. Then go spit fire cause I will post whatever the fuck I want when I want

Is the Mob Now As Laughable As Reality TV Makes It Seem? We Ask an FBI Agent
New York Magazine
July 13, 2011


Special Agent George Khouzami helped coordinate the sweeping FBI mafia takedown in New York this past January — which then became a plot point on Mob Wives, VH1's hit show about the wives and daughters of Mafiosos. (Think Real Housewives with Staten Island accents and rap sheets.) With its jokey gunshot sound effects and surveillance-camera intros, Mob Wives made organized crime look about as serious as Flava Flav's love life. And yet it's deadly serious ... right? With mafia families becoming a reality-TV trend — including Investigation Discovery's I Married a Mobster, premiering tonight — we asked Agent Khouzami about the current state of the mafia and how the wiseguys we've seen on TV and film compare to the real deal.



All these reality-TV shows about mafia family members make the mob seem almost cartoonish, not something to be taken seriously anymore. What do actual mobsters think of these shows?

Based on my knowledge, the mob looks at these TV shows as a mockery of what they do. I certainly don't think that they're proud of having these shows. Without speaking for Anthony Graziano, who I believe is the father of one of the girls in the VH1 show [Renee Graziano], I imagine that he's probably beside himself over what his daughter is doing.

During the reunion special, I believe Renee said her father refuses to watch the show.

I think that's something you should bet on. I think she's probably gonna get a mouthful from him when he gets out.

On that show, they talk a lot about the "mafia lifestyle,” this glamorous Staten Island life of extravagance. Is there such a thing?

The mafia lifestyle for the spouse, or for the actual mafioso?

What's the difference?

Well, I think the mafia spouse is — from our perspective, we believe that she certainly knows what's going on, she knows what her husband is into, she's certainly reaping the benefits of what he's into by not having a job of her own, by driving beautiful luxury vehicles, by having the nicest of clothing, the Gucci bags. So they're all reaping the benefits, but they all have this ability at the end of the day to say, "I don't know what my husband is into.”

Mob Wives seemed to reinforce this idea — that, frankly, I got from The Sopranos — of all mafia guys having this secret life separate from their wives, which includes girlfriends. Do all mob guys secretly cheat on their wives?

Yes and no. They certainly all do have their girlfriends on the side. But most of these spouses know that there's a woman on the side, and they don't necessarily have to put up with it. That's some more evidence for you that the financial benefits that they reap from being mafia wives, it's all worth it to them. Because a lot of them may not know 100 percent, but they all certainly have a good idea that their spouses have girlfriends. And they're willing to put up with that. They're willing to live day to day with the fact that Tuesday nights are girlfriend nights. For some of these guys, it's that bad: Every Tuesday and Friday night, that's the girlfriend's night, and every Saturday and Monday night, that's the wife's night.

So what about the kids? On Growing Up Gotti, Victoria Gotti's sons seem eager to cash in on the fact that they're Gottis. Do kids see this as a benefit, are they generally in the dark?

I do believe that most real wiseguys keep their children out of it. I do think that in the case of the Gotti kids, they may be doing and have done street-level stuff that really any kid may have participated in growing up. You certainly didn't need to be the son or grandson of a mobster to be involved in smoking pot or doing some shoplifting. But look, like any normal human being, they're trying to cash in on some moneymaking endeavors, and I think in their minds, going into entertainment was the way to go. But I'm not sure how promising of a career they have going forward; I'm not sure that Growing Up Gotti was the best of reality shows.

On Real Housewives of New Jersey, there's that guy Danny Provenzano who would periodically come by to make threats and brag about his mafia connections. Is a guy like him putting himself at risk by doing that?

I certainly think that he carries the same risk that a lot of these cooperating witnesses carry. Sammy [“The Bull” Gravano]’s daughter [Karen, on Mob Wives] carries as equal if not greater a risk than Provenzano, just simply because there are plenty of people who are furious about what Sammy did twenty years ago [he snitched on the mob]. For Sammy's daughter to now reap some benefits from her dad betraying — in their world — their mafia family, I think that probably puts her at more of a risk. And again, not only are these people still wanting to retaliate against Sammy because he went bad on them, but to add insult to injury, she's on TV, she' s writing a book.

