All Blog Posts Tagged 'Gambling' (123)

By David Amoruso

Colombo crime family boss Carmine Persico has passed away. He was 85. The New York Mafia boss was known for his tenacity and ruthlessness. Despite being locked up for life, he maintained an iron grip on his mob family from behind bars. He was a pure survivor. Right up until the moment he sighed his last…

By David Amoruso

As far as powerful Mafia bosses go, Giuseppe Ursino (photo above) is as low-key as they come. So much so that when he was convicted of trafficking cocaine for the ‘Ndrangheta and sentenced to over a decade in prison Thursday, it was the first criminal conviction of his life.

“Pino” Ursino was born…

By Gary Jenkins

“I’ve known Tony since I was about 12 years old, we grew up together. At the end of 78, he called and asked me to come out to Vegas and, you know, watch his back, be his underboss, more or less, that’s the term they use. So that’s what I was noted for, the Underboss and the leader of the Hole in the Wall…

By David Amoruso

Chicago Outfit mobster Anthony “The Ant” Spilotro continues to fascinate the public. Thanks in large part to Martin Scorsese’s epic movie Casino and Joe Pesci’s portrayal of him, but also due to the gangster’s violent way of doing business. For those interested, you can now live in his former home or…

By Gary Jenkins

This is the 4th and final installment about the life and times of Chicago’s most feared hitman, Harry “The Hook” Aleman. We have arrived at the downfall of this infamous mobster. Though he got away with countless murders, justice finally caught up and brought him down. Here’s how.

Harry had been…

By David Amoruso

The Chinese Mafia - better known as the Triads - has a complicated history seeped in political conflict that occurred centuries ago, when emperors and dynasties ruled China and monks used kung fu to rise up against their oppressors.

During its long and rich history China has seen a lot of bloodshed. Centuries ago Chinese…

By Gary Jenkins

In this third installment about Harry “The Hook” Aleman, a half Mexican, half Sicilian Chicago Outfit hitman, enforcer, street tax collector, and the capo of a home invasion crew, I will examine the case that will eventually bring Aleman to justice. This will be a long and crazy path so hang on and keep…

By Gary Jenkins

This is the second installment of a 4-part series about the life of Chicago mobster Harry “The Hook” Aleman, who operated as a thief, enforcer, juice loan collector, and hitman. In this edition, I will detail Aleman’s use of violence and murder as a tool to increase his power in the Chicago underworld and…

By Gary Jenkins

Harry “The Hook” Aleman was one of the Chicago Outfit’s most feared mobsters. In the first of a 4-part series documenting the life and violent crimes of this notorious thief, enforcer, juice loan collector, and hitman I recount how Aleman’s criminal career began.

He was born Harry Peralt Aleman on…

By David Amoruso

As a vor v zakone, mob boss Razhden Shulaya (above) was an official member of a century-old criminal tradition. As such, he was treated as Russian Mafia royalty. He used that position to run a sprawling organization involved in kidnapping, assault, fraud, extortion, and money laundering throughout the…

By David Amoruso

They were rounded up in a bust said to be “a major disruption of La Costra Nostra’s activities on Long Island”. Now, mobsters John “Johnny Boy” Ambrosio, an acting captain in the Gambino family; Frank “Frankie Boy” Salerno, a soldier in the Bonanno family; and Anthony Saladino, an associate of the…

By David Amoruso

Hollywood loves gangsters. Not because film makers condone their crimes, but because their stories make them lots of money. It’s difficult to name any other genre that has so many titles based on a true story. Yet, despite this label, the true story often gets twisted to fit the…

By David Amoruso

It helps to have friends in high places. It enables one to have more opportunities, but also to get away with mistakes or grave crimes even. If one’s friend is powerful enough, one could get away with anything. Until that friend is gone, of course. Like in the case of…

By David Amoruso

Philadelphia mob boss Joseph “Skinny Joey” Merlino joked around with reporters outside Manhattan federal court yesterday. How could he not? Two years ago, he was indicted in a huge conspiracy case involving members and captains of five different Mafia families. On Wednesday, he was sentenced to just 2…

By David Amoruso

New York’s melting pot of an underworld has erupted into a violent volcano with the city’s Bonanno crime family and the Bloods street gang involved in a deadly dance that resulted in the murder of Mafia associate Sylvester Zottola at a McDonald’s drive through in The Bronx last week.

Federal…

By David Amoruso

Sylvester Zottola had problems. The Bonanno family mobster was beefing with someone and that person was intent on murdering him over it. After surviving several attempts on his life, Zottola’s number was finally up on yesterday evening when an assassin shot him dead while he waited for his coffee at a…

By David Amoruso

Crime may pay, but the government will try very hard to get that ill-gotten money from you. Not just that, they will send you off to prison for good measure. Just ask Bonanno family capo Ronald “Ronnie G” Giallanzo.

On Wednesday, he was sentenced to 14 years in prison for…

By David Amoruso

He was convicted of a crime and he’s doing the time. Genovese crime family mobster Salvatore Delligatti (photo above) had previously been found guilty of racketeering and murder conspiracy charges and today was sentenced to 25 years in prison.

When facing such a harsh sentence, guys usually decide…

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 Gangsters Inc. Editors

Two associates of the Genovese crime family’s crew in Springfield were…