"CHICAGO OVERCOAT'' HOME VIDEO RELEASE

Following its December 2010 Showtime television premiere, Beverly Ridge Pictures’ feature length gangster film Chicago Overcoat had its much-anticipated North American home video release on April 19, 2011. MTI Home Video, now in its 27th year distributing films, made Chicago Overcoat availableto rent at Netflix, Redbox, and Blockbuster Express, and to purchase at Amazon, iTunes, and thousands of other online stores. Major retailers will have Chicago Overcoat DVDs on their shelves Summer 2011. Original music from the film can be purchased on iTunes, Amazon, and eMusic.

The film stars Frank Vincent (The Sopranos) as an aging hit man who tries to get back a piece of the glory days. Fellow Sopranos cast member Kathrine Narducci (A Bronx Tale) co-stars as Vincent’s girlfriend, along with Danny Goldring (The Dark Knight) as a tenacious homicide detective, and Mike Starr (Goodfellas) as the street boss. The cast also features Emmy Award winner Armand Assante (American Gangster) as the imprisoned Outfit boss, and Golden Globe winner Stacy Keach (Lights Out) as a retired detective.

Chicago Overcoat had its world premiere at the 45th Chicago International Film Festival, where it was voted into the “Best of the Fest.” It went on to win “Best Dramatic Feature” at the 8th Garden State Film Festival then “Best Cinematography” at the 6th Midwest Independent Film Festival. The film received much critical acclaim during its festival tour. In Variety’s review Alissa Simon wrote: “This energetic calling-card pic boasts the most charismatic mafia murderer since Tony Soprano…” And Chicago Sun-Times columnist Bill Zwecker wrote: “Well produced and directed…a very tense thriller.”

For information on how to rent or purchase Chicago Overcoat go to www.beverlyridgepictures.com or follow the film on Facebook and Twitter.

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‘Do You Know Who I Am?’ on Mob Wives

Renee Graziano tempts fate by hosting a Psychic Party, while Carla Facciolo loses control over her rambunctious twins and contemplates telling them the truth about their Dad's imprisonment. After Drita D'avanzo's moves to make amends are rebuffed by Renee, the domineering wise gals go head to head. Renee's inner Mafia Princess is unleashed when things take a disrespectful and dangerous turn during a night out with Karen Gravano.

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"Capone Days Festival" to Honor Al Capone's Grand Niece, Deirdre Marie Capone, at Gangster Museum Grand Opening

Deirdre Marie Capone is the Guest Of Honor at the Hot Springs, Arkansas 'Capone Days Festival' May 20, 21, 22.

She will also be signing copies of her new award winning book, Uncle Al Capone at the grand opening of The Gangster Museum.

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"America's Most Wanted" Canceled by Fox in Budget Move, Show to Consider Syndication?

You didn't have to watch "America's Most Wanted" to be grateful it's there. For 23 years it has resided on Fox, rallying its audience into a nationwide crime watch from which everyone benefited.

The viewership was not insignificant: 5 million viewers, on average, this season.But other numbers were more impressive. Like the 1,151-and-counting worldwide captures it claimed, a public blessing for which the show, and the community it roused, could take proud credit.

No wonder if the public was shaken by the news on Monday that Fox has canceled "AMW."

Too expensive, Fox entertainment Kevin Reilly explained when making the announcement. Instead of "AMW," Fox will air weekly repeats of its prime-time entertainment series. He said there would be just four, two-hour "AMW" specials next season.

John Walsh had gotten the bad news on Sunday. Walsh, of course, is the host of "AMW" and its driving force, a man who led a crime-busting crusade in the aftermath of the abduction and murder of his 6-year-old son Adam in 1981. "I was quite surprised," he said by phone Monday afternoon from backstage at the Fox's presentation for advertisers in Manhattan. He said he told Reilly, "We performed hard for you and we had a good year. We caught more guys than we've ever caught." But that wasn't the metric that mattered to the network.

Set aside for a moment the public good "AMW" has provided. It's also been a remarkable TV institution. It premiered in April 1988 on the fledgling Fox network during a season when other freshman Fox shows included such long-forgotten fare as "The New Adventures of Beans Baxter" and "Second Chance."
It was billed as "a weekly nationwide criminal manhunt." Walsh, a former hotel executive with no TV experience, was its host, with a simple message for the law-abiding public that he deputized to help flush out the bad guys: It's us or them.

