WHY SO MANY RATS TODAY? By Sonny Girard

WHY SO MANY RATS TODAY?
By
Sonny Girard
Over the last few days I’ve had a very personal experience with a dear friend rolling over for the Federal Government after having stood up for sixteen straight years in prison. I was shocked and saddened. I don’t know all the circumstances, other than what I’ve heard through [...]

South Jersey man accused of delivering fake horse’s head to Sen. President Sweeney’s office

WEST DEPTFORD — A 61-year-old South Jersey man is in custody after being arrested on charges he delivered a fake horse’s head to the Gloucester County office of Senate President Steve Sweeney.
Robert Godman, of Wenonah, was charged with fourth-degree harassment and is being held on $25,000 bail at the Gloucester County jail, State Police said. [...]

Battling an Image and Reality, Berlusconi Takes on the Mafia (Real and Fictional)

ROME — It seemed a spirited defense of his nation’s reputation: calling organized crime groups “a terrible pathology,” Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi on Thursday criticized movies and television shows that fictionalized the Mafia for giving Italy “a negative image abroad.”
Such shows, he said, were “an ugly trend” that he hoped would end soon.
Yet if anyone [...]

Italian Mob’s Profits Soar in Lousy Economy

Italy’s Mafia cleaned up to the tune of $109 billion in profits last year thanks to a well-honed knack for wringing money out of desperate people in a recession.
Italian crime syndicates raised profits by almost 8 percent in 2009 over the previous year by taking advantage of Italy’s distressed economy, according to a new report [...]

Reputed mob figure gets year and one day on tax charge

CHICAGO — Reputed Chicago mob figure Rudy Fratto was sentenced Wednesday to a year and a day in federal prison for evading $141,192 in income taxes.
“I’m completely devastated over this tax case and I’m completely responsible,” the 66-year-old Fratto said before U.S. District Judge Matthew F. Kennelly imposed the sentence. “I brought this on myself.”
Four [...]

Berlusconi vows to beat Mafia pathology

Reggion Calabria, Italy – Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi on Thursday announced a new drive to rid Italy of the “terrible pathology” of organised crime.
“The mafia – the ‘Ndrangheta and the other organisations, are a terrible pathology for our country,” Berlusconi said as he unveiled a 10-point campaign against organised crime.
He announced the plan after convening [...]

Toronto man denies role in Mafia war (Deportation sought)

A Toronto-area businessman denied being a member of the Mafia as he fought deportation to Italy yesterday over a conviction for holding a stash of guns during a savage mob war that stretched across the Atlantic.

Immigration officials are seeking to deport Carlo Figliomeni, 42, of Woodbridge, north of Toronto, saying he is no longer eligible [...]

Reputed acting crime boss pleads guilty to racketeering charges

Daniel “The Lion” Leo of Rockleigh, the reputed acting boss of the Genovese crime family, pleaded guilty to racketeering charges Wednesday in Manhattan federal court.
Leo, 69, currently in serving a 60-month federal prison sentence for his conviction on extortion charges in October 2007, faces 40 years in prison when he is sentenced April 2.
At the [...]

MOB WANNABES by Sonny Girard

MOB WANNABES
By
Sonny Girard
As someone who lived most of my life on the front lines of organized crime, trust me, guys, there’s nothing left to wannabe. One of the things that really bother me is when I see the sons and grandsons of my friends going to prison. I know how it all began [...]

Italy’s African Heroes

Naples, Italy
By ROBERTO SAVIANO
WHEN I was a teenager here, kids used to shoot dogs in the head. It was a way of gaining confidence with a gun, of venting your rage on another living creature. Now it seems human beings are used for target practice.
This month, rioting by African immigrants broke out in Rosarno, in [...]

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