Benjamin Castellazzo cries poverty

Mafia underboss nicknamed 'The Claw' cries poverty and reveals he lives on food stamps in a trailer
By SNEJANA FARBEROV
January 10, 2013

Benjamin ‘The Claw’ Castellazzo had spent decades in the racketeering business on behalf of the notorious Colombo family, but apparently the elderly Mafioso was not very good at his job.

In a desperate bid to reduce his sentence on extortion charges, the once-powerful Mafia underboss revealed that he has been living in a New Jersey trailer park, unlike most of his free-spending ‘colleagues’ in the business, and his wife has been receiving food stamps.

Castellazzo, 75, was arrested as part of a historic bust that netted more than 100 suspected Mafia operatives from New York's major crime families.


Out of luck: Benjamin 'The Claw' Castellazzo, the underboss for the Colombo crime family, faces eight years in prison after being arrested last year on extortion charges in a massive FBI raid


Poor house: Castellazzo appealed to the judge to reduce his sentence, writing that he has been living in a small trailer similar to the one pictured in New Jersey

Later this month, he is expected to be sentenced to eight years in prison for extorting money from the La Quila construction company in Brooklyn and The Square pizza parlor in Staten Island.

The 75-year-old criminal mastermind filed court documents shedding light on his life of hardship in the humble Eagleswood Village trailer park in West Creek, New Jersey, the New York Daily News reported.

'I have reflected on my life during the past two years… I am not proud of the life I have led.' he wrote, adding that his greatest wish is to live out his days with his wife, children and grandchildren - the only 'family' he cares about.

Castellazzo's modest mobile home comes with an eat-in kitchen and a small garden outside - a far cry from the garish McMansions that Mafia capos had built for themselves in Brooklyn and Staten Island.

Colombo family mafia boss Carmine ‘The snake’ Persico may have spent the past quarter of a century federal prison, but his wife has been living the good life in a sprawling red-brick mansion in Dyker Height, Brooklyn.


Busted: The Colombo No. 2 operative was arrested for extorting money from The Square pizza eatery in Staten Island, among other businesses

Another high-ranking Mafia boss, Anthony 'Gaspipe' Casso used to live in an over-the-top waterfront mansion in Mill Basin before moving into a far more austere penitentiary facility.

The lavish but ill-fated home's most recent tenant, disgraced State Sen. Carl Kruger, followed in Casso's footsteps when he pleaded guilty to corruption charges last April.

Meanwhile, the ailing Castellazzo has been living in a retirement community where, according to real estate sites like Zillow, a two-bedroom mobile home sells for about $40,000, or can be rented for $1,000 a month.

Castellazzo was among the 127 suspects from New York's notorious five Mafia families who were arrested in January 2011 in a series of targeted FBI raids described as the biggest crackdown on organized crime in U.S. history.

Along with Castellazzo, officials busted fellow Colombo family operative Andrew Russo, and Bartolemeo Vernace and Joseph Corozzo from the Gambino family.

As the No. 2 in the Colombo hierarchy, it alleged it was Castellazzo's responsibility was to collect money from businesses seeking protection, which explains his telling nickname, 'The Claw.'


Lavish lifestyle: The wife of jailed Colombo family mafia boss Carmine 'The Snake' Persico resides in this palatial home in Brooklyn


Cursed mansion: The two previous owners of this garish estate in Brooklyn, including mob boss Anthony Casso and disgraced State Sen. Carl Kruger, ended up in prison

The Colombo crime family is the youngest of the 'Five Families', originally formed in 1928 by Joseph 'The Olive Oil King' Profaci.

The family has endured three family wars over the years - the second of which brought the family under the power of Joseph 'Joe C' Colombo.

The third war erupted in 1991 when member Joseph Orena undermined Carmine Persico who was in prison - the family split into two separate factions.

Twelve family members were killed in the in-fighting and the family never fully came back to prominence.

The family recently turned to Ralph DeLeo to run the family for imprisoned Persico.

Two years ago several members of the Colombo family were indicted on multiple racketeering charges and three murders dating back to the family wars.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-...ps-trailer.html

benji is a notoriously bad gambler.im suprised he 'is what he is'.

Degenerate gambler, still it's crazy to see an underboss living like that, the Colombo's are in real bad shape.

Persico's wife seems like she is doing just fine.

Good post Ivy.

the snakes mansion in brroklyn must be worth 4 5 million wow nice. that family rich i wonder what michael persico house is like they also got a huge house upstate horses and shit they did good starting all the wars.

is Benjamin Castellazzo shelved? No way he's living in a trailer if he's active

No, he's just in prison. It's certainly not impossible for a high level mob guy to be hurting financially but a lot of these guys claim to be broke when they're not.

why is it saying he's living in a trailer then if he's in prison

Sorry, he was in jail when first charged but he's been out while awaiting sentencing. He's done nothing to warrant being shelved.

would you know if he had?

