1 00:00:09,083 --> 00:00:10,667 NARRATOR: Previously on American Godfathers: 2 00:00:10,792 --> 00:00:12,000 The Five Families... 3 00:00:12,375 --> 00:00:15,083 Thank God that I was born 4 00:00:15,167 --> 00:00:17,250 of Italian birth. 5 00:00:17,333 --> 00:00:20,458 NARRATOR: A new generation of mobsters rose to power 6 00:00:20,542 --> 00:00:22,125 by breaking the rules. 7 00:00:22,208 --> 00:00:25,708 Joe Colombo didn't escape from the media. 8 00:00:25,792 --> 00:00:27,375 He welcomed the media. 9 00:00:29,417 --> 00:00:31,375 The problem is, is that you can't really be 10 00:00:31,458 --> 00:00:33,958 a media celebrity like Joey Gallo 11 00:00:34,042 --> 00:00:36,208 and sort of still be in the mafia. 12 00:00:38,375 --> 00:00:40,542 ANTHONY DESTEFANO: Carmine Galante was a drug dealer. 13 00:00:41,375 --> 00:00:43,208 He was violent. 14 00:00:43,292 --> 00:00:45,083 - [gunshot echoes] - [crowd clamoring] 15 00:00:45,708 --> 00:00:47,667 NARRATOR: But one by one, they fell. 16 00:00:47,708 --> 00:00:50,000 REPORTER: Joe Colombo, Sr. was lying on the ground, 17 00:00:50,083 --> 00:00:51,667 badly wounded. 18 00:00:51,750 --> 00:00:53,542 Shot in the head and bleeding profusely. 19 00:00:56,083 --> 00:00:58,875 FRANK DIMATTEO: We got a call maybe 7:30. 20 00:00:58,958 --> 00:01:00,333 And he goes, "They killed Joey." 21 00:01:01,958 --> 00:01:04,000 The passing of Carmine Galante means 22 00:01:04,042 --> 00:01:05,500 a new struggle for control 23 00:01:05,625 --> 00:01:07,583 at the top of New York's Five Families. 24 00:01:07,667 --> 00:01:09,333 NARRATOR: With blood in the streets 25 00:01:09,458 --> 00:01:10,833 and its leadership in disarray... 26 00:01:10,917 --> 00:01:13,625 [gunshots popping] 27 00:01:13,625 --> 00:01:16,042 ...the families struggled to survive. 28 00:01:16,167 --> 00:01:17,917 There's no order in the ranks anymore. 29 00:01:18,208 --> 00:01:20,500 That was kind of the beginning of the end for the mafia. 30 00:01:21,333 --> 00:01:24,042 NARRATOR: Now, the Five Families must contend with new laws 31 00:01:24,125 --> 00:01:25,500 designed to destroy them, 32 00:01:26,542 --> 00:01:29,167 as one family confronts the unthinkable. 33 00:01:30,083 --> 00:01:33,583 It was revealed that an FBI Agent 34 00:01:33,667 --> 00:01:36,292 had infiltrated the Bonanno crime family. 35 00:01:36,375 --> 00:01:38,000 REPORTER: This man, known as Donnie Brasco, 36 00:01:38,083 --> 00:01:40,083 revealed his true name, 37 00:01:40,083 --> 00:01:43,125 Joseph Pistone, agent of the FBI. 38 00:01:43,208 --> 00:01:45,583 ANTHONY: Pistone had information about other families. 39 00:01:46,625 --> 00:01:49,417 The feeling is what other shoe's going to drop? 40 00:01:52,958 --> 00:01:56,083 [theme music plays] 41 00:02:08,708 --> 00:02:12,292 [tense music plays] 42 00:02:13,250 --> 00:02:14,958 NARRATOR: In the summer of 1981, 43 00:02:15,042 --> 00:02:17,208 Dominick "Sonny Black" Napolitano, 44 00:02:17,208 --> 00:02:19,000 a captain in the Bonanno family, 45 00:02:19,042 --> 00:02:21,625 ran The Motion Lounge, a Bonanno hangout, 46 00:02:21,708 --> 00:02:25,042 that sat on the corner of Graham Ave and Withers Street 47 00:02:25,042 --> 00:02:26,583 in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. 48 00:02:27,833 --> 00:02:31,000 From here, Sonny and his crew ran a gambling operation, 49 00:02:31,042 --> 00:02:34,625 trafficked stolen goods, planned their next scores. 50 00:02:35,500 --> 00:02:37,250 In late July, it was paid a visit 51 00:02:37,375 --> 00:02:39,458 by three FBI Agents. 52 00:02:40,583 --> 00:02:43,500 They informed Sonny Black that a member of his crew, 53 00:02:43,583 --> 00:02:46,125 an associate named Donnie Brasco, 54 00:02:46,208 --> 00:02:48,292 a jewel thief from Miami, FL, 55 00:02:48,375 --> 00:02:51,125 was, in fact, an undercover agent 56 00:02:51,208 --> 00:02:52,833 named Joe Pistone. 57 00:02:52,875 --> 00:02:54,792 A G-man from Erie, PA. 58 00:02:56,833 --> 00:02:59,208 At first, Sonny Black didn't believe them. 59 00:02:59,333 --> 00:03:01,667 Because in his mind, believing them may make it true. 60 00:03:02,667 --> 00:03:04,500 And if it was true, 61 00:03:04,625 --> 00:03:06,833 well, then Sonny Black was in quite a bit of trouble. 62 00:03:06,917 --> 00:03:09,917 ♪ 63 00:03:11,292 --> 00:03:13,125 The government says this is the best 64 00:03:13,208 --> 00:03:14,875 they've ever done in their fight 65 00:03:14,958 --> 00:03:18,042 to whip into organized crime from the inside out. 66 00:03:18,125 --> 00:03:19,625 NARRATOR: It was true, all right. 67 00:03:20,042 --> 00:03:21,917 Pistone would go on to tell all, 68 00:03:22,000 --> 00:03:24,000 testifying publicly in court 69 00:03:24,083 --> 00:03:26,542 for the first time in August of 1982. 70 00:03:27,083 --> 00:03:28,750 And the Bonannos pay the price. 71 00:03:29,458 --> 00:03:33,292 Family boss Rusty Rastelli was removed from the Commission. 72 00:03:34,167 --> 00:03:36,708 The Bonannos have always kind of been 73 00:03:36,792 --> 00:03:39,208 the problem children of the Five Families. 74 00:03:39,208 --> 00:03:41,250 Then the knockout blow that was delivered 75 00:03:41,375 --> 00:03:44,000 by Pistone's infiltration of the family. 76 00:03:44,083 --> 00:03:47,500 The family was essentially being run by Rusty Rastelli 77 00:03:47,542 --> 00:03:50,583 and his main man was Joseph Massino. 78 00:03:52,458 --> 00:03:54,125 Well, somebody had to pay for the fact 79 00:03:54,208 --> 00:03:57,208 that Pistone infiltrated the family. 80 00:03:58,667 --> 00:04:02,833 The main guy who was in charge of that faction 81 00:04:02,917 --> 00:04:05,208 was Sonny Black Napolitano. 82 00:04:06,125 --> 00:04:09,167 And Massino orchestrated 83 00:04:09,250 --> 00:04:11,958 the assassination of Sonny Black. 84 00:04:13,375 --> 00:04:17,000 And Sonny Black was enticed to the house, 85 00:04:17,083 --> 00:04:18,458 pushed down into the basement. 86 00:04:19,042 --> 00:04:20,625 Before he was killed... 87 00:04:21,417 --> 00:04:23,250 he told his assassin, 88 00:04:23,333 --> 00:04:26,167 "If you're gonna do it, make it good." 89 00:04:26,250 --> 00:04:27,583 [gunshot pops] 90 00:04:28,167 --> 00:04:31,250 [dramatic music plays] 91 00:04:37,042 --> 00:04:39,458 NARRATOR: The murder of Sonny Black Napolitano came 92 00:04:39,542 --> 00:04:42,625 some 50 years after the Five Families were created. 93 00:04:43,500 --> 00:04:46,750 Fifty years of extortion, taking over unions, 94 00:04:46,833 --> 00:04:49,333 tax evasion, gambling operations. 95 00:04:49,417 --> 00:04:52,125 The Five Families were as powerful and effective 96 00:04:52,208 --> 00:04:53,833 as any criminal organization 97 00:04:53,875 --> 00:04:56,375 in the history of the United States. 98 00:04:57,458 --> 00:04:59,417 They had retained power for decades 99 00:04:59,500 --> 00:05:01,333 through sheer force and secrecy. 100 00:05:01,875 --> 00:05:03,333 And while they'd been wounded, 101 00:05:03,417 --> 00:05:04,792 they were still feared. 102 00:05:07,125 --> 00:05:08,958 But their world changed in the '80s. 103 00:05:09,875 --> 00:05:12,125 New York didn't bounce back from the devastating 104 00:05:12,208 --> 00:05:15,167 fiscal crisis that started in 1975. 105 00:05:15,208 --> 00:05:18,958 The crack epidemic sent crime and violence sky-rocketing. 106 00:05:19,708 --> 00:05:22,750 In response, President Reagan began to promote 107 00:05:22,833 --> 00:05:25,042 "tough on crime" messaging and policies. 108 00:05:25,750 --> 00:05:27,833 All forms of crime were to be targeted. 109 00:05:28,500 --> 00:05:30,167 But in New York City, 110 00:05:30,417 --> 00:05:33,500 organized crime, specifically the Five Families, 111 00:05:33,583 --> 00:05:35,542 were to be priority number one. 112 00:05:37,458 --> 00:05:39,833 If there's one single individual... 113 00:05:40,667 --> 00:05:45,208 who's responsible for finally going after 114 00:05:45,208 --> 00:05:48,292 the American mafia and the Five Families, 115 00:05:48,375 --> 00:05:50,875 his name is Robert Blakey. 116 00:05:51,667 --> 00:05:54,917 He was the architect of a law called RICO, 117 00:05:55,000 --> 00:05:57,833 Racketeer-Influenced Corrupt Organizations Act. 118 00:05:59,708 --> 00:06:03,500 Perhaps the most significant tool that we were provided 119 00:06:03,625 --> 00:06:05,458 in waging the war on organized crime 120 00:06:05,542 --> 00:06:07,500 was the RICO statute. 121 00:06:07,542 --> 00:06:11,458 And generally, when prosecutors prosecute criminals, 122 00:06:11,542 --> 00:06:14,917 you can only prosecute one criminal transaction at a time. 123 00:06:15,042 --> 00:06:17,333 REPORTER: RICO could be used to prosecute 124 00:06:17,375 --> 00:06:19,583 any individual or organization, 125 00:06:19,667 --> 00:06:21,500 if certain conditions were met. 126 00:06:21,542 --> 00:06:23,542 Those charged had to be engaged 127 00:06:23,625 --> 00:06:25,500 in racketeering activity, 128 00:06:25,542 --> 00:06:27,750 such as murder, kidnapping, extortion, 129 00:06:27,875 --> 00:06:30,708 or mail, wire, or securities fraud. 130 00:06:30,792 --> 00:06:33,625 What this accomplished was for the first time, 131 00:06:33,708 --> 00:06:35,875 instead of going after small fry, 132 00:06:35,958 --> 00:06:39,208 if you were found to be in any way connected 133 00:06:39,292 --> 00:06:42,125 to an ongoing criminal organization, 134 00:06:42,208 --> 00:06:44,250 especially if you were a leader, 135 00:06:44,333 --> 00:06:46,042 you could face a life in prison. 136 00:06:48,042 --> 00:06:49,458 LEONARD ROLLOCK: People hear "gangs" and they think, 137 00:06:49,542 --> 00:06:50,875 "Oh, well, that's organized crime." 138 00:06:51,000 --> 00:06:53,125 It's not what the RICO was aimed after. 139 00:06:53,708 --> 00:06:55,083 They was aimed after people 140 00:06:55,208 --> 00:06:57,333 that were racketeers. 141 00:06:58,167 --> 00:07:01,000 And a racketeer is somebody who could set up a scenario 142 00:07:01,125 --> 00:07:03,500 where you find yourself paying for protection 143 00:07:03,542 --> 00:07:05,250 in some way or another. 144 00:07:05,500 --> 00:07:08,667 If you wanted to convict somebody of engaging in RICO 145 00:07:08,792 --> 00:07:10,583 or racketeering violation, 146 00:07:10,708 --> 00:07:13,042 you had to prove that they were involved 147 00:07:13,042 --> 00:07:16,833 in a racketeering enterprise, such as a mob family. 148 00:07:17,292 --> 00:07:19,958 And in addition, you had to prove that they were involved 149 00:07:20,042 --> 00:07:22,583 in a pattern of racketeering activity. 150 00:07:23,875 --> 00:07:27,500 Now the entire enterprise was looked at as a whole, 151 00:07:27,625 --> 00:07:31,458 and these people were identified and prosecuted 152 00:07:31,542 --> 00:07:33,875 as arms of that organization. 153 00:07:35,750 --> 00:07:39,417 It made everybody vulnerable to whatever the hierarchy 154 00:07:39,500 --> 00:07:42,500 of the organized crime family was doing. 155 00:07:42,625 --> 00:07:45,292 They could be charged with many more things 156 00:07:45,375 --> 00:07:46,958 than just their individual actions. 157 00:07:48,583 --> 00:07:51,333 So rather than just being able to convict people 158 00:07:51,417 --> 00:07:54,083 and arrest them for actual individual crimes, 159 00:07:54,167 --> 00:07:55,708 thanks to RICO, 160 00:07:55,792 --> 00:07:58,333 being a gangster itself was a criminal act. 161 00:07:59,042 --> 00:08:01,500 NARRATOR: The RICO statute was signed into law 162 00:08:01,583 --> 00:08:03,500 in 1970. 163 00:08:03,542 --> 00:08:05,042 But it was neglected for the better part 164 00:08:05,125 --> 00:08:06,417 of the next decade. 165 00:08:06,500 --> 00:08:08,458 Federal prosecutors feared 166 00:08:08,542 --> 00:08:10,667 that the untested statute could be 167 00:08:10,792 --> 00:08:13,083 declared unconstitutional if used in court. 168 00:08:13,917 --> 00:08:17,458 They were extremely reluctant to approve 169 00:08:17,542 --> 00:08:20,500 any of the RICO prosecution until the early 1980s. 170 00:08:21,542 --> 00:08:24,083 If you had the goods and you put it all together, 171 00:08:24,167 --> 00:08:26,167 it was very easy to convict people of racketeering 172 00:08:26,292 --> 00:08:27,458 or RICO violations. 173 00:08:27,542 --> 00:08:29,292 So, it was an enormous-- 174 00:08:29,375 --> 00:08:31,208 enormously powerful tool that we had. 175 00:08:31,292 --> 00:08:35,042 NARRATOR: In the 1980s, an emerging federal prosecutor 176 00:08:35,125 --> 00:08:38,000 would see the promise and incredible power of RICO, 177 00:08:38,083 --> 00:08:39,917 and he would put it to use in the fight 178 00:08:40,000 --> 00:08:42,333 against New York City's criminal underworld. 179 00:08:42,792 --> 00:08:45,833 As the chief federal prosecutor in his area, 180 00:08:45,875 --> 00:08:49,000 Giuliani comes across like the Hollywood stereotype 181 00:08:49,083 --> 00:08:51,500 of the tough, dedicated crime buster. 182 00:08:51,542 --> 00:08:54,250 The 1980s, you start to see 183 00:08:54,333 --> 00:08:56,542 this cleanup aspect come into play 184 00:08:56,542 --> 00:08:58,667 via guys like Rudolph Giuliani. 185 00:08:59,208 --> 00:09:02,750 He was definitely somebody that wanted to clean up New York. 186 00:09:02,833 --> 00:09:04,625 New York was still sort of feeling the hangover, 187 00:09:04,708 --> 00:09:07,458 the 1970s, a hangover of high unemployment, 188 00:09:07,542 --> 00:09:09,375 high poverty, thus high crime. 189 00:09:09,375 --> 00:09:11,167 So, he really wanted to change the city. 190 00:09:11,750 --> 00:09:13,375 GIULIANI: We have to do securities fraud, 191 00:09:13,708 --> 00:09:15,333 because we have two stock markets here in New York. 192 00:09:15,417 --> 00:09:16,958 If we don't do it, nobody's going to do it. 193 00:09:17,042 --> 00:09:18,583 We have to do drug work, because we have 194 00:09:18,708 --> 00:09:20,333 a big drug problem in this city. 195 00:09:20,417 --> 00:09:21,917 And we have to do organized crime work, 196 00:09:22,000 --> 00:09:24,500 because we have five organized crime families 197 00:09:24,625 --> 00:09:26,833 that have decided, since the turn of the century, 198 00:09:26,875 --> 00:09:28,667 to locate themselves here in New York 199 00:09:28,708 --> 00:09:30,542 and have a tremendous amount 200 00:09:30,667 --> 00:09:33,833 of political power, economic power, social power, 201 00:09:33,917 --> 00:09:35,667 and all sorts of other kinds of power 202 00:09:35,750 --> 00:09:37,792 that is very unhealthy for our society. 203 00:09:37,875 --> 00:09:41,167 ♪ 204 00:09:42,417 --> 00:09:44,500 By the early '80s, 205 00:09:44,500 --> 00:09:46,833 federal prosecutions started to gather steam. 206 00:09:46,875 --> 00:09:49,500 You had some Bonanno cases, 207 00:09:49,583 --> 00:09:51,875 you had some Gambino drug cases. 208 00:09:52,833 --> 00:09:54,417 NARRATOR: One of the biggest at the time 209 00:09:54,500 --> 00:09:55,958 was the Pizza Connection case. 210 00:09:56,042 --> 00:10:00,292 A joint investigation by the FBI, DEA 211 00:10:00,375 --> 00:10:03,167 and Italian law enforcement that used information 212 00:10:03,208 --> 00:10:05,792 from Pistone and a group of other agents, 213 00:10:05,875 --> 00:10:08,917 to go after drug traffickers in the Bonanno family. 214 00:10:09,625 --> 00:10:11,542 The Pizza Connection case was 215 00:10:11,625 --> 00:10:13,750 a very complicated investigation, 216 00:10:13,833 --> 00:10:16,542 and it was to essentially crack 217 00:10:16,625 --> 00:10:19,292 a drug trafficking ring, 218 00:10:19,375 --> 00:10:21,000 that was going on for years 219 00:10:21,125 --> 00:10:24,792 between Sicily and North America. 220 00:10:24,875 --> 00:10:27,292 And they used pizza joints as fronts 221 00:10:27,375 --> 00:10:30,000 to distribute the heroin. 222 00:10:30,542 --> 00:10:32,667 Pizza, heroin, and organized crime. 223 00:10:32,833 --> 00:10:35,417 The biggest heroin case ever, according to the feds. 224 00:10:36,208 --> 00:10:38,958 Buscetta reportedly says that he and other mafia figures 225 00:10:39,042 --> 00:10:41,000 distributed heroin brought in from Sicily, 226 00:10:41,083 --> 00:10:43,417 through a network of neighborhood businesses, 227 00:10:43,542 --> 00:10:45,708 including this bakery in New York City, 228 00:10:45,792 --> 00:10:47,958 and pizza parlors in New York, New Jersey, 229 00:10:48,042 --> 00:10:49,875 Virginia, Illinois and Wisconsin. 