Surviving the Mob - Dennis Griffin [2]
In 1979 at the age of 14, I started down that road. I began by stealing radios, tires, and wheels from cars with other neighborhood kids—some of whom later became affiliated with the same Gambino crew I did.
Over the next several months, I added shaking down drug dealers, selling marijuana, and stealing cars to my criminal activities. For a 15-year-old kid, I was making pretty good money.
But my big break in moving up the crime ladder came in 1982. A friend and I got arrested for assault and extortion. You might ask why I say getting busted was a big break. The answer is simple: It brought me to the attention of the criminal powers that be. It showed that I was serious and ambitious, a young guy with nerve and earning potential. These were all qualities the crime bosses looked for when taking on new blood. My arrest opened the door into the world of organized crime.
For the next 15 years, I was a Gambino street soldier. But I committed crimes with guys from the other New York families too: loansharking, bookmaking, assault, burglary, robbery, bank robbery, counterfeiting, attempted murder, and conspiracy to commit murder. I know now that the things I did hurt a lot of people. But I didn’t realize it then.
The event that eventually led to my second chance in life came in 1996. A friend and I robbed a drug dealer associated with another crime family of $200,000. The repercussions from that score cost the lives of two people and nearly started a Mob war. They also caused me to become a fugitive from justice for 17 months and a target of my own crew and another family. It was during this time I began to see the Mob for what it really is. I became a cooperating government witness in 1997 and am still active in that capacity today. I’m lucky to be alive and I know it.
I’m telling my story not to make myself a hero or glamorize organized crime. On the contrary, I did a lot of bad stuff and nothing I do now can change that. This book isn’t an apology or an appeal for sympathy. It’s an explanation. It’s my chance to lay it all out there and let you see what life as a Mob associate is like from the inside. After you’ve read it, you can reach your own conclusions.
Andrew DiDonato
October 2010
1
A Near-Death Experience
At approximately 1:50 on the afternoon of April 8, 1988, an elderly woman named Sandra Raiola was walking on East 2nd Street between Avenues O and P in Brooklyn, New York. This was a residential neighborhood that tended to be relatively peaceful and quiet.
As Sandra walked, she passed two men standing on the sidewalk arguing. A vehicle occupied by a driver was double-parked on the street next to the men. When Sandra neared the corner of Avenue P, she heard a popping noise from behind her, like a car backfiring or a firecracker exploding. She turned around and looked down the street in the direction of the noise. She saw one of the two men who had been arguing lying prone on the sidewalk, screaming, “Help me!” The other man was squatting next to him. Noticing her, the squatting man sprang to his feet and got into the double-parked vehicle. The car then sped past her, ran the red light at the corner of Avenue P, and quickly disappeared from view down East 2nd Street.
Sandra didn’t know it at the time, but her presence at that location accomplished two very important things. First, it saved the life of the downed man, Ralph Burzo. Second, by doing so, it prevented the other man from becoming a murderer.
Burzo’s assailant was Andrew DiDonato. He had already fired one round from his handgun into Burzo’s head. It was Burzo’s good fortune that the bullet struck a bone and splintered, causing serious, but not fatal, injuries. After his victim had fallen to the sidewalk, Andrew squatted next to him to administer a second life-ending shot. But before he could pull the trigger, he noticed Raiola watching him and fled the scene.
However, Andrew’s escape was only temporary. He was arrested a short time later and on May 17, 1988, he was indicted by a Kings County Grand Jury for one count