New York State of Mind - Part 2- Nicky Bianco & Butchie Miceli

Lara:

Hi all! We’re back today with part two of New York State of Mind. If you haven’t listened to part one yet the link is in the show notes. We focused on Raymond Patriarca’s relationship with New York and in particular the Bonanno Family. 

Today we’ll be discussing two men who were both originally from New England, but ended up members of two New York families, the Colombos and the Gambinos. 

Between Nicky Bianco and Butchie Miceli, our New England listeners are probably more familiar with Nicky. But for me it’s Butchie, another one of my childhood faves.  When I think of dad’s Butchie stories, Umberto’s Clam House in New York is the first thing that comes to mind. Dad would travel a thousand miles for a good white clam sauce and a big score.

Nina:

You’re always trying to tease our listeners! 

Lara:

Well I’m hoping they stick with us through the end of season one, and stick around for season two.

Nina:

Me too!

As for Butchie, when I hear his name I think of the swimming pool story!

Lara:

For sure! 

Ok where do you want to start?

Nina:

Let’s start with Nicky since he was older, but before that we should give a brief history of the Colombo family and its origins since Nicky was a member and peacemaker of that family, particularly when it transitioned from being the Profaci Family during the Gallo-Profaci wars only to be united and renamed under Joe Colombo.

Lara:

That feud and let’s say less than peaceful transition is what brought Nicky back to Rhode Island on multiple occasions and solidified his relationship with Raymond Patriarca and earned him a permanent spot in both New York and New England.

Nina:

A position he may have later regretted.

The founding father of the Profaci Family was then bootlegger, Joseph Profaci. From 1928 until the late 1950s, Joe Profaci controlled his family with ease and without any challenge to his position. But that peace was broken and the family was torn apart by three consecutive internal wars. The first war began when capo Joseph “Crazy Joe” Gallo started a war against his own boss, Profaci. Gallo, who was often described as one of the most fearless gangsters, was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia after one of his early arrests. 

Lara:

Well that could explain a lot about Gallo’s behavior over the years.

I have to share one of my favorite Gallo stories. In 1958 he was summoned to the office of then Senator Bobby Kennedy during the McClellan Committee Hearings on organized crime.

“Nice carpet,” Gallo reportedly said after walking into the room. “Good for a crap game.”

Nina:

Oh, that must have been priceless. Raymond also testified during those hearings. I have to share a Raymondism since you haven’t in a while.

Lara:

I know I’ve been slacking. Guess I’ll have to top you before the end of this season.

Nina:

Remember this is a direct quote, so pardon the non PC lingo here:

Raymond told both Bobby and JFK "You two don't have the brains of your retarded sister." 

Lara:

No wonder they had it in for Raymond!

Enough of that, back to the Colombos.

Nina:

I have to interrupt you again. Raymond supposedly intimated that Jackie Nazarian killed Albert Anastasia, but Gallo always claimed the Anastasia hit for himself to anyone and everyone who would listen.

Lara:

You know I still believe it was Gambino who took out Anastasia. Carlo Gambino had the most to gain and when Anastasia was killed his family became the Gambino family.

Nina:

We’ll be having this debate for the next two seasons, and into the next series!

Lara:

I’m sure this isn’t the only one.

Ok, back to the history. According to the mob rumor mill, the Anastasia hit was why Gallo moved against Profaci. Gallo was expecting a big payday for his alleged handiwork, but Profaci didn’t feel the same way and that’s when Gallo started plotting to take down Profaci and make the family his own, but when Profaci got wind of Gallo’s plans, he decided to take Gallo out first. Hearing the news about what Profaci had in store for him, Gallo made his first strike against Profaci. On February 27, 1961, Gallo and his crew kidnapped four of Profaci members: underboss Magliocco, Joe’s brother, Frank, capo Salvatore Musacchia and soldier John Scimone.

