Who was the last mob rat to be whacked?

Who was the last guy who testified at a mob trial and ended up whacked afterwards?

Was it Joe Barboza in 1976?

George Yudzevich was whacked in California in 1988 after testifying against the Gambinos and LA families, but the feds aren't sure if it was a Gambino hit, an LA family hit, or a power struggle over a strip club he ran in LA.

Big George Yudzevich Hit

By contrast, Mr. Yudzevich's testimony at the Brooklyn trial was considered critical in obtaining convictions last December of the Gambino underboss, Joseph Armone, 70 years old, and two co-defendants, Anthony Vitta and Salvatore Migliorisi, both 49, according to Edward A. McDonald, chief of the Organized Crime Strike Force in Brooklyn. 'Kept That Agreement'

Also convicted with them was Joseph N. Gallo, 76, the group's former consiglieri. Mr. Armone, Mr. Gallo and Mr. Vitta were convicted of racketeering conspiracy and other charges. Mr. Migliorisi was convicted of extortion and obstruction.

Frank lagano who got whacked back in 07

The whole point is to kill a guy before he testifies. After he testifies the damage is already done. There's very little upside in killing a rat at that point, and the smarter bosses realize this.

If a high profile rat (like Massino or Gravano) ever got hit, the Feds would rain down on these guys like you can't possibly imagine. Crimes that were barely prosecuted before (small gambling operations, etc.) would become primary targets for law enforcement. And forget about "sending a message." This ain't Sicily (or even Canada). Law enforcement won't allow it in this country.

Wilfred "Willie Boy" Johnson come to mind.

Dipetro in philly definatly the most recent, he might not have been killed for being a rat or maybe he was. Either way he was a rat that got killed.

about a year or 2 ago some rat was killed outside a nightclub. mite of been a genovese associate who ratted. sure someone else remembers here?

Yes feds out with film rolling thinking just maybe,,,,so glad the smart ones hold back.

haha its funny you say barboza, the guy who clipped him, his son posts on this board... and last rat to get killed.. theres too many to name.

Mario Imbesi, who was found beaten to death in his apartment back in March 2012.

Mario Imbesi I thought was killed over drugs

He was. But he just happened to be a rat to boot.

got ya, thought Ivy was saying he got killed because of being a rat

Drugs it was. He was told to lay off the whip(cutting agent) because it was driving customers away.

Is this the guy who robbed some guy under patsy?

I was just clarifying who streetbossliborio was referring to.

Yeah, the stupid bastard.

Well Nicky Skins whacked himself out….

Now I agree with you PizzaBoy that if an informant were murdered and dumped on the footsteps of 1 Police Plaza with a dead rat shoved in his mouth (pause to think about that Daily News headline) there would be hell to pay. But what if a guy disappears? I mean for all the Feds know he lammed it.

I'm talking about people who were killed for ratting. Vito Arena was killed after ratting, but it was in a gas station robbery.

Willie Boy Johnson didn't testify in court.

Who testified in court and was killed due to testifying?

Peter gotti tried to take out gravano, its one of the reasons hes gonna die in prison, and i expect the same result for anybody else dumb enought to try and whack a govt witness. To reiterate PB, damage is already done after they testify, it serves no purpose.

Of course you try to kill him before he testifies, but that is impossible as the witness would be under protection of the US Marshalls 24x7 until the trial starts.

The purpose of killing rats after the trial is to let them know they can't rat and live like normal afterwards. If a guy can rat and go back to the old neighborhood and live a normal life, then there will be no fear of ratting on the mob anytime a person is arrested.

Yes thats a good point about making an example outta somebody and its one way of looking at it, another way is that taking out a govt witness is gonna bring down a lot of heat which is gonna lead to more arrests which might lead to more people ratting.

They had a lot of heat on them anyway, and if they had been successful in killing Gravano in Arizona, it might have discouraged others who followed him. I think at least a few would have chosen prison over flipping if they seen witness protection was not foolproof.

Wasnt barboza the 1st person in wpp?didnt end to well 4him huh

He got whacked bc he didnt follow the rules and tried to get his own thing started out in cali. I dont think theres every been someone killed in witsec who just lived quietly and follow the rules.

You don't actually think that that's JR Russo's son on this board do you? Because if so, I've got some land in the Berkshires for you to buy, it's a great deal....

If a rat testified at trial, chances our he is in witness protection under a different name. Hard to tell at that point, probably more than the feds care to disclose for fear of taking cred from WPP.

can't believe gravano doesn't get hit in prion....they know where he is.

Through a corrupt FBI agent, named Doug McCane, Anthony Casso had 14-15 government witnesses whacked before trial. I believe the majority of these people were ratting on LCN, not necessarily Casso or the Lucchese family. It was simple: he'd get the names of the rats, and they would be murdered quickly.

