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Deal With the Devil: The FBI's Secret Thirty-Year Relationship With a Mafia Killer

Page 62

by Peter Lance

24. Author’s interview with FBI Special Agent Dan Vogel (ret.), October 14, 2011.

  25. Memo from Paul E. Coffey, deputy chief, Organized Crime and Racketeering Section, Department of Justice, to S. L. Pomerantz, chief, Investigative Support Section, FBI, April 29, 1986.

  26. Memo from FBI New York Office to director, FBI, March 18, 1986.

  27. Linda Schiro, sworn affidavit, August 11, 1998, 2.

  28. Pasquale Amato and Victor Orena v. U.S., hearing before Hon. Jack B. Weinstein, January 7, 2004, testimony of Gregory Scarpa Jr., transcript, 35.

  29. U.S. v. Gregory Scarpa Jr., October 13, 1988, transcript, 3095.

  30. Supervisory Special Agents Timothy B. Kilund and Kevin P. Donovan, FBI 302 memo, interview with Judge I. Leo Glasser, August 16, 1994.

  31. Letter from Edward A. McDonald and Norman Bloch to Louis E. Diamond, attorney for Gregory Scarpa Sr., June 18, 1986.

  32. Judgment and Probation Commitment Order, Gregory Scarpa Sr., February 6, 1987.

  33. U.S. v. Michael Sessa, transcript, 118–19.

  34. U.S. v. Orena, transcript of direct examination of R. Lindley DeVecchio by Gerald Shargel, February 28, 1997, 155.

  35. Memo from director, FBI, to FBI New York Office, January 15, 1985.

  36. Including Scarpa’s probable involvement in the murders of Tommy Ocera in 1989 and Jack Leale (one of Ocera’s purported killers) in 1991, the war dead included Hank Smurra, Gaetano Amato, Sam Nastasi, Matteo Speranza, Vincent Fusaro, Nicholas Grancio, John Minerva, Michael Imbergamo, Larry Lampasi, Vincent Giangiobbe, Steven Mancusi, and Joseph Scopo.

  CHAPTER 16: DEATH OF A SECOND SON

  1. People v. R. Lindley DeVecchio, testimony of Linda Schiro, October 29, 2007, transcript, 1613.

  2. People v. R. Lindley DeVecchio, testimony of Carmine Sessa, October 25, 2007, transcript, 1344.

  3. Special Agents David M. Parker and Robert J. O’Brien, FBI 302 memo re: Carmine Sessa, April 18, 1994, 2.

  4. Rudy Johnson, “13 Indicted on Stock Theft and Counterfeit Counts,” New York Times, June 8, 1974.

  5. Memo from FBI Newark Office to Bureau (1) Headquarters, December 19, 1977; letter from Edward A. McDonald, attorney in charge, U.S. Department of Justice, Organized Crime Strike Force, EDNY, to Hon. I. Leo Glasser, July 22, 1986.

  6. Transcript of Linda Schiro’s 1997 interview with Tom Robbins and Jerry Capeci, New York Daily News, November 2, 2007.

  7. Philip Carlo, Gaspipe: Confessions of a Mob Boss (New York: William Morrow, 2008), 78–80.

  8. In the book, Carlo identifies Villano as “Anthony Vescone.”

  9. Author’s interview with confidential source, July 31, 2008.

  10. Carlo, Gaspipe, 81.

  11. Selwyn Raab, Five Families: The Rise, Decline, and Resurgence of America’s Most Powerful Mafia Empires (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2005), 515.

  12. John J. Goldman, “Gotti Accuser Sentenced to Five Years in Plea Deal: Mafia: Salvatore Gravano Is Rewarded for Testifying Against the Notorious Gambino Family Boss and Other Organized Crime Figures,”Los Angeles Times, September 27, 1994.