"AMW" caught on, where most of Fox's lineup failed. (In July 1989, it became the first-ever Fox program to rank first in its time slot.) It's been a fixture on the network ever since, and, since 1994, planted at 9 p.m. Eastern on Saturdays. Oh, except for a couple of months in 1996 after Fox canceled it the first time.
"The public went bananas," Walsh recalled. So did government and police officials, who regarded the show as an invaluable law-enforcement resource. The network swiftly reconsidered, and "AMW" carried on with its good work.

"It's a show that seems like it was always there," said Brad Adgate, an analyst for the firm Horizon Media. And innovative: "It harnessed the wisdom of crowds long before social media."

"AMW" had another thing going for it. No matter how aggressively the show led a fight to drain the nation's swampland of depravity, there was no danger it would ever run dry. "AMW" has content guaranteed to keep going forever.

Anyone other than Walsh might have received the news that "AMW" was being cut down with a measure of relief. After a quarter-century immersed in the dark side of humanity while keeping up a punishing schedule, he might reasonably welcome a respite now, at age 65. But he's not about to slow down.

"We're getting better at it," he said of the collective effort he and his show display. "I got better at it, smarter at it, tougher."

Walsh said there will be a couple more episodes to do for the network. Meanwhile, he'll be talking to Twentieth Television, the network's studio arm, about possible new outlets for the show. "I think this show could go into syndication big-time," he said. "And I'll do those specials, because I love the network. Who else would give the father of a murdered child a chance to host a revolutionary reality show?"

Then he had to get off the phone. He was needed onstage at the presentation. "Television is a business and I understand that," Walsh said in parting. "But you never know: We came back once, stronger than ever. ... I'm not ready to throw in the towel."

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Vincent 'Vinny Gorgeous' Basciano Could Face Death Penalty for Mob Murder

Notorious mob boss 'Vinny Gorgeous' could face the death penalty after being convicted on Monday in federal court of ordering the death of a former Mafia associate.

A jury in Brooklyn reached the verdict on its fourth day of deliberations after the month-long trial and now must decide whether he should be killed for his crime or locked up for life.

It is only the second time in 30 years that a mobster has faced the death penalty for a gangland murder.

In 1992 Thomas 'Tommy Karate' Pitera was convicted of seven murders and could have been executed, but instead the jury gave him life in prison.

There is no longer a state death penalty charge in New York but the feds are seeking the death penalty under the murder in aid of racketeering statute.

Vincent Basciano, who was known to mobsters as Vinny Gorgeous, was already serving a life sentence for an attempted murder conviction in 2007.

This time, he was found guilty of conspiracy to commit murder, murder in aid of racketeering, and an illegal gun charge in relation to the killing of a mob associate who ran afoul of the Bonanno organised crime family in 2004.

The trial featured testimony by former Bonanno boss Joseph Massino, the highest-ranking member of a New York City Mafia family ever to testify against his own.

Jurors heard secret recordings by Massino in which 51-year-old Basciano admitted to the killing. Prosecutors suggested Basciano was a power-hungry gangster, 'ruthless' and 'ambitious' in his lethal methods.

Basciano gave the order to kill Randolph Pizzolo, a Bonanno associate who was gunned down in 2004 in an industrial section of Greenpoint, Brooklyn.

Assistant US Attorney Stephen Frank told the jury at Brooklyn federal court Basciano continued to run the crime family from behind bars.

Basciano 'ordered the murder of Randolph Pizzolo, who disrespected and disobeyed the defendant and paid for it with his life,' he said. Pizzolo's death 'would be a statement to everybody in the crime family that Vinny Basciano don't play around,' Frank added.

He suggested a secret recording which captured the gangster saying 'let him [Pizzolo] go', proved the mobster's guilt.

Despite the recordings and testimony from former mob associates of the gangster, Basciano's defence had tried to argue he wasn't involved in Pizzolo's murder. 'At times in his life, he was a hoodlum. But he didn't kill Randy Pizzolo,' George Goltzer, one of Basciano's defense attorneys, told the jury.

The defence painted half a dozen former Bonannos who testified against Basciano as ruthless murderers seeking reduced sentences at any cost.