The one instance where the rat received a pass, was when Casso gave the name of Peter Savino to Chin Gigante. The Chin didn't act quick enough. Even after Chin was warned, Savino proceeded to wear a wire and obtain damaging recordings.

Ironically, despite having McCane in his pocket, Gaspipe got nailed in the Windows case with Peter Savino doing the most damage. Chin, too.

Littleman,

Wow. That is a staggering amount of witnesses to get killed. Did the feds just think thie informant were getting killed because of thier line of work (not being an informant)?

The feds knew there was a leak. They just didn't know who or where. Plus, both Gas and Vic skipped town right before the big bust went down.

When Casso finally admitted who the leak was after he flipped, his government handlers freaked out and demanded that he never mentioned it again. The feds were ok hearing about Eppolito and Carracappa, but not fellow agents.

Casso, through other members in the Lucchese family also had two Suffolk County cops on his payroll.

letting most of these rats live seems to be punishment enough. It seems like everyone of these guys ends up saying they hate what their life has become since becoming a government witness. they aren't who they are and they can't be who they used to be. they're nobody living in nowhere and living for nothing. It beats jail, but there's always a price

its not impossible to get to a government witness before he testifies like some of you are saying /implying... how soon we forget the "canary that could sing but couldnt fly" a.k.a abe 'kid twist' reles

It was back in 1955, but Willie Bioff got blown up by a car bomb.

Years before, he testified against the Chicago mob- Nitti, Roselli, Ricca, etc... and then went into witness protection. For some unexplained reason, he got a job at a casino working for Gus Greenbaum and blew his cover.

Chickenman, to clarify, Reles had already testified in numerous Brooklyn trials; he was scheduled to appear at the then Lepke Buchalter, Mendy Weiss, Louis Capone murder trial when he went out the window but his previous testimony was more than was sufficient in that case.

What Reles going out the window DID achieve was very convenient excuse not to indict Albert Anastasia for murder, which is a far more complicated story than most people realize.

Also, re: the subject at hand, one correct answer is...

Patrick Penny

a small-time Brooklyn criminal who accidentally witnessed Nino Gaggi & Roy DeMeo hit the Jimmy "The Clam" and Jim-Jim Eppolito in Coney Island on October 1, 1979.

I bet guys, like Joe Massino, were thrilled to trade their prison cells for freedom. Gaspipe would love to trade his cell for witness protection. Gravano is rotting in jail, he's probably kicking himself for continuing a life in crime instead of retiring in comfort. And I'd wager that some of these guys have cash stashed away to live well.

I remember in Goodfellas, when Henry was bitching about being in witness protection. As per his second autobiography, he loved the chance to watch his kids grow up and eating homemade food, compared to being alone in a jail cell. After a while, he stopped wearing disguises and seemed to openly live his life on the run. Even his Mobsters episode showed him as a pretty happy guy.

Thx Littleman. Were there other fed leaks or just mcshane?

Just McCane, as far as Gaspipe's contacts are concerned. Casso was one of the few mobsters to supply info for a pseudo autobiography. That's the only reason the general public is aware of his FBI leak.

I gotta figure other dons had agents in their pocket, but they didn't write books. It's been said that Hoover stayed away from the mob because he didn't trust that he could keep his agents from being corrupted. I don't believe this was just a hunch on Hoover's part- he probably had intel that supported his fears.

Didn't Whitey Bulger have his own FBI guy in his pocket?

Last mob rat whacked was Lucchese Soldier Frank Langano in 07

I beleive dinopoli and maddona egeneered this and we're the driving force behind this
Now whether they're people did it or it was his real brothers who are members of the Genovese and gambino families respectively , who knows

I agree.



...I'd like to hear more about the anastasia-reles story. I know that he became the canary who could sing but not fly once he was going to implicate anastasia but I thought that was what it was. I'm not familar enough to know the rest of the story

Mango, the Hoover isn't that simple; I don't think there's ONE answer but fear of 'corruption' had more to do with the agency's reluctance to use its own men as undercover agents, except, notably, against Communists and, later, the Klan... and blacks, and radicals etc (see COINTELPRO).

You have to remember the Federal Bureau of Narcotics was ALL OVER the mob so you have to look to FBI versus FBN rivalry and ask yourself why the various Attorneys General and U.S. Attorneys didn't prioritize the mob; the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany are two answers...

Mango, re: Anastasia, there were strong possible cases-- including but not limited to murder-- against AA ** before ** Reles came along; neither the Feds nor the state (Brooklyn) did shit, although there were some within the state who thought they should. Thus the death of Reles was sorta the PUBLIC endgame-- it let the then current DA ** pretend ** that if only Reles was still here...

