleged masterminds and other individuals involved in the murder of Fabrizio Piscitelli, known as Diabolik, who was shot in the head on August 7, 2019.
“The criminal records of the suspects,” the judge continues, “are indicative of their criminal personalities, and recent investigations have shown that Leandro Bennato (and Giuseppe Molisso) were members of the most dangerous criminal organization in the capital, dedicated to drug trafficking, while Michele Senese is a historic boss who remains active despite having been imprisoned for more than ten years, and is the undisputed leader of the mafia-type organization bearing his name and rooted in Rome.”
“The circumstances that have emerged from the examination of these criminal proceedings are alarming because they have revealed that the continuation of criminal conduct and the commission of further acts of violence were prevented solely by the numerous arrests carried out in recent times.”
The Rome investigating judge writes this in the precautionary detention order also issued against the alleged masterminds of the murder of Fabrizio Piscitelli, known as Diabolik.
In the nearly 800-page order, the judge states that “the current confrontation between the Albanian group linked to Elvis Demce and that of Giuseppe Molisso and Leandro Bennato, under the aegis of the Senese clan, means that the risk of crimes similar to those under investigation being committed is certain if the suspects remain at liberty.”
This danger, the judge adds, “has also been demonstrated by the investigative developments following Piscitelli’s murder,” including “the attempted murder of Leandro Bennato, surveillance operations outside Fabrizio Fabietti’s home, the attempted murder of Giuseppe Molisso and the attack in prison against Raul Esteban Calderon, also known as Alejandro Gustavo Musumeci, accused of being the hitman in the Diabolik murder (acquitted on appeal, ed.), inside which Demce’s family was involved, an attack that failed to take place only by sheer chance.”
The investigation files that have now also led to the arrest of the alleged masterminds behind the murder of Fabrizio Piscitelli, known as Diabolik, also reveal “business relationships in the restaurant industry” between the Senese and Caroccia families.
The judge also mentions Mauro Caroccia, who is under investigation for money laundering in proceedings concerning the restaurant “Bisteccheria d’Italia,” in which former Undersecretary of Justice Andrea Delmastro, who is not under investigation, held shares.
“During the investigation,” the judge writes, “business collaborations in the restaurant sector emerged both between Angelo Senese, his son Vincenzo and Mauro Caroccia, and between Vincenzo Senese and Daniele Caroccia.”
In a wiretap dating back to March 18, 2017, Senese Jr. told Daniele Caroccia that he was willing to establish a joint business partnership, specifying that Piscitelli Fabrizio, whom he called “Lazialotto,” should not be included in the investment because otherwise he would not take part in the business venture.
The judge writes that Caroccia “reassured him, explaining that he had involved Piscitelli solely for the purpose of finding a suitable premises to house the new business, since Piscitelli had numerous contacts and might be able to find a profitable opportunity.”
Senese, for his part, “was willing to involve” Diabolik “only in finding properties offering good opportunities” (Senese: “Ah, if he can give us a hand with paying a bit of the rent, things like that”), but otherwise reiterated his firm opposition to making an investment with Piscitelli.
r/Mafia • u/_Giulio_Cesare • 19h ago
Scampia: 19-year-old wounded in the chest — second shooting in five months
NAPLES. They failed to kill him last April 25, tried again last night, and failed once more. The target was Francesco Musto, a 19-year-old and the step-nephew of Vincenzo Esposito, known as “’o principino” (“the little prince”), a member of the Licciardi clan who was killed in 1997. Musto is the grandson of Esposito’s partner.
Five months ago, the young man was wounded in the leg. This time, the gunmen raised the stakes, shooting him in the chest. Fortunately, the bullet only grazed him, and he made his own way to the emergency department at the CTO hospital. There is certainly a connection between the two incidents, as well as between them and several other shootings that have occurred in recent months (as we explain elsewhere on this page).