Nina:

After the kidnappings, Joe Profaci took it on the lam to Florida. Joe Gallo hightailed it to  California leaving his two brothers, Larry and Albert, to deal with the hostage negotiations. After a few weeks of back and forth between one of Profaci’s capos and Gallo’s brothers, a deal was struck, but Profaci couldn’t let Gallo get away with what he had done. On August 20, 1961 Joe Profaci allegedly ordered the murder of Gallo crew members Joseph "Joe Jelly" Gioielli and Larry Gallo. Larry Gallo survived the hit attempt by Carmine Persico and Salvatore "Sally" D'Ambrosio after a police officer intervened. The Gallo brothers had been previously aligned with Persico against Profaci and his loyalists. When Persico chose Profaci’s side over the Gallo’s he earned himself the nickname "The Snake" for his betrayal. The war continued on, resulting in nine murders and three disappearances.

Lara:

In late November of 1961, Joe Gallo was sentenced to seven to fourteen years in prison for the murder of Theodore Moss. Moss was a Brooklyn businessman who refused to buy untaxed whiskey from Gallo. That case was also Nicky Bianco’s first arrest. His occupation at the time of his arrest was that of a salesman. He and Anthony J. Cameron were arrested for consorting with Gallo. Their bail had been set at $1000 each and they were released the same day. This wouldn’t be the last time Nicky’s name appeared in the papers.

Nina:

Certainly not.

On June 6, 1962 Joe Profaci died. His logtime underboss Joseph Magliocco became the head of the family. 

Enter Raymond’s least favorite New Yorker, Joseph Bonanno, longtime ally of Joe Profaci. In 1963, Bonanno allegedly had been plotting to assassinate several Commission Members including Tommy “Five Fingers Brown” Lucchese, Carlo Gambino, Bonanno’s in-law Stefano Magaddino and Frank DeSimone in an effort to take over the Commission. Bonanno wanted Magliocco's blessing and Magliocco supposedly agreed. Magliocco was given the mission to kill Tommy Lucchese and Carlo Gambino. And who did Magliocco give the contract to? None other than Joe Colombo.

Lara:

And Joe Colombo had his own ambitions! Colombo went back to Lucchese and Gambino and told them both about what Magliocco had tasked him with. They knew that Magliocco couldn’t have hatched the plan on his own. Everyone knew how close Bonanno, Profaci and Magliocco were, hence they realized that Bonanno was behind the plot. Bonanno faked his own kidnapping and went on the lam to Canada. Eventually he returned and went into exile in Arizona. Magliocco confessed his role in the plot. His life too was spared, but he was forced to retire as the Profaci family boss and pay a $50,000 fine to the Commission.  And with that Colombo became the youngest boss at the time at just 41 years of age and the first to be born in the US.

Nina:

I’ve got another anecdote!

Lara:

Of course you do! You're full of them today.

Nina:

You’re just jealous!

Anyhow, when Colombo was brought in for questioning about the murder of one of his soldiers, he showed up at the police station without an attorney. He stated to the detective, "I’m an American citizen, first class. I don't have a badge that makes me an official good guy like you, but I work just as honest for a living.”

Lara:

Classic!

If you listened to episode 28, New York State of Mind, you might remember that Raymond Patriarca had an intense dislike for Joe Bonanno and had directed all of his men in Providence, Boston and the Springfield areas to have nothing to do with Bonanno or any of his family. Nina and I discussed the possibility of the animosity between Raymond and Bonanno as a possible motive for why Raymond allegedly sanctioned the hit on Teddy Deegan as Teddy’s brother-in-law was related to the Indelicatos who were members of the Bonanno family. Another reason may also have been Raymond’s relationship with Nicky Bianco and his desire to secure a solid position for Nicky. 

Nina:

Nicky was credited with the first peace negotiation around this time. He reached out to Raymond to help broker a ceasefire between the warring factions of the family. We’ll discuss that in detail a little later, but now let's talk about Nicky’s early days and his family. 

Nicola L. Bianco was born on March 21, 1932 in Providence, RI to Angelo Bianco and Concetta DelVicario. He was the youngest of five children. Both of his parents were from Panni, Foggia, Puglia, Italy. The family moved to Brooklyn, New York in the late 1950s although his older brothers were in New York in the early ‘40s. 

