JOE BONANNO'S SON DIES

Friends of ours: Joseph "Joe Bananas" Bonanno Sr.

Joseph Bonanno Jr., younger son and namesake of the late mob boss who headed one of New York's five original crime families, has died. He was 60. The younger Bonanno died Nov. 2 at his ranch in Ione, Calif., of a heart attack, his older brother, Salvatore "Bill" Bonanno said last night.

Bonanno, the youngest of three children born to Joseph and Fay Bonanno, followed a different path than his father and older brother. Joseph Bonanno Jr., studied animal husbandry at the University of Arizona, and later owned a 20-acre ranch near Sacramento, Calif. He and his wife of 34 years, Karen, had no children.

Joe Bonanno Sr. died of heart failure in 2002 at age 97. Derisively nicknamed "Joe Bananas," Joe Bonanno Sr. had retired to Arizona in 1968 after allegedly running one of the most powerful Mafia groups during the 1950s and 1960s, though the family had lived in Tucson part-time long before that.

Hollywood and the Mafia

Friends of ours: Bugsy Siegel, Mickey Cohen, Al Capone, Sam Giancana, Vito Genovese, Tommy Lucchese, Tony Accardo, John Rosselli, Johnny Stompenado, Dominic "Donny Shacks" Montemarano
Friends of mine: Frank Sinatra, Steve Bing

Bollywood's connections with the underworld are common knowledge. There is a certain level of romanticism attached to the lives of the mafiosi and their molls. But, the fact remains that even Hollywood greats like ol' blue eyes Frank Sinatra and the original bombshell Marilyn Monroe were rumoured to have underworld links. Here's a look at some of the folklore:

Frank Sinatra, actor-singer: Special agents from the CIA and FBI had kept tabs him on the since 1947 when he took a four-day trip to Havana. He had painted the town red with a gaggle of powerful Cosa Nostra members. Sinatra's other rumoured criminal associates included Joseph and Rocco Fischetti, who were cousins of Al Capone and reigning Chicago boss Sam Giancana. When Giancana had been arrested in 1958, the police found Sinatra's private telephone number in Giancana's wallet. In the summer of 1959, Sinatra allegedly hosted a nine-day, round-the-clock party at the Claridge Hotel in Atlantic City where Chicago wise guys rubbed elbows with top East Coast mobsters, including Vito Genovese and Tommy Lucchese. Charges like these plagued Frank Sinatra throughout his life, and he repeatedly and vehemently denied having any association with the mafia.

Marilyn Monroe, actress: The extensive influence the Chicago mafia had over Hollywood is best illustrated in 1948 when Chicago Mafia boss Tony Accardo had told John Rosselli to force powerful Columbia Pictures' president Harry Cohn into signing then-unknown actor Marilyn Monroe to a lucrative multi-year contract. The usually highly combative Cohn quickly complied without opposition, mainly because Cohn had obtained control of Columbia through mob funds and influence provided by both Accardo and Rosselli.

Bugsy Siegel, mobster: Siegel had a number of mistresses, including actor Ketti Gallian and Wendy Barrie With the aid of DiFrasso and actor friend George Raft, Siegel gained entry into Hollywood's inner circle. He is alleged to have used his contacts to extort movie studios. He lived in extravagant fashion, as befitting his reputation. The highly fictionalised motion picture Bugsy was based on his life with Warren Beatty in the title role.

Lana Turner, actor: After acting in 'Johnny Eager', a mafia flick, Lana began her own involvement with a real life mobster, Johnny Stompenado, a crew member for the Hollywood mob organisation headed then by Mickey Cohen. Stompenado had confronted several of Turner's screen co-stars, including a celebrated tiff with Sean Connery.






Mickey Cohen, mobster: He begun his mafia career as a thug for Vegas boss Ben Siegel before moving to Hollywood. Cohen inherited Siegel's racing interests and operated a small haberdashery in Los Angeles that served as a front for a book making enterprise. Always high profile, he dressed lavishly and flaunted his money and friendships with Hollywood heavy-weights.


Steve Bing, producer: Best know for being the father of Elizabeth Hurley's son Damian, Bing's friends are said to include Dominic 'Donny Shacks' Montemarano, a felon and one time capo in the mafia.