Let's talk about The Sopranos for a minute. The Sopranos sort of portrayed the mob as a dying organization, not like it was in the old days. How accurate was that portrayal of the New Jersey–New York mafia?

When people say "the mob is dead," I think that's an inaccurate statement. It's certainly less than what you experienced in the sixties and seventies. The way of doing business from the mob's perspective has changed dramatically, and I think some people confuse that with the idea that the mob is dying. It's still rabid, strong, and alive; I just think the days of easily charging the mob — those days are over, because people are engaged in more sophisticated crimes. Their level of concealment as it relates to financial-type fraud and health-care fraud and all the other, the different complex crimes that they're involved in, it's just made it harder for us to track them. So it appears as if it's not as big of a problem, but certainly the mob is still there, and they're still very strong. Their hierarchy is well-established, and it's been established for decades, so it's very easy to replace somebody. When we arrest a high-ranking captain, the next day somebody's there to fill that person's shoes.

So what crimes are the mob likely to be involved in now that they wouldn't have been involved in twenty years ago?

We've had numerous cases that illustrate their involvement in the stock market. They're infiltrating the financial sector a lot more than they did twenty or thirty years ago. The days of "give me a thousand dollars or I'm gonna break your legs" explicitly stated to someone and captured on tape, I think, are over. The forms of extorting individuals are now concealed in inflated invoices, they're concealed in control of high-level executives at companies.

How many times have you seen The Godfather?

Probably five or six.

I think that's still the touchstone for most people when it comes to the mafia. Is that film more fantasy or reality, in terms of how the mob operated in the seventies?

I think it's more reality. In the seventies, the Sicilian mafia in Italy was not a force to reckon with. And I think the slayings in that movie are a very accurate depiction of how life really was back then. Some people still argue that the Sicilian mafia is still, to an extent, more like they were twenty years ago [than other mafia]. They're certainly more intimidating and more violent than the New York–based families. So I would think it's probably more reality than not, as it relates to the seventies. But now I have to go back and watch The Godfather. It's been a few years.

How about The Sopranos?

The Sopranos sort of depicted a quasi-realistic life of the mafia in the tri-state area. I think that was a fairly accurate depiction; I think some of it was a bit of a stretch, but most of it was pretty accurate — the girlfriends, the extortion, the back-stabbing, the murders. The characters were pretty good depictions of your average mafia person.

So you felt that those were guys that you had met?

Yeah. I mean, look, a mafia guy is a man with quite a personality. Most of them are very professional and cordial with us. Most of them respect what we do and what we're trying to do, and they understand that when and if they get caught, it's the cost of doing business.

So there's actually some respect between the police and the mob?

I certainly believe that that exists, certainly with the older mafia. Some of the new generation mafia kids probably lack a little bit of that professionalism and respect, but for the most part the mafia does carry itself in a very professional and respectful manner towards law enforcement.

http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/201...ost-viewed-24h5

Interesting that an FBI agent says The Godfather is pretty realistic. But they talk about the seventies, while most of the films take place in the 1950s.

I always thought The Godfather Part II is pretty realistic, which is why it's also my favorite.

yeah godfather 2 is where its at in my opinion! good article tho sonny!

George Khouzami. Name sounds arab, I guess they don't trust those guys to work in task-forces that have something to do with the middle east. From the interview I'd guess he may be the next James Connelly, really in love with the godfather movies and the lifestyle, lol.

If u had to marry 1 of these girls which 1 wud u choose ?

Carla is a very beautiful woman and her grammar is decent as well. She also looks younger than the other girls, I was surprised to know they're all around the same age.

Just watched the reunion show. Drita and lee seperated that's SHOCKING lol

November 22, 2011

‘Mob Wives” is getting a new “made” member.

