vinny tv and others go down this morning

By MITCHEL MADDUX
Last Updated: 10:22 AM, January 27, 2012
Posted: 9:38 AM, January 27, 2012



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Federal agents this morning arrested several high-ranking Bonanno crime family members and charged them with racketeering and extortion, sources said.
Among those arrested in the joint FBI-Drug Enforcement Administration probe were two senior members of the Bonanno ruling administration, Anthony "TG" Graziano and Vinny Badalamenti, law enforcement sources said.
Bonanno captain Nicky Santoro was also charged, as were soldiers Vito Balsamo and Anthony Calabrese, sources said.
A Gambino crime family associate, James LaForte, was also arrested in the early morning raids, sources said.

They are scheduled to be arraigned this afternoon in Brooklyn federal court.
Graziano was already facing previous extortion charges in a separate case.
Today's sweep against the Bonanno leadership stems in part from the assistance of former mob associate Hector Pagan, who is the ex-husband of "Mob Wives" star Renee Graziano.
Pagan is now a DEA informant.
Renee Graziano is the daughter of Anthony Graziano.
Anthony Graziano, 71, was released recently from prison but then was quickly ensnared in an earlier Drug Enforcement Administration probe that pre-dated today's developments.
In that previous case, Pagan - a Bonanno associate-turned DEA informant - reportedly wore a wire and secretly recorded conversations for the feds with his ex-father-in-law while discussing the collection of a loanshark debt.
Anthony Graziano was indicted by Brooklyn federal prosecutors on those earlier charges just last week


Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/brook...L#ixzz1kgjpRDOb

No surprise there.

Fighting two separate indictments at once will really put the pressure on Graziano to plea out. The other guys are a little more likely to take their chances at trial, but it's waaaay too soon to speculate on such things.

I'm not well versed in the east coast like you guys, but having lived through this thing multiple times in my life, it is textbook government takedown and I have been waiting for this to happen. The major bust last year, and then the feds allow a shift up in leadership only to quickly swoop back in and take out that leadership. When this happens you have effectively been dealt a 1.5 generation takeout of your leadership. The government has their foot on the throat of two families currently. What will happen is very similar to cleveland in that the remaining members will ultimately form a "street gang leadership" and turn almost exclusively into a drug ring to make money, and that's when the family will dissolve into jails, state's witness, or retirement.

I agree with this. They're little more than a gang right now (regardless of what the fanboys and apologists want to tell you).

They're going to be around for awhile---maybe a long while, who knows?---but their strength will continue to decline. In my opinion, the biggest change is how outsiders view these guys today.

They just don't instill the same fear in Joe Public that they did 20 or 30 years ago. If you try to shake down a Pakistani or Dominican store owner here in the Bronx today, he's going to either call the law or take a shot at you. He doesn't care that your last name ends in a vowel.

When I was growing up in the Bronx in the '60s, '70s and even the '80s, people were petrified of these guys. Today, not so much.

Does anyone have the indictment?

So they get the boss, underboss, and consgilere..

Pretty interesting. A street gang structure is not neccesarily a bad thing, its more individualistic than family orientated but that means that means that a mobster can do his own thing and if he runs into any trouble can call upon other guys to help still but without having to pay up any or very little tribute. It may also have the effect that the feds may not be able to indict so many made members in one case because things are alot more looser and mob guys wont be communicating with eachother so much.

here you go

http://cbsnewyork.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/badalamenti-indictmentv6.pdf

Fat Tony Rabito is laying low he wasnt caught up in this indictment...

Here's the story which was printed on SI Live :

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The boss was busted.


And so were several other alleged Staten Island mobsters today with high-ranking positions or ties to the Bonanno crime family, for racketeering, extortion and other charges, authorities say.

The allegations include the shakedown of a Dongan Hills pizza store owner over a recipe used at a famous Brooklyn pizzeria. In some instances, the purported crimes date back more than a decade.


Vincent Badalamenti, 53, the acting Bonanno boss also known as "Vinny TV," was arrested at his lush Bertram Avenue home in Annadale.

Also nabbed by federal Drug Enforcement Administration and FBI agents were Staten Islanders Vito Balsamo, 55; Anthony Calabrese, 44, and James LaForte, 35. Court papers didn't specify their home communities.


In addition, authorities busted Long Islander Nicholas (Nicky Mouth) Santora, 69, and charged reputed Bonanno consigliere Anthony (TG) Graziano, 71, of Huguenot. Graziano, who’s currently incarcerated on related extortion charges, is the father of "Mob Wives" reality-TV star Renee Graziano.

Court documents said Santora is a Bonanno captain, Balsamo is an acting captain and Calabrese is a solider within the family. LaForte, who recently served time for his role in a Nassau County real-estate scam, is a Gambino crime family associate, allege prosecutors.

Prosecutors said the wise guys used violence and intimidation to extort cash from victims.


