http://www.nypost.com/gossip/cindy.htm
July 6, 2004 --
A GRADUATE of the mob, who's done time in the can and the Witness Protection Program, a wiseguy who's monitored by the FBI, says: "The mob runs the music industry today."
He also tells me: "And what our boys are also heavily into is the stockbroker racket."
Avalon has just published the new book, "Born to the Mob: The True-Life Story of the Only Man to Work for All Five of New York's Mafia Families," The "Man" is Frank Saggio.
His hello to me was: "How'd you get my number . . . nobody supposed to have this number."
A few phone calls down the line it was, so where are you now, Frank? "Away. I'm away."
And your business now? "Legit, but I'd rather not say what."
And how did you ever get nerve to leave the mob?
"Listen, in this life, if you can finagle a little you can do anything. The big crime is being stupid."
Is he scared "they" eventually will come after him?
"I have some worries. Am I living in fear? Sometimes. But my gun shoots bullets, too. If I run into one of them, they gotta know I'm takin' them with me."
What's he know of the trial currently ongoing at Brooklyn federal court?
"Mob boss Joe Massino's on trial. He owns a caterer on the island. He does all the catering and coffee trucks in New York. Everybody got to buy from him. He gets big from the whole industry. His brother-in-law, Salvatore Vitale, is ratting him out. When the 'Family' split, one Massino hit was the murder of my Uncle Philip 'Lucky' Giaccone. I know them all. I've been questioned several times. Would Vitale like to find me now? Yes! He knows the FBI is monitoring me.
"Do I like Vitale? No. But he's smarter than Massino. He'll only do a few years. Massino's going away for a long time and deserves whatever he gets. The death penalty isn't enough. He killed more guys than cancer. All they make him out to be is true."
Did Saggio himself ever kill anybody?
"No. But if I had to under orders, I would have. Guys with no brains did the killing. I was into schemes, stock frauds, shakedowns, although I never stole from a legitimate person. Make money for them and you don't have to kill.
"The mob's into everything today. Take record labels. Take the whole music industry. It's run big-time by wiseguys. Our people own nightclubs. Rappers need help starting out. They borrow from wiseguys and our guys get their first foothold. We're into boxing, horseracing not thoroughbreds, trotters. Hollywood. A star like Steven Seagal was being shaken down by the Gotti group.
"And we really got our feet in the door with banking and stocks. Brokers are basically thrill seekers. Degenerate gamblers. They get high off risks. A deal goes bad. The broker needs money. He books bets. We get our hooks into him."
Watched and monitored when he was in the Witness Protection Program, how did he get his book done, since he didn't do the writing himself?
"Took a couple of years. I'd have phone conversations with the writer I met through my attorney. I'd leave where I was staying to go so-called shopping. At the mall I'd buy a phone card, go to a public phone and stay on it for hours. If you're smart there's always ways. I wanted the story out. Things being said weren't accurate. There were misconceptions. I got small children and I wanted then to know the truth.
"Truth is, this is no glamorous game. Ninety percent of the mob is broke. Foot soldiers are not, like on 'The Sopranos,' driving $100,000 cars. Capos do not go to shrinks. If they did they'd only make one visit before they got done in. New guys are always coming up but if you make the big-time then you only got two ways to go jail or dead. Of the 10 ushers at my wedding, seven are already dead.
"There's no more 'honor' in the mob. As bosses get arrested, leadership drops to low-level street guys. Nobody knows who's boss, who to report to, today they run drugs. We never did that. Today they're all thieves. Say a street hood shakes down an adult bookstore for about $8,000. He reports $5,000, so he only gives his captain the $500 share. They don't keep their word. Rules used to be, 'made' guys never fooled around with other guys' wives. No more. And if you went 'away,' they'd take care of your family. No More. Nobody paid my wife a quarter. It's no longer an honorable lifestyle.
"Before, when a guy was made, it was a lengthy initiation. The bloodlines, both parents, had to be traced to Italy. You had to be vouched for. You had to rob, kill or maim before you were proposed for membership. Today the code of honor is gone."
Right. Killing and maiming is no longer an honorable profession.
- - - - - - - - - -
I'm actually inclined to believe Cindy Adams. Despite the rag that she works for (see today's OWNED NYPost miscalling Kerry's Veep nominee), she's usually dead on with her stories. And considering the state of most of the record labels these days, it's safe to assume that thugs operate/run the hip hop labels. B.I.G. vs. Tupac Shakur is but one example (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0303356/).
