June 16, 1997 BIG SAL WINS BIGBy Jerry Capeci A BANDONED by the feds in 1995 for lying from the witness stand, turncoat mob killer Salvatore (Big Sal) Miciotta refused to stop singing even after they ripped up his cooperation agreeement and he was sentenced to 14 years in prison. Miciotta must have been knocking his head against the bars in his cell trying to figure out what he could tell the feds because he was locked up in a special prison unit for turncoats at Otisville prison about 90 miles north of New York City. But Big Sal is an enterprising wiseguy and went right to work playing the cards he had been dealt. Maybe he could find a turncoat like himself, who was planning to perjure himself? Or discover that one of his fellow stool pigeons had failed to disclose some important information? Or uncover anything that would get him back in the good graces of federal prosecutors? Good things can happen if you're patient. Phil Colletti, a Philadelphia hoodlum-turned prosecution witness, told Sal he was going to tell some big ones from the witness stand too, but unlike Sal, he wasn't going to get caught. Wrong. Then there was William Corolleo, a former loanshark for Bonanno capo Louis (Louie Haha) Attanasio, who had never mentioned that fact to the feds. He told Sal; Sal told the feds; the feds told a grand jury, and made a loansharking case against Attanasio. Last, but not least, was Anthony (Gaspipe) Casso. The onetime Luchese underboss had gotten pretty friendly with a secretary who working at the witness unit. For a price, of course, the secretary had been smuggling drugs, food, cigars, cellular phones and other contraband to Casso and at least three other inmates. Sal learned about it and in the spirit of cooperation told his former federal handlers who were both surprised and pleased. Among the most pleased was assistant U.S. attorney Andrew Weissmann, who had gotten Miciotta his heavy jail term after Big Sal lied on the witness stand at a 1994 racketeering and murder trial of six Colombo mobsters. Ironically, Weissman had hoped to use Casso later this month at the racketeering/murder trial of reputed Mafia boss Vincent (Chin) Gigante.
Miciotta's information about Casso's sweetheart deal with the prison secretary knocked him out of the Gigante trial and deprived him of the points he needs to reduce the 26 years he faces for a life of crime that reportedly includes 36 murders. It was the second time Miciotta landed a knockout punch on Casso. On New Year's Eve, when the 5-foot-8, 165-pound Casso learned that the 350-pound Miciotta had implicated him in the bribery scheme, he attacked him with a magazine rolled up into a makeshift billy club. "Since this was not a very efficient weapon, and Big Sal is a very large man, Big Sal beat the daylights out of Gaspipe," said one prison source. Since recovering from his pummeling, Casso has vowed to get even, sources said, sending Miciotta several threats to that effect. If Miciotta's worried, he didn't show it the other day when he appeared before Brooklyn Federal Judge Eugene Nickerson. He was a happy fella as Weissmann sang his praises and asked the judge to reduce Miciotta's 14-year-sentence for his recent spate of cooperation, which has to charges against five inmates, secretary, and others. Nickerson, who reminded Miciotta that his lies from the witness stand were a "major reason" the six mobsters were acquitted, knocked nine years off Miciotta's sentence. Big Sal is set to go free in 1999. His perseverance has paid off.
The prosecution is slated to identify their witnesses - former Gambino underboss Salvatore (Sammy Bull) Gravano, onetime Philadelphia underboss Philip Leonetti, former Luchese acting boss Alfonso (Little Al) D'Arco, onetime Colombo consigliere Carmine Sessa, former Luchese capo Pete (Fat Pete) Chiodo and former Genovese associate Peter Savino. Judge Jack Weinstein is expected to tell all the participants - except Gigante - to appear next week for the start of his long delayed murder and racketeering trial. Weinstein has said Gigante, who has appeared in court only twice since he was charged seven years ago, can come to court or stay home as he sees fit. But he added that it would be in Gigante's best interests to appear. Otherwise he'll have to explain to the jurors there no real reason why Gigante's not there. Stay tuned for the next exciting episodes, unless the Chin slips in a few summer reruns. ASK ANDY
"Pennsylvania's northeastern La Cosa Nostra family takes it's name from Russell Bufalino who was boss when the families were "named" in the early 1960's," says Andy. "Bufalino had taken over from Joe Barbara, host of the famous Apalachin crime meeting in 1957. The first boss, Santo Volpe, began the family's highly profitable and long running labor racketeering schemes. By controlling local unions, the mobsters were able to exploit the coal, trucking and garment industries. Along with gambling and loan sharking, the Bufalino family became and remained quite powerful for decades. "Despite this strength, the Bufalino family did not have a seat on the Commission, but was represented by the Colombo family. However, Russell Bufalino was well respected and had many influential connections with other families in the eastern states. But, over the last two decades, the administration of the family has been decimated and it's power has disappeared. "Like Bufalino's family, the DeCavalcante Family of New Jersey has been on the decline for some time. This group first gained public notoriety in the 1960's when the government released transcripts of a bug placed in the office of Simone (Sam the Plumber) DeCavalcante. These tapes revealed the lucarative nature of labor racketering. By promising non- union contracts, Sam and his boys received kickbacks from willing contractors. In addition, Sam "influenced" these builders to use his plumbing outfits for many of the same jobs. Other rackets discussed by Sam and his friends included gambling, extortion, bribery, beatings and perhaps a murder. After this publicity, it wasn't long before DeCavalcante was behind bars. "The new leader, John Riggi, had to share the New Jersey territory with more powerful families from New York and Philadelphia just as Sam the Plumber had. Despite this, mob turncoat George Fresolone claims that Riggi and his family also profited from labor racketering. Eventually, the government was successful in a prosection and Riggi was jailed. "Another DeCavalcante member of interest is Gaetano (Corky) Vastola. Long active in the "cut out" record business, he ran afoul of John Gotti when they shared a cell. Later, Gotti felt Vastola might become an informer and tried to have him killed. Interestingly enough, twenty years earlier, mobsters expressed similar misgivings about Vastola on the Plumber tapes. The more things change.... "Some books that contain information on these two families:
Today, Andy begins his special five part series on the five New York City Mafia families. Check out this week's installment - The Bonanno Crime Family.
|
Gaspipe had
linked Gigante to several slayings and a plot to kill mob rival John Gotti in 1986. He was
prepared to testify that Gigante and the Luchese family had agreed to make Gotti and his
underboss Frank DeCicco (photo at right) pay with their lives for the unauthorized slaying
of Gotti's predecessor, Paul Castellano. Casso, who said he was in on the planning, has
told the FBI he was involved in placing and detonating a bomb which blew up DeCicco in
April, 1986. Gotti escaped when at the last minute he changed his plans to meet DeCicco in
Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, the afternoon the bomb exploded.
MEANWHILE,
Chin's World, the Never Ending Soap Opera, resumes today in Brooklyn Federal Court with
Gigante's lawyers expected to cite their client's poor health and bad reviews in recent
news accounts and seek a delay in his June 23 trial date.
A TEAMSTER from Pennsylvania wants Andy to "explain
the relationship between the Bufalino Family in Pittston, Pa. and the DeCavalcante Family
of North Jersey with the five families of NYC, especially in the area of labor
racketeering" and to recommend books about the two families.
