Cullotta

Friends of ours: Tony Spilotro, Joey "The Clown" Lombardo, James Marcello
Friends of mine: Frank Cullotta, Michael Spilotro

Frank Cullotta first met Anthony Spilotro when they were rival shoeshine boys on Grand Avenue in Chicago.

Spilotro's introduction went something like this: "What the f--- are you lookin' at?"

The volatile pair nearly brawled that day, but they became friends after realizing Cullotta's gangster-father had helped Spilotro's dad out of a jam once. The boys also became associates in crime, beating up enemies, sticking up bank messengers and -- as Spilotro rose to power as the Chicago mob's Las Vegas overseer -- robbing and killing people.

Cullotta's life is the subject of a soon-to-be-released autobiography titled Cullotta, from Nevada's Huntington Press Publishing.

The book is slated to hit stores this summer, possibly during the Family Secrets trial. The case aims to solve a host of old mob hits, including the 1986 murders of Spilotro and his brother Michael.

By the time of the Spilotros' demise -- they allegedly were killed by reputed mob boss James Marcello and others -- Cullotta already had flipped for the government, entered witness protection and begun testifying against fellow hoodlums, including Spilotro.

Cullotta, a hit man and burglar who ran Spilotro's infamous "Hole in the Wall Gang," left the mob 25 years ago this May as the law was bearing down and his relationship with Spilotro deteriorated to the point that Cullotta feared getting whacked.

Now, Cullotta might be called by the government to testify in the Family Secrets trial, expected to get under way in May.

Cullotta's book -- co-written with former cop Dennis Griffin with help from Cullotta's former FBI handler, Dennis Arnoldy -- is light on many details but does offer some nuggets for mob buffs, saying:

• • Cullotta had a strong inclination that associate Sal Romano was a snitch, and didn't want him along on the 1981 heist of Bertha's furniture and jewelry store that led to the gang's capture. But Spilotro reportedly insisted, and Romano indeed was an informant. Then Spilotro didn't bail out Cullotta or help him much in his legal troubles, slights that further soured Cullotta on Spilotro.

• • Reputed mob leader Joey "The Clown" Lombardo allegedly settled a dispute between Cullotta and another alleged mobster by letting the man beat Cullotta with a brick. Lombardo allegedly handled the matter this way because he feared the retribution would be worse when mob boss Joseph Aiuppa returned from vacation. Lombardo's attorney, Rick Halprin, however, called the story "fantasy" and said it had been discredited at a long-ago court hearing.

• • Cullotta befriended members of the Blackstone Rangers while in jail, and Spilotro once considered enlisting the gang to kill Las Vegas cops in retaliation for an earlier police shooting, the book says. The scheme never materialized, but Cullotta says he was hired by the gang to blow up a South Side business so the owner could collect insurance.

• • When Cullotta was in prison and wanted a plum assignment, he reached out to then-Chicago cop William Hanhardt to intervene because they knew each other from the street and Hanhardt was friendly with the warden. Cullotta ended up getting the assignment, he said. Years later, Hanhardt was convicted of running a jewelry theft ring with alleged ties to the mob.

• • Cullotta's father, Joe, a now-dead robber and getaway driver, allegedly helped Spilotro's restaurateur-dad Patsy out of a "Black Hand" extortion scheme. The elder Cullotta "and his crew hid in the back room of the restaurant until the Black Handers came in for the payoff," according to the book. "Then they burst out and killed them. After that Patsy wasn't bothered anymore."

If the book gets across one point, it's that Cullotta, 68, is a survivor -- because of his cunning, and luck. At least 44 pals or cohorts were killed by the mob or police.

Today, he has a new identity and lives out "west." He owns a business that leaves him "well off," although the book doesn't go deeply into the present day. He also is a partner in a new Las Vegas tour group that -- what else -- visits old mob haunts. He'll be making cameo appearances on the tour bus, but they won't be announced in advance.

Thanks to Robert C. Herguth

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The Clown and the German Face Obstruction of Justice Charges

Friends of ours: Joseph "Joey the Clown" Lombardo, Frank "The German" Schweihs

Federal prosecutors say reputed mob boss Joseph "Joey the Clown" Lombardo and another alleged organized crime figure have been charged with going on the lam to avoid arrest. The obstruction of justice charges were approved by a federal grand jury Thursday and tacked onto a sweeping indictment of 14 defendants.

The 78-year-old Lombardo and 77-year-old Frank "The German" Schweihs allegedly went on the lam after prosecutors unveiled the racketeering indictment in April 2005.

