All Blog Posts Tagged 'Extortion' (91)

By David Amoruso

You know a mobster is respected when his colleagues refuse to utter his name out loud, preferring to point to their nose to signify they mean the man known on the streets of Chicago as “No Nose.” Chicago Outfit boss John DiFronzo was that kind of gangster. He passed away on Sunday, at age 89.

DiFronzo had…

By David Amoruso

It’s hard to become a new person. If you’ve spent years of your life trafficking drugs, committing kidnappings, robberies, and brutal murders all the while surrounded by like-minded men then changing yourself isn’t just hard, it becomes impossible.

Jhon Jairo Velásquez Vásquez (photo above), a man…

By Gangsters Inc. Editors

Law enforcement in California dealt a big blow to the Mexican Mafia on Wednesday, charging 83 individuals in two federal racketeering indictments, one of which outlines how members of the group were able to control drug smuggling, narcotics sales and the extortion of prisoners inside the Los…

By David Amoruso

They don’t call the criminal underworld a jungle for nothing. There are many similarities between the animal kingdom and the world of gangs and the Mafia. There is a food chain, there are specific roles to play, there is a dominant species, and there is a King that rules the land.

But what about…

By Gangsters Inc. Editors

Members of an international sex trafficking ring operating out of Mexico were extradited to the United States at the end of last month and beginning of this month. They are charged with forcing adult and underage women into…

By Gangsters Inc. Editors

Philadelphia Mafia boss Joseph Merlino’s…

By David Amoruso

Joseph Merlino’s bet paid off big time! The alleged boss of the Philadelphia crime family…

By David Amoruso

Lucchese crime family soldier Anthony Grado knows how to earn. Whether it’s extortion, loansharking or selling prescription pills he’ll know how to make a buck. One thing he hasn’t learned, however, is staying out of prison for his crimes.

It’s not always Grado’s own fault, mind…

By David Amoruso

“I’m not crazy. Some of my relatives have been in a lunatic asylum, but I haven’t.” – Camorra boss Michele Zaza

Gangsters like Michele Zaza don’t come around often. Nicknamed “‘O Pazzo” or “The Madman,” he was known as much for talking candidly with the media as for his cunning and…

By David Amoruso

A high-ranking member of the Gangster Disciples was sentenced to 30 years in prison on Thursday for racketeering conspiracy. 37-year-old Henry Cooper went by the nickname “Big Hen” and functioned as the organization’s enforcer, making sure all other gang members toed the line and followed the…

By David Amoruso

Bonanno crime family capo Ronald “Ronnie G” Giallanzo…

By Gangsters Inc. Editors

Mobster Massimigliano Carfagna was sentenced to 10 and a half years in prison on Thursday. He had pleaded guilty to trafficking in cocaine and the opioid drug…

By David Amoruso

Organized crime in New Jersey goes way back and features some of the most colorful characters and powerhouses one can imagine. Gangsters Inc. sat down with mob author Scott Deitche, who details this rich and violent history in his new book Garden State Gangland: The Rise of the Mob in New…

By David Amoruso

His pals in the mob call Joseph Chirico “Joe Marco Polo,” because he runs Marco Polo Ristorante in Brooklyn. Chirico, who grew up in Italy, is a restaurant buff but has another side gig going that landed him in trouble with the law.

In 2008, he was caught up in a wide-ranging federal racketeering indictment aimed…

By Gangsters Inc. Editors

Six members of the street gang La Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13, were convicted on Monday by a federal jury for their roles in a kidnapping, murder, and extortion conspiracy in Northern…

By David Amoruso

Philadelphia Mafia boss Joseph “Skinny Joey” Merlino took a huge gamble and won big yesterday when his high-profile racketeering case ended in a mistrial. After three weeks, followed by almost 30 hours of deliberations, the jury remained hopelessly deadlocked.…

By Gangsters Inc. Editors

Authorities dealt yet another blow to MS-13 in its ongoing campaign against its number one target. Four alleged Maryland MS-13 gangsters were indicted on murder and racketeering charges on…

By David Amoruso

Authorities have Naser Kelmendi’s number. The United States government blacklisted him under the Kingpin Act in 2012 because, it claims, he heads a crime family responsible for trafficking drugs through Afghanistan to Turkey and into Europe. Still, moving throughout Eastern Europe, Kelmendi proved an…

By David Amoruso

A criminal mastermind. The man behind the scenes. Mob kingpin. Arnold Rothstein can be described in many ways. Known on the streets as “The Big Bankroll,” he financed countless major criminal schemes and enterprises as he rose to prominence in New York’s gangland. But at heart, he was a gambler. Through…

By David Amoruso

Is the stress of a long life in the Mafia finally becoming too much for Philadelphia mob boss…