230 00:10:51,792 --> 00:10:54,292 NARRATOR: Pistone's intel on the inner workings 231 00:10:54,375 --> 00:10:57,250 of the Bonanno family gave investigators a roadmap 232 00:10:57,333 --> 00:10:59,875 to bring down a drug operation that imported 233 00:10:59,958 --> 00:11:03,333 more than $1.6 billion worth of heroin 234 00:11:03,417 --> 00:11:06,958 from 1975 to 1984. 235 00:11:07,708 --> 00:11:09,583 It certainly established, beyond any doubt, 236 00:11:09,667 --> 00:11:11,250 if there was any doubt, 237 00:11:11,375 --> 00:11:14,417 that the mafia was involved in drug trafficking. 238 00:11:14,500 --> 00:11:18,167 And it was a very long investigation. 239 00:11:18,833 --> 00:11:21,917 And, in a lot of ways, crippled the Bonanno family 240 00:11:22,000 --> 00:11:23,500 ♪ 241 00:11:23,583 --> 00:11:25,417 NARRATOR: Using the RICO statute, 242 00:11:25,500 --> 00:11:27,792 the Pizza Connection case resulted in the conviction 243 00:11:27,875 --> 00:11:29,875 of 18 mafia players, 244 00:11:29,958 --> 00:11:32,833 and disrupted a major revenue stream 245 00:11:32,875 --> 00:11:34,875 in New York's criminal underworld. 246 00:11:35,583 --> 00:11:37,542 It was one of the Five Families' 247 00:11:37,625 --> 00:11:40,500 first major losses at the hands of RICO. 248 00:11:40,625 --> 00:11:42,167 But only one of many. 249 00:11:42,208 --> 00:11:44,500 In February of 1985, 250 00:11:44,500 --> 00:11:47,667 the U.S. Attorneys' Office in New York's Southern District 251 00:11:47,750 --> 00:11:50,292 used the RICO statute once again. 252 00:11:50,292 --> 00:11:52,542 This time, to indict all the bosses 253 00:11:52,625 --> 00:11:54,667 of New York's Five Families, 254 00:11:54,750 --> 00:11:56,792 as well as some other top brass. 255 00:11:56,875 --> 00:11:58,500 The charges? 256 00:11:58,542 --> 00:12:00,833 Murder, loan-sharking, 257 00:12:00,958 --> 00:12:02,833 labor pay-offs and extortion. 258 00:12:03,375 --> 00:12:06,458 At the time, the families were headed by Anthony Salerno, 259 00:12:06,542 --> 00:12:09,833 Carmine Persico, Paul Castellano, 260 00:12:09,875 --> 00:12:12,875 Anthony Corallo, and Philip Rastelli. 261 00:12:14,042 --> 00:12:17,333 Rastelli and the Bonannos were still persona non grata, 262 00:12:17,375 --> 00:12:20,125 but that made no difference to Rudy Giuliani 263 00:12:20,250 --> 00:12:23,000 and the U.S. Attorneys' Office, who spearheaded the effort 264 00:12:23,083 --> 00:12:25,708 known as the Commission case. 265 00:12:30,042 --> 00:12:32,458 The Commission case in 1985 266 00:12:32,542 --> 00:12:34,958 involved federal prosecutors... 267 00:12:36,000 --> 00:12:38,417 bringing RICO charges 268 00:12:38,500 --> 00:12:41,500 against the five heads 269 00:12:41,542 --> 00:12:43,333 of New York City's crime families. 270 00:12:43,375 --> 00:12:44,958 It was unprecedented, 271 00:12:45,042 --> 00:12:46,917 this was one of the first times 272 00:12:47,000 --> 00:12:49,042 where the feds were able to use this... 273 00:12:50,500 --> 00:12:52,500 to make cases that were very, 274 00:12:52,542 --> 00:12:54,958 very difficult to beat. 275 00:12:55,042 --> 00:12:57,750 And, of course, Rudy Giuliani at the time 276 00:12:57,750 --> 00:12:59,917 was the federal prosecutor, 277 00:13:00,000 --> 00:13:02,333 who really reveled in all the attention 278 00:13:02,458 --> 00:13:03,917 and the headlines 279 00:13:04,000 --> 00:13:05,625 and all the things that came out of it. 280 00:13:05,708 --> 00:13:07,167 Giuliani now says 281 00:13:07,208 --> 00:13:09,000 that the tide of battle is turning 282 00:13:09,042 --> 00:13:11,167 and the mafia can be crushed. 283 00:13:11,208 --> 00:13:13,792 This case charges more mafia bosses 284 00:13:13,875 --> 00:13:15,958 in one indictment than any ever before. 285 00:13:16,042 --> 00:13:18,250 NARRATOR: Among the indicted bosses, 286 00:13:18,333 --> 00:13:21,500 Paul Castellano was one of the most experienced. 287 00:13:21,542 --> 00:13:23,792 A cousin of Carlo Gambino, 288 00:13:23,875 --> 00:13:26,708 Big Paul became boss in 1976. 289 00:13:27,333 --> 00:13:29,667 He was known for bringing the Gambino family 290 00:13:29,708 --> 00:13:31,875 into more white-collar rackets. 291 00:13:32,000 --> 00:13:34,708 Bid-rigging, union corruption, financial fraud. 292 00:13:35,417 --> 00:13:38,375 He saw himself as more of a CEO than a mob boss. 293 00:13:38,500 --> 00:13:42,333 It isolated and angered factions of his own family. 294 00:13:42,875 --> 00:13:45,083 Paul Castellano, you could say, 295 00:13:45,208 --> 00:13:46,875 without much fear of contradiction, 296 00:13:46,958 --> 00:13:49,542 that he was the most powerful mob boss 297 00:13:49,667 --> 00:13:51,583 at that time of the Five Families. 298 00:13:51,583 --> 00:13:54,042 He lived in a huge white mansion. 299 00:13:54,125 --> 00:13:55,542 His critics would say that 300 00:13:55,667 --> 00:13:57,333 he was a little above the fray. 301 00:13:58,083 --> 00:14:00,000 He was regarded by some people, 302 00:14:00,042 --> 00:14:02,250 as a guy who was a bit out of touch 303 00:14:02,333 --> 00:14:04,292 with the family rank and file. 304 00:14:04,375 --> 00:14:06,500 ♪ 305 00:14:09,125 --> 00:14:12,292 NARRATOR: Castellano was arrested on February 25th, 1985, 306 00:14:12,375 --> 00:14:14,750 along with his soon-to-be co-defendants 307 00:14:14,875 --> 00:14:15,917 in the Commission case. 308 00:14:16,708 --> 00:14:18,875 With the trial more than a year away, 309 00:14:18,958 --> 00:14:22,250 Castellano got out on a $2 million bond. 310 00:14:22,333 --> 00:14:24,667 For the next nine months, he'd take meetings 311 00:14:24,708 --> 00:14:26,292 at his home in Staten Island, 312 00:14:26,375 --> 00:14:28,500 or in restaurants around New York City. 313 00:14:29,042 --> 00:14:31,667 He remained self-assured despite the pending trial. 314 00:14:32,458 --> 00:14:34,500 Little did he know, his greatest threat 315 00:14:34,542 --> 00:14:37,125 was on its way not from law enforcement, 316 00:14:37,208 --> 00:14:38,583 but from within his own family. 317 00:14:39,917 --> 00:14:43,000 [intense music plays] 318 00:14:44,125 --> 00:14:45,583 I was working a swing shift. 319 00:14:45,708 --> 00:14:47,417 We got word of this shooting 320 00:14:47,500 --> 00:14:51,542 on East 46th Street outside Sparks Steakhouse. 321 00:14:52,417 --> 00:14:55,333 I came running over to cover to the shooting. 322 00:14:56,958 --> 00:15:00,042 When I got there, the street was closed. 323 00:15:01,208 --> 00:15:03,417 And there were these two bodies lying 324 00:15:03,500 --> 00:15:05,833 on either side of the Lincoln Continental 325 00:15:05,917 --> 00:15:07,292 that they had arrived in. 326 00:15:08,667 --> 00:15:10,333 [siren wailing] 327 00:15:10,417 --> 00:15:14,167 ♪ 328 00:15:14,208 --> 00:15:16,042 Jim Fox, who was the head 329 00:15:16,125 --> 00:15:19,250 of the New York FBI at the time, was there. 330 00:15:19,333 --> 00:15:21,167 He quickly confirmed for us, 331 00:15:21,250 --> 00:15:23,667 "Yeah, that's Paul Castellano... 332 00:15:24,833 --> 00:15:26,167 and that's his driver." 333 00:15:26,208 --> 00:15:29,292 [chilling music plays] 334 00:15:29,375 --> 00:15:32,333 Paul Castellano, gunned down yesterday on a public street, 335 00:15:32,375 --> 00:15:34,208 before Christmas, before dinner 336 00:15:34,292 --> 00:15:36,333 in front of a restaurant he reportedly owned, 337 00:15:36,417 --> 00:15:38,583 and shot by killers who swore at him while 338 00:15:38,667 --> 00:15:41,458 they pulled the trigger and fired a final shot in his head. 339 00:15:42,208 --> 00:15:44,708 It was more than a mob hit, it was humiliation. 340 00:15:44,833 --> 00:15:46,083 The same can be said for his driver 341 00:15:46,208 --> 00:15:47,792 who was killed, Thomas Bilotti. 342 00:15:47,875 --> 00:15:49,250 He was Castellano's right hand man. 343 00:15:49,375 --> 00:15:51,625 A man that he wanted to take his place. 344 00:15:53,250 --> 00:15:56,958 CLAIRE WHITE: The murder of Paul Castellano was shocking. 345 00:15:57,625 --> 00:15:59,833 It was a very public affair. 346 00:15:59,875 --> 00:16:03,667 And this is a continuation 347 00:16:03,708 --> 00:16:06,000 of a trend in New York, 348 00:16:06,125 --> 00:16:08,250 where the rules are out the window. 349 00:16:09,542 --> 00:16:10,542 LARRY: It was stunning. 350 00:16:12,000 --> 00:16:14,458 It was an incredible scene, and it got 351 00:16:14,583 --> 00:16:16,625 a tremendous amount of attention. 352 00:16:16,708 --> 00:16:20,167 ♪ 353 00:16:20,250 --> 00:16:22,042 NARRATOR: The kind of attention that the leadership 354 00:16:22,125 --> 00:16:24,208 of The Five Families would rather avoid. 355 00:16:24,958 --> 00:16:26,917 But more attention was coming. 356 00:16:26,917 --> 00:16:28,667 Especially when people figured out 357 00:16:28,750 --> 00:16:30,333 who was behind the hit. 358 00:16:30,375 --> 00:16:33,500 A man who didn't fear attention at all. 359 00:16:33,583 --> 00:16:35,083 John Gotti. 360 00:16:40,750 --> 00:16:42,750 [tense music plays] 361 00:16:45,250 --> 00:16:46,875 NARRATOR: John Joseph Gotti Jr. 362 00:16:46,958 --> 00:16:48,875 was the fifth of 13 children. 363 00:16:49,417 --> 00:16:51,917 A grandson of Neopolitan immigrants, 364 00:16:52,042 --> 00:16:53,500 he found his way as an adolescent 365 00:16:53,583 --> 00:16:55,292 on the streets of East New York. 366 00:16:55,375 --> 00:16:57,458 Car thefts, muggings. 367 00:16:58,292 --> 00:17:00,125 He developed a bit of a temper, 368 00:17:00,208 --> 00:17:02,292 and a penchant for violence. 369 00:17:02,667 --> 00:17:06,000 By his teens, he fell in with a Gambino crew 370 00:17:06,125 --> 00:17:08,667 and found a mentor in Gambino underboss 371 00:17:08,792 --> 00:17:10,500 Neil Dellacroce. 372 00:17:11,125 --> 00:17:12,958 Carlo Gambino, on his deathbed, 373 00:17:13,042 --> 00:17:14,833 passed over Dellacroce 374 00:17:14,875 --> 00:17:17,750 and named Paul Castellano his successor as boss. 375 00:17:18,625 --> 00:17:20,208 Gotti was incredulous. 376 00:17:20,875 --> 00:17:23,083 So, from the very beginning, there was a rift 377 00:17:23,208 --> 00:17:25,583 between John Gotti and Paul Castellano. 378 00:17:26,250 --> 00:17:28,458 A rift that only grew larger 379 00:17:28,542 --> 00:17:31,542 as Gotti expanded his gambling and loan-sharking outfits, 380 00:17:31,667 --> 00:17:33,500 while members of his crew built 381 00:17:33,583 --> 00:17:35,833 a drug trafficking operation. 382 00:17:35,917 --> 00:17:39,292 It was just a matter of time before one of them made a move. 383 00:17:39,375 --> 00:17:41,375 And John Gotti moved first. 384 00:17:43,375 --> 00:17:45,333 [tense music plays] 385 00:17:45,375 --> 00:17:47,333 REPORTER: Today, authorities say 386 00:17:47,375 --> 00:17:50,042 Gotti is being sought by the FBI for questioning 387 00:17:50,167 --> 00:17:51,875 in the murder of the two men 388 00:17:51,958 --> 00:17:54,667 who stood in his way for control of the Gambino family. 389 00:17:55,625 --> 00:17:58,042 Paul Castellano, the head of the Gambino family, 390 00:17:58,167 --> 00:18:01,333 was killed because he was upset with John Gotti 391 00:18:01,375 --> 00:18:03,708 and his crew being involved in narcotics. 392 00:18:03,792 --> 00:18:06,667 Castellano didn't want any part of narcotics. 393 00:18:07,375 --> 00:18:09,500 Gotti did, because it made him money. 394 00:18:11,583 --> 00:18:15,000 The killing of a mafia boss is very disruptive, 395 00:18:15,083 --> 00:18:18,167 obviously, to the Cosa Nostra. 396 00:18:19,917 --> 00:18:23,250 When Gotti kills Castellano... 397 00:18:23,792 --> 00:18:27,958 there are rumors about who supported it and who didn't. 398 00:18:28,042 --> 00:18:31,083 But as a result, Gotti was, 399 00:18:31,083 --> 00:18:32,542 in a lot of ways, anathema 400 00:18:32,625 --> 00:18:35,500 to a lot of the other mobsters. 401 00:18:36,375 --> 00:18:38,000 We were concerned about Gotti, 402 00:18:38,083 --> 00:18:39,958 but not paying that much attention to him 403 00:18:40,042 --> 00:18:42,333 until December of 1985, 404 00:18:42,417 --> 00:18:44,000 when he became the boss of the family. 405 00:18:44,083 --> 00:18:46,333 So, he now becomes our number one target. 406 00:18:46,417 --> 00:18:49,458 And with the Gambino squad, we're focusing on that. 407 00:18:50,917 --> 00:18:53,167 CLAIRE: Gotti is able to evade 408 00:18:53,208 --> 00:18:55,375 law enforcement for a few years. 409 00:18:55,375 --> 00:18:59,167 And it's a combination of having this network, 410 00:18:59,250 --> 00:19:02,167 where he's able to insulate himself 411 00:19:02,250 --> 00:19:05,167 from specific crimes and specific offenses. 412 00:19:05,208 --> 00:19:07,958 There's also just this reality 413 00:19:08,042 --> 00:19:09,917 that he's untouchable. 414 00:19:10,625 --> 00:19:13,000 NARRATOR: It had been six years since New York City 415 00:19:13,042 --> 00:19:14,750 had seen a mob killing like this. 416 00:19:16,125 --> 00:19:17,792 Now prosecutors were forced to reckon 417 00:19:17,875 --> 00:19:19,750 with the fact that John Gotti had gotten 418 00:19:19,875 --> 00:19:22,625 to Paul Castellano before law enforcement could. 419 00:19:22,708 --> 00:19:25,625 And worst of all, he'd made a clean getaway. 420 00:19:26,417 --> 00:19:29,375 With minimal hard evidence linking Gotti to the hit, 421 00:19:29,458 --> 00:19:32,125 he took over control of the Gambino family 422 00:19:32,208 --> 00:19:33,375 with little restriction. 423 00:19:34,167 --> 00:19:37,917 John Gotti bursts onto the scene in the American perception. 424 00:19:38,000 --> 00:19:41,458 Suddenly he's on the front page of the tabloids 425 00:19:41,542 --> 00:19:44,875 and he's this persona right out of central casting. 426 00:19:45,500 --> 00:19:48,458 John Gotti showed up at the right time in New York. 427 00:19:48,542 --> 00:19:50,583 You have more lavish parties happening at night. 428 00:19:50,667 --> 00:19:52,833 You've got bigger nightclubs. 429 00:19:52,875 --> 00:19:54,875 You've got more celebrities stepping out at night, 430 00:19:54,875 --> 00:19:56,792 and, again, being photographed by the media. 431 00:19:57,417 --> 00:19:58,875 John Gotti is one of these guys 432 00:19:59,000 --> 00:20:01,083 that likes to be photographed by the paparazzi. 433 00:20:01,167 --> 00:20:02,667 He is called the Dapper Don. 434 00:20:03,625 --> 00:20:06,083 REPORTER: One report said each suit costs $1,000. 435 00:20:06,167 --> 00:20:07,917 Gotti supposedly got angry. 436 00:20:08,000 --> 00:20:09,833 The suits cost $1,800 437 00:20:10,500 --> 00:20:12,625 LARRY: Gotti was on the front page all the time 438 00:20:12,708 --> 00:20:15,708 and the aura grows around him. 439 00:20:15,792 --> 00:20:17,625 The Brioni suits, 440 00:20:17,708 --> 00:20:19,833 and Andy Warhol does a portrait of him. 441 00:20:20,458 --> 00:20:22,958 He became a star. He's a murderer. 442 00:20:23,042 --> 00:20:24,792 He's a drug dealer. He's this, and he's that. 443 00:20:24,875 --> 00:20:26,667 People loved him. You know what I mean? 444 00:20:26,750 --> 00:20:28,375 I think there's probably still people 445 00:20:28,500 --> 00:20:29,958 out in Howard Beach who still love him. 446 00:20:31,333 --> 00:20:33,542 That's the best man around 447 00:20:33,625 --> 00:20:35,375 and I'm 45 years old. 448 00:20:35,500 --> 00:20:37,500 The best man for me. 449 00:20:37,583 --> 00:20:40,292 As far as Mr. Gotti goes, I've known him as a youngster, 450 00:20:40,417 --> 00:20:42,167 and always this gentleman. 451 00:20:42,250 --> 00:20:43,750 Whenever I see him walking, 452 00:20:43,833 --> 00:20:45,708 he always has a marvelous smile on his face. 453 00:20:45,792 --> 00:20:47,708 In fact, I admire the way he dresses. 454 00:20:47,792 --> 00:20:49,500 He's always been a very respectable person 455 00:20:49,583 --> 00:20:50,667 in the community... 456 00:20:51,583 --> 00:20:53,167 and I find it very hard to believe 457 00:20:53,208 --> 00:20:54,375 what they're saying about him. 458 00:20:54,458 --> 00:20:56,000 Gotti, more than anybody, 459 00:20:56,083 --> 00:20:57,542 was the guy, who galvanized 460 00:20:57,625 --> 00:20:59,833 that image of the mobster in the 80s. 461 00:20:59,958 --> 00:21:02,875 REPORTER: While the jury began to finally deliberate his case, 462 00:21:02,958 --> 00:21:06,000 John Gotti has apparently not lost his sense of humor. 463 00:21:11,417 --> 00:21:13,542 NARRATOR: His contemporaries, however, knew, 464 00:21:13,625 --> 00:21:15,708 that public displays of wealth and arrogance 465 00:21:15,792 --> 00:21:18,125 led to indictments and violence. 