Reputed Head Of South Florida Mafia Crime Ring, Others Arrested

Friends of ours: Genovese Crime Family, Renaldi "Ray" Ruggiero, Liborio "Barney" Bellomo

The alleged head of the Genovese crime family's South Florida ring and six others have been arrested.

The U.S. Attorney's Office said Friday that the men are charged with extortion, robbery, money laundering and other acts of racketeering as far back as 1994.

Renaldi "Ray" Ruggiero, whom prosecutors identified as a captain of the family's operations in South Florida, was in federal court in Fort Lauderdale along with a half dozen co-defendants.

If convicted under the racketeering charges, Ruggiero could face up to 120 years in prison and fines of up to $1.75 million. The others could face slightly lower maximum sentences.

The arrests are the latest blow to New York City's most powerful Mafia family. The family's reputed acting boss, Liborio "Barney" Bellomo, and 31 others were arrested in February in New York on a host of charges including murder.

The indictment covered the family's alleged illegal enterprises from 1994 to the present.

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Boss or Not Boss - James "Little Jimmy" Marcello

There seems to be some disagreement among a handful of my readers regarding James "Little Jimmy" Marcello. Several media sources report that Marcello is the currently "the man" of the Chicago Mob. Others report that Marcello is not the boss now nor has he ever been boss.

With Little Jimmy back in custody and looking at a possible long prison term as a result of Operation Family Secrets, it is probably a moot point. Most likely, "The Outfit" has begun it's search for Marcello's successor, if he is in fact the guy in charge.

I am curious for my readers and fellow mobologists to weigh in with their comments and thoughts. Feel free to share your opinion by sending me an email. I will report back on any new revelations that you might have for us.

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Dapper Don Took Secrets to His Grave

Friends of ours: John Gotti, Junior Gotti

As doctors tried to ease the pain from his cancer, John Gotti had one request.

"No truth serum," he wrote on a chalkboard to his youngest son, Peter, who was at his father's bedside in the final days of the mob boss' life.

Gotti, who died in prison in 2002, was loyal to the end to the Mafia code of silence, his other son, John "Junior" Gotti told the Daily News for an interview in Wednesday's editions. "I'm proud of my father, right down to his last breath," Gotti said.

The elder Gotti kept famously mum about the mob, never publicly acknowledging his role in the organization or even its existence. Before his 1992 sentencing for murder and racketeering, Gotti instructed his lawyer to "get it over with without anybody making any speeches."

"Junior" Gotti, 42, is scheduled to go on trial again in August after two previous juries deadlocked on charges alleging he arranged the beating of Guardian Angels founder and radio host Curtis Sliwa.

His lawyers have argued that he gave up all mob activities after he pleaded guilty in another racketeering case in 1999, serving five years in prison. Last month a federal grand jury charged that Gotti never gave up that life, accusing him in a written indictment of committing a series of mob-related crimes in the last year.

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