Those 495 ounces of gold are now worth 855,572.

What did they let him keep? That sounds like a lot to forfeit.

He was able to keep 5 out of 10 properties. He says he actually had four or five hundred gold bars, so maybe someone hit the stash before he gave it up. The gold and 7 million cash were in his house, he most likely had other stash spots and properties. They gave him a really good deal.

Thanks GerryLang. I was in Maspeth four or five years ago. It was a nice area and a quick zillow search had the real estate higher valued than surrounding areas. Has it always been like that? I got my first hot towel shave by some old time barber while I was there.

He should have had some huge loose diamonds too. At least they don't take up so much room. Ha. If he gave up 7 mill cash, he must have had more than that stashed somewhere else. Wonder where he settled down at? Maybe him and Sal made up and are kicking it poolside somewheres now.

I'm not one who is so quick to assume that every boss or high up mafia member like Massino has millions stashed. I think they let him keep way more than enough to live like a king. DILeonardo got an undeserved bonus from the feds about 4 years ago, they granted him $4,000 a month to be available "In case he remembers anything" that he forgot to tell them in the past. No testimony or info has ever come up since, but they still probably send him that 4,000 each month as his "rat bonus." It was in Gangland, so I think the feds wanted Capeci to let others know they will be taken care of financially it they cooperate.

I'm a Philly guy. The only places I have spent any substantial time in Queens were Woodside and Astoria. My little knowledge of Maspeth is it's a more traditional NYC neighborhood that hasn't seen the gentrification that a lot of other neighborhoods. It's also been around five years or so since I frequented NYC on a regular basis.

I don't wanna hear from any of these people. Rats should not be heard from.

I want someone to do an in-depth interview with Persiano at somepoint

Exactly, we've already heard enough.

Nick Calabrese Jr. or whatever from Chicago Outfit who brought down his dad with Operation Family Secrets.

go watch more sopranos then and glorify the lifestyle of crime a bit more

Ralphie is right, they should not be heard from, who believes them anyway? If you feel anyone is glorifying people you are delusional. The men who rat are the worst of criminals, they do the crime, then avoid the time by ratting on fiends. Go watch a DiLeonardo or John Alite video and glorify rats a bit more.

That's a bunch of bullshit. Rats are a huge part of the mafia like it or not. I don't respect or condone them, but they play their part in the life. Without them the only info would come from LE.

. Good Post. It doesn’t matter which mobsters rat or not they are all bad people. Although I do feel they still deserve longer sentences informants are the way we get information on the mob

And exactly what do you think you are hearing when rats speak? LE filters what they say. and has them in a situation where they have to say what they are told, and if anything they say goes against what LE like to hear, they wind up like Casso did.

chin,

why would you want to waste your time with that scum, he will only sit there and lie to your face. Trust me - I know.

all the rats should drop dead, and while they are alive they should be shunned by everyone and not given any attention in this life ever again.

I think its hilarious the anger and hate displayed against criminals who later turn against criminals. As if they were honorable law abiding moral people to begin with. Seems kind of odd.

He's the first made member in the Philadelphia family to flip since Pete Caprio in 2000. He'd be in a position to provide lots of information about the hierarchy, inductions, interactions with other families... I'd want an interview with him and I'd want transcripts of his recordings

While tempting to role-play Tony Soprano and be indignant about rats, I think there is another reality here, which is that not all rats are created equally.

There's a big difference, to me, in a Henry Hill who just wants to save his own ass and a Pete Chiodo or Al D'Arco for example who legitimately hadn't done anything "wrong" in their LCN context but who were marked for death by their psychotic administration. Is the proper thing for Fat Pete to do just to accept being whacked for no reason, not having done anything wrong, and say "oh well, that's the life I chose, I guess I'll die now." ???

That's ridiculous. The reality is that the administration owes a duty to its members to maintain and enforce the rules of LCN. If that breaks down - and a psycho like Amuso or Scarfo comes along and re-writes the rules to suit their own agenda/paranoia/cult of personality...then people are going to do what they've got to do. You've forced them into a corner and that's on you.

Joe Massino? An enormous (literally and figuratively) piece of shit. Same for Vinny Ocean. The leaders can't betray their own people, that's the worst.

There's plenty of others who probably fall in the middle somewhere, Leonetti, diLeonardo, etc., but I really don't think you can paint all rats with the same brush. You have to look at each individual case by case.