from: http://ganglandnews.com/column90.htm ---- If you'd like to place your ad on Gang Land, contact advertising director Suzanne (Sue The Dream) Nicolucci at [EMAIL PROTECTED] August 24, 1998 Little Nick Wins Big By Jerry Capeci Gambino capo Nicholas (Little Nick) Corozzo, who made millions in the gambling business over the last three decades, looked like he had won the $30 million jackpot in last week's New York state lottery. The one-time heir apparent to jailed boss John Gotti was grinning from ear to ear and glad handing his lawyers, nephew Joseph Corozzo and Gerald Shargel, as he stood in the dock in Brooklyn Federal Court. Little Nick had just been sentenced to eight years in prison. But everybody, especially his smiling friends and relatives, knew the lifetime racketeer could have become, and probably should have become, a lifetime convict. During a day-long sentencing hearing, prosecutors had used videotapes, audio tapes and testimony from FBI agents from New York and Florida to try to convince a federal judge that Corozzo, 58, deserved a much longer stretch. Former FBI supervisor Bruce Mouw (right) said Corozzo was part of a three-capo committee that helped John A. (Junior) Gotti run the Gambino family for his imprisoned father and that in 1994 Corozzo had approved the killing of a mobster who had fallen out of favor with Gotti. Agent Tami Jo Kayworth testified that on Apr. 9, 1996 she was monitoring a conversation Corozzo was having in a Ft. Lauderdale hotel with a cooperating witness and heard Corozzo explain how he was picked to succeed Gotti with help from the Dapper Don's brothers, Gene and Peter. "Corozzo describes how he originally was put up to be the Gambino boss to take over after John Gotti by the family capos," said Kayworth, reading from a report prepared from her notes and a follow-up interview with the witness. Because of an equipment malfunction, she said, the conversation was not recorded. "Corozzo indicated at first he did not want the job, but Gene Gotti (right) got in touch with John Gotti, telling him, 'What are you waiting for? He (Corozzo) deserves it, give it to him.' Corozzo relates how he accepted the position only (after) Peter Gotti (left) came with him, supported him. Corozzo says, 'I don't know if I even want it,'" she said. Mouw testified that Corozzo's ascension was scotched when he was hit with back to back racketeering indictments in December, 1996 in Florida and the following month in New York. Prosecutor David Hennessy cited Corozzo's 26-year-criminal history, the FBI testimony, videos of him walking and talking with Gotti, and an recording of Little Nick terrorizing a loan shark victim and asked the judge to give Corozzo a stiffer than normal sentence, as the law allows, for high ranked mobsters. (In one Brooklyn racketeering case, for example, Genovese underboss Venero Mangano and Colombo consigliere Benedetto Aloi received 15 years more than the sentencing guidelines called for.) Hennessy also asked Judge Frederic Block to make the prison term consecutive to the 70 month sentence that Corozzo had gotten for his Florida case. But Block heeded pleas from Shargel, who said Corozzo was not a violent man but basically a gambler all his life, and gave him eight years, ruling that it be served concurrently, or at the same time as the Florida sentence. He's due out in about six years. Ironically, Corozzo had agreed to accept 10 years and pay $500,000 in restitution at the time of sentence - originally set for many months ago. That deal fell through when Corozzo and two codefendants didn't come up with the cash. Little Nick obviously felt pretty good about his chances with Block, pleaded guilty, threw himself on the mercy of the court, and won the sentencing lotto. As we announced last week, we're spicing up the dog days of August with our third Gang Land contest. It's got five questions, each worth 20 points. The rules and prizes are similar to those of Gang Land's first two contests. ONE ENTRY PER PERSON. The deadline for submitting an entry is midnight Sept. 1. We've got an autographed copy of "Murder Machine" and a copy of "Gotti: Rise & Fall" - as prizes. The first place winner gets to choose the book of his/her choice. My co-author, Gene Mustain, has also accepted an offer he couldn't refuse to autograph both books. Winners will be announced Sept. 14, or as soon after as possible, depending on the number of entries and how quickly the Gang Land staff can sort through them. In the result of ties, the winners will be determined at random. Previous contest winners are ineligible, but can submit an entry for the hell of it. 1. Name the St. Louis Cosa Nostra Boss who was found guilty of having a hidden ownership in the Frontier Hotel-Casino in Las Vegas. 2. Name the first Mafia Boss to make Nevada's "Black Book" of persons excluded from the state's gaming establishments. 3. Name John Gotti's three official underbosses. 4. Name the Mafia Boss with the most years as a member of the Commission. 