Steve Neavling

A retired FBI agent who handled a notorious mafia hitman and secret FBI informant in the 1960s will be featured on Biography Channel’s Mobsters next week, reports the Sarasota Patch.

Former agent Lindley “Lynn” DeVecchio will discuss the handling of Colombo crime family capo Gregory Scarpa, known as “The Grim Reaper” in New York.

The series captures DeVecchio’s 30-year relationship with Scarpa as an informant, according to the Sarasota Patch.

Scarpa was serving time for murder when he died of AIDS in 1994.

Steve Neavling

The long-time girlfriend of mobster James “Whitey” Bulger showed little remorse before she was sentenced Tuesday in Boston federal court to eight years in prison, the Boston Herald reports.

Catherine Greig said she had “no regrets” about helping the crime lord evade a worldwide manhunt for 16 years, according to the Boston Herald.

The 82-year-old Bulger, the former leader of the notorious Winter Hill Gang, is expected to go on trial in November on charges he participated in 19 murders.

Prosecutors, who sought 10 years of imprisonment in the case against Greig, said Greig and Bulger preyed on the homeless and mentally ill as well as alcoholics and drug addicts, stealing their identities in an attempt to evade authorities.

Greig had pleaded guilty to harboring a federal fugitive, conspiracy and identity fraud.

Her attorney, Evin Reddington, said he expects Greig to be released from prison in about five years, according to the Boston Herald.

By Allan Lengel

Nine members of New York’s Gambino Crime family, ranging from ages from 25 to 70, were sentenced in recent days in Manhattan federal court as part of a wide sweeping indictment that included charges of racketeering, murder, conspiracy, extortion and sex trafficking, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced.

“The successful prosecutions of Daniel Marino and his cronies dealt a significant blow to the Gambino Family — a ‘family’ that will stop at nothing to wield power, extract illegal profits, and exact revenge against its enemies,” U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said in a statement. “But we are far from finished,and our goal of disrupting and dismantling organized crime throughout the City of New York and beyond its borders will continue unabated.”

Those sentenced included Daniel Marino, 70, the reputed boss of the family who “presided over” at least 200 full inducted “made” mobsters and hundreds of associates, authorities said. He was sentenced to five years and ordered to forfeit $1.25 million for conspiracy to murder his nephew, who was cooperating with law enforcement.

Marino admitted giving the green light to kill the nephew Frank Hydell, 31. In 1997, fellow mobsters lured Hydell to a strip club in Staten Island where he was shot three times in the face and back. He died in the parking lot.

Others sentenced included:

John Gotti Jr./youtube

The historic mobster roundup that collared more than 120 people in the New York region last month provided a snapshot of the Mafia of today: murder, gambling and extortion; big bosses and small fries; “made guys” and associates. But what it didn’t show was the pervasive nepotism that still exists in organized crime — only one son with a father with alleged ties to a crime family was arrested that day.

Even so, organized crime experts say the mob of the 21st century, just like the one in the 20th century, is still a magnet for the younger generation.

Father John J. Gotti

“Unfortunately, there’s still quite a few sons in the business,” David Shafer, assistant special agent in charge of the FBI’s Organized Crime Branch in New York, told AOL News. “Hollywood has glamorized the business with shows and movies like ‘The Sopranos’ and ‘Goodfellas.’

“But it’s not a glamorous lifestyle. A lot of wise guys and associates aren’t living the luxurious lifestyle and living in a mansion like Tony Soprano.”

Adds Andrew DiDonato, a former associate of the Gambino crime family: “There’s still a ton of nepotism in organized crime. Nepotism still runs wild.”

To read more click here.

fbi photo

Retired Philly FBI agent Gino L. Lazzari, who worked organized crime cases, and was beloved by colleagues and mobsters alike, died on Saturday at age 85 in a suburb of Philadelphia, the Philadelphia Daily News reported.

Lazzari, who was an FBI agent for 25 years, went on after he retired to become  an investigator for the Pennslyvania Crime Commission, the paper reported. He worked a variety of FBI offices and arrived in Philly in the 1960s.

“Anybody who worked in organized crime, knew and loved Gino,” Andrew Sloan, a retired FBI agent who worked with Gino in organized crime told the Daily News. “Nobody was more liked than Gino.”

“He was a terrific human being. Even the mob guys liked him.”

The paper reported that he was a man of detail. He knew “the pedigrees of every mob figure, who their parents were, who their children were, and what their connections were among themselves in the criminal organization” the paper reported.

“In the days before computers, we used to refer to him as our computer,” said Jack Howell, a former supervisor on the organized crime squad told the paper. “We would be chasing Bruno or some mob figure and Gino would remember all the license numbers. He knew how to tie people together in the mob.”

To read more click here.

William Donati is an English professor at the University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV) and author of the just-released book: “Lucky Luciano: The Rise and Fall of a Mob Boss”

By William Donati

LAS VEGAS –– Hollywood was criticized in the thirties for films like Public Enemy and Little Caesar: Gangsters were portrayed too sympathetically complained citizens.

In modern times, we have the Godfather, Goodfellas, Scarface, and the Sopranos offered as popular entertainment. Motion pictures reflect cultural values. The recent film Dillinger was criticized for its moral ambiguity. The cops are just as rotten as the crooks. Is that true?

Do citizens believe that? If so, society is in deep trouble.

Of course, the real heroes are the police and prosecutors. Film audiences do not feel the actual pain criminals inflict as killers, extortionists, thieves, and drug dealers.

When I was writing my book about the Lucky Luciano case, a literary agent said it was too “law and order,” as if I had transgressed by portraying Special Prosecutor Thomas E. Dewey as a hero. But he was indeed an American hero. Yet, in the film Hoodlum (1997), a screenwriter falsely depicted Dewey as corrupt – an absolute lie.

I examined over 40,000 archival documents to investigate the Luciano case, and I can assure readers that Dewey was defamed.

In Las Vegas, where I live, Mayor Goodman’s unfinished Mob Museum will open next year. The official name will be the Las Vegas Museum of Organized Crime and Law Enforcement.

Alright, let’s hope it is a fine presentation. However, just announced is the Las Vegas Mob Experience where family members will tell what their gangster kinfolks “were really like” – the human side of Bugsy Siegel and Meyer Lansky. According to press reports, it will be an interactive experience where visitors might even be “made” or “wacked.” Gee, will they sell junior Mafioso badges?

Federal prosecutors should visit high schools and clearly state: “I represent you. I represent the People. Let me explain my job.” Let students see your faces and understand that prosecutors are the ones who defend citizens’ rights and freedoms.

A sweeping media campaign should be initiated by law officers to remain atop the pedestal of citizen opinion; a good start would be a statue of Thomas E. Dewey in Times Square.

As Dewey commented concerning Luciano’s deportation in 1946: “I sent him out of the country like the rat he was.”

Thank you. To hell with gangster glamour.