466 00:21:18,208 --> 00:21:20,500 It was another breach of their code. 467 00:21:20,583 --> 00:21:22,500 So, while Gotti made headlines, 468 00:21:22,625 --> 00:21:24,458 members of other families 469 00:21:24,542 --> 00:21:26,083 watched begrudgingly from the shadows. 470 00:21:26,167 --> 00:21:29,167 Namely his old ally from the Bonanno family, 471 00:21:29,292 --> 00:21:31,083 underboss Joseph Massino. 472 00:21:33,000 --> 00:21:36,000 [Anthony] Massino and Gotti lived close together 473 00:21:36,083 --> 00:21:37,333 in the Howard Beach area. 474 00:21:37,792 --> 00:21:41,417 Heavily residential, heavily Italian-American, 475 00:21:41,500 --> 00:21:45,042 and not far from JFK Airport. 476 00:21:46,292 --> 00:21:50,083 Which explains some of the mob activities. 477 00:21:50,167 --> 00:21:52,083 It's an area 478 00:21:52,167 --> 00:21:55,083 with teachers, lawyers, 479 00:21:55,167 --> 00:21:57,625 and, of course, infamously known 480 00:21:57,708 --> 00:21:59,833 for some of the mob characters 481 00:21:59,875 --> 00:22:01,500 who've lived there, among them being 482 00:22:01,625 --> 00:22:04,000 Joe Massino and John Gotti. 483 00:22:04,000 --> 00:22:05,792 They helped each other. 484 00:22:05,792 --> 00:22:08,375 Gotti's people helped Massino 485 00:22:08,458 --> 00:22:10,792 when they took care of the three captains. 486 00:22:11,542 --> 00:22:14,333 [gunshots echo] 487 00:22:14,833 --> 00:22:17,458 Helped them dispose of the bodies. 488 00:22:17,542 --> 00:22:21,042 But I don't think Gotti and Massino liked each other. 489 00:22:21,875 --> 00:22:25,000 EDWARD: Joe Massino wanted to be the quiet don. 490 00:22:25,083 --> 00:22:29,417 He did not want to have anybody know who he was. 491 00:22:29,500 --> 00:22:31,417 He didn't want anybody focusing on him. 492 00:22:32,208 --> 00:22:35,417 When he became the real, full-time acknowledged boss, 493 00:22:35,500 --> 00:22:36,958 that's how he ran his family. 494 00:22:38,250 --> 00:22:40,292 He was really the antithesis of Gotti. 495 00:22:41,208 --> 00:22:45,417 Massino felt that Gotti was not doing the right thing 496 00:22:45,500 --> 00:22:47,625 by the mob by being too showy. 497 00:22:47,708 --> 00:22:50,708 And Gotti didn't think highly of Massino. 498 00:22:51,375 --> 00:22:54,000 He thought of him as a guy that was really under his thumb. 499 00:22:54,833 --> 00:22:57,500 Over time, they became antagonistic. 500 00:23:00,875 --> 00:23:02,958 NARRATOR: As John Gotti's stature grew, 501 00:23:03,042 --> 00:23:06,125 his predecessors were being ushered off stage. 502 00:23:08,417 --> 00:23:10,875 On November 19th, 1986, 503 00:23:10,958 --> 00:23:12,792 almost a year after indictments 504 00:23:12,875 --> 00:23:14,792 in the Commission case were announced, 505 00:23:14,875 --> 00:23:19,167 a jury found the defendants guilty on every charge. 506 00:23:19,250 --> 00:23:20,958 [tense music plays] 507 00:23:21,042 --> 00:23:22,375 REPORTER: One hundred years in prison 508 00:23:22,500 --> 00:23:24,792 for Carmine "The Snake" Persico. 509 00:23:24,875 --> 00:23:27,708 One hundred years for Anthony "Tony Ducks" Corallo, 510 00:23:27,833 --> 00:23:30,583 One hundred years for Anthony "Fat Tony" Salerno. 511 00:23:31,417 --> 00:23:33,208 The Commission case takes out 512 00:23:33,292 --> 00:23:35,708 very high-level mobsters in New York. 513 00:23:35,792 --> 00:23:38,542 Specifically bosses of families. 514 00:23:38,667 --> 00:23:41,792 And we're left with a major power vacuum 515 00:23:42,792 --> 00:23:44,917 NARRATOR: The Commission case successfully put away 516 00:23:45,000 --> 00:23:46,875 three of the Five Family bosses. 517 00:23:47,667 --> 00:23:50,833 Corallo, Salerno and Persico were old school. 518 00:23:50,875 --> 00:23:53,875 Men of the code. Loyal to omertà. 519 00:23:53,958 --> 00:23:55,542 So they kept their mouths shut 520 00:23:55,667 --> 00:23:57,250 and were shipped off to prisons 521 00:23:57,375 --> 00:23:58,667 in Missouri or Illinois 522 00:23:58,792 --> 00:24:00,167 to spend their remaining years. 523 00:24:00,875 --> 00:24:03,708 With this victory, law enforcement had crippled 524 00:24:03,792 --> 00:24:06,750 the Lucchese, Genovese and Colombo families. 525 00:24:07,417 --> 00:24:09,375 Bonanno family boss, Philip Rastelli, 526 00:24:09,458 --> 00:24:12,708 had been a part of the original Commission case indictment, 527 00:24:12,792 --> 00:24:14,708 but prosecutors found it difficult 528 00:24:14,792 --> 00:24:16,500 to link him to the other bosses. 529 00:24:16,958 --> 00:24:19,167 So he'd have to be handled separately. 530 00:24:20,083 --> 00:24:21,833 I was, at the time, 531 00:24:21,917 --> 00:24:23,958 the intelligence coordinator for the Bonanno family. 532 00:24:24,042 --> 00:24:26,375 I went out to interview 533 00:24:26,500 --> 00:24:28,333 these cooperators 534 00:24:28,458 --> 00:24:30,333 specifically about the Bonanno family, 535 00:24:30,417 --> 00:24:33,208 so we could get a better handle on what they were doing. 536 00:24:34,333 --> 00:24:35,833 I couldn't tell you how many 537 00:24:35,917 --> 00:24:37,583 different cooperators I interviewed. 538 00:24:37,667 --> 00:24:39,667 But every one of them told me, 539 00:24:39,750 --> 00:24:41,000 "The Bonannos weren't there. 540 00:24:41,042 --> 00:24:42,667 They weren't part of the boys club 541 00:24:42,750 --> 00:24:44,500 and so I can't tell you anything about them, 542 00:24:44,583 --> 00:24:46,500 because I don't know what they were doing." 543 00:24:46,583 --> 00:24:48,417 So as a result, since they got locked out 544 00:24:48,542 --> 00:24:49,833 of the more lucrative 545 00:24:49,875 --> 00:24:52,833 and the more sophisticated operations, 546 00:24:52,917 --> 00:24:54,792 they became involved in other things. 547 00:24:54,875 --> 00:24:57,708 It helped the Bonannos find new sources of income, 548 00:24:57,792 --> 00:25:00,208 and it insulated them from law enforcement 549 00:25:00,292 --> 00:25:02,333 and ultimately led to Massino 550 00:25:02,458 --> 00:25:03,833 becoming the big kid on the block. 551 00:25:10,500 --> 00:25:12,292 NARRATOR: 1986. 552 00:25:12,375 --> 00:25:13,917 New York's Five Families 553 00:25:14,000 --> 00:25:16,542 were under extreme federal scrutiny, 554 00:25:16,667 --> 00:25:18,292 with three family bosses prosecuted 555 00:25:18,375 --> 00:25:19,917 in The Commission case 556 00:25:20,000 --> 00:25:21,833 in New York's Southern District. 557 00:25:21,958 --> 00:25:23,500 The Bonanno family leadership, 558 00:25:23,583 --> 00:25:24,875 still considered pariahs 559 00:25:24,958 --> 00:25:26,292 in the criminal underworld, 560 00:25:26,375 --> 00:25:27,708 found trouble of their own. 561 00:25:28,167 --> 00:25:29,667 At this point, 562 00:25:29,792 --> 00:25:31,500 Bonanno boss, Phillip "Rusty" Rastelli 563 00:25:31,625 --> 00:25:33,083 was back out on the street. 564 00:25:33,542 --> 00:25:34,917 But his health was bad 565 00:25:35,000 --> 00:25:36,625 and his protege, Joe Massino, 566 00:25:36,708 --> 00:25:38,042 was rising in stature. 567 00:25:38,875 --> 00:25:41,167 When the two went to trial on RICO charges 568 00:25:41,250 --> 00:25:43,208 in April of 1986, 569 00:25:43,292 --> 00:25:45,125 Massino seized the moment. 570 00:25:47,333 --> 00:25:50,042 In 1986, there was this massive 571 00:25:50,125 --> 00:25:51,833 bid-rigging scheme that was going on 572 00:25:51,875 --> 00:25:53,875 with these huge moving and storage companies. 573 00:25:54,583 --> 00:25:58,000 They had to pay an enormous amount of money 574 00:25:58,083 --> 00:25:59,958 in order to operate to the union, 575 00:26:00,042 --> 00:26:02,000 which was run by the Bonanno crime family. 576 00:26:02,125 --> 00:26:04,208 Van drivers, packers, furniture handlers, 577 00:26:04,292 --> 00:26:06,875 warehousemen, an appliance home delivery union. 578 00:26:06,958 --> 00:26:08,417 The government alleges that the union's leadership 579 00:26:08,500 --> 00:26:10,833 is really controlled by the Bonanno crime family. 580 00:26:11,625 --> 00:26:13,000 EDWARD MCDONALD: It was a seven-month trial. 581 00:26:13,042 --> 00:26:14,833 It was the most important case we had, 582 00:26:14,917 --> 00:26:16,917 as the entire leadership of the Bonanno crime family 583 00:26:17,000 --> 00:26:19,250 and a major Teamster local. 584 00:26:19,875 --> 00:26:21,542 So I was there every day. 585 00:26:21,625 --> 00:26:23,542 MAN: Back it off, okay, take it easy. 586 00:26:23,625 --> 00:26:25,042 Back it off, thank you, thank you. 587 00:26:25,125 --> 00:26:27,500 We're okay, we're okay. All right. 588 00:26:27,583 --> 00:26:29,000 The boss, Rusty Rastelli, 589 00:26:29,125 --> 00:26:31,083 was really getting kind of feeble. 590 00:26:31,208 --> 00:26:33,292 REPORTER: On this day, he collapsed in a courtroom. 591 00:26:33,917 --> 00:26:35,958 His niece told me her uncle has cancer. 592 00:26:36,375 --> 00:26:38,500 Law enforcement officials say the man running 593 00:26:38,542 --> 00:26:39,542 the Bonanno family for Rastelli 594 00:26:39,625 --> 00:26:41,083 is Joseph Massino. 595 00:26:42,583 --> 00:26:45,125 I have to say that Massino, 596 00:26:45,208 --> 00:26:47,042 in a sense, became somewhat of a folk hero. 597 00:26:47,792 --> 00:26:49,375 There are all different varieties of people 598 00:26:49,500 --> 00:26:51,000 who become bosses of families. 599 00:26:51,042 --> 00:26:54,000 Some people are not very presupposing 600 00:26:54,083 --> 00:26:56,042 or impressive looking, some people are. 601 00:26:57,042 --> 00:26:59,000 Joe Massino looked like the guy 602 00:26:59,083 --> 00:27:01,458 who could be the boss of an organized crime family. 603 00:27:02,083 --> 00:27:04,083 He was a man of the streets. 604 00:27:04,708 --> 00:27:06,833 Every day he came in wearing a black suit, 605 00:27:06,958 --> 00:27:08,833 a white shirt, no tie, 606 00:27:08,875 --> 00:27:11,000 looked the same way every day. 607 00:27:12,042 --> 00:27:13,750 But he had a way of carrying himself 608 00:27:13,833 --> 00:27:16,042 and had a real sort of charisma. 609 00:27:16,125 --> 00:27:18,500 REMO FRANCESCHINI: Joe Massino is a younger, 610 00:27:18,583 --> 00:27:20,917 very respected organized crime figure 611 00:27:21,042 --> 00:27:24,458 and involved with members of the other families. 612 00:27:24,542 --> 00:27:26,000 Every day at lunchtime, 613 00:27:26,042 --> 00:27:27,917 Rastelli, who was the boss of the family, 614 00:27:28,042 --> 00:27:30,833 was pretty feeble, and he'd sit with his lawyer 615 00:27:30,875 --> 00:27:32,667 and have lunch in the courtroom, 616 00:27:32,792 --> 00:27:34,750 whereas Joey would conduct meetings. 617 00:27:36,167 --> 00:27:39,500 They would sit on park benches in front of the courthouse. 618 00:27:39,625 --> 00:27:42,750 And it was absolutely a scene right out of a movie. 619 00:27:43,958 --> 00:27:46,000 NARRATOR: In October of 1986, 620 00:27:46,042 --> 00:27:49,417 Rusty Rastelli and Joe Massino, the Bonanno brass, 621 00:27:49,500 --> 00:27:52,833 were convicted in the moving and storage racketeering case. 622 00:27:53,500 --> 00:27:55,500 They were sentenced a few months later. 623 00:27:55,958 --> 00:27:58,875 Rastelli got 12 years. Massino got 10. 624 00:27:59,792 --> 00:28:01,917 In 1991, Rastelli died 625 00:28:02,000 --> 00:28:04,042 while out on compassionate release, 626 00:28:04,125 --> 00:28:06,208 and Joe Massino, while in prison, 627 00:28:06,208 --> 00:28:08,500 officially became boss of the Bonanno family. 628 00:28:10,875 --> 00:28:13,500 Now, sixty years since Lucky Luciano 629 00:28:13,542 --> 00:28:15,042 formed The Commission, 630 00:28:15,042 --> 00:28:16,792 New York's Five Families 631 00:28:16,875 --> 00:28:19,333 had seen various types of mob bosses. 632 00:28:19,458 --> 00:28:21,875 Frank Costello, the smooth businessman. 633 00:28:23,708 --> 00:28:26,250 Vito Genovese, the ruthless killer. 634 00:28:27,875 --> 00:28:29,917 Joe Colombo, the revolutionary. 635 00:28:32,417 --> 00:28:34,292 Paul Castellano, the CEO. 636 00:28:36,083 --> 00:28:38,292 John Gotti, the Tabloid Star. 637 00:28:39,542 --> 00:28:43,042 There were others, of course. All flawed in their own way. 638 00:28:43,125 --> 00:28:45,208 But Joe Massino was a new breed. 639 00:28:45,667 --> 00:28:48,375 He had learned from the mistakes of his predecessors. 640 00:28:48,458 --> 00:28:51,250 When rivals looked to dethrone his boss, 641 00:28:51,375 --> 00:28:52,333 he remained loyal. 642 00:28:53,875 --> 00:28:56,000 When infighting festered in the family, 643 00:28:56,042 --> 00:28:58,292 he sought counsel from The Commission. 644 00:28:58,375 --> 00:28:59,542 [gunshot echoes] 645 00:28:59,625 --> 00:29:01,000 And when rats infiltrated, 646 00:29:01,042 --> 00:29:02,833 he moved swiftly and with force. 647 00:29:04,542 --> 00:29:06,083 When it came to omertà, 648 00:29:06,167 --> 00:29:08,833 Joe Massino had as good a resume as anyone. 649 00:29:09,917 --> 00:29:11,458 But he was operating in a world 650 00:29:11,542 --> 00:29:13,458 far different than his predecessors. 651 00:29:14,167 --> 00:29:15,792 The 1990s is definitely a period 652 00:29:15,875 --> 00:29:18,292 of transition in New York for the mob. 653 00:29:18,375 --> 00:29:19,750 But more than anything, 654 00:29:19,833 --> 00:29:21,917 it's just a period of instability. 655 00:29:22,375 --> 00:29:23,875 And that's because, 656 00:29:23,958 --> 00:29:26,167 especially moving past The Commission case, 657 00:29:26,250 --> 00:29:29,167 we've got a lot of bosses in prison. 658 00:29:29,250 --> 00:29:34,125 ♪ 659 00:29:37,375 --> 00:29:41,500 ANTHONY: Gotti got indicted late 1990. 660 00:29:42,833 --> 00:29:45,833 So he had a very brief tenure as boss. 661 00:29:45,917 --> 00:29:47,167 REPORTER: It'll be another Christmas 662 00:29:47,250 --> 00:29:49,167 in the slammer for John Gotti. 663 00:29:49,250 --> 00:29:51,500 The reputed Gambino Crime Family boss 664 00:29:51,583 --> 00:29:53,167 was arrested last December. 665 00:29:53,250 --> 00:29:55,625 He's been in federal custody ever since. 666 00:29:55,708 --> 00:29:58,000 REPORTER: Prosecutors will produce witnesses 667 00:29:58,042 --> 00:30:00,500 who saw Gotti giving instructions 668 00:30:00,542 --> 00:30:02,875 at the scene of a hit on Paul Castellano. 669 00:30:04,667 --> 00:30:06,042 ANTHONY: He was convicted in '92. 670 00:30:06,125 --> 00:30:07,333 All the other families, 671 00:30:07,375 --> 00:30:08,917 their leadership was in disarray. 672 00:30:09,042 --> 00:30:12,417 After the series of prosecutions, 673 00:30:12,417 --> 00:30:13,708 and there were many, 674 00:30:13,833 --> 00:30:16,125 the mob was certainly weakened. 675 00:30:16,542 --> 00:30:19,167 The Feds say that they have busted another mobster. 676 00:30:19,208 --> 00:30:21,583 REPORTER: Last week, the FBI arrested Gigante 677 00:30:21,667 --> 00:30:24,083 for allegedly masterminding a mob takeover 678 00:30:24,167 --> 00:30:26,500 of a New York's window replacement industry. 679 00:30:26,542 --> 00:30:29,125 More informants than ever are coming forth 680 00:30:29,208 --> 00:30:31,042 to put the mob away. 681 00:30:31,125 --> 00:30:32,917 Police say for several months, 682 00:30:33,042 --> 00:30:35,125 the Colombo family has been in a civil war. 683 00:30:35,208 --> 00:30:38,000 So you had this bad period for the mob, 684 00:30:38,125 --> 00:30:41,583 in the 1980s and certainly into the 1990s. 685 00:30:42,875 --> 00:30:44,667 The Gotti era 686 00:30:44,708 --> 00:30:47,500 of showy night club life, 687 00:30:47,583 --> 00:30:49,375 in your face to the FBI, 688 00:30:49,500 --> 00:30:51,208 tactics wasn't going to work anymore. 689 00:30:53,792 --> 00:30:55,833 All the families were impacted. 690 00:30:55,917 --> 00:30:57,792 Some more so than others. 691 00:30:58,417 --> 00:31:01,042 The guys do the arithmetic, and they realize 692 00:31:01,167 --> 00:31:03,458 you're gonna spend the rest of your days in jail, 693 00:31:03,542 --> 00:31:04,750 be it 25 years or life. 694 00:31:05,375 --> 00:31:06,833 You're not gonna see your grandkids, 695 00:31:06,917 --> 00:31:08,375 or children again, 696 00:31:08,458 --> 00:31:10,958 you're not gonna be on the outside again. 697 00:31:11,375 --> 00:31:12,833 Um, what for? 698 00:31:13,333 --> 00:31:17,000 For a code of omertà that everybody else is trashing? 699 00:31:17,042 --> 00:31:19,042 Why should I be the fall guy? 700 00:31:19,125 --> 00:31:20,875 Why should I be the one to take all the heat? 701 00:31:21,000 --> 00:31:23,375 So that's what I think changed. 