Thanks to After Hrs.

Fergie Goes Mafia

Friends of ours: Soprano Crime Family

This is mafia related since it involves The Soprano's. Plus, it gives me an excuse to run a photo of a hot chick on my site. It is the November sweeps month after all. Black Eyed Peas singer Fergie has been given an offer she can't refuse - to star in an episode of The Sopranos. Fergie - real name Stacy Ferguson - is swapping the music business for family business by playing an undercover cop working in Tony Soprano's seedy Bad-A-Bing strip club. She starts filming the episode early next year.

"Fergie can't believe her luck at landing this part - she's obsessed with The Sopranos," an insider told the Daily Mirror. "The producers thought she'd be perfect because she's got such a toned body and has no problems flaunting her flesh." She is also said to have been hitting the gym with a personal trainer to be "the hottest stripper Bad-A-Bing's ever seen".

Fergie apparently impressed Sopranos bosses after playing opposite John Travolta in the crime comedy Be Cool. She's also set to appear in the remake of 70s disaster flick The Poseiden Adventure, with Kurt Russell.

The TV role comes as the Black Eyed Peas - chart-toppers with Where is the Love? - tour their latest album Monkey Business in the US. Their latest single My Humps comes out in the UK next week.

There's also talk of Fergie going it alone next year and recording her first solo album. But will her Sopranos role prove to be a long-lasting career move? You'll have to tune in next year to find out...

Anthony "Joe Batters" Accardo Index

Anthony Accardo (1906-1992): mob boss, The Genuine Godfather

He had the longest career of any U.S. mobster. Tony Accardo, aka "Joe Batters" or "Big Tuna," served as the boss or chairman of the board of the Chicago Outfit from 1944 until his death in 1992.

Accardo was born in Chicago, the son of Sicilian immigrants. His father was a shoemaker. He grew up at Grand and Ashland avenues and started as a common street burglar, involved mostly in petty larceny. This caught the eye of "Machine Gun" Jack McGurn. Accardo joined the Circus Gang, working his way up the ladder of minor league organized crime. Gradually he progressed from muggings and pocket picking to armed robbery and aggravated assault. He became a member of Capone's Gang after he successfully planned and executed the Hanlon Hellcat shootout in which he led the killing of 3 rivals. As a teenage hood with the Al Capone mob in the 1920s, he participated in lots of Prohibition-era violence. By age 16 he was a high-ranking bodyguard, gunman and "enforcer." In 1929 he participated in the infamous St. Valentine's Day Massacre of Capone rival Bugs Moran's gang on Clark Street.

Accardo received his nickname from his reputation for swinging a ball bat to mete out violence to rivals and others who'd displeased his bosses by failing to make their weekly loan-shark payments. After he killed two of those men, Capone is to said to have commented "This kid is a real Joe Batters".

By the '30s, with the end of bootlegging, the Mob turned its attention to even nastier stuff, like narcotics. During that era the Chicago Syndicate drove all the non-Italian gangs out of business until the Mafia was in complete control of the city's illegal activities. Accardo became Paul "The Waiter" Ricca's second in command. When Ricca went to prison from the Hollywood Extortion Case, Accardo stepped into the position of acting boss of the Outfit in 1944. He often visited Ricca in the federal penitentiary masquerading as his lawyer to obtain direction.

Eventually, around 1947, Accardo became the boss himself. Under Accardo's leadership, the Chicago Outfit expanded its dominion, taking Las Vegas away from the New York mob. This was first done through the Stardust Casino (which yours truly just visited as documented at the Vegas Syndicate and it is was I use the Stardust Odds for my NFL picks at the Sport Syndicate) and later expanded to several other casinos. Joe Batters also aggressively enforced a city-wide street tax, which ordered that the Outfit get a percentage of any money made illegally.

Around 1957, Accardo passed the leadership over to Sam Giancana. As consiglieri, Accardo removed Giancana in 1966 and named Sam "Teets" Battaglia top guy. This was the start of a "boss" merry-go-around that eventually led to Joe Batters assuming the role of boss again in 1971 and had him ordering the hit of Giancana in 1975 as he was cooking dinner in his basement after returning from Mexico.

