Surviving the Mob - Dennis Griffin [60]
“That could have ended my association with Robert, but it didn’t. Our friendship was too strong for that. And I was sure that whatever the reason Tony was killed, it had nothing to do with business. Tony had probably got into the drugs, turned on Robert, and Robert did what he had to do. I wasn’t happy about it, but I understood it. I never told Robert what I thought and he never mentioned it either.”
Meanwhile, the marijuana deal with Mike Bolino was causing some serious problems as well. The heat on Robert and Andrew from Danny Cutaia and Nicky was intense. Danny had dealers coming to his home, asking for help in getting the marijuana back or getting paid for it. Danny also considered Andrew a threat, perhaps linking his crew to the murder of Tony Placido. Danny wanted Andrew dead and Robert filled him in on the whole plot.
“Although Nicky and me were no longer friends, he was still my boss. I met with him and Mike Yannotti and told them about Danny and what he had planned. It was clear to all of us that unless something changed, it was only a matter of time before our two crews would have an old-fashioned war with guns blazing in the streets. It was at this meeting that Nicky forbid me to do business or hang around with Robert ever again. That was a joke, because Robert was more of a friend to me than my own crew. He could have set me up to be murdered. Instead, he told me what Danny had planned. If that word got back to Danny, Robert would be a dead man himself. He put his life on the line for me.”
Several days went by without any excitement. But on a Friday in late January, Andrew got called to Mike Yannotti’s house. He’d been summoned by Nicky to commit a murder and Mike needed Andrew. He told Andrew to make himself available for the next twenty-four hours, to respond on a moment’s notice. They exchanged beeper and phone numbers and then he left.
Andrew next met up with two other Gambino associates, Tommy Dono and Benny Geritano of the 17th Avenue faction. They planned to intercept a money drop from a local high-end store on 18th Avenue at 86th Street that night.
“The night started off well. Another friend of ours provided us with a minivan he’d stolen from Long Island the night before. The plan called for Tommy and Benny to stay in the van. I was going to be the guy in the street. My job was to wait for the money courier to pass by and push him into the open side door of the van. But as fate would have it, things turned to shit pretty quick.
“Just before we expected the courier to leave the store and walk to the bank in the next block, a cop car pulled a traffic stop on the opposite corner. Then a second car joined him. I was still willing to tackle the courier. But it was a very cold night and when he left the store, he ran to the bank rather than walk. To get him, I’d have had to chase and tackle him in the middle of the street and drag him back to the van. With the cops that close, there was no way. We aborted the robbery. It wasn’t that bad, though, because we knew the money run took place every Friday night. So we’d get him the following week or the week after.
“As I look back, it’s hard to believe that agreeing to participate in a murder and then attempting a robbery a few hours later were more or less normal for me at that time. Now I realize that kind of thinking and conduct are anything but normal.
“Anyway, after we called off the robbery, we went to get some Japanese food. I called my girlfriend and she met us at this joint on Fourth Avenue. The dinner was great. We had a few drinks and laughs. I checked my beeper every couple of minutes to see if Mike tried to reach me, but there was no word from him. I was ready to head home and as I went out the door, I bumped into Nicky’s daughters Bernadette and Donna Marie coming in. I bought them some drinks and made my way out a few minutes later. When I got home, there was still no word from Mike. So I went to sleep with beeper in hand. The next set of events will