One of them, Joseph Massino, was the Bonanno boss for two decades before turning on his own and becoming the first head of a New York crime family to testify for the government.

The case relied heavily on secret recordings between Basciano and Massino, who was wearing a wire.

The jury will return to court in a few days to discuss Basciano's penalty and determine whether or not he should be executed for his mob crimes.

Thanks to DMR

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Mob Bust on VH1's Mob Wives

When the Feds conduct the biggest mob bust in the history of organized crime, the fall out rocks Staten Island to its core and Renee Graziano's world starts to unravel.

Karen Gravano is forced to revisit her mafia past as she reconnects with memories of growing up as an infamous gangster's daughter. Drita D'avanzo faces the harsh realities of her husband's prolonged jail sentence which forces her to question her future as a prisoner's wife. The divide between Renee and Drita deepens when Renee receives an unexpected blow and an unlikely ally shows support.

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Mobster Salvatore Volpe Paid $50,000 After Restaurant Owner Gets His Wife Pregnant

You'd have thought getting a mobster's wife pregnant would carry the ultimate price. But it turns out even a cuckolded Mafioso can sometimes forgive and forget - for the right fee.

Salvatore Volpe, a low-level Bonanno family associate, told a court in New York he accepted $50,000 from a restaurateur who impregnated his wife, in exchange for not killing him.

The 48-year-old took the stand yesterday as a government witness in the trial of Bonanno boss Vincent 'Vinny Gorgeous' Basciano, who is accused of ordering the 2004 murder of  Randy Pizzolo.

Volpe, who works as a plumber, revealed his wife had an affair with the owner of Trattoria Romana, Staten Island, in 2003.

Volpe didn't discover her infidelity until she fell pregnant - although she initially tried to pretend it was his baby, he told Brooklyn Federal Court. He claimed that when he found out the truth, he broke up with his wife then went straight to his crew boss, John Palazzolo, who sent three Bonanno gangsters to confront the owner, known only as 'Anthony'.

According to Volpe, the restaurateur had his own Mafia connections, and sought protection from the New Jersey-based DeCavalcante crime family. Except his plan backfired, and the family were allegedly keen to take the chance to appease the Bonnanos by killing him in his own trattoria basement.

The dispute led to two tense meetings at nearby Alfredo's restaurant as the rival gangs thrashed out a deal, Volpe told the court, although he was too junior to be privy to the talks. He said the Bonnanos sought to avoid killing the man, and instead proposed a $50,000 'tax', $10,000 of which would go to the DeCavalcantes as commission for brokering the deal.

According to the New York Daily News, Volpe told the court: 'Instead of [the restaurant owner] getting killed, he'd have to pay a tax. It was basically a penalty.' He gave the usual cut to his Bonanno bosses, he said, and took the rest for himself. He told the court it was a welcome sum, as the family rarely sent any work to his plumbing business.

Volpe's revelations about the inner-workings of the mob were part of his first day of testimony against Basciano, who faces the death penalty if convicted of ordering Mr Pizzolo's killing.

Yesterday Volpe said Mr Pizzolo sealed his death warrant by boasting he was going to 'level the Bronx' in revenge for not being indicted into the crime family. That was a reference to Basciano, who was then based in the Bronx as the acting Bonanno boss.

He also said the gang discussed killing defence lawyer Gerard Marrone after he put himself forward for membership - but Mr Marrone said he never asked to join.

Volpe is the second 'mob rat' to testify at the trial. Last week the court heard from former Bonanno boss Joseph Massino, the New York mafia's highest-ever ranking informer. He agreed to wear a wire in jail to record a conversation with Basciano about the 2004 killing. Prosecutors played the recordings to the court last week, and the jury heard Basciano apparently tell his predecessor: 'I gave the order. Randy was a f***ing jerkoff.'

Bonanno soldier Anthony Aiello has already pleaded guilty to killing Pizzolo, but now his boss is on trial accused of ordering the murder.

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Mobster Robert Perrino Allegedly Killed for Finding Religion

A Mafia associate and newspaper delivery man was 'whacked' by the mob in a horrific murder - because he found religion.

Robert Perrino was shot in the head and brutally stabbed in the ear with an ice pick by Bonanno mobsters after they allegedly became worried that he was going to church too often.

They are said to have thought turning so suddenly to religion was an indication that Perrino, an associate of the family, might be considering grassing to police.