Ramona Rizzo — the granddaughter of Benjamin “Lefty Guns” Ruggiero, the Bonnano crime family soldier played by Al Pacino in the 1997 movie “Donnie Brasco” — is joining the cast this season, The Post has learned.

“Her grandfather is the one person — aside from her father — who’s probably Ramona’s biggest hero,” says Jennifer Graziano, the creator and producer of the hit reality series.

“She loved him very deeply.”

In fact, says Graziano, “When they were making [‘Donnie Brasco’] — and this is Ramona’s personality to a ‘T’ — she went to the set, called Pacino out of his trailer and said: ‘I understand you’re playing my grandfather. You’ve got a job to do. You need to play him right. This is what he was, and this is what he wasn’t.’

“If she’s got something to say, she’ll say it,” says Graziano, herself the daughter of a Bonnano capo, Anthony Graziano.

Rizzo joins the show, set to begin a new season Jan. 1, because she is a childhood friend of “Mob Wives” spitfire Karen Gravano, daughter of mob turncoat Sammy “The Bull” Gravano.

A divorced mother of four, Rizzo lives in New Jersey, but was raised on Staten Island, where most of the action in “Mob Wives” takes place.

“Karen and Ramona grew up together, did their first Communion together and slept over each other’s houses,” Graziano says. “They’re really close and call each other ‘cousins.’

“They’re probably tighter than real blood cousins, but they’re not related.”

Her grandfather played a key — if unwitting — role in the downfall of the mob in New York when, in 1976, Ruggiero brought into the crime family an undercover FBI agent, Joe Pistone, pretending to be a promising wise guy.

Inexplicably, the mob never ordered a hit on Ruggiero as punishment for his error in judgment.

He died — after a long prison stint — of cancer in 1994, before the movie that made him famous was released.

Graziano says she considered casting Rizzo for the show’s first season.

“She and I discussed it but didn’t think she was ready for it at the time,” she says.

So what changed?

“She was traveling and just returned back home,” Graziano says. “I don’t want to give too much of the back story away, but you’ll see it unfold.”

The show’s original cast, Gravano, Graziano’s older sister, Renee, Drita D’avanzo and Carla Facciolo, will all be returning as well, the network says.

The show, originally made as a close relative of the “Real Housewives” series, took on a life of its own during its debut season and became a much-talked-about hit for VH1.

On a side note.....


A top Bonanno mobster better straighten out his own family.
NY DAILY NEWS
November 22, 2011

The former son-in-law of reputed consigliere Anthony (T.G.) Graziano was arrested by federal agents Monday for allegedly setting up the armed robbery of an illegal gambling spot controlled by the Bonanno crime family.

Hector Pagan, Jr., was ordered held without bail in connection with the 2009 stickup in Staten Island that netted about $5,000. Pagan, 51, the ex-husband of Graziano’s daughter, Rene, who appears on the reality show “Mob Wives,” hatched the scheme to rob the weekly card game where large amounts of money were wagered, according to the complaint filed in Brooklyn Federal Court.

“Pagan threatened one of the victims by pointing his gun directly at one of the victim’s legs,” U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agent Al Gyenes stated in the complaint.

Graziano is serving the last two months of a racketeering conviction in a halfway house and is already back in trouble with the feds. He was photographed by agents last month meeting at a Staten Island diner with another Bonanno wiseguy, which is a violation that is expected to earn him more prison time. Graziano is supposedly not happy with the attention the TV show brings upon his secret society and stopped talking to his daughter.

Graziano was chauffeured to the sitdown by mob wanna-be Matthew Rinaldo, who is also charged with participating in the card game robbery with Pagan.

looks like tg was making a few moves

‘Mob Wives’ coming to Chicago
By MARK BROWN
November 15,2011


This one should set tongues to wagging from Bridgeport to Chicago Heights and along Grand Avenue to Elmwood Park.

The folks behind “Mob Wives,” VH1’s hit reality television show following the lives of four tough-talking, loud-living Staten Island women with personal ties to New York mob figures, plan to start filming a new Chicago spinoff within the next month.

Talk about your Operation Family Secrets.