Despite everything that went on in his empire, Accardo never spent a single night in jail. In the 1950-'51 Kefauver hearings, Accardo took the Fifth Amendment 172 times. In 1960 he was sentenced to six years in prison for income tax evasion but the conviction was later overturned by the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals because of "prejudicial" newspaper publicity during his trial.

Accardo ran the Chicago Outfit for 40 years as boss and/or consiglieri until he died in his sleep due to heart problems at 86 in 1992.

In the past, I used to list all of the articles below in which Tony Accardo appeared. However, by clicking on the label with his name, you can find the same results.

Acquittal for Union Execs and Mafia Capo

Friends of ours: Larry Ricci, Genovese Crime Family
Friends of mine: Harold Daggett, Arthur Coffey

Two longshoremen's union executives and a Mafia capo were acquitted Tuesday of charges that they tried to help the mob keep its grip on the New York waterfront. The verdict may be little consolation for defendant Larry Ricci, a Genovese family captain who remains missing after disappearing in the middle of the trial _ the possible target of a mob hit.

"I hope it brings some solace to the family. You know, at least that a jury saw innocence here," said Ricci attorney Martin Schmukler, who finished the trial with his client absent. "He's either been abducted _ that is unlikely because he'd be far too difficult a person to keep hostage _ or killed."

Either way, defense attorneys said, the acquittals of International Longshoremen's Association officials Harold Daggett and Arthur Coffey could cripple a federal lawsuit seeking to shake the mob's grasp on the ILA by taking control of the powerful union. Supporters and relatives gasped and burst into tears as Coffey and Daggett were declared not guilty of extortion and mail fraud conspiracy charges. Daggett, 59, and Coffey, 62, were charged with conspiring with the Genovese family to install Daggett as the mob-controlled puppet president of the ILA. They had faced 20-year maximum sentences if convicted.

Brooklyn prosecutors have moved for a trustee to oversee the New York-based union, which inspired the 1954 film "On the Waterfront." The union represents 45,000 dockworkers and other employees at three dozen ports from Maine to Texas. "Today is a wonderful day for the ILA," president John Bowers said in a statement. "We rejoice in the happy outcome."

A spokesman for U.S. Attorney Roslynn Mauskopf did not comment on the civil lawsuit but said her office would continue to prosecute union corruption. "We respect the jury's verdict in this case and will continue our vigorous efforts," the spokesman said.

A law-enforcement official speaking on condition of anonymity said authorities remain unconvinced that Ricci disappeared because he was murdered. A failure to show up now that he has been acquitted would be more convincing, the official said.

Ricci, 60, who had faced a maximum five-year sentence if convicted, had been free on $500,000 bond on a mail and wire fraud conspiracy charge for allegedly trying to steer a lucrative union health care contract to a mob-linked firm. He was last seen in Carteret, N.J., on Oct. 7, three weeks into the trial. He switched from one borrowed car to another as if he thought he was being followed, but he was not being tracked by police or federal agents, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing.

If he reappears he could face a possible five-year sentence for skipping bail mid-trial. If Ricci was killed by the mob, it could have been for a reason unrelated to the trial, the official said. A hit would be evidence that a decades-long effort to uproot the mob has not completely robbed it of the power and money derived from gambling, loan-sharking and labor corruption.

"When people disappear like that from the Mafia they usually don't turn up alive," said Selwyn Raab, author of "Five Families," a history of organized crime in New York. "There's always somebody circulating who knows how to do these things. ... They've been doing it for a long time and they think they can get away with it."

Daggett, who had been suspended as the ILA International's assistant general organizer, alternated between relief and anger as he left the courthouse a free man. "The truth'll set you free," he said. "Where do I go to get my reputation back now?"

Thanks to Michael Weissenstein

FBI went high-tech to nail mobster

Friends of ours: Frank Calabrese Sr., James Marcello

Frank Calabrese Jr. looked like any other prisoner in the yard at the federal detention center in Milan, Mich.: Large headphones covered his ears as he listened to a portable radio hitched to his belt. That's what prisoners did in the yard, so Frank Calabrese Jr. didn't stand out. And that was precisely the point for FBI agents.

No one would suspect that the ordinary-looking headphones and radio had cost the FBI about $25,000 to create. In the headphones was a listening device. In the radio was a computer chip to record whatever voices were picked up.

