The real-life Sopranos: Dozens held in swoop on US Mafia families
THE nicknames could come straight from the hit gangster series The Sopranos – Nicky the Wig, Moustache Pat, Big Vinny, Tony the Cripple...
But these are among dozens of real-life suspected mobsters held in a swoop on some of the biggest Mafia families in the US.
The 46 men are thought to be members of the Genovese, Gambino, Luchese and Bonanno clans – four of New York’s five big mob families – along with members of a notorious Philadelphia family.
The massive syndicate, known as the East Coast La Cosa Nostra Enterprise, was formed from a rare pact between the families.
It was exposed by a long-running FBI operation which used informants, some wearing video and audio wires, to infiltrate it.
Those arrested on Thursday have appeared in court. Many face at least one racketeering charge, which carries a maximum 20-year sentence, while others have been charged with extortion, gun running and assault.
The syndicate is also alleged to have been involved in loansharking, casino-style gambling, sports gambling and credit card fraud.
Among those on racketeering charges are Pasquale ‘Moustache Pat’ Capolongo, 67; Vincent ‘Big Vinny’ Terracciano, 69; Nicholas ‘Nicky the Wig’ Vuolo, 71; Reynold ‘Randy’ Alberti, 47; and Anthony ‘Tony the Cripple’ Cassetta, 48.
An indictment in the Manhatassault
‘Keep the pipes handy’
tan federal court lists the alleged ringleaders as 54-year-old Philadelphia mob boss Joseph ‘Skinny Joe’ Merlino; 74-year-old Eugene ‘Rooster’ O’Nofrio from East Haven, Connecticut; and Pasquale ‘Patsy’ Parrello, 72, of Tuckahoe, New York.
All three face racketeering charges and Parrello also faces up to 20 years in prison for conspiracy to commit assault. The occurred outside Pasquale’s Rigoletto Restaurant in the Bronx, which is owned by Parrello, a member of the Genovese family. According to court papers, the victim was beaten with ‘glass jars, sharp objects and steeltipped boots’.
Parrello is said to have given instructions to one man, Anthony ‘Anthony Boy’ Zinzi, 73, to hit the victim around the knees and ‘not on his head’.
Zinzi was told to ‘keep the pipes handy and pipe him, pipe him, over here [gesturing to the knees], not on his head’, it is alleged.
Other charges suggest that Merlino had ‘supervised and controlled members of the enterprise engaged in illegal schemes’.
Some of the schemes related to selling untaxed cigarettes – said to be worth some £2million – along with guns, healthcare fraud, arson, extortion and assault.
The FBI claims syndicate members would hold meetings at highway rest stops and restaurants, using codes to communicate their plans in secret.