Facing 30-years in the slammer, High ranking Mafioso, Anthony “Tumac” Accetturo decided to defect to the regal roster of Ratfella’s
King Ratfella Stevie Flemmi aka “The Rifleman” was a high caliber power player and killer in the Boston Underworld. He was a top leader of the Winter Hill Mob. He was deemed a high echelon informant by the FBI.
Ratfella Vincent Flemmi aka ” Jimmy The Bear” was a mad dog killer and Patriarca enforcer and pal of Joe Barboza’s . Hoodlum Joe “The Horse” Salvati rotted in prison for over 30 years for a murder that “The Bear” commited. He was a high level informant.
King Ratfella James Bulger aka Whitey
Whitey bossed the Winter Hill Mob after Howie Winter. Bulger is a degenerate gangster,and serial killer. He ratted out the Italian Cosa Nostra for over a decade. He killed South Boston Boss, Donald kaleen of the Irish Mob. Whitey is number two on the FBI most wanted list.
Ratfella, Angelo Mecurio aka Sonny
Mecurio was recruited by Stevie Flemmi to be an FBI super snitch. He helped the Feds bug the famous Mafia induction ceremony. He was also radio host Howie Carr’s bitch. Carr made a pathetic attemt at writing a tearjerker tribute for Sonny when he kicked the bucket.
Tommaso Buscetta
RatFella, Mafioso, Buscetta’s testimony in the New York Pizza Connection Trial in the mid-1980s allowed for the conviction of hundreds of mobsters in Italy and the United States,.As a reward for his help, Buscetta was allowed to live in the USA under a new identity in the Witness Protection Program.
Royal RatFella “Jimmy The Weasel” Fratianno
Fratianno was a top notch killer for the mob for many years . Jimmy took over as Acting Boss of the Los Angeles Crime Family when Louie Dragna handed him the reins . Jimmy wound up taking the entire Mob Family down when he flipped to FBI fink
Fratianno lived quietly and comfortably for many years in Palm Springs untill his death from Alzheimer disease .
Ratfella, Wilfred “Willie Boy” Johnson
During his 16 years as an informant, Johnson provided information on all the different New York Mafia crews that he worked on and the FBI used that information to make many arrests. However, as his FBI “handler,” Special Agent Martin Boland noticed, Johnson refused to discuss his background or childhood in any detail.
One of the most significant pieces of information provided by Johnson was how The Vario Crew was avoiding FBI wire taps and bugs. The crew was using a parked trailer in a junkyard owned by Paul Vario in Brooklyn.
Johnson provided the FBI with information on a large-scale narcotics ring, run by John Gotti and others, called the “Pleasant Avenue Connection.” He revealed that Gotti and Angelo Ruggerio had murdered Florida mobster Anthony Plate. Johnson also had details on the murder of James McBratney, the man who kidnapped Emanuel Gambino.
Ratfella, Anthony Casso aka gaspipe
With a reputation as one of the most violent enforcers of the Lucchese crime family, Casso rose to become one of the criminal organizations leading Capo’s. During his days as a safecracker and enforcer along Brooklyn’s Red Hook waterfront, Casso’s became known in the area for his violent temper and a piece of gas pipe he used regularly to threaten loanshark victims and suspected informers.
in 1994. the Ratfella agreed to become a government informant in exchange for dropping a life imprisonment sentence against him and entered the Witness Protection Program. Casso disclosed information about countless murders and other mafia related information, such as releasing the fact that he had two NYPD detectives on his payroll. These detectives were later determined to be Stephen Caracappa and Louis Eppolito. However the government determined that Casso was an unqualified witness. He was dropped from the Witness Protection Program and is now serving life imprisonment in Supermax
Ratfella, John Alite
John A. (Junior) Gotti’s worst nightmare took the witness stand in the trial of Gambino hit man Charles Carneglia. The best friend of the mob scion for a decade, John Alite implicated Gotti in four murders and drug trafficking. To add insult to injury, Alite bragged about banging baby Gotti’s sister.
“Fatso” Vinny Teresa
Ratfella, Vincent Teresa was a mobster turned informant, he claimed he was present when the CIA gave organized crime a $4 million contract to murder Castro. Teresa said Raymond Patriarca and an associate picked a former Brookline convict, Maurice (Pro) Werner to kill Castro, but the slaying was never carried out.
