Gasoline Scheme was big, but i think it originated in Brighton Beach they started working with Colombo's and Lucchese's.
He wrongly got credit for running it and starting it, when in fact it was The Russians who did both. Franzese got the big publicity for it due to being in the mafia and the son of John Franzese. I wish there was more information on what the others in it got as to money made and prison sentences.
It baffles me how many of you apparently haven't read the guys book. Yall be saying a bunch of stuff thats.... i dunno... they just seem more like opinions...
First off Sonny was on paper and in and out of jail. It's just like Gotti told him at their now famous sitdown..." Your Dad can't win this, he CANT FIGHT FOR YOU"...
I think Scarfo told Leonetti something similar... like you gotta stand on your own 2 feet out here. The family reappropriated all Sonny's rackets. Michael got his start actually with used car lots. Everyone seems to think he was just useless and inherited everything.
His first big thing was a shipping container repair company during phantom work.
The numbers should be in the indictment... I dunno. They did a lot of paperwork magic, but a reasonable estimate should be possible from the volume of gasoline moved.
And the key to the scheme was the licensing... which the Russians couldn't get without a contact... this especially true after the G changed the tax law.