702 00:31:23,917 --> 00:31:26,000 The old value 703 00:31:26,083 --> 00:31:28,917 of camaraderie, 704 00:31:29,000 --> 00:31:31,000 omertà, 705 00:31:31,042 --> 00:31:34,417 uh, loyalty, really has eroded. 706 00:31:35,875 --> 00:31:38,208 What you had was a realization 707 00:31:38,333 --> 00:31:40,333 that we can't be like we used to be. 708 00:31:40,875 --> 00:31:44,333 We have to be more secretive. We have to be more careful. 709 00:31:45,167 --> 00:31:47,333 We have to be more careful about who we deal with. 710 00:31:48,042 --> 00:31:50,792 NARRATOR: Who they deal with on the outside and on the inside. 711 00:31:52,167 --> 00:31:54,000 Guys were paranoid, 712 00:31:54,083 --> 00:31:55,208 and with the oath of omertà 713 00:31:55,375 --> 00:31:57,208 facing its greatest threat yet, 714 00:31:57,292 --> 00:31:58,958 the future of the Five Families 715 00:31:59,042 --> 00:32:00,792 was now in jeopardy like never before. 716 00:32:07,042 --> 00:32:08,667 NARRATOR: The 1990s was a time 717 00:32:08,708 --> 00:32:11,333 of economic prosperity for many Americans. 718 00:32:12,208 --> 00:32:13,583 The Cold War had ended. 719 00:32:13,667 --> 00:32:16,417 Tech was booming. Life was good. 720 00:32:16,417 --> 00:32:18,667 But for the leadership of New York's Five Families, 721 00:32:18,750 --> 00:32:21,500 who had been badly weakened by federal cases, 722 00:32:21,625 --> 00:32:23,583 their way of life was dying. 723 00:32:24,292 --> 00:32:27,042 Released from prison in 1992, 724 00:32:27,167 --> 00:32:29,750 into this reality stepped Joe Massino. 725 00:32:31,458 --> 00:32:36,917 ♪ 726 00:32:37,000 --> 00:32:39,000 Memory serves, he got out 727 00:32:39,083 --> 00:32:41,708 November of 1992, 728 00:32:41,708 --> 00:32:44,000 I think it was Friday the 13th, as a matter of fact. 729 00:32:44,542 --> 00:32:47,750 The world that Joe Massino was dealing with 730 00:32:47,750 --> 00:32:49,333 in 1992 was very different. 731 00:32:49,417 --> 00:32:51,917 All the bosses went to prison. 732 00:32:52,000 --> 00:32:55,125 The only true boss 733 00:32:55,208 --> 00:32:57,167 acknowledged by the Five Families 734 00:32:57,208 --> 00:32:59,000 who's out on the street with power 735 00:32:59,042 --> 00:33:00,417 is Joey Massino, 736 00:33:00,542 --> 00:33:03,125 now running the Bonanno crime family, 737 00:33:03,208 --> 00:33:05,375 wanting to get back into The Commission. 738 00:33:05,500 --> 00:33:09,292 And because of Joey's stature and Joey's charisma, 739 00:33:09,375 --> 00:33:12,167 he's accepted back into the five-member Commission. 740 00:33:13,458 --> 00:33:16,417 JACK STUBING: Joe Massino, he had a reputation 741 00:33:16,500 --> 00:33:19,292 as being a wise guy's wise guy. 742 00:33:19,375 --> 00:33:23,000 He was all about omertà and honor and, you know, 743 00:33:23,042 --> 00:33:24,500 all of these things that they always 744 00:33:24,583 --> 00:33:26,417 pat themselves on the back as possessing. 745 00:33:28,375 --> 00:33:30,500 We continued to try and develop informants, 746 00:33:30,583 --> 00:33:32,542 and we weren't gaining much traction 747 00:33:32,625 --> 00:33:35,542 and we were doing everything we could. 748 00:33:35,542 --> 00:33:38,042 But there were other irons in the fire by this time. 749 00:33:38,167 --> 00:33:41,333 There was trouble brewing in the Colombo family, 750 00:33:41,417 --> 00:33:44,750 I think it was between 1990 and 1993, 751 00:33:44,833 --> 00:33:47,500 which actually developed into a shooting war. 752 00:33:47,625 --> 00:33:50,500 As I recall, I think there was 21 shootings 753 00:33:50,583 --> 00:33:51,708 and 12 deaths. 754 00:33:52,375 --> 00:33:54,167 When you have a situation like that, 755 00:33:54,250 --> 00:33:55,875 when bodies are hitting the street, 756 00:33:55,958 --> 00:33:57,250 it's all hands on deck. 757 00:33:57,375 --> 00:34:00,000 So we diverted a lot of resources 758 00:34:00,000 --> 00:34:03,000 to trying to address that problem, 759 00:34:03,042 --> 00:34:04,583 in the meantime, 760 00:34:04,667 --> 00:34:06,625 Joe Massino was off in the corner 761 00:34:06,708 --> 00:34:08,333 doing what he does, 762 00:34:08,417 --> 00:34:11,292 strengthening the family and strengthening his hand. 763 00:34:12,542 --> 00:34:14,792 DOMINICK CICALE: Joe was like the king at that time. 764 00:34:15,708 --> 00:34:18,083 So whatever Joe would say, 765 00:34:18,167 --> 00:34:20,042 nobody griped, nobody questioned it. 766 00:34:20,125 --> 00:34:21,333 It was done. 767 00:34:22,042 --> 00:34:23,333 Everybody looked up to him. 768 00:34:24,625 --> 00:34:27,542 EDWARD: Joe Massino forms a new hierarchy around him 769 00:34:27,667 --> 00:34:30,083 in the leadership of the Bonanno crime family. 770 00:34:30,167 --> 00:34:31,500 NARRATOR: As boss of the Bonannos, 771 00:34:31,542 --> 00:34:33,208 Joe tapped his closest confidant, 772 00:34:33,292 --> 00:34:35,500 Sal Vitale, to be his underboss. 773 00:34:35,958 --> 00:34:38,333 The two men were not only tied by years of friendship 774 00:34:38,417 --> 00:34:40,875 and a code of omertà, but by marriage. 775 00:34:40,958 --> 00:34:44,208 Joe was married to Sal's sister, Josephine. 776 00:34:46,208 --> 00:34:48,000 PAT COLGAN: They were boyhood friends. 777 00:34:48,083 --> 00:34:51,250 12, 13, 14-year-old kids from Queens. 778 00:34:51,333 --> 00:34:53,500 Played together, ran together. 779 00:34:53,542 --> 00:34:55,167 ANTHONY: Joe taught Sal how to swim 780 00:34:55,250 --> 00:34:56,833 in some of the local pools 781 00:34:56,917 --> 00:35:00,625 and that was, like, something that bonded the two men. 782 00:35:01,417 --> 00:35:03,958 Of course, Joe also had designs on Josephine, 783 00:35:04,042 --> 00:35:05,667 Sal's sister, 784 00:35:05,708 --> 00:35:08,500 and it was through that relationship 785 00:35:08,583 --> 00:35:12,500 that Joe got to know Josephine much better. 786 00:35:13,042 --> 00:35:16,417 And Sal came up in the family 787 00:35:16,542 --> 00:35:18,167 because he was close to Joe. 788 00:35:18,208 --> 00:35:21,167 He made his impression that way. 789 00:35:21,875 --> 00:35:24,875 JACK: A lot of times, the hierarchy of a family 790 00:35:24,875 --> 00:35:27,542 changes depending on who's up and who's down, 791 00:35:27,625 --> 00:35:30,708 who's in and out, who's favored by the boss. 792 00:35:30,708 --> 00:35:33,917 He had a consiglieri who had a social club 793 00:35:34,000 --> 00:35:36,292 in Bath Avenue and in Brooklyn, 794 00:35:36,375 --> 00:35:38,625 whose name was Anthony Spero. 795 00:35:38,708 --> 00:35:42,333 Then under, then there was a series of captains. 796 00:35:43,083 --> 00:35:45,208 Sometimes they would go up or down 797 00:35:45,292 --> 00:35:47,958 if they were in favor or out of favor. 798 00:35:48,958 --> 00:35:51,333 ANTHONY: Among the top captains for Joe Massino 799 00:35:51,375 --> 00:35:53,125 were Frank Lino, 800 00:35:53,208 --> 00:35:55,542 Frank Coppa, Richard Cantarella. 801 00:35:57,708 --> 00:35:59,083 RICHARD CANTARELLA: They called me "Shellackhead" 802 00:35:59,208 --> 00:36:01,125 because I had jet black hair, 803 00:36:01,125 --> 00:36:03,375 and I always was vain about my hair. 804 00:36:03,500 --> 00:36:04,833 The family wasn't very big. 805 00:36:05,458 --> 00:36:07,167 When Joe then came home 806 00:36:07,250 --> 00:36:09,625 and he put the whole thing back together, 807 00:36:09,708 --> 00:36:12,167 and from what I understand, there was over 200 men, 808 00:36:12,208 --> 00:36:15,667 made guys in the Bonanno family. 809 00:36:15,792 --> 00:36:17,792 Joe Massino did everything the right way. 810 00:36:17,875 --> 00:36:18,917 He was a class act. 811 00:36:19,000 --> 00:36:21,167 He was, uh, 812 00:36:21,250 --> 00:36:23,875 a very paranoid guy in the first place. 813 00:36:23,958 --> 00:36:26,083 Very careful, a smart man, 814 00:36:26,167 --> 00:36:28,333 not an educated man, but a smart man. 815 00:36:28,792 --> 00:36:32,333 He, uh-- he had a fundamental understanding 816 00:36:32,417 --> 00:36:35,667 of what was, at that time, in those days, 817 00:36:35,750 --> 00:36:38,625 uh, primitive surveillance equipment. 818 00:36:39,083 --> 00:36:41,667 EDWARD: You could never mention Joey's name. 819 00:36:42,208 --> 00:36:43,625 You're supposed to touch your ear, 820 00:36:43,708 --> 00:36:45,833 instead of the nose or the chin. 821 00:36:45,917 --> 00:36:47,042 He was the ear. 822 00:36:47,125 --> 00:36:48,625 RICHARD: They used the term 823 00:36:48,708 --> 00:36:51,792 because he always had listening devices. 824 00:36:51,875 --> 00:36:55,500 So he always had his ear to what was going on, so to speak. 825 00:36:56,333 --> 00:36:58,875 Massino would meet with other gangsters, 826 00:36:58,958 --> 00:37:01,500 usually in social clubs, but after a while that stopped. 827 00:37:01,875 --> 00:37:03,583 He closed them down at one time. 828 00:37:03,667 --> 00:37:05,125 He wanted all the clubs closed 829 00:37:05,208 --> 00:37:07,167 because they were meeting places. 830 00:37:07,250 --> 00:37:09,167 I mean, I got followed by FBI. 831 00:37:09,250 --> 00:37:10,542 I did some stupid things. 832 00:37:11,292 --> 00:37:13,083 And what happens is they follow you, 833 00:37:13,167 --> 00:37:15,333 go right to the club, you know, and there you are. 834 00:37:15,458 --> 00:37:17,333 There's a bunch of guys, before you know it, 835 00:37:17,375 --> 00:37:19,167 they're sitting across the street in a-- 836 00:37:19,292 --> 00:37:21,125 in a van, filming everything. 837 00:37:22,083 --> 00:37:23,417 Just the way it was. 838 00:37:24,417 --> 00:37:26,167 So when Joe Massino 839 00:37:26,208 --> 00:37:28,917 got out of jail, 840 00:37:29,000 --> 00:37:32,208 he passed this edict that people weren't supposed 841 00:37:32,333 --> 00:37:34,792 to meet in social clubs anymore. 842 00:37:34,875 --> 00:37:38,750 And he just started to enforce stricter discipline. 843 00:37:39,375 --> 00:37:41,417 If you were going to have conversations 844 00:37:41,500 --> 00:37:43,583 with people of significance, 845 00:37:43,667 --> 00:37:45,458 you were going to do them on the street, 846 00:37:45,542 --> 00:37:47,458 in a park some place, 847 00:37:47,542 --> 00:37:50,042 where you could see if there was any surveillance 848 00:37:50,125 --> 00:37:51,667 and avoid surveillance. 849 00:37:51,750 --> 00:37:53,458 DOMINICK: Tightening everything up, 850 00:37:53,542 --> 00:37:55,875 pulling in the reins, pulling people back 851 00:37:55,958 --> 00:37:58,000 from being out there in the limelight, 852 00:37:58,042 --> 00:38:00,167 creating havoc, 853 00:38:00,292 --> 00:38:02,000 keeping things more underground. 854 00:38:02,083 --> 00:38:04,167 No funerals, no weddings. 855 00:38:04,792 --> 00:38:08,208 Dress normal, don't showboat, don't be flashy. 856 00:38:09,167 --> 00:38:12,125 Joe Massino didn't like to talk by telephone. 857 00:38:12,625 --> 00:38:14,208 He preferred to talk to somebody 858 00:38:14,375 --> 00:38:16,125 either in his house, 859 00:38:16,208 --> 00:38:19,458 or near his home in Howard Beach. 860 00:38:20,042 --> 00:38:23,542 And there was an area in Howard Beach known as the Weeds. 861 00:38:23,625 --> 00:38:26,458 It's a federal nature preserve. 862 00:38:26,542 --> 00:38:27,750 It's swampy. 863 00:38:29,583 --> 00:38:32,667 But he was very, very conscious of surveillance, 864 00:38:32,750 --> 00:38:35,333 of dealing with people who would turn on him. 865 00:38:36,125 --> 00:38:39,125 There was a lot of murders in the '80s and early '90s 866 00:38:39,208 --> 00:38:41,625 of our FBI informants. 867 00:38:42,542 --> 00:38:46,083 Joey would cause people to disappear 868 00:38:46,167 --> 00:38:48,958 and most likely killed. 869 00:38:49,583 --> 00:38:52,250 Power was everything in the Bonanno family. 870 00:38:52,375 --> 00:38:54,208 The families were powerful 871 00:38:54,292 --> 00:38:56,625 because of their lethality. 872 00:38:58,542 --> 00:39:00,833 He was a guy who was constantly, 873 00:39:00,958 --> 00:39:04,000 what we call now, situational awareness. 874 00:39:04,042 --> 00:39:07,000 He was, uh-- he was aware of who was around him 875 00:39:07,042 --> 00:39:09,458 and he limited who could have direct contact with him. 876 00:39:10,083 --> 00:39:12,375 And he maintained strict discipline. 877 00:39:12,458 --> 00:39:14,708 He had a reputation of doing his own work, 878 00:39:14,792 --> 00:39:16,583 meaning, you know, 879 00:39:16,667 --> 00:39:18,625 if somebody needed to be dealt with violently, 880 00:39:18,708 --> 00:39:20,042 he wasn't afraid to do it. 881 00:39:21,083 --> 00:39:23,125 And that was the reputation he had. 882 00:39:23,875 --> 00:39:25,667 He knew our whole bag of tricks. 883 00:39:25,750 --> 00:39:28,708 He knew about wiretaps, he knew about microphones. 884 00:39:28,792 --> 00:39:30,833 It wasn't working, we weren't getting what we needed. 885 00:39:30,875 --> 00:39:33,042 We needed to try a different approach. 886 00:39:41,750 --> 00:39:43,708 NARRATOR: Through the 1990s, 887 00:39:43,792 --> 00:39:45,875 with most of The Commission leadership in prison, 888 00:39:46,000 --> 00:39:48,125 New York's mob families scratched and clawed 889 00:39:48,208 --> 00:39:49,292 to keep money coming in. 890 00:39:50,667 --> 00:39:52,667 They worked in conjunction with one another 891 00:39:52,750 --> 00:39:55,458 to bleed money out of the most lucrative targets 892 00:39:55,542 --> 00:39:56,667 in New York City. 893 00:40:00,333 --> 00:40:04,125 The major mob racket in New York 894 00:40:04,208 --> 00:40:07,583 is extorting money from legitimate businesses, 895 00:40:07,667 --> 00:40:10,583 and this is commonly called the mob tax. 896 00:40:11,375 --> 00:40:12,833 The '80s and the '90s 897 00:40:12,917 --> 00:40:15,625 are the height of this mob tax period. 898 00:40:15,708 --> 00:40:18,667 This is really where we see that 899 00:40:18,750 --> 00:40:20,833 organized crime has infiltrated 900 00:40:20,875 --> 00:40:24,167 almost every industry of labor. 901 00:40:24,292 --> 00:40:28,667 Every single element of the garment industry. 902 00:40:28,708 --> 00:40:32,250 There is a profit of about $500 million 903 00:40:32,375 --> 00:40:34,792 just from garbage hauling alone. 904 00:40:34,875 --> 00:40:38,583 New Yorkers pay about 35% more 905 00:40:38,708 --> 00:40:40,542 than fair market value 906 00:40:40,542 --> 00:40:42,625 just to get their garbage taken away. 907 00:40:42,708 --> 00:40:47,042 A 1-2% tax by the mob, 908 00:40:47,167 --> 00:40:49,667 a "tax" on all windows 909 00:40:49,750 --> 00:40:51,250 being installed across the city. 910 00:40:51,875 --> 00:40:55,792 You're paying percentages off of every single window 911 00:40:55,875 --> 00:40:58,875 in a city that probably has the most windows 912 00:40:58,875 --> 00:41:00,625 of anywhere in North America. 913 00:41:01,750 --> 00:41:03,708 REPORTER: In addition, it's alleged that the mob 914 00:41:03,833 --> 00:41:05,708 greases the wheels of the Fulton Fish Market, 915 00:41:05,833 --> 00:41:09,250 controls most of the private trash removal industry, 916 00:41:09,375 --> 00:41:12,500 runs hardcore pornography, drug trafficking, 917 00:41:12,583 --> 00:41:14,667 and portions of the film industry. 918 00:41:14,708 --> 00:41:17,042 It's the consumers who are picking up the tab. 919 00:41:17,875 --> 00:41:19,750 EDWARD: After Donnie Brasco, 920 00:41:19,875 --> 00:41:22,833 infiltration of the family became public. 921 00:41:22,875 --> 00:41:25,375 It wasn't as if the Bonanno family 922 00:41:25,375 --> 00:41:26,833 ceased doing an operation. 923 00:41:26,958 --> 00:41:29,375 They continued to control the labor unions, 924 00:41:29,458 --> 00:41:31,458 bid rigging and extortion schemes. 925 00:41:31,542 --> 00:41:34,042 And their stature had been diminished 926 00:41:34,125 --> 00:41:35,958 in the world of organized crime. 927 00:41:36,042 --> 00:41:39,083 As a result, they were not able to participate 928 00:41:39,167 --> 00:41:41,667 in some of these large scale schemes 929 00:41:41,750 --> 00:41:44,542 that the other four families participated in. 930 00:41:45,125 --> 00:41:47,458 Since they got locked out of the more lucrative 931 00:41:47,542 --> 00:41:50,500 and the more sophisticated operations, 932 00:41:50,583 --> 00:41:53,083 they became involved in other things. 933 00:41:53,750 --> 00:41:56,250 They accelerated their involvement 934 00:41:56,333 --> 00:41:57,708 with narcotics. 935 00:41:58,458 --> 00:42:02,042 They were sort of pioneers in getting into Wall Street. 936 00:42:02,833 --> 00:42:04,208 They do whatever works. 