Army - Blog 2.0 - Gangsters Inc. - www.gangstersinc.org
2024-03-29T08:44:08Z
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“The Sopranos… Is that supposed to be us?” – Profile of DeCavalcante Mafia family soldier Joseph Sclafani
https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/the-sopranos-is-that-supposed-to-be-us-profile-of-decavalcante-ma
2020-09-21T15:29:17.000Z
2020-09-21T15:29:17.000Z
Gangsters Inc.
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<div><p><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-sopranos-is-that-supposed-to-be-us-profile-of-decavalcante-ma" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237159066,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237159066?profile=original" /></a>By David Amoruso for <a href="http://www.gangstersinc.org" target="_blank">Gangsters Inc.</a></p>
<p>“The Sopranos… Is that supposed to be us?” Joseph “Tin Ear” Sclafani (photo above) was caught saying on tape. Sclafani, a longtime <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-decavalcante-crime-family" target="_blank">DeCavalcante crime family</a> soldier, was surprised to see his own environment portrayed on television. And maybe kind of proud as well. Sclafani was a made man who took pride in his job and the secretive brotherhood he belonged to.</p>
<p>As a young man, Sclafani learned discipline in the <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Army" target="_blank">United States Army</a>, where he served from 1955 to 1957. He also learned to maintain his fitness there. He continued to do between 100 to 150 pushups a day well into his 50s and 60s.</p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>“Ripped it right off ‘em”</strong></span></p>
<p>After leaving the Army, he got involved in the hustle and bustle of the New York and New Jersey underworld. He began <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Loansharking" target="_blank">loansharking</a> and was involved in some <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Gambling" target="_blank">gambling operations</a>. He also did some <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Robbery" target="_blank">robberies</a> and broke into warehouses, making off with a large variety of products.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>READ: “I chopped him up so bad” - Profile of</strong> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/i-chopped-him-up-so-bad-profile-of-decavalcante-mafia-family-sol" target="_blank"><strong>DeCavalcante Mafia family soldier Anthony Capo</strong></a></li>
</ul>
<p>“A pallet of this, a pallet of that,” Sclafani was recorded saying to an informant. “I was the score guy. We stole mink coats from Jews in Boro Park. We’d sit in a car, see them walking down the street. You ripped it right off ‘em, jump in the fucking car, and you’re gone.”</p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong><a href="http://www.facebook.com/GangstersInc" target="_blank"><img class="align-right" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237159463,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237159463?profile=original" /></a>Twenty murders</strong></span></p>
<p>He became a made member of New Jersey’s <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-decavalcante-crime-family" target="_blank">DeCavalcante La Cosa Nostra family</a> in 1982. He acted as chauffeur for DeCavalcante family leader John D’Amato (right), who he would drive to meetings with <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/gambino-crime-family-overview" target="_blank">Gambino crime family</a> leader <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Gotti" target="_blank">John Gotti</a> at his <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Ravenite" target="_blank">Ravenite social club</a>.</p>
<p>Sclafani wasn’t shy about his violent tendencies. He frequently bragged about having 20 gangland killings under his belt. He used his reputation as a capable hitman to make money off labor racketeering and the extortion of businessmen.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>INTERVIEW: <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/mafia-author-shares-dark-stories-behind-garden-state-gangland-the" target="_blank">Mafia author shares dark stories behind Garden State Gangland</a>: The Rise of the Mob in New Jersey</strong></li>
</ul>
