Carmelo (Carmine Pizza) Polito is the poster child for degenerate gambling.

He held up banks to pay off his escalating losses. In November 1994, at a Genovese social club in Brooklyn, Pizza allegedly shot and killed Tino Lombardi, a Genovese bookie he owed $46,000.

At least six family wiseguys, including several capos, wanted to whack Polito, according to a secret FBI report obtained exclusively by Gang Land. But somebody in the Genovese hierarchy was watching Carmine Pizza's pepperoni. Why else would Polito, who was not a made man with the attendant rank and privileges, get away with killing a family bookie?

Carmine Pizza and Lombardi's murder was a constant topic of discussion during a three year FBI investigation that ended last month with indictments of 45 mobsters and associates from New York's five crime families on charges ranging from gambling to murder.

The key to the case, sources said, was Michael Durso, a smooth-talking Genovese associate, who was shot in the head on Nov. 30, 1994, the same night Lombardi was killed, according to court papers.

Durso, 31, began working for the FBI and federal prosecutors in Brooklyn in the summer of 1998. He embarked on his daring undercover work while

On Dec. 6, 1999, a gaggle of Genovese gangsters met in Manhattan to try and resolve the Polito question.

As the wiseguys moved from a Downtown social club to Florio's Restaurant in Little Italy to Divino's Restaurant on the Upper East Side, teams of FBI agents tailed them, videotaping and photographing them as a recording device that Durso was wearing picked up their conversations.

As Durso drove Aparo from one place to another, Aparo mentioned several Genovese mobsters who felt Polito deserved to die. Capos Rosario (Ross) Gangi (left) and Joseph Zito were on board, as was soldier Frank Demeo, who thought they should invite him "to a card game ... (and) murder him."

Even two cohorts on Polito's bank robbery team, mobsters Carmine (Baby Carmine) Russo and Elio (Chinatown) Albanese, were looking to kill him because they thought he "was going to go bad (cooperate,)" during that investigation, said Aparo.

Asked who had blocked Polito's murder, Aparo said: "It came from the top

At one point, Aparo hinted that Liborio (Barney) Bellomo (right) and Michele (Mickey Dimino) Generoso, the former acting boss and underboss, were on Polito's side. But one source said that "life and death decisions" in the family are still the province of jailed boss Vincent (Chin) Gigante. (left)

In the end, sources said, Polito was ordered to pay $46,000 to Lombardi's family and bounced from a crew headed by capo Alan (Baldie) Longo and put in one led by acting capo Peter (Petey Red) DiChiara. Pizza's bank-robbing buddies, Chinatown and Baby Carmine, are also in Petey Red's crew.

Aparo, 72, DiChiara, 58, Longo, 51, and Zito, 64, are all charged with racketeering. Gangi, 61, who is currently jailed for stock fraud, was hit with loansharking. Demeo, 51, is charged with gambling.

So far, Polito has not been charged with any crimes, (nor have Russo or Albanese) but the investigation is still continuing and his Genovese guardian angels won't carry much weight with the feds.

Gambino family bookmaker Albert Maione refused to pay family associate Dennis Fitzharris $19,000 he had won during the 1999 football season, according to court papers.

Maione eventually coughed up the cash, but not until Sammy Meatballs, his mobster son Vincent, 49, and Gambino soldiers Dominick (Skinny Dom) Pizzonia, 59, (left) and John (Johnny Beano) Setaro, 51, threatened to break Maione's legs.

Fitzharris also felt a little heat directed at other parts of his anatomy for initially complaining to the Genovese family, instead of his own. If he ever ran to another family for help, Setaro allegedly told him, "I'll cut you from your neck to your groin."

For getting Fitzharris his money, the Aparos, Pizzonia and Setaro were hit with extortion charges carrying 20 years. 

Take Michael Squillante, a Genovese bookie who took action from Durso and FBI agents at a sports book in Coral Springs, Florida and at an offshore betting operation he runs in Costa Rica, according to court papers.

From last July through April, Durso generally lost, and paid cash supplied by the FBI.

Last month, Durso finally had a good week. Squillante, 47, said he wouldn't be in Coral Springs but that "Debbie" would take care of him. And she did, giving him an envelope stuffed with $10,300 in $100, $50 and $20 bills.