In 1990, Giovanni Pietro Toracca, the defacto head of what's left of organized crime in North Beach, SF, was charged in state court with murdering a cocaine dealing rival who had arrived from the Mother Land, Francesco Tarsitano, 40, shooting him in the chest with a .357 magnum in front of Calzone's restaurant on Columbus Avenue. Tarsitano was not only muscling in on Toracca's narcotics business, he was having an affair with Toracca's estranged wife, Donna. Giovanni Pietro Toracca beat the charge with a hung jury and then pulled other "teflon don" feats, such as avoiding being charged in a massive cocaine bust, despite his phone calls being a major part of the evidence and being recorded via bugs in restaurants, making narcotics deals with those who would end up in prison. He and his associates are allegedly involved in narcotics distribution, illegal gambling, money laundering, fencing stolen good, credit card fraud, etc. all the while protected by both the nation's largest illegal sports bookie (at one time) and corrupt San Francisco cops (FBI wiretap affidavits say). By all accounts, it's been business as usual to the present day, because why would it stop?


I never lie because I don't fear anyone. You only lie when you're afraid.
- John Gotti