<p>But for all his tough guy qualities, he never seemed to rise in the crime family’s rankings. As he got older that began to stung. Like in the 1990s, when he didn’t move up to become a capo. Instead, Joseph Giacobbe was made captain, a man who was forgetting certain things, like who had been whacked and why. But regardless, Sclafani was overheard saying: “He may be older than me, but he ain’t got as much as I got.”</p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>Surrounded by rats, but standing tall</strong></span></p>
<p>As he was talking to Ralph Guarino, a person he regarded as a friend – and future friend of his; a made member of La Cosa Nostra – Sclafani was being taped by the <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=FBI" target="_blank">FBI</a>. His friend turned out to be a rat. On December 2 of 1999, Sclafani and scores of other <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-decavalcante-crime-family" target="_blank">DeCavalcante family</a> mobsters were arrested.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.facebook.com/GangstersInc" target="_blank"><img class="align-right" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237159490,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237159490?profile=original" /></a>Sclafani was hit with extortion and gambling charges. Several of his co-defendants decided to flip almost instantly, including his former capo and one of the DeCavalcante family’s leaders, <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/turncoat-mobster-once-again" target="_blank">Vincent “Vinny Ocean” Palermo</a> (right).</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>READ: Profile of New Jersey</strong> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/new-jersey-decavalcante-family-boss-john-riggi-dies" target="_blank"><strong>Mafia boss John "The Eagle" Riggi</strong></a></li>
</ul>
<p>But not Sclafani. He was old school and a stand-up guy. He made his bed and would sleep in it. He pleaded guilty and took his sentence of 8 years behind bars. If anyone still needed convincing of Sclafani’s loyalty to omerta, his lawyer Francisco Celedonio emphasized: “He is not cooperating with anybody about anything.”</p>
<p>He went on to do his time and was released from prison on July 29, 2005.</p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>“The Sopranos… Is that supposed to be us?”</strong></span></p>
<p>While the FBI had their mole recording the DeCavalcante mobsters discussing topics ranging from the mundane to the criminal, they also caught the wiseguys discussing the hit HBO show <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Sopranos" target="_blank">The Sopranos</a>, which had just premiered that year.</p>
<p>“Hey, what's this fucking thing, 'Sopranos'. What the fuck are they... Is that supposed to be us?” Sclafani was taped asking.</p>
<p>“You are in there, they mentioned your name in there,” DeCavalcante family capo Anthony Rotondo answered.</p>
<p>“Yeah? What did they say?” Sclafani replied.</p>
<p>“Watch out for that guy, they said. Watch that guy,” the goodfellas in the car with Sclafani and Rotondo joked.</p>
<p>“Every show you watch, more and more you pick up somebody. Every show,” Rotondo said.</p>
<p>“Yeah, but it's not me,” Sclafani said. “I'm not even existing over there.”</p>
<p>“What characters,” Rotondo concluded. “Great acting.”</p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>“Tin Ear”</strong></span></p>
<p>To conclude on a bit of a side note: Sclafani got his nickname because he was deaf in his right ear.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Back to the <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/the-decavalcante-crime-family">DeCavalcante Crime Family section</a> on Gangsters Inc.</strong></li>
<li><strong>Check out the latest news on organized crime and the Mafia at our <a href="https://gangstersinc.ning.com/blog/list/tag/news">news section</a></strong></li>
<li><strong>Check out our <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/blog/gangsters-inc-on-social-media">social media channels</a></strong></li>
<li><strong><a href="https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/about-gangsters-inc">About Gangsters Inc.</a></strong></li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Copyright © Gangsters Inc.</strong></p>
<p> </p></div>
WATCH: Gangsters suspected of smuggling nuclear materials arrested in Austria
https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/watch-gangsters-suspected-of-smuggling-nuclear-materials-arrested
2019-12-07T16:20:07.000Z
2019-12-07T16:20:07.000Z
Gangsters Inc.
