All Blog Posts Tagged 'NY' (319)

By Thom L. Jones for Gangsters Inc.

This is part 2. To read…

By Gangsters Inc. Editors

Researchers have long been bothered by the lack of a photograph of Prohibition Era Mafia "boss of bosses" Salvatore Maranzano. But an image of the underworld chief, lost for nearly 88 years, was recently rediscovered. The remarkable find will be featured in an August special issue of Informer:…

By David Amoruso

Bonanno crime family captain Joseph “Joe Valet” Sabella is a prime example of the persistence of the American Mafia. At age 54, he has held a senior position in the New York mob during the 2010s. In that period, he’s done pretty much the same as what a typical mobster did in the…

By Thom L. Jones

East is East

American author Robert Warshow declared in an essay: “For the gangster there is only the city, he must inhibit it in order to personify it….not the real city but that dangerous sad city of the imagination which is so much more important, which is the modern world. And…

By Thom L. Jones

This is the final part of a 5-part series. To go back to part 4 click here. To start at the beginning…

By Thom L. Jones

This is part 4 of a series. To go back to part 3 click here. To skip to part 5 scroll down.…

By Thom L. Jones

This is part 3 of a series. To go back to part 2 click here. To skip to part 4 scroll down.…

By Thom L. Jones

This is part 2 of a series. To go back to part 1 click here. To skip to part 3 scroll down.…

By David Amoruso

Mexican drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman was sentenced to life in prison plus an extra 30 years this morning. The 62-year-old Sinaloa cartel boss was convicted in February by a jury of all charges. He was also ordered to pay $12.6 billion in forfeiture. In court, El Chapo told the judge:…

By David Amoruso

Alleged New York Mafia associate Paul Ragusa was sentenced to 6 years in prison on Tuesday for possessing nine firearms, including three automatic assault rifles and a silencer. 48-year-old Ragusa was busted in Operation OTremens, a joint investigation which unearthed a partnership between Mafia families…

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

In the seventies, Manhattan’s Hell’s Kitchen was dominated by The Westies, an Irish gang of mobsters with a reputation for deadly violence. In the movie The Kitchen, moviegoers get to experience that scene, but with a twist: The women are taking over!

Starring Melissa McCarthy, Tiffany…

By David Amoruso

Former Harlem drug kingpin Frank Lucas passed away yesterday. He was 88. Lucas was immortalized in 2007 with the release of “American Gangster”, which detailed his rise and fall but fictionalized a lot of events. Denzel Washington starred as Lucas.

Born in North Carolina, Lucas moved to New York after the Ku Klux Klan…

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

Longtime Bonanno crime family mobster Anthony “T.G.” Graziano passed away on Friday, his daughter Renee reported. He was 78. Graziano was a powerhouse in the Bonanno family and a trusted…

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

It took a few years, but several Genovese crime family mobsters busted back in 2014 during Operation Fistful finally decided to plead guilty to their role in a multi-million-dollar criminal enterprise on Wednesday. The group includes made man Vito Alberti, who collected “tribute” payments that were kicked…

By Gangsters Inc. Editors

A high-ranking member of the Nine Trey Bloods street gang was sentenced to 20 years in prison on Tuesday for his involvement in a drug operation and his participation in two shootings. 33-year-old Michael “Bum Jew” Smith had pleaded guilty on November 9, 2015.

Prosecutors say Smith used…

By David Amoruso

The son of late New York Mafia boss Vincent “Chin” Gigante pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy in Manhattan federal court on Wednesday. 51-year-old Vincent Esposito (photo above, left) admitted conspiring with other Genovese crime family mobsters in extorting union officials.

Esposito is the…