Perrino's skeletal remains were found in 2003 in Staten Island but he had been missing from 1992, more than a decade earlier.

At the high-profile federal murder trial of Vincent Basciano, fellow Bonanno Mafioso James Tartaglione, known as 'Big Louie', shed light for the first time on the possible reason for Perrino's horrific murder.
Tartaglione said of Perrino: 'He would go to church every day. He was praying every day. They thought he may flip -- that he found religion.'He was saying certain things that he felt a little more religious.'

He added that, as a result, underboss Salvatore Vitale ordered his murder. 'Sal had him whacked out,' he told the court.

After the order was made, Perrino, who had a job on the side as superintendent of deliveries at The New York Post, was told to go to Brooklyn social club Basile's. At the club, a hit man shot him in the head and another thrust an ice pick in his ear. Perrino’s body was not found until Vitale himself began cooperating with police.

At Vitale's high-profile murder trial last year, Perrino's widow Rosalie wrote a letter that was read out in court
She wrote: 'As a result of Salvatore Vitale’s criminal inhuman behaviour, my grandson never knew his grandfather, and he and our granddaughter have grown up without this special man. 'Salvatore Vitale caused my own life to unravel and the colour in my life to drain away.'

At the Basciano trial, prosecutors also played recordings of a meeting between Basciano and Tartaglione at the Seacrest Diner on Long Island. Tartaglione was wearing a wire.

Basciano can be heard predicting his demise during the conversation. 'The end of the day, we're all gonna be in jail,' he said. 'That's going to f***ing happen.'

Basciano, 51, sneered in court as a series of boasts about his power as a mobster were replayed to the court. He said of late mob boss John Gotti, his criminal role model: 'You know what? He did it the way he wanted, and he died the way he wanted.'

He then added, of his own methods: 'I don't need anybody that anybody's gonna give me. I got my own guys. I do it myself.'

Thanks to DMR

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God and the Godfather

Call it the case of God and the Godfather.

A brand new seminary is going up near the campus of Loyola University. But student Stan Golovchuk, who's also an editor on the Loyola Phoenix, found something on the construction site that now has church officials scrambling.

Golovchuk noticed a dumpster labeled "D & P Construction" across the street from the student newspaper's offices, and started investigating. "I found they have business all over the city, throughout the suburbs. And I also found out not a lot of people wanted to talk about them," Golovchuk said.

Funny, cause that's the same reaction FOX Chicago News got two years ago when we began poking around D & P's business with suburban governments, including some contracts worth millions of dollars. We even got shouted at and chased away from D & P's headquarters.

On paper, D & P is owned by a woman named Josephine DiFronzo, but an FBI report says the company is actually controlled by Josephine's husband Peter DiFronzo and his brother John "No-Nose" DiFronzo, the reputed head of the Chicago Outfit. Both brothers are convicted felons.

Two summers ago, we watched John DiFronzo walk in and out of D & P's Melrose Park construction yard on an almost daily basis. At the time, he told us he "don't do nothing" for D & P.

"I just thought it was unusual that this company that has a questionable past and reputation is doing business with the Archdiocese of Chicago. In a way it's almost as if the ultimate good is working with the ultimate evil," Golovchuk said. But things got even more bizarre when Golovchuk began to ask questions about how D & P got hired. The Archdiocese refused to talk to him, and instead issued this terse statement: "We do not arrange interviews for student newspaper reporters. We only provide student reporters with direction on how to access public information on the Archdiocesan website."

"I think it's disrespectful and rude, and I was offended and surprised. Not only because I go to a Catholic university, and the Archdiocese is connected to the school. But just because I'm a student I think it's unusual they wouldn't want to talk to me," he said.

The Archdiocese was more willing to talk to FOX Chicago News. In a statement, a spokesman said "a very large number of ongoing construction projects are conducted in the archdiocese every year. Sub-contractors, especially at this level, are hired by the general contractor without consultation with the Archdiocese."

After Golovchuk began digging, the D & P dumpsters disappeared. Henry Brothers Construction, the chief contractor for the new seminary, said the Archdiocese asked them to find another company.

