Kyle Knight, Explosives Supplier of Mob Pipe Bombings, Pleads Guilty

The man who supplied explosives in a mob- ordered pipe bombing of a Berwyn business pleaded guilty today and has agreed to testify against others in the case.

Kyle Knight of Merrillville, Indiana admitted transporting two bags of explosive powder to 84 year old Samuel Volpendesto, reputed to be a mob associate. Volpendesto, of Oak Brook and 41 year old Mark Polchan have been charged with the 2003 bombing of C&S Coin Operated Amusements, 6508 W. 16th St. in Berwyn, which leased vending and video machines and was targeted by the Chicago Outfit because it competed with the mob's $13 million illegal gambling operation. Polchan, also described by authorities as a mob associate and a member of the Outlaws motorcycle gang, and Volpendesto were charged last month with the 2003 bombing.

According to his indictment, Volpendesto talked on undercover tape about the bombings and connected an unnamed individual referred to only as the "Large Guy." The government refers to that man as Outfit Member A, who worked for Outfit boss Johnny "Apes" Monteleone.

In a report last month the ABC7 ITeam identified Outfit member A as Mike Sarno, formerly known as "Fat Boy." The Westchester home of the convicted gangster was raided by the FBI in connection with the bombing. Sarno, now known in mob circles as "the large guy," has not been charged in the case. He told the I-Team this summer that he would have nothing to say about the legal matter.

The Iteam report, Double-O Connection, focused on a criminal relationship between the Outfit and the Outlaws biker gang.

In court today, Knight also pleaded guilty to numerous robberies. He has agreed to cooperate with authorities in return for a sentence of 15 years in prison.

Thanks to Chuck Goudie and Ann Pistone

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7 Reputed Bonanno Associates Face Federal Charges

Seven men, believed to have ties to the Bonanno crime family, face charges including racketeering and illegal gambling, federal prosecutors announced last Thursday.

Three of the men, John Contello, 55, Vincent Disario, 47, and Michael Carucci, 38, were arrested about 5:30 a.m. in New York City on Thursday on charges including racketeering and conspiracy, according to an indictment unsealed in Brooklyn federal court. They were arraigned on Thursday afternoon. If convicted, they face up to 20 years in prison, according to a statement from the United States attorney’s office.

Mr. Contello is a reputed acting captain, and Mr. Disario is said to be a soldier in the Bonanno crime family, the statement said. The police did not detail Mr. Carucci’s reputed ties to the crime family.

Gerald Chilli, 74, also a reputed captain in the family, has been charged with extortion. He had already been in federal custody in Florida on unrelated charges. He faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted of the extortion charges.

George Miller, 68, who the authorities said is an associate of the family, was arrested near Canada and faces charges related to racketeering through the collection of unlawful debts, the statement said. If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison.

Richard Cendali, 40, who was arrested in New York City and was also arraigned on Thursday, and Anthony Zeni, 46, who had not been arrested by the afternoon, both face charges related to illegal gambling operations, the prosecutors’ statement said. The authorities that said Mr. Zeni was in Florida and that they expected to have him in custody soon. Both men face a maximum of five years in prison.

Mr. Carucci, Mr. Cendali and Mr. Contello all pleaded not guilty and were released on $250,000 or $500,000 bail, said a spokesman for the United States attorney’s office said. Mr. Disario also pleaded not guilty but was remanded and held without bail. A hearing for Mr. Miller will be held on Friday, the spokesman said.

Thanks to Christine Hauser

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Not Guilty Plea from Junior Gotti

John A. "Junior" Gotti has pleaded not guilty to federal racketeering charges in Tampa.

The 44-year-old son of the former Gambino family crime boss was arraigned in federal court Thursday afternoon. He faces conspiracy charges that link him to three mob slayings, cocaine distribution and other crimes.

Dressed in a blue jail jumpsuit and shackled at the ankles, Gotti appeared with his attorneys but didn't speak during the five-minute hearing.

Prosecutors say Gotti was a chief in an arm of the Gambino crime family that operated in Florida and other states going back to 1983.

Gotti denies the charges and has said he has long been retired from organized crime. His attorneys said they plan to ask that the trial be moved to New York.

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The New England Mafia is Not What It Used to Be

The New England Mafia just is not what it used to be.

