Sopranos star Joseph Siravo, who played Tony Soprano's father, has died

“Sopranos” star Joseph Siravo, who played Tony Soprano’s father, has died following a battle with cancer. He was 66.

Siravo’s agent confirmed the actor’s death to Variety, noting that he died on Sunday following a “long, courageous” battle with colon cancer.

Siravo is best known for work in television as well as theater. On HBO’s “Sopranos,” he played Johnny Soprano — featuring prominently in flashback episodes to the 1960s — and later portrayed Fred Goldman, father of Ron Goldman, in FX’s “The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story.”

Other recent credits include TV series such as “For Life,” “The Blacklist,” “Made in Jersey,” “Dirty Sexy Money” and “Law and Order.” In film, he appeared in the Adam Driver-led “The Report” and Meera Menon’s 2016 film “Equity, as well as “Motherless Brooklyn,” “The Wannabe,” “Shark Tale” and “Night Falls on Manhattan.”

Born and raised in Washington D.C., the actor did his BA at Stanford before completing an MFA at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts theatre program. He made his screen debut in “Carlito’s Way” (1993) and soon landed the Johnny Soprano role in HBO hit “The Sopranos,” which ran for six seasons.

Siravo also starred in Broadway productions of the Tony Award-winning “Oslo” and “The Light in the Piazza.” Earlier in his career, he performed in a national tour of “Jersey Boys.” The actor has countless off-Broadway and regional theater credits to his name, including Off-Broadway New York productions of “Mad Forest” and “Up Against the Wind,” as well as “My Night With Reg” and “The Root.” Regional credits include “Hamlet” at the Long Wharf, “Anthony & Cleopatra” at Berkeley Rep and “Last of the Boys” at the McCarter Theatre.

Siravo was also highly regarded as a teacher at various actor training programs in New York. After studying at NYU, where he trained under Ron Van Lieu, Olympia Dukakis and Nora Dunfee, he eventually joined the faculty of NYU Grad Acting, where he taught Shakespeare.

Siravo is survived by his daughter Allegra Okarmus; son-in-law Aaron Okarmus; grandson Atticus Okarmus; his sister Maria Siravo; and brothers Mario Siravo, Ernest Siravo and Michael Siravo.

A memorial service will soon be held for the actor.

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7th Member of Violent MS-13 Street Gang Indicted for Murder #MS13

Another member of the violent international street gang Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) is set to appear in federal court for his alleged role in a 2018 murder, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Jennifer B. Lowery.

Carlos Elias Henriquez-Torres, 20, an El Salvadorian national who illegally resided in Houston, was previously in state custody on related charges. He is set to appear at 2 p.m. today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Andrew Edison on the charges in the superseding indictment returned March 31.

Previously indicted were Wilson Jose Venture-Mejia, 24, Jimmy Villalobos-Gomez, 24, Angel Miguel Aguilar-Ochoa, 35, Walter Antonio Chicas-Garcia, 24, and Marlon Miranda-Moran, 21, all El Salvadorian nationals. Villalobos-Gomez is a legal permanent resident but the remaining men unlawfully resided in Houston. The charges against all of them remain pending.

Also named in the indictment is Franklin Trejo-Chavarria, 23. He is currently in custody in El Salvador.

The indictment alleges they committed a 2018 murder in furtherance of the MS-13 enterprise. The victim was allegedly beaten to death with machetes in order for the defendants to further their positions in the enterprise.

All are charged with conspiracy and murder in aid of racketeering.

If convicted, they face a potential death sentence.

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Who Rode the Most Expensive Bike On Sons Of Anarchy and How Much Did it Cost?

The winning formula for creator Kurt Sutter's Sons of Anarchy consists of a few key things: murder, mayhem, and motorcycles. Sure, there are other facets of the show that begin with different letters of the alphabet, but much of the series chronicling the goings-on in an outlaw motorcycle club revolved around those three concepts. Murder? Many of the personal relationships and conflicts ended in death, namely those surrounding series protagonist Jax Teller (Charlie Hunnam), whose father was murdered by his future stepdad Clay Morrow (Ron Perlman); whose wife Tara Knowles (Maggie Siff) was murdered by his own mother, Gemma Morrow (Katey Sagal); and who, in turn, murdered his own mother and stepfather, thus completing the circle of death. Wait, should we have included a spoiler warning? Because, like, that's pretty much the show.

Onto mayhem; obviously crazy action factored prominently into the show's plot points, when it came to conceptualizing seasons as a whole. The Sons had dealings with the Galindo cartel, the Cacuzza crime family, the Irish Republican Army, the Aryan Brotherhood, the Lin Triad, the Russian mafia, and the militia movement, most of which ended badly and ended big.

And, of course, motorcycles are central to the premise of a show about the fictional motorcycle club from which the series takes its name, and Sons of Anarchy featured some sweet bikes. Most members favored a version of the Harley-Davidson Dyna line, like Jax's 2003 H-D Dyna Super Glide Sport (via HotCars), for which the National Automobile Dealers Association's guide lists a suggested price of $14,510. But that pales in comparison to the price tag — and honestly, the bike itself — for one of the other cast member's rides.