Thanks to Dane Placko

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Mob Wives "The Bitch is Back" Episoide

The showdown continues at Carla Facciolo's birthday party as Renee Graziano and Karen Gravano both refuse to back down. When Drita D'avanzo decides to take matters into her own hands, all hell breaks loose. Old friendships are tested and new alliances are formed. While Karen rebuilds her old relationships on Staten Island, Renee clashes with her ex-husband and Drita receives shocking news from prison.

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Chicago Bus Tour Of Past Mob Boss Homes

With a half-dozen people aboard a tour bus looking on, Greg Gullo chipped grounders to his son with a fungo bat in his River Forest front yard.

The bus wasn't at his house so passengers could admire Gullo's swing last weekend, but there was a time when seeing the owner of the home in the 1400 block of Monroe Street with a baseball bat in his hands would have gotten a lot of attention. As tour guide John Binder explained, the four-bedroom house was an early purchase of up-and-coming mobster Tony "Joe Batters" Accardo — nicknamed by Al Capone for his skill at pummeling people with blunt objects.

"I think the first time the tour came by, my kids were actually out in the yard playing cops-and-robbers with squirt guns," Gullo recalled. "Everyone on the bus kind of stood up and watched."

The Gullos have gotten used to the occasional tours led by Binder, their neighbor, a mob history buff and a University of Illinois at Chicago professor. He began offering tours devoted to Oak Park and River Forest's upper-class underbelly in 2005.

To be sure, the area boasts more admirable figures such as Frank Lloyd Wright and Ernest Hemingway, but it has a rich mob history as well. The 10-mile circuit of Binder's tour passes more than a dozen homes that once belonged to top mob figures, including the Oak Park bungalow where Sam "Mooney" Giancana was gunned down in 1975.

"For the most part, the hoods appear to have wanted the same things as other folks in the suburbs: someplace quiet, away from work, with good schools for their kids," said Binder, author of the book "The Chicago Outfit."

A prime suspect in the killing, Dominic "Butch" Blasi, lived just three miles away from the Giancana house. The .22-caliber pistol used in the murder was found in a forest preserve between the two houses.

The Giancana hit was a rare instance of mob violence in the suburbs, Binder said. Like their neighbors in legitimate businesses, mob bosses commuted into the city to do most of their business. In fact, after Accardo's house was burglarized in 1978, mob hit men reportedly found, tortured and killed all six suspected burglars — a revenge spree that terrified hoods across the city.

Thanks to Andy Grimm

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Longtime Gambino Associate, Joseph Watts, Sentenced in Manhattan Federal Court to 13 Years in Prison on Murder and Assault Charges

PRETT BHARA the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that JOSEPH WATTS, 69, a longtime associate of the Gambino Organized Crime Family of La Cosa Nostra (the “Gambino Family”), was sentenced to 13 years in prison on murder and assault charges. WATTS pled guilty on January 20, 2011, to a two-count superseding information that charged him with participating in murder and assault conspiracies in order to maintain and increase his influence in the Gambino Family. The sentence was imposed in Manhattan federal court by U.S. District Judge Colleen McMahon.

U.S. Attorney PREET BHARARA stated: “Today’s sentence should serve as a sober reminder that if you kill or harm an actual or potential government witness, no matter how powerful you may think you are, we will find you and send you to prison for a very long time. The sentence Judge McMahon imposed today ensures that Watts will spend the next decade of his life paying for his crimes.”

According to documents previously filed in Manhattan federal court and statements WATTS made at his guilty plea proceeding:

WATTS was a close associate of one-time Gambino Family Boss JOHN J. GOTTI and others. Although WATTS was never formally inducted into the Gambino Family as a “made” member because of his non-Italian lineage, he was afforded the status of a Gambino Family capo.

In 1989, FREDERICK WEISS was a defendant in a case that was pending in the Southern District of New York. JOHN J. GOTTI, then-boss of the Gambino Family, suspected that WEISS was cooperating with the government because he terminated a lawyer who regularly represented Gambino Family members and associates. GOTTI ordered WEISS to be murdered—an order that GOTTI communicated to WATTS and others. WATTS then put together a murder team to carry out the hit.

In September 1989, WATTS and others went to a house on Staten Island where they expected WEISS would be. WATTS assigned different Gambino members and associates to different tasks, including digging the grave where WEISS would be buried. WATTS himself stood in the garage, holding a gun and waiting to shoot WEISS upon his arrival. Because WEISS did not show up to the house as WATTS had expected, he was not killed that day. However, a different team of shooters to whom GOTTI had also assigned the task of killing WEISS successfully located him the next day. He was shot to death in front of his apartment building.