Calabrese Jr. agreed to wear the high-tech device -- details of which have been previously undisclosed -- to secretly record his father, Frank Calabrese Sr., a brutal loan shark and suspected hit man, as he talked about the Chicago Outfit. The FBI says Frank Calabrese Sr. was involved in 13 murders and one attempted murder, charges Calabrese Sr. has denied.

The conversations are among key parts of the evidence against Calabrese Sr. in his trial next year. Twelve other men, including the reputed head of the Chicago Outfit, James Marcello, are charged in the case, which pins 18 murders on the Outfit in the most significant indictment ever against organized crime in Chicago. The U.S. attorney's office had no comment on the listening device or any aspect of the case.

FBI agents went to the prison several years ago because Calabrese Jr. had written to them, saying he wanted to cooperate against his father, law enforcement sources said. The younger Calabrese wasn't looking for any favors. Nor did the FBI have anything to hang over his head.

Calabrese Jr. simply wanted to ensure that his father stayed in prison for the rest of his life, law enforcement sources said. Both men were convicted in a loan-sharking case, but the son had much less involvement than his father. Calabrese Jr. was released from prison in 2000 and is believed to be living out of state.

Putting a body wire on Calabrese Jr. each time father and son roamed the prison yard simply wasn't going to work. So the son came up with the idea of where to plant the listening device, law enforcement sources said. Even with the recording device so cleverly disguised, Calabrese Jr. was putting his life on the line every time he recorded his father.

His father is a brutal, cagey, street-smart mobster, always paranoid about his conversations, sources said. So Calabrese Jr. had to devise clever ways to get his father to discuss matters that mob code forbids ever talking about.

FBI agents were at the prison while the conversations were being digitally recorded. But the listening device only recorded. It did not broadcast, so there was no way FBI agents could listen in while the two men were talking. So if Frank Calabrese Jr. got into trouble -- if his father got suspicious or threatened him -- there was no way for FBI agents to hear what was happening.

Still, the younger Calabrese succeeded beyond agents' expectations. His father talked and talked and talked. The man known for his ability to negotiate and argue brilliantly with other Outfit members was hanging himself with his own words in the prison yard, sources said.

Calabrese Sr. allegedly described murders he and other mobsters were allegedly involved in, as well as mob rituals and who was and was not a member of the Outfit. Calabrese Sr.'s attorney, Joseph Lopez, has disparaged the tapes, saying they prove nothing.

Thanks to Steve Warmbir

Lawyer: Cleared mobster may be dead

Friends of ours: Lawrence Ricci, Genovese Crime Family
Friends of mine: Harold Daggett, Arthur Coffey

Two executives of the International Longshoremen's Association and a reputed mobster who went missing mid-trial were acquitted Tuesday of charges that they helped the Mafia keep its grip on the New York waterfront. Supporters gasped and burst into tears as a federal jury in Brooklyn found union officials Harold Daggett and Arthur Coffey not guilty of extortion and fraud charges.

The jury also acquitted Lawrence Ricci, an alleged Genovese crime family associate who had been accused of wire and mail fraud. But the victory may turn out to be empty for Ricci, who vanished in the middle of the trial and is suspected to have been slain by the mob. His attorney said after the verdict that he believed Ricci had been killed, but he hoped the verdict gave his family solace. This reminds me of a scene in the movie Casino. All the mob bosses are sitting around discussing the big trial that is coming up and talking about who they can trust. They get to one guy in particular and as they go around the table, everyone agrees that this guy is a good man and can be trusted. Finally one of them goes: "Eh, why take the chance?" Bam, the guy is whacked. Same thing here with Ricci. The guy gets acquitted, but the mob thought, Eh, why take the chance?

Prosecutors had accused Ricci of working to award a lucrative union contract to a mob-tied pharmaceutical company. Daggett and Coffey were charged with conspiring with the Genovese crime family to install Daggett as the mob-controlled puppet president of the ILA.

Chicago Mob Invades Vegas

Pretty cool, in a TV kind of way, show on Las Vegas last night that involved as part of the plot, the Chicago Mob in 1962, taking over a casino in Las Vegas. More details are reported at the Vegas Syndicate

Fulton fishmongers start move in anticipation of deal

The Fulton Fish Market was being packed and carted to the Bronx on Monday in anticipation of a deal settling a court fight over allegations of Mafia infiltration, lawyers for both sides said.

