Most people dunno either that the Daleys and the Briattas of the 26th Street crew are intermarried too. I've never read Cooley's book but will soon. He was a degenerate gambler I'm sure the $$ he must have owed played a part in his decision to run to the FBI.
It's pretty interesting. Actually before he starts wearing the wire for them on Marcy etc., he goes into Dironzo's car dealership and meets with him and gets him on wire forgiving all of the gambling debt.
But I'm sure it factored into his decision. And who the hell knows, DiFronzo could have just been covering his ass, suspecting he was on a wire.
It's a better than average mob book, though, as it was co-written with Hillel Levin, the former editor of Chicago Magazine, so it isn't just some schlep recording every whopper that a turncoat tells him and writing it down. It was all treated with good journalistic practices etc. And I think the vast majority of it was verified off the wires Cooley was wearing.
Not saying everything in it is true but still, at least vetted better than most.
Apparently they are going to turn it into a movie at some point. Last I heard Mark Wahlberg's production company.