I doubt he has been shelved he is a brutal gambler but nothing that would warrant him being shelved. Remember 50% of these guys love to gamble and suck at it.

Not unless it was reported by trustworthy sources, i.e. guys like Capeci or Raab, or the feds.

my point exactly.

Makes me wonder.. Can an umderboss of one of the 5 families really be that fucking broke?? If so jesus this guy must have some vices.. Always hard to tell cause it seems like the norm when these guys get popped to all bitch and moan about how broke they are when they're really sitting on a lot of cash.. So which one is it? Is he bullshitting or is he really the biggest brokester of all time?

he is the 'under' and hes shaking down guys himself.i would say thats a dead give away.

The thing is, you're no different. You just don't want to admit it. We all get the majority of our information from the same sources - the news or the feds. Some posters in the forums may be from "the neighborhood," know a guy who knows a guy, and hear things "on the street" from time to time. But most of these posters routinely abuse and exaggerate their level of knowledge. They act like they're privy to the inner workings of the Mafia simply because of their zip code. It's bullshit and it's already been done by several before you. In other words, you're too late. This scam has been done already.

True gamms.. An underboss out doing shakedowms is a dead give awayt he's broke.. .. So is the claw currently in prison serving 8 years? And does he still hold underboss position

no not at all,and ass holes like you are the reasons i dont post much here at all.

heres something,whos the under right now?donnie? no. hes in florida when hes not in californa. billy?no? who? how the fuck would you know?you cant find this shit on the internet!and wont! you will never be told any thing of any value because you put all your emphisis on 'sources'. so [with apologies to the board], go fuck your self. im in no mood to entertain this shit.if you want to still argue with me,sens me a message. if you wish to continue this convorsation,thats fine we can have a polite conversation,feel free. but im done on this thread,and will not respond further.

For the record, Castellazzo was a captain/acting underboss. The official underboss of the family is Sonny Franzese.

See my post above. You can curse at me all you want. I've seen the same from other bullshitters before. Yaaaaawn.

Come on Ivy give gamms a little bit of credit. It's easy to spot a bullshitter from someone like "imamobguy". He isn't one. You shouldn't take everything he says with a grain of salt.

Hate to even comment on this.. But ivy you're wrong on this. I'm sure you've seen 100 fake people on here acting like they're have all the info cause they grew up in a certain neighborhood.. Bbut gamms isn't one of them. He knows more than any internet researcher ever will..you can say I'm wrong and I'm an idiot too but I know something you dont and I'm not going to argue its retarded.. Let's get back on topic

Sonny Franzese got love him what is he like 94. He looks better then some 50 year olds I know.

The 100% bullshitters are easily detectable by most. The real problems come from those who do know some things, maybe know some people, etc. but they routinely exaggerate their level of knowledge and insight. I've seen it over and over again. Once their "rep" gets established on a forum, and they're known as a legit local guy, they go to town by giving their 2 cents on anything and everything and they're not supposed to be questioned or debated with because of their "rep." If these posters were 100% honest, and didn't go beyond the bounds of what they really know, there would be no problem. But, with very few exceptions, they all go beyond those bounds. They can't help it. Their egos just take over.

And it's true what I said before. Even the most hooked in poster on these forums gets most of his information from the same sources as the rest of us - the news, feds, etc. Anyone who thinks otherwise is delusional.

Gamms didn't exactly help his case when he also claimed, along with our currently suspended resident Fat Tony fan, that Salerno was the real boss.

See is gamms isn't like that Ivy. He doesn't claim to know anything he doesn't know about but he offers what he can. There was a time when you weren't here when all we got was kids from Scotland saying they were former associates for the Lucchese Family and talking trash (Dicknose has gone to town). It's good to have a knowledgable street poster. Gamms and EHI are too very reliable posters.

I'm gone for a while and, when I come back, gamms is supposed to be the resident insider for the board. OK.

Right off the bat he claims that Fat Tony was the real boss. Strike one.

Unless I'm misunderstanding him, he's also insinuated that he doesn't get most of his info from the same sources as everybody does. Strike two.

He also gets very heated and defensive if I question or disagree with him, even if I have plenty of evidence to support what I'm saying. Strike two-and-a-half.

He asked me who was the current "under" for the Colombos. As far as the official information available right now, it's still the incarcerated Sonny Franzese. And the current acting underboss is Dominic Montemarano, according to the feds.