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<div><p><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/watch-gangsters-suspected-of-smuggling-nuclear-materials-arrested" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237144294,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237144294?profile=original" /></a>By <a href="http://www.gangstersinc.org" target="_blank">Gangsters Inc.</a> Editors</p>
<p>Austrian law enforcement together with the General Police Inspectorate of The Republic of Moldova and <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Europol" target="_blank">Europol</a>, have jointly investigated and busted an organized crime group suspected of <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Smuggling" target="_blank">smuggling</a> nuclear materials.</p>
<p>The cooperation targeted a group of criminals that attempted to sell a nuclear container which contained radiological material. They offered it up for sale to an army for €3 million.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>READ:</strong> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/professional-hitman-wanted-by-police-for-murders-in-three-countri" target="_blank"><strong>Professional hitman wanted by police for murders in three countries</strong></a></li>
</ul>
<p>During the comprehensive operation three individuals were arrested in Vienna, <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Austria" target="_blank">Austria</a>, two of them had criminal records, and one of them had been already convicted for a similar crime in the past.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.facebook.com/GangstersInc" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237144897,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237144897?profile=original" /></a>Europol deployed an expert on-the-spot to support the analysis of the CBRN material and provided analytical and coordination support.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>READ: <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/iran-allegedly-protects-moroccan-dutch-drug-gangsters-it-used-to" target="_blank">Iran allegedly protects Moroccan Dutch drug gangsters it used</a> to murder its “enemies of the state” abroad</strong></li>
</ul>
<p>The likelihood of the illegal movement of nuclear and radiological materials remains due to the increased availability of misappropriated radiological sources from different conflict zones and their further trade.</p>
<p>Europol released a video containing surveillance footage of the gangsters, their arrest, and of the nuclear material they were smuggling.</p>
<p><strong>You can watch it below:</strong></p>
<p><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/YVvY0fSP7u8?wmode=opaque" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Back to the <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/europe-overview">European organized crime section</a> on Gangsters Inc.</strong></li>
<li><strong>Check out the latest news on organized crime and the Mafia at our <a href="https://gangstersinc.ning.com/blog/list/tag/news">news section</a></strong></li>
<li><strong>Check out our <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/blog/gangsters-inc-on-social-media">social media channels</a></strong></li>
<li><strong><a href="https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/about-gangsters-inc">About Gangsters Inc.</a></strong></li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Copyright © Gangsters Inc.</strong></p>
<p> </p></div>
Triads: Origins of the Chinese Mafia
https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/triads-origins-of-the-chinese-mafia
2019-01-08T16:18:37.000Z
2019-01-08T16:18:37.000Z
Gangsters Inc.
https://gangstersinc.org/members/GangstersInc
<div><p><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/triads-origins-of-the-chinese-mafia" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237118069,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237118069?profile=original" /></a>By David Amoruso</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>During its long and rich history China has seen a lot of bloodshed. Centuries ago Chinese emperors ruled their empire with an iron fist and many of them were subsequently overthrown after a bloody revolt. Even though the emperors suppressed the people, they could never control them. Throughout China’s history its people have formed secret societies to find protection against thieves, bandits, and their nation’s leaders. Most of these secret societies were honest, but others were not and became criminal fraternities.</p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>The Tiandihui: China’s First Triad Society</strong></span></p>
<p>By the mid-eighteenth century one secret society stood out in terms of its criminal operations. Although it wasn’t a criminal society from the beginning. Operating in the Chinese provinces of Fujian and Guangdong, the Tiandihui, or Heaven and Earth Society, started out as a secret society providing help to Chinese who needed it most. Peasants who lost their land, or could not find any work were among the people who came to the Tiandihui to ask for help and assistance during these hard times. The requirements to become a member of the Tiandihui were less strict than they were with other secret societies, but the Tiandihui provided the same services, thus making them a very attractive group to join. </p>