The deal would allow a contractor installed by former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani to keep unloading fish for three years at the new home of one of the nation's largest and oldest fish markets. After three years the wholesalers who run the market could ask the city for permission to take over unloading.

"The parties have resolved their differences," said William Kuntz, a lawyer for the wholesalers. "It basically puts the war behind us."

Unloading fish from arriving trucks was a chokepoint for Mafia control of the lower Manhattan market, where mob associates would extort payoffs from sellers seeking faster delivery.

Giuliani put contractor Laro Service Systems Inc. in place in 1995 to help break the mob's grip. But the city decided to let the fish sellers take over unloading in the new refrigerated Bronx market. Laro sued the wholesalers and the city in September to block the change. Laro alleged that the wholesalers still had organized crime ties and the move would let the mob retake the market. The sellers said they simply wanted to unload fish more cheaply and quickly than Laro.

A judge agreed with Laro and blocked the wholesalers from taking over unloading. The wholesalers have agreed to drop their appeal of the September decision under the impending deal. Former Giuliani chief of staff Randy Mastro, who represents Laro, said the deal was not complete but would likely be signed within the next two days.

"There are still substantive issues that are being discussed," he said. "I think there's substantial progress toward settlement."

The market has hundreds of employees and more than $1 billion a year in sales. Its move is considered key to the city's plans to revitalize both the Hunts Point section of the Bronx and the lackluster area around the South Street Seaport.

Thanks to Michael Weissenstein - Newday

FBI Top 10 List

Friends of ours: James "Whitey"Bulger

As mentioned at Showtime's Brotherhood , Showtime is about to air a mob series that is inspired by the life of James "Whitey" Bulger, a Boston mobster. Bulger is currently on the FBI's Top 10 Most Wanted List.

JAMES J. BULGER IS BEING SOUGHT FOR HIS ROLE IN NUMEROUS MURDERS COMMITTED FROM THE EARLY 1970s THROUGH THE MID-1980s IN CONNECTION WITH HIS LEADERSHIP OF AN ORGANIZED CRIME GROUP THAT ALLEGEDLY CONTROLLED EXTORTION, DRUG DEALS, AND OTHER ILLEGAL ACTIVITIES IN THE BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, AREA. HE HAS A VIOLENT TEMPER AND IS KNOWN TO CARRY A KNIFE AT ALL TIMES.

Charges include:

RACKETEERING INFLUENCED AND CORRUPT ORGANIZATIONS (RICO) - MURDER (18 COUNTS), CONSPIRACY TO COMMIT MURDER, CONSPIRACY TO COMMIT EXTORTION, NARCOTICS DISTRIBUTION, CONSPIRACY TO COMMIT MONEY LAUNDERING; EXTORTION; and MONEY LAUNDERING

Additionally, Bulger is an avid reader with an interest in history. He is known to frequent libraries and historic sites. Bulger is currently on the heart medication Atenolol (50 mg) and maintains his physical fitness by walking on beaches and in parks with his female companion, Catherine Elizabeth Greig. Bulger and Greig love animals and may frequent animal shelters. Bulger has been known to alter his appearance through the use of disguises. He has traveled extensively throughout the United States, Europe, Canada, and Mexico.
He is CONSIDERED ARMED AND EXTREMELY DANGEROUS

The full details and how you can help can be found at FBI Wants James Bulger

A Mafia case that matters

Friends of ours: Genovese Crime Family, Gambino Crime Family, Vincent "Chin" Gigante, Peter Gotti, George Barone, Lawrence Ricci
Friends of mine: Harold Daggett, Arthur Coffey

Harold Daggett, of Sparta, will likely find out in the next few days which story a federal jury in Brooklyn believes: that he is a hardworking mechanic who worked his way up the ranks of the waterfront union, or — as the U.S. government says — that he is a "longtime associate" of organized crime. If the jury opts for the latter, Daggett, a 59-year-old father of three, could be headed to prison for up to 20 years.