  13. Author’s interview with Anthony Casso, September 23, 2011.

  14. People v. R. Lindley DeVecchio, Schiro testimony, 1613.

  15. Special Agents Jeffrey W. Tomlinson and Howard Leadbetter II, FBI 302 memo re: Carmine Sessa, May 29, 1993.

  16. People v. R. Lindley DeVecchio, Sessa testimony, 1354–55.

  17. Tomlinson and Leadbetter II, FBI 302 memo re: Carmine Sessa, May 11, 1993.

  18. R. Lindley DeVecchio, FBI 209 memo for Top Echelon (TE) informant designated “NY3461,” December 11, 1981, 5.

  19. R. Lindley DeVecchio, FBI 209 memo for Top Echelon (TE) informant designated “NY3461,” November 16, 1983, 5.

  20. Carlo, Gaspipe, 70–71.

  21. Author’s interview with Flora Edwards, November 3, 2011.

  22. R. Lindley DeVecchio, FBI 209 memo for Top Echelon (TE) informant designated “NY3461,” February 28, 1984.

  23. R. Lindley DeVecchio and Charles Brandt, We’re Going to Win This Thing: The Shocking Frame-up of a Mafia Crime Buster (New York: Berkley, 2011), 108.

  24. “Boy, 16, Arraigned as Gang Slayer; Father of Victim Accuses Police,”New York Times, May 14, 1950.

  25. Ibid.

  26. Author’s interview with Vic and John Orena, February 8, 2007.

  27. FBI teletype from FBI New York Office to director, FBI, February 19, 1983.

  28. Ibid.

  29. Author’s interview with Andrew Orena, January 13, 2012.

  30. DeVecchio and Brandt, We’re Going to Win This Thing, photo section.

  31. Ibid., 168.

  32. The People v. R. Lindley DeVecchio, opening statement of Assistant District Attorney Joseph Alexis, October 15, 2007, transcript, 9–10; DeVecchio and Brandt, We’re Going to Win This Thing, 162–66.

  33. R. Lindley DeVecchio, FBI 209 memo for Top Echelon (TE) informant designated “NY3461,” June 8, 1988, 2.

  34. Scott Shifrel, “Mob Hit Man Testifies, Weeps at Lindley DeVecchio Trial,” New York Daily News, October 19, 2007.

  35. DeVecchio and Brandt, We’re Going to Win This Thing, 164.

  36. Author’s interview with Flora Edwards, January 13, 2012.

  37. DeVecchio and Brandt, We’re Going to Win This Thing, 167.

  CHAPTER 17: THE CASE OF CASES

  1. Arnold H. Lubasch, “Judge Sentences 8 Mafia Leaders to Prison Terms,” New York Times, January 14, 1987.

  2. Ed Magnuson, “Hitting the Mafia,” Time, September 29, 1986.

  3. Richard Stengel, “The Passionate Prosecutor,” Time, February 10, 1986.

  4. FBI teletype, February 19, 1983, 2–4.

  5. Ibid.

  6. Magnuson, “Hitting the Mafia.”

  7. Stengel, “The Passionate Prosecutor.”

  8. R. Lindley DeVecchio and Charles Brandt, We’re Going to Win This Thing: The Shocking Frame-up of a Mafia Crime Buster (New York: Berkley, 2011), 13.

  9. Ibid., 143.

  10. Ibid., 156.

  11. John Sullivan, “Crime Bosses Considered Hit on Giuliani,” New York Times, October 25, 2007.

  12. Michael Brick, “ ’80s Plot to Hit Giuliani? Mob Experts Doubt It,” New York Times, October 26, 2007.

  13. Sullivan, “Crime Bosses Considered Hit.”

  14. Brick, “ ’80s Plot.”

  15. Brick later cited McCarthy in the piece for the proposition that “if any prosecutor could prompt the Mafia to make an exception, it was Mr. Giuliani,” and Jerry Capeci reportedly told Brick that he was “pretty sure . . . Carmine Persico wanted to kill Rudy Giuliani.”

  16. Author’s interview with Flora Edwards, November 3, 2011.

  17. Todd S. Purdum, “Reputed Mob Figure Fatally Shot in Brooklyn Club,” New York Times, January 16, 1987.

  18. Robert D. McFadden, “Black Man Dies After Beating in Queens,” New York Times, December 21, 1986.

  19. Ronald Smothers, “Hynes Is Elected to Be Prosecutor in Queens Attack,” New York Times, January 14, 1987.

  20. Nick Ravo, “12 Defendants in Attacks Case: A Diverse Group,” New York Times, February 11, 1987.

  21. Memo by liaison, subject: Gregory Scarpa FBI #584217A, December 4, 1967.

  22. Memo, June 27, 1966; memo from special agent in charge, FBI New York Office, to director, FBI. Subject: Gregory Scarpa. Top Echelon Criminal Informant Program, New York Division, July 6, 1967.

