No, pretty sure Tranghese was the new capo. Arilotta is practically a kid by Genovese standards.

ivy thanks again! so whats the current status which genovese operation in springfield today? still there but much weakened?

Actually, Tranghese was placed 'on the shelf' for not earning enough on the street as he admitted in his testimony. He was given a vicious beating by the Geas brothers and friends at a construction site if I recall correctly. I do believe that Nigro promoted Arilotta to the top spot around this time. I'm pretty sure that is what happened here.

The resources in Springfield are most definitley still there. Everyone is staying in the shadows for now especially because jimmy santinello is expected to testify against Emilio and other names may come out along with the testify .

Scibelli is dead I saw it said the late Scibelli in one of these recent articles

A chunk of modern mob history which i completely missed and dont understand, mainly because i was eight or nine when it happened but can someone explain about the murders and when 2 made members cooperated and about the murder trial this year. if you just gave me a bunch of articles to read etc be great help!

Scibelli is dead I saw it said the late Scibelli in one of these recent articles

I keep forgetting that not everyone here is as old and cranky as I am .

Mafia turncoat Anthony Arillotta takes witness stand for second day at trial of Emilio Fusco for murder of Al Bruno

Published: Wednesday, April 18, 2012, 2:33 PM

NEW YORK - Anthony Arillotta, take two.

Arillotta, 44, a Mafia soldier-turned-informant from Springfield, resumed the witness stand Wednesday for the second day in a mob murder trial in Manhattan. On trial is Longmeadow loan shark Emilio Fusco, a fellow "made man" in the New York-based Genovese organized crime family. Both Arillotta and Fusco were indicted for a string of crimes including the 2003 murder of their onetime boss, Adolfo "Big Al" Bruno, amid a power play in 2003.

Arillotta, however, entered into a plea deal with federal prosecutors shortly after his arrest in 2010 and has testified against his closest confidantes and bosses over two trials. Last year, Arillotta took the stand against two of his most trusted enforcers, Fotios "Freddy" and Ty Geas, of West Springfield, plus the former acting boss of the Genovese family, Arthur "Artie" Nigro, of Bronx, NY.

Those three were convicted and are serving life sentences in federal prison. Fusco, whose trial was delayed because he fled to his native Italy, according to prosecutors, has opted to take his chances. He has denied all charges against him including racketeering, murder and extortion.

Arillotta has begun recounting a startling history of criminal behavior dating back to the 1980s, including a string of murder plots, drug deals, gun deals, and shakedowns -- mitigated slightly by the fact that he's done it in the same courtroom before.

Much of Arillotta's testimony in this trial so far has focused on crimes he told jurors he committed with Fusco, including drug dealing, extortion, loan-sharking and sports betting. Arillotta said Fusco and Bruno were longtime rivals in Springfield's organized crime landscape until Bruno was anointed boss of the "Springfield Crew" in 2001.

Once Bruno was made boss and at the urging of higher-ranking gangsters, he stepped up shake-downs of bar and pizza shops owners in Massachusetts and Connecticut, plus bookies and loan sharks in order to generate more revenue for mob types, Arillotta said. The Mafia quickly began netting $12,000 per month to be split among New York and "made guys" locally.
Fusco approved, according to Arillotta.

"He liked the idea. He said that's how they do things in Italy and they should have done that a long time ago," Arillotta recounted.

The harmony between Bruno and Fusco was short-lived, he added. Once Bruno learned Fusco was dealing marijuana -- traditionally prohibited in the Italian Mafia -- he unsuccessfully lobbied New York bosses for permission to take Fusco out, according to Arillotta. "He talked to Artie (Nigro) about clipping Emilio," Arillotta testified.

Instead, Bruno was the one who got clipped. He was shot dead in a parking lot in downtown Springfield on Nov. 23, 2003, one day shy of his 58th birthday. Fusco is alleged to have furnished a paid hitman with the gun and alerted the shooter to Bruno's whereabouts that night.

Arillotta's testimony is expected to continue at least through Thursday.

© 2012 masslive.com. All rights reserved.

pizza im 17 and i know ot was that long ago but an 9 year old interested in the mob?

Yeah no way that would have been on the news in Britain. Since Gotti the Mafia in the US barely makes the news outside of the US. All I have ever seen was a piece on that huge mob bust last year and bits and pieces on the Gotti jr trial.
I remember I asked my parents over there recently about the mafia, they were shocked they even existed any more as since Gotti you don't hear much.

That's why many people think the mob is dead. Because they don't really follow it but only know what they happen to read or hear from time to time. I guess the average Joe can be forgiven for that but not journalists or law enforcement.

I have the opposite issue: all the people I know who are aware of my interest in the mob keep asserting that it is still dominant in Youngstown, when in fact it's 99% gone there.