All Blog Posts Tagged 'Extortion' (138)

By David Amoruso

Well, well, guess who’s back? Former Colombo crime family underboss John “Sonny” Franzese is back on the streets after being released from prison on Friday. The longtime wiseguy was welcomed home with open arms by his…

By Robert Sberna

In July 2015, when police in Cleveland, Ohio arrested former Gambino mobster Carmine Agnello, authorities crowed that they were sending a stern message that their city was off-limits to organized crime.

Prosecutors at the time brought a dozen charges including racketeering and conspiracy against Agnello, whose…

By David Amoruso

Razhden Shulaya’s influence reached far. As a bona fide “Vor” – the Russian Mafia’s equivalent of a made guy – he was feared and revered by his underlings and had powerful connections in the Eastern European underworld. But…

By David Amoruso

The year is 2017 and it is business as usual for the Lucchese crime family, one of New York’s infamous five Mafia families. While many thought the American mob had lost its teeth – gangland murders had become a rarity – prosecutors say that the Lucchese family proved them wrong in 2013 with one cold-blooded slaying…

By Gangsters Inc. Editors

Genovese crime family captain Pasquale “Patsy” Parrello (photo above) pleaded guilty to extortion charges on Monday. The 72-year-old mobster drew a large support crowd in Manhattan’s federal courthouse,…

By Gary K. Busch

One of the least well-known of the international criminal organisations is the Indian Mafia. It is not only centred on India but has spread across the globe. Among other areas of influence, it has thrived through its engagement with the Indian entertainment industry, better known as “Bollywood”. It has come into prominence recently for its…

By David Amoruso

Ronald “Ronnie G.” Giallanzo is described by authorities as a career criminal. His criminal record is pretty voluminous, which isn’t strange considering he’s been a made member of New York’s Bonanno crime…

By Gangsters Inc. Editors

Albanian gangster Denis Nikolla was sentenced to 18 years in prison followed by 5 years of supervised release on Friday for his role in an extortion plot involving a man with close ties to the Albanian Mafia and a corrupt…

By Milko

Panagiotis Vlastos was born in Athens, Greece, in 1971. Growing up in Metamorfosi, Vlastos got involved in crime at an early age, committing theft and burglaries. In the 1990s, he and another gangster named Kostas Nastoulis were fighting a gangland war against each other. In 1994, Vlastos murdered Yerasimos Nastoulis, a brother of Kostas, and…

By Gangsters Inc. Editors

Some wiseguys just aren’t as wise as they’d wish to be. Take alleged mobster Anthony Camisa for instance. Asked by a judge why Camisa had gone on the lam to evade his arrest, his lawyer answered it was because he wanted to run…

By Gangsters Inc. Editors

The leader and 66 members of a crime syndicate in the eastern Chinese province of Anhui were sentenced to time in prison on Sunday, China’s news agency Xinhua reported. The group was involved in…

By Milko

Marcel Habran was born on June 5, 1933. Nicknamed “Le Grand Marcel,” which means “The Big Marcel,” he was known as the godfather of the underworld in the Belgian city of Liège. His first arrest came at the age of 18, after he stole some copper. During those early years, Habran worked in bars in Liège’s red light district. Besides his…

By Gangsters Inc. Editors - posted November 29 / updated December 3

Patrick Adams, a leading figure of the Clerkenwell crime syndicate in London, admitted shooting a suspected informant in the chest. The 60-year-old gangster pleaded guilty Wednesday to “causing grievous bodily harm with intent,” the …

By David Amoruso

Longtime New England mobster Anthony “The Saint” St. Laurent Sr. made quite the reputation for himself. Known for violence, a listing in Las Vegas' infamous Black Book, you could say he'd done well. On October 26, 2016, he was released from federal prison after serving seven years on a murder-for-hire beef. The 75-year-old mob…

By Gangsters Inc. Editors

Boris Kotlyarsky pleaded guilty on Thursday morning to extorting payment from a man who was marked for death in a murder-for-hire plot involving notorious Russian Mafia boss Boris Nayfeld.…

By Robert Sberna - www.robertsberna.com

By any measure, mobster Carmine Agnello has led a fascinating life. But perhaps the most curious aspect is his propensity to repeat history. As a made member of the…

By David Amoruso

Russian mob boss Boris Nayfeld (photo above) just can’t stay on the straight and narrow, nor can he keep his mouth shut. In January, prosecutors in the Southern District of New York charged the notorious gangster and coconspirator Boris Kotlyarsky with an extortion plot in which the two men sought payment from a victim who they claimed…

By David Amoruso

Giuseppe Profaci was one of the five original New York mob bosses, leading what would become known later as the Colombo crime family of La Cosa Nostra. His tenure spanned several decades and countless violent incidents, including a Mafia uprising within his own family.

Born in the Sicilian village of …

By David Amoruso

Luca DiMatteo (71) is a longtime member of New York’s Colombo crime family. According to authorities, he currently holds the rank of (acting) capo. In July of 2015, DiMatteo and his nephew, Lukey DiMatteo, were charged with racketeering conspiracy,…

By David Amoruso

How much money does the Italian Mafia make? How many billions of dollars go up the chain through the organizations of Sicily’s Cosa Nostra, Campania’s Camorra, and Calabria’s ‘Ndrangheta? Criminology professor Francesco Calderoni did the math and came up with some very interesting numbers, numbers that many deem the most…