MASSINO:

THE BONNANOS - named for boss Joseph (Joe Bananas) Bonanno - are now being called the Massino Family, after alleged boss JOSEPH MASSINO.
In the News: 20th - October - 2003 

"The new name was disclosed this month in a 35-page federal indictment charging Massino with three gangland killings. Then a federal investigator let the Bonanno bombshell slip last week while testifying as an expert witness in Brooklyn Federal Court"  - from NY Daily

COLOMBO:
Current Stats
Current members: less than 200
First Don: Joe Profaci

Primary activities: Narcotics, gambling, loan-sharking, cigarette smuggling, pornography, counterfeiting, hijacking, bankruptcy fraud, and so on. Despite the small size of the Colombo family, it maintains an impressive presence in a wide variety of criminal activities.

Boss: Carmine Persico, currently serving 139 years for murder and racketeering. His on the organization is said to be tenuous.

Acting boss: Carmines son, Alphonse Allie Boy Persico, currently serving an 18-month sentence issued in February 2000 for illegal gun possession in Miami.

Other: Rumor has it that due to a lack of leadership and growing chaos within its ranks, the Colombo family is no longer officially recognized by the other crime families in New York.


In the News

02/01/01 - New Week, New Charges for Mob Figure - New York Times (registration required)
Alphonse Allie Boy Persico, reputedly the acting boss of the Colombo crime family, was on the verge of finishing a 15-month prison term on January 24, when he was suddenly hit with loan-sharking charges in New York just hours before his release. On January 31, federal prosecutors handed down another indictment against Persico, this one accusing him of racketeering and money laundering charges. The newest indictment also names John J. Deross, said to be the Colombo family's underboss, and nine other men said to be top associates. All eleven men pleaded not guilty to the charges.

09/29/00 - A Mobster's Trail of Bodies
Mob canary Carmine Sessa admitted in court to taking part in 13 murders during the bloody mob war that engulfed the Colombo crime family more than a decade ago. He personally confessed to killing four people: Mary Bari, Anthony Bolino, Vincent Angellino and Anthony Collucio.

06/14/00 - FBI NY Press Release
Members of the Bonanno and Colombo crime families charged with securities fraud, racketeering and related crime

GAMBINO:
Current members: less than 200
First Don: Vince Mangano

Primary activities: Narcotics (including heroin operations ranging from Sicily to Asia), gambling, and car theft. The number and power of their stolen car outlets in Kuwait have led several newspapers to brand the country "Gambino, Inc." Under bosses Carlo Gambino, Paul Castellano and John Gotti, the Gambino family became the most powerful crime family in the country. The imprisonment of John, "Junior" at al has greatly decreased their strength.

Boss: John Gotti, currently serving a life sentence for murder and racketeering. His son, John "Junior" Gotti, was a short-lived acting boss before he received a six-year sentence on extortion conspiracy in 1999.

Acting boss: Peter Gotti, elder brother to the boss and former sanitation worker.


In the News

06/14/01 - Gotti Reportedly Near Death Gambino crime family boss John Gotti may be very near death. Some reports say he is now too weak to continue receiving chemotherapy treatments, and that he may only have weeks to live.

05/26/01 - Salvatore "Sammy the Bull" Pleads Guilty to Federal Drug Charges
Salvatore "Sammy the Bull" Gravano pleaded guilty along with his son last Friday to running an Ecstasy distribution ring in Arizona. The infamous mob turncoat, appearing at the same Brooklyn courthouse where his testimony helped convict such mob powerhouses as John Gotti and Vincent "Chin" Gigante, told a judge that he "lent money to people" who then distributed Ecstasy.

04/18/01 - Report: Gotti Cancer Spreading - Associated Press via Excite! News
The New York Daily News reported Wednesday that convicted mob boss John Gotti is in the advanced stages of throat cancer and is currently confined to a wheelchair. Gotti lawyer Joseph Corrozzo confirmed that the cancer is in an advanced stage, but denied reports that Gotti has only two months to live.

04/09/01 - Gotti Son Fined In License Rap - New York Daily News
Peter Gotti, the youngest son of John Gotti, pleaded guilty to driving without a license on April 8 and was fined $80 after spending a night in jail. When he was pulled over at a checkpoint set up to screen for drunk drivers, police discovered he was driving his sister Victoria's car without a license

02/24/01 - New Jersey Seeks Casino Ban for Two Men - Philadelphia Inquirer
New Jersey gaming investigators want to ban two reputed organized crime figures with alleged ties to jailed mob leader John Gotti, Jr. from all Atlantic City casinos. In petitions filed yesterday, the Division of Gaming Enforcement asked that Vincent Basciano and Taylor W. Breton be placed on their infamous blacklist. Basciano is accused of being a soldier in the Bonanno crime family, and Breton was accused of being an associate of the Gambino crime family.

01/16/01 - Gravano Considering Plea Bargain in Federal Drug Case
Salvatore "Sammy the Bull" Gravano is back in Brooklyn federal court facing drug conspiracy charges. He is already considering a plea bargain and will await his hearing in a maximum-security prison. The irony? The case is based on the testimony of government informants.

12/14/00 - "Sammy the Bull" Gravano Out-Ratted, Indicted on Fed Drug Charges
Salvatore "Sammy the Bull" Gravano just can't stay out of trouble. The last time we checked in, he was awaiting trial on state drug charges in Arizona... perhaps it's no big surprise, then, that he was indicted December 14 on federal drug charges that link him to a New York drug ring tied to Israeli organized crime. What is ironic, and even funny, is Gravano was out-ratted by a rival criminal-turned-cooperating witness who was wearing a wire.