But he appears to be insinuating it's somebody else. How about he tells us who it is, despite what the feds have already said, and if times proves him to be right, he'll get the credit.

First off. Eastharlem, if you knew who he was.. Probably has the best source possible when it comes to the fat tony chin situatuion. That's a fact.

Two- I don't think gamms gets any information off of the internet of the fbi files or any of that other shit.

Let's just stop now I know I hate reading threads full of stupid back and forth bullshit.. Sorry for even giving my 2cents on here but I feel like it was needed.

Well I can't speak for him nor validate what he says is true. But I choose to believe what he says, because it just doesn't sound made up, quite the contrary. You're one of the best posters we have Ivy, and a lot of people are con artists. But I firmly believe that gamms isn't one of them. I'll leave it at that

I couldn't care less who he is. If he's saying Fat Tony was the real boss, he's not a good source of info. That's a fact. The whole Fat Tony/Chin topic isn't even up for debate. It was settled a long time ago. The evidence is overwhelming. There's nothing left to say, and nobody is saying it, except a few historical revisionists on the internet.

Anyone....and I mean anyone.... who believes some internet poster over several known mob turncoats, several independent wiretaps, as well as the feds and former prosecutors in the case itself has their head so far up their ass daylight is a distant memory. That's a fact.



Yes, he does. Everybody does. Nobody is so hooked in that they know everybody in NYC and know what's going on with all the families in every borough. Use some common sense here. Even those who do have some inside information are still going to get most of their information from the same sources we all do.

Like others I dont want to contribute to anymore of this back and forth about this cause I am also tired of reading about it. But Gamms has proven himself to not be a bullshit artist regardless of what others may or may not think. He's a big boy and can speak for himself.

Fact is Gamms and I have discussed this Colombo situation in private before, and he wont say who it is cause he doesnt wasnt to out this individual (he has his reasons) but I know who the guy is he is referring to and if that information ever surfaces in the media I will gladly back him up if needed.

There's a very well known "inside" poster from the RD and another forum. This guy is considered by many to be as "inside" as it gets. It's almost blasphemy to question or debate this guy.

You know what? He also said Fat Tony, like Frank Tieri before him, was the real boss and they would never front for anybody. But guess what? His reasoning was the exact opposite of EastHarlem's. Whereas EastHarlem said Cafaro lied in order to "destroy" Fat Tony, this other poster said Cafaro lied in order to "protect" Fat Tony.

So, we've got two supposed insiders saying the exact opposite thing on this issue. Anyone with a lick of sense can see they're both just floating their own theory/opinion as fact. Neither of them are in a position to really know the real scoop. Certainly not more than Cafaro did, who worked directly under Fat Tony for years.

And yet, there will always be people on these forums eating out of these guys' hands, no matter how much evidence may contradict them. I'm inclined to think it's because people want to believe so much that they have their own inside link to the Mafia, that they'll throw all common sense and objectivity out the window. It's sad.

Again, he may know some things. He may know some people. But that doesn't mean he isn't dead wrong about Fat Tony. And you know it.

Also, like I said before, how about he tells us all who the real underboss for the Colombos is at the moment?

I didnt say anything about Fat Tony cause I could care less.
Believe what you want and disregard what you dont want as you always do. It's your right.

Let me also add that gamms started this with his condescending attitude on page 1. Another primary reason why I often butt heads with these "insiders." Their off-the-chart egos. And once you do butt heads with them, they turn into the biggest primadonnas and accuse you of being the reason why they don't post that much. They all say the exact same things. It's like they're all manufactured in the same production plant in Brooklyn. One after another coming out on the mob insider assembly line...

Sorry, Dap, but if you're going to bat for his credibility, you don't have the luxury of not acknowledging this issue.



How about he gives me a reason to think he's a legit source of info? So far, he's given me diddly squat other than the same attitude I've gotten from so many others.

Sorry, but you cant tell me what I have or dont have the luxury to do. Period.

Maybe if you didn't disagree/and try and destroy all credibility any if these "insiders" have when they automatically say something that goes against anything that has been established from previous sources then they might be inclined to reach out to you in private and explain their rationale for their assertion.

i have no idea who was the real boss,it never bothered me at night! what i will say is that i will believe any thing east harlem says on the subject.and i take his word as fact.

secondly,i would never name drop any one to a self righteous ass such as your self.

and thirdly,i appreciate you guys support but it is not neccasary.i dont care in the least whether a guy like ivy league beleives me. or his opinion of me,i could care less.

Yes, I can. You can't say gamms is credible but, when I bring up something he's demonstrably wrong on, you just sweep it under the rug and don't want to talk about it. How does that look?