<ul>
<li><strong>READ:</strong> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-deadly-battle-for-control-over-new-york-s-chinatown" target="_blank"><strong>The deadly battle for control over New York’s Chinatown</strong></a></li>
</ul>
<p>Once one became a member of the Tiandihui he agreed to protect his Society brothers and help expand the Society by introducing new members. After an initiation ceremony the new brother was given a membership certificate and the society’s secrets, which consisted of hand signs, esoteric prayers, and passwords.</p>
<p>As a member one could call upon his Society when he was in trouble. For instance, when a member was out of money he could turn to his brothers for help. But his Society also helped out when thieves robbed him, or if criminals were trying to extort his business. When that happened, Tiandihui’s enforcers were sent out to avenge their brother and make things right. Eventually this blanket of security became the primary reason for Chinese to join this secret society. With everybody turning to their society for revenge it wasn’t long before members of different societies were at war and causing a lot of bloodshed. These wars where members sought revenge were called ‘xie dou’, and are very similar to the Italian Mafia’s ‘vendetta’.</p>
<p>The Tiandihui made a lot of money by making new members. Each new member had to pay an entrance fee, subscription fees, and a tribute fee to his sponsor for introducing him into the Society. In certain provinces men also had to pay an extra fee on top of the normal fees to join. It is clear members enjoyed the security the Society brought, but it also became a wise career move when so much money could be made as a sponsor by introducing new members. Other money making operations the societies ran were: collecting rent from properties they owned, and loan sharking. With the ability to exercise a lot of power through its growing number of members the Tiandihui went from loan sharking to robbery. Nobody was safe. The Society robbed both civilians and members of rival Triad societies with the same ferocity. Because of this even more men joined the Tiandihui hoping it would keep them safe from robbery and attacks.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.facebook.com/GangstersInc" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237117688,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237117688?profile=original" /></a><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>The Secret Societies and the Imperial Powers</strong></span></p>
<p>The secret societies have always posed a threat to the political powers of China. There have been numerous accounts of uprisings led by societies which had amassed a large enough following to undertake such an enormous task.</p>
<p>During the 1760s, Tiandihui leader Lu Mao ordered newly initiated members to rob an official warehouse and treasury, and the homes of the upper class. He told the would-be robbers that the loot would be used to organize an uprising against the Qing authorities. The Qing dynasty had come to power in 1644 and saw the criminal secret societies as a big problem. </p>
<ul>
<li><strong>READ:</strong> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/hong-kong-triads-and-their-lucrative-movie-industry" target="_blank"><strong>Hong Kong Triads and 'their' lucrative movie industry</strong></a></li>
</ul>
<p>This particular uprising by the Tiandihui was a failure, but the Qing authorities had had enough of these criminal secret societies that were committing crimes and were attacking the emperor. The army was ordered to eradicate the problem.</p>
<p>After a large-scale military operation, army commanders claimed they had suppressed the societies. They lied. The societies had grown in a such a dramatic way that it had become impossible to eradicate them. They had hundreds of thousands of members, entire villages were owned by the societies. And their power stretched across China into neighboring countries. The attack by the imperial army only caused the societies to go underground even more than before.</p>
<p>From this moment on the Tiandihui was deeply nestled in the underworld. Out of reach from the Qing dynasty, they became more and more involved in the criminal world. By the late eighteenth century opium had become the drug of choice, and thus a very interesting venture for any Triad member. Opium was illegal in China and was smuggled into the country by European and American traders. Triad members bought the opium from these traders and from there it went down the distribution ladder until it reached the drug addicts on the streets of China’s major cities and villages.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>READ:</strong> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-rat-who-became-king-triad-boss-raymond-chow" target="_blank"><strong>The Rat who became King: Triad boss Raymond Chow</strong></a></li>
</ul>
<p>The secret societies had now made the transformation from benevolent organization to full blown criminal organization. The <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/triads-overview" target="_blank">Triads</a> were born. The name ‘Triad’ stems from the fact that members of these secret societies saw the world as a unity of the three main powers of nature: heaven, earth, and man. And their flags bore a triangle.</p>
