Kin of Sammy The Bull Gravano's victims seek profits from his daughter's new book :
The outraged families of murderous mob underboss Salvatore (Sammy Bull) Gravano’s gangland victims want a whack at the profits from his daughter’s upcoming memoir.
The Daily News has learned they are enlisting the Arizona state attorney general to go after Karen Gravano’s earnings from “Mob Daughter” — due out on Valentine’s Day.
“It’s harrowing to hear Karen Gravano boast week after week on her reality show ‘Mob Wives’ that violence is ‘in my bloodline,’ ” Laura Garofalo wrote in a letter to the Arizona AG.
She was 17 when her dad, Edward, was slain by Gravano in 1990.
“She continues to utilize her and her father’s criminal enterprises to lure viewers and generate revenue for herself and VH1,” Garofalo said.
The Arizona prosecutor’s office helped the families split $420,000 from The Bull’s own bestselling literary effort “Underboss,” written by noted author Peter Maas.
Sammy Bull did just five years in jail for 19 mob murders as a reward for testifying against late Gambino boss John Gotti.
The rat went right back to his life of crime dealing drugs after he was released and is back in prison for 20 years.
Karen Gravano and her brother, Gerard, were convicted in 2001 of participating in his Ecstasy drug ring in Arizona.
Karen Gravano did not return a call for comment Thursday.
“My brother was killed by Sammy, then he was killed again when he wrote his book and now he’s being killed a third time in her book,” said Roseanne Massa, whose brother Michael DeBatt was shot dead in 1987 on Salvatore Gravano’s orders.
“Having our family members killed over and over again is not a way to hold to our hearts the memories that we have.”
Massa and several families had sued Salvatore Gravano unsuccessfully under the New York state Son of Sam law because he was convicted of federal, not state crimes.
But they prevailed in Arizona, which has a similar statute. Eight families received checks for $52,500 from Gravano’s assets seized by authorities investigating the drug ring.
Garofalo has also written to New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and a former federal prosecutor who now works for Gov. Cuomo.
Garofalo and Massa have been seething since Karen Gravano began appearing in the VH1 reality show “Mob Wives” two years ago with the daughters of a Bonanno capo and wives of several mob wanna-bes.
In an interview with The News for her upcoming book, Karen Gravano said the public’s fascination with the Gambino crime family in its heyday hasn’t abated.
“There’s never been another John Gotti and there’s never been another Sammy (The Bull) Gravano,” she said.
Garofalo acknowledges collecting a dime from Karen Gravano is an uphill battle.
“We hope at least to get the law changed so it has more teeth,” she said.
jmarzulli@nydailynews.com
I hope that are able to somehow get the law changed and that they do get the money. As it stands right now, under New York State law they can't because, unlike her father, Karen Gravano is not profiting off of a state crime that she was convicted of committing.
