Heard Off the Street: Talk of Bankrupt Brewer Buying Rolling Rock Doesn't Wash

Friends of ours: John "Jackie the Lackey" Cerone

Is April Fools Day being celebrated two months late this year?

Bankrupt Pittsburgh Brewing, the company that can't pay its water and sewage bills on time, that can't keep pension promises to its workers, that is eternally in hot water with vendors for not honoring its obligations, is making noises about being interested in Latrobe Brewing Co.'s endangered plant.

On June 1, Pittsburgh Brewing President Joseph Piccirilli put out a statement saying someone from the office of U.S. Rep. John Murtha, D-Johnstown, told him the congressman wants to discuss the plant with him.

"The Latrobe Brewery is a beautiful facility. I'm in the beer business and it's practically in my back yard," Mr. Piccirilli said. "We are in the midst of union negotiations and we are working very hard to turn our financial situation around. But if we can schedule something, I'll speak with the congressman."

If you're thinking this is akin to Dracula offering to give someone a transfusion, you're not too far off the mark. Mr. Piccirilli will be hard-pressed to find investors willing to finance his efforts to extract himself from the hole he's made at Pittsburgh Brewing, much less shower him with mad money to work his magic in Latrobe.

To be sure, even well-managed brewers such as Anheuser-Busch, which is purchasing Latrobe's Rolling Rock brands and moving production to Newark, N.J., have problems these days. Anheuser-Busch's decision will put about 200 workers at the Latrobe plant out of work if another buyer for the facility isn't found.

"It's a very tough time to be in the beer industry," said Brent Wilsey of Wilsey Asset Management in San Diego. "It's just not the product that's desired in this generation."

Lawrenceville-based Pittsburgh Brewing had serious issues long before Mr. Piccirilli's stewardship commenced. The company's two previous owners ended up in prison, which explains why Mr. Piccirilli's investment group had to purchase the brewer at a bankruptcy court auction in 1995.

The losing bidder was former Pittsburgh Brewing chief executive Harvey Sanford, a savvy operator credited with reviving sales of the company's I.C. Light.

"Harvey's major disadvantage as a bidder was that he understood the business and wasn't willing to overpay. He may have had a better shot if he didn't understand the business," Cris Hoel, an attorney who advised Mr. Sanford at the auction, said when his client died in 1997.

"Events have demonstrated, and may continue to demonstrate, that both the brewery and a lot of people would have been better off if Harvey had been able to acquire the brewery," Mr. Hoel stated in the Post-Gazette's obituary on Mr. Sanford.

Mr. Hoel was part of a group of investors who hoped to acquire the Latrobe plant and keep brewing Rolling Rock there. Like Mr. Sanford, they were outbid, but not necessarily outsmarted. Like the collar on a good beer, Mr. Hoel's assessment has held up well in the nine years since his client died.

Changing consumer tastes would have challenged Mr. Sanford's management skills. But there's little doubt he would have taken a more disciplined approach than Mr. Piccirilli, the son of a garbage hauling company owner. Major banks would have financed Mr. Sanford's ownership while Mr. Piccirilli is being bankrolled by lawyer Jack Cerone, the son of the former Chicago Mafia underboss John "Jackie the Lackey" Cerone.

A recent court filing by one of Pittsburgh Brewing's creditors illustrates Mr. Piccirilli's management practices. MeadWestvaco leased some packaging equipment to the brewery. When the lease expired at the end of February, Pittsburgh Brewing failed to make a required payment of about $64,300. Moreover, it kept the equipment and has not made monthly rent payments of $4,500 since then, MeadWestvaco alleges in a May 23 filing. The situation's the same for other equipment covered by a separate lease, the supplier stated in a motion seeking payment.

Does this sound like someone with sufficient financial wherewithal and the requisite business acumen to be considered a viable steward for the Latrobe Brewery? Should someone who can't make monthly payments of $4,500 -- not to mention Pittsburgh Brewing's more glaring delinquencies -- be trusted with the future of the Latrobe workers whose jobs are on the line?

Then again, perhaps investors would finance a Pittsburgh Brewing acquisition of the Latrobe plant based solely on the $9,000 loan payments Mr. Piccirilli faithfully sends to Mr. Cerone each week.

Cindy Abram, a spokeswoman for Rep. Murtha, said media reports that her boss is brokering a deal between Latrobe and Pittsburgh Brewing are exaggerated. She acknowledged there have been phone discussions with interested parties, including Pittsburgh Brewing, but said they have been "very, very preliminary."

The government officials diligently trying to secure the future of the Latrobe Brewing plant will consider offers only from responsible parties. Gov. Ed Rendell has asked Renaissance Partners, an investment banking and business consulting firm, to assess the situation and make recommendations.

