Joseph Pistone’s Career
Joseph Pistone was an undercover FBI agent who went under the codename of “Donnie Brasco”. Pistone is to a lesser extent known for the infiltration of the Colombo Crime Family which was one of the “Five Families” that organized crime activities in New York City (The American Mafia), and most famously known for the infiltration of the Bonanno Crime Family. The importance of his job was to earn the trust of the mafia in a 6 year operation that would lead to the arrests of hundreds of mafia members. In the end the FBI had pulled him from the operation for Pistone’s own safety. Pistone served the FBI for 27 years and retired to become an FBI consultant. As of today, he is around the age of 60 and does interviews with
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Pistone had the ability to drive bulldozers and trucks which led to the choosing of his first undercover mission. Each day there were about five to six major truck hijackings which were led by a gang stealing heavy vehicles and equipment for their own personal use. Over the course of the infiltration, he was able to account for 30 arrests which helped intelligence sources confirm that each and every one of them were tied to various mafia families. This resulted in an undercover mission known as “Operation Sun-Apple”, where Joseph Pistone received a new identity as a street burglar known as Donnie Brasco. His nickname to the mafia was “Donnie the …show more content…
He had stated before that he never had to kill a person throughout his whole operation, so to fulfill his mission, he would either manipulate himself out of the hit until a later date or have the FBI stage a fake killing if the mission deemed too difficult. It was then that on July 12, 1979 the head of the Bonanno Family named Carmine Galante was shot dead and a war broke out between rival families and their leaders. Ruggiero and the head mobster of the Bonanno Family named Dominick “Sonny-Black” Napolitano killed three of the top members of the other family during the war that took place. After that, Napolitano ordered Brasco to kill a man named Anthony “Bruno” Indelicato, who was a caporegime (a term used in the mafia for a high ranked member of a crime family who orders around a crew) for the Bonanno Crime Family. At the time, Brasco and the FBI thought the best plan would be to arrest Indelicato before the day of the hit, but they were unable to locate where he was hiding out. Due to the constant gunfire from the war and not being able to find Indelicato, the FBI decided it was finally the time to put an end to the operation. Brasco thought that it was wiser that he stayed until the end of December to finally find out his membership/rank of the family, but the FBI
The people that were involved or players that were involved in this heist were; Parnell Edwards, Marin Krugman, Richard Eaton, Theresa Ferrara, Tom Monteleone, Louis Cafora, Joanna Cafora, Joe Manri, Robert McMahon, Paolo LiCastri, Thomas DeSimone, Angelo Sepe, Joanna Lombardo, and Frank Burke.
Al Capone’s family came with a wave of other Italian immigrants that migrated to the United States in the 1800’s. Most immigrants in that time were living in poverty and in very urban areas. Capone’s family lived in the heart of Brooklyn, but his father was a successful barber which allowed them a slightly better lifestyle than most. Al Capone was the fourth of nine children and grew up with a very tight-knit Italian family who were trying to succeed in their new country”. Capone attended public school in the city and had a natural brightness by keeping a “B average” despite playing hooky on many occasions. The sixth grade showcased Capone’s short temper when he hit a female teacher who was lecturing him. This incident reveals the beginning of who Al Capone would come to be. After being suspended for his violence, he never officially furthered his education. He began his life of crime by joining the kid gangs that existed all over Brooklyn. These “gangs” were nothing more than children being hoodlums and participating in petty crimes, although they would be the ...
Gotti used his newfound status as boss to move the Gambino family headquarters to Manhattan at the Ravenite social club. The move made him a target for further surveillance from law enforcement, and by 1989 no less than nine men were informing on him. Conversations recorded by bugs were enough to indict him on RICO charges once again; however, the final decision to prosecute came when Sammy Gravanno, Gotti’s consigliore, struck a deal and agreed to testify against him. With Gravanno’s testimony and the taped evidence, the prosecution’s case was irrefutable. After deliberating for only 14 hours, the jury found Gotti guilty on all counts (Mustain & Capeci, 1988). Assistant director of the FBI’s New York branch, James M. Fox, is documented in saying, “The don is covered with Velcro and every charge stuck” (FBI, 2007).
Alphonse Gabriel Capone was the most notorious bootlegger in American History. He was born on January 17, 1899 and died of a heart attack on January 25, 1947. Capone grew up in Brooklyn and became a member of the Five Points Gang. During a street fight he had received a scar on his face that gave him the nickname “Scarface”. Capone quickly moves up the ranks in the mafia world, often noticed for his toughness, in 1919 he grabbed the attention of mobster John Torrio of Chicago. Capone was promoted to bodyguard of the mob boss James Colosimo. When Capone moved to Chicago, bootlegging was just starting to blow up. These bootleggers pounced on the opportunity to completely control the business of making, importing, and distributing alcohol and all alcohol products. Alcohol wasn't the only flourishing industry for the the mob, they also did trade in
As he grew older, Capone was hired by the gang leader, Torrio, to be a bouncer at a bar in Brooklyn, taking his first step up the “gang ladder”. One night, Capone’s cheek was slashed during a fight at the bar over a girl. It was from then on he was known as Scarface. Later in his life, when asked by reporters where he got this scare, he often lied of serving in the “Lost Battalion” in WWI, even though he never served in the military (Internet 1, 1).
Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel was a man unlike any other, a man who strove to be better than what he was, and who grew up with nothing yet died with everything (Carter 179; PBS par. 1; Bugsy Siegel Encyclpaedia par. 3). Unlike many who give up in life because of the many problems they may face, Bugsy Siegel strove to be better than his father was (Carter 179). Eventually, Siegel began forcing peddle cart vendors to give him payments for protection from himself (PBS par. 2; Carter 179). Thus began Siegel’s transformation to a true mafia man running around with “Lucky” Luciano, Meyer Lansky, and the Murder Inc. which Siegel himself created (Southwell 212; PBS par. 4; Carter 180; Bugsy Siegel Encyclopaedia par. 2). Siegel was on top of the world, he was in charge of Murder Inc., had many mistresses, and his dream of a Gambling Oasis in the Desert was starting to take-off ( Carter 187; Southwell 212); however, tragedy struck one summer evening after the suave Siegel was murdered in his mistress’ home on June 20, 1947 (Carter 189). Bugsy Siegel affected millions of lives worldwide, whether through his psychotic acts as a mafia hit man, or his revolutionary idea of the gambling oasis, that is now Las Vegas (Southwell 212; Carter 179; Bugsy Siegel Encyclopaedia par. 3). Siegel’s tragic death, furthermore, shall forever be in the history books as a tragedy that would forever cripple the world’s chance of being something greater than it is.
Al Capone, America’s most prominent Mafia figure in the 1920’s, also known as “Scarface” for a scar running down his left cheek. Capone didn’t hide in the shadows like most figures in such a shady occupation. He didn’t shy away from the camera, more like he welcomed it, and aimed to be seen by the public as a respectable businessman and a pillar of the community. Surprisingly, Capone wasn’t from a distinctly poor community, his father earned a living as a barber. Capone was introduced to the gang life by a friend and from there it all went downhill and into the life of a gangster.
The FBI wanted to undertake a long-term undercover operation against the Mafia. The FBI administration chose Pistone to infiltrate the mob because he had conducted many short-term undercover operations, as wellas and the longterm Florida operation that was described previously. He was also picked because he was Italian. Since the members of the mob were Italians, it would make infiltration easier. It was decided that Piston had to create a new identity to penetrate the mob. He decided to retain his previous name, Donnie Brasco.
Informants: Someone who provides privileged information about a person or organization is known as an informant. Whitey Bulger and Stephen Flemmi, top echelon informants, have been feeding information to the FBI as early as the 1960’s, but sadly for the wrong reasons. Bulger and Flemmi continuously meet with long time friend and FBI agent John Connolly to provide information, some true and some false about other criminals and gangs in the area. Bulger did this to design protection for him, delude other investigators, and get the competitive edge he wanted. John Connolly was determined to keep these men on the streets, where they could access the most information, that if another investigator came close to his informants, he did everything he could to shield them from them (“The ‘Whitey” Bulger Trial--June 12--Opening
Siegels' career in organized crime, he helped to take down two of the biggest dons that
Joe D. Ball born on January 6, 1896 was not a very nice or social able person. Living as a bootlegger in the early 1900’s had more secrets then just illegally selling alcohol. Joe was secretly a murderer, Killing family, friends, and workers. Joe wasn’t always a terrible person, he was part of one of the richest family in Elmendorf but he didn’t stay that way very long because he became known as the alligator man, blue beard, and the butcher of Elmendorf. Ball joined the army to fight in World War I; he saw some action in the frontlines of Europe and was honorably discharged. After the war he returned to his home town of Elmendorf and became a bootlegger driving around selling alcohol during the Prohibition. Then he started hiring black men to do his job and wasn’t very nice to them he would shoot at their feet to make them dance.
... saw the men walk into his shop, he was not suspicious of anything. He figured that the men were here to pick out the flowers for Merlo’s funeral. One of the men put his hand out for a handshake, and that is when the other two took out their guns, and shot O’Banion to his death. The killers fled, and they had left the North Side Gang without a commander. O’Banions death lead Capone and Torrio to believe that they would go on with their business peacefully. Little did they know that Moran was going to take revenge on whoever was responsible for his commander’s death.
Sammy the Bull, lesser known as the infamous Salvatore Gravano, is the highest-ranking member of the Mafia ever to break his blood vow of silence and turn against his boss, Mafia giant John Gotti. In 1992, Gravano realized he was about to take the fall for Gotti, so he became a federal witness. His testimony eventually led to convictions of dozens of key Cosa Nostra figures, including Gotti, who is now serving a life sentence without parole.
...et of alcohol. The leader of the crime during the time was Al Capone. Capone was the ring leader of the mafia. He would do anything to get his money from his underground alcohol trafficking ring. Al Capone is a well known mafia leader. Al Capone Was the major trafficking leader during the prohibition. Al Capone was involved with gangs most of his life. This formed him into one of the greatest gang leader.