mob boss

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Just Months After Capture, the 'Last Godfather' Dies
Mob Boss 'Took
With Him His Secrets'
OBITUARY
Sep 25, 2023 7:31 AM CDT

Mob Boss 'Took With Him His Secrets'

Sicilian 'last Godfather' Matteo Messina Denaro, 61, dies just months after his capture

(Newser) - An infamous Italian mob boss who was captured in January after 30 years on the run has died. Officials tell Reuters that 61-year-old Matteo Messina Denaro, known as the "last godfather," has succumbed to colon cancer, after falling into a coma on Friday from which he never emerged....

Mafia Boss Escapes Prison on Rope Made From Sheets

Italian prison officials say Marco Raduano took advantage of staff shortages

(Newser) - A reputed Mafia boss escaped from an Italian prison Friday, and it's no mystery how. A surveillance video captured 40-year-old Marco Raduano climbing down a makeshift rope made from knotted bedsheets before jumping to the ground outside the maximum security prison Badu 'e Carros in Sardinia. In the...

Inside Mob Boss's Hideouts: Cellphones, Viagra

2 hideouts found in close proximity, just 5 miles from Matteo Messina Denaro's birthplace

(Newser) - Italian police have uncovered two hideouts believed to have been used by Cosa Nostra mob boss Matteo Messina Denaro toward the end of his 30 years on the run. Car keys in his possession during his arrest on Monday led authorities to a home in the Sicilian town of Campobello...

What Gave Away One of Italy's Biggest Mob Bosses

Matteo Messina Denaro's sickness led cops right to a Sicilian health clinic

(Newser) - In a story that seems made for Hollywood, Italian police this week captured one of Italy's most famous fugitives: Matteo Messina Denaro, who helped lead the Cosa Nostra mob syndicate even as he was on the run for the past three decades. And it was a routine, somewhat expected...

Colombo Crime Family Boss Dead at 85

Colombo Crime
Family Boss
Dead at 85
OBITUARY
Mar 9, 2019 6:30 AM CST

Colombo Crime Family Boss Dead at 85

Carmine 'The Snake' Persico died in North Carolina at age 85 while serving 139-year sentence

(Newser) - He was the last surviving member of New York City's Commission, the governing body of the US Mafia. Now, Carmine "The Snake" Persico has joined his former crime buddies in eternal rest. Persico attorney Benson Weintraub says the 85-year-old head of the Colombo crime family died Thursday in...

Mob Figure 'Skinny Joey' Has 2 Years to Get Buff

Merlino will spend them in prison after pleading guilty to illegal gambling

(Newser) - Reputed Philadelphia mob boss "Skinny Joey" Merlino says he plans to spend the next two years working out. Granted he won't have much else to do in federal prison. Merlino—who previously spent 12 years behind bars for racketeering, conspiracy, and assault (and was twice acquitted of murder)—...

Ex-Mob Boss Massino Will Walk a Free Man

For his 'cooperation' ratting out other mobsters, judge rules

(Newser) - Ratting out the mafia has paid off for notorious former mob boss Joseph Massino. Facing life in prison for his role in eight murders, he'll soon be walking away a free man as a reward for helping convict dozens of mobsters, including Vincent "Vinny Gorgeous" Basciano, a...

Source: Hoffa Disposed Of via Wood Chipper

Law enforcement source says there's no body to find

(Newser) - The latest search for Jimmy Hoffa's body turned up nothing , and that's exactly what any future searches will turn up, too, a law enforcement source tells DNAinfo ... because the Teamster boss's body was put through a Michigan wood chipper, and there's nothing left of it, the...

Whitey Bulger Pleads Not Guilty to 19 Murders

He's not due back in court until September

(Newser) - Accused Irish mob boss Whitey Bulger pled not guilty to a 32-count federal indictment alleging he participated in 19 murders. At a district court in Plymouth County, he proclaimed his innocence in a "clear" and "soft" voice that was barely above a whisper, reports the Boston Globe . His...

Whitey Bulger Has Confessed
 Whitey Bulger Has Confessed 
Jun 23, 2011 11:44 AM CDT

Whitey Bulger Has Confessed

And more details on how they nabbed the famous fugitive

(Newser) - James “Whitey” Bulger has confessed, one anonymous official tells the Boston Globe . Authorities found plenty of guns and cash in the Santa Monica apartment where they nabbed Bulger and longtime Girl Friday Catherine Greig, but the two went quietly, the official said, noting that Bulger seemed to be in...

Feds Bust Philly Mob Boss, 12 Others

Joseph 'Uncle Joe' Ligambi and a dozen more face charges

(Newser) - A real-life Sopranos (or Godfather, depending on your generation) in Philly: Joseph “Uncle Joe” Ligambi, the reputed boss of the Philadelphia mob, has been arrested along with a dozen others believed to be connected to the mob. Federal authorities busted the group, and prosecutors charged them with conspiracy, extortion,...

Ex-Mob Boss Gives Tell-All Testimony

Joseph Massino breaks code, tells jury of murders he ordered

(Newser) - Joseph Massino wasted no time getting to the juicy stuff when he was brought to the stand yesterday. Asked by the prosecutors what powers he had as head of the Bonanno crime family, the first word out of his mouth was, “Murders.” Massino spent the next five hours...

FBI Seeks Wife's Leaky Breast Implant in Mob Hunt

Feds put the squeeze on docs

(Newser) - The FBI has taken out an intriguing ad in a plastic surgery journal in a bid to track the leaky breast implants of a mob capo's wife, hoping to nail the crook. "Have you treated this woman?" asks the feds' full-page ad in the journal read by plastic surgeons....

13 Stories