Patriarca’s reaction was typical. He told a reporter who asked him to comment on Teresa’s claim: “You people are crazier than he is.”
Fatso, Teresa died in 1990 while in the federal witness protection program
Ratfella, Vincent Palermo a/k/a “Vinny Ocean”
Background
A New Jersey native, Palermo married the niece of Sam Decavalcante, the family boss, in 1965 at age 21. Later that year, Palermo became a made man, or full member, of the DeCavalcante family. The nickname Vinny Ocean came from working in a fish market that was a front for operating a numbers racket. Palermo also owned a strip club in New Jersey.
Murder of Fred Weiss
In 1989, Palermo murdered Staten Island, New York resident Fred Weiss on orders from DeCavalcante boss John Riggi and caporegime Anthony Rotondo. A former journalist for the Staten Island Advance newspaper and real-estate developer, Weiss became associated with mobsters from both the Decavalcante family and the New York Gambino crime family. Weiss and two mob partners had purchased a vacant property in Staten Island and started illegally dumping large amounts of dangerous medical waste there. When local authorities uncovered the scheme and started investigating Weiss, the two mob families became nervous. Gambino boss John Gotti worried that Weiss might become a government witness in exchange for leniency; Gotti requested that the Decavalcante family murder Weiss to protect them. On September 11th, 1989, Palermo and two other DeCavalcante mobsters drove to the New York condominium of Weiss’ girlfriend. As Weiss left the building and climbed into his car, Palermo and another gunman shot and killed him.
Family scandal
Over time, Palermo was appointed caporegime and give his own crew of soldiers. When Riggi was sent to prison in 1989, he appointed John “Johnny Boy” D’Amato as his acting boss. However, in 1992 D’Amato’s disgruntled girlfriend revealed that he was bisexual. D’Amato would take her to so-called “swingers” parties and engage in homosexual activity with other men. To avoid embarrassment to the DeCavalcante family, especially among the New York crime families, Riggi ordered Palermo and other family members to murder D’Amato. It was decided that he was an embarrassment to the family and therefore he had to go to make sure nobody from the New York families found out. In early 1992, D’Amato disappeared and his body was never found; it was rumored that D’Amato was shot and killed in his car. Following D’Amato’s disappearence, Giacomo “Jake” Amari became the new acting boss for Riggi. He ran the family until his death from cancer in 1997.
Power struggle
With Amari’s death, there was no clear candidate to become the new acting boss. To avoid potential fighting for power, boss Riggi, still in prison, restructured the family and created a ruling panel to run it. Riggi appointed long time family members Vincent Palermo and Girolamo “Jimmy” Palermo (no relation to Vincent) to the panel. One individual not chosen for the panel, Charles Majuri, was infuriated. Majuri decided to murder the two Palermos and take effective control of the DeCavalcante family. Majuri asked Jimmy Gallo to murder Vincent, but Gallo instead told Vincent about the plot.
To protect himself, Vincent decided to murder Majuri instead. Over the years, Majuri had made many enemies by removing fellow mobsters from a union he controlled and taking their money. Vincent was able to recruit DeCavalcante members Joseph Masella, Anthony Capo, and Jimmy Gallo to find Majuri and murder him. However, on the one occasion when they were ready to kill Majuri, they became nervous and decided not to do it. When they reported their failure back to Vicent, he decided that Majuri didn’t pose a threat after all and cancelled the murder contract.
FBI informant
In 1998, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) recruited a mob informant who devastated the DeCavalcante family. This informant was DeCavalcante associate Ralph Guarino, who had been arresting for robbing an armored truck carrying $1.6 million to the New York World Trade Center. To avoid 20 years in prison, Guarino agreed to work undercover for the FBI. Guarino soon started informing on the actions of DeCavalcante members to the FBI. The agency gave him cell phones rigged with surveillance equipment to distribute to other family members. In October 1998, Vincent’s trusted lieutenant, Joseph Masella, was shot to death, leaving an opening in the family. Due to secret assistance from the FBI, Guarino’s status had been rising in the family. After Masella’s murder, Vincent and the rest of the DeCavalcante leadership promoted Guarino to made man.