LittleMango, the best inside source I've seen is from The Last Testament of Lucky Luciano. I believe Lucky's version as it involved his family and he was close to Albert.

Albert was in hot water over the murder of Morris Diamond- he was an uncooperative union official, who threatened to go to Tom Dewey. Albert was at the top of Murder, Inc, and gave the order. One of the hitmen, Allie "Tick Tock" Tannenbaum had flipped and had implicated Albert.

Bugsy whacked mobster Harry Greenberg in Los Angeles, because he was considered a threat to flip. At the time, there was a manhunt for Bugsy, as he was in hiding. Reles was a corroborating witness for both murders....so he had to go.

Frank Costello was the acting boss of the Luciano (Genovese) family at the time and went to see Lucky at Dannemora prison. He was seeking approval to whack Reles after explaining to Charlie that it would cost plenty of money. Charlie approved it, but requested that Bugsy come out of hiding and give himself up after all of the details were planned, but before the hit.

Reles was under constant surveillance and Costello needed the cops to commit the murder. The crooked cop in charge was named Frank Bals. He arranged everything and it cost around $50,000, which he distributed. At the time, he was in the room, supervising the events. They hit Reles on the head with a billy club while he was sleeping, and then tossed him out the window. Without Reles as the corroborating witness, the charges/investigations were dropped against both Bugsy and Albert.

Bill O'Dwyer, who was also on the take, conveniently appointed Bals to handle the investigation of Reles' death. Within hours, Bals concluded that no foul play was involved. He came up with several silly theories, such as Reles trying to escape, playing a practical joke, or committing suicide.

Later, when Bill O'Dwyer was the mayor of NYC, he appointed Bals to Deputy Police Commissioner. And Bals was the bagman for the mob, bringing in $10,000 weekly and distributing the cash as he saw fit.

good stuff, thank you.

Didn't Luciano and Costello also get Anastasia off of death row for killing a longshoreman in 1929 or something like that?

With these two incidents being one of the reason Anastasia was loyal to Costello which kept Genovese at bay for at least part of the time after he returned from italy

As far as I have read....yes and yes.

Here is an example of why you dont wach a guy after trial. 1991 Kansas City Missouri, Mob associate Larry Strada testifies against Made Soldier John Mandacina. Mandacina is convicted of illegal gambling and is sentenced to 15 months. Mandacina decided that Strada must die to send a message. Strada is murdered. Of course the hired hitman is caught doing armed robberies, and resulting investigation ends up in life sentences for both John and Charlie Mandacina.

Little Man, great to see some Frank Bals talk here; the guy was no fucking good & O'Dwyer almost certainly had to know it..

One important clarification: a living Morris Diamond was scarcely any threat to Albert; rather, the May 1939 Diamond hit was done to protect Lepke, who was still on the lam from a FEDERAL racketeering retrial (Southern District NY) & also facing further STATE racketeering charges in Manhattan thanks to Thomas Dewey.

For everything that's been written about so-called "Murder Inc.," the relationship-- both business & friendship-- between Lepke & Albert is still rather mysterious.

Though he was, by all accounts, a violent hothead, I also think Albert was more intelligent-- "shrewd" at least, & adept at mob politics than he's portrayed-- at least until the last moment he wasn't.

Another reason for Anastasia's loyalty to Costello was because Frank sponsored him to be the new don of the Mangano (now Gambino) family. After Albert whacked the Mangano brothers, he was vulnerable to be whacked himself. Frank supported Albert's alibi that he was the one being hunted and "if" he killed them, it would have been in self defense. It was because of Frank's power and influence that Albert was promoted to family boss.



Yes, O'Dwyer definitely knew it. As you probably know, O'Dwyer's career was basically bankrolled by the mob, and he was dumb like a fox.

Hitting a 'rat' should be more about deterrence.

If, in old school, its about the famiglia not the individual. Then deterring future 'rats' for the good of the family is more important than preventing testimony in a specific case, that is, saving one member. Shouldnt it?

And Im not sold on averting the 'wrath of the feds'. It's not the 20's and the Feds are looking the other way on 'acceptable' social pursuits (crimes ie gambling, loansharking). If the feds or local can bust a game room, they will. This perception they're looking the other way is dated.

So, hypothetically, if Massino was hit. What the feds would bust a whole bunch of members that they're currently letting practice crimes daily? Bullshit.

If the feds or local or whoever CAN bust your ass, they will.

SO, why not hit Joey? They cant bust what they cant prove. And they WILL bust what they can. Whether Joey's hit or not.

So why not hit him? (Or Paciello or one of the hero's they can find)

You're going to get done on what they can prove anyway. Why not throw in a deterrent?

This is about the family, not you after all.


Just mulling.