937 00:42:06,042 --> 00:42:08,417 The Post was the perfect example 938 00:42:08,417 --> 00:42:10,208 of targets of opportunity. 939 00:42:14,542 --> 00:42:16,833 NARRATOR: One of the mafia's most successful ploys 940 00:42:16,958 --> 00:42:18,833 was the "no-show job." 941 00:42:18,875 --> 00:42:20,833 The family would muscle control 942 00:42:20,958 --> 00:42:23,125 over a union or legitimate business 943 00:42:23,208 --> 00:42:26,042 and give high ranking members of the family a job. 944 00:42:26,125 --> 00:42:29,458 A job with a good salary, a job with benefits, 945 00:42:29,542 --> 00:42:32,625 a job that they didn't even have to show up for. 946 00:42:33,417 --> 00:42:36,542 Richard Cantarella, a captain in the Bonanno family, 947 00:42:36,625 --> 00:42:39,958 held one of these union jobs at the New York Post, 948 00:42:40,042 --> 00:42:43,417 one of the most circulated daily tabloids in New York City. 949 00:42:43,875 --> 00:42:46,250 When I got involved I had a no-show job 950 00:42:46,333 --> 00:42:48,333 and nobody was going to say anything 951 00:42:48,375 --> 00:42:49,917 because of who I was. 952 00:42:50,000 --> 00:42:51,625 I was a tailman on a truck. 953 00:42:51,708 --> 00:42:53,917 That means I didn't do the driving, 954 00:42:54,042 --> 00:42:55,542 because if you are the driver, 955 00:42:55,625 --> 00:42:57,333 there's no way you could not show up. 956 00:42:57,458 --> 00:42:59,125 So I was the tailman, 957 00:42:59,208 --> 00:43:01,250 and at the end of the week I took care of the driver. 958 00:43:02,083 --> 00:43:04,042 I did very well, I was getting paid. 959 00:43:04,917 --> 00:43:07,000 There's always gambling going on. 960 00:43:07,125 --> 00:43:09,833 So if that was going on by somebody in the Post, 961 00:43:09,875 --> 00:43:11,667 they'd have to give up a piece of that money, 962 00:43:11,708 --> 00:43:13,667 or we're not gonna allow you to do it. 963 00:43:13,792 --> 00:43:15,500 Any gambling, any stealing, 964 00:43:15,583 --> 00:43:18,292 any lending of money, we had to get a piece of it. 965 00:43:18,375 --> 00:43:21,375 And I always managed to stay on the book someplace. 966 00:43:21,458 --> 00:43:22,917 Now I'm on Social Security. 967 00:43:27,208 --> 00:43:29,000 And at that point, I got involved 968 00:43:29,042 --> 00:43:30,792 in taking over one of the parking lots 969 00:43:30,875 --> 00:43:32,917 in the Marine and Aviation. 970 00:43:34,042 --> 00:43:37,083 In New York, parking is a commodity. 971 00:43:37,833 --> 00:43:39,000 Parking was big. 972 00:43:39,708 --> 00:43:42,083 Parking lots would be a good opportunity for organized crime, 973 00:43:42,167 --> 00:43:44,417 especially back in the '80s and the '90s, 974 00:43:44,500 --> 00:43:46,250 because there was less 975 00:43:46,333 --> 00:43:49,000 electronic bookkeeping, as it were. 976 00:43:49,042 --> 00:43:52,333 But back then it was largely a cash business. 977 00:43:53,208 --> 00:43:55,542 Not all of it makes it to the accounting books 978 00:43:55,625 --> 00:43:58,708 so that you don't have to pay taxes on all of it, 979 00:43:58,792 --> 00:44:01,500 so a lot of it goes right into your pocket. 980 00:44:01,542 --> 00:44:05,292 It's a hard thing to audit when you don't have controls 981 00:44:05,375 --> 00:44:08,292 of how many cars are going in and how many cars are going out. 982 00:44:09,375 --> 00:44:12,333 RICHARD: From nothing, I wound up with 22 locations. 983 00:44:12,917 --> 00:44:14,625 I wound up having a home built. 984 00:44:15,167 --> 00:44:16,625 Parking was very good to me. 985 00:44:18,458 --> 00:44:20,083 NARRATOR: Richard Cantarella was bringing in 986 00:44:20,208 --> 00:44:22,625 serious money for the Bonanno family. 987 00:44:22,708 --> 00:44:24,833 And building a comfortable life for his nuclear family 988 00:44:24,875 --> 00:44:26,125 out in Staten Island. 989 00:44:27,000 --> 00:44:28,750 For Richard's son, Paul, 990 00:44:28,833 --> 00:44:30,750 the riches that the life provided 991 00:44:30,875 --> 00:44:32,083 were too good to pass up. 992 00:44:32,917 --> 00:44:34,542 PAUL CANTARELLA: As a kid, they always knew 993 00:44:34,625 --> 00:44:36,792 I was Richie's son, and I always got respected. 994 00:44:36,875 --> 00:44:38,583 Instead of going to summer camp, 995 00:44:38,667 --> 00:44:40,125 I would want to go with my father to Manhattan. 996 00:44:41,500 --> 00:44:42,875 I would go with him 997 00:44:42,958 --> 00:44:44,708 to the parking lot and the newsstand. 998 00:44:44,708 --> 00:44:45,833 And then from there we would work 999 00:44:45,917 --> 00:44:47,000 our way to Mulberry Street. 1000 00:44:48,583 --> 00:44:50,042 It was all business. 1001 00:44:50,125 --> 00:44:51,417 Restaurants, parking lots, you know, 1002 00:44:51,500 --> 00:44:53,542 big Mercedes, always dressed nice. 1003 00:44:55,125 --> 00:44:57,250 I just saw the respect on the block, 1004 00:44:57,333 --> 00:44:59,292 you know, and who doesn't want to be like them? 1005 00:45:00,292 --> 00:45:02,042 It was the greatest thing you could see. 1006 00:45:04,000 --> 00:45:06,292 I just was so loyal to them, and I looked up to them 1007 00:45:06,375 --> 00:45:08,667 that whatever they wanted me to do I would do. 1008 00:45:08,792 --> 00:45:10,833 And so, they decided to bring me in. 1009 00:45:10,875 --> 00:45:12,083 I got made. 1010 00:45:12,167 --> 00:45:14,125 Me and Sal became very close. 1011 00:45:14,208 --> 00:45:17,333 Actually, probably closer my son was to Sal Vitale. 1012 00:45:17,417 --> 00:45:20,458 He's the one who promoted me to make my son. 1013 00:45:20,542 --> 00:45:22,625 He said, "Why don't you put your son's name in?" 1014 00:45:23,667 --> 00:45:25,958 PAUL: It wound up being in my mother's basement. 1015 00:45:26,542 --> 00:45:29,500 Joe Massino was there, Sal Vitale, Franky, Lino, 1016 00:45:29,583 --> 00:45:32,542 my father, and a few guys that were gonna get made. 1017 00:45:33,500 --> 00:45:35,542 They pretty much explained that it's a brotherhood. 1018 00:45:36,417 --> 00:45:38,250 And then they explained a couple of the rules. 1019 00:45:38,333 --> 00:45:40,792 "You don't pick up your hands to any made guys. 1020 00:45:41,542 --> 00:45:43,667 You don't fool around with anybody's wife. 1021 00:45:43,708 --> 00:45:46,000 That's your father, you know, Joe Massino, now. 1022 00:45:46,583 --> 00:45:48,417 You know, any problems, you go to him." 1023 00:45:49,500 --> 00:45:50,458 Joe was the real deal. 1024 00:45:51,667 --> 00:45:52,958 You know who he was 1025 00:45:53,042 --> 00:45:55,000 and my father always taught me, 1026 00:45:55,042 --> 00:45:56,417 "You don't ask any questions, you do what he asks, 1027 00:45:56,542 --> 00:45:57,917 you don't do anything behind his back, 1028 00:45:58,000 --> 00:45:59,167 and you don't have to worry." 1029 00:45:59,917 --> 00:46:01,500 You know, people went missing, and you didn't ask a question. 1030 00:46:02,042 --> 00:46:05,458 NARRATOR: When Paul Cantarella took his oath of omertà in 1996, 1031 00:46:05,542 --> 00:46:07,750 he joined a family that was a dying breed. 1032 00:46:07,833 --> 00:46:10,333 And a way of life on the verge of extinction. 1033 00:46:10,875 --> 00:46:13,167 But Cantarella believed in Joe Massino, 1034 00:46:13,250 --> 00:46:15,333 and believed that omertà wasn't dead yet. 1035 00:46:15,958 --> 00:46:19,667 Even while all the signs around him began to say otherwise. 1036 00:46:19,750 --> 00:46:24,958 ♪ 1037 00:46:29,042 --> 00:46:31,042 NARRATOR: By the late '90s, the Bonanno family, 1038 00:46:31,125 --> 00:46:32,833 under the leadership of Joe Massino, 1039 00:46:32,917 --> 00:46:35,917 had become the most powerful family in New York City. 1040 00:46:36,708 --> 00:46:39,292 He learned from all the mistakes of his predecessors, 1041 00:46:39,375 --> 00:46:42,000 stay out of the press, avoid drugs, 1042 00:46:42,083 --> 00:46:44,833 never kill unless absolutely necessary. 1043 00:46:45,375 --> 00:46:47,333 His family was the only one in New York 1044 00:46:47,458 --> 00:46:49,792 that had yet to have a member cooperate. 1045 00:46:49,875 --> 00:46:52,292 In short, omertà in action. 1046 00:46:53,042 --> 00:46:55,333 For those looking to join the life, 1047 00:46:55,417 --> 00:46:58,417 the Bonanno family was the most obvious choice. 1048 00:47:00,542 --> 00:47:02,000 DOMINICK: Well, I grew up in the Pelham Bay 1049 00:47:02,042 --> 00:47:03,708 section of the Bronx. 1050 00:47:03,792 --> 00:47:05,583 I never really had a father figure. 1051 00:47:05,667 --> 00:47:07,792 He was doin' his thing. 1052 00:47:07,875 --> 00:47:10,458 He had step-children he was more concerned about. 1053 00:47:10,542 --> 00:47:14,458 So, that's, I guess, what led me to gravitate toward the streets. 1054 00:47:15,292 --> 00:47:17,458 And then, my twenties and a little bit of my thirties, 1055 00:47:17,583 --> 00:47:18,708 I spent in jail. 1056 00:47:19,750 --> 00:47:22,500 It's definitely, like, a recruitment center, 1057 00:47:22,583 --> 00:47:23,583 the prison system. 1058 00:47:24,333 --> 00:47:27,000 I had a 10 year sentence, and I get sent to Lewisburg 1059 00:47:27,083 --> 00:47:28,333 where, at that time, 1060 00:47:28,458 --> 00:47:30,333 you had a majority of lifers there, 1061 00:47:30,458 --> 00:47:32,125 people doing life sentences. 1062 00:47:32,208 --> 00:47:34,208 So, you had a lot of top figures 1063 00:47:34,292 --> 00:47:37,042 in the mafia at that facility. 1064 00:47:37,167 --> 00:47:39,458 And that's where I started seeing the politicking. 1065 00:47:39,542 --> 00:47:43,208 That's where I got a lot of proposals from different guys. 1066 00:47:43,292 --> 00:47:45,250 "Hey, you know, when you get out on the street, 1067 00:47:45,333 --> 00:47:46,667 you can come see us. 1068 00:47:46,708 --> 00:47:47,833 We'd love to have 1069 00:47:47,917 --> 00:47:49,208 a young guy like you around us." 1070 00:47:51,458 --> 00:47:57,083 ♪ 1071 00:47:57,167 --> 00:47:59,083 In the Bronx, it was predominantly 1072 00:47:59,167 --> 00:48:00,792 Bonanno and Genovese, 1073 00:48:01,708 --> 00:48:03,583 Bonannos had a good name. 1074 00:48:03,667 --> 00:48:05,542 All the other crime families you had made members 1075 00:48:05,667 --> 00:48:06,625 that cooperated. 1076 00:48:08,000 --> 00:48:09,333 They didn't. 1077 00:48:11,042 --> 00:48:13,833 When I got out of jail, I met Vinny Basciano 1078 00:48:13,875 --> 00:48:15,542 in the Bonanno crime family. 1079 00:48:15,667 --> 00:48:17,708 MIKE: Vinny Basciano was a captain 1080 00:48:17,792 --> 00:48:19,917 in the Bonanno family. 1081 00:48:20,042 --> 00:48:21,708 The Bronx faction, as I would call them. 1082 00:48:22,750 --> 00:48:25,000 We understood, Vinny, to be a drug dealer, 1083 00:48:25,042 --> 00:48:26,542 a heroin guy. 1084 00:48:26,625 --> 00:48:28,625 He was a suspect in a number of murders. 1085 00:48:30,042 --> 00:48:31,500 DOMINICK: I'm driving him around. 1086 00:48:31,667 --> 00:48:33,667 Vinny always had the number locations, 1087 00:48:33,750 --> 00:48:36,958 the Joker Poker machines, that was his primary business. 1088 00:48:37,042 --> 00:48:38,417 They tried marijuana. 1089 00:48:38,500 --> 00:48:40,833 We had marijuana coming in from Canada. 1090 00:48:40,917 --> 00:48:42,167 Ecstasy pills. 1091 00:48:43,208 --> 00:48:46,000 Well, Vinny asked me if I wanted part of the life. 1092 00:48:46,083 --> 00:48:47,708 He said, "I need you. I want you." 1093 00:48:48,625 --> 00:48:49,792 I accepted it. 1094 00:48:51,917 --> 00:48:54,500 MIKE: Cicale rose quickly. 1095 00:48:55,083 --> 00:48:56,792 He and Basciano became close. 1096 00:48:56,875 --> 00:48:59,708 DOMINICK: Joe Massino did start the change, 1097 00:48:59,833 --> 00:49:01,417 to name it the Massino family. 1098 00:49:02,708 --> 00:49:05,083 Everybody looked up to him at that point. 1099 00:49:05,167 --> 00:49:06,625 When he said something, 1100 00:49:06,708 --> 00:49:08,875 nobody griped, nobody questioned it. 1101 00:49:08,958 --> 00:49:10,125 It was done. 1102 00:49:11,000 --> 00:49:12,875 He was smart in a lot of ways, 1103 00:49:12,958 --> 00:49:15,083 but Joe surrounded himself, 1104 00:49:15,208 --> 00:49:18,792 and not in my opinion, it's a fact, with garbage, 1105 00:49:18,875 --> 00:49:21,167 Sal Vitale, Richie Cantarella. 1106 00:49:21,917 --> 00:49:25,042 This is all his hierarchy, his administration. 1107 00:49:25,167 --> 00:49:28,083 He put all those people into power. 1108 00:49:28,167 --> 00:49:30,208 ANTHONY: People didn't like Sal as much. 1109 00:49:30,833 --> 00:49:33,750 He didn't build bridges 1110 00:49:33,833 --> 00:49:36,542 with some of the capos and some of the soldiers. 1111 00:49:36,625 --> 00:49:38,875 And they became to not like him. 1112 00:49:38,958 --> 00:49:42,500 They thought he was trying to inflate his importance. 1113 00:49:42,500 --> 00:49:45,958 So, he was, in that sense, marginalized. 1114 00:49:46,042 --> 00:49:49,000 JACK: It's not at all unusual in these situations 1115 00:49:49,083 --> 00:49:50,750 for jealousies to develop 1116 00:49:50,833 --> 00:49:54,333 within the hierarchy of an organized crime family. 1117 00:49:54,417 --> 00:49:56,458 The history of organized crime 1118 00:49:56,542 --> 00:49:58,917 since the 1930s in the United States 1119 00:49:59,042 --> 00:50:00,750 is replete with examples of it. 1120 00:50:00,833 --> 00:50:04,333 Where somebody may be the number two or three guy, 1121 00:50:04,375 --> 00:50:06,250 starts to get big ideas, 1122 00:50:06,333 --> 00:50:08,875 and he wants to step up to the number one spot. 1123 00:50:09,750 --> 00:50:13,167 Sal had become quite comfortable in his position 1124 00:50:13,292 --> 00:50:14,792 as the street boss. 1125 00:50:15,417 --> 00:50:17,917 Word on the street was that he did not treat 1126 00:50:18,000 --> 00:50:19,667 the capos well. 1127 00:50:19,708 --> 00:50:22,375 You know, digging deeper into their pockets. 1128 00:50:22,458 --> 00:50:24,458 That he's not fair when he settles disputes, 1129 00:50:24,542 --> 00:50:25,708 he plays favorites. 1130 00:50:26,667 --> 00:50:30,458 And if a boss can't maintain control 1131 00:50:30,542 --> 00:50:33,292 over a situation like that, he's a goner. 1132 00:50:38,417 --> 00:50:41,125 RICHARD: Joe belittled him. He embarrassed him. 1133 00:50:41,125 --> 00:50:42,667 He was the underboss. 1134 00:50:42,708 --> 00:50:44,417 Joe kept him out of the restaurant. 1135 00:50:47,875 --> 00:50:50,583 He just fell out of love between brother-in-laws. 1136 00:50:50,667 --> 00:50:52,417 Whatever happened, happened. 1137 00:50:52,500 --> 00:50:55,833 He probably felt overshadowed 1138 00:50:55,875 --> 00:50:57,625 greatly by Joe 1139 00:50:57,708 --> 00:51:01,417 and probably was struggling to make his impression 1140 00:51:01,500 --> 00:51:02,792 in the world of the mob. 1141 00:51:03,708 --> 00:51:06,292 But I don't think he had the clout 1142 00:51:06,375 --> 00:51:08,958 or engendered the loyalty 1143 00:51:09,042 --> 00:51:10,875 that he needed to be a boss. 1144 00:51:11,542 --> 00:51:14,000 If Sal was playing fast and loose, 1145 00:51:14,042 --> 00:51:17,542 Joe Massino had the kind of paranoid personality, 1146 00:51:17,625 --> 00:51:19,708 being constantly on red alert 1147 00:51:19,792 --> 00:51:21,667 and sensitive to these kind of things 1148 00:51:23,292 --> 00:51:25,958 I think that Joe started to have notions 1149 00:51:26,042 --> 00:51:27,083 about he might clip him. 1150 00:51:28,167 --> 00:51:31,792 NARRATOR: Joe Massino knew murders led to investigations. 1151 00:51:31,875 --> 00:51:34,500 Which led to indictments. Which led to prison. 1152 00:51:35,667 --> 00:51:37,750 But his brother-in-law had become a problem. 1153 00:51:38,542 --> 00:51:40,333 Captains in the family were complaining 1154 00:51:40,375 --> 00:51:41,708 that Vitale was getting greedy. 1155 00:51:42,583 --> 00:51:44,500 Others had suspicions 1156 00:51:44,583 --> 00:51:46,292 that the underboss was a government informant. 1157 00:51:46,958 --> 00:51:48,625 In 2001, 1158 00:51:48,708 --> 00:51:51,250 Vitale was indicted on RICO charges 1159 00:51:51,333 --> 00:51:53,458 and worked out a plea deal with prosecutors 1160 00:51:53,542 --> 00:51:55,500 for a reduced sentence. 1161 00:51:55,542 --> 00:51:58,333 Massino wondered if the light sentence meant 1162 00:51:58,417 --> 00:52:00,000 he had flipped. 1163 00:52:00,083 --> 00:52:01,750 Word began to circulate 1164 00:52:01,833 --> 00:52:04,042 that Sal Vitale couldn't be trusted, 1165 00:52:04,167 --> 00:52:06,000 and he was not a man of their code. 1166 00:52:08,583 --> 00:52:10,542 DOMINICK: And there was a discussion between Joe Massino 1167 00:52:10,625 --> 00:52:14,000 and Vinny Basciano to kill Sal Vitale. 