In January 1950, Nicky's older brother Angelo Jr. pleaded not guilty to charges of what the newspapers euphemistically called "having carnal knowledge of a 15 year old unwed girl". At the same time, the girl's father was charged with attacking Angelo at the police station when Angelo was brought in. 

The girl was from a family named Palmisano, who appear to have been the only Sicilians in the entire state of Rhode Island. I’ve been doing all this gangster genealogy the past few weeks and so far they are the only Sicilians I’ve found. 

Lara: 

Rhode Island was like little Campania. 

The girl's uncle "Jimmy Dee" Palmisano was later named in FBI reports from the Miami field office as "a right hand man of Patriarca". Supposedly he’d been working for Raymond since the 1940s which is strange since he was never named in the Patriarca wiretaps. Unless his was one of the many redacted names. The FBI also had a wiretap installed in Jimmy Palmisano’ s office in Miami in the early ‘60s.

Another brother, Angelo Palmisano, was an associate of Carlos Marcello’s in New Orleans. 

Nina:

Now it’s my turn to tease because Carlos Marcello needs some episodes of his own and we’ll definitely return to him later.

Back to 1950. In March, Anthony Palmisano paid a fine and the assault charges against him were dropped. The poor Palmisano girl got shipped off to stay with her aunt and cousins in New York.

Then in April, another Palmisano cousin named Agostino Bucci was stabbed in the neck by what he claimed was an unknown assailant on Balbo Ave. in Federal Hill in Providence. The charges against Angelo Bianco were dropped in June after the government failed to get an indictment.

Exactly six months after Agostino Bucci was stabbed, Nicky Bianco was also attacked on Balbo Ave. Agostino Bucci later reported to the cops that he had been with Nicky just before the attack. He looked out the window and saw Nicky being held against a parked car and pounded by two assailants. Bucci said he and a companion ran out to intercede and got attacked for their troubles. One of the assailants ran back to a double parked car and grabbed a blackjack. The other man pulled out a .32 and fired two shots, hitting Bucci and his companion. Somewhere in there, Nicky got shot in the thigh. The other boy got shot too. And Agostino Bucci's younger brother, Edmund, was also taken to the hospital for a broken arm from the blackjack.

Agostino's version of events doesn’t sound credible. The Bucci's were cousins of the Palmisanos, so why would they defend the Bianco brothers? The mysterious assailants were never caught, and Agostino Bucci would be murdered a little over two years later in a bar on Balbo Ave. Joe "Buffy" Baccari was charged and tried for the murder, but eventually he was acquitted.

Lara:

Had to get our dose of Baccari madness in. What would an episode about RI be without it?

Ok back to New York.

Around Easter of 1963, Larry Gallo asked Nicky Bianco to contact Raymond Patriarca to assist him. The negotiations between the two factions were being handled by Larry Gallo and Charles Lo Cicero for the Profaci Family for two years at that point and obviously things weren’t going well.

On June 12, 1963 the New York SAC sent an airtel to the Boston SAC and Hoover requesting verbatim transcripts of any and all conversations between Raymond and Nicky from the wiretap at the Coin-O-Matic. The Boston SAC complied and provided them with two full copies of the transcripts. 

The conversation went into detail about how many bullets Nicky and his men had fired and how they couldn’t believe their intended victim got away. Several pages were filled with Nicky’s account of how things were going including Johnny Bath Beach, Charlie La Cicero and his relationship with Carlo Gambino and how he couldn’t trust Charlie, but Larry Gallo trusted him. Nicky was also angry over the slaying of a businessman who had given financial assistance to the Gallo crew.

Then Nicky got into ancient history and began discussing Joe Gallo and his relationship with Frankie Martin who then teamed up with Carmine Persico and were inseparable now. The exchange drifted back to La Cicero and how he was Sicilian on both sides and Nicky just didn’t like him!.

Nina:

I can’t! They all had Sicilian envy!

Lara:

Where’s the lie?

Nina:

It’s true!

Raymond advised Nicky not to curse Charlie and the others that he disliked and rather be nice to them as they might be of some benefit to him in the future.

Lara:

I’ll give Raymond some credit here. On occasion he was the voice of reason. At the end of their chat Raymond told Nicky that he would go to New York to meet with Tommy Lucchese in an effort to calm things down.