<p>To this day the Triads use old rituals and traditions to maintain discipline within the organization and create an air of mythical powers around them. They even have their own story of how they were formed. This version is based on an uprising by elite monks. </p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>The First Five Ancestors</strong></span></p>
<p>There are a lot of different Triad groups, which all have their own version of Triad history. Over the course of decades these versions have changed and adapted new themes. The <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/triads-overview" target="_blank">Triads</a> combine real historic events with Chinese folklore in order to create a very heroic story about their origins. This is all done to impress new members.</p>
<p>Their story starts in the seventeenth century during the Ming Dynasty. The Ming Dynasty was crumbling, and a lot of officials were enriching themselves while the rest of the empire was starving. In 1644 the Ming dynasty fell when the Manchu forces defeated the imperial forces. The Manchus crowned Shun Chi as the first Manchu Qing emperor.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>READ:</strong> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-golden-triangle-how-triads-cornered-the-heroin-market" target="_blank"><strong>The Golden Triangle: How Triads cornered the heroin market</strong></a></li>
</ul>
<p>During the reign of the second Qing emperor tribes from the state of Silu started an uprising. The Qing army was not equipped to deal with the rebels and called upon its emperor for reinforcements. The emperor started a recruiting campaign in which he offered men who joined his army and defeated the Silu rebels high honors, favors, and official employment.</p>
<p>At a Shao Lin monastery an assembly of monks decided to offer their services to the emperor. The monks had two reasons for helping out the emperor: They wanted to stop the invasion of foreign troops into China. And they wanted to put in use their knowledge of kung fu, which they had been practicing at the monastery. They hoped their martial arts abilities would lead other men to join their monastery.</p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="http://www.facebook.com/GangstersInc" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237117899,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237117899?profile=original" /></a><em>Photo: The Great Wall of China</em></p>
<p>An elite force of 128 monks joined the imperial army in battle against the Silu and defeated them in three months. The monks were hailed as heroes and were offered their promised honors from the emperor. They declined his offers, saying they did their civic duty. A nephew of one of the monks, however, did accept the position of commander of the Qing garrison in the Wuchow district. He himself did not live in the monastery and was not bound by their rules.</p>
<p>The honors bestowed upon the Shao Lin monks caused certain Qing officials to become jealous. Wong Chun-mei, the grand secretary of the Qing council, began manipulating the emperor into believing the monks were about to start an uprising themselves. The emperor then ordered an attack on the Shao Lin monastery. Qing troops set fire to the monastery causing the deaths of 110 monks.</p>
<p>Eighteen monks survived but were presumed dead. These remaining eighteen monks fled the ruined monastery by walking down the burning hill on which it was situated. Once in a safe place, thirteen monks died from their wounds and lack of food.</p>
<p>The five surviving monks: Tsoi Tak-chung, Fong Tai-hung, Ma Chiu-hing, Wu Tak-tai, and Lee Shik-hoi, became the First Five Ancestors. These five men traveled the rugged lands of China and met up with several Ming loyalists who joined their cause and became known as the Second Five Ancestors. It was their cause to overthrow the Qing dynasty. The men formed several secret societies and used their army of men to fight against the Qing dynasty. This is how the <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/triads-overview" target="_blank">Triads</a> view their history.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Back to the <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/triads-overview">Triads section</a> on Gangsters Inc.</strong></li>
<li><strong>Check out the latest news on organized crime and the Mafia at our <a href="https://gangstersinc.ning.com/blog/list/tag/news">news section</a></strong></li>
<li><strong>Check out our <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/blog/gangsters-inc-on-social-media">social media channels</a></strong></li>
<li><strong><a href="https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/about-gangsters-inc">About Gangsters Inc.</a></strong></li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Copyright © Gangsters Inc.</strong></p>
<p> </p></div>
Profile of New Jersey DeCavalcante family boss John Riggi
https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/new-jersey-decavalcante-family-boss-john-riggi-dies
2015-08-04T18:30:00.000Z
2015-08-04T18:30:00.000Z
Gangsters Inc.