1168 00:52:14,708 --> 00:52:17,000 And Vinny pulled me up, he says, 1169 00:52:17,083 --> 00:52:20,333 "You're getting a piece of work for this family. 1170 00:52:20,417 --> 00:52:22,375 It's going to be a major piece of work. 1171 00:52:22,458 --> 00:52:24,333 Be ready. Beware. 1172 00:52:24,417 --> 00:52:26,333 And it's going to happen in about two weeks." 1173 00:52:27,917 --> 00:52:31,792 The story was that Sal's wife went to Joe 1174 00:52:31,875 --> 00:52:33,500 and pled a case 1175 00:52:33,542 --> 00:52:36,667 for her husband not being killed. 1176 00:52:38,375 --> 00:52:39,667 Joe was in a tough pickle 1177 00:52:39,792 --> 00:52:41,958 because if he did anything to Sal 1178 00:52:42,042 --> 00:52:44,833 what would that do to Joe's domestic relationship 1179 00:52:44,917 --> 00:52:46,292 with his wife? 1180 00:52:46,375 --> 00:52:48,167 Killing your wife's brother? 1181 00:52:48,167 --> 00:52:50,833 The little boy she used to raise 1182 00:52:50,875 --> 00:52:54,667 from the time they were just a growing small family? 1183 00:52:55,292 --> 00:52:57,083 It was a tough spot for Joe. 1184 00:53:06,833 --> 00:53:09,958 NARRATOR: After years of surveillance and false leads, 1185 00:53:10,042 --> 00:53:11,625 The FBI's Bonanno Squad 1186 00:53:11,625 --> 00:53:13,542 was still struggling to make a case 1187 00:53:13,625 --> 00:53:15,000 against the family's leadership stick. 1188 00:53:15,792 --> 00:53:17,792 Joe Massino had been too careful. 1189 00:53:18,458 --> 00:53:20,375 He had plans to kill his brother-in-law 1190 00:53:20,458 --> 00:53:22,500 and underboss, Sal Vitale, 1191 00:53:22,542 --> 00:53:23,792 but never went through with it. 1192 00:53:26,250 --> 00:53:27,917 With no murders to chase 1193 00:53:28,000 --> 00:53:30,000 and whispers that Big Joe and his crew 1194 00:53:30,125 --> 00:53:32,833 were skimming money through parking lots 1195 00:53:32,875 --> 00:53:34,792 the feds called the accountants 1196 00:53:34,875 --> 00:53:37,083 and began requesting bank statements. 1197 00:53:38,625 --> 00:53:41,667 Their case would be built from the balance sheet. 1198 00:53:42,542 --> 00:53:44,833 JACK: I became the supervisor of the Bonannos squad, 1199 00:53:44,917 --> 00:53:46,708 and I went to my boss, and I said, "Listen, 1200 00:53:46,792 --> 00:53:49,750 "I'm convinced that if we could get somebody 1201 00:53:49,875 --> 00:53:52,833 that knew the financial landscape, 1202 00:53:52,875 --> 00:53:55,917 that could, put the pieces of this puzzle together, 1203 00:53:56,000 --> 00:53:57,708 that would be the secret 1204 00:53:57,792 --> 00:53:59,958 to tipping the scales in our favor." 1205 00:54:01,208 --> 00:54:03,583 Forensic accounting is a skill 1206 00:54:03,667 --> 00:54:06,542 in the financial investigative world 1207 00:54:06,667 --> 00:54:08,667 which takes a holistic approach 1208 00:54:08,708 --> 00:54:12,000 at looking at the records in the financial systems, 1209 00:54:12,083 --> 00:54:15,542 analyzing where the money is flowing from. 1210 00:54:15,625 --> 00:54:18,125 It's a generator of evidence 1211 00:54:18,208 --> 00:54:22,333 which helps you demonstrate, in a RICO type investigation, 1212 00:54:22,375 --> 00:54:24,458 the relationships between people, 1213 00:54:24,542 --> 00:54:26,208 even though you didn't see them together 1214 00:54:26,292 --> 00:54:29,708 on a surveillance or hear them on a phone call. 1215 00:54:31,083 --> 00:54:32,583 Thankfully they sent 1216 00:54:32,667 --> 00:54:34,708 two fresh-faced young accountants. 1217 00:54:35,375 --> 00:54:37,000 I said, "Look, 1218 00:54:37,042 --> 00:54:38,917 I'm going to try and take everything I know 1219 00:54:39,000 --> 00:54:41,417 about the Bonanno family out of my head 1220 00:54:41,500 --> 00:54:43,333 and put it in your head. 1221 00:54:43,417 --> 00:54:44,958 And then I want you to mix it up 1222 00:54:45,042 --> 00:54:47,250 with what you know about financial investigations 1223 00:54:47,333 --> 00:54:49,042 and forensic accounting 1224 00:54:49,125 --> 00:54:50,542 and make some magic." 1225 00:54:50,625 --> 00:54:51,875 And boy, did they. 1226 00:54:54,208 --> 00:54:57,000 ANTHONY: They started looking at the businesses 1227 00:54:57,083 --> 00:55:00,958 of people known to be in the Bonanno crime family. 1228 00:55:03,542 --> 00:55:07,125 They also came upon a couple of informants 1229 00:55:07,208 --> 00:55:09,000 who put them in the direction 1230 00:55:09,042 --> 00:55:12,750 of the parking lot ventures in Lower Manhattan. 1231 00:55:14,458 --> 00:55:16,500 And this was like the chink in the armor 1232 00:55:16,625 --> 00:55:18,958 where the feds could get in 1233 00:55:19,042 --> 00:55:20,833 and start doing the forensic accounting 1234 00:55:20,875 --> 00:55:22,875 and getting people on tax charges, 1235 00:55:22,958 --> 00:55:25,375 extortion charges and whatnot. 1236 00:55:25,458 --> 00:55:28,167 So, that led to a series of dominoes falling. 1237 00:55:32,958 --> 00:55:34,792 I knew something was up, sure. 1238 00:55:36,167 --> 00:55:38,833 I leave my house, I lived on the water, 1239 00:55:38,917 --> 00:55:40,750 and I'd spot them following me. 1240 00:55:40,833 --> 00:55:42,542 Their windows were pitch black. 1241 00:55:42,625 --> 00:55:45,667 And it was never the car that you saw parked. 1242 00:55:45,750 --> 00:55:47,667 They would wire down to another car. 1243 00:55:50,417 --> 00:55:51,792 I knew what they were looking for. 1244 00:55:53,042 --> 00:55:56,083 I had over $500,000 of Bonanno money 1245 00:55:56,167 --> 00:55:57,667 in my house, hidden. 1246 00:55:59,333 --> 00:56:00,542 They came in once... 1247 00:56:02,208 --> 00:56:03,667 they went through my house, 1248 00:56:03,750 --> 00:56:05,000 and they took all the parking lot money. 1249 00:56:05,125 --> 00:56:07,500 Every parking lot was on my desk. 1250 00:56:07,625 --> 00:56:10,167 21st street, Broadway, this one, that one. 1251 00:56:10,292 --> 00:56:12,083 Took $52,000 of money. 1252 00:56:14,875 --> 00:56:16,167 And then they raided again. 1253 00:56:17,125 --> 00:56:19,583 [sirens blaring] 1254 00:56:20,875 --> 00:56:22,542 But this time, my mother, 1255 00:56:22,625 --> 00:56:24,542 typical old Italian mother, 1256 00:56:24,625 --> 00:56:26,917 gave her a couple bankers' money bags. 1257 00:56:29,625 --> 00:56:31,250 She never asked what was inside. 1258 00:56:33,542 --> 00:56:35,583 That money, you could never get it from her. 1259 00:56:35,708 --> 00:56:36,792 Forget about it. 1260 00:56:38,083 --> 00:56:39,875 NARRATOR: The FBI's Bonanno squad raided 1261 00:56:40,000 --> 00:56:41,667 Richard Cantarella's house 1262 00:56:41,708 --> 00:56:44,125 on two occasions in the summer of 2002. 1263 00:56:44,208 --> 00:56:45,833 They were hoping to find more money. 1264 00:56:46,542 --> 00:56:48,208 But in a safe, in a back room, 1265 00:56:48,333 --> 00:56:50,583 they found a roster of his crew members 1266 00:56:50,667 --> 00:56:52,333 and the unlisted telephone numbers 1267 00:56:52,458 --> 00:56:54,500 of Joe Massino and Sal Vitale. 1268 00:56:54,583 --> 00:56:56,667 The evidence was stacking up. 1269 00:56:56,833 --> 00:56:59,750 And it was no secret, serious charges were incoming. 1270 00:57:00,542 --> 00:57:03,000 On October second, 2002, 1271 00:57:03,042 --> 00:57:05,750 Richard Cantarella and his son Paul were arrested. 1272 00:57:05,833 --> 00:57:09,208 Richard was indicted on 24 racketeering counts 1273 00:57:09,333 --> 00:57:11,250 and was facing life in prison. 1274 00:57:14,750 --> 00:57:16,500 I was facing life. 1275 00:57:16,542 --> 00:57:18,667 My son was facing a lot of years. 1276 00:57:19,500 --> 00:57:21,333 PAUL: I'm getting rearrested, they are telling me 1277 00:57:21,417 --> 00:57:22,375 while I'm in jail. 1278 00:57:23,083 --> 00:57:25,000 This is the first time I've been arrested, 1279 00:57:25,042 --> 00:57:27,042 I'm getting recharged with some more serious crimes. 1280 00:57:27,125 --> 00:57:28,958 They're charging me with things 1281 00:57:29,042 --> 00:57:30,625 that friends of mine are doing while I'm sleeping. 1282 00:57:32,583 --> 00:57:34,667 So, I come out into the unit one day, 1283 00:57:34,750 --> 00:57:36,250 I tell my father, "Dad, after this, 1284 00:57:36,333 --> 00:57:38,125 whatever it is, the time I do, I'm moving away." 1285 00:57:40,208 --> 00:57:41,792 He looks at me, he goes, "You quit? 1286 00:57:41,875 --> 00:57:43,208 You can't quit the mob." 1287 00:57:43,292 --> 00:57:44,875 He says, "You can't quit." 1288 00:57:45,000 --> 00:57:47,167 I says, "Well, I'm moving away after all this." 1289 00:57:48,625 --> 00:57:50,125 This was just gonna be an ongoing thing. 1290 00:57:50,208 --> 00:57:52,042 When you come out of jail, it's gonna happen again. 1291 00:57:52,833 --> 00:57:54,250 And so we decided to cooperate. 1292 00:57:55,833 --> 00:57:58,417 [dramatic music] 1293 00:58:02,583 --> 00:58:05,500 I cooperated and my son cooperated 1294 00:58:05,583 --> 00:58:08,583 because we did not want to spend the rest of our lives in jail. 1295 00:58:08,667 --> 00:58:10,333 And that's only me, I only cooperated 1296 00:58:10,417 --> 00:58:11,958 because I wanted to. 1297 00:58:12,042 --> 00:58:13,792 That's the long and the short of it. 1298 00:58:14,708 --> 00:58:16,167 ANTHONY: Cantarella fell. 1299 00:58:16,875 --> 00:58:19,042 Frank Coppa, Frank Lino. 1300 00:58:19,708 --> 00:58:21,208 Everything came together. 1301 00:58:21,292 --> 00:58:23,667 All these cooperators gave the feds 1302 00:58:23,750 --> 00:58:25,375 enormous amounts of evidence. 1303 00:58:26,500 --> 00:58:28,875 And they were putting together now a critical mass 1304 00:58:28,958 --> 00:58:30,792 against Joe Massino. 1305 00:58:30,875 --> 00:58:33,667 It was like the atomic bomb was going to explode. 1306 00:58:33,708 --> 00:58:35,542 Massino was going to get caught up 1307 00:58:35,625 --> 00:58:38,667 in this blast of a prosecution. 1308 00:58:38,708 --> 00:58:43,167 ♪ 1309 00:58:43,250 --> 00:58:45,708 REPORTER 1: Now, Joseph Massino, the alleged head 1310 00:58:45,833 --> 00:58:48,667 of New York's Bonanno mob family is under arrest. 1311 00:58:48,792 --> 00:58:50,000 REPORTER 2: Massino is charged in the murder 1312 00:58:50,042 --> 00:58:52,500 of Sonny Black Napolitano. 1313 00:58:52,625 --> 00:58:54,333 A gangster who was whacked 1314 00:58:54,417 --> 00:58:57,208 for letting Donnie Brasco infiltrate the family. 1315 00:58:57,292 --> 00:58:59,917 REPORTER 1: The leaders of all five New York mob families, 1316 00:59:00,000 --> 00:59:01,667 the Gambinos, Bonannos, 1317 00:59:01,708 --> 00:59:03,750 Luccheses, Colombos, and Genoveses 1318 00:59:03,833 --> 00:59:06,292 are all either in jail or facing trial. 1319 00:59:07,208 --> 00:59:11,042 Prosecutors said Massino was the last official boss 1320 00:59:11,125 --> 00:59:12,875 of New York's five mafia families, 1321 00:59:12,958 --> 00:59:14,958 who wasn't already in jail. 1322 00:59:15,958 --> 00:59:17,500 NARRATOR: Joe Massino was arrested 1323 00:59:17,542 --> 00:59:18,875 in the early morning hours 1324 00:59:18,958 --> 00:59:20,542 of January ninth, 2003. 1325 00:59:21,875 --> 00:59:24,500 His brother-in-law and underboss, Sal Vitale 1326 00:59:24,583 --> 00:59:26,375 was arrested the same morning. 1327 00:59:26,500 --> 00:59:27,875 They both knew it was coming. 1328 00:59:29,667 --> 00:59:33,000 By then, it was common knowledge that Richard Cantarella 1329 00:59:33,125 --> 00:59:35,042 and a handful of captains in the family 1330 00:59:35,167 --> 00:59:36,542 had turned state's evidence. 1331 00:59:36,667 --> 00:59:39,042 Snitched. Betrayed Omertà. 1332 00:59:39,875 --> 00:59:42,375 The next big question on everyone's mind, 1333 00:59:42,500 --> 00:59:44,125 what would Sal Vitale do now? 1334 00:59:45,042 --> 00:59:47,000 Would he flip or hold the line? 1335 00:59:47,750 --> 00:59:49,333 When things got quiet 1336 00:59:49,417 --> 00:59:51,208 members of the family were left to wonder. 1337 00:59:53,917 --> 00:59:55,583 MIKE: The older guys in the Bonanno family 1338 00:59:55,667 --> 00:59:57,542 were very savvy. 1339 00:59:58,417 --> 01:00:00,333 They understood how the court system worked. 1340 01:00:00,917 --> 01:00:03,458 They understood that, you know, 1341 01:00:03,542 --> 01:00:04,917 if somebody was in jail 1342 01:00:05,000 --> 01:00:08,000 and nobody knew where that person was, 1343 01:00:08,042 --> 01:00:10,333 that that person was probably cooperating. 1344 01:00:10,458 --> 01:00:11,625 [gunshot] 1345 01:00:11,708 --> 01:00:14,667 ♪ 1346 01:00:14,750 --> 01:00:16,458 [gunshot] 1347 01:00:16,542 --> 01:00:17,875 Around the time 1348 01:00:17,958 --> 01:00:20,792 Vitale was removed 1349 01:00:20,917 --> 01:00:22,958 from whatever facility he was in, 1350 01:00:23,042 --> 01:00:24,833 certain leaders in the Bonanno family, 1351 01:00:24,917 --> 01:00:27,125 they talk a lot about Vitale 1352 01:00:27,208 --> 01:00:28,833 and whether or not he's fully cooperating, 1353 01:00:28,958 --> 01:00:31,042 and if he's fully cooperating, 1354 01:00:31,042 --> 01:00:33,042 just in how bad a spot are they in. 1355 01:00:35,042 --> 01:00:37,708 And you can tell when you listen to the recordings. 1356 01:00:38,458 --> 01:00:40,875 NARRATOR: When Vitale flipped in early 2003, 1357 01:00:40,958 --> 01:00:42,750 he was moved out of his cell in Manhattan. 1358 01:00:43,375 --> 01:00:45,625 Family members could no longer get in touch with him. 1359 01:00:45,708 --> 01:00:48,000 Their fears had been realized. 1360 01:00:48,083 --> 01:00:50,958 The family's underboss was a rat. 1361 01:00:51,958 --> 01:00:54,250 Wiretaps and consensual recordings 1362 01:00:54,333 --> 01:00:56,125 from the ongoing investigation 1363 01:00:56,208 --> 01:00:58,042 into other members of the Bonanno family, 1364 01:00:58,125 --> 01:01:00,583 namely Vinny Basciano, 1365 01:01:00,667 --> 01:01:02,292 picked up their concerns. 1366 01:01:30,958 --> 01:01:33,250 Sal Vitale decided to cooperate. 1367 01:01:34,042 --> 01:01:36,667 That was a big domino. 1368 01:01:38,292 --> 01:01:41,542 Joe's trial lasted for somewhere between eight to 10 weeks. 1369 01:01:42,417 --> 01:01:45,042 There was no precedent that I could recall 1370 01:01:45,125 --> 01:01:47,500 such a close familial relationship 1371 01:01:47,542 --> 01:01:51,250 testifying against a boss. 1372 01:01:52,042 --> 01:01:54,417 REPORTER: Testifying this week, Salvatore Vitale, 1373 01:01:54,500 --> 01:01:56,917 the Bonanno Crime Family underboss, 1374 01:01:57,042 --> 01:01:59,333 Massino's second-in-command, 1375 01:01:59,458 --> 01:02:01,500 oldest friend, and brother-in-law. 1376 01:02:01,583 --> 01:02:03,458 It was a dramatic moment at the trial. 1377 01:02:03,542 --> 01:02:06,750 This is his brother-in-law, testified against him. 1378 01:02:06,875 --> 01:02:09,250 It was unimaginable in the '90s, 1379 01:02:09,333 --> 01:02:11,500 and in the '80s and the '70s. 1380 01:02:13,333 --> 01:02:15,417 REPORTER: In the courtroom, Massino's wife, Josephine, 1381 01:02:15,500 --> 01:02:18,750 spends her days glaring at her brother, Sal Vitale, 1382 01:02:18,833 --> 01:02:21,750 whose testimony could land her husband in prison. 1383 01:02:23,708 --> 01:02:27,667 ANTHONY: You could see Joe's wife, Josephine, 1384 01:02:27,750 --> 01:02:29,000 you could see her blood boiling. 1385 01:02:29,083 --> 01:02:30,542 And you could see the daughters 1386 01:02:30,667 --> 01:02:33,458 really getting angry 1387 01:02:36,458 --> 01:02:38,333 REPORTER: Vitale agreeing to testify 1388 01:02:38,417 --> 01:02:40,125 in exchange for leniency. 1389 01:02:41,292 --> 01:02:44,750 Good Looking Sal saw everything, he says, 1390 01:02:44,833 --> 01:02:47,083 including the 1981 triple murder 1391 01:02:47,167 --> 01:02:50,333 of Massino's rivals at a Brooklyn social club. 1392 01:02:50,375 --> 01:02:52,708 He also testified that Massino ordered the murder 1393 01:02:52,792 --> 01:02:54,500 of the man responsible 1394 01:02:54,625 --> 01:02:58,000 for allowing an FBI agent to infiltrate the mafia. 1395 01:02:58,042 --> 01:02:59,583 REPORTER 2: Massino faces life in prison 1396 01:02:59,667 --> 01:03:01,333 if convicted in this trial. 1397 01:03:01,375 --> 01:03:03,875 Afterward, he'll be tried for a more recent murder, 1398 01:03:03,958 --> 01:03:06,208 which, because of a change in federal law, 1399 01:03:06,292 --> 01:03:08,083 carries the death penalty. 