Two coldblooded Colombo mob bigs convicted of rubbing out an intra-family rival in 1999 were sentenced to life in prison yesterday.
Former Colombo kingpin Alphonse "Allie Boy" Persico, 55, and underling John "Jackie" DeRoss, 71, were found guilty in 2007 of orchestrating the hit on William "Wild Bill" Cutolo.
Prosecutors said at trial in federal court in Central Islip, LI, that Cutolo had been dumped at sea. But his corpse eventually was discovered last fall in a Farmingdale, LI, industrial park after several days of digging by federal authorities.
Persico ordered Cutolo's hit after growing nervous about his position as acting family don in 1999 as he prepared to go to prison, prosecutors said. He feared Cutolo, then second in command, was planning a coup with Persico behind bars.
Persico had set up a meeting with Cutolo near 92nd Street and Shore Road in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, the day he vanished in May 1999.
Thanks to Selim Agar
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Did Victoria Gotti Have an Affair with Key Witness Against Her Brother?
Before he became a mob rat, Gambino associate John Alite says he was a horndog who had a secret affair with Mafia princess Victoria Gotti.
Alite took center stage Monday in Brooklyn Federal Court in the murder trial of reputed hit man Charles Carneglia, but much of his testimony was about how close he was to John A. (Junior) Gotti - and the mob scion's older sister.
"I was fooling around with his sister Vicky Gotti on the sneak," Alite said, roughly fixing the time frame in the late 1980s, when she was married to her then-husband, Carmine Agnello.
Alite said the husband came after him and he ended up shooting one of Agnello's goons. Alite said Junior refused to give him permission to retaliate against Agnello.
Reached for comment, Victoria Gotti ridiculed the heavily-tattooed thug's claim of a tryst with her. "He's an out-and-out liar - he's vermin," she said. "This animal [Alite] had a crush on me from the first time I met him. He was in our bridal party and he tried to kiss me at my wedding. He missed the cheek by a lot.
"Carmine knew he had a crush on me. That's why he despised him.
"In Mr. Alite's dreams would someone like me even give him a second glance let alone 'fool around' with him. I was raised a good Catholic girl and always played by the rules.
"I met and married my first and only boyfriend. I never slept with Alite or anyone else.
"Dare him to take a lie detector test. I will take a lie detector test anytime, anywhere."
Alite said Junior Gotti's refusal to approve a retaliatory strike against Agnello was one of the reasons their close friendship broke up.
Under questioning by Assistant U.S. Attorney Roger Burlingame, the witness said he grew up around gangsters in Woodhaven, Queens, and had a promising future at one time as a baseball pitcher.
He said he threw out his arm after one semester at the University of Tampa and returned to his old stomping grounds selling cocaine in bars on Jamaica Ave. in Queens.
Alite met Junior Gotti in the early 1980s and began paying him a cut of his $1 million-a-month drug profits. He said he and Junior were best friends for a decade. After rival drug dealers robbed an associate, Junior Gotti accompanied them on a drive-by in which two of the rivals were shot, he testified. "After that [Junior] didn't look at me like some college kid no more," Alite said.
Getting close to the younger Gotti was Alite's opening to the Mafia big leagues. They became inseparable, and Junior and his late father, Gambino crime boss John Gotti, reaped the profits of Alite's litany of crimes.
"You name it, we did it," Alite said.
Alite was Albanian, so he could never be inducted into the Gambino family, but he had his own crew, as did two other non-Italian, uniquely powerful mob associates - James (Jimmy the Gent) Burke and Joseph (Joe) Watts.
On Feb. 14, 1988, Junior Gotti was best man at Alite's wedding in Queens. The date was selected not because it was Valentine's Day, but as a sign of respect for Junior because it was his birthday.
Wearing a gray sweat suit, the heavily tattooed thug said Junior's bad-mouthing of his other close friends left him feeling it was only a matter of time before he would be left out in the cold, too.
"I didn't believe in the life," Alite said. "It's kind of like reading a brochure when you're a kid. You're going to Paradise Island and everything looks nice, but you forgot to read the fine print."
Thanks to John Marzulli
Alite took center stage Monday in Brooklyn Federal Court in the murder trial of reputed hit man Charles Carneglia, but much of his testimony was about how close he was to John A. (Junior) Gotti - and the mob scion's older sister.
