To place your banner ad on this site, contact Gang Land Advertising Director Suzanne (Sue The Dream) Nicolucci.

On an FBI bug in 1962, DeCavalcante and his wiseguys bemoaned the "undignified" way Genovese mobster Willie Moretti got it in 1951 -- shot to death in a restaurant near home -- even though they all agreed he had to go.

"That man never should have been disgraced like that," said one minion.

"It leaves a bad taste," said DeCavalcante.

The boss would have been proud of the way his family dispatched capo Louis (Fat Lou) LaRasso and onetime acting boss John D'Amato in the early 1990's. The killings are part of the latest racketeering and murder indictment to hit the DeCavalcantes, who have been overheard comparing themselves to the fictional gangsters portrayed on HBO's hit television series, "The Sopranos."

When DeCavalcante successor John Riggi and his consigliere, Stefano Vitabile, (right) decided LaRasso had to go, the hit team killed him in a safe house, disposed of his body, and left his car at an airport to make it look like he'd flown the coop, according to federal prosecutors John Hillebrecht and Lisa Korologos.

LaRasso, whose body has never been found, was reported missing on Nov. 14, 1991 when he failed to

Accused killers Louis (Louie Eggs) Consalvo (left) and Gregory Rago --along with a turncoat gangster -- did a dry run before the hit, readying plastic with which to wrap the body and driving "to the airport to see how long it would take to plan their get-away," Hillebrecht said at a detention hearing for Consalvo and Rago.

At around the same time, another DeCavalcante crew -- capo Anthony Rotondo, former acting boss Vincent (Vinny Ocean) Palermo and former associate Victor DiChiara -- eliminated D'Amato in much the same way, according to court papers.

Rotondo, who was overheard raving about the characters and "great acting" in "The Sopranos," is charged with D'Amato's murder in an earlier indictment. Palermo and DiChiara, however, as well as mobster Anthony Capo, pleaded guilty to racketeering and murder charges, and are cooperating with federal prosecutors, according to court records.

Meanwhile, Vitabile, 64, Consalvo, 43, and Rago, 41, (right)  were detained without bail as potential dangers to the community. Lawyers Neil Duffy, Joel Winograd and Corey Winograd noted that their clients were not overheard, or even mentioned, on the many hours of FBI tape recordings in the case. Judges rejected their arguments for high bail and strict house arrest conditions. Riggi, who is due to be released next year from an earlier federal sentence, is en route to New York and will be arraigned later.

There is a long history of bad blood between Marino (right) and jailed-for-life boss John Gotti, who is having a return bout with head and neck cancer.

Marino, 60, and late Gambino capo James (Jimmy Brown) Failla, were reputedly part of a 1986 Genovese and Luchese plot to kill Gotti and underboss Frank DeCicco and replace them with Marino and Failla.

Hatched by Genovese boss Vincent (Chin) Gigante and Luchese boss Anthony (Tony Ducks) Corallo as revenge for Gotti's execution of his predecessor, Paul Castellano, the plot abruptly stopped after DeCicco's bomb death in April, 1996, according to FBI reports.

First reported by Gene Mustain and yours truly in "Gotti: Rise & Fall," the  bombing was carried out by a munitions expert associated with the Genovese family. Then-Luchese capos Anthony (Gaspipe) Casso and Vittorio Amuso, among others, were on the scene.

Marino, who pleaded guilty to a murder conspiracy in 1994, spent about six years in prison. He endured several months in solitary confinement for his own protection when his reputed involvement in the intrigue became known.

While some mobsters and law enforcement officials expect Marino to take a shot at the top spot, others (and Gang Land) figure he'll keep a low profile and enjoy the substantial fruits of his past criminal labors.

Meanwhile, Thomas Gambino, another family capo was released from prison earlier this year. Look for Gambino, who never really wanted to be a gangster despite his moniker, to behave like the college educated business executive he is, enjoy his grandchildren and donate some of his ton of money to worthy causes.

It was 1984 and after years of hard work, Julie and Stephen Rakes finally opened their own liquor store. After one week, things looked pretty good. But then came the bomb threat -- and an unwelcome visit from Whitey Bulger and Steve Flemmi.

"You got a problem," said Bulger, pointing out that some of Rakes' competitors wanted him dead. Bulger said he was going to do him a favor. "Instead of killing you, we'll buy the store."

Rakes said it wasn't for sale. Then their little girl walked into the room. "Isn't she cute," said Flemmi, as he picked her up, put her on his lap, and placed the barrel of his gun in her mouth: "It would be a sin for her not to see you."

"Black Mass: The Irish Mob, The FBI and a Devil's Deal," by Boston Globe reporters Dick Lehr and Gerard O'Neill is a chilling account of how Bulger, (left) a fugitive with a $250,000 price on his head, and Flemmi received a license to steal and kill from FBI agents obsessed with their careers and their desire to make cases against the New England Mafia.

In their well documented, well written book, the authors paint a troubling picture of a world in which there is little or no distinction between so-called good guys and the certified bad guys, between former FBI agent John Connolly and his boyhood pal, Whitey Bulger. It is available online through Amazon.com.