The Last Don: The Godfather Who Turned Rat

A

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Amazing offer, really.

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I hit a button on Carvana.com once. Okay, that's fair. It's like the lottery, except you always win. Not like the lottery at all, actually.

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Pick up fees.

A

May apply 1992 New York City the crack wars are reaching their zenith. The murder rate has been setting records the last few years, and the city is awash in violence and drugs and crime. And most of the five Mafia families that rule New York City's underworld are not doing well. Seven years earlier, the bosses of four of the five families are indicted in the historic Mafia Commission trial by the feds. After prosecutor Rudolph Giuliani declares war on them, bosses all make succession plans to turn over their families to the next generation so that the show can go on when they eventually end up in prison. Well, except for the boss of the Gambinos, who was taken out by his own family before he can even get to prison. Now, Years later, in 1992, let's just say the next generation of mob leaders are not exactly doing a great job in the Lucchesis. Friend of the POD Anthony Gaspipe Caso has Led his family into internal destruction and is now on the land from law enforcement. In the Colombo family, a rebel faction led by the acting boss is going to war with the imprisoned actual boss. Kicking off the so called third Colombo war. Mobsters are getting gunned down left and right as former friends and partners turn on each other. Things are also going quite poorly in the Gambino family where bossman and usurper of the throne, John Gotti is going to trial, his underboss serving as a witness against him as he pretty much runs his family, once New York's strongest, into the ground. And the legendary boss of the Genovese family, Chin Gigante, he's walking around the village in his bathrobe, shuffling back and forth to courtrooms and nuthouses, pretending to be insane to beat his cases. While all this is going on, the forgotten Bonanno family is preparing for the release from prison of their boss, Joey Massino, the so called last Don. You see, the Bonanno family had already been left for dead by the feds and everyone else even before the commission trial. After decades of internal conflict and an FBI undercover fiasco memorialized in the Hollywood blockbuster Donnie Brasco, the Bonanno family was not only kicked off the Mafia commission that rules the underworld, but also left alone by investigators who already assumed that family was dead in the water and no threat to the public. But Joey Massino may just have what it takes to bring it back. The 49 year old is very respected, not only in his own family, but across the mafia world. A place he been a major player for the last 15 or so years. High level stuff. Now he's set to be released from prison at a pretty fortuitous time for a Mafia don. Under the radar, ignored by your rivals and by law enforcement who are all heavily focused on each other. Over the next five years, Massino will rebuild the Bonanno family, long regarded as the red headed stepchild in New York City's organized crime world, into the most powerful family and himself into the most powerful mobster in the country. He'll take the Bonanno family from being kicked off the Mafia Commission to ruling the commission. And eventually he'll shock the entire underworld by doing something no boss has ever done before. This is the Underworld Podcast. Welcome back to the Underworld Podcast, the only international organized crime podcast that dares to ask the question the Mafia, what's, what's up with that? We are two journalists who have traveled all over the world reporting on this sort of stuff. And now every week we bring you a New story of international organized crime. Hundreds of episodes touching every country in the world, pretty much every gang, every mafia and everything else. So if you don't like this one, just go back. You know, you'll find one that you dig. I am Danny Gold. I am usually joined by Sean Williams, but he is not here. He's actually in Cuba seeing a man about a horse or some such thing. Actually, if I was the Cuban authorities, the last time a cute little writer from Argentina showed up, things got a little hectic there. So maybe. Maybe keep an eye on that guy. I don't know. Can we. Can we joke about that? Does the regime have a sense of humor? I guess there's really only one way to find out, isn't there, Dale?

B

I'm guessing no. But hopefully Sean can disguise himself well enough.

C

He'll.

A

He'll figure it out. So, of course, as you're seeing right now, instead of Sean, I am joined by handsome man and podcast editor extraordinaire, our editor, Dale Eisinger, who not only edits this show and now others, I think write a bunch of others, but also makes all the music for the shows and the shorts he made the theme song. I mean, Dale, what else can you do? What can't you do?

B

What. What can't I do? I can't manage my finances very well. I can't make good career decisions, obviously. I can't establish healthy boundaries. You know, I'm just that kind of mess. Also, note, like, Danny has notes here to introduce me. I've known him for almost 20 years, and he's got my name misspelled in here, which is amazing. Very rich, given he owes me money today. But you know what? We'll leave that. Okay.

A

Okay. Don't. I don't owe you money. Underworld LLC owes you money, and it was a day and a half late and you got paid, so don't getting all uppity once we put you on camera.

B

You know what? Now I'm the talent. I can do this sort of thing.

