cosa nostra (52)

Family is everything. It is how La Cosa Nostra, the American Mafia, managed to dominate the New York underworld for over a century. But in the underworld, family is no match for greed. Vultures and sharks are everywhere, ready to take what’s yours. T
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In the Mafia, people tend to have a long memory. Once you are on a hit list, you never get off. Unless you’re dead. After the murders of Nicolo Rizzuto Sr. and Nicolo Rizzuto Jr. and the death of mob boss Vito Rizzuto, it seems someone still feels th
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Since its beginnings, the Sicilian Mafia was led by and comprised of men. Cosa Nostra was the ultimate “Man’s World.” Men went out to commit crimes while wives sat at home. Sons followed in their fathers’ footsteps, while sisters stayed at home. As t
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Six Genovese crime family mobsters caught up in an illegal gambling and loansharking bust pleaded guilty to racketeering charges. One had done so in previous months, five did so last week. These Genovese family wiseguys participated in loansharking,
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There has been plenty written about John “Sonny” Franzese: books, newspaper articles, stories in magazines, web-site reports. People who know nothing about the Mafia in America know about Sonny, especially over the last few years, as he gained media
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Philadelphia Mafia family boss Joseph “Skinny Joey” Merlino has friends in high places… Well, he posed for a picture with someone who moves in high places. None other than former President of the United States Donald Trump stood next to Merlino as bo
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Alleged Gambino crime family capo Frank Camuso was among over 20 people charged in a multimillion-dollar New York City construction racket, prosecutors reported on Wednesday. 59-year-old Camuso allegedly received pay-offs from Robert Baselice, the vi
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Sicilian Mafia boss Matteo Messina Denaro seemed like a ghost. For three decades he was among the world’s most wanted fugitives. Authorities only heard whispers. Even after arresting everyone close to him, he remained elusive. Until today. When polic
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Ten alleged members of the Sicilian Mafia in Agrigento were arrested today, Italian news agency ANSA reported. They are charged with trafficking drugs and extorting businesses in the cities Agrigento, Licata, Palma di Montechiaro, and Canicatti along
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Steven Mazzone, the underboss of the Philadelphia Mafia family, was sentenced on Thursday to 5 years behind bars for leading a racketeering conspiracy which engaged in illicit gambling, extortion, and loansharking.
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Convicted Rochester Mafia family hitman Dominic Taddeo was sentenced this week to 3 years in federal prison for his escape from a half-way house in Orlando, Florida. Despite being one year away from his release, 65-year-old Taddeo decided to flee. He
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By Thom L. Jones for Gangsters Inc.

David Durk, who was born in 1935, joined the New York Police in 1963, and by the closing of the 1960s, was a detective attached to the city’s Department of Investigation, which served as an independent and non-part

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The house always wins. When it comes to gambling, the Italian American Mafia learned that lesson decades ago. To this day, its members continue to reap the benefits. Among them Lucchese crime family soldier Anthony Villani, who made a cool million a
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Matteo Messina Denaro is a Mafia ghost. Despite being one of the world’s most wanted fugitives, authorities remain unable to pinpoint his whereabouts. The Sicilian Cosa Nostra boss has been on the run since 1993, but Italian police believe he continu
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