All Blog Posts Tagged 'Lucchese' (76)

By David Amoruso

If you thought Michael Spinelli’s nickname was bad, wait until you’ve heard the story of how he became a made member of the Lucchese crime family. As far as gangland stories go, Spinelli’s is anything but Hollywood material. Yet,…

By Thom L. Jones for Gangsters Inc.

In January 1966, a civil war broke out. Not between different people in a country, but within a family. A family of…

There are more than a million people buried in this graveyard. There are no stones or memorials to remember them. It’s not the biggest…

Estimate members: Between 120 and 130 (according to Jerry Capeci)

First Boss: Tom Gagliano

Primary activities: Narcotics, gambling, loan sharking, waste management, construction and extortion.

Boss:…

By Thom. L. Jones for Gangsters Inc.

Being in the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong kind of friend was the worst thing that ever happened to Frank Santora Junior.

As he walked along a street in…

By David Amoruso for Gangsters Inc.

For a few years, the New York Mafia seemed to have quieted down. Increased scrutiny from law enforcement coupled with RICO made mobsters rethink their violent deeds, opting for less conspicuous ways of getting…

By David Amoruso for Gangsters Inc.

Who said the New York Mafia lost its teeth? The Lucchese crime family, one of the city’s five La…

By Gangsters Inc. Editors

In the underworld, death is always around the corner. Especially if one was to run into two men nicknamed “Savage” and “Murda Mo,” both are North Carolina members of the United Blood Nation (UBN or…

By David Amoruso

Lucchese crime family boss Michael “Big Mike” DeSantis got to the top of the hill in an unusual way: A letter from his…

By David Amoruso



Leroy "Nicky" Barnes is a legend of African American organized crime history. Once a dope fiend himself, he kicked the habit, and became the main distributor of heroin in Harlem, NY. In 2007 his autobiography "Mr Untouchable: The Rise, Fall, and Resurrection of Heroin's Teflon Don" was released. In it Barnes tells his story. How he…

By David Amoruso

Eugene “Boobsie” Castelle (photo above) has had quite an unusual ride to the top of New York’s Lucchese crime family. He’s known as a bodybuilder who – allegedly – didn’t mind using steroids and other drugs to get his body and mind in…

By David Amoruso

Many question how much power an 85-year-old imprisoned-for-life Mafia boss actually has over his crime family. Mob leader Vic Amuso (above) answered with a letter that said: Total power. From behind bars, he orchestrated the complete rearrangement of the Lucchese family’s leadership.…

By David Amoruso

Is John Wick indestructible? Movie audiences are about to find out in the third installment of the blockbuster movie franchise starring Keanu Reeves as the skilled assassin placed on a universal hit list by the Italian and Russian Mafias, the Chinese Triads, and the Japanese Yakuza. But…

By David Amoruso

Lucchese crime family mobster Joseph “Joey Glasses” Datello (photo above) pleaded guilty on Monday to various acts of racketeering, including the attempted murder of a witness against him, narcotics trafficking, and collecting debts through the threat of violence.

67-year-old Datello faces a maximum…

By David Amoruso

It’s the sort of vendetta violence the American Mafia is known for. After a Bonanno family mobster insulted a leader of the Lucchese family, the boss ordered his death. On Friday, the hitman who was handed the murder contract admitted his guilt in the plot.…

By Gangsters Inc. Editors

Two high-ranking leaders of the Nine Trey Gangsters set of the United Blood Nation (UBN), including the Godfather, 45-year-old Pedro “Magoo” Gutierrez (left), who also served as Chairman, and 45-year-old James Baxton (right), also known as “Frank White”, who held the rank of Worldwide High, were…

By David Amoruso

Two men who hold the rank of Godfather in the Nine Trey Gangsters set of the United Blood Nation were convicted on Thursday of racketeering conspiracy charges. 44-year-old James Baxton (photo above, right), known on the streets as Frank White, and 45-year-old Pedro “Magoo” Gutierrez (photo above, left)…

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

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

A Lucchese family mobster who flipped and helped send dozens of New York wiseguys to prison has been outed as a fraudster who scammed mall owners and developers out of tens of millions of dollars while in the Witness…