"I was fooling around with his sister Vicky Gotti on the sneak," Alite said, roughly fixing the time frame in the late 1980s, when she was married to her then-husband, Carmine Agnello.Alite said the husband came after him and he ended up shooting one of Agnello's goons. Alite said Junior refused to give him permission to retaliate against Agnello.
Reached for comment, Victoria Gotti ridiculed the heavily-tattooed thug's claim of a tryst with her. "He's an out-and-out liar - he's vermin," she said. "This animal [Alite] had a crush on me from the first time I met him. He was in our bridal party and he tried to kiss me at my wedding. He missed the cheek by a lot.
"Carmine knew he had a crush on me. That's why he despised him.
"In Mr. Alite's dreams would someone like me even give him a second glance let alone 'fool around' with him. I was raised a good Catholic girl and always played by the rules.
"I met and married my first and only boyfriend. I never slept with Alite or anyone else.
"Dare him to take a lie detector test. I will take a lie detector test anytime, anywhere."
Alite said Junior Gotti's refusal to approve a retaliatory strike against Agnello was one of the reasons their close friendship broke up.
Under questioning by Assistant U.S. Attorney Roger Burlingame, the witness said he grew up around gangsters in Woodhaven, Queens, and had a promising future at one time as a baseball pitcher.
He said he threw out his arm after one semester at the University of Tampa and returned to his old stomping grounds selling cocaine in bars on Jamaica Ave. in Queens.
Alite met Junior Gotti in the early 1980s and began paying him a cut of his $1 million-a-month drug profits. He said he and Junior were best friends for a decade. After rival drug dealers robbed an associate, Junior Gotti accompanied them on a drive-by in which two of the rivals were shot, he testified. "After that [Junior] didn't look at me like some college kid no more," Alite said.
Getting close to the younger Gotti was Alite's opening to the Mafia big leagues. They became inseparable, and Junior and his late father, Gambino crime boss John Gotti, reaped the profits of Alite's litany of crimes.
"You name it, we did it," Alite said.
Alite was Albanian, so he could never be inducted into the Gambino family, but he had his own crew, as did two other non-Italian, uniquely powerful mob associates - James (Jimmy the Gent) Burke and Joseph (Joe) Watts.
On Feb. 14, 1988, Junior Gotti was best man at Alite's wedding in Queens. The date was selected not because it was Valentine's Day, but as a sign of respect for Junior because it was his birthday.
Wearing a gray sweat suit, the heavily tattooed thug said Junior's bad-mouthing of his other close friends left him feeling it was only a matter of time before he would be left out in the cold, too.
"I didn't believe in the life," Alite said. "It's kind of like reading a brochure when you're a kid. You're going to Paradise Island and everything looks nice, but you forgot to read the fine print."
Thanks to John Marzulli
Junior Gotti Ordered Rivals Shot, Former Best Friend, John Alite, Testifies
The former best friend of John A. "Junior" Gotti says that the famous mob offspring collected drug money and ordered shootings of rivals.
Gambino crime family associate John Alite testified about Gotti's alleged misdeeds on Monday at the Brooklyn trial of a Gambino soldier accused of murder. Alite took the stand as part of a plea deal.
He told the jury that on orders from Gotti, he drove a car used in a drive-by shooting in the 1980s. He also claimed Gotti, son of notorious Gambino boss John Gotti, collected monthly cash payments from a drug-dealing operation.
Alite is expected to be a key government witness when Gotti goes on trial later this year. Gotti is charged with involvement in three gangland murders and cocaine trafficking.
Thanks to Newsday
Gambino crime family associate John Alite testified about Gotti's alleged misdeeds on Monday at the Brooklyn trial of a Gambino soldier accused of murder. Alite took the stand as part of a plea deal.
He told the jury that on orders from Gotti, he drove a car used in a drive-by shooting in the 1980s. He also claimed Gotti, son of notorious Gambino boss John Gotti, collected monthly cash payments from a drug-dealing operation.
Alite is expected to be a key government witness when Gotti goes on trial later this year. Gotti is charged with involvement in three gangland murders and cocaine trafficking.
Thanks to Newsday
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