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<div><p><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/new-jersey-decavalcante-family-boss-john-riggi-dies"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237046278,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237046278?profile=original" width="540" /></a>By David Amoruso</p>
<p>Longtime New Jersey mob boss John Riggi passed away on Monday. He was 90 years old. He had been released from prison almost three years ago and peacefully died at home surrounded by his family.</p>
<p>His obituary reads, “John M. Riggi, Laborers Local 394 business agent, Army Air Corps veteran, dedicated his life to his family.” Though the obit refers to his blood relatives, it just as well could’ve referred to his other family, New Jersey’s DeCavalcante crime family.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.facebook.com/GangstersInc" target="_blank"><img class="align-right" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237046899,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237046899?profile=original" width="157" /></a>Riggi (right) was born in Elizabeth in 1925. He graduated from Linden High School in 1942 as class president and a three letter athlete after which he enlisted in the United States Army in 1943, where he was a staff sergeant in the Air Corps. He served as an airplane and engine mechanic for the campaigns in Normandy, Northern France, Ardennes, Rhineland, and Central Europe.</p>
<p>After coming home, the war veteran became involved with the <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-decavalcante-crime-family">New Jersey mob</a> run by Simone “Sam the Plumber” DeCavalcante. The two men became close and within two decades of joining Riggi was a man of power and influence. He became a business agent of the International Laborers Local 394 of Elizabeth, New Jersey, in 1963. In this role he was able to manipulate and extort the construction industry in the region. A typical mob racket. He would remain a business agent for the union until he was charged with labor racketeering in 1988 and was forced to step down.</p>
<p>By the early 1970s, Riggi had become the crime family’s leader, taking over from DeCavalcante. Riggi was a popular boss, well-liked by his men. A former New Jersey mobster who knew Riggi said, “He was an old school gentleman.” Riggi formed a close friendship with New York mob boss <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/gambino-boss-john-gotti-sr">John Gotti</a>, which he hoped would benefit his family as it was surrounded by the New York families and the <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-bruno-crime-family">Bruno family in Philadelphia</a>. With support from the powerful <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/gambino-crime-family-overview">Gambinos</a> he hoped to keep the others in check.</p>
<p>That is why when Gotti asked Riggi to do him a favor, Riggi obliged. Like the time Gotti wanted Staten Island businessman Frederick Weiss dead. Riggi helped plan the hit, which took place on September 11, 1989. DeCavalcante soldier <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/turncoat-mobster-once-again">Vincent Palermo</a> was the triggerman and later testified, “I shot him twice in the head. Being I shot Weiss, they made me a captain.”</p>
<p>Testifying via televised broadcast from a federal prison hospital in Butner, North Carolina, Riggi said the following about the hit on Weiss: “We agreed he should be murdered. Pursuant to the agreement, he was murdered.”</p>
<p>Just like that. Nothing personal, strictly business.</p>
<p>By the time of the above testimony, in 2003, many of Riggi’s underlings had turned government witness. Riggi had missed most of that after spending his days in a cell after having been convicted of labor racketeering in 1990. Authorities claimed he still ran the family from prison, but as his health deteriorated and more and more mobsters flipped it is doubtful he was able to exert any control over what happened on the streets of New Jersey.</p>
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US Soldiers Busted in Drug Cartel Murder-For-Hire Plot
https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/us-soldiers-busted-in-drug-cartel-murder-for-hire-plot
2012-03-31T15:05:40.000Z
2012-03-31T15:05:40.000Z
Gangsters Inc.
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<div><p><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/us-soldiers-busted-in-drug-cartel-murder-for-hire-plot"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237021070,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237021070?profile=original" width="525" /></a>By David Amoruso</p>
<p>Two US Army soldiers are among six men charged with running a drug trafficking ring and offering their services as a murder-for-hire team to undercover DEA agents posing as members of the Mexican Los Zetas drug cartel.</p>
<p>The Los Zetas drug cartel is infamous for its ultraviolent ways in a Mexican underworld that is already known for its <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/for-united-states-mexico-is">vicious cartels</a> and gangs that paint entire cities red with blood. Comprised of rogue members of an elite unit of the Mexican army, Los Zetas started out as an enforcement wing of the Gulf Cartel. In 2010, they left the Gulf Cartel and went into business for themselves.</p>