In one instance, Graziano directed a cooperating witness to see a loanshark victim and to "break his balls" and "open him up," said court papers. In another, the witness told Graziano that a second man from whom he was trying to collect a debt "was crying hysterical," court documents said.


Some of the alleged crimes occurred while Graziano and LaForte were living in federal halfway houses shortly after their release from prison. Santora allegedly broke the law in some cases while on supervised release after serving a stint behind bars, said court papers.


"Members of organized crime continue to exploit their victims the old-fashioned way — through violence, threats and intimidation," said Loretta E. Lynch, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, whose office is prosecuting the case. "Learning nothing from their incarceration, two of the defendants allegedly sought to regain their money and influence on the street while still under federal supervision. But, because they learned nothing, they find themselves back in custody again, along with their co-defendants."


The oldest charge dates to 1999.

That’s when Badalamenti allegedly ordered the hostile takeover of a bar on Coney Island Avenue, Brooklyn, when its owner failed to pay a debt.

According to court papers, Badalamenti is the highest-ranking Bonanno member on the street. He "wields day-to-day control over all other Bonanno members and associates who are at liberty." He also allegedly controls a mob social club on 20th Avenue and 72nd Street in Brooklyn’s Bensonhurst section.

Court documents said Calabrese, between May and August of 2010, participated in the extortion and beat-down of the owner of The Square pizzeria in New Dorp.


Feathers were ruffled over the shop’s pizzas, which were considered too similar to those of L&B Spumoni Gardens in Brooklyn. However, the owner has denied being attacked or forced to pay money to end the hostilities, according to published reports.

Badalamenti, Balsamo, Calabrese, Graziano and Santora are charged, variously, under a 14-count indictment with racketeering and racketeering conspiracy, including predicate acts of extortion and extortion conspiracy. Santora is also accused of marijuana-distribution conspiracy and illegal gambling.


LaForte is charged with extortion and attempted extortion.


The suspects are to be arraigned today in Brooklyn federal court.


If convicted, each faces up to 20 years in prison, said prosecutors.

-SI LIVE

Thanks for sharing DC. Good article.

I cant imagine Badalamenti will get beyond 5 years. Pretty weak charges considering how Capeci hyped it up the last couple months.

Agreed, racketeering is never easy to defend, however this being racketeering and extortion is helluva lot more relaxed than a RICO involving drugs and murder.

Why the hell does the DEA have such an interest in Vinny TV though?

im sure their is a superseeding indictment in the works on vinny tv you can prob be sure of that...

I honestly think the cose nostra will never be 100% gone.. they will always exist one way or another. so it's now 2012, & im curious to know what kind of condition the "mafia" is in today.

Indictment -

http://cbsnewyork.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/badalamenti-indictmentv6.pdf


Press Release -

http://www.justice.gov/usao/nye/pr/2012/2012jan27.html

It will be a long while yet before the Bonannos are like Cleveland.

haha, I agree, I found your reply humorous, not sure if that was your intent.

I agree, the New York families are far to much sophisticated to be leveled to the same status as Cleveland. I can agree that Philadelphia, and Jersey to drop down to drug crews, but not the New York families. Certainly not with the Genoveses.

None of the New York families are going anywhere. They'll always be around to some degree.

I agree that they will always be around in some form... with the emphasis on "some form". They might eventually change so much that they become unrecognizable.

For example, I doubt if insisting that members be pure-blooded Italian (which I believe is still the rule in some (?) of the families) will still be an ongoing thing in, say, 2100.

That rule supposedly was changed in the mid-1980's. Which is one reason Gotti Jr. was able to be made. Later, in the late 1990's, it was supposedly changed back to 100% Italian. But even if that's the case, there are obviously guys who aren't 100% who still get made because they are well connected or whatever.

it seems to me that this 100% italian rule to be made will change and fluctuate depending on the need for manpower or how influential,ie how good of an earner, that the guy is who is wanted for membership. as long as there is some italian in you(italian last name), the mob can just lie and twist the facts to get thier way just like the government:)

ifranzese said your dad must be italian but now your mum can be italian but you must have an italian name. im suprised that all five defendants pleaded not guilty!

was that for all families or just the gambinos?

does any mobster live in brookyln any more. all these guys are islanders arrested.

wonder if L&B Spumoni Gardens pays anything? they seem to protect that place.

Does anyone know why it's the DEA thats hitting these guys? The DEA used Pagan against Graziano and they are the ones that raided Vinny TV's social club a few years ago, (supposedly a making ceremony)instead it was just a bunch of old timers. The DEA temporaily kept their drivers licences.Just my thoughts.

Supposedly all the NY families.

I read when they raided the social club all the old-timers had napkins stuck in there ears

It's a new thing old-timers in the mafia do.

This to me as been the most interesting, especially considering the fact that the most recent indictment makes no mention of drugs.