Nina:

Oh, another one of Raymond’s covert journeys!

Lara:

I wonder how many taxis and trains he took on that trip!

Nina:

Don’t forget hiding in the mens room and lounge!

Lara:

How could I forget that?!

Nina:

Back to Nicky.

As we mentioned before Nicky was arrested along with Joe Gallo and other Profaci Family members in 1961. The charges were essentially guilt by association. In 1963 Nicky was picked up on more serious charges after the shooting of Carmine Persico in May of 1963. Sixteen men including Larry and Albert Gallo were arrested. Nicky was labeled as part of the Gallo gang and held without bail because of his previous arrest. Later that same year Nicky and seventeen others were facing murder conspiracy charges.

The headline was great “18 Gallo Hoods Face Murder Plot Rap.” They were arraigned in court after six months of Grand Jury testimony and bail was set in amounts ranging from $25,000 to $50,000. Included in the indictments along with Nicky were Larry and Albert Gallo and their aunt! Nicky was charged with being one of Carmine Persico’s would be assassins in the failed hit attempt back in May.

Lara:

We have to include some of the other nicknames of the men in this tale. Larry “Big Boy” Gallo, Albert “Kid Blast” Gallo and somehow Nicky’s nickname was listed as Tony! Guiseppe “Fatso” Magliocco, Salvatore “Sally the Sheik” Mussachia and John “Johnny Bath Beach” Oddo are my other favorites.

Nina:

I want to know who comes up with these names!

Lara:

I’m more curious to know which names the guys used and which ones were bestowed upon them without their blessing.

Nina:

Great another rabbit hole to go down!

Lara:

Ok, no rabbit holes.

In June Carlo Gambino issued a warning to the Gallos that if they didn’t come out of hiding the battle would be taken to their wives and families. A heavy threat considering that was against every Mafia rule, but the death toll was rising and out of control. On the 4th of July Larry Gallo and his crew tried to take out then caporegime Joe Colombo on his way home from the golf course. Then twenty days later while on his way to Joe Gallo’s wedding his best man was gunned down in Hoboken, New Jersey.

Nina:

One of the more interesting casualties of the Gallo-Profaci War was Ali Hassan Waffa. Ali was an Egyptian seaman who used to split boards with his head as a way to bet with Joe Gallo. He officiated at Joe’s wedding!

Lara:

Why do you say these things?

Nina:

It’s true and he took part in the war with Gallo. On July 24th after just returning from one of his voyages, Ali went to buy a shirt at a store in Hoboken. Upon exiting the shop he was shot three times in the abdomen. He succumbed to his wounds two days later.

The following day Frank Lattierre was driving Larry Gallo’s car when he was ambushed. He managed to escape death by crashing the car.  

Lara:

And with that chain of events, the urgency to make Nicky couldn't have been greater in Raymond’s mind. 

According to an informant for the New York FBI Field office, Raymond Patriarca and Henry Tameleo traveled to New York City for the sole purpose of straightening out Nicky Bianco. On September 28, 1963 Nicky was allegedly made in Brooklyn. Raymond had to receive special permission from the Commission as the books were still technically closed after the Apalachin debacle. In order to stop the bloodshed, Raymond persuaded them to allow for the induction of Nicky who would then become acting boss of the now Gallo-Profaci family in place of Magliocco after the Bonanno fiasco. But Nicky wouldn’t run the family solo. Their own commission of three to nine men were to advise him on all decisions until a permanent boss was chosen.

Nina:

According to the same informant, on September 30th Nicky traveled to Providence for a meeting with Raymond to discuss various aspects of the family business and take Raymond’s advice, and some two weeks later contacted him by phone about the same matters. 

Then on January 9, 1964 Nicky spoke with Raymond about the ongoing internal Gallo-Profaci power struggle. At this point Nicky was acting as interim head of the Profaci Family. Raymond told Nicky that he supported Joe Colombo as the new head of the family. Nicky too was in favor of Colombo becoming the boss. 

