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By Jerry Capeci

And gangsters will be gangsters, especially gangsters with guns.

With photographs of late heavyweight champion Rocky Marciano and other boxers on the walls behind them, two armed Lucchese mobsters calmly stood toe-to-toe and eyeball to eyeball with two Greek gangsters at a Brooklyn social club.

The Lucchese mobsters were demanding an apology. The confrontation was a potentially lethal showdown about saving face, and those who romanticize the mob as well as those who deride it will tell you that people get killed in these things.

A few weeks earlier while collecting the family's "protection" payment, one of the Lucchese hoods had been rudely humiliated by the Greeks. That time the Greeks were holding the guns. Wisely the Greeks apologized profusely that cool summer day in 1993 and walked out of the club without a scratch.

This drama of threats and intimidation surfaced in the federal racketeering case against Lucchese acting boss Joseph (Little Joe) Defede. He was the bagman who had a gun stuck in his chest and was forced to beg for his life.

In May, without giving any specifics, Manhattan assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Bianco, citing Defede's power over life and death, successfully argued that the gangster was a danger to the community and should be held without bail.

The showdown took place at the All Nations Social Club in Gravesend,  Brooklyn a couple of weeks after an underling of Greek Godfather Spyredon (Spiro) Velentzas (right) pulled a gun on Defede, made him kneel on the floor and plead for his life.

Defede had just taken over the collection duties from a capo, who, besides being greedy, didn't get along with the Greeks. Based in Astoria, Queens, they distributed illegal Joker Poker machines and ran horse rooms and a lucrative dice game. For years, they had paid the Lucchese family $10,000 a month for the right to operate on their turf.

Defede knew nothing of the bad blood and was shocked that a lowly scrub associate would dare mistreat him and threaten his life. Defede (right) was close to Lucchese boss Vittorio (Vic) Amuso, (left), and he had often played handball with him.

The family hierarchy was incensed over the incident. The only way to rectify the situation was to kill the offending hood.

At the time, Velentzas and Amuso were in the same federal prison. The Greek Godfather quickly worked out a deal. His underling would apologize on Lucchese turf and Velentzas' brother would come along as a sign of good faith.

That day at the club, Defede (left) sat at a card table while soldier Frank Gioia Jr. and George Conte, an acting capo, stood behind the bar with silencer-equipped handguns. Angelo (The Boxer) Defendis -- former Golden Gloves champ and onetime light heavyweight contender who ran the club -- and another mobster sat on a couch, ready for cleanup duty. A stolen car was parked outside, ready to carry away the dead weight.

The Greek gangsters had to know what they were up against, and most likely they wouldn't have come if they weren't ready to make a perfect act of contrition.  What they didn't know for sure was whether Defede would accept it.

But he did.

"They determined that the apology was satisfactory, and the hit did not take place," said Bianco.

Defendis, whose old ring robe, boxing gloves and photos of his glory days hung near Marciano's picture, was "ecstatic the sitdown ended amicably,"  said a source familiar with an account by Gioia, who began cooperating with the feds the following year. The club was Defendis' pride and joy and he was pretty relieved the place didn't become a bloody mess.

The club is still Defendis' pride and joy. But it's off-limits because he's on federal parole. He pleaded guilty to extortion charges filed against him in 1994, did 30 months in prison and doesn't want to go back.

Nicholas (Fat Nicky) DiCostanza, who pleaded guilty in the same extortion case, was also released from prison recently. But a few weeks ago, he was hit with a slew of racketeering, murder, drug dealing, arson, extortion and other charges that could send him away for life.

Fat Nicky, 62, is set to be arraigned this week but had heart surgery a few weeks ago and is likely to beg off as too ill.

A bunch of wannabe mobsters charged with DiCostanza, including Michael Bloome, who caught a big break the last time he was hit with racketeering charges, won't have that luxury. They're all either doing time on other charges or detained without bail, and haven't suffered any heart attacks lately.

Among many other things, Bloome allegedly tried to extort protection payoffs from a Staten Island car service owner from Jan. 1, 1994 until that Aug. 9 when he and another crew member killed him.

The extortion scheme supposedly began soon after Bloome was sprung from federal prison. He had been wrongly convicted for shooting a cooperating witness five times in a botched rubout effort in 1988.

After serving two years for the attempted murder of Dominick Costa, Bloome was released when Colombo family consigliere Carmine Sessa, (right) who began cooperating in 1993, disclosed that he was the gunman.

"This time, there's no mistake," said one law enforcement source.  

Two transplanted New Yorkers, who know their gangsters, are the first- and second-place winners of Gang Land's third contest. The grand prize is an autographed copy of "Gotti: Rise & Fall." An autographed copy of "Murder Machine" goes to the runner-up.

First place winner Gary Piro, 42, relocated to Las Vegas about 18 years ago and is in the timeshare business. "My interests include golf, skiing, gambling and reading Gang Land every Monday," says Piro. As first-place winner he chose "Gotti" as the book he will receive.

Second place winner, Charles Molino, 44, is a truck driver who moved to Youngstown, Ohio two years ago, but misses the Big Apple. "My hobbies are baseball, old cars and history. My passion is organized crime," says Molino.

Copies of "Murder Machine" and "Gotti: Rise & Fall" -- autographed by yours truly and co-author Gene Mustain -- are on their way. Stay tuned. Our fourth Gang Land contest will be coming at you next week.

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Books, by Andy

Gang Land's features by Andy, our organized crime historian, will not appear this week due to cyberspace and other glitches beyond the ability of Gang Land to decipher and correct in time to get the column loaded by the end of the day. They will resume next week.