https://www.amazon.com/Body-Mike-Unspari...words=body+mikeThat's a link to his book but I haven't read it yet. Reviews say its good though.
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9501E5D81339E432A25755C1A9679D94619FD6CFThat's an article about when Cantalupo testified at Funzi Tieri's trial. He said that Funzi threatened his uncle into not selling pizzas in a particular spot, sent someone after him to make sure he paid a $10,000 loan from Funzi and that his apartment was used as a meeting spot for Joe Colombo, Funzi Tieri and Carlo Gambino. Cantalupo testified he had worked with the Colombo family for 14 years, committing robberies and loan sharking.
And thanks for mentioning that book BillyBrizzi. Crime Inc is my favourite series on the mob by far.
mighty can you copy and paste that NYT article in the thread? The link sends u to the archives but you have to pay for a subscription to read it...be interesting to check out if u dont mind pal
Here ya go:
Joseph Cantalupo, a former loan shark in organized crime, has testified that Frank (Funzi) Tieri used deadly threat to prevent a Brooklyn restaurant from selling pizzas.
Mr. Cantalupo, testifying at the Tieri racketeering trial in Manhattan last week, said the incident occurred in 1974. He said his uncle had wanted to sell pizzas in Eddie Arcaro’s Restaurant at the Kings Plaza shopping mall, but Mr. Tieri had favored a rival restaurant called Sbarro’s.
The witness quoted Mr. Tieri as having said: “If your uncle thinks he’s going to put pizza in Eddie Arcaro’s, he’s better off putting pizza in Scarpaci’s.” He said Mr. Tieri had pointed to Scarpaci’s, which was “the funeral parlor across the street.”
Mr. Cantalupo said he then conveyed the message to his uncle, Sevarino Palotta, who became “so upset” that he sold his share of the restaurant.
The alleged threat is part of the main charge in the case, which accuses Mr. Tieri of operating a “crime family” in a pattern of racketeering. The trial is scheduled to end this week in Federal District court.
Mr. Cantalupo also testified that an associate, Johnny Russo, had threatened him for failing to repay a $10,000 loan from Mr. Tieri, who was called “the Old Man.” The jury heard a secretly recored 1977 conversation in which Mr. Russo told him: “Pay the Old Man – forget about everybody else.”
Answering questions by Barbara S. Jones, a prosecutor, Mr. Cantalupo said he had conducted loan-sharking activitires for Joseph Colombo’s “organized crime family” in Brooklyn and knew how delinquent debtors were treated.
“Were you ever present,” Miss Jones asked, “when certain debtors were beaten?”
“Yes,” he replied firmly, adding that many debtors had made payments or offered excuses in person at his father’s realty company, where Mr. Colombo had conducted some of his activties.
“Mr. Colombo at times would get furious with them,” he continued, “and send them downstairs to the basement with members of the family, and they would get beat up.”
Miss Jones asked about a 1969 meeting allegedly attended by Mr. Tieri, Mr. Colombo and Carlo Gambino. Mr. Cantalupo said his Brooklyn apartment had been used for the meeting at the request of Mr. Colombo, who told him what to do.
“I had my wife make a large pot of black coffee, go out and buy two pounds of Italian cookies, set the table for six and stay out for a part of the evening,” Mr. Cantalupo said “I sat on the stoop and kept my eyes open.”
Mr. Colombo arrived by car, also Mr. Tieri and then Mr. Gambino with three others, the witness continued. He said they stayed in his apartment about two hours and then “left the same way they came.”
“Do you see Mr. Tieri in the courtroom today?” Miss Jones asked.
“Funzi is sitting right there in the beige jacket and brown tie,” Mr. Cantalupo said, using Mr. Tieri’s nickname and pointing at the 76-year-old defendant, who stared back at the witness.
Mr. Cantalupo, who is 37, testified that he became a “confidential informant” for the Federal Bureau of Investigation in the 1973 and provided information about organized crime to the FBI agent who gave him cash payment amounting to as much as $1500 a month.
He also made an agreement with Federal Prosecutors in 1977 to testify about organized crime in return for immunity from prosecution, he said, and entered the Government’s witness protection program in order to be relocated with a new identity.
Mr. Cantalupo admitted that he had participated in numerous crimes, including several robberies, in addition to loansharking. He said he had belonged to the “Colombo family” for 14 years and also participated in crimes with members of the “Genovese family” that Mr. Tieri allegedly heads.
The prosecution, led by Nathaniel H. Akerman, has presented a series of witnesses against Mr. Tieri. The defense lawyers, Jay Goldberg and Jeffrey C. Hoffman, content that the witness lied to obtain leniency. Judge Thomas P. Griesa is conducting the trial with a sequestered jury.
I got a subscription for a few months a while back. Definitely worth it for the old articles.