If that process is as sober as it should be, it's hard to imagine the fate of the Latrobe plant being entrusted to someone with the track record Mr. Piccirilli has made for himself at Pittsburgh Brewing.

Thanks to Len Boselovic

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Mafia Cops Face Life in Prison at Sentencing

Michal Greenwald Weinstein grew up pretending her father died of cancer, or maybe in a freak accident. Either was easier to accept than the truth, which remained a secret to her shattered family for nearly two decades.

Israel Greenwald, an unassuming diamond dealer, went to work on Feb. 10, 1986, and never came home. It wasn't until this April that his killers were finally brought to justice: one-time NYPD detectives Louis Eppolito and Stephen Caracappa.

The pair was also convicted of seven other murders, all at the behest of a vicious mob underboss, in one of most sensational corruption cases in New York City police history. On Monday, the ex-partners turned crime partners return to U.S. District Court in Brooklyn to face sentences of life behind bars on their racketeering convictions.

In victim impact statements filed with the court, Michal Greenwald Weinstein, her sister Yael and their mother Leah detailed how their lives were nearly destroyed by the murder of the family patriarch inside a Brooklyn parking garage. His body was buried in a five-foot deep hole, and then covered by concrete. Greenwald, killed because of fears that he might become an informant, was undiscovered for 19 years.

"Losing a father at a young age is hard enough, but to lose a father in such a violent and mysterious way is nothing short of horrific," Weinstein wrote in her statement. "I don't know which crime was more monstrous, the actual murder or the concealment of his body."

A witness testified that Eppolito stood guard while a man resembling Caracappa brought Greenwald into the garage and executed him. Eppolito, 57, whose father was a member of the Gambino crime family, and Caracappa, 64, were respected detectives who worked for Luchese family underboss Anthony "Gaspipe" Casso between 1986 and 1990.

The eight murders were committed while the pair was simultaneously on the payrolls of both the NYPD and Casso. Eppolito and Caracappa — dubbed the "Mafia Cops" — received $4,000 a month from Casso, who also used them to get information from inside law enforcement. Their pay went up for the murders: They earned $65,000 for one killing.

Federal prosecutor Daniel Wenner described the case as "the bloodiest, most violent betrayal of the badge this city has ever seen."

Caracappa, who retired in 1992, helped establish the city police department's unit for Mafia murder investigations. Eppolito was a much-praised street cop despite whispers that some of his arrests came via from tips from mobsters.

Eppolito also played a bit part in the mob movie "GoodFellas." After retiring in 1990, he unsuccessfully tried his hand at Hollywood scriptwriting. In his autobiography, "Mafia Cop," he portrayed himself as an honest cop from a crooked family. The pair, both highly decorated, spent a combined 44 years on the force and eventually retired to homes on the same block in Las Vegas.

The sentencings won't end the explosive case. Later this month, Eppolito will press forward with his request for a new trial based on his claim that defense attorney Bruce Cutler failed to put on a competent defense.

Eppolito, through new attorney Joseph Bondy, has asked for Casso to appear at that hearing. Casso, who was responsible for 36 murders during his mob career, was a possible defense witness who claimed he had exculpatory evidence against the two ex-detectives.

Caracappa's high-profile attorney, Edward Hayes, has also left the defense team before the sentencing. The defense opted not to put Casso on the stand, and did not call either defendant as a witness.

The racketeering convictions could also be overturned due to statue of limitations. The defense argues that there was no ongoing criminal enterprise while the detectives were living in Las Vegas, making a racketeering charge legally untenable.

U.S. District Court Judge Jack B. Weinstein, while declining to throw out the verdicts himself, suggested the statute of limitation claim could work.

"It was not a strong case, and the government was warned that from day one," Weinstein said at a May hearing. "There is a sound basis for appeal."

Thanks to Larry McShane

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Kin of "Mafia Cops" Victims Sue NYPD

Friends of ours: Luchesse Crime Family
Friends of mine: Louis Eppolito, Stephen Caracappa

The families of two Long Island garbage carters - rubbed out by the mob 17 years ago - are suing the NYPD, charging the department failed to "control" two rogue cops.

The widows of Robert Kubecka and Donald Barstow charged the police with "failure to supervise, discipline or otherwise control" detectives Louis Eppolito and Stephen Caracappa while they were working for the Luchese crime family, and allegedly passed on information about the victims.

Kubecka, who ran a sanitation business with brother-in-law Barstow, refused to go along with crooked carters.