The biggest secret is which Chicago women have been signed up by the network to participate.

Jennifer Graziano, the show’s producer, is keeping that information within the family, so to speak, despite numerous scouting trips here over the last several months to lay the groundwork for a series that is expected to air in the spring.

I’ve heard a couple of names, including one you can bet wouldn’t be doing this if her father were still alive, but both women angrily hung up on me.

Television gossip isn’t my normal turf, but it’s been too hard to resist this story since Graziano’s co-producer called this summer looking for Chicago mob insights.

Apparently, big city daily newspaper columnists are supposed to have lots of sources inside the mob, and I hate to break it to my readers, but unfortunately I’m fresh out.

Still, I know a spit storm brewing when I see one. I can’t tell you about New York, but in Chicago, mob wives — and daughters and girlfriends — are still supposed to stay out of the public eye.

Chicago lawyers who have represented mob clients were beyond skeptical when asked if they were aware of the project.

“It’s inconceivable,” one said. “I just don’t think it would meet with approval here.”

I tried to make the same point to Graziano when she stopped by the office around Labor Day between meetings with prospects.

But Graziano, whose father is Anthony “The Little Guy” Graziano, reputed consigliere to the Bonnano crime family, just gave me a knowing look as if to indicate she had her bases covered.

“I’ve got some family contacts here, people that have known my family and friends of mine,” said Graziano, whose sister Renee is one of the stars of the show along with Karen Gravano, daughter of Sammy “The Bull” Gravano, the mob hit man who became a government witness and took down John Gotti and the Gambino crime family.

“One of the selling points is we don’t write about anything that hasn’t been in the news,” Graziano said. “We don’t divulge any secrets.”

While hoping to land a recognizable mob family name or two for the Chicago cast, Graziano said it was more important that the characters “pop” on television.

I suggested they pay a visit to former Cicero Mayor Betty Loren-Maltese. That was the weekend Betty happened to be having a garage sale, so it seemed pretty obvious she could use the money. I also assured them Betty “pops” on television.

But they weren’t certain Betty fit the demographic they were seeking, in other words, too old. Sorry, Betty. I tried.

I’ve never watched “Mob Wives” myself. “Wives” shows give me the heebie-jeebies.

But my wife assured me “Mob Wives” was the best show on television during its first season, and I can attest she is a connoisseur of a certain kind of TV — the trashy kind.

“Mob Wives,” as I understand it, is way more raw, more intense, more real, than any of those “Housewives” shows. When these women have a fight, as they often do, you fully expect somebody to get hurt.

My wife’s favorite character is Drita D’avanzo. She is particularly impressed with how effortlessly Drita slips off her high heels while charging headlong into battle. You’ve got to admire that in a woman.

This embrace of mob stereotypes has received its share of criticism in New York, and anticipating the same here, I called Dominic DiFrisco, president emeritus of the Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans.

“I wish them nothing but failure,” said DiFrisco, who hasn’t seen the show but knows the type. “I think it’s a very ugly continuation of the long-standing slandering and defaming of the Italian-American people.”

If the characters pop, I can’t imagine it will be a failure. But this being Chicago, you still have to wonder if somebody will get popped.

http://www.suntimes.com/news/brown/8853688-452/mob-wives-coming-to-chicago.html

i dont mind the mob wives show it is entertaining

I love how they think just because they're married/with these guys that makes them part of their inner circle...

I've only seen the TV show on when I go to the gym and it was on a TV there and I was doing cardio so I watched it for about 10 mins while exercising. The show had a lot of drama, fighting, and was staged as all reality TV shows are.

I'm not sure why these women are so open about their boyfriends or husbands being involved in la famiglia? Do they have a death wish? Or do they think that they'll become "famous" because of going on a reality TV show?

Renee might open a chain of pork stores and deli's named Renne's Roastbeef..According to her latest books she's alwayd had roast beef drapes and goes into elbarote detail about her method of gettin u to bust

I despise guessing games...

Sure was shocking was re-watching the series tonight after I got my haircut.

Che schifo!