While WATTS was serving a prison sentence in connection with his 2001 conviction for money laundering, he met Victim-1, whom he came to admire because of Victim-1’s purported stockpicking abilities. When Victim-1 was released from prison, WATTS sent an emissary to deliver approximately $350,000 to $400,000—all cash—to Victim-1 to invest on WATTS’ behalf. The investment failed. In 2002, WATTS demanded his money back from Victim-1, who returned some, but not all, of WATTS’s money.

To force Victim-1 to give him back all the money, WATTS began threatening Victim-1. On one occasion, WATTS and another individual confronted Victim-1 in Manhattan and physically assaulted him. On a subsequent occasion, WATTS threatened Victim-1 and physically shoved Victim-1 against a wall.

In addition to his prison term, Judge MCMAHON sentenced WATTS, of Staten Island, New York, to three years of supervised release and ordered him to forfeit $250,000.

During the sentencing proceeding, Judge MCMAHON stated that the murder of Frederick Weiss was “heinous,” “hideous,” and the work of a “cold-blooded killer.” Judge McMahon further stated that the maximum sentence, which she ultimately imposed on WATTS, was “the consequence of the choice he made.”

Mr. BHARARA praised the investigative work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The case is being handled by the Office’s Organized Crime Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys ARLO DEVLIN-BROWN and CHI T. STEVE KWOK are in charge of the prosecution.

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New Arizona State Sun Devils Logo Embraced by Satan Disciple Gangsters?

Kenneth Epich is an Arizona State fan and alum who bleeds maroon, if not gold.

He attends ASU events whenever the Sun Devils are playing in the Chicago area, whether it's football or a golf tournament. And he and his wife, another ASU grad, were among the founding members of Chicago's chapter of the ASU Alumni Association. But Epich is no fan of ASU's new Nike-designed "pitchfork" logo. Blame it on his job.

It's Sgt. Epich of the Chicago Police Department assigned to the Area One Gang Enforcement unit.

Admittedly, he looks at the world a little differently after dealing with street gangs for 25 years. And he's convinced that it is a matter of time before what he described as a "large, violent, mostly Hispanic Chicago street gang" called Satan's Disciples adopts ASU's new athletic gear because of the new trident logo.

"The gangs adopt sports teams and wear their gear," Epich said. "The S.D.'s are going to adopt the (ASU) hat as their hat of choice just as soon as they see the first person wearing one."

He probably has reason to worry. After all, there's the devil tie-in. Sun Devils and Satan's Disciples both start with an S and a D. And, of most concern to Epich, there's that trident.

Turns out the gang uses a trident similar to ASU's as one of its symbols. Gang members have them tattooed on their bodies and tag neighborhoods with them. Epich believes some of the artwork he has seen of the gang's symbol is strikingly similar to the ASU trident.

"It bothers me that, one, this gang will be wearing ASU gear, but also that ASU and Nike were so naive to develop it. In my mind, it's the spitting image of the S.D. trident."

The folks at ASU disagree. You might say the Devil is in the details.

Steve Hank, associate athletic director, revenue generation at ASU who spoke by phone with Epich about his concerns, said the Nike trident for ASU and the street art produced by Satan's Disciples members "are not even close."

It's also true that the old "Sparky" logo carried a trident and gangs didn't adopt him. Of course, a Disney-inspired cartoon probably isn't going to get you much street credit.

"The one thing we can tell you is we vigilantly defend our marks," said Hank, who also happens to be from Chicago. "If they were to use it in that way, we would take all legal action to protect our mark."

Trouble is, there isn't much ASU or any other pro or college team can do to prevent a gang from adopting its gear.

Most of the reaction we've gotten indicates that younger ASU fans and alums like the new look. Older fans, not so much.

ASU officials have predicted their revenue from merchandise sales will double over the next few years thanks to the stuff. And every pro team or college team faces the same concerns when designing gear aimed at young consumers: It's a demographic that contains current and future fans and potential recruits - but also gang bangers.

With a large ASU alumni base in the Chicago area (not to mention an ASU football game at Illinois this fall) Epich believes trouble is inevitable.

