Sinatra friend among 100 plus ‘Mafia’ members busted
The FBI swoop on more than 100 Mafia suspects, including a former associate of Frank Sinatra, but two organised crime experts tell Channel 4 News it will do little to stem crime in New York.
It was a scene straight out of hit mob drama The Sopranos: a coordinated dawn raid by the FBI and other law forces yielded high-ranking leaders from all of the so-called ‘Five Families’ or La Cosa Nostra – the Genovese, Gambino, Lucchese, Colombo and Bonanno.
The FBI described it the largest bust in its history, swooping on 129 people, and among their arrestees were Richard Fusco, 74, consigliere of the Colombo family, and a former associate of the singer Frank Sinatra. The picture above was taken in 1978 and shows Fusco, at the bottom in a light suit, with Mr Sinatra, in what became an iconic image.
US Attorney General Eric Holder and other top officials told a press conference that among the arrested people was an alleged Mafia member they believe murdered a man over a spilled drink in a bar in 1981.
According to the New York Times, the targets ranged from alleged small-time bookmakers to six reputed senior Mob figures from three crime families, including the entire current leadership of the Colombo crime family.
The Attorney General said: “We are pleased today to announce an important step forward in our nation’s ongoing fight against the organized crime families of La Cosa Nostra – the Mafia.
“Today more than 800 federal, state and local law enforcement officials have arrested over 110 individuals, including dozens of La Cosa Nostra individuals and associates – one in Italy.
“In total 127 people have been charged and 16 indictments unsealed today in four districts in New York, New Jersey and Rhode Island.
“This is one of the largest single-day operations against the mafia in the FBI’s history, both in terms of the number of defendants arrested and charged and the scope of the criminal activity that is alleged.
“Their alleged crimes include numerous violent and illegal acts, from murder and narcotics trafficking to extortion and illegal gambling, arson, loan sharking and labor racketeering.
“Now, some allegations involve classic Mob hits to eliminate perceived rivals. Others involve truly senseless murders. In one instance, a victim was allegedly shot and killed in a botched robbery attempt and two other murder victims allegedly were shot in a public bar because of a dispute over a spilled drink.”
“Mafia families in New York are more Goodfellas than Godfather. That is to say they are full of betrayal and chaos, and relativley low-key in their operations.” Lecturer Michael Woodiwiss
Michael Woodiwiss, a senior lecturer in history at the University of the West of England and the author of Organized Crime and American Power and Gangster Capitalism, told Channel 4 News that although the raid represented a coup for the FBI, it would unlikley decrease crime in the city.
“I’m sceptical about this, because the FBI has said time and again in the last two decades that they have deciminated organised crime in New York, so I’m reluctant to believe it this time.
“Besides, based on empiric evidence, Italian-American Mafia is not big corporation, it is a lot more small-time than that, racketeering mostly.
“So in that sense Mafia families are not all-powerful and are restricted to being small in size: the larger they get the more likely they will get arrested.
“So I think, if you look at popular culture, Mafia families in New York are more Goodfellas than Godfather. That is to say they are full of betrayal and chaos, and relativley low-key in their operations.”
Mr Woodiwiss’ scepticism about the crackdown was echoed by another expert on the Mafia, Dr Georgios A. Antonopoulos from Teeside University and the British Journal of Criminology.
“I too am sceptical about how organised organised crime familes actually are: not just in New York and the US, but in Europe and elsewhere,” he told Channel 4 News.
Dr Antonopoulos said that the real figures behind organised crime are often “legal actors” – businessmen and politicians – and as such, unless the arrests included such people, they would be meaningless.
“It is difficult to ascertain how signifcant these arrests actually are, because, unless they include legal actors, this is merely the arrests of 100 people. It is usually only the thugs who are vulnerable to law enforcement, and those members are very replaceable.”
He added: “I think this is probably FBI posturing: while it is always a possibility that organised crime has been hit hard by such raids, it is unlikely. These sweeps are usually quantitive, not qualitative.”
According to the FBI, also among those charged were Andrew Russo, 76, street boss of the Colombo family, Benjamin Castellazzo, 73, acting underboss of the Colombo family, Joseph Corozzo, 69, consigliere of the Gambino family and Bartolomeo Vernace, 61, a member of the Gambino family administration.