In 1999, the FBI finally moved in on the DeCavalcante family. Vincent had recently proposed to murder mobster Frank D’Amato and Guarino sucessfully recorded the conversation. On December 2nd, the FBI arrested Vincent and 39 other members of the family. Vincent was charged with the attempted murders of Frank D’Amato and Majuri and many other offenses. Hitman Capo implicated also implicated Palermo in the 1989 Weiss killing.
Government witness
Facing serious charges and possible capital offenses, Vinent decided to become a government witness. He confessed to killing Weiss and mobster Louis LaRasso and to planning the murders of John D’Amato, Joseph Masella, Charles Majuri, Frank D’Amato and Tom Salvata, the manager at his strip club. Palermo also implicated other DeCavalcante family members in various crimes.
After testifying for the government, Vincent Palermo and his family entered the federal Witness Protection Program.
Ratfella, Frank “Cadillac” Salemme
In January 1995, Ratfella. Salemme was indicted on racketeering charges along with Whitey Bulger and Stevie Flemmi. Salemme was convicted and sentenced to 11 years imprisonment. In 1999, while serving his racketeering sentence, Salemme learned that both Bulger and Flemmi were government informants, and that both men had provided information on Salemme to their FBI handlers. Salemme now agreed to provide the government with information on the FBI handling of Bulger and Flemmi. Salemme’s testimony would help convict FBI agent Connolly, the same man who had arrested him 20 years earlier in New York. In 2003, in return for assisting the government, Salemme was released early from prison and brought into the Federal Witness Protection Program. Shortly after his release, Salemme appeared before a Congressional committee to testify on the Connolly case.
Ratfella, Sammy ‘The Bull” Gravano
In 1991 Sammy Gravano famously turned state’s evidence and testified against John Gotti in exchange for a reduced sentence. John Gotti received a sentence of life imprisonment. Gravano, who confessed to taking part in nineteen murders, was convicted of a token racketeering charge and sentenced to 20 years. As part of Gravano’s cooperation agreement, he would never be forced to testify against his former crew, which included Louis Vallario, Michael DiLeonardo Frank Fappiano, Edward Garafola, Thomas Carbonaro, Joseph DeAngelo and many other career criminals and wiseguys.
Ratfella, Phillip “Crazy Phil” Leonetti
Leonetti testified against several Mafia families, resulting in the convictions of dozens of high-ranking members of the Philadelphia/Atlantic City crime families. His testimony was also used against Gotti in his own trial. Leonetti also confessed to ten murders. Leonetti and other Scarfo family turncoats like Nick Caramandi, Tommy Delgiorno, and Yogi Merlino would permanently damage the Philadelphia mob
Ratfella, Nick Calabrese
The FBI was able to flip Nick Calabrese by tying him to the 1986 killing of “Big John” Fecarotta. During the mob hit, Fecarotta struggled with Nick Calabrese, and Nick Calabrese was shot in the arm. Fecarotta ran off but was eventually gunned down. Nick Calabrese left behind a bloody glove that years later investigators tied to him through DNA testing.. .Calabrese told the FBI more about mob hits than any other witness in Chicago history..
Ratfella Michael “Mikey Scars” DiLeonardo
After the turn of the century, things turned sour for DiLeonardo. In 2002, the new family boss, Peter Gotti, reduced DiLeonardo’s power for allegedly hiding money from the family. Later in 2002, DiLeonardo was indicted on labor racketeering, extortion, loan sharking, witness tampering, and the murders of Gambino associate Frank Hydell and Fred Weiss. At this point, DiLeonardo made an unsuccessful suicide attempt.
Finally, DiLeonardo decided to cooperate with the federal government. He provided damaging testimony against Peter Gotti, Anthony “Sonny” Ciccone, Louis “Big Lou” Vallario, Frank Fappiano, Richard V. Gotti, Richard G. Gotti, and Michael Yanotti. and testified at the three mistrials in which John Gotti, Jr. was charged with ordering the abduction and assault of radio commentator Curtis Sliwa’s abduction.
Finally, in October 2006, DiLeonardo testified against former Colombo crime family acting boss Alphonse “Allie Boy” Persico and underboss John “Jackie” DeRoss, who were charged with the murder of former underboss William Cutolo. That trial ended in a mistrial.