After hearing the case for seven weeks in U.S. District Court, jurors spent all day Thursday deliberating and will return Monday morning to continue. Lawyers in the case hope they will reach a verdict by midweek. Daggett, the assistant general organizer of the International Longshoreman's Association, was indicted last year along with fellow executive Arthur Coffey, of Florida. Both are charged with extortion conspiracy and fraud for allegedly steering lucrative union contracts to mob-controlled businesses.

It's the latest offensive aimed at rooting out Mafia corruption on the docks — something the government has been trying to do for decades, since Marlon Brando starred in the 1954 film "On the Waterfront." Only now, the goal might be in sight.

Control of the docks has historically been shared by two of the "five families" of the New York Mafia — with the Genovese family in Manhattan, New Jersey and South Florida, and the Gambino family in Brooklyn and Staten Island. With the bosses of both families, Vincent "Chin" Gigante and Peter Gotti, along with other prominent mobsters, now in prison, prosecutors have turned to the allegedly corrupt officials who did their bidding for decades. "This is a big case," a well-known mob expert said Friday. "They've got all the gangsters, (and) this is a particularly important follow-up or complement to that."

On the heels of the current criminal case, the government also has filed a civil lawsuit against the ILA seeking to have just about every current executive permanently barred from union activity. Court-appointed monitors would then oversee new union elections.

Roslynn Mauskopf, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said the lawsuit "seeks — once and for all — to end mob domination of this important labor union and put its future back into the hands of the rank-and-file members it was designed to serve."

The mob expert, who agreed to be quoted in this article on the condition that his name not be used, said the outcome of the Daggett-Coffey case may determine how the government will fare in the civil case — often called a "civil RICO" after the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. "Once (the feds) can convict these honchos, it'll go a long way toward establishing their civil case," the expert said. "This'll be like icing on the cake."

Coffey's defense attorney, Gerald McMahon — who in his opening statement called the case a politically-motivated attempt by the Justice Department to take over the union — said essentially the same thing. "Everybody knows that if they get a criminal conviction, it makes the civil RICO a slam dunk," McMahon said.

The core of the government's case is a meeting six years ago at a Miami Beach steakhouse between ILA president John Bowers and Genovese soldier George Barone. Coffey allegedly brought Bowers to the meeting. Bowers later recalled the encounter in a sworn deposition before the Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor. "You're doing a wonderful job," he said Barone told him. "We hope you stay forever. But if you ever leave, I would like to see Harold Daggett become president."

Bowers had been backing a Texas man not controlled by the Genovese family to be his successor, and Barone was there to let him know that was not a good idea, the government says. When asked by investigators how he responded, Bowers was matter-of-fact: "I am alone, one-on-one. I know of his reputation; I am not going to ask a lot of questions. I am figuring now how the hell to get out of the place."

Barone, 81, who has admitted murdering at least 10 people in his decades as a mobster, became an informant to avoid prison after a 2001 arrest, and is now the star witness for the prosecution. How reliable the jurors found Barone, and several other turncoats who testified in the trial, could be the deciding factor in their verdict.

The case may also rest on how reliable they found Daggett himself, who took the stand in his own defense during the trial's final week and denied that he even knows any mobsters — except, of course, for George Barone, who he said once held a gun to his head when he was trying to move his local out of Manhattan. "There is no mob in my local," Daggett testified.

Daggett, a third-generation dockworker who now earns almost a half-million dollars between his two jobs as the ILA assistant general organizer and president of the North Bergen local, lives in a gated mansion set back from a neighborhood of small-by-comparison three-garage homes on Green Road in Sparta. He is a parishioner at Our Lady of the Lake Roman Catholic Church and has been portrayed in his defense as an upstanding member of the community who fights for the rights of his laborers.

Daggett's lawyer, George Daggett — his cousin and the former Sussex County prosecutor — called the government's case an "anti-union prosecution" in his three-hour closing argument last week. "I'm pleased with the way the case went in," George Daggett said Friday. He added that he was pleased with what he saw as positive reactions, from some jurors, to his impassioned summation.

The case has had its unexpected twists. In the past two months, for instance, the number of defendants has dwindled from four to two. Or, if you will, 2 1/2.