"Some unsuspecting ASU grad or the nephew of a grad or just some person who was at spring training and liked the hat is going to be wearing it in Chicago and stumble upon a car load of Latin Kings (the S.D.'s rival gang), and they're going to beat the (expletive) out of him or kill him just based on the fact he's wearing a hat," Epich said.

Epich added that he knows ASU isn't going to discard its new Nike-designed logo and branding campaign because of a street gang in Chicago.

He just wishes ASU and Nike had looked into it more closely, and he wants people to be aware of the situation and hopes ASU officials will monitor it closely.

"Of course we will," Hank said. "But you can't stop somebody from walking into a store and purchasing a cap.

"Trust me, we don't want it, and we'll keep an eye on it and take every single step to prevent that from happening."

Thanks to Bob Young

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Attorney Joseph Lopez Spars with Nancy Grace Over Drew Peterson Letters

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Crime Beat Radio Show Releases Upcoming Program Schedule

Crime Beat: Issues, Controversies and Personalities from the Darkside has been programming since January of this year and is currently averaging 50,000l listeners plus each week and the figure is growing.

Crime Beat is now pleased to announce its forthcoming schedule:

• April 21: Diedre Capone, ancestor of Al Capone and author of Uncle Al Capone, shares family secrets about the godfather
• April 28: Tom Ajamie and Bruce Kelley, the authors of Financial Serial Killers, give us an inside look at the world of Wall Street hustlers, swindlers and con men and provide advice on how to protect yourself against Ponzi investment schemes
• May 5: Lynda Milito, the author of Mafia Wife talks about love, murder and madness.
• May 12: Howard Campbell, the author of Drug War Zone, talks about the Mexican drug war and life on the streets today in Juarez and El Paso
• May 19: Robert Wittman, former FBI agent and the author of Priceless, reveals how he went underground to rescue the world’s art treasures.

Crime Beat is a weekly hour-long radio program and airs every Thursday from 9 and 10 EST. Beginning with the May 5 program the show moves to the 8pm-9pm EST time slot on the Artist First World radio Network. Crime Beat presents fascinating topics that bring listeners closer to the dynamic underbelly of the world of crime. Guests have included ex-mobsters, undercover law enforcement agents, sports officials, informants, prisoners, drug dealers and investigative journalists, who have provided insights and fresh information about the world’s most fascinating subject: crime.

Crime Beat is hosted by award-winning crime writer Ron Chepesiuk (www.ronchepesiuk.com) and broadcast journalist and freelance writer Willie Hryb. Ronald Herd 11, the popular Internet radio host and regular listener of Crime Beat, said "Crime Beatsounds like an organized crime greatest hits collection...I am loving it!"

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25% Off The Kennedys DVD

Relive the dramatic story you won’t find anywhere else.
See how Joseph Kennedy Sr. groomed two sons that came to change a nation in this powerful 6-hour miniseries. Venture upstairs at the White House of the 1960’s and glimpse an intimate look at The Kennedys—America’s first “royal” family in this compelling Kennedys DVD. An all star cast including Greg Kinnear playing JFK and Katie Holmes as the classic Jackie Onasis.

Against a backdrop of generation-defining events like the Cuban Missile Crisis, Bay of Pigs, and the civil rights movement, the personal relationships between two brothers and their ambitious father molded them into legends. An all-star cast (Academy Award nominee Greg Kinnear, Barry Pepper, Katie Holmes, and Academy Award nominee Tom Wilkinson) leads this enthralling historical drama. See how scandal, tragedy, public greatness, and private frailty shaped our nation’s most fabled political family: The Kennedys.

Buy this 6-hour chronicle Kennedys DVD at 25% below the suggested retail price today. 25% off The Kennedys mini series DVD!

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Mob Wives "Made in Staten Island" Epsiode

Welcome to Staten Island, the land of fierce women who never admit to being allegedly "connected" -- until now. Renee Graziano, Carla Facciolo and Drita D'avanzo are no strangers to the good life, but now, with their husbands and fathers behind bars, they realize there is a price to pay. Left alone to pick up the pieces, these women face the harsh realities of "life" after informants have turned their families' lives upside down.