1400 01:03:16,208 --> 01:03:18,875 REPORTER: Vinny "The Chin" Gigante, Genovese family boss, 1401 01:03:18,958 --> 01:03:20,708 is serving 12 years for racketeering. 1402 01:03:21,292 --> 01:03:24,333 John Gotti, nicknamed "The Dapper Don," 1403 01:03:24,417 --> 01:03:26,708 died in federal prison two years ago. 1404 01:03:27,458 --> 01:03:31,000 Joseph "Big Joey" Massino, close friend of the late Gotti, 1405 01:03:31,083 --> 01:03:33,000 alleged boss of the Bonanno family 1406 01:03:33,042 --> 01:03:34,375 is the last Don. 1407 01:03:35,542 --> 01:03:38,958 Now, Massino is on trial for seven counts of murder 1408 01:03:39,042 --> 01:03:40,292 and racketeering. 1409 01:03:42,375 --> 01:03:44,167 NARRATOR: The trial of Joseph Massino 1410 01:03:44,250 --> 01:03:46,500 ran for two months in the summer of 2004. 1411 01:03:46,583 --> 01:03:50,000 He'd been federally indicted on counts of gambling, 1412 01:03:50,125 --> 01:03:52,667 loan-sharking, arson, money-laundering, 1413 01:03:52,750 --> 01:03:54,833 and seven different murders. 1414 01:03:54,875 --> 01:03:58,708 Including the 1981 slaying of three captains... 1415 01:03:58,792 --> 01:04:01,375 [gunshots] 1416 01:04:01,458 --> 01:04:02,833 ...and the killing of Sonny Black. 1417 01:04:02,917 --> 01:04:04,000 [gunshot] 1418 01:04:04,083 --> 01:04:06,042 If found guilty, 1419 01:04:06,167 --> 01:04:08,125 he'd be sentenced to life in prison. 1420 01:04:08,208 --> 01:04:10,625 But an eighth murder charge loomed 1421 01:04:10,708 --> 01:04:14,417 and with it the possibility of the death penalty. 1422 01:04:18,375 --> 01:04:20,167 MIKE: There's a verdict in July of '04. 1423 01:04:21,375 --> 01:04:23,083 The case agents, they're the lead agents, 1424 01:04:23,167 --> 01:04:25,333 but it's also an all hands on deck 1425 01:04:25,375 --> 01:04:26,708 type of event for the squad. 1426 01:04:28,417 --> 01:04:30,125 ANTHONY: Well, the day of the verdict, 1427 01:04:30,208 --> 01:04:31,333 the other reporters were there. 1428 01:04:31,417 --> 01:04:34,042 Reporters from the Daily News 1429 01:04:34,125 --> 01:04:36,083 and New York Post, Times. 1430 01:04:37,208 --> 01:04:38,667 In the end, he got convicted 1431 01:04:38,750 --> 01:04:41,500 of engineering a number of homicides. 1432 01:04:41,583 --> 01:04:45,292 Including three captains and Sonny Black. 1433 01:04:47,833 --> 01:04:49,292 And add the gambling, 1434 01:04:49,375 --> 01:04:51,417 that was almost like a sugar coating. 1435 01:04:51,875 --> 01:04:56,083 And had to forfeit $10 million of his assets. 1436 01:04:56,208 --> 01:04:59,458 Incredibly, Joe had all of those assets 1437 01:04:59,542 --> 01:05:01,500 either in cash 1438 01:05:01,583 --> 01:05:04,542 or in gold bars in his house. 1439 01:05:05,917 --> 01:05:07,417 But Joe had that stuff, 1440 01:05:07,500 --> 01:05:09,542 and he turned it over to the government. 1441 01:05:09,667 --> 01:05:10,750 That's a forfeiture. 1442 01:05:11,542 --> 01:05:13,500 But that wasn't the end of the story, as you know. 1443 01:05:13,542 --> 01:05:18,000 ♪ 1444 01:05:18,083 --> 01:05:20,208 I got an indication that something was up 1445 01:05:20,208 --> 01:05:21,833 the very day he was convicted. 1446 01:05:22,417 --> 01:05:24,333 We were in the courthouse, 1447 01:05:24,375 --> 01:05:26,708 and the press room was down the hall 1448 01:05:26,833 --> 01:05:28,292 from the court room. 1449 01:05:29,250 --> 01:05:33,708 And between the judge's chambers and the courtroom 1450 01:05:33,792 --> 01:05:34,833 was just a narrow hallway. 1451 01:05:35,417 --> 01:05:37,667 And normally the hallways open. 1452 01:05:38,250 --> 01:05:41,167 At some point, right after the verdict, 1453 01:05:41,250 --> 01:05:42,292 the doors were shut. 1454 01:05:42,375 --> 01:05:44,292 I said, "That's odd." 1455 01:05:44,375 --> 01:05:46,417 And we started thinking there's something going on. 1456 01:05:48,250 --> 01:05:50,208 EDWARD: After the conviction comes in, 1457 01:05:50,292 --> 01:05:52,542 Joe was convicted, I think, on seven murders. 1458 01:05:52,625 --> 01:05:54,708 So, he knew was going to get sentenced to life in prison 1459 01:05:54,792 --> 01:05:56,250 on the first RICO 1460 01:05:56,333 --> 01:05:57,833 for which he had just been convicted. 1461 01:05:57,917 --> 01:06:00,375 And now he's facing the death penalty on the others. 1462 01:06:00,458 --> 01:06:02,875 He secretly goes to the judge, to the marshals, 1463 01:06:02,958 --> 01:06:04,208 the night of the conviction 1464 01:06:04,292 --> 01:06:05,792 and says that he wants to cooperate. 1465 01:06:09,083 --> 01:06:11,125 Joe explains that "Look, 1466 01:06:11,208 --> 01:06:13,875 I'm represented by a guy who has connections 1467 01:06:13,958 --> 01:06:15,542 to the Bonanno crime family. 1468 01:06:15,625 --> 01:06:18,083 I have to have what is known as shadow counsel. 1469 01:06:18,167 --> 01:06:20,333 Somebody who is going to negotiate for me 1470 01:06:20,375 --> 01:06:22,208 with the U.S. Attorneys' Office, 1471 01:06:22,333 --> 01:06:24,333 but is not going to share this with anybody else." 1472 01:06:25,042 --> 01:06:26,458 It's all going to be done secretly. 1473 01:06:27,542 --> 01:06:30,917 You know, I'd been out of law enforcement 1474 01:06:31,000 --> 01:06:33,333 for 14 years at that point. 1475 01:06:33,417 --> 01:06:36,833 I was a partner in a large international law firm. 1476 01:06:37,708 --> 01:06:39,500 The chief of the Organized Crime Unit 1477 01:06:39,583 --> 01:06:42,292 calls me up and says, "You want to have some fun?" 1478 01:06:44,042 --> 01:06:45,500 And I said, "Representing Joe?" 1479 01:06:45,583 --> 01:06:47,333 I say, "I don't know if he's gonna want me 1480 01:06:47,375 --> 01:06:49,208 to represent him." 1481 01:06:49,292 --> 01:06:50,750 He says "Why don't you just come over tomorrow?" 1482 01:06:50,833 --> 01:06:52,708 You know, "We'll arrange to have him brought over, 1483 01:06:52,792 --> 01:06:55,250 make a story up that he has a problem 1484 01:06:55,333 --> 01:06:56,958 with his heart or something, you know, 1485 01:06:57,042 --> 01:06:59,083 get a medical thing to get him out of the prison." 1486 01:06:59,167 --> 01:07:01,417 And I go over and the judge says, 1487 01:07:01,500 --> 01:07:04,833 "I understand you prosecuted him several years ago." 1488 01:07:04,958 --> 01:07:07,167 And they produced Joe, 1489 01:07:07,250 --> 01:07:09,000 and he comes in, he has his handcuffs on, 1490 01:07:09,042 --> 01:07:10,750 and he has shackles on his feet. 1491 01:07:11,500 --> 01:07:13,292 And he looks at me, and he smiles, 1492 01:07:13,375 --> 01:07:16,167 and he goes, "It's my lucky day, I got you." 1493 01:07:16,250 --> 01:07:17,667 [laughs] 1494 01:07:18,708 --> 01:07:20,792 So, he agreed that I would represent him, 1495 01:07:20,875 --> 01:07:22,250 and so I did. 1496 01:07:23,875 --> 01:07:25,625 NARRATOR: Greg Andres was the lead prosecutor 1497 01:07:25,708 --> 01:07:27,583 in the case against Joe Massino. 1498 01:07:27,708 --> 01:07:29,792 He'd been the man leading the charge 1499 01:07:29,875 --> 01:07:31,875 to take down the Bonanno hierarchy. 1500 01:07:32,000 --> 01:07:34,292 Young, smart, and cunning. 1501 01:07:34,375 --> 01:07:36,333 Some might say cocky. 1502 01:07:36,417 --> 01:07:39,000 The Bonannos knew him, and he knew the Bonannos. 1503 01:07:42,417 --> 01:07:44,667 With his white whale sitting in front of him, 1504 01:07:44,708 --> 01:07:48,500 Andres would have to hear some truly groundbreaking intel 1505 01:07:48,625 --> 01:07:51,458 to get approval for Massino's cooperation. 1506 01:07:51,542 --> 01:07:53,458 I said, "Joe, look, you've just got to tell them everything. 1507 01:07:53,542 --> 01:07:55,750 You know, rehearse everything with them in advance." 1508 01:07:55,833 --> 01:07:57,625 I said, "They're going to know if you're holding back. 1509 01:07:57,708 --> 01:07:59,333 You know, they have tons of information." 1510 01:07:59,417 --> 01:08:01,375 I said, "The only way you're going to get out 1511 01:08:01,375 --> 01:08:02,833 from this is if you just tell them 1512 01:08:02,958 --> 01:08:04,333 the truth about everything." 1513 01:08:04,417 --> 01:08:05,792 He said, "I'm not going to hold back." 1514 01:08:06,833 --> 01:08:10,250 So, we launched into a series of, 1515 01:08:10,250 --> 01:08:12,375 three or four days of Joe proffering 1516 01:08:12,500 --> 01:08:15,583 to the FBI and to the U.S. Attorneys' office, 1517 01:08:15,667 --> 01:08:17,083 the information that he had. 1518 01:08:17,833 --> 01:08:22,167 ANTHONY: In the end, Joe didn't give as much evidence 1519 01:08:22,208 --> 01:08:23,875 as we thought he might. 1520 01:08:24,875 --> 01:08:27,667 Possibly because a lot of the main targets 1521 01:08:27,750 --> 01:08:29,375 had already been convicted. 1522 01:08:29,458 --> 01:08:31,083 Gotti was convicted and dead. 1523 01:08:31,958 --> 01:08:34,292 Gigante was long gone. 1524 01:08:34,375 --> 01:08:35,875 Castellano was out of the picture. 1525 01:08:36,583 --> 01:08:38,792 You had Rastelli gone. 1526 01:08:39,708 --> 01:08:43,375 So, Joe's big bid for cooperation involved 1527 01:08:43,458 --> 01:08:45,833 his underling, Vinny Basciano. 1528 01:08:48,750 --> 01:08:50,833 NARRATOR: Vinny Basciano, "Vinny Gorgeous," 1529 01:08:50,875 --> 01:08:53,083 became acting boss of the Bonanno family 1530 01:08:53,167 --> 01:08:54,542 after Joe Massino's arrest. 1531 01:08:56,875 --> 01:08:59,500 Basciano and his crew were unaware 1532 01:08:59,625 --> 01:09:01,500 that Joe Massino had flipped. 1533 01:09:01,583 --> 01:09:02,750 As far as they were concerned, 1534 01:09:02,875 --> 01:09:04,958 it was still business as usual. 1535 01:09:05,042 --> 01:09:07,875 They had no clue that from here on out, 1536 01:09:08,000 --> 01:09:10,833 every move that they made, every law that they broke, 1537 01:09:10,917 --> 01:09:13,625 would be reported back to the federal government 1538 01:09:13,625 --> 01:09:15,542 by the boss himself. 1539 01:09:16,542 --> 01:09:18,667 Vinny took the reins of the family. 1540 01:09:19,375 --> 01:09:21,833 Vinny made some decisions on his own. 1541 01:09:22,583 --> 01:09:24,625 And Vinny told the guys, "Listen, at the end of the day, 1542 01:09:24,708 --> 01:09:26,417 "Joe's our boss. He's our boss. 1543 01:09:26,542 --> 01:09:28,833 I follow him, My loyalty's with Joe." 1544 01:09:30,208 --> 01:09:32,458 NARRATOR: Vinny Basciano looked up to Massino, 1545 01:09:32,542 --> 01:09:34,375 and as underboss, kept him in the loop 1546 01:09:34,458 --> 01:09:36,167 of all that went on in the street 1547 01:09:36,208 --> 01:09:37,167 while Joe was in prison. 1548 01:09:38,333 --> 01:09:42,333 Basciano had a problem, he was to let Joe know about it. 1549 01:09:42,417 --> 01:09:44,292 But like any other wiseguy, 1550 01:09:44,375 --> 01:09:46,625 Basciano was eager to prove himself. 1551 01:09:46,708 --> 01:09:48,417 So, when an issue arose in the ranks 1552 01:09:48,542 --> 01:09:50,500 in the form of Randy Pizzolo, 1553 01:09:50,625 --> 01:09:53,167 Basciano decided to make a move on his own. 1554 01:09:55,333 --> 01:09:56,708 DOMINICK: Randy Pizzolo was an associate 1555 01:09:56,833 --> 01:09:58,458 with the Bonanno crime family. 1556 01:09:59,333 --> 01:10:01,083 Young and wild guy, 1557 01:10:01,167 --> 01:10:04,542 who just overstepped his bounds one too many times. 1558 01:10:04,625 --> 01:10:07,958 He was kind of a loudmouth. He was kind of a screw up. 1559 01:10:08,042 --> 01:10:10,708 He had done some things that had irritated Basciano. 1560 01:10:10,792 --> 01:10:14,042 And Basciano was very much a guy 1561 01:10:14,125 --> 01:10:15,750 that you did not want to mess with. 1562 01:10:16,875 --> 01:10:18,542 DOMINICK: Vinny said, "Dom, take him out." 1563 01:10:20,250 --> 01:10:22,000 Technically, Vinny was supposed to go 1564 01:10:22,083 --> 01:10:23,167 to Joe Massino about that. 1565 01:10:23,917 --> 01:10:26,000 Vinny said, "No, I'm acting boss." 1566 01:10:28,458 --> 01:10:30,750 [thunder rumbles] 1567 01:10:32,375 --> 01:10:34,708 Anybody asks, even Joe asks, 1568 01:10:34,833 --> 01:10:36,417 "I don't know what you're talking about. 1569 01:10:36,542 --> 01:10:38,500 Wasn't us. Why would I kill somebody?" 1570 01:10:44,292 --> 01:10:45,750 When he was hit, 1571 01:10:45,875 --> 01:10:47,750 he was found in Greenpoint, Brooklyn... 1572 01:10:48,625 --> 01:10:50,500 lying by his car. 1573 01:10:50,583 --> 01:10:53,542 [eerie string music] 1574 01:10:53,625 --> 01:10:56,167 If you're involved with a homicide 1575 01:10:56,250 --> 01:10:57,833 and you get away with it, 1576 01:10:57,875 --> 01:11:00,167 you're supposed to act like it never happened. 1577 01:11:00,167 --> 01:11:01,500 And you'll never get arrested. 1578 01:11:01,625 --> 01:11:03,000 So, you should never talk about it. 1579 01:11:03,042 --> 01:11:04,792 If someone brings it to your attention, 1580 01:11:04,875 --> 01:11:06,625 "I don't know what you're talking about. 1581 01:11:06,708 --> 01:11:08,542 Are you out of your mind? I would never do that." 1582 01:11:10,000 --> 01:11:12,667 MIKE: I think how dumb the Pizzolo murder was. 1583 01:11:13,583 --> 01:11:16,000 That really was a reckless move by them. 1584 01:11:16,125 --> 01:11:19,458 It's sort of that paradox, like you need guys like Basciano 1585 01:11:19,542 --> 01:11:21,375 for people to be afraid of them. 1586 01:11:21,500 --> 01:11:23,333 But on the flip side, 1587 01:11:23,458 --> 01:11:24,833 then they go and do something like that 1588 01:11:24,917 --> 01:11:27,917 and it kind of undoes the leadership 1589 01:11:28,000 --> 01:11:29,458 and sets them back quite a bit. 1590 01:11:30,042 --> 01:11:32,667 That was part of my downfall. 1591 01:11:32,750 --> 01:11:35,833 If everybody just followed the code to begin with, 1592 01:11:35,917 --> 01:11:37,833 that life would've been a lot tighter. 1593 01:11:38,375 --> 01:11:41,083 It would have worked out if Vinny kept his big mouth shut. 1594 01:11:48,333 --> 01:11:50,167 NARRATOR: Just a few months after Joe Massino's 1595 01:11:50,208 --> 01:11:51,917 conviction in 2004, 1596 01:11:52,000 --> 01:11:54,458 his own acting boss Vinny Basciano, 1597 01:11:54,542 --> 01:11:56,417 was arrested on a RICO charge 1598 01:11:56,500 --> 01:11:58,250 for gambling and attempted murder. 1599 01:11:59,167 --> 01:12:01,333 So by early 2005, 1600 01:12:01,375 --> 01:12:04,625 the two Bonanno leaders were housed in the same prison, 1601 01:12:04,708 --> 01:12:06,250 MDC Brooklyn. 1602 01:12:07,042 --> 01:12:08,917 One, the Boss of the family 1603 01:12:09,042 --> 01:12:11,333 who was also a secret government witness. 1604 01:12:12,167 --> 01:12:16,250 The other, the acting boss, the second in command. 1605 01:12:16,333 --> 01:12:17,958 Clueless as ever 1606 01:12:18,042 --> 01:12:20,083 that his revered leader has switched teams. 1607 01:12:21,167 --> 01:12:23,292 With prosecutors still contemplating 1608 01:12:23,292 --> 01:12:25,333 Massino's cooperation, 1609 01:12:25,375 --> 01:12:28,625 and Massino aware of some big Bonanno happenings, 1610 01:12:28,708 --> 01:12:30,625 The Last Don saw an opening 1611 01:12:30,708 --> 01:12:33,292 for one final play to save himself. 1612 01:12:34,583 --> 01:12:36,333 EDWARD: Joe Massino says, 1613 01:12:36,417 --> 01:12:38,625 "Well, I got some more information I got to tell you." 1614 01:12:38,708 --> 01:12:39,792 I said, "What's that?" 1615 01:12:39,875 --> 01:12:41,750 And he said, "Vinnie Basciano, 1616 01:12:41,750 --> 01:12:44,458 Vinny Gorgeous is incarcerated 1617 01:12:44,542 --> 01:12:46,500 at the MDC. 1618 01:12:46,583 --> 01:12:50,375 And I get out once a day for exercise 1619 01:12:50,500 --> 01:12:51,875 and some days 1620 01:12:52,000 --> 01:12:55,250 he's in the same exercise yard as me. 1621 01:12:55,375 --> 01:12:58,125 And he's telling me he wants to kill Greg." 1622 01:12:59,125 --> 01:13:02,167 Greg Andres, who was the chief prosecutor on the case. 1623 01:13:03,208 --> 01:13:05,125 And I went, "You've got to be kidding me." 1624 01:13:05,125 --> 01:13:07,833 He's, "No, I'm serious. He wants to kill Greg." 1625 01:13:08,708 --> 01:13:10,208 So Joey's taken to another room, 1626 01:13:10,292 --> 01:13:12,458 and I meet with the boss and with Greg Andres, 1627 01:13:12,542 --> 01:13:14,250 and I tell him what Joe said. 1628 01:13:14,333 --> 01:13:16,083 And the two of them look at me and go, "That's [bleep]." 