Pittsburgh Mobster With 'Goodfellas' Gang Drug Ties Dies In Ormond Bar

Lyda Longa at the Daytona Beach News-Journal offers a piece on the death of a mobster associated with the crime ring portrayed in the classic crime film Goodfellas.

A mobster known as the "Pittsburgh connection" for the real-life gangsters portrayed in the Oscar-winning movie "Goodfellas" died Thursday evening after he suffered a heart attack at an Ormond Beach bar.

Eugene "Nick the Blade" Gesuale, 73, was having his customary Pinot Grigio at Past Times Restaurant and Bar, when he suddenly fell over," said bar manager David Ruiz.

... Ruiz said Gesuale, who was released from federal prison in October 2014 after serving 24 years for racketeering and drug trafficking, was a regular at the bar, which just opened in May at 709 S. Nova Road.

According to published reports and websites that chronicle gangsters, Gesuale was referred to as the "Pittsburgh connection" in the classic Martin Scorsese film "Goodfellas." The title referred to cocaine being supplied from Pittsburgh.

In real life, Gesuale — a member of the famed Genovese crime family — was linked to mobsters Henry Hill, James "Jimmy the Gent" Burke and Thomas "Two-Gun Tommy" DeSimone, portrayed by Ray Liotta, Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci, respectively, in the movie. 

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

http://www.news-journalonline.com/news/20160729/pittsburgh-mobster-with-goodfellas-gang-drug-ties-dies-in-ormond-bar

On This Day In History: 1990 - Classic Crime Film 'Goodfellas' Opens

As History.com notes, on this day in 1990, Martin Scorsese's classic crime film Goodfellas opened in theaters.

On this day in 1990, the Martin Scorsese-directed Mafia film Goodfellas, starring Ray Liotta, Robert De Niro, Lorraine Bracco and Joe Pesci, opens in theaters around the United States. The movie, which was based on the best-selling 1986 book Wiseguy, by the New York crime reporter Nicholas Pileggi, tells the true story of the mobster-turned-FBI informant Henry Hill (Liotta), from the 1950s to the 1980s. Goodfellas earned six Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture and Best Director. Pesci won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his performance as the psychotic mobster Tommy DeVito.

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

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/goodfellas-opens?et_cid=80959384&et_rid=1227406676&linkid=http%3a%2f%2fwww.history.com%2fthis-day-in-history%2fgoodfellas-opens 

New Book Reveals John Gotti's Role In 'Goodfellas' Murder

Bill Sanderson at the New York Post reports on the claims in a new book about New York gangster John Gotti's involvement in the murder featured in Martin Scorsese's classic crime film, Goodfellas.

It was time for Tommy ­DeSimone to die.

The mobster — famously portrayed by Joe Pesci in “Goodfellas” — killed two made men, tried to rape the wife of his gangster pal Henry Hill and stupidly lifted his ski mask during 1978’s historic $6 million Lufthansa heist.

So John Gotti took care of it — personally.

The handsome capo used a silencer-equipped Colt .38 to shoot DeSimone three times in the skull in January 1979 in the basement of an Italian restaurant on Arthur Avenue in The Bronx, says an upcoming book, “The Lufthansa Heist,” written by Hill and journalist Daniel Simone.

It’s the first time the details of Gotti’s role in the death of the 28-year-old psychopath have been revealed.

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

http://nypost.com/2015/07/12/new-book-reveals-john-gottis-role-in-goodfellas-murder/ 

Goodfellas And Beyond: Henry Hill, The True Story Behind "Goodfellas"

As a fan of Martin Scorsese's classic crime film Goodfellas and Nicholas Pileiggi's true crime book Wiseguy, I was pleased to come across a 2006 British documentary on Henry Hill.

You can watch the documentary on youtube.com via the below link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RoFmHR8S3Y

You can also read a piece in the New York Post on the late Henry Hill by Edward McDonald, the former federal prosecutor who portrayed himself in Goodfellas and spoke in the 2006 documentary, via the below link:

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/brooklyn/you_had_to_like_this_goodfella_1DvgfJLGRMeRCWdWgEcJuO
     

Wiseguy Henry Hill Has A Permanent Place In Mobster Lore

Nicholas Pileggi's Wiseguy, a book that chronicled the life of crime of a street hoodlum named Henry Hill, was published 25 years ago. The book was later made into Martin Scorsese's classic crime film Goodfellas.

A 25th anniversary edition of Wiseguy is coming out and Nicholas Pileggi appeared on NPR to discuss the book and Henry Hill.

Twenty-five years after its initial publication, Nicholas Pileggi's Wiseguy remains one of the signal narratives about life in the Mafia. Adapted by Pileggi and director Martin Scorsese into the 1990 film GoodFellas, it follows the rise and fall of true-life Brooklyn gangster Henry Hill — "a little cog" in the Lucchese crime family who turned FBI informant after a drug arrest.

He was sort of a soldier in Napoleon's army," Pileggi remembers. "And I said, 'You know, if you're going to do a book about Napoleon, it might be interesting to see that world from the point of view of the soldier.' "

You can listen to Pileggi and/or read about Wiseguy via the below link:

http://www.npr.org/2011/09/27/140804164/for-one-wiseguy-a-permanent-place-in-mobster-lore

New Low for Mob: Former Goodfella Henry Hill Not Suprised By Underage Prostitution Pinch

Henry Hill, a former Lucchese organized crime associate and the subject of Nicholas Pileggi's true crime book Wiseguy, which was later made into Martin Scorsese's film Goodfellas, appeared on CNN and stated he was not surprised by the recent indictment and arrest of 14 alleged members of the Gambino crime family for running an interstate prostitution ring that included an underage girl
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"The mob is just out to make a buck," Hill told CNN.
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U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara called the use of an underage girl for prostitution a new low for the mob.
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The 23-count indictment also includes charges of murder, drug trafficking and racketeering.
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Hill (seen in the above photo and below in an earlier FBI mug shot) testified against his former criminal cohorts in 1984 and was placed for a time in the federal witness protection program.
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You can view the CNN video of Hill via the below link:
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http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/04/22/henry.hill.gambino.indictment/?hpt=C1