And that...right there...is the big lie. That I have some agenda to destroy any and all insiders. It's bullshit.

There are local guys that I get along with very well and have never had reason to butt heads with. "pizzaboy" is one example from this forum. "sticks" is one example from the RD forum.

These guys offer what they know but they don't have out of control egos. They don't get defensive, and turn into whining primadonnas, if you question or disagree with them. And they don't try to bully you but constantly reminding you of where they're from and of their "insider" credentials.

I didn't come back on this board and think, "You know what, I'm going to kill gamm's credibility." No, he started doing that on his own when he supported EastHarlem's BS about Fat Tony. And he's had an attitude ever since.

i think we can all see who the 'primadonna' is! lol!

First, why did you ask me who the real underboss of the Colombos is if you don't know? You should know, just like the rest of us, since the feds have already told us. You certainly implied that you knew something but, when I ask that you tell us something, you backpedal and say you don't want to "drop names."

Second, the fact that you say you'll believe what EastHarlem says no matter what is the very essence of the problem here. He's demonstrably wrong on the Fat Tony issue. Vincent Cafaro says so. Sammy Gravano says so. Gaspipe Casso says so. George Barone says so. What? They're all lying? That's a convenient excuse. But what about all the tapes that either state or imply that Chin was the boss, including from Fat Tony himself? Are you going to ignore those just like EastHarlem does? What about the former prosecutors who openly admit they didn't have the correct information? Or respected mob journalists like Jerry Capeci and Selwyn Raab who also back all of this up?

You're going to toss all this out the window because of what EastHarlem says?

And I'm supposed to take your seriously? Don't piss on my leg and tell me it's just raining.

No, you cant. Nobody is sweeping anything under the rug. He can speak for himself on Fat Tony (and he has), I spoke on his credibility about the Colombo situation. Nothing more.

Biggest lie? Your response was the biggest lie, lets be serious here. You name a few posters who you get along with but you never name all the guys who are tired of your "i know everything about the mob and can back it up with google sources" attitude and the way you treat any of these "insiders" and also the number of posters you have managed to alienate, a number of them even at the insistence of others on a forum who ask you politely many times to cut it out you still continue.

The Colombo situation? Have you read what he's posted. Or, I should say, he hasn't posted? He won't even be clear on the "Colombo situation."

He asks me who's the real underboss, implying he has inside info a lowly Googler like myself wouldn't know. When I ask for more info, he backpedals.

So what's he saying exactly that has so much credibility?



First, you know damn well I've never claimed to know "everything" about the mob. So you can stick that strawman right now.

Second, I've never said anything about Google. I provide what public information I can find, including sources, so all can see. Which, the vast majority of the time, is a hell of a lot better than friggin' internet rumors based on jack shit.

Third, as I said, I butt heads wit most of these guys because most of them do exaggerate their level of knowledge. And, unlike others, I've never been afraid to call them on it.

Of course, that's when they turn to the "You're ruining the thread" card. Just make me out to be the bad guy. They usually do it about the time they realized they've lost and don't have shit to say.

Well go back and look who started this debate. It wasn't me.

LET IT GO, GUYS!!!

You have to stop this bickering already. Present your arguments and your sources of information would be helpful, too. You can argue the merits of your case but you must stop the name-calling and nit-picking between you. It's becoming more apparent that neither side here will win the other side over to their view, and that's OK, but no more of this childish crap is going to be allowed. No more!

Strictly from a personal view, for whatever it's worth, I've heard things on the street as a kid that I KNOW to be true and have not appeared on the internet. On the other hand, I've learned facts from the internet that went against rumors I had heard on the street. You have to be your own judge as to whose information is more correct. Other than that, try to listen to the other side, and if you can't accept their info then say so and just let it go.

this guy living in the trailer is bullshit he's 75 and knows the game. the fbi take your houses nowadays, im suprised they never indict snake persico on some of his recent bullshit just to take that house away from his wife that thing is worth a ton. brooklyn posters what do you think that piece of realestate is worth and is that a good part of bk i would think so, hipster captitol of the usa. im betting the claws kids got nice half million dollar houses. how he raise his 1million dollar bail he must know someone with some good property and houses. this guy was busted in 2000 running a multi million gambling operation with joel waverly, you noctice that aint his trailer in the picture its one for sale+ when the feds went there to arrest him in the middle of night he wasnt there. wonder who the last mobster that the actually took there house from. and him shaking down the pizza joint was dumb he helped some guy from getting shaking down from another family and got 500 bucks as a thank you, the fbi called it extortion. him and the other 2 colombo bosses for trying to tell the gambino to pay for some guys hospital bills it was a extortion fbi just making anything a case. the gambino didnt ask for the help from being extorted.

dyker heights is nice but it isnt very 'hipster'.its south brooklyn. im no real estate agent but i would say the snakes house is worth between one and two mill. if it was a half mile west it would be worth three times that.