1629 01:13:16,625 --> 01:13:17,875 They didn't believe it for an instant. 1630 01:13:17,958 --> 01:13:19,500 They thought that Joe was lying. 1631 01:13:20,000 --> 01:13:22,042 Two weeks later, they bring Joey over again. 1632 01:13:22,708 --> 01:13:24,542 He said, "I'll wear a wire. 1633 01:13:24,625 --> 01:13:26,375 Put a wire in my boot, 1634 01:13:26,458 --> 01:13:28,792 I know this guy is gonna incriminate himself." 1635 01:13:29,875 --> 01:13:31,333 So they said, "Okay." 1636 01:13:35,542 --> 01:13:37,667 [machine buzzing] 1637 01:13:38,375 --> 01:13:39,958 SALLET: 1638 01:15:21,208 --> 01:15:25,792 Sure enough, Vinny Gorgeous talks about killing Greg. 1639 01:15:25,875 --> 01:15:28,667 It's not crystal clear, not crystal clear enough 1640 01:15:28,750 --> 01:15:30,958 to support his prosecution for that. 1641 01:15:31,042 --> 01:15:33,667 But it was clear enough to the satisfaction 1642 01:15:33,750 --> 01:15:35,667 of the U.S. Attorneys' Office and the FBI 1643 01:15:35,708 --> 01:15:38,500 that he was looking to kill Greg Andres. 1644 01:15:39,375 --> 01:15:43,083 And he implicates himself in the murder of Randy Pizzolo. 1645 01:15:45,042 --> 01:15:46,667 NARRATOR: Over the course of two meetings 1646 01:15:46,750 --> 01:15:49,125 with Vinny Basciano in January, 2005, 1647 01:15:49,208 --> 01:15:51,208 Joe Massino wore a wire 1648 01:15:51,292 --> 01:15:53,208 and pushed his underling to say 1649 01:15:53,208 --> 01:15:56,208 as many incriminating things as possible. 1650 01:15:56,292 --> 01:15:58,333 It was Joe's last shot at freedom. 1651 01:15:58,417 --> 01:16:02,500 And he knew Basciano had ordered the murder of Randy Pizzolo... 1652 01:16:02,542 --> 01:16:03,917 [thunder rumbling] 1653 01:16:04,042 --> 01:16:05,833 ...so he asked him about it. 1654 01:17:01,458 --> 01:17:04,833 So they're talking, Joe said, "What happened here? 1655 01:17:04,958 --> 01:17:07,167 I see this kid, Randy, got killed." 1656 01:17:07,208 --> 01:17:09,417 Vinny said, "Dominick took care of it." 1657 01:17:10,875 --> 01:17:12,125 And I'm like... 1658 01:17:12,875 --> 01:17:14,292 "You gotta be kidding me. 1659 01:17:15,000 --> 01:17:17,167 Why are you gonna throw me under the bus? 1660 01:17:17,667 --> 01:17:19,500 You killed over a dozen people. 1661 01:17:20,000 --> 01:17:22,042 Like, I don't hear you talking about those murders. 1662 01:17:22,125 --> 01:17:23,292 But you're talking about me." 1663 01:17:24,583 --> 01:17:27,500 NARRATOR: The Massino recordings shocked the underworld. 1664 01:17:27,583 --> 01:17:29,125 In the aftermath, 1665 01:17:29,208 --> 01:17:31,458 Dominick Cicale and Vinny Basciano were charged 1666 01:17:31,542 --> 01:17:33,792 with the murder of Randy Pizzolo. 1667 01:17:33,875 --> 01:17:36,667 Cicale turned state's witness. 1668 01:17:36,750 --> 01:17:39,000 Basciano got a life sentence. 1669 01:17:40,083 --> 01:17:42,292 Both men caught in the blast 1670 01:17:42,375 --> 01:17:46,417 after Joe Massino betrayed his oath of Omertà and flipped. 1671 01:17:46,417 --> 01:17:49,625 The first boss of one of New York's Five Families 1672 01:17:49,708 --> 01:17:50,917 ever to do so. 1673 01:17:52,958 --> 01:17:54,667 DOMINICK: I would say the best way 1674 01:17:54,708 --> 01:17:56,833 I could justify it is, 1675 01:17:56,875 --> 01:17:59,542 Vinny was such in awe with Joe. 1676 01:17:59,667 --> 01:18:02,042 Like, Joe was this big figure, 1677 01:18:02,167 --> 01:18:05,042 this God of mafiosos, 1678 01:18:05,125 --> 01:18:06,917 that he loved the guy that much. 1679 01:18:07,042 --> 01:18:11,000 [Italian guitar music] 1680 01:18:11,125 --> 01:18:14,542 To save his own life, he became a squealer. 1681 01:18:14,625 --> 01:18:17,000 The person who at one point 1682 01:18:17,042 --> 01:18:19,333 had revived the Bonanno family 1683 01:18:19,417 --> 01:18:22,625 was responsible for almost destroying it. 1684 01:18:24,417 --> 01:18:27,208 MIKE: Massino did damage on a macro level. 1685 01:18:29,542 --> 01:18:32,083 That has to be a demoralizing thing for the family. 1686 01:18:33,208 --> 01:18:36,083 MIKE: You have all of the things the mafia preaches 1687 01:18:36,167 --> 01:18:37,708 about loyalty and honor 1688 01:18:37,833 --> 01:18:40,125 and "the life," as they call it, 1689 01:18:40,208 --> 01:18:42,125 and the rules that they follow. 1690 01:18:42,208 --> 01:18:44,333 Not cooperating is a big part of that. 1691 01:18:44,375 --> 01:18:46,167 But many of these guys, not all of them, 1692 01:18:46,250 --> 01:18:47,958 when push comes to shove, 1693 01:18:48,042 --> 01:18:50,208 they're going to look out for themselves. 1694 01:18:50,375 --> 01:18:53,417 And so I think when a boss does that, 1695 01:18:53,500 --> 01:18:55,458 it has to have a downstream effect 1696 01:18:55,542 --> 01:18:57,125 that is demoralizing. 1697 01:19:03,667 --> 01:19:05,667 [tense music] 1698 01:19:05,750 --> 01:19:07,792 NARRATOR: In 2005, 1699 01:19:07,875 --> 01:19:12,083 74 years after Lucky Luciano established the Commission, 1700 01:19:12,167 --> 01:19:14,167 Joseph Massino became the first boss 1701 01:19:14,208 --> 01:19:16,167 of one of New York's Five Families 1702 01:19:16,292 --> 01:19:17,542 to break the golden rule. 1703 01:19:18,542 --> 01:19:21,917 Betray his family. Betray Omertà. 1704 01:19:22,000 --> 01:19:23,708 It marked the end of the Bonanno's 1705 01:19:23,792 --> 01:19:24,875 as we knew them. 1706 01:19:25,375 --> 01:19:27,125 All of the families for that matter. 1707 01:19:27,708 --> 01:19:29,333 Those who survived the life 1708 01:19:29,375 --> 01:19:31,958 were now left to reckon with this new reality. 1709 01:19:32,042 --> 01:19:34,583 DOMINICK: Joe Massino took this family 1710 01:19:34,667 --> 01:19:39,333 and put it back down as the lowest family 1711 01:19:39,417 --> 01:19:42,708 by becoming the first mafia boss in history to cooperate. 1712 01:19:44,000 --> 01:19:45,417 PAUL: The prosecutor called me one day 1713 01:19:45,542 --> 01:19:47,667 and asked me if I would go into the program 1714 01:19:47,750 --> 01:19:49,708 to get out of prison to be with my family. 1715 01:19:49,792 --> 01:19:51,583 And I said, "Whatever gets me back to be with my family." 1716 01:19:52,917 --> 01:19:54,500 The marshals picked me up. 1717 01:19:54,542 --> 01:19:57,208 They bring me to an apartment for a month, 1718 01:19:57,333 --> 01:19:59,583 and they're trying to erase your life 1719 01:19:59,667 --> 01:20:01,500 and give you new names and identity. 1720 01:20:01,583 --> 01:20:06,625 ♪♪ 1721 01:20:06,708 --> 01:20:09,333 They put me in Memphis when they finally let me out. 1722 01:20:10,708 --> 01:20:12,208 I kept asking, "When can I get out of here? 1723 01:20:12,292 --> 01:20:14,250 I can't set up my life in Memphis." 1724 01:20:14,792 --> 01:20:16,500 And then one day I asked him, he goes, "If you want to-- 1725 01:20:16,625 --> 01:20:17,792 if you want to move, go and move." 1726 01:20:17,875 --> 01:20:21,458 ♪♪ 1727 01:20:21,542 --> 01:20:23,083 I didn't realize at this point 1728 01:20:23,167 --> 01:20:24,500 that Joe Massino decided to cooperate 1729 01:20:24,542 --> 01:20:27,208 so I'm forgotten about by now. 1730 01:20:28,792 --> 01:20:31,833 I literally told the marshal I-- I want my name back. 1731 01:20:31,875 --> 01:20:33,333 We flew out to Arizona 1732 01:20:33,417 --> 01:20:35,667 and within seven days we bought a house, 1733 01:20:35,750 --> 01:20:38,500 moved everything out here, and we started our lives here. 1734 01:20:40,750 --> 01:20:42,000 RICHARD: I had no fear. 1735 01:20:42,083 --> 01:20:43,625 I was in Manhattan, 1736 01:20:43,750 --> 01:20:45,750 because I did the last three or four months 1737 01:20:45,833 --> 01:20:47,250 in the MCC. 1738 01:20:47,958 --> 01:20:51,917 I went to court, and the judge, "Okay, you're a free man." 1739 01:20:52,042 --> 01:20:54,000 I-- I wasn't free sentence wise 1740 01:20:54,083 --> 01:20:55,917 because they could have locked me up any time. 1741 01:20:56,500 --> 01:20:57,833 This FBI agent, I met him downstairs. 1742 01:20:57,875 --> 01:20:59,500 He took me in the car. 1743 01:20:59,583 --> 01:21:01,167 I couldn't wait to get on the plane. 1744 01:21:01,208 --> 01:21:02,792 I think the plane was five o'clock at night. 1745 01:21:04,292 --> 01:21:05,792 And I landed here in Phoenix. 1746 01:21:08,375 --> 01:21:10,333 And at that time, for some reason, 1747 01:21:10,375 --> 01:21:12,000 your family couldn't wait for you 1748 01:21:12,042 --> 01:21:13,458 when you got right off the plane. 1749 01:21:14,042 --> 01:21:15,375 So now I don't know where to go. 1750 01:21:15,917 --> 01:21:17,667 I know no phone numbers, nothing. 1751 01:21:17,708 --> 01:21:19,750 All of a sudden I hear on a loudspeaker-- 1752 01:21:19,833 --> 01:21:21,458 Now, remember, I'm cooperating. 1753 01:21:21,542 --> 01:21:24,833 "Uh, Richard Cantarella. Richard Cantarella. 1754 01:21:24,875 --> 01:21:26,167 Your family is waiting for you 1755 01:21:26,208 --> 01:21:27,958 in such and such location." 1756 01:21:28,042 --> 01:21:31,125 [mellow guitar music] 1757 01:21:33,833 --> 01:21:35,583 NARRATOR: After cooperating with the government, 1758 01:21:35,667 --> 01:21:38,042 and testifying against their family, 1759 01:21:38,042 --> 01:21:39,583 Joe Massino and Sal Vitale 1760 01:21:39,708 --> 01:21:42,083 also entered the witness protection program. 1761 01:21:42,792 --> 01:21:47,500 Massino died in September of 2023 at 80 years old. 1762 01:21:47,625 --> 01:21:52,042 Vitale remains in the program as of 2023. 1763 01:21:52,125 --> 01:21:54,875 Look, should somebody do more than nine years in prison 1764 01:21:55,000 --> 01:21:56,458 for killing eight people 1765 01:21:56,542 --> 01:21:58,208 and running an organized crime family? 1766 01:21:58,333 --> 01:22:01,208 Yeah, but you have to look at the big picture. 1767 01:22:01,292 --> 01:22:03,042 One of the arguments I made is that 1768 01:22:03,125 --> 01:22:05,333 "Look, this is the guy who's the poster boy 1769 01:22:05,375 --> 01:22:08,250 for getting other people to cooperate." 1770 01:22:08,333 --> 01:22:10,500 If Joe Massino, with all these murders, 1771 01:22:10,583 --> 01:22:13,958 can cooperate and get out of jail in-- in 10 years, 1772 01:22:14,042 --> 01:22:16,000 the next guy who's thinking about is going to say, 1773 01:22:16,083 --> 01:22:17,792 "Hey, Joe Massino can get out. 1774 01:22:17,875 --> 01:22:20,000 So I can cooperate, too, and I can get out." 1775 01:22:20,708 --> 01:22:23,333 It was almost like PR for the Justice Department. 1776 01:22:24,792 --> 01:22:28,625 Does this mean that the mob as we know it is effectively dead? 1777 01:22:28,708 --> 01:22:30,500 No, anytime something like this happens, 1778 01:22:30,542 --> 01:22:32,375 you hear this is the final nail in the coffin. 1779 01:22:32,458 --> 01:22:33,500 And I don't think that's the case. 1780 01:22:33,500 --> 01:22:34,958 Kind of like Humpty Dumpty 1781 01:22:35,042 --> 01:22:36,500 after he fell off the wall. 1782 01:22:36,583 --> 01:22:38,500 You just can't put it back together again. 1783 01:22:38,583 --> 01:22:40,417 Massino was trying to put it back together the old way, 1784 01:22:40,542 --> 01:22:42,083 with Omertà, with the code of silence, with secrecy. 1785 01:22:42,167 --> 01:22:44,000 And the new generation of mobsters, 1786 01:22:44,083 --> 01:22:45,375 they want to be celebrity gangsters, 1787 01:22:45,500 --> 01:22:47,000 very much in that Gotti mode. 1788 01:22:47,125 --> 01:22:48,250 What's the point of being a gangster 1789 01:22:48,333 --> 01:22:49,458 if nobody knows who you are? 1790 01:22:49,542 --> 01:22:51,167 Massino was an old-time guy, 1791 01:22:51,208 --> 01:22:52,750 make money, don't make headlines. 1792 01:22:52,833 --> 01:22:55,125 But I think the mob is into the next generation 1793 01:22:55,208 --> 01:22:56,917 and it doesn't know how to do that anymore. 1794 01:22:57,708 --> 01:22:59,833 By that point, by the point of Joe Massino, 1795 01:22:59,958 --> 01:23:01,292 the whole thing was ruined. 1796 01:23:01,833 --> 01:23:05,500 It's a socioeconomic change as much as anything. 1797 01:23:06,083 --> 01:23:08,542 Once upon a time Italian-Americans 1798 01:23:08,667 --> 01:23:11,833 produced singers, middleweight boxers, 1799 01:23:11,917 --> 01:23:13,583 and they produced gangsters. 1800 01:23:14,500 --> 01:23:17,417 Well, today, there are not many Italian singers 1801 01:23:17,500 --> 01:23:20,542 and there are almost no Italian middleweights. 1802 01:23:20,667 --> 01:23:22,833 And really, they stopped, you know, 1803 01:23:22,875 --> 01:23:24,542 producing gangsters, too. 1804 01:23:24,625 --> 01:23:27,667 So now we're almost as boring as everybody else. 1805 01:23:30,583 --> 01:23:32,208 RICHARD: I wish I was back in the life, 1806 01:23:32,292 --> 01:23:33,833 but maybe I'm better off. 1807 01:23:34,458 --> 01:23:37,958 God works in strange ways. He did give me a second chance. 1808 01:23:38,042 --> 01:23:42,167 We all live in beautiful homes. We got businesses out here. 1809 01:23:42,708 --> 01:23:44,500 Would I want to be back in the life, yes. 1810 01:23:44,583 --> 01:23:46,583 Would I want to be confronted with the stress, 1811 01:23:46,667 --> 01:23:49,333 of God forbid, getting arrested, no. 1812 01:23:49,417 --> 01:23:52,333 So I got mixed emotions, to be honest with you. 1813 01:23:53,458 --> 01:23:56,458 DOMINICK: I would have to say I went in with blinders. 1814 01:23:56,542 --> 01:23:58,375 And I should have realized this from the guys 1815 01:23:58,458 --> 01:24:00,458 who I did time with in jail, 1816 01:24:00,542 --> 01:24:01,833 especially some of the old timers 1817 01:24:01,917 --> 01:24:03,292 who have forgotten about. 1818 01:24:03,375 --> 01:24:05,792 Because Omertà is not only 1819 01:24:05,875 --> 01:24:07,833 a code of silence, 1820 01:24:07,875 --> 01:24:10,167 it's respect, it's honoring one another. 1821 01:24:10,250 --> 01:24:12,250 It's being there for your brother. 1822 01:24:12,250 --> 01:24:14,708 That word to me is BS. 1823 01:24:14,833 --> 01:24:17,583 There is no code. There is no code. 1824 01:24:19,375 --> 01:24:21,958 MICHAEL: I knew how destructive that life could be. 1825 01:24:22,042 --> 01:24:25,917 I saw my mother, 33 years without her husband. 1826 01:24:26,542 --> 01:24:28,292 My whole family was destroyed. 1827 01:24:28,375 --> 01:24:30,625 My sister died young of an overdose of drugs. 1828 01:24:30,708 --> 01:24:33,958 My brother was a drug addict for most of his life. 1829 01:24:34,042 --> 01:24:36,458 He eventually went into the witness protection program, 1830 01:24:36,542 --> 01:24:39,667 became a-- an informant himself. 1831 01:24:39,750 --> 01:24:43,583 Every family of every member of this life is destroyed. 1832 01:24:46,625 --> 01:24:49,083 -MAN: Is that correct? -JOE VALACHI: That's right. 1833 01:24:49,208 --> 01:24:51,833 As the senator put it before, what did I get out of it? 1834 01:24:51,958 --> 01:24:54,000 -MAN: What did you get out? -Nothing but misery. 1835 01:24:54,750 --> 01:24:56,708 NARRATOR: It's been more than 60 years 1836 01:24:56,792 --> 01:24:58,333 since Joe Valachi took the stand. 1837 01:24:58,417 --> 01:25:00,042 Almost two decades 1838 01:25:00,042 --> 01:25:02,083 since Joe Massino betrayed his oath. 1839 01:25:03,417 --> 01:25:05,458 The families have been crippled 1840 01:25:05,542 --> 01:25:08,542 by a continued wave of successful prosecutions. 1841 01:25:09,208 --> 01:25:10,792 These days, we don't see 1842 01:25:10,875 --> 01:25:13,500 public mafia slayings in streets... 1843 01:25:15,417 --> 01:25:17,917 or mobsters on the cover of magazines. 1844 01:25:18,875 --> 01:25:21,250 But the Five Families still exist. 1845 01:25:21,833 --> 01:25:24,500 Even if their oath and their rules 1846 01:25:24,625 --> 01:25:26,042 haven taken a new shape. 1847 01:25:27,583 --> 01:25:30,375 The best way of describing the mafia 1848 01:25:30,458 --> 01:25:32,333 in the 21st century 1849 01:25:32,375 --> 01:25:35,042 is that it's wounded, but not fatally. 1850 01:25:37,542 --> 01:25:41,375 The mafia modeled itself on capitalism. 1851 01:25:42,250 --> 01:25:44,708 If you can fault America, 1852 01:25:44,792 --> 01:25:48,792 it's because it's desire to be wealthy. 1853 01:25:49,667 --> 01:25:52,792 If you want to blame anybody, you can blame capitalism... 1854 01:25:53,833 --> 01:25:56,875 and admiration in America for wealth. 1855 01:25:57,000 --> 01:26:00,125 What works for America 1856 01:26:00,208 --> 01:26:02,750 will work for the Five Families.