Thanks to Dareh Gregorian

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Accused Mobster Wants Out of Jail Before Trial

Friends of ours: Frank Calabrese Sr., James Marcello, Nick Calabrese, Frank Calabrese Jr.
Friends of mine: Robert Cooley

Frank Calabrese Sr. has been accused of killing 13 people in mob hits, but his attorney swears he's not a danger to society. So attorney Joseph Lopez is asking a federal judge to release Calabrese Sr., 69, from the Metropolitan Correctional Center while he awaits trial as one of the top mobsters charged in the most important recent criminal case filed against the Chicago mob, called Family Secrets.

Calabrese Sr. was in prison for running a loan-sharking operation when he was indicted last year in the Family Secrets case. With his sentence up in the old case, Calabrese Sr. wants out. He has been ordered detained on the current case.

In a filing submitted Thursday, Lopez points out that the murders charged in the current case are more than 20 years old. He argues that "there's no indication he will commit any crimes in the future." And Lopez says Calabrese Sr. has been an exemplary inmate while inside, including completing a GED program and parenting classes, receiving a diploma for attending Alcoholics Anonymous and getting an award from the warden of the federal prison in Milan, Mich., as well the town's chief of police and its mayor for taking part in a program that warns youths of the perils of a criminal life.

The filing by Lopez also points out that there are several other mob cases across the nation where alleged top mobsters were let out on bond. And he contends that another government witness used by federal prosecutors in the past, Robert Cooley, has pinned one of the murders charged against Calabrese Sr. on four other men, not Calabrese Sr.

Calabrese Sr.'s chances to get out appear slim. When a fellow defendant, alleged Chicago mob leader James Marcello, charged with three murders in the case asked for bond, the judge denied the request. And the evidence appears extensive against Calabrese Sr. His brother, Nick, is cooperating with the federal government and has admitted to committing multiple mob killings. Calabrese Sr.'s son, Frank Calabrese Jr., is also cooperating with the feds and put his life on the line by secretly recording his father in prison allegedly talking about participating in various mob hits.

The U.S. attorney's office declined to comment, but prosecutors are expected to oppose releasing Calabrese Sr. at a detention hearing.

Thanks to Steve Warmbir

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Best gift for ‘Sopranos’ fans? End season with a bang

Friends of mine: Soprano Crime Family

Now that everyone has had their midlife crisis, maybe we can get back to some bloodshed on "The Sopranos."

As HBO's top drama ends its sixth season, it seems obvious the show's writers fell into a funk. HBO is not releasing screeners of the finale, but the hour will have to be one heckuva caper to redeem the last three months. OK, there was that belated whacking last episode, a fitting cap to the "Brokeback Mafia" saga that should have ended at least six episodes earlier, for Goomba's sake.

Everyone suffered from existential crises. Tony (James Gandolfini) struggled to regain face after being shot by his uncle; Vito (Joseph Gannascoli) was yanked out of the closet by his leather chaps; Artie (John Ventimiglia) festered as his restaurant floundered; Paulie (Tony Sirico) learned his aunt, the sister, was his mother; and Carmela (Edie Falco) had an epiphany in Paris yet was back to folding laundry in New Jersey. As Tony complained to Dr. Melfi (Lorraine Bracco), every day is a gift, but does every gift have to be socks?

It was hard to escape the sense that the writers were marking time until the show's final season (eight episodes in 2007). Two episodes with Tony in a coma - in a 12-episode season?

Only a show like "The Sopranos" could make a gay mobster seem so perverse yet get away with two hetero hoods, Tony and Christopher (Michael Imperioli), declaring their love for each other as they bonded over the memory of Tony’s decision to whack Christopher’s fiancee, Adriana. But let's hold off on the lime; there's still life in this body.

David Chase began this series as a triangle between a middle-aged mobster, his therapist and his psycho mama, Livia (Nancy Marchand). Marchand's death in 2000 prompted major revisions, but fans may yet get a payoff that resonates with the show's themes of family and betrayal - one starting to seem obvious yet deviously brilliant.

The key to the end may lie in Tony's increasingly tense relationship with son A.J. (Robert Iler). As the show's writers have underlined this season, A.J. is Livia: The Next Generation, self-absorbed, hateful and incapable of feeling compassion for anyone. As Tony told Melfi in the last episode, he hates his son. On some level, Tony recognizes the family resemblance.

Who to bring Tony down but family? Family has gotten him almost killed more than once.

One can imagine A.J. committing some petty crime and being collared by the feds. As instincts kick in, A.J. saves himself by giving the government all the evidence they need to put away his father.

It would be the ultimate coda to this novel-like series about one mobster's efforts to keep himself and his families - criminal and biological - afloat on an ever-shifting tide of blood.

How perfect would it be for A.J. to do what no Soprano ever has - finally sing?

Thanks to Mark A. Perigard

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