Its because the goverment has limited resources and all a lot of shark money goes to drug dealers that become informants.

i think its one of the weakest...no murder no drugs...the feds love murder and drugs...shows that they dont have much and are jumpin the gun

They were buying and distributing marijuana, thats what it says on the indictment.

yes you are correct...perhaps its the life i choose to live over these years but marijunia isn't a real drug...weed trafficing is nothing like coke or heroin trafficking where the real money is@!

Marijuana is a big money maker and there is alot of violence behind it with the groups that supply it, youve got vietnamese, mexicans, jamaicans, albanians. The dea are probably trying to flip or get info of of these guys on their suppliers.

Looking at those names, i cant see a candidate for flipping. But on the other hand, many guys flipped whom we didnt expect.

Lets say im 80% sure no one will flip

‘Mob wives’ rat helps feds make bust

Federal agents busted several high-ranking Bonanno crime-family members yesterday and charged them with racketeering and extortion, authorities said.

Among those arrested in the joint FBI-Drug Enforcement Administration probe was a senior member of the Bonanno ruling administration, as well as capo Anthony “TG” Graziano, the father of “Mob Wives” star Renee Graziano.

Her ex-husband, ex-mob associate Hector Pagan, is now a DEA informant who gave the feds information that led to the massive sweep.

Anthony Graziano, 71, was released recently from prison but then quickly ensnared in an earlier DEA probe that predated yesterday’s developments.

In that previous case, Pagan reportedly wore a wire and secretly recorded conversations for the feds with his ex-father-in-law while discussing the collection of a loan-shark debt.

Graziano was indicted by Brooklyn federal prosecutors on those earlier charges just last week.

Yesterday, Bonanno ruling administration member, Vincent “Vinny TV” Badalamente, was charged with shaking down several restaurants and bars in Manhattan and Brooklyn and also allegedly “took over” a bar on Coney Island Avenue after its owner failed to pay back a debt, Brooklyn federal prosecutors said.

Bonanno capo Nicholas “Nicky Mouth” Santora was charged with conspiracy to distribute marijuana and illegal gambling, according to an indictment unsealed yesterday.

Also charged in the sweep, were acting capo Vito Balsamo and soldier Anthony Calabrese, officials said.

Prosecutors hit Calabrese with an extortion charge for allegedly participating in a heated sit-down to discuss a financial settlement over a secret pizza sauce recipe that a Bonanno-associated Staten Island pizza joint allegedly stole from Brooklyn’s L&B Spumoni Gardens, which has ties to the Colombo crime family.

Calabrese was caught on a secret FBI tape saying, “I went there and argued . . . I f–king had a screaming match with the f–king Colombo guys for three hours.”

A Gambino crime-family associate, James LaForte, also was arrested in the early-morning raids, sources said.

All of those charged pleaded not guilty at a hearing in Brooklyn federal court, except Graziano, who will be arraigned next week.

After the arrests yesterday, Renee Graziano reportedly suffered a panic attack and was hospitalized, according to TMZ.

Source:http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/mob_wives_rat_3LtzcI9xLcPfHvtesKNQPP

You referring to New York? They got Vietnamese in NY, I thought we only had to deal with them in Westminster. That and marijuana dealing is typically small time shit with a far less violent clientele and dealers.



Yeah I think this also. Remember when they fucked up that Christmas party bust in '09? They really thought they were going to disrupt a making ceremony.

Nicholas, your sort of wrong and right. yes weed aint the same as coke or heroin however its sold by a wide array of people, from your harmless neighbourhood pot head to violent street gangs. Like i said before weeds a big moneymaker because in the hood now its one of the main drugs the younger generation do, crack coaine market is big but it has stabilized meaning it wont reach the peaks it did in the eighties, The bulk of heroin users are coming from the suburbs.

One or two of the guys caught in this case will probably give something without getting on the witness stand or they will become a confidential informant giving the dea info on drug traffickers. Thats what the dea will try and do anyway.

As for vietnamese gangs in ny a few of them started their.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Born_to_Kill_(gang)

Good stuff Marty....Scorsese; here in California the legal marijuana clinics took away a lot of drug dealers who profited off the stuff. Though a vast majority of the drug dealers are not gang members. Cocaine varies, a big difference in dealers between L.A. and Orange County. I can second the upping heroin statistics and the background of users, it is becoming more popular amongst white, middle class kids. Though most are smoking it.

What was Pagan looking at before he flipped? I'm almost curious to watch Mob Wives to see how it affects Renee 'The little Gorilla' Graziano

Yeah heroins alot purer especially afghan heroin. clinics have definately put alot of dealers out of business but they targets for robberies and shakedowns still. Theirs always a way for criminals to profit off of legalising drugs.