A third ILA executive, Albert Cernadas — who also headed the union local in Port Newark — was named in a superseding indictment earlier this year but pleaded guilty a week before the trial began to a reduced conspiracy charge. Under the plea deal, he agreed to sever all ties with the union and will likely avoid significant prison time. Then, halfway through the trial, another defendant, a reputed Genovese captain named Lawrence Ricci, disappeared under mysterious circumstances. Published reports cited investigative sources as saying they believed he had been killed by his fellow gangsters. However, Ricci remains merely "missing" in the eyes of the law, and he is still technically a defendant in the case. The judge in the case has instructed the jury not to draw any "negative inference" from his absence.

Thanks to BRENDAN BERLS

Chicago Mob still in Vegas?

Friends of ours: Joseph "Joey the Clown" Lombardo, John "No-Nose" DiFronzo, Joe "The Builder" Andriacchi
Friends of mine: Rick Rizzolo

As political donors go, few are as colorful as Rick Rizzolo - a Las Vegas nightclub owner who contributed $1,500 in May to Orange County Sheriff Mike Carona's re-election campaign. Rizzolo, 47, owns the Crazy Horse Too topless club, which was raided in January by federal agents who arrested a shift manager on racketeering charges. A federal indictment in Nevada declared the club a "racketeering enterprise."

Crazy Horse Too has been under investigation since August 2001 for suspected fraud, illegal sexual activity and drug violations. Court documents also allege that Rizzolo repeatedly dined with mob underboss Joey "The Clown" Lombardo in Chicago - who disappeared after being indicted on murder charges. Court records, quoting the Chicago Tribune, add that Rizzolo also rubbed shoulders with high-ranking mobsters John "No-Nose" DiFronzo and his consigliere, Joe "The Builder" Andriacchi.

Besides his reported mob connections, Rizzolo has a criminal record: he pleaded guilty in 1985 to battery for a baseball bat attack on a Crazy Horse patron, who suffered brain damage, records show. (Graduate of the Joe Batters school?)

Carona, who may be facing his toughest election in 2006 because of sex scandals and corruption charges surrounding his administration, declined to comment Wednesday. His political adviser Michael Schroeder said the campaign will look into the Rizzolo contribution and may return the money. Rizzolo owns a $1.2 million home in Newport Beach. "Obviously, Sheriff Carona had no idea about these alleged connections," said Schroeder. "No campaign has the resources, from the governor, the president, on down, to investigate every one of their donors."

However, Robert Stern, president of the nonpartisan Center for Governmental Studies and former general counsel to the California Fair Political Practices Commission, said Carona cannot claim ignorance. "Absolutely, they should be screening all the contributions to make sure they are not embarrassed," Stern said. "Candidates who say, 'I don't look (at) who contributes to me,' they are being foolish."

Phone messages left at Rizzolo's office at the Crazy Horse as well as with his Las Vegas attorney, Anthony Sgro, were not returned.

First elected in 1998, Carona has been slammed in recent years by criminal investigations into his command staff; sex allegations revealing a frat-boy atmosphere at sheriff's administrative offices; and a loss of credibility among his rank and file.

Recently, Carona was accused in two county liability claims of pressuring female relatives of former chief of staff George Jaramillo to have sex with him or accompany him to San Francisco. Jaramillo himself was indicted on state charges of using department resources to benefit a Newport Beach company that gave him money. The owner of that company, Charles Gabbard, admitted last year that he also funneled as much as $29,000 in illegal donations to Carona's 2002 campaign. Meanwhile, a sheriff's captain is facing criminal charges for soliciting donations from sheriff's employees for Carona's war chest, a violation of state campaign laws.

In each case, the sheriff denied wrongdoing or blamed others who he said acted behind his back.

Carona, through Schroeder, said he met Rizzolo two or three times but knew him only as someone from Newport Beach. Campaign documents initially listed Rizzolo as "owner, nightclub." Orange County political watchdog Shirley Grindle in late August contacted the Registrar of Voters Office and noted the nightclub should be identified in the financial disclosure. The documents were amended by the campaign last week to read "president/CEO Rizzolo Corporation." No such corporation could be found in California or Nevada.

Rizzolo's past is well-documented on the Internet, in Las Vegas newspapers and federal court records. He is a heavy contributor to Las Vegas City Council members, the district attorney and Nevada judges. His nightclub is legendary in the adult-entertainment world - and well-known to police and paramedics.