July 6, 2004 --
A GRADUATE of the mob, who's done time in the can and the Witness Protection Program, a wiseguy who's monitored by the FBI, says: "The mob runs the music industry today."
He also tells me: "And what our boys are also heavily into is the stockbroker racket."
Avalon has just published the new book, "Born to the Mob: The True-Life Story of the Only Man to Work for All Five of New York's Mafia Families," The "Man" is Frank Saggio.
His hello to me was: "How'd you get my number . . . nobody supposed to have this number."
A few phone calls down the line it was, so where are you now, Frank? "Away. I'm away."
And your business now? "Legit, but I'd rather not say what."
And how did you ever get nerve to leave the mob?
"Listen, in this life, if you can finagle a little you can do anything. The big crime is being stupid."
Is he scared "they" eventually will come after him?
"I have some worries. Am I living in fear? Sometimes. But my gun shoots bullets, too. If I run into one of them, they gotta know I'm takin' them with me."
What's he know of the trial currently ongoing at Brooklyn federal court?
"Mob boss Joe Massino's on trial. He owns a caterer on the island. He does all the catering and coffee trucks in New York. Everybody got to buy from him. He gets big from the whole industry. His brother-in-law, Salvatore Vitale, is ratting him out. When the 'Family' split, one Massino hit was the murder of my Uncle Philip 'Lucky' Giaccone. I know them all. I've been questioned several times. Would Vitale like to find me now? Yes! He knows the FBI is monitoring me.
"Do I like Vitale? No. But he's smarter than Massino. He'll only do a few years. Massino's going away for a long time and deserves whatever he gets. The death penalty isn't enough. He killed more guys than cancer. All they make him out to be is true."
Did Saggio himself ever kill anybody?
"No. But if I had to under orders, I would have. Guys with no brains did the killing. I was into schemes, stock frauds, shakedowns, although I never stole from a legitimate person. Make money for them and you don't have to kill.
"The mob's into everything today. Take record labels. Take the whole music industry. It's run big-time by wiseguys. Our people own nightclubs. Rappers need help starting out. They borrow from wiseguys and our guys get their first foothold. We're into boxing, horseracing not thoroughbreds, trotters. Hollywood. A star like Steven Seagal was being shaken down by the Gotti group.
"And we really got our feet in the door with banking and stocks. Brokers are basically thrill seekers. Degenerate gamblers. They get high off risks. A deal goes bad. The broker needs money. He books bets. We get our hooks into him."
Watched and monitored when he was in the Witness Protection Program, how did he get his book done, since he didn't do the writing himself?
"Took a couple of years. I'd have phone conversations with the writer I met through my attorney. I'd leave where I was staying to go so-called shopping. At the mall I'd buy a phone card, go to a public phone and stay on it for hours. If you're smart there's always ways. I wanted the story out. Things being said weren't accurate. There were misconceptions. I got small children and I wanted then to know the truth.
"Truth is, this is no glamorous game. Ninety percent of the mob is broke. Foot soldiers are not, like on 'The Sopranos,' driving $100,000 cars. Capos do not go to shrinks. If they did they'd only make one visit before they got done in. New guys are always coming up but if you make the big-time then you only got two ways to go jail or dead. Of the 10 ushers at my wedding, seven are already dead.
"There's no more 'honor' in the mob. As bosses get arrested, leadership drops to low-level street guys. Nobody knows who's boss, who to report to, today they run drugs. We never did that. Today they're all thieves. Say a street hood shakes down an adult bookstore for about $8,000. He reports $5,000, so he only gives his captain the $500 share. They don't keep their word. Rules used to be, 'made' guys never fooled around with other guys' wives. No more. And if you went 'away,' they'd take care of your family. No More. Nobody paid my wife a quarter. It's no longer an honorable lifestyle.
"Before, when a guy was made, it was a lengthy initiation. The bloodlines, both parents, had to be traced to Italy. You had to be vouched for. You had to rob, kill or maim before you were proposed for membership. Today the code of honor is gone."
Right. Killing and maiming is no longer an honorable profession.
- - - - - - - - - -
I'm actually inclined to believe Cindy Adams. Despite the rag that she works for (see today's OWNED NYPost miscalling Kerry's Veep nominee), she's usually dead on with her stories. And considering the state of most of the record labels these days, it's safe to assume that thugs operate/run the hip hop labels. B.I.G. vs. Tupac Shakur is but one example (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0303356/).