To these ladies, "loyalty is everything" so, when Karen Gravano (the daughter of infamous mob informant Sammy the Bull) arrives back on the Staten Island scene after 10 years away in Arizona -- there is hell to pay. Karen's return becomes explosive when she shows up at a party on loyalist, Renee 's, home turf.

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Joseph Massino Testifies That Mob Commission is Extinct

A former mob boss has testified that the infamous Mafia "commission" glamourized in Hollywood films hasn't had a meeting in 25 years.

Ex-Bonanno crime family chieftain Joseph Massino made the claim this week while testifying for the prosecution in a murder trial in Brooklyn.

For decades during the mob's heyday, the leaders of New York City's five major crime families held occasional summits to lay down rules and settle disputes. But Massino says these commission meetings stopped happening after Gambino boss Paul Castellano was assassinated outside a Manhattan restaurant in 1985, and the heads of the other families went to prison for racketeering.

"There ain't no commission," Massino told a jury, although he acknowledged that top leaders of the crime rings do get together to talk shop now and again.

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Mob Wives Come to VH1

Mob Wives is a docu-soap series that follows the lives of four women at a crossroads, having to pick up the pieces and carry on while their husbands or fathers do time for Mob-related activities. They are struggling with their identities, their own families and their futures.

Mob Wives is a docu-soap that follows the lives of four struggling, "allegedly" associated women who have to pick up the pieces and carry on after their husbands or fathers do time for Mob-related activities. The women are long time friends who live in New York City's "forgotten borough", Staten Island. Along the way they battle their friends, families and each other as they try to do what's best for themselves and their children. It's not easy to maintain the lifestyle they were accustomed to when the family's primary bread winner is in lock up.

From The Godfather to The Sopranos to My Cousin Vinny, these women are sick and tired of the lies and stereotypes that exist about their lives. They're determined to finally set the record straight and show the world once and for all that while their lives may seem crazy at first glance, they love, laugh and get their hearts broken just like everyone else. The cast:
DRITA: Drita is a hot-tempered Albanian who married into the mob much to the chagrin of her straight-laced immigrant family. Her husband Lee is part of the New Springville Boys gang and is currently in prison for robbing a Staten Island bank. While she's been married to Lee for 12 years, she's only been able to spend 2 years with him due to his crime sprees and jail time.

KAREN: Karen is returning to Staten Island after a 10 year absence. She's thrilled to finally be able to return home to the city she loves and reunite with the girls. Karen's father is legendary Mafia informant Sammy "the Bull" Gravano. While he confessed to 19 murders in his book, he is currently serving a 19-year sentence in an undisclosed location. Karen once dated Drita's husband and as a result, there is still some underlying tension between them.

RENEE: Renee is the drama queen of the group. Even though she stirs up the most trouble, she'll give you the shirt off her back. Renee grew up in the glory days of the mob- fur, diamonds, limos, all by the age of 7 and she still carries that Mafia attitude. Renee's father is Anthony Graziano the former consigliore of the Bonanno crime family who is currently serving an 11-year sentence for tax evasion, racketeering, and conspiracy to murder. Renee is a mob loyalist and despises what Karen's father did.

CARLA: Carla fancies herself a Manhattan girl. She is used to the finer things in life and has no desire to give them up. Carla's husband Joseph is currently serving an 88-month sentence for fraud after stealing 17 million dollars from unsuspecting senior citizens in a boiler room scandal. The couple have twin 8-year olds, Joseph and Carmen, but that doesn't curb Carla's desire to party like there's no tomorrow.

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Carla Facciolo of VH1's Mob Wives

Carla Facciolo grew up in Bergen Beach, Brooklyn, where she had a similar upbringing to Renee Graziano. While her father went to prison when she was young, it didn't stop her from living the lifestyle she grew to love.



When Carla was 17 she started dating street guys and really got a taste of the life. She hung out with girls like Renee, and others -- whose parents were either in the life or extremely wealthy. Carla likes the finer things in life and thought she'd met her match when she married Joey Ferragamo, a stock broker.

Although Carla thought she had finally gotten away from the lifestyle she lived growing up, her husband eventually got indicted and convicted for a boiler room scandal and Carla once again found herself dealing with the ins and outs of prison. Carla tells her twins, who she feels are too young to know where their dad is, that he is away at work. She is a stay at home mom and sales rep for a juice company. She takes good care of herself and prides herself on her hair and great body.

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