"For years, the management and 'security staff' of the Crazy Horse has been infested by a rogues' gallery of thugs, thieves, drug pushers and corrupt ex-cops. Most, if not all, have well documented ties to organized crime figures," said court papers filed by attorneys in a lawsuit against the nightclub. "All of this has nurtured a culture of violence marked by robberies, beatings and even death."

The lawsuit, as well as the federal indictment, were spurred by allegations of the beating of tourist Kirk Henry, who was left paralyzed from the neck down after he disputed a nightclub tab in September 2001. Crazy Horse lawyers have found a cab driver, also a chauffeur for the club, who said he saw Henry fall by himself and hit his head on the curb.

According to the indictment of shift manager Robert D'Apice, patrons who disputed fees demanded by dancers were threatened or physically assaulted by male staff members, amounting to extortion or robbery. The dancers paid a percentage of their tips to managers and staff members at the end of their shifts. The indictment indicates that federal agents are trying to determine whether D'Apice and club employees overcharged patrons for service, food and beverages; were involved in bringing women from outside Nevada to engage in prostitution and aided the distribution of illegal narcotics within the club.

Thanks to TONY SAAVEDRA and CHRIS KNAP

Lawyer calls Mafia case 'anti-union'

Friends of ours: Genovese Crime Family, Lawrence Ricci

He had been talking for three hours straight, minus one 10-minute break, and George Daggett was just wrapping up his closing argument Tuesday afternoon in defense of his cousin, Harold, who is on trial on union corruption charges.

"The actions of Harold Daggett are inconsistent with the government's case," Daggett told the 12 jurors and two alternates as he concluded.

Seconds later, after Daggett said "Thank you" and strode back toward the defense table, half the courtroom gallery — a few dozen family members and supporters — erupted into applause.

That didn't sit well with the judge, who had barely said a word all day.

"Another outburst like that, and I'll exclude you from the courtroom," U.S. District Court Judge I. Leo Glasser said, rising to his feet. "That's inappropriate behavior, and I'll have none of it."

Glasser's brief chiding was merely a punctuation mark at the close of a lengthy day in court, during which the jury heard the end of the government's closing argument and two out of three defense lawyers'.

Harold Daggett, a Sparta resident and top executive in the International Longshoreman's Association, is charged along with fellow executive Arthur Coffey with extortion conspiracy and mail fraud in connection with the union's reputed ties with the Genovese crime family.

A third defendant, reputed Genovese captain Lawrence Ricci, disappeared midway through the trial, which started Sept. 20. He is unofficially believed to have been killed, but the jurors have been told not to draw any "negative inference" from his unexplained absence.

Ricci's lawyer, Martin Schmukler, also gave his closing argument Tuesday, speaking for about an hour. Schmulker's closing drew mainly on the argument that, outside the questionable testimony of several mob informants, there is no evidence against his client "other than a person socializing with other people."

Schmukler also drew laughter from the courtroom when he held up an unflattering mug shot of Ricci — introduced into evidence after Ricci disappeared — and said, "I'd be afraid to show this picture to his mother."

George Daggett, in his closing, was likewise dismissive of the informants' testimony — especially one of the government's star witnesses, former hit-man George Barone — but also went on the attack against the government lawyers, accusing them of bending facts and changing dates in order to get a conviction. "This is an anti-union prosecution," Daggett said more than once.

Daggett also painted his client as an honest man who, in moving his ILA local from Manhattan to North Bergen, kept it out of Mafia control. For instance, when Harold Daggett was made the secretary-treasurer of the northeastern district of the ILA, he refused to hire a mob accountant known as "Tax Doctor" to handle the funds.

"He (instead) went to Father Cassidy, in Sparta Township, out by the Delaware Water Gap," George Daggett said. "Is that an associate of the Genovese family, who takes $18 million and puts it under the care of a guy that was recommended by the parish priest?"

Tuesday was the second full day of closing arguments. Gerald McMahon, Coffey's attorney, will give his summation today, followed by a "rebuttal summation" in which the government can respond to the defense lawyers' statements. Glasser will then issue his instructions to the jury before they begin deliberating.