Lara:

An interesting side note from an airtel between the NY SAC and J. Edgar Hoover. In communications between the Federal Bureau of Narcotics and the FBI, the rumor that Vincent Mauro was an informant was absolutely unfounded. In fact no agents from any branch of the Federal government or local authorities to the best of the Feds’ knowledge were able to infiltrate or receive any information from anyone in either faction of the Profaci Family. Nicky was named specifically as being essentially unapproachable.

Nina:

Well good old Greg Scarpa would ruin that track record.

Lara:

That’s for sure!

Nina:

The Feds continued to complain about Nicky’s refusal to cooperate into the 1970s.

Lara:

On March 9th and March 23rd, Nicky once again reached out to Raymond for advice about internal problems in the family. On April 5th it was believed that Joe Colombo formally became the boss. According to an informant’s statements the ceremony was attended by members of all of the other families. Colombo was not elected by the members of his own family where he held the position of Caporegime, but rather appointed by the Commission. It was acceptable to his own men as he was a respected member of their family and his own father was a founding member. The informant also reported that Raymond played a key role in negotiating Colombo’s new position with the Commission and verified that indeed Nicky had been made and later also played a key role in ensuring Colombo’s ascension to the throne so to speak. 

Nina:

Colombo reorganized the family replacing many of the older caporegimes with younger men, including Nicky.

In January of 1965, Nicky was sentenced to three months in prison for the charges that were pending against him from the 1963 conspiracy to commit murder charges. Out of the original 18 arrested, the maximum sentence any of them received was six months. Nicky had been picked up on the wiretap at Raymond’s the previous June complaining that an unnamed “they” wanted them to take a plea deal, but that they weren’t going to do it. His assessment that the worst that would happen would be a few months in jail was correct. And the journalists described the prison on Rikers Island as a sequestered oasis.

Lara:

I love the facetious tone of those days. Snarkiness to the max! I’m jealous.

Nina:

Of course you are!

In September of that same year Ramond’s wife Helen passed away. Nicky made the trip from New York to pay his respects. 

The Feds weren’t the only ones with their eyes on Nicky. The IRS began tracking his income tax returns in 1962. He reported a modest income for that year. 1963 through ‘65 he didn’t even file a return. In 1966 he filed a tax return declaring an income that he could have hardly lived off of. It wouldn't be until the ‘70s that the authorities would seek to try him for tax evasion. 

Lara:

Nicky finally settled down and married Francesca Coats in New York in 1968. The informants who were privy to Nicky’s comings and goings all reported that he had stopped seeing other women once he was married. 

On December 4, 1968 Colombo had a Christmas party for his men including Nicky Bianco, Carmine Persico and Greg Scarpa. During the party he gave a formal speech including reading from notes, listing out the hierarchy of each of the other families and providing the history of the LCN in the US and how the first family that came from Sicily settled in New Orleans. Neckties were given as gifts to the men. Colombo stated during the party that one of the other families had an FBI informant in their midst. Now of course this information is being provided by an informant who was in Colombo’s own family, Greg Scarpa!

Nina:

I can’t!

Lara; 

We’re going to go a little further with Nicky’s story today than we usually do. We’ve been cutting off around 1969 with most of our episodes, but since we’re near the end of season one we’ll be dipping our toes into the 1970s here and there. 

In June of 1970, 35 men all reported to be members of the Mafia were arrested in a sweep across NYC. Nicky was listed as the number 3 man in the Colombo Family. Anniello Dellacroce the underboss of the Gambino family and Natalie Joe Diamonds Evola of the Bonanno Family were also picked up in the sweep. 

Nina:

At the same time Scarpa was telling his handler that Nicky was responsible for organizing the picketing by the unions that summer between May and June.

Let’s jump forward to 1971.

On June 28, 1971 during the Italian Unity Day in Columbus Circle, NYC, Joe Colombo was shot and critically wounded in an assassination attempt. He was shot three times including once in the head by Jerome A. Johnson who was disguised as a journalist. Colombo’s bodyguards killed Johnson immediately. Colombo’s men believed Gallo was behind the assassination attempt because the shooter was black and Gallo had formed a relationship with Harlem gangster Nicky Barnes while they were doing time together. Earlier that year, Gallo had been freed from prison. Colombo invited Gallo to a sit down. Gallo refused the meeting and supposedly relayed the message that he wanted $100,000 to put the feud to rest. Colombo of course shot him down, and a new contract was taken out on Gallo. Upon hearing about yet another contract on his life, he sought his revenge against Colombo, leaving him paralyzed but not dead. 