5. Name the Gambino Capo who had his picture taken with Presidential candidate Jimmy Carter. ASK ANDY After a week's respite, Andy, Gang Land's organized crime historian, seen posing with one of his all time favorite books, "Mob Star,"returns with a report about the national scene in response to a query from Bill Montgomery about the number of Mafia families across the country. At one time there were 28 separate U.S. based Mafia families operating in North America. Today, I'd say there are about 10 Cosa Nostra Families that can be classified as major threats, and all of them are shadows of their former selves. These are the five New York families and those in Chicago, Buffalo, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Tampa. The rest of the onetime Mafia families are basically a few mobsters running around with fancy titles and one or two guns. (Editor's note: Boss man Capeci would say Detroit and New England have real families, but this is the Ask Andy feature and I research and answer the questions.) There has always been controversy and confusion about the exact number of Cosa Nostra Families. The numbers depend on the era, but here is a list of families that most authorities agree have existed in this century. In 1960, there were 28 Families, including the five in New York -- the Bonanno, Gambino, Lucchese,Genovese and Colombo families. In addition, there were families based in Buffalo, Chicago, Los Angeles, Detroit, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, New Orleans, San Francisco, Tampa, Cleveland, New England (Providence/Boston), San Jose, Kansas City, Milwaukee, St. Louis, Denver/Pueblo, Pittston/Wilkes Barrie/Cranston, Pennsylvania and Newark, N.J. There were also families in Rockford, Ill., Springfield, Ill., Dallas, Rochester, NY, and Madison Wisconsin. For a time, some experts believed these groups were branches of other larger families in the same section of the country, but I believe, they were separate organizations. For whatever it's worth, so does the FBI. By 1980, Dallas and Springfield had stopped operating. For a time, the FBI listed Tucson as a city with a Mafia family, but that was merely to enhance the importance of the FBI's investigation and a federal obstruction of justice prosecution in the late 1970's of Joseph Bonanno, (right) the onetime head of the Bonanno family who was deposed by the Mafia Commission in the mid-1960's. It is important to realize that our knowledge about the early history of Cosa Nostra is a little sketchy. It may very well be that there were formal families operating early in the century that went out of existence long before the revelations by Joe Valachi in 1962. A Chicago group headed by Joe Aiello fits into this category. Aiello was an Al Capone rival, but after Aiello's death, the Capone mob was formally recognized by other Cosa Nostra powers as the sole legitimate Family in the Windy City. Books, by Andy THE GOODFELLA TAPES by GEORGE ANASTASIA Amazon $4.79 George Anastasia, an excellent reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer, has covered the doings of the Philadelphia mob for years. He has written two other books on this motley and violent crew. This time he focuses on the keystone cops era of boss John Stanfa, from 1990 to1994. Stanfa, who was driving the late boss Angelo Bruno the night he was killed in 1980, has long been suspected of playing a role in the assassination. He was spared the dreadful fate of other conspirators due to his connections in New York's Gambino family. The native Sicilian spent a number of years in jail for perjury and then laid low while the regime of Nicodemo (Little Nicky) Scarfo self destructed. By 1990, with the help of John Gotti, Stanfa (left) surprisingly moved to the top spot of the family. Unfortunately for Stanfa, his rise was not welcomed by all the family members and associates. Anastasia clearly outlines the opposing forces in the ensuing battles as Stanfa tried to overpower his opposition. The wild shootings that ensued forced a strong response from the authorities which included the bugging of the offices of Stanfa's lawyer. Anastasia uses excerpts from these intercepts to help tell the tale of an incompetent Boss trying desperately to get his troop of mob wannabes to carry out his orders with some sense of competence. It was a hopeless task and ultimately proved Stanfa's undoing. Anastasia also spotlights the rising star of the Philadelphia criminal scene, Joey (Skinny Joey) Merlino. It was this son of Scarfo's one time close friend and underboss who led the opposition to Stanfa. By all accounts, young Merlino was up against great odds but by luck, courage and stupid enemies he emerged as the big winner. Stanfa's own words, taped in what was thought to be a secure place, not only helped convict him of multiple charges but showed him to be a bloodthirsty incompetent who had no real idea how to select capable recruits to regenerate the Family. Anastasia has once again told a fascinating story while at the same time removing any false sense of honor that used to surround Mafia members in the past. Anastasia has exposed the Philadelphia Mafiosi for what they really were - cold blooded predators who would even stoop to killing their own blood in order to obtain power. It is not a pretty picture but a true one. Gang Land is an authorized affiliate of Amazon.com. If you decide to purchase Andy's recommended books online - or for that matter, any other books, videos, software or other products - please use a Gang Land link to Amazon.com, the Godfather of online booksellers. Email Jerry Capeci: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Copyright, Jerry Capeci, 1998 All Rights Reserved <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance�not soap-boxing�please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'�with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds�is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. 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