Schweihs was captured in Kentucky hill country in December 2005 and Lombardo was cornered in an Elmwood Park alley in January 2006.

Lombardo attorney Rick Halprin said the government could not charge Lombardo with unlawful flight to avoid prosecution because it could not prove he had crossed state lines.

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Mafia Killer, The Ice Man, to Hit Hollywood

Friends of ours: Richard "The Ice Man" Kuklinski

Albert and Allen Hughes, the directing twin brothers who’s last movie was the adaptation of Alan Moore’s From Hell are set to tackle the story of Mafia hitman Richard “Ice Man” Kuklinski.

Kuklinski was said to be 6″4 and weighed over 300 pounds when he became a prolific contract killer for the Mafia but amazingly kept his job a secret from his wife and three children!

He once boasted he killed over 200 people, before he was eventually caught and was sentenced to two life sentences. Indeed he was a bit of a nasty guy…. it’s said he use to feed his victims to rats and used a variety of murdering methods such as a close range arrow shot into a man’s skull.

Whilst dying in prison, he told his story to Phillip Carlo, who from the interviews wrote the book The Ice Man: Confessions of a Mafia Contract Killer of which this film will be based. He passed away 12 months ago at the age of 70.

Sounds very interesting and could make a “killer” film, a bit like the Hitman video game just with tons more emotional depth as it’s not only a real life story but the added weight of trying to keep it secret from the family is involved.

Thanks to Obsessed with Film

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Mobster Gardners

Friends of mine: John "Dressed Up Johnny" Gardner, William "Peck" Gardner, Bill Gardner, William J. "Sonny" Sheetz

A reader has contacted me looking for some additional information on notorious men with the surname of Gardner. If you can supply me with any further information, please send me your scoops.

John Gardner, a notorious character and gangster of the worst kind, known as "Dressed - Up Johnny". I am trying to find information about him. He was involved in syndicated bank robbery and had robbed a post office before, but was known to have committed several other crimes. I think he had been in Judge George W. English's courtroom, which was Eastern District of Illinois.

William "Peck" Gardner (1869 - 1954), a possible East Chicago mob boss, came from Baltimore, claimed to have boxed at Madison Square Garden, claimed to have been a Merchant Marine, his family history says that he had killed a man in a gunfight after being wounded three times. Gardner moved to Texas where he worked as a railroad engineer, then he would haul illegal liquor from East Texas to East Chicago during the Prohibition. He and William J. "Sonny" Sheetz headed the notorious gambling joint known as the "Big House" which had raked in as much as $9 million. Gardner and Sheetz were the operators of the East Chicago syndicate until it closed in 1950. Gardner eluded Pinkerton detectives and he later died in Texas.

Also, one of Eliot Ness' famous "Untouchables" was Bill Gardner, who was a half Indian, described as an enormous, handsome man with an olive complexion. He was the oldest of the agents, being in his late forties. He had been a famed pro football star, had served in WWI, and had been an attorney before becoming a FBI agent.

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Ex-FBI Agent Getting Taxpayer Help with Defense Bills in Mob Case

Friends of ours: Colombo Crime Family, Gregory Scarpa

Taxpayers are footing part of the mounting legal bills for an ex-FBI agent accused of helping a Brooklyn Mafia boss commit four murders, the Daily News has learned.

The Justice Department is helping fund retired agent Lindley DeVecchio's defense, which has cost more than $450,000 since his indictment last year by the Brooklyn district attorney's office. "It's an expensive litigation," said DeVecchio's lawyer Douglas Grover, who declined to comment further.

A highly informed source confirmed the Justice Department contributions, saying, "It's on an hourly rate. Not a top New York City rate, more like a federal public defenders' rate."

It could not immediately be determined how much the department is paying.

"There is a process in place by which employees or former [FBI] employees who are the subject of civil litigation or criminal charges can apply for coverage of their legal costs. The recommendation is forwarded to the Department of Justice, where a final determination is made," FBI spokesman John Miller said.

In a case that rocked New York law enforcement, DeVecchio, 66, was indicted last year for providing information on informants and mob rivals to Colombo family boss Gregory Scarpa before the murders. DeVecchio, who spent 33 years as an agent, is also charged with receiving payoffs from Scarpa totaling more than $66,000.

Now dead, Scarpa was DeVecchio's top secret informant for more than a decade, beginning in 1982. The murders occurred during the brutal Colombo family wars of the late 1980s and early '90s.

Grover, DeVecchio and numerous agents who worked with him maintain he is innocent of the charges and that the Brooklyn DA's prosecution is baseless and misguided.

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