That's exactly my point. It is what he has verified on a private level with information that has only been verified by other street guys you yourself have said to believe. Usually when a poster isn't clear, or refuses to post it publicly, 9 times out of 10 he is not saying the truth. But in this case, I have verified in private and through other "insiders" which you yourself have stated to believe what he has shared with me not just on this specific colombo situation but also stuff about various other individuals. He's under no obligation to post this information publicly, and neither am I since this information was shared privately with a very clear caveat to not share it publicly or otherwise.

I am done talking about this dead-horse.

Other mafiosi who have cried poor in recent times include Tic Cataldo, Dom Cirillo, Nicky Scarfo Jr., Anthony St. Laurent, to name a few. Of course, Cataldo had over $1.4 million in equity, Cirillo is one of the top guys in the richest crime family in the country, Scarfo Jr. was living in a very nice house and driving very nice cars, and St. Laurent, in addition to the $800K to $1.5 million in street tax over the past 20 years, was still involved in the local rackets when he was busted. Heck, even when he was in prison.

Ah...the "I know this or that but I can't say anything."

If you guys want to talk about credibility, people are under an obligation to post stuff here out in the open. Otherwise, nobody here has any reason to believe what they say.

In short, put up or shut up. Don't give me this "So and so told me in a PM" shit.

Jesus Christ,

People arent under any obligation to do anything they don't want to do, especially if its to satisfy your specific inquiries/curiosity.

I said what I had to say but you ALWAYS got to get the last word in, huh?

How about you just shut up! How about that?

Let it go, Ivy. I won't tell you again!

Ivy what you up to this weekend you hanging out with any girls?

Leave The Cataldo's alone man they're good people

Most likely scenario is that the claw is a terrible degenerate gambler and or very cheap also it might just be a ploy considering asset forfeitures happen all the time so buying a 500,000 dollar house might not even be worth it but my personal opinion is that it is highly unlikely he is that poor considering the colombos have around 50 or so active made members and if each of those guys kicked up only 1500 a year to him that would be 75,000 a year although we don't know for sure guestimates for soldiers is at least 30,000-40,000 a year so you would think they would be kicking a lot more than 1500 a year

i bet he easily make two hundred grand a year or more.but goes through it faster than you can say 'presto'.lol.

Girl, singular. Not girls. What am I, Hugh Hefner?

Is she Italian? You should take her to see Gangster Squad

No, she's not Italian. At least I don't think so. And she probably wants to see Gangster Squad as much as I want to see the latest Twilight movie. I'll probably go with my brother and/or a friend to see Gangster Squad.

SC just out of curiosity do you have high blood pressure/ hyper-tension I do I take enalapril maleate 10mg just don't want you to pop a blood vessel those big bold black capital letters seem to have you enraged...I can see why...just looking out my doctor put me on it and it helped me relax a little bit then again you are the mod and have to mediate all the threads

I would think she would like gangster criminal mob stuff considering that's your hobby

Well, I also like football but I'm not sure she even knows what a football looks like. She's your typical girl. Made me sit through some Godawful sorry-excuse-for-a-movie last week called Pitch Perfect. She's also not big on violence. And if there's any sex or nudity, forget about it. Gangster Squad is a movie you'd enjoy more with your buddies anyway.

I don't know if I agree with you on that but whatever

The show to watch with a girl are the scary/suspenseful ones; if you know what I mean.

My girl likes to cuddle and get all romantic while im watching generation kill. I wont watch some sappy chick movie unless theres the possibilty of nudity. Think Love and Other Drugs. The current girl will watch action movies, but my last one was nuts! She actually dragged me to go see that navy seal movie. And the midnight premere of batman.... Talk about clingy tho...

Gangster Squad has only 34% on Rotten Tomatoes.

I'd recommend Zero Dark Thirty, also opening this weekend. Great movie. 94% on RT.

Yeah, I think pmac is thinking of Williamsburg. South Brooklyn is much more traditional and conservative than that.

As an aside, half a million for a home in South Brooklyn is getting to be peanuts. Even in today's economy and with the real estate bubble, homes in New York City are still more overpriced than just about any area in the entire country. Fucking one bedroom condos are selling for a million in some neighborhoods.

I'll still see it. There's a lot of good movies with low rating on Rotten Tomatoes

You can say that again, PB.