Too Tough To Fuggedabout: Notable Mafia Nicknames

FoxNews.com offers an AP piece on some of the more notable organized crime nicknames, such as Philadelphia's Philip "Chicken Man" Testa, seen in the above photo.

You can read the piece via the below link:

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/05/11/too-tough-to-fuggedabout-notable-mafia-nicknames/

Former New England Organized Crime Leader And Associate Sentenced For Racketeering And Extortion Activities

 

The U.S. Justice Department released the below information today:
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WASHINGTON – Luigi “Louie” Manocchio, an admitted former boss and underboss of the New England La Cosa Nostra (NELCN), was sentenced today to 66 months in federal prison for his leadership of and participation in a racketeering and extortion conspiracy that demanded and received between $800,000 and $1.5 million in “protection” payments from several Rhode Island adult entertainment businesses from 1995-2009.
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Raymond R. “Scarface” Jenkins, an admitted associate of the NELCN, was also sentenced today to 37 months in prison for his admitted participation in a conspiracy to extort $25,000 from a Rhode Island individual and his wife by using implied threats of violence, including a visit to the individual’s residence.
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The sentences were announced by Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; Peter F. Neronha, U.S. Attorney for the District of Rhode Island; Richard DesLauriers, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Boston Field Office; Colonel Steven G. O’Donnell, Superintendent of the Rhode Island State Police; and Providence, R.I., Public Safety Commissioner Steven M. Pare.
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Manocchio and Jenkins were sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge William E. Smith in the District of Rhode Island. Manocchio, 84, was also sentenced to serve three years of supervised release following his prison sentence. Jenkins, 47, was sentenced to serve three years of supervised release following his prison sentence.
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Manocchio pleaded guilty on Feb. 22, 2012, to one count of racketeering conspiracy and Jenkins pleaded guilty on Feb. 23, 2012, to one count of conspiracy to violate the Hobbs Act by participating in extortion.
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Manocchio and Jenkins are among eight Rhode Island men charged in a second superseding indictment returned on Sept. 22, 2011, for crimes involving racketeering and extortion. Edward “Eddy” Lato, an NELCN leader; NELCN member Alfred “Chippy” Scivola; and NELCN associates Albino “Albie” Folcarelli, Thomas Iafrate and Richard Bonafiglia pleaded guilty to participating in racketeering and extortion activities. Iafrate was sentenced on Dec. 12, 2011, to 30 months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release. The remaining defendants are awaiting sentencing.
An eighth defendant named in the second superseding indictment, Theodore Cardillo, pleaded not guilty to three counts of racketeering conspiracy and three counts of extortion conspiracy. He is awaiting trial.
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A third superseding indictment was returned in this matter on April 24, 2012, which charges Anthony L. Dinunzio, 53, of East Boston, Mass., the alleged acting leader of the NELCN, with one count each of racketeering and extortion, and five counts of travel in aid of racketeering. He entered a plea of not guilty on April 25, 2012, and was ordered detained while awaiting trial.
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The cases are being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney William J. Ferland for the District of Rhode Island and Trial Attorney Sam Nazzaro of the Criminal Division’s Organized Crime and Gang Section. The matter was investigated by the FBI, Rhode Island State Police, Providence Police and Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation.

Double Agent Who Helped CIA Foil New Al Qaeda Underpants Bomb Plot Was British National

Anthony Bond at the British newspaper the Daily Mail reports that the double agent who aided the CIA in the underpants bomb plot was a Brit.

You can read this interesting story via the below link:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2142557/Underwear-bomber-Double-agent-helped-CIA-foil-Al-Qaeda-plot-British-national.html 

Russia's 'Merchant Of Death' Set For Move To Supermaximum Security Prison In Colorado

The New York Post reports that Viktor Bout (seen in the above photo when he was brought to the United States by the DEA), is scheduled to be transfered to a supermaximum security prison.

Viktor Bout, the convicted Russian arms dealer known as the "Merchant of Death," is to be transferred from his New York jail to a supermaximum security prison in Colorado, his defense lawyer said Friday.

Bout, who was sentenced to 25 years in prison for conspiring to sell weapons to a Colombian terror group targeting Americans, is to move from the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn to the Florence Federal Correctional Facility in Colorado, his lawyer Andrei Garkusha told Russian news agency RIA Novosti.

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

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/russia_merchant_jail_death_set_for_V8Ln6014psRCCAvvD0lM0K

You can also read about Viktor Bout's arrest and conviction via the below link:

http://pauldavisoncrime.blogspot.com/2012/04/merchant-of-death-international-arms.html

The Spectre Of The Lone Gunman

Jon Kelly at the BBC News Magazine looks at the history of threats from people like Lee Harvey Oswald (seen in the above photo).

Two hundred years ago, an assassin gunned down Prime Minister Spencer Perceval in the House of Commons. His death ushered in a threat that security services have struggled to deal with ever since - the lone gunman.

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

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17996498

Would-Be Al Qaeda Bomber Was CIA Informant, Officials Say

Foxnews.com reports that the would-be bomber with explosives in his shorts was actually a CIA asset.

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

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/05/08/al-qaeda-bomber-was-cia-informant-officials-say/?test=latestnews  

Toronto Star Publishes Digital Archive Of Ernest Hemingway Columns: Young 'Papa' Wrote Of Bootleggers & Bullfighters

Alexander Nazaryan at the New York Post writes about a new digital archive of young Ernest Hemingway's writings at the Toronto Star.

In a handsome new website called The Hemingway Papers, the Toronto Star has collected the columns that Ernest Hemingway wrote for that newspaper. In doing so, it sheds much-needed light on a little-known aspect of the great writer's career, and does so in a sleek, inviting and easy-to-navigate format.

As the Star's editor-in-chief Michael Cooke writes in a note to readers:

"Unbelievably, there was a time when the Toronto Star thought Ernest Hemingway “too big for his britches.”

Hemingway had arrived at the paper to freelance at age 20, became its European correspondent at 22 and returned to local staff at 24.

He'd already traveled the world. Seen a thing or two.

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

http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/pageviews/2012/05/toronto-star-publishes-digital-archive-of-ernest-hemingway-columns-young-papa-wrot

Note: Thanks to all of you who wrote and asked about my lack of posting this past week. I was laid up due to my spine and nerve damage since last Sunday. I'm feeling better today.