  23. Memo from special agent in charge, FBI New York Office, to director, FBI. Subject: Gregory Scarpa. Top Echelon Criminal Informant Program, New York Division, November 21, 1961.

  24. Memo from special agent in charge, FBI New York Office, to director, FBI, May 18, 1974, 1.

  25. “The City: Ex-City Aide Held in $250,000 Theft,” New York Times, February 11, 1981.

  26. Ralph Blumenthal, “Auditors Assail Navy Yard Park in New Report,” New York Times, April 16, 1982.

  27. “Contractor Admits Navy Yard Fraud,” New York Tim
es, October 4, 1983.

  28. Alan Feuer, “Lawsuit on F.B.I. Informant Seeks a Mobster’s Link to Kennedy’s Assassination,” New York Times, July 22, 2008.

  29. Angela Clemente, “Sal Scarpa and Matty Ianiello Homicides,” http://sites.google.com/site/scarpaclementefiles/sal-scarpa-and-matty-ianiello-homicides.

  30. FBI 302s documenting the sting of Ramzi Yousef by Gregory Scarpa Jr. at the Metropolitan Correctional Center from March 1996 to February 1997. See a selection of 302s and other intelligence at http://www.peterlance.com/PLfbi.htm.

  31. Murray Weiss, “‘Mob’ Fed’s Filthy Lucre—FBI Agent Cashed in as Mafia Slay Mole: DA,” New York Post, March 30, 2006; Nancie L. Katz, “The Probe of G-Man Pays Off Big,” New York Daily News, April 2, 2006.

  32. Feuer, “Lawsuit on F.B.I. Informant.”

  33. Judge Leslie Crocker Snyder (ret.), “Report of the Special District Attorney in the Matter of the Investigation of Linda Schiro,” October 22, 2008, 18.

  34. Clemente, “Sal Scarpa and Matty Ianiello Homicides.”

  35. Tommy Dades and Mike Vecchione, Friends of the Family: The Inside Story of the Mafia Cops Case (New York: William Morrow, 2009), 86.

  36. Todd S. Purdum, “Puzzle of Gangland-Style Killings Eludes Brooklyn Police,” New York Times, October 10, 1987.

  37. “Another Man Is Slain in Mob Style Killing,” New York Times, October 9, 1987.

  38. Philip Carlo, Gaspipe: Confessions of a Mob Boss (New York: William Morrow, 2008), 68.

  39. EDNY press release on Mafia Cops indictment, March 10, 2005.

  40. Clemente, “Sal Scarpa and Matty Ianiello Homicides.”

  41. U.S. v. Victor J. Orena, testimony of Joseph Ambrosino, transcript, 807–9.

  42. Supervisory Special Agents R. Patrick Welch and Robert J. O’Brien, FBI 302 memo re: debriefing of Joseph Ambrosino, May 24, 1994.

  43. Anthony Casso, letter to the author, December 22, 2011.

  44. Ibid.

  45. Brad Hamilton, “Daddy’s a Death Machine,” New York Post, May 27, 2012.

  46. Andris Kurins and Joseph F. O’Brien, Boss of Bosses: The Fall of the Godfather: The FBI and Paul Castellano (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1991), 11.

  47. Arnold Lubasch, “Shot by Shot, an Ex-Aide to Gotti Describes the Killing of Castellano,” New York Times, March 4, 1992.

  48. Kurins and O’Brien, Boss of Bosses.

  49. Carlo, Gaspipe, 141.

  50. R. Lindley DeVecchio, FBI 209 memo for Top Echelon (TE) informant designated “NY3461,” December 17, 1985.

  51. Carlo, Gaspipe, 145.

  52. Ibid.

  53. Selwyn Raab, “Defector Says Bomb that Killed Underboss Was Meant for Gotti,” New York Times, January 24, 1995.

  54. Peter Maas, Underboss: Sammy the Bull Gravano’s Story of Life in the Mafia (New York: HarperCollins, 1997), 208.

  CHAPTER 18: I SHOT HIM A COUPLE OF TIMES

  1. Philip Carlo, Gaspipe: Confessions of a Mob Boss (New York: William Morrow, 2008), 150.

  2. Supervisory Special Agent J. Bruce Mouw and Special Agents George Gabriel and Carmine F. Russo, FBI 302 memo re: Salvatore Gravano, November 25, 1991.