<p><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}9237021466,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-right" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237021466,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237021466?profile=original" width="275" /></a>The same can be said about the two US Army soldiers who were arrested last week by the DEA. Kevin Corley (29) and Samuel Walker (28) were selling the expertise they picked up during their time in the US military to the highest bidder and had no qualms about using it for illegal activities. Not even if it meant dealing with a group as notorious as the Los Zetas drug cartel.</p>
<p>First Lieutenant Corley (right) was discharged from the Army earlier this month, while Walker is assigned to the 4th Brigade Combat Team of the 4th Infantry Division at Fort Carson, a unit that Corley served with before his discharge. Both men are thus well trained in military tactics and capable of actions that could prove deadly for their targets.</p>
<p>The two soldiers were introduced to the DEA agents posing as members of Los Zetas by Marcus Mickle (20) and Calvin Epps (26) who tried to organize a shipment of marijuana in return for stolen weapons. According to the press release: “As they began discussions about the distribution of marijuana in the Columbia, S.C., area, Mickle and Epps allegedly told undercover agents about a friend in the military who could provide military weapons to them. The agents were later introduced to Corley who allegedly identified himself as an active duty officer in the Army responsible for training soldiers. He offered to provide tactical training for cartel members and to purchase weapons for the cartel under his name.”</p>
<p>The press release continues: “Over the next several months, Corley continued to communicate with undercover agents regarding the services he could provide the cartel as a result of the training, experience and access to information and equipment afforded him as an active duty soldier. According to the criminal complaint, Corley allegedly mailed an Army tactics battle book to the agents, thoroughly explained military tactics and told undercover agents he could train forty cartel members in two weeks.”</p>
<p>With such an enthusiastic soldier at their disposal, the DEA agents decided to up the ante. “On Jan. 7, 2012, Corley traveled to Laredo and met with undercover agents at which time the agents inquired about his ability to perform "wet work," allegedly understood to mean murder-for-hire, specifically, whether he could provide a team to raid a ranch were 20 kilograms of stolen cocaine were being kept by rival cartel members. Corley confirmed he would conduct the contract killing with a small team, at a minimum comprised of himself and another person who he described as an active duty soldier with whom he had already consulted. According to the complaint, Corley ultimately agreed to $50,000 and five kilograms of cocaine to perform the contract killing and retrieve the 20 kilograms of cocaine and offered to refund the money if the victim survived.”</p>
<p>Always eager to make a good impression on his criminal employers Corley further offered to provide security for Mickle and Epps’ purchase of 500 pounds of marijuana for transport from Texas to South Carolina. He traveled with them to Laredo, where they loaded the marijuana into a tractor trailer and attempted to escort it back to South Carolina. However, the tractor-trailer carrying the load was stopped and seized in La Salle County, Texas, on Jan. 14, 2012. But business continued, the DEA claims. “Corley allegedly arranged for 300 pounds of marijuana to be delivered to Mario Corley in Charleston, S.C., and allegedly assisted in brokering 500 pounds of marijuana and five kilograms of cocaine for Mickle and Epps and discussed the distribution of these narcotics in South Carolina, Texas and Colorado.”</p>
<p><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}9237021880,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-right" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237021880,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237021880?profile=original" width="281" /></a>"On March 5, 2012, Corley delivered two AR-15 assault rifles with scopes, an airsoft assault rifle, five allegedly stolen ballistic vests and other miscellaneous equipment to an undercover agent in Colorado Springs, Colo., in exchange for $10,000. At the meeting, Corley and the undercover agent allegedly again discussed the contract killing and the retrieval of the cocaine which was to occur on March 24, 2012. Corley allegedly stated he had purchased a new Ka-Bar knife to carve a “Z” into the victim’s chest and was planning on buying a hatchet to dismember the body."</p>
<p>Corley, Walker (right), and Davis traveled to Laredo and met with undercover agents to discuss the location of the intended victim, the logistics of performing the contract kill and their respective roles. The three were arrested, during which time a fourth suspect, Kevin Corley’s cousin Jerome, was shot and killed. A subsequent search of the vehicle in which Corley and the other co-conspirators arrived revealed two semi-automatic rifles with scopes, one bolt-action rifle with a scope and bipod, one hatchet, one Ka-Bar knife, one bag of .223 caliber ammunition and one box of .300 caliber ammunition.</p>
<p>The men are charged with conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute more than five kilograms of cocaine which carries a possible punishment of a minimum of 10 years and up to life in prison and/or a $10 million fine; use of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking or violent crime which could result in up to 10 years in prison served consecutively to any other prison term imposed. Those charged in the indictment for conspiracy and possession with intent to distribute more than 100 kilograms of marijuana, including Corley, Mickle and Epps, also face 5 to 40 years in prison if convicted.</p>
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