Jailed Canadian Mobster Plotting To Become Godfather Of The World

Brad Hamilton at the New York Post writes that jailed Canadian mobster Vito Rizzuto (seen in the above phot) is plotting to become head of the Bonanno Cosa Nostra crime family and beyond.

This Canadian Godfather wants to rule the world.

Bonanno soldier Vito Rizzuto has vowed to take control of the battered crime family when he gets out of federal prison in October — and exact murderous revenge on the rivals who rubbed out his father and son while he stewed behind bars, a jailhouse source says.

Rizzuto, serving 10 years for participating in the notorious “Donnie Brasco” triple homicide in 1981, said “I don’t just want to be godfather of Canada — I want to be godfather of the world,” the source said.

He’s got little to live for, so while locked up at a maximum-security pen in Florence, Colo., he’s been eating vegetarian, staying fit, sharpening his mind with games of pinochle — and plotting his coup, the source said.

You can read the rest of the story via the below link:

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/plot_to_become_top_bonanno_zFc4sWR3rbGNnURPnw0sbL

Yes, We have No Bonannos: The Rise And Fall Of The Bonanno Crime Family

Brad Hamilton at the New York Post wrote an interesting piece on the history of the New York Bonanno Cosa Nostra crime family.

An epidemic of snitching and a slew of arrests has gutted this once-robust family, started by original commission member Joseph “Joe Bananas” Bonanno.

Joseph Ponzi, chief investigator for the Brooklyn DA’s office, says the recent take-down of acting boss Vincent “Vinny TV” Badalamenti — a relatively unknown bagel-store owner from Bensonhurst whom Ponzi called “the last man standing” — has left the family rudderless.

There’s no clear boss, street boss or consigliere. The in-house counsel job became vacant on Jan. 27, when Anthony Graziano, busted with Badalamenti and other senior leaders, was charged with racketeering and extortion,

You can read about the rest of the story via the below link:

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/yes_we_have_no_bonannos_beqIqL1PSLA6O7jNCy4uzL/0

The photo above is of crime family boss Joseph Bonanno on the cover of his autobiography.

The Bonanno family was also the subject of Gay Talese's Honor Thy Father and FBI legendary undercover agent Joseph Pistone's Donnie Brasco.   

He'll Never Loin: Butcher and Bonanno Mob Member Kept Organized Crime Associates' Names, Nicknames And Titles In His Rolodex

Mitchel Maddux at the New York Post reports that a New York City butcher and member of the Bonanno crime family offered a bonanza to law enforcement.

A bumbling Bonanno bad guy bizarrely listed all of his contacts -- from capos to consiglieres -- in a Rolodex, The Post has learned.

Not-so-wiseguy Mike “The Butcher” Virtuoso recorded every one of the names, numbers, nicknames and even mob titles in a file so complete that the FBI agents who stumbled on it felt like they’d discovered a gold mine.

Putting all of that classified information into writing “was an incredibly stupid thing [for Virtuoso] to do,’’ a source told The Post.

The treasure trove was discovered in “The Butcher’s’’ butcher shop, Graham Avenue Meats & Deli, in Williamsburg.

You can read the rest of the story via the below link:

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/brooklyn/the_meathead_mob_directory_M8DznOwDSB68kB34gY8pSK

Blood Into Gold: Former Bonanno Crime Boss' Home Was New York's Answer To Fort Knox

The New York Post reports that former Bonanno crime family boss, Joseph Massino, who is currently testifing againt his successor, told the court that he forfeited four or five hundred gold bars to the feds. The gold bars were hidden in his home in Queens.

According to The Post:

He turned blood into gold.

Former Bonanno boss-turned-rat Joseph "Big Joey" Massino's family home in Howard Beach was Queens' answer to Fort Knox.

The man known as "The Last Don" had hundreds of gold bars stashed in the basement and millions in cash hidden in boxes in his attic -- funds he had set aside as his "pension" for his "golden years," Massino testified in a Brooklyn federal courtroom yesterday.

But Massino gave up the bullion and the rest of his millions following his conviction for seven murders as part of the deal that made him the first mob boss to squeal on the stand, he said at the murder trial of his successor, Vincent "Vinny Gorgeous" Basciano -- who Massino yesterday revealed assumed control without his blessing.

You can read the rest of the newspaper story via the below link:

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/brooklyn/golden_fleeced_YXpc6Dhcm3DgKg3JX1l36I

Former Bonanno Crime Family Boss Scheduled To Testify Against Successor

John Marzulli at The New York Daily News reports that former Bonanno Cosa Nostra crime family boss Joesph Massino will take the stand against his successor, Vincent "Vinny Gorgeous" Basciano.

Massino (seen in the above FBI mugshot is the highest-ranking Cosa Nostra member to cooperate with the government.

You can read the newspaper story via the below link:

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/the_mob/2011/04/09/2011-04-09_mafia_legends_turning_in_graves_as_exbonanno_boss_to_rat_out_successor_at_trial_.html 

You can also read how the FBI's forensic accounting brought down Massino via the below link:

http://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2005/november/massino_110205

Legendary FBI Special Agent Joe Pistone, AKA Donnie Brasco, Spoke to Civic Group in El Paso About His Life Undercover in the New York Mob

Legendary FBI Special Agent Joe Pistone (seen in the above photo) recently spoke to an FBI civic group in El Paso, Texas about his time undercover in the Bonnano crime family in New York.

 

Known as "Donnie Brasco" or "Donnie the Jeweler," Pistone spent six years undercover and his testimony put more than 100 mobsters in jail. (The photo above is of Pistone undercover as Donnie Brasco).

 

Pistone later wrote a book about his time with the mob called Donnie Brasco: My Undercover Life in the Mafia.

 

Pistone spoke of his undercover years, the film Donnie Brasco, which starred Johnny Depp as Pistone, and how he would prefer to go undercover with Italian organized crime rather than the violent Mexican drug cartels.

 

The photo above shows Pistone undercover relaxing with "Sonny Black" Napolitano.

 

You can read about Pistone via the below link to The El Paso Times:

 

http://www.elpasotimes.com/ci_15737526?source=most_viewed

 

Below is a photo of Benjamin "Lefty Two Guns" Ruggiero.

 

 

Above is a photo of Sonny Black with Florida mob boss Santo Trafficante. Below is a poster of the film Donnie Brasco.
 

Below is a photo of Johhny Depp as Pistone and Al Pacino as Ruggiero.


Below is a link to my review of Joe Pistone's book The Way of the Wiseguy, which appeared in The Philadelphia Inquirer.

http://home.comcast.net/~pauldavisoncrime/pwpimages/WayWiseguy.jpg

I interviewed Joe Pistone a while back. Below is a link to my column about Pistone:

http://pauldavisoncrime.blogspot.com/2010/01/look-back-at-joseph-pistone-aka-donnie.html