Mobsters and drug use?

I have read countless times about the lax DEALING drugs rule BUT, is their any rules pertaining to members who USE drugs?
I imagine that it might also be lax as long as you aren't a walking mess, good earner and are always reliable but, I am not sure.

Also, does anyone know specific members who were in this category?

I believe I read that Joe Benanti fell into this category but, there HAS to be a lot more guys using.....Like how Frank Gangi said to calm his nerves and emotions, he HAD to wash down a bottle of jack with cocaine.

Tony Graziano was a pretty known coke head but he was a big earner and in Massino's inner circle so when another capo wanted a sit down because T.G. had fucked him outta some money he used the coke problem as a way to try to swing the sit down, but Massino had T.G.'s back and nothing came of it.

Another one that comes to mind is Tommy DeSimone. Notorious coke head. Couldn't keep his money straight, dressed great, drove nice cars, did tons of blow...lived in a shitty one bedroom above a bar. But like TG Tommy also earned decent and was in good with Jimmy Burke and Paul Vario so he got a lot of passes as well.

Gotti's "Luca Brasi" Tony "Roach" Rampino was a very open H addict. Everyone knew about it, he was apparently doped out all the time publically, he got a pass because he was simply the muscle of Gotti who was already muscle but Roach was never moving up or earning a thing directly because of his H problem.

Think there's a lot more guys who use than people thing..t.g was a notrious coke fiend.. Him and speros boys would blast coke in the club on cropsey. Think lots of guys did coke especially in the 80's.. In boston rosetti and angelesco are both known heroin addicts.. Certain crews and stuff are obviously a lot more strict than others. Heard a lot of skippers will look the other way when it comes to doing coke or eating pills occasionally.. But some crews don't let anything slide.. The canarsie gambino crew with little nicky I heard would not let any of his guys fuck around at all.. And the pelham guys I heard are even more strict...
Drug users are a huge liability.

Yeah, don't get caught. Just like every other rule. All those old Pleasant Avenue Lucchese and Genovese guys that are so well "respected" today?

Back in the '70s half of them were getting high off their own product. You'd be shocked at how fucked up some of them were. Especially if you knew which ones. Believe me when I tell you .

That's crazy... So back in the 70's a lot of respected guys were dipping in on their heroin stashes?? Or the coke?

PB you're right the late '70's and the '80's was the coke era. Studio 54, Regines the party scene.I guess they partied like the rest of the chic crowd,

I said they're respected today. I didn't say anything about back then .

One of the biggest myths out there is that your rep follows you for life. But as long as you're not a stoolie, it's as easy to reinvent yourself in the mob as it is in Hollywood.

I mean, you're a young guy, but you know gambling. How many brokesters have ended up with their buttons over the years just because they ran to one wiseguy to protect themselves from another wiseguy after a bad weekend of betting football?

That's how you end up on the record half the time. One thing leads to another, the next thing you know you're a wiseguy.

Very true.. I think a lot of people don't realize that. Shit I forget about it half the time..
But what you said is so true.. There is probably more guys out there who got their button cause they were degenerates and either get claimed cause of their debts or run to someone for protection because of their debt, then they end up on record.. Then next thing you know they're getting made..

Yup, there it is.

You can tell just by looking at that guy that something isn't right.....The dude has bed hair in his mugshot......Couldn't they give him some water and a comb?

Also, I NEVER knew that he was Gotti's Luca Brassi.

See Nicky Cowboy and Mikey DeBatt from Sammy's crew. Both whacked for being crackheads.

According to Dom Cicale's Q and A on cosanostranews.com Michael Mancuso messed around with heroin when he was younger and then later on cocaine and when he became more serious got sober.

No argument there. They didn't call him Mikey Nose for nothing. But did Dom's low rent ghostwriter mention Dom's own drug habit?

Or about the time Dom ripped off the Dominicans on Saint Nick and disapeared on a two week bender to Florida? Or how Vinny stopped them from whacking him the fuck out?

It's funny what doesn't make it into these books, huh?

a bender on heroin or cocaine? or both?

The majority of young guys in general r all coke heads , bet it's no different in the mob

In the book Pistone say that for became made he must keep the nose clean and make money,Henry Hill use coke and ratted because Vario will whack him for use and sell drugs and a mobster from pittsburgh (not Mazze) that simultaneously was sniffing coke and pissing from the balcony of his house.
Even Bruno Indelicato used coke as I know.

I think I read, probably in the Pitaro book that Indelicato was a heroin addict. Even when in prison, "Roach" Rampino had some issues with drugs.

Also Matty Maddona, massive drug dealer for over 30 years. Had a coke problem in the 70s like most

All the Purple Gang members had problem with drugs both italian and non italian and a 50 years old member died few time ago and spent 100 $ a day for the H.

I mentioned the old Pleasant Avenue Luccheses and Genovese guys further up the thread, Furio. I'm sorry if there was a language barrier. But that's who I meant. The old Purple Gang guys.

Yes Pizza,there are no language barrier,it's my band simple I forget what you had written.

La capisco benissimo. Ma mi innervosisco sempre quando parlo in Italiano con gli Italiani nativi.

Back to English, though. The mods get upset because it's too hard for them to moderate. Can't blame them.

Who are the most successful drug pushers in post 60's NY mob history?

Anthony Baratta
Carmine Galante
Matthew Madonna
Vic Amuso
Salvatore Ruggiero & Angelo Ruggiero

That's what I got off the top of my head.