DiLeonardo is presumably participating in a Witness Protection Program.
Ratfella, Abe “Kid Twist” Reles
In 1940, Reles was implicated in a number of killings. Realizing that he faced execution if convicted, Reles became a government witness. During one discussion with prosecutors, Reles described a typical murder:
- “Pep has an ice pick. Happer has meat cleaver It is the kind you chop with, you know, butcher cleaver. Abby grabs Rudnick by the feet and drags him over to the car. Pep and Happy grab it by the head. They put it in the car. Somebody says “It don’t fit.” Just as they push the body in it gives a little cough or something. With that, Pep starts with the ice pick and starts punching away at Whitey. Maione says “Let me hit the bastard one for luck.” And he hits him with the cleaver some place on the head.”
Reles implicated his boss in Murder, Inc, Louis Buchalterin the murder of Brooklyn candy store owner Joseph Rosen; Buchalter was eventually convicted and executed for this crime. Reles’ information also implicated Harry “Pittsburgh Phil” Strauss Mendy Weiss Harry”Happy” Maione and even Reles’ childhood friend Buggsy Goldstein, All of these men were convicted and executed.
Ratfella, Joseph “Joe Cargo” Valachi
For 30 years Valachi kept faith with “omerta” the underworld’s blood rule of silence. Then, in 1960, he was imprisoned on a narcotics violation. Suspecting that he was turning informer, the underworld marked him for death. Crazy with fear, Valachi turned to the FBI for protection and began to sing for his life
Ratfella, Angelo Lonardo aka Big Ange
Fearful of spending his remaining life in jail, Clevland Mafia underboss, Lonardo ,turned and worked as a witness for the Cleveland FBI, exposing and detailing the inside workings of the national network of the La Cosa Nostra that originated from New York and The Commission, set up in the 1930s by New York mobster Charles Lucky Luciano
Ratfella, Joseph Barboza aka “ The Animal “
Ratfella, Barboza flipped in 1967, he lied to send four men to prison for more than 30 years for a crime they did not commit, and that the FBI knew they did not commit. He went into Witness Protection Program, was relocated to California where he murdered again. Witnesses sent out to testify for him included Ted Harrington, now a federal judge in Boston. Barboza was murdered by Boston Mafia capo J.R. Russo in San Francisco in 1976. . Asked about the miscarriage of justice by a Congressman shortly before his death, crooked FBI agent H. Paul Rico said, “What do you want from me, tears?
Ratfella Daniel ”Danny” Greene aka ”Mr Patrick ”
Ratfella, Danny Greene was an Irish American mobster and associate of Cleveland mobster John Nardi during the gang war for the city’s criminal operations during the late 1970s. Having contact with union leaders who were under investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) brought Greene a visit from the Organized Crime Division.
Ratfella, Anthony Delmonti
rotondo
Ratfella, Anthony Rotondo
Once he made the Philadelphia Crime Family’s hit list, made guy, Tommy DelGiorno, was the first of five finks to rat out Philly mob boss, Nicky Scarfo and his associates..Tommy was soon joined by Nicholas “the Crow” Caramandi and Eugene “Gino” Milano. Later they were joined by Lawrence “Yogi” Merlino and Phil Leonetti. The five ratfellas put Nicky Scarfo and many other wiseguys away for life.
Ratfella, Ken Gallo aka Kenji
Japanese gangster and porn producer Ken Gallo infiltrated the Colombo Crime Family and delivered a knockout blow to tough-as-nails Teddy Persico, and his ruthless mob associates..Teddy is the nephew of Colombo Family leader Carmine “The Snake” Persico. Operating as a paid informant, Gallo used porn stars, and a wire, to put Teddy and his crew in the slammer.
Ratfella, Ralph Natale Philadelphia Crime Family boss Ralph Natale, was the highest ranking American Mafia figure to become a mob rat. . Natale took the stand for 14 grueling days. He gave testimony against other high ranking Mobster Skinny Joey Merlino and crew. Natale was a dismal failure as a witness He got hammered on tough cross examination and folded under the pressure.
Ratfella, Nicky “The Crow” Caramandi
