Grey: 921 books

Thomas Pitera is a unique Mafioso, a man who rose to significant heights as a Bonanno family hitman. His most well-known murder was carried out for John "the Teflon Don" Gotti. The assassination of Willie Boy Johnson outside of his Brooklyn residence was carried out by Pitera and accomplices. Johnson,...

Anthony Spilotro was an integral lynch pin in the Chicago Mafia. His criminal career began in 1955 when he stole from a Cook County haberdashery. "Milwaukee Phil" Alderisio tutored Spilotro, employing him as an enforcer. In the early 1970s "Anthony the Ant" moved on to Las Vegas...

Thomas "Tommy Ryan" Eboli took his name from a boxer of the early 20th century. His brother was known as "Patsy Ryan". Tommy came up as a bootlegger in the 1920s and 1930s. He made the acquaintance of Anthony "Tony Bender" Strollo while living in Greenwich Village. Strollo brought Eboli along in the...

Joseph Laratro was a Lucchese crime family member who spent his career in the gambling and betting rackets. As early as 1939 he was arrested for possession of policy slips in an illegal numbers racket. He was also cited for running slot machines for illegal purposes. He was one of thirty-nine men...

The Colombo crime family is one of five major Mafia families in New York City. The youngest of the syndicate organizations in NYC the Colombos evolved during the breakup of the old Joe Profaci family. Profaci controlled an organization of his own following the conclusion of the Castellammarese War...

Vito Guarino was an Ozone, Queens based mobster associated with the murder for hire Brooklyn outfit, Murder Inc. For years Murder Inc. operated out of the Brownsville section of Brooklyn. Led by Louis Lepke Buchalter and Abe "Kid Twist" Reles, the criminal organization was the first nationwide...

Samuel Valente's criminal record dated to 1923. He served six years of a prison sentence for dealing narcotics before being paroled in 1946. In 1947 the subject of Valente's impending deportation was taken up by a United States House Subcommittee. Representative William Thomas Byrne of Valente's Rensselaer...

Gaetano Thomas Lucchese worked his way up in the ranks of organized crime during the years before the Castellammarese War of 1929-1931. Lucchese was a hit man for Tommaso Gagliano and others. An early conviction for auto theft in 1922 is perhaps the only time Lucchese was imprisoned for any length...

Early on Alphonse Attardi was a soldier in Salvatore D'Aquila's crime family. As a young man he was initiated into the Mafia in Sicily before coming to the United States around 1919. After D'Aquila's death in 1928 Attardi joined the Maranzano family which eventually became the...

Carmine Galante died a violent death while enjoying a meal at a favorite Italian Restaurant in Brooklyn, New York. My e-book describes the murder of Galante and two others on July 12, 1979. I also look extensively at Galante's criminal career beginning with the murder of anti-Fascist editor,...

Joe Bonanno Sr. was aging in the late 1960s. Finally the boss of one of New York's five notorious crime families retired to Tucson, Arizona. He left New York for a desert home following a severe heart attack. Joe's sons, Salvatore "Bill" Bonanno and Joseph Bonanno Jr. were indicted for extortion....

The early 1930s were a period of investigation of corruption in politics and police departments. A commission led by Judge Samuel Seabury was especially active in New York City. By September 1932 its revelations forced the resignation of Mayor James J. "Jimmy" Walker. This was an era of...

FBI surveillance bugs placed in the garage of reputed Gambino mobster Michael Scandifia revealed conversations about mob hits and even a scheme linked to an NYPD Patrolman. Leonard Grossman was employed by the New York Police Department starting in 1950. Taped evidence revealed that Grossman and Scandifia...

Peter Maggio was associated with Angelo Bruno's Philadelphia crime family. His father, Michael, was a grocery store owner who also ran a dairy and cheese business during the early and mid 20th century. FBI surveillance recorded Maggio's meetings with Bruno and other Mafiosi. Angelo Annalore took his...