  3. Tommy Dades and Mike Vecchione, Friends of the Family: The Inside Story of the Mafia Cops Case (New York: William Morrow, 2009), 11.

  4. Ibid.

  5. Ed Bradley, “Ex Mob Boss Points a Finger,” 60 Minutes, CBS News, April 11, 2005; CBS News press release, “Ex-Mafia Boss Anthony Casso Describes Murders,” April 7, 2005, http://www.cbspressexpress.com/cbs-news/releases/view?id=9450.

  6. Dades and Vecchione, Friends of the Family, 62.

  7. Denis Hamill, “Finally Justice for Victims of Mafia Cops Louis Eppolito and Stephen Caracappa,” New York Daily News, March 4, 2009.

  8. Carlo, Gaspipe, 114.

  9. John Marzulli, “2 Cops Who Killed for Mafia: Feds Say Retired Detective Pals Are Linked to at Least 8 Murders,” New York Daily News, March 9, 2005.

  10. Press release, “Kings County District Attorney Charles J. Hynes Announces Murder Indictment Against Retired FBI Agent and Two Mob Hit Men in Multiple Murder Cases,” March 30, 2006.

  11. “Mafia Cops Louis Eppolito and Stephen Caracappa Sentenced to Life in Prison,” New York Daily News, March 6, 2006.

  12. Benjamin Weiser, “Convictions Reinstated in Mob Case,” New York Times, May 11, 2010; “Appeals Court Upholds NY Mafia Cops Conviction,” Associated Press, July 23, 2010.

  13. Dades and Vecchione, Friends of the Family, 191.

  14. Author’s interview with Andrew Orena, February 8, 2008.

  15. Dades and Vecchione, Friends of the Family, 3.

  16. Ibid., 26.

  17. Author’s interview with Anthony Casso, September 23, 2011.

  18. Supervisory Special Agents Timothy B. Kilund and Kevin P. Donovan, FBI 302 memo re: interview with Judge I. Leo Glasser, August 16, 1994.

  19. Jerry Capeci, “Fading Mobster Hits on Pal’s Alibi,” New York Daily News, May 31, 1994.

  20. Gregory Scarpa v. Victory Memorial Hospital and Dr. Angelito L. Sebollena, transcript of the deposition of Gregory Scarpa, March 1, 1988, 24.

  21. Ibid., 28.

  22. Gregory Scarpa v. Victory Memorial Hospital and Dr. Angelito L. Sebollena, transcript of the deposition of Linda Schiro, July 14, 1988, 10.

  23. Scarpa v. Victory Memorial Hospital, Scarpa transcript, March 1, 1988, 8.

  24. Ibid., 13.

  25. U.S. Individual Income Tax Returns (Form 1040s) for Gregory Scarpa, 436 Holton Avenue, Staten Island, NY, 1984–85.

  26. Scarpa v. Victory Memorial Hospital, Scarpa transcript, March 1, 1988, 14.

  27. Memo from special agent in charge, FBI New York Office, to director, FBI, July 9, 1962.

  28. Scarpa v. Victory Memorial Hospital, Schiro transcript, July 14, 1988, 17–26.

  29. Ibid., 34.

  30. Ibid., 36.

  31. Ibid., 52.

  32. Gregory Scarpa v. Victory Memorial Hospital and Dr. Angelito L. Sebollena, transcript of the deposition of Gregory Scarpa, August 12, 1991, 52.

  33. Ibid., 61.

  34. Ibid., 64.

  35. Scarpa v. Victory Memorial Hospital, Scarpa transcript, August 12, 1991, 7.

  36. Ibid., 8.

  37. Mary Tabor, “Settlement in Lawsuit on H.I.V.-Tainted Blood,” New York Times, August 30, 1992.

  38. Scarpa v. Victory Memorial Hospital, Scarpa transcript, August 12, 1991, 14.

  39. J. B. Alimonti, T. B. Ball, and J. K. R. Fowke, “Mechanisms of CD4+ T Lymphocyte Cell Death in Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infection and AIDS,” Journal of General Virology 84, no. 7 (April 22, 2003), 1649–61. Abstract: http://vir.sgmjournals.org/content/84/7/1649.abstract.