In what would be an unusual move for a man of his rank, the family's reputed underboss, Carmen "The Cheese Man" DiNunzio, is accused of personally delivering a $10,000 bribe to a near stranger, a man who turned out to be an undercover FBI agent.

Some of his underlings have supplemented their incomes by shoplifting, and one aging soldier was spotted peddling electric toothbrushes on a street in the North End, State Police said.

The local Mafia, which traditionally denounced drugs, now tolerates addicts in its ranks. And some members of the old guard have turned down promotions or become inactive because they fear going back to prison or have lost faith after seeing Mafiosi around the country break omerta, the code of silence, and turn informant or government witness, police said.

"They don't have the strength and the power they once did because of the line people," said State Police Detective Lieutenant Stephen P. Johnson, who oversees organized crime investigations as head of the Special Service Section. "The crews they have out there is where they are lacking. . . . It's a different generation. They're not as smart about how they involve themselves in supporting the family."

Jeffrey S. Sallet, supervisory special agent in charge of the FBI's Providence office and coordinator of the New England division's organized crime program, agreed, saying that La Cosa Nostra, commonly known as the Mafia, "has less of a talent pool to pull from because of ethnic neighborhoods disappearing."

The New England Mafia does not wield as much power or make as much money as it did in the 1980s, before its ranks were depleted by waves of convictions, law enforcement officials said. There are about 30 made members of the Mafia in Greater Boston, compared with at least double that in the 1980s, Johnson said.

"They are a shell of what the organization was years ago," said Major Steven O'Donnell, deputy superintendent of the Rhode Island State Police.

Still, officials said the local Mafia remains a substantial threat and continues to rake in significant profits from illegal gambling and bookmaking. In Greater Boston, the mob has lost its grip on pornography and prostitution, but has been expanding its video poker business, State Police said.

"Are they making money hand over fist? No," said Johnson. "Do they get as much respect? No. But everybody is surviving."

The family's reputed boss of a dozen years is 81-year-old Luigi "Louie" Manocchio, who works out of Addie's Laundromat on Federal Hill in Providence and lives in an apartment upstairs, according to court affidavits.

Manocchio could not be reached for comment for this report. But in 1999, when he was given probation by a Rhode Island judge after admitting he had given his elderly mother a stolen dishwasher and refrigerator, his lawyer, John Cicilline, said he knew nothing about his client's alleged mob ties and said, "The only time I've ever heard that is in the papers," according to the Associated Press.

An FBI affidavit filed in federal court identifies DiNunzio, 51, of East Boston as the family's underboss, or second in command, since 2004. The 400-pound owner of the Fresh Cheese shop on Endicott Street in the North End is under house arrest awaiting two trials, one in Essex County on state extortion and illegal gambling charges and the other in federal court on the bribery charge.

A federal indictment returned in May alleges that DiNunzio paid $10,000 to an undercover FBI agent posing as a state highway inspector in December 2006, part of a conspiracy to secure a $6 million contract to provide loam for the Big Dig.

"I'm the Cheese Man," DiNunzio told the undercover agent on recordings later played in court, as he promised to make the deal go through. "You ask anybody about me. . . . We straighten out a lot of beefs, a lot of things."

DiNunzio's failure to insulate himself by dispatching an underling has raised speculation about a dumbing down in the mob.

"None of them are rocket scientists," said Johnson, noting that many of DiNunzio's predecessors were convicted, partly based on recordings of them saying foolish and incriminating things.

Sallet declined to comment on DiNunzio's motivation, but said: "The mob is all about opportunity. Any chance to make money, they are going to take it."

DiNunzio's lawyer, Anthony Cardinale, described DiNunzio as "a nice, nice guy" who was lured into what he believed was a legitimate deal by a longtime friend who was cooperating with the FBI and introduced him to the agent. "Carmen's downfall is he was a good friend of this guy, and he never suspected this guy would do this to him," Cardinale said.

Despite DiNunzio's legal predicament, law enforcement officials said he has a reputation as a fairly smart, low-key leader. "The leadership isn't stupid," Johnson said. "They don't attract the quality line people."

O'Donnell said the family has suffered from a lack of midlevel managers as some experienced mobsters have refused to take those jobs because they do not want the law enforcement scrutiny or the headaches they bring.