One might think that the best, most expensive bike on Sons of Anarchy would be reserved for the club's president, in which case one would be wrong. Clay Morrow rode a Harley-Davidson Dyna Super Glide, like Jax. In fact, the Son with the sickest ride isn't even a member of the SAMCRO chapter when we first meet him. That distinction goes to Rane Quinn, introduced as president of the Nomad chapter of the Sons of Anarchy Motorcycle Club. And why, we ask, would a Nomad have the best, most expensive bike on the show? The answer is simple: the actor who played Quinn built the bike himself.

Quinn rocked a 2013 custom Hellrazor, built in real life by Illusion Motorsports, the custom cycle shop co-owned by actor Rusty Coones, who plays Quinn on Sons of Anarchy. If that's all starting to make sense, here's a bit more context: Coones is a real-life member of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club and, according to the OC Register, was at one point president of the San Fernando Valley and Orange County chapters. So, when you know all the details, Quinn having the baddest bike on the show actually makes perfect sense.

Price-wise, reports conflict, but the Hellrazor is valued at $80,000 on the low end, a figure which comes courtesy of the OC Register. According to HotCars, Coones' motorcycle was valued at $90,000. The Hellrazor was the featured item at the inaugural Street Vibrations Motorcycle Auction in 2018, one of 65 lots at the event, the proceeds of which went to charity. According to auctioneer Hudson Stremmel of Stremmel Auctions (via BikeBound), the Hellrazor was expected to fetch more than $100,000 (the winning bid was not disclosed), a sum that almost would have allowed Jax to buy seven of his Harleys.

Thanks to Andrew Jameson.

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Peter Gotti, the brother of the Legendary John Gotti, and Elder Statesman of Gambino Crime Family Has Died in Prison

Mobster Peter Gotti, the brother of notorious Gambino crime boss John Gotti, has died while serving a federal prison sentence, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press Thursday.

Gotti, 81, died of natural causes while incarcerated at the Federal Medical Center in Butner, North Carolina, said the person, who could not discuss the matter publicly and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.

Gotti was sentenced to a 25-year term for his conviction in 2003 on racketeering and other charges alleging he took command of the Gambino Crime Family after his brother was locked up.

He had sought an early release, citing his poor health and his rejection of the gangster life, in an effort to avoid dying in prison. He served more than 17 years behind bars.

John Gotti, who was known as both the “Dapper Don” because of his expensive suits and silvery swept-back hair, and the “Teflon Don” after a series of acquittals, was serving a life term for racketeering and murder when he died of cancer in 2002.

Peter Gotti had been sick for some time, suffering from thyroid problems, and was blind in one eye, said Lewis Kasman, a former mobster and close confidant of John Gotti.

Kasman recalled Peter Gotti, a former sanitation worker, as a “regular knockaround guy who didn’t let his title go to his head.” His kindness, however, made him ill-suited to lead the Gambino crime family, Kasman said. “He was trying to do his brother’s bidding and he had a tough task,” he said. “A lot of the captains were very upset with him because he wasn’t a strong boss. The Lucchese family walked all over him.”

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Details on the arrest of the Emma Corone Aispuro, the Wife of Drug Kingpin Joaquin Guzman Loera #ELCHAPO

The wife of Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman Loera, leader of a Mexican drug trafficking organization known as the Sinaloa Cartel, was arrested yesterday in Virginia on charges related to her alleged involvement in international drug trafficking.

Emma Coronel Aispuro, 31, a dual U.S.-Mexican citizen, of Culiacan, Sinaloa, Mexico, was arrested yesterday at Dulles International Airport. She is scheduled to make her initial appearance in federal court today in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia via video conference.

According to court documents, Aispuro is charged with participating in a conspiracy to distribute cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin and marijuana for importation into the U.S. Additionally, Coronel Aispuro is alleged to have conspired with others to assist Guzman in his July 11, 2015 escape from Altiplano prison, located in Almoloya de Juarez, Mexico. After Guzman was re-arrested in Mexico in January 2016, Coronel Aispuro is alleged to have engaged in planning yet another prison escape with others prior to Guzman’s extradition to the U.S. in January 2017.

Guzman Loera was convicted by a jury in the Eastern District of New York in 2019 for his role as a leader of the Sinaloa Cartel.

Cornel Aispuro is charged in a one count criminal complaint with a conspiracy to distribute one kilogram or more of heroin, five kilograms or more of cocaine, 1,000 kilograms or more of marijuana, and 500 grams or more of methamphetamines for unlawful importation into the U.S.

Acting Assistant Attorney General Nicholas L. McQuaid of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and Assistant Director in Charge Steven D’Antuono of the FBI’s Washington Field Office made the announcement.

Acting Deputy Chief Anthony Nardozzi and Trial Attorney Kate Wagner of the Justice Department’s Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section are prosecuting the case.

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