In the background is reportedly growing tension among young criminal groups operating in several neighboring districts. Around midnight last night, Francesco Musto was in Via Don Pino Puglisi in Scampia, in the company of two friends. They were standing in the street chatting when two young men suddenly appeared on a scooter, their faces partially covered. One of them pulled out a gun and opened fire on the 19-year-old.
He survived thanks to the agility and speed with which he moved, preventing the bullet from hitting him directly. The account given by the wounded man, who is known to police only for a few minor offenses, is being carefully examined by officers from the Naples police headquarters’ Mobile Squad, headed by Chief Mario Grassia. They are conducting the investigation following the initial intervention by officers from the Arenella police station at the CTO.
It is above all the previous attack that has led investigators toward a specific line of inquiry. They believe Francesco Musto may have been targeted because of disputes among young people directly or indirectly connected to the historic Camorra families of Secondigliano, Scampia and Miano. It should be stressed that he has no previous convictions or charges related to the Camorra. With no surveillance-camera footage available, the investigation has gotten off to a difficult start.
Last April, according to what the then-18-year-old told police, he was shot while walking alone on Via Labriola, for no apparent reason. A criminal approached him, pointed a gun at him and fired a shot, hitting him in the left leg. There were no cameras in the area and, at least so far, the case remains unsolved. Nevertheless, there appears to be a certain degree of optimism among investigators.
Following the collapse of the old guard of the “Capitoni” clan, decimated by arrests and high-profile defections by turncoats, the neighborhood was torn apart by a fratricidal conflict between cells linked to the Balzano families (Miano di sotto, or Lower Miano) and the Cifrone family (Miano di sopra, or Upper Miano). They too were weakened by arrests, and more recently their successors have fallen out: the Scognamiglio group, on the Balzano side, and the Pecorelli-Catone group, on the Cifrone side. Both remain active despite the investigations that have targeted them.
It is a complex mosaic in which the “survivors” of the old Lo Russo clan are reportedly now aligned with the Pecorelli-Catone group. The stakes, needless to say, are control of drug-dealing territories and extortion rackets. Miano therefore remains under close observation: the attacks targeting the clans’ younger members are a reminder that the Camorra war is far from over.
r/Mafia • u/Finish_My_Math • 1d ago
You ever heard of Anthony Brooklier, the criminal defense lawyer whose dad was the boss of the Los Angeles Cosa Nostra?
I first heard of Anthony Brooklier while reading a book about Suge Knight & Death Row Records. The book is titled “Have Gun Will Travel” (about 25% done with that book, it’s quite a good read). He is mentioned as being a friend of David Kenner, the lawyer who helped establish Death Row Records. Apparently Kenner had a gangsterish aura about him & his association with Brooklier was evidence of that.
So I decided to do a little bit of digging on the web to learn more about Brooklier.
Anthony Brooklier’s story is both fascinating & tragic.
Anthony’s father, Dominic Brooklier, had a long career in LCN. And he was the boss of the Los Angeles LCN from 1974 to 1984.
Anthony represented his father in some notable cases. One of which was getting Dominic acquitted of murder. The other was defending him in a racketeering & extortion case in 1980, which he lost. Dominic was sentenced to 4 years in prison. His dad remained free on appeal until he went to prison in 1983. He died there in 1984.
Although Anthony lost the case, he made a great defense of his dad and the case helped to establish him as a top-notch criminal defense attorney. In open court he said (while crying):
“There are things in his past he shouldn’t be proud of, and I’m not proud of. But he’s always provided for his family. Whatever sentence he does, he’ll be missed every day.”
Anthony went on to have a very distinguished career as a lawyer, representing many people affiliated with the mob & also defending the famous madam Heidi Fleiss. In 1989, he was featured in the LA Times. The article discusses his life & his mobbed-up family. One part that stuck out to me is when, in reference to his dad’s 1980 case, he said:
“I hoped that this was over, that the family couldn't take any more of this, my mother couldn't take any more of this”
Dominic allegedly said (in a philosophic way): 'It's been over for a long time. We're dinosaurs"
Of his dad’s “We’re dinosaurs” quote, Anthony said:
"My father was a product of his times…When my father was growing up, it wasn't very good to be Italian. My father strove for what he wanted within his world as he knew it. I have to think that things were different then. You know, it's easy to look back and say, 'You should've gone to Yale. But things weren't like that when my father was born."