In hindsight, Madonna has spent most of his adult life in prison so he may not be that "successful" but Galante spent most of his peak years in prison too but "successful" could also mean how much money he made, the legacy he left, the credibility he got on the street.

Don't believe everything you read. Especially when what you're reading was written by someone trying to cast themselves in a favorable light.

Did they use cocaine? Yes. Is that why they were killed? No.

Let's just say half the reasons Sammy gives to explain most of his admitted murders are half truths.

Gigi Inglese made tons of money selling drugs he was the guy who got Gribbs life by saying hello at a restaurant. And consider that Madonna was the wholesaler of heroin in Harlem to Nicky Barnes in his best times, he definitely earned a serious amount of money. Mark Reiter was a jewish guy who ran with Gotti who was a major coke trafficker along with Angelo. Vincent Pappa made good money sellin the French Connection dope. Raffie Cuomo and Joe Beck's brothers also made tons of money moving H out of Ray's Pizza.

Fair enough, and I can definitely see him having other motives. We are all pulling from the same sources here, though (books, interviews, court transcripts, etc.) Unless you have insider knowledge of his crew workings that you'd like to share, then I'll stick to what's in public record.

This thread is about drug USE. Not dealing. Hell, most of them have dealt at one time or another. It's just more hypocrisy.

Long story short, Fat Gigi was no druggie. He didn't use himself.

I knew all 3 of the men mentioned above, 2 for my entire life, 1 peripherally. Nicky was killed more for reasons related to his nickname. They didn't call him cowboy for nothing. He was wild, and in that life it can be a liability. It's also not a coincidence he was killed just 3 weeks after Castellano. Yes, he drank and used cocaine, so did many guys around Sammy. Funnily, he had been with the Columbos for years before the Gambinos. He was moved after he and Carmine Sessa's brother shot someone that didnt die. A mistake that caused a lot of problems for both of them. Nicky's father was an old time Columbo associate who had owned a private sanitation business and had done time himself.

DeBatt I knew less of, but I know enough about Sammy to know that while drugs may have been a part of his reasons - and not that drugs aren't reason enough sometimes- it wasn't the only one. Sammy didn't usually operate that way.

You can stick to the books, that's fair enough. But lots of things never make into them, especially books like Sammy's, written to cast him in a better light.

was Nicky in the rampers with Sammy and Pappa?

also all the meber of the demeo crew, were coke abusers,henry,anthny, chris,dominick,testa, dinnome was smoke weed it goes hand in hand

No but they all knew each other from those days, the way guys from close by neighborhoods do. Nicky was a 12th/13th avenue guy when he was a teenager, which was a slightly different crowd. Post rampers they all hung out at Doc's bar though, it was on 62 st and 17th avenue. He was very close friends for many years with Stymie, until Stymie was killed.

Thanks i pm you..

Back in the '70s half of them were getting high off their own product. You'd be shocked at how fucked up some of them were. Especially if you knew which ones. Believe me when I tell you . [/quote]

You know who always looked like a dopehead from their mugshots? Joe Beck. That face....resembled a mummy with glasses.
As much shit as he moved I wouldn't doubt it.

Joe Beck made Carmine Galante look like Rock Hudson.

The year was 1991. Glory days for Bath Ave and the Bonnano family. They were selling crack to the neighborhood residents and using it behind closed doors. Paulie " brass" tommy reyonlds " techinical knockout" , " crazy joey" Calco, Fabrizio the " herder" and many others were the young guys in the neighborhood we all looked up to and wanted to become. We were a few years behind these guys and it looked like they had the world by the balls. Until crack reared its ugly head and it went from a Fri/Sat thing, to an everynight of the week thing. The superiors in the bononno family knew what the deal was,. but with the money rolling in, they dared not to upset the golden goose. Too bad bc i know paulie for one would have listened as getting made was the one thing he really wanted. Such wasted potential.

I think of wasted potential as more of 'he could have been a doctor or an engineer', not 'he was a killer, but he could have been a killer with a button'. Of course, YMMV.

I knew of plenty of made guys that use or used drugs,but having said that, back in the day it was not a (stick in you face ) thing ,it would be behind the scenes type thing . I would hang with guys for years before I knew that they do "blow" in the back room or the bathroom.
Heroin" here was a big no"down here, if anyone thought you did it you were outed and if Nick sr. herd or thought that his guys were doing it he or they were "done" and thinking back I can't recall any of the made guys doing it(well one ) and ,like I said if you were family or a associate you were outed .Just way to risky ,those "feens" will do and say anything for that drug.

Now NY guys they were around it more and used it more from what I herd and seen through the years.

I could say names and the drug they used but it is not necessary ,nor fair to the family's that are left holding the grief.

I have been told that usage is NOT something that is tolerated this day and age. At all. Ever.

Does it happen? I would assume so, however...even I have been advised not to use (which I haven't in 20 years so it's a moot point) and I am nowhere near them at this point. I think ideology is changing regarding using. Pizzaboy you mentioned the NY and I don't have the history or background with the East Coast.

Real wise guys never trusted the made guys who used drugs but if they were good earners they looked away..if they got pinched everyone panicked
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Great post....

Can you tell me any more about Tommy Reynolds...

I always heard that he was the best street fighter of the gang. He never ratted and is doing some major time.

Was he Italian. maybe his Mom?

TK seems to be the one we know the least about.

Thanks,

Sal