Lara:

Theory time again. The police during their investigation determined that Johnson had acted alone, but they claimed that Johnson had been at a Gambino social club a few days prior to the attempt on Colombo. The authorities said it was possible that Carlo Gambino ordered the failed hit. Supposedly Gambino had a grievance with the Italian American League that Colombo refused to address, even going so far as to spit in Carlo’s face. 

I’m sorry but I don’t buy the story about Colombo spitting in Gambino’s face. They were old timers and may have been killers, but protocol was protocol. 

Nina:

Back to Jerome Johnson for a minute. Of course we have to have a Boston connection. The camera that Johnson had in his possession that day had been rented in Cambridge, MA on June 27th. He returned that same day to NYC with a press pass, the camera and a monkey in a cage.

https://archive.org/stream/GregoryScarpaSr/Gregory%20Scarpa%20Sr%2004_djvu.txt

Lara:

Why do you say these things?

Nina:

Hey he bought the monkey as a gift, but the recipient refused so he dragged it back to NYC!

Anyhow, according to witnesses he wasn’t alone that day and that there was a woman there with him, but she was never ID’d. Colombo’s son would later say that the FBI tried to kill his father, stating that Johson would have known it was a suicide mission so why would he agree to the hit unless the Feds guaranteed his safety.

https://patriarca7.rssing.com/chan-10663811/all_p1.html

Lara:

I know the theory you’re going with!

There still wouldn’t be true peace for the Colombo Family or the Gallos even after the hit on Crazy Joe. On April 7, 1972 Gallo was gunned down while celebrating his birthday with his family at Umberto’s Clam House. A final war between the two would take the lives of ten more men before the families were finally reunited.

Since we made it to Umberto's Clam House, let's end Nicky’s story here for now. There will be much more to come about Nicky in season two. Nina, give us Butchie’s stats. 

Nina:

Frank John “Butchie” Miceli was born on August 26, 1934 in Medford, MA to Frank J. Miceli Sr. and Madeline Gaeta. He had an older sister named Rose. His paternal grandparents were from Palermo, Sicily and his maternal grandparents were from Albanella, Salerno, Campagnia, Italy. 

Frank’s father did have an arrest in 1924 for illegal possession of a revolver. He received a six month sentence. Other than that it appears he was never arrested, and he worked in a warehouse in younger years.  Butchie’s mother worked for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for decades. She and her husband went to DC in 1953 as a presidential elector for the Eisenhower Campaign’s Massachusetts delegation. In 1965 Madeline became the Labor Commissioner under then Governor Volpe. That same year Frank Sr. retired from the warehouse and became an insurance examiner.

I want to tell the swimming pool story!

Lara:

The swimming pool drama didn’t happen until 1975, but go right ahead!

Nina:

Butchie was involved in a Federally funded low income housing project. He was accused of skimming funds from the housing project to build himself a swimming pool! When he was arrested on unrelated charges a journalist went to the jail to interview him about the pool rumors. Butchie admitted that a construction superintendent had been diverting men and materials from the project, but he believed the laborers were there on their own time.

As the reporter was leaving, Butchie blurted out, "You know what I really hate? I hate those God-damn phony politicians who take my money and take my favors and then walk around pretending they're better than me. At least I'm not a phony."

Lara:

Let’s give Vinnie’s account of Butchie’s early life. Vinnie claimed that Butchie idolized mobsters, and that his parents spoiled him. According to Vinnie’s tale, Butchie used his friends in the Social Security department to receive the addresses of people who stiffed local bookies and loan sharks.  Supposedly, he moved to New Jersey after having a problem with a made guy in Boston. Vinnie claimed that he hooked Butchie up with Jersey boss Joe Paterno who took a liking to him and made him his driver.   