  40. Scarpa v. Victory Memorial Hospital, Scarpa transcript, August 12, 1991, 20.

  CHAPTER 19: MURDER ON THE OVERPASS

  1. Michael Marriott, “The Perplexing Killing of a Drug Agent,” New York Times, March 2, 1989; Mary Engels and David J. Krajicek, “Feds Hunt Killer of Drug Agent,” New York Daily News, March 2, 1989.

  2. Robert M. Stutman and Richard Esposito, Dead on Delivery: Inside the Drug Wars, Straight from the Street (New York: Warner Books, 1992), 4.

  3. Profile of Everett E. Hatcher, “DEA Agents Killed in the Line of Duty,” http://www.justice.gov/dea/agency/10bios.htm.

  4. Eric Pooley, “Death of a Hood: The Bloody End of Big Bad Gus,” New York, January 29, 1990.

  5. Eric Pooley, “A Federal Case,” New York, March 27, 1989.

  6. Stutman and Esposito, Dead on Delivery, 3–5.

  7. Ibid.

  8. Author’s interview with DEA Special Agent Michael Levine (ret.), November 30, 2011.

  9. Stutman and Esposito, Dead on Delivery, 11–12.

  10. Ibid., 13–14.

  11. Ibid., 263.

  12. Author’s interview with Frank Scarpa, September 13, 2012.

  13. Pooley, “A Federal Case.”

  14. “6 Charged with Hijacking 870 Cases of Scotch Here
,” New York Times, October 10, 1969.

  15. U.S. v. Gregory Scarpa Jr., October 13, 1988, transcript, 3087. Greg Scarpa Jr. names himself, his father, Anthony Cappucio, and Sam Weiss, but leaves out Frank Farace and Robert Stasio—another Colombo associate. Stasio was indicted in 1978 for allegedly seeking to sell stolen IRS refund checks. He pled guilty, and his alleged co-conspirator Anthony J. Costanzo was found guilty. U.S. v. Anthony J. Costanzo, U.S. Court of Appeals, Third Circuit 625F.2d 465, http://openjurist.org/625/f2d/465/united-states-v-j-costanzo.

  16. Special Agents Jeffrey W. Tomlinson and Howard Leadbetter II, FBI 302 memo re: Carmine Sessa, May 29, 1993.

  17. Supervisory Special Agents Kevin P. Donovan and Robert J. O’Brien, FBI 302 memo re: debriefing of William Meli, May 26, 1994.

  18. Pooley, “A Federal Case.”

  19. Engels and Krajicek, “Feds Hunt Killer of Drug Agent.”

  20. David J. Krajicek, “Mob Man Scarpa: Gus Not ‘Family,’” New York Daily News, March 5, 1989.

  21. Stutman and Esposito, Dead on Delivery, 257.

  22. David J. Krajicek, Gotti and Me: A Crime Reporter’s Close Encounters with the New York Mafia (New York: News Ink Books, 2012), 417–548.

  23. Krajicek, “Mob Man Scarpa.”

  24. R. Lindley DeVecchio, FBI 209 memo for Top Echelon (TE) informant designated “NY3461,” March 13, 1989.

  25. Stutman and Esposito, Dead on Delivery, 251.

  26. Ibid., 253.

  27. People v. R. Lindley DeVecchio, testimony of Chris Favo, October 17, 2007, 532.

  CHAPTER 20: A CONNECTION BY BLOOD

  1. Robert M. Stutman and Richard Esposito, Dead on Delivery: Inside the Drug Wars, Straight from the Street (New York: Warner Books, 1992), 257.

  2. Ibid., 264.

  3. “6 Charged with Hijacking 870 Cases of Scotch Here,”New York Times, October 10, 1969.

  4. David J. Krajicek, “Mob Man Scarpa: Gus Not ‘Family,’” New York Daily News, March 5, 1989.

  5. Stutman and Esposito, Dead on Delivery, 265.

  6. Ibid.

  7. Joseph P. Fried, “In Plea Bargain, Two Admit Guilt in Mob Figure’s ’89 Murder,” New York Times, September 18, 1997.

  8. Alan Feuer, “Mob Leader Is Guilty of Ordering 3 Murders,” New York Times, April 6, 2001; Alan Feuer, “Old-Style Mob Trial for a Murder Case in Brooklyn,” New York Times, March 7, 2001.

 

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