10/29/00 - Gotti Losing Cancer Battle
Authorities have announced that John Gotti will not be transferred back to Marion Federal Penetentiary, where he was serving a life sentence for racketeering. Instead, he will remain at a federal prison hospital for terminally ill patients and is believed to be losing his battle with throat cancer. Alternate link.

09/30/00 - Feds Charge Mob with Art Theft
Three men, including two reputed Gambino associates, were charged in a complaint unsealed Friday in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn with a scheme to sell five forged or stolen paintings they attributed to Pablo Picasso, Fernando Botero, Marc Chagall and others.


09/27/00 - Nine Members of South Florida Gambino Crew Indicted
The Gambino crime family was hit hard by federal authorities on September 27 when nine men said to be key members and associates were indicted on federal charges, including involvement in a stripper's murder.

09/13/00 - Gotti Transferred to Prison Hospital
Gambino crime family boss John Gotti, imprisoned for life for murder and racketeering eight years ago, is suffering a recurrence of throat cancer first diagnosed in 1998.

08/08/00 - Rat Badgers Bull
Sammy "the Bull" is being accused of taking a contract out on attorney Roy Kuby... but the situation may not be what it seems.

GENOVESE:
Current Stats
Current members: approximately 300 members and associates
First Don: Charles Lucky Luciano
Primary activities: Arguably the second most powerful and wealthy crime family in the New York area, and perhaps the entire country, the Genovese family maintains major muscle in narcotics, loan-sharking, extortion rackets, pornography, labor union racketeering, restaurants, seafood distribution and vending machines. They are known for doing everything quietly and for the reserved manner in the way they conduct business.
Boss: Vincent the Chin Gigante, famous for wandering the streets of Greenwich Village in a bathrobe, in an effort to be declared legally insane so that he would not have to face prosecution. Arraigned in 1996 federal murder, labor racketeering and other charges, Gigante is serving a 12-year sentence in a Fort Worth, Texas, prison hospital. He has reputedly delegated many duties but still maintains control of the organization. Gigante is due to be released from prison in 2007.
Acting boss: Believed to be Dominick Quiet Dom Cirillo after "Farby" Serpico and Alan "Baldie" Longo were busted in April 2001.

Major Players

Charles Lucky Luciano
A biography of the familys first Don, Lucky Luciano, perhaps one of Americas most brilliant gangsters.

Joseph Valachi
In 1963, this contract killer became to first mobster to publicly violate Omert when he turned government witness and told the Senate Permanent Investigations Subcommittee about the inner structure of the Mafia.

Genovese Administration
Brief biographies of the bosses and underbosses of the Genovese family, from its inception through the present.

In the News

06/14/01 - Ex-Cop Charged in Mob Scheme - Syracuse.com
Former New York state trooper David Grossman of was indicted along with 39 other men on charges of committing crimes for New Yorks Genovese crime family. Grossman, a prominent attorney who in 1995 ran for Oswego County district attorney, was charged mail fraud, wire fraud, and money laudering. Other charges in the indictment included murder, loansharking, extortion, bank robbery, stock fraud, drug distribution and illegal weapons distribution.

04/28/01 - Feds Crack Down on Genovese Crime Family
Federal agents swept through three states last Wednesday in a massive raid that resulted in the arrest of 45 reputed members and associates of the Genovese crime family. Described by U.S. attorney Loretta Lynch as a window into the shadow economy of the mob, the arrests provide a chilling look at the wide array of crimes committed by the new Mafia.

Vincent Chin Gigante Sentenced
After 30 years of feigning insanity, the Genovese boss sometimes called "the Oddfather," is sentenced to a 12-year sentence in 1997.

LUCCHESE:
Current Stats

Current members: less than 150 members and associates

First Don: Tom Gagliano
Primary activities: Narcotics, gambling, loan-sharking, waste management, construction, and involvement in the garment industry.

Boss: Last known boss was Anthony Tony Ducks Corallo, who, facing a 100-year sentence in 1987, was said to have named longtime confidant Aniello Migliore as acting boss. The Corallo-Migliore era did not last long, and the family has slipped into a decade of numerous convictions and rampant turncoats. In 1998, acting boss Joseph A. DeFede was prosecuted for garment industry rackets.

Acting boss: Steven Crea, currently facing state charges of enterprise corruption after he was arrested on September 6, 2000. Crea is jailed in Rikers pending bail hearing, and continues to preside over a family in increasing disarray.

In the News

11/29/00 - Feds charge seven in mob terror spree
Seven alleged members of the Lucchese family were indicted November 28 on charges of two murder conspiracies and a drug, extortion and loansharking. The crew allegedly shared the Bensonhurst drug trade with the Bonanno crime family's Bath Ave. Crew and extorted tribute payments from shopkeepers in the neighborhood through threats, violence and arson. Among those indicted were alleged Lucchese acting underboss Eugene Bubsie Castelle and Joseph Joey Flowers Tangorra.

11/28/00 - Eugene "Bubsie" Castelle
Eugene Bubsie Castelle was charged November 28 in a 48-count indictment with drug conspiracy, racketeering and extortion. Castelle is the suspected acting underboss of the Lucchese crime family, known for smuggling steaks and lobsters into Metropolitan Detention Center to provide his incarcerated friends with fine cuisine.