We can say with certainty that Butchie did work for Paterno and even relocated to Florida with him years later. As for Vinnie’s tale that Butchie ran a hit squad that acted as a mafia Police force, I’m not so sure. Butchie was also definitely aligned with the Gambino Family and maintained his ties with New England.

Nina:

I don’t know how happy Butchie was being saddled with Raymond!

Lara:

Well we do have the wiretaps from the Coin-O to give us some insight into that relationship, and I’d say he wasn’t thrilled!

Nina:

The other account of Butchie’s early days was that he worked as a truck driver for the State of Massachusetts upon finishing school. Obviously mom helped make that possible. Some time in the late 1950s he opened a toy store in Medford. By 1960 he had moved to New Jersey after telling his parents that he had taken a job as a wholesale jewelry salesman.

Did Richie know Butchie before he left Massachusetts?

Lara:

I always assumed he did, and that’s how Butchie would later find himself tangled up with Jack.

Nina:

That makes sense. By the time of Butchie’s first arrest in New Jersey in 1962, he listed his profession as a bartender. Now you know that I have always said that Butchie cooperated against his co-defendants in that case and beyond. Vinnie told the same tale. Just look at the fact that everyone went away in that case except Butchie, but later even Frank Capizzi got sent up.

Lara:

Oh you mean the same Frank Capizzi who years later when he testified during Whitey Bulger’s trial said that when he heard people speaking English his brain registered it as Sicilian?

Nina:

Yes! Richie was wrapped up with both Capizzi and Butchie, and like you I suspect anyone who he was close to of having at least cooperated with the authorities at some point in time, if not of having been a full fledged informant.

Lara:

No argument here.

Let’s talk about that case. On February 14, 1962 Butchie, Capizzi and Louis Viscito were arrested in a New York City hotel with $1,072,000 worth of General Motors Acceptance Corp bonds. 

Nina:

Butchie was also charged with possession of porn!

Lara:

I don’t even want to know why he had smut on him.

Nina:

I want to know how Capizzi found himself tending bar in Jersey rather than living in Winthrop, MA.

Lara:

I assume Butchie invited him down there. Plus who knows who Capizzi may have pissed off that he found it necessary to take off for New Jersey..

On October 25th a total of 13 indictments were handed down. The authorities claimed that the counterfeiting ring had printed upwards of $4 million worth of bonds. By June of 1965, all of the other defendants had pleaded guilty except Capizzi and Butchie. But in August of that year, Capizzi’s luck ran out, and he was sentenced to three years. After that the case against Butchie just vanished. His lawyer claimed that the government dropped the charges because their case against him was flimsy.

Nina:

Well I already told you my theory! 

The only case Butchie would face for the rest of the decade was one for motor vehicle violations. In 1966 after racking up enough traffic violations, his driver’s license was finally suspended.

By 1969 Butchie was the topic of discussion in more than a few FBI 302s. With the murders of Rudy Marfeo and Anthony Melei and the so called investigation into their deaths, Butchie’s relationships with Raymond, Rudy Sciarra, Frank Vendituoli and Louis Manocchio would come back to haunt him. In addition to the heat he was picking up from his associates, an informant from the Newark FBI field office told his handler that Butchie was responsible for the murder of Alton Hughes back on July 22, 1969. His body was found with two .38 caliber bullets in his head on the side of the road in New Jersey. Alton had been robbing the homes of local wiseguys since at least 1962 and obviously that didn’t go over well with them.

Lara:

And if that wasn’t enough, Butchie’s past dealings with Vinnie Teresa would also turn the spotlight onto what he had been up to. Our next episode will be dedicated to the bond scams that Teresa, Butchie and another one of my favorites, Marvin Karger were involved in. If you listened to episode 38, The Nite Lite you might recall that Phil Waggenheim was under investigation in 1968 for a loan scheme that involved those very same bonds.

Nina:

Standard Oil Debenture Bonds no less, but we’ll wait for next week to get into that story. It is the same case that would see Vinnie Teresa finally labeled as what he was, a rat!

And Butchie will be back at the end of this season and the beginning of season two as part of Jack Kelley's revenge.

Lara:

Thank you all for listening as always. Enjoy your 4th of July celebrations!

Nina & Lara:

BYE!!!