Surviving the Mob - Dennis Griffin [105]
“You’ll also be in jeopardy if you become too good at your job. If the boss thinks you’ve become a threat to him, that you have designs on his job and the ability to do it, you’re probably not long for this world.
“And if you fall out of favor with your boss and have to go, one or more of your peers will likely be assigned to eliminate you. The guy you’ve committed crimes and socialized with for years will have dinner with you one night and put a couple in your head the next.
“I’m currently doing organized-crime-related volunteer work. I help law-enforcement agencies by educating their investigators on how the Mob operates. I also counsel at-risk youths who are at a crossroads in their lives. I tell them the same things I’m telling you here.
“There is no honor or glory in being a gangster and the retirement options suck. If you want to dance at your daughter’s wedding or be at the ceremony when your grandson graduates from high school, you’d better choose another line of work.
“I know that many of you I’m trying to reach will think I’m full of shit. You know better, right? The crew you’ll hook up with won’t have any Nicky Corozzos or Mike Yannottis. Even if it does, you’re too smart and tough to be taken advantage of. If you believe that, I’ve got a bridge in Brooklyn I’d like to sell you. The only trouble is I can’t go back there to sign the papers.
“Seriously though, one time when my father visited me while I was in state prison, he said there are only two options for organized-crime guys: prison or death on the street. He asked me why I thought I’d be the exception to the rule. I didn’t answer him, but in my mind I thought I was too smart and tough to end up back behind bars or dead. Yeah, right.
“Jail cells, cemeteries, landfills, and sometimes the trunks of abandoned cars usually end up as the homes of guys who thought they were too smart and tough. I wasn’t, they weren’t, and you aren’t. The life is like making a deal with the devil. Don’t do it.
“Having said all that, I don’t know how many of you wannabe wiseguys will have second thoughts. But let me be perfectly clear. If even one young man—just one—is willing to accept the truth and change the course he’s on, I will have made a difference.”
Index
129 Mott Street 53
Alvino, Todd 30–32, 34, 37–39, 234
“America’s Most Wanted” 242
Amuso, Vittorio “Vic” 23–24
Anthony Gerbino 41
Aparo, Sammy “Meatballs” 54
Arena, Robert 76–77, 125, 130, 132, 134, 135–136, 136–138, 139–140, 142–145, 154, 162, 198, 234, 237
Aronwald, William 75
Attica 103
Auto Crime Task Force 40
Bamboo Lounge 37
Barrett, Tommy 182
Bilotti, Tommy 42
blackjack 58–59
Bolino, Mike 120, 130, 136–138, 140
Bonano family 157
Bracchi, Sal “Sally the Lip” 23
Brooklyn House of Detention 98–100, 108, 176, 177
Brooklyn, New York 1, 3, 5, 9–11, 12, 22, 31, 36–37, 124, 129, 132
Bullhead City, Arizona 87
Burzo, Ralph 3–4, 83–88, 96
Cacace, Joel 75–76
Callahan, Michael 175, 177, 178, 180
Carbonaro, Thomas “Huck” 210–213
Carini, Eddie 75
Carini, Vincent 75
car theft 7–8, 14–17
Casso, Anthony “Gaspipe” 23–24, 28–29, 73
Castellano, Paul, ix, 16, 33–34, 42, 80
Clinton Correctional Facility 103
Colombo family 41, 74, 122, 157, 203
Colombo War 115
Conte, Georgie 82
Corozzo, Joseph, Jr. “Jo Jo” 12, 19–20, 146–149, 150
Corozzo, Joseph, Sr., 20–21, 24–25, 177
Corozzo, Nicholas “Nicky”, ix–x 7, 9, 67, 69–71, 117, 119–120, 122, 143, 154–155, 180, 245, 246
aquitted 72
arrest and 169–171
as Gambino leader 236–237
attempted shooting of 26–27
crew and 21, 38, 41, 48, 166–167
crew problem and 69–70
gambling and 10
gangster mode and 13
illegal gambling and 242
indictments and 39, 229–230, 240–243
loyalty and 93–95, 122–123, 126–127, 182–183
murder and 141, 214–215
Sammy Karkis and 119
sentencing