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| June 29, 2000 |
| By Jerry Capeci |
| More Trouble For the Real Sopranos |
  The
DeCavalcante Mafia family -- once tape-recorded comparing
themselves to the New Jersey hoodlums in HBO's hit series, "The Sopranos" --
were every bit as deadly as Tony Soprano's fictional crew, according to a new racketeering
indictment handed up by a federal grand jury in Manhattan. With details from the latest mob turncoat, the feds yesterday charged mobsters in the already reeling New Jersey-based family with two more murders, including the 1991 rubout of the family's former underboss. According to the indictment, acting boss Vincent (Vinny Ocean) Palermo (above) ordered the November 1991 hit on family rival John D'Amato for personal reasons and the 1989 execution of a private sanitation magnate as a favor to Gambino boss John Gotti. Capo Anthony Rotondo and associate Vincent DiChiara were charged with doing Palermo's bidding in dispatching D'Amato, whose body has never |
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| been found. Rotondo is
one of 20 wiseguys indicted with Palermo on racketeering and murder charges in December.
DiChiara was arrested and added to the case yesterday.
D'Amato, who often paid homage to Gotti at the Ravenite Social Club in Little Italy and attended Junior Gotti's lavish wedding reception at the Helmsley Palace, was also involved in Weiss's execution, sources said. In early 1990, D'Amato was overheard talking with Gotti and Gravano about their plan to execute New Jersey soldier Gaetano (Corky) Vastola, |
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| agreeing with Gotti's
assessment that Vastola would become "a rat" and dime them out for various and
sundry criminal deeds.
"Yeah," that's the way I feel about him," said D'Amato. (Vastola, (left) who foiled several rubout efforts,
Sources said the latest charges against Palermo and the others stems from cooperation by DeCavalcante mobster Anthony Capo, (right) who was arrested with them on Dec. 2. Capo, who ran a New York crew for Palermo, had been charged with being involved in a murder conspiracy with his boss and a stock swindle involving a trucking company. He reportedly couldn't stand the heat and started cooperating with the feds 10 days later, detailing, among other things, the D'Amato and Weiss murders, admitting his own involvement. |
| What's Really Going On Here? |
 (Sammy Bull) Gravano is a cold, calculating killer, but the idea he
would conspire with an Arizona drug dealer to lure New York lawyer Ron Kuby, a
veteran talk show personality to Texas to whack him is ludicrous and downright
laughable.Yet, there it was all over the front pages of two New York newspapers last week, the day after the Arizona Republic reported that the alleged plot had been detailed in court papers in Gravano's pending drug case.
The stories reported that Philip Pascucci, an accused Ecstasy dealer, had told authorities he had sold Gravano 7000 pills of the drug between 1998 and his February arrest -- the time the alleged murder plot was supposedly discussed. "Gravano asked Pascucci to lure the lawyer to San Antonio with a promise of a drug defense case," Conrad stated in the court papers. Pascucci told authorities about the plot, and his alleged drug transactions |
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| with Gravano, shortly
after he had been busted on federal drug charges in Texas, according to the reports. Both New York newspapers beefed up their stories with witty, self serving quotes from Kuby ("Any threat by Sammy Gravano needs to be taken seriously. There are few people in this world who have achieved as much as Gravano in the field of murder.") about the so-called murder plot, but failed to ask any New York law enforcement officials about the likelihood of such a plot. They also left out an important fact -- which the
Phoenix
Gravano may or may not have been dealing drugs, but there is as much likelihood that Sammy Bull plotted to kill Kuby in Texas, which executes more people than the rest of the free world, as there is that John Gotti will ever walk out of jail a free man. |
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Rotondo (right) and mobster James Gallo (left) were charged
with gunning down Fred Weiss outside his Staten Island home on Sept. 11, 1989. Weiss's
execution had been sought by the late Gambino capo, James 
"I
don't know if he's a rat now. Is he gonna be a rat someday? Yeah," said Gotti.
recently completed a long federal prison stretch,
without cooperating with the feds.)
"Gravano expressed his intent to kill the lawyer
because he was angry with him due to litigation against Gravano brought by his victims'
survivors," Assistant Attorney General Donald Conrad had written in court papers.
paper reported -- that would
have cast serious doubt on the story. Before his own arrest, Pascucci had told cops
Gravano was not involved in the drug business, but aware that his kids were dealing drugs.
After his own arrest, he changed his tune and dropped in the titillating murder
plot. 