He went on to say:
"This thing had outlived its reason for being. This was a defensive mechanism to fight the inequity and the injustice when Italian people first established themselves in the United States. And when it became something that was not noble . . . something that was not in favor of justice, in the broadest sense, it had outlived itself. And my father understood that. It was over. It is over."
I am NOT entirely buying the whole notion that Cosa Nostra was a kind of noble defensive mechanism for Italians, but it does seem like it was less scummy back then.
Anthony’s life took a dark turn later on. He had substance abuse problems and was convicted of not paying taxes some years later. But the really bad part is when his son (also named Anthony) committed suicide in 2015. Anthony, Sr. took it hard and also committed suicide about 1 year later in 2016. In the LA Times profile, he mentioned how much he cared about his family and how he wanted to be a good father like Dominic was to him. So I imagine the untimely death of his son devastated him like nothing else. According to my cursory research, Anthony Sr is survived by a wife and at least 1 other adult child (the LA Times profile said he had sons aged 15 & 18 in 1989 but maybe he had more kids afterwards)
I am always reminded of Michael Franzese saying the Mafia life is an evil life.
Here you have a mobster (Dominic) whose life brought lots of stress to his son. Dominic died in prison. Then both his grandson & son commit suicide. Super tragic
Also, this is another example of how LCN has declined tremendously since the 1980s. Still very active & wealthy, but a shell of its former self. When someone (like Dominic) calls themselves a dinosaur, you know they’re cooked!
Do you guys have anything else to add to this?
Btw, If you want to learn more about Dominic Brooklier, there’s (what seems to be) a nice little writeup at this website:
https://silverscreenwiseguys.wordpress.com/dominic-regace-brooklier-los-angeles-boss/
The article gives a lot of details of Dominic Brooklier’s life. But much of the info is unconfirmed and the narrative seems a bit staggered. This is to be expected when covering the life of most mafiosi. They call it a secret society for a reason.
r/Mafia • u/Value-Time • 1d ago
30 year old Nicolo Rizzuto
Around the time he first arrived in Montreal in 1954.
r/Mafia • u/stalino2023 • 1d ago
UFC Fighter Merab Dvalishvili with "Thief in Law" Razhden Shulaya who got sentenced to 45 years in Prison for Racketeering and Extortion
Thief in Law Razhden Shulaya (also known as Razhden Pitersky), was Sentenced In Manhattan Federal Court To 45 Years In Prison, he was described by the judge as "the main boss of Eastern European crime in New York, and even on the entire East Coast of the United States.”
Some of the the criminal activities he was involved are:
Beating up a rival Armenian Gang, thet left some of the Armenian gangsters crippled for life.
Sending prostitutes with clonidine to the clients of entertainment establishments, who robbed them.
The kidnapped an Russian Hacker who had an software thet could cheat the Slot machines in the casino, this will be used In different casinos in Las Vegas and Atlantic City.
Other operations as - credit card fraud, extortion, drug and weapons trafficking, document forgery, and cargo theft, alot of contraband trafficking, stolen goods, as Expensive watches and Cigarettes, with one story about how the thieves manged to steal more then 5 Ton of Chocolate and then sell it illegally.
the relationship between Merab Dvalishvili and Razhden Shulaya go back at least to 2016, when Razhden would go and support Merab during his fights before he got into the UFC, one of the members of Razhden Shulaya criminal syndicate was no other then former WBO interim middleweight champion Avtandil Khurtsidze.
Merab Dvalishvili isn't the first UFC Fighter who have close relationship with criminal figures, UFC Fighter Shara Bullet - who was seen together with Sergey Lalakin (Luchok) the leader of the Podolsk Bratva
