Mafia Informants

For many years, the FBI, led by J. Edgar Hoover, ignored organized crime, as the Bureau regarded local law enforcement as best equipped to handle it. That changed when Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy (in the 1960s) and New York City’s Rudy Giuliani (in the 1980s) pursued eradication of the Mafia..
In this book, readers are introduced to several characters in the American Mafia, known as “rats” in the criminal world, whose cooperation with law enforcement resulted in the arrest of Mafia members across the country. Short biographies of each informant detail their crimes and deals made to stay alive or reduce lengthy prison sentences. FBI and CIA records released in 2017, and books written by the criminals themselves, reveal why previously loyal Mafia members and associates became informants. Most of the criminals written about are dead; a few are presumed to be alive and in the witness protection program.

Larry J. Hausner is a retired businessman living in North Tustin, California. He is the author of eight fiction and two non-fiction books.

Ron Haggett is a retired nurse practitioner who treated cancer patients at the University Hospital in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Larry J. Hausner and Ron Haggett
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 201
Bibliographic Info: 22 photos, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2024
pISBN: 978-1-4766-9428-3
eISBN: 978-1-4766-5266-5
Imprint: Exposit

Acknowledgments vi
Introduction 1
One. Omertà 5
Two. Informants 10
Three. The Bensonhurst Connection 16
Four. Joseph “Joe Cargo” Valachi 20
Five. Florindo “Florio” Isabella 26
Six. Anthony “Gaspipe” Casso 31
Seven. Peter “Big Pete” Chiodo 45
Eight. Vittorio “Vic” Amuso 51
Nine. Alphonse “Little Al” D’Arco 56
Ten. Gregory “The Grim Reaper” Scarpa, Sr. 62
Eleven. Henry “The Celebrity Rat” Hill 71
Twelve. Gregory “The Unintentional Rat” DePalma 81
Thirteen. Michael “The Bogeyman” Blutrich 91
Fourteen. Salvatore “Sammy the Bull” Gravano 99
Fifteen. Nicholas “Nicky Crow” Caramandi 108
Sixteen. Leokadya April Martin Rubino DiCaprio Woltemate 114
Seventeen. Charles “Mad Dog” Gargotta 119
Eighteen. Luigi “Cockeyed Louie” Fratto 125
Nineteen. John “Handsome Johnny” Rosselli 136
Twenty. Salvatore “Dago Louie Merli” Piscopo 149
­Twenty-One. “Jimmy the Weasel” Fratianno 155
Twenty-Two. Tura Satana 164
Twenty-Three. The End of the Wise Guys? 169
Chapter Notes 177
Bibliography 187
Index 191