I think pagan was looking at armed robbery charges for the card games he held up but i doubt hes the only informant on this case.Why did they let this guy so close after he was on that tvshow with his family, it sort of makes them look like a joke and tourist sideshow instead of a serious violent criminal gang.

as for renee, bitch probably have some sort of meltdown, then have some more plastic surgery to make herself feel better. i hear she has a son, if i were him id be running off with my dad into witness protection rather than sticking around to deal with her shit.

Plastic surgery can't make an ugly woman pretty. Any plastic surgeon will tell you that. A nip here and a tuck there, in moderation, can take a few years off your looks. But for a beast like Renee, there's absolutely no hope .

Her and that big ang should do tranny porn.

Don´t know if this is old news (since I don´t follow the show) but Big Ange apparently has a conviction for drug dealing.

This indictment (note the name of Luca DiMatteo, but I don´t think it´s THE Luca DiMatteo, the Lucchese capo), found on the smoking gun web site:


http://www.thesmokinggun.com/file/raiola-complaint

Luca DiMatteo is a Colombo capo.

As far as the NY families involvement in drugs go, if you look at the indictments, they are most involved in marijuana and cocaine. Also prescription drugs in recent years. And ecstasy. Those type of drugs fit the suburban environment of the mob now, as far as their customer base goes.

Could the DEA be filling the FBI manpower void?

yes it does, santora is charged with some marijuana

while its true that afgan heroin is of very high quality, little of it makes its way to the us outside from small amounts on the east coast and chicago/detroit. the majority of the afgan heroin is shipped to the ever expanding russian/european markets. in the us the majority of heroin in the northeast is south american(columbian) whiloe on the west coast its mainly tar from mexico with a small amount of southeast asian powder from vietnam/burma/thialand. this explains why once the italians fell out of the heroin importation buisness in the late 80's, it was hard to get back in as other ethnic gangs swiftly moved in and were much more prone to violence.

yeah it was about 6am when i posted that i don't even know why i said that....i must have looked over the weed deal then tried to justify my statement by saying weed is weak and blah blah....so i was wrong....but i still feel its a pretty weak indictment...not gonna cripple the bonnanos

^^^ yep, reminds me of the ligambi indictment a little bit

i wonder who steps up now for boss

fat tony rabito?

italians fell out because of the feds who busted them hard in the pizza connection trial and italian police that dismantled the heroin labs in sicily

i think catalano is the boss since 2009
vinny asaro the acting underboss and tony rabito acting consigliere right now

what are you basing this off?

Exactly.

right, maybe should of clarified this in my post. my point was that after the italians fell off in the distibution side in the us, production sharply decresed in sicily leading to more production and refinement in other parts of the world, along with the criminal groups in those same areas moving into the retail markets in the us. im sure the five families still are involved in mid-level dealing, they just arent the dominant importers anymore.

for the same reasons they put johnny gambino and dom cefalu at the top of the gambino family
catalano is an old school boss, he was acting boss for rastelli at the beginning of the 80s, he faced 30 years he's obviously extremely secretive and affidable

So nothing more than an assumption? Got it. Hey, here's an idea. How about we just wait until the feds identify the next guy before we start announcing somebody is. Can you guys really not stand a power vacuum that much?

And by the way, Peter Gotti, Jackie D'Amico, Danny Marino, and Bobby Vernace were also recently boss, acting boss, or on the ruling panel. And they're not zips. So just because John Gambino happened to be on the panel, and Dom Cefalu is the current boss, doesn't mean there's a zip takeover. Much less in another family.

thats who im thinking...i mean the boanno's have some capable guys...

Vincent Asaro has been seen as a major power, but nothing came out of it. Some even put him as acting boss, but never saw any evidence proving it.

Ivy, you are right. I must have misspelled...

Catalano is out on prohobation. He is not that stupid enough to put himself into a situation that could slam his ass back in jail for another 20 years! In 1987 he was sentenced to a 45 year prison term.

Btw, Vincent Asaro is not a zip. You stated this in an earlier post. Asaro is born and raised in New York.

yeh some sources said asaro was acting boss instead of badalamenti but maybe he ihs the new acting head? if he was a strong candidate before?

Perhaps. But we really don´t know...yet.
Asaro is a very respected member but he is in his late 70s. Does he really want the job?

no matter how old is he, he could fills the vacuum for a couple of years, he has experience and he's old school

i think asaro would be clever enough to not step up but you never know. it will be interesting who becomes the new head

Phatmattress after reading your comebacks on RD. I really think you are disturbed, if that's the right word to use. You should seek professional help. Talking about Sandusky, like that a little crazy.

Phatty knows his shit and busts balls well.

Fat Tony suggestion, hasn't that guy been around a long time?

when i said a couple years ago that john gambino would be a top dog after his release they told me i was a dumb and he was retired he wasnt listed even as a capo
especially people on the real deal forum
i was right then i'm right now