Today, the family is a mix of old soldiers who have recently returned to the streets after years in prison and young members who grew up in middle-class suburban households, law enforcement officials said.

Unlike the old guard, who grew up in poor, ethnic neighborhoods and were groomed by elder mobsters, the new generation tends to be less street-smart and is attracted by the glitz and glamour of shows such as HBO's "The Sopranos," State Police said.

"The guys now want to appear to be Tony Soprano," Johnson said. "They're flashy."

A couple of reputed Boston mobsters were secretly recorded in 2000 complaining that rivals had mimicked the Sopranos crew by leaving dead fish in doorways and on cars in an effort to intimidate them.

The reality is, "it's not a glamorous lifestyle," Sallet said. "You spend your life wondering about whether your friend wants to kill you or hurt you or whether some law enforcement officer wants to put you in jail."

And, he added, for every mobster who is making big money, there are others who are broke. "They call them brokesters," Sallet said. "A lot of them have gambling problems and are low-end scam guys."

But law enforcement officials cautioned that the Mafia is still dangerous, especially because so many of the region's most feared mobsters have recently been freed from prison.

"It has a very big potential to change drastically in New England over the next several years, or it can stay the same course," O'Donnell said.

Thanks to Shelley Murphy

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Fannie Gotti, Mother of the Dapper Don, Dies at 96

The woman who spawned some of the most notorious and violent gangsters in mob history died peacefully of natural causes in a Long Island nursing home at age 96, her family said yesterday.

Philomena "Fannie" Gotti died of natural causes Tuesday night at a retirement home in Valley Stream, said "Dapper Don" John Gotti's widow, Victoria. "She was an amazing lady," Victoria Gotti told the Post. "One of those strong, strong old-timers."

The announcement of the gangland matriarch's death came just a day before her grandson, John "Junior" Gotti, will be arraigned on murder charges in Tampa, Fla.

His attorney said the death should not have any impact on today's court hearing. "We don't plan on bringing it up," lawyer Seth Ginsberg said.

Fannie Gotti, a Bronx native, was married to construction worker John Joseph Gotti. She gave birth to 13 children in 16 years, two of whom died in childbirth, according to the book "Mob Star" by Jerry Capeci and Gene Mustain.

Five of her seven sons would go on to become made members of the Gambino crime family, which her fifth child, John, violently took control of by assassinating the reigning boss Paul Castellano in 1985 in front of Sparks Steak House.

Another one of her brutal boys, Peter, 68, tried to whack Salvatore "Sammy Bull" Gravano, the turncoat who helped put the Teflon Don behind bars.

Vincent Gotti, 56, pleaded guilty earlier this summer to the botched rubout of Howard Beach, Queens, deli owner Angelo Mugnolo, in a fight over a woman. He's awaiting sentencing in Brooklyn federal court.

The late John Gotti, famous for his flamboyant style and swagger before he died in prison in 2002, scoffed at news articles that made his parents out to be Italian immigrants who scraped together meager savings to book passage to America.

"That was one of the things John got mad about," said a source. "The stupid reporters who thought his folks came from Sicily. They were born in The Bronx."

Victoria Gotti, John's widow, described her late mother-in-law as a "typical old-fashioned lady. She was a housewife, a stay-at-home mom."

She said that mom and mob-boss son got along swimmingly, although "I'm sure like any mother and child, they had their little tiffs now and again."

In later years, Fannie took a job at the Bohack supermarket chain, where she worked in the butcher department wrapping meat, Victoria said.

In June 1992, Fannie's husband died of cancer at 85. It was just two days after John was sentenced to life in prison for his career of murder and racketeering.

Fannie was living with her daughter, Marie, in Valley Stream before she moved into a nearby retirement home, Victoria said. Funeral arrangements had not yet been made, she said.

Junior Gotti was "as close as any of the kids could be" with his grandmother, Victoria said. He is accused of ordering three gangland slayings in the late 1980s and early 1990s and running a giant coke dealing operation out of bars in Ozone Park, Queens.

Ginsberg said he would soon file a change-of-venue motion with the Tampa trial judge to have the case moved back to New York.

Thanks to Stephanie Cohen

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