A

We also look like either the worst XC dealers in Miami or the worst band ever, right? It's just this one, two combo.

B

We look like a cover band in like a. In like a Key west beach bar

A

that will also sell you cocaine.

B

Yeah. Bum farts out, you know?

A

Yeah. Yeah. Basically, as always, bonus episodes@patreon.com world podcast or on Spotify or iTunes. Underworldpod.com for the T shirts, get a few for your pals, for your buds, and The Underworld podcast. Gmail.com for ads. Ad Inquiries, compliments, if you want to send us stuff, story ideas. All that major correction from two weeks ago. I said the Triads founding story reminded me of the beginning of Liquid Swords, which is moronic because the whole time the little kid narrator is mentioning like samurais, the shogun, ninjas. It's clearly Japan and not China. Just, you know, holes in my brain. And unlike the absentee Sean Williams, I'm not racist against Asians. I know the difference between the various cultures. So my bad on that one.

B

It's hilarious to me that even a correction for the show comes with like an attack on Sean, who, given he's not here to defend himself, is probably as racist as you're describing. We may never know because he could be in Guantanamo right now.

A

Honestly, he would lead into that. And I wrote this episode thinking it was going to be him. So there are a lot of other attacks on him that he can't defend himself on. But you know, he'll get me back next week, I'm sure if he makes it out of Cuba.

B

He rarely defends himself as it is.

A

Yeah, it's true. He usually leans into it, which is, you know, good for the bit. But let's, let's get into it, you chooches. Joe Messino is born in the working class neighborhood of Maspeth, Queens in 1943. Now, Dale, you actually know Maspeth. It's only a few blocks away from that strip club Sean was kicked out of. And then we had to hang in the parking lot with that guy who kept saying he was on the run from being wanted in Canada. You might have gone home already by that point, but that's the location. If you continue down like eight more blocks, that's where you hit Maspeth.

B

Why can't you name it? It's pumps.

A

We've got pubs they haven't sponsored, they haven't sponsored us, so I'm not going to give them free publicity. But yeah, we're very mean to Sean. Very mean.

B

They've been very mean to a few of our friends, but that's true.

A

Deservedly so.

B

Masspath is basically a neighborhood that's a whole loading dock.

A

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Anyway, Joey has two brothers and his dad is a fruit vendor, which is very 1940s, 1950s Queen's upbringing. He drops out of high school his sophomore year and get job at a catering company owned by his friend's uncle. His friend's uncle happens to be Philip Rusty Rastelli, who takes a liking to young Joey, and Rastelli, who Also grew up as Matt in Masspate is a capo in the Bonanno crime family, which is one of the five families in New York City. The Bonanno is at that point the smallest of the five families, but still highly organized. And although not as powerful, as big as the Genoveses or the Gambinos, still major players in the organized crime scene in New York. In 1960, he marries a woman, Josephine Vitale. Last we'll hear of her, a girl from the neighborhood. And becomes fast friends with her brother Sal. In 1966, rally starts the Workmen's Mobile Lunch association, which is basically. He takes control of all the food cart and snack trucks and mostly Brooklyn, Queens and Nassau County, Long Island. I think it was like, you know, coffee and sandwiches, no halal guys back then, but just the kind of places that you put under, like outside of work, like a manufacturing place or construction site, things like that. They still have those. They sell drinks, they sell like sandwiches, candies, terrible stuff. Apparently back then they dubbed them roach coaches, which is pretty gross. So Rastelli and his goons do exactly what you think they would do. They demand protection money from the operators of these carts. You know, your classic extortion scheme, tried and true method the world over. The cart operators would then get a designated route and protection from the other people looking to extort them. Rastelli also controls the depot where these guys buy their supplies and their food and all that, and would force them to buy his stuff, their stuff through his association. So he's making money, like hand over fist with this. Joey Massino starts operating one of these trucks, uses it as a base of operations to run money lending and illegal gambling for Raelli. Massino also gets high in his own supply because he balloons up to 250 pounds at only 5 foot 9. An FBI agent will later remark that he ate too many of his own sandwiches and donuts, which is the funny thing for an FBI agent to point out. I think it was time for him to seriously consider salads. And he eventually earned the nickname Fat Joey, which is just a tried, you know, tried and true mobster classic.

B

I think the only better one is Fat Tony.

A

You know, just Fat Tony is like number one.

B

But you see my display name here? Fat Dale.

A

Yeah. Is that. You're going to use that up there? That's pretty. It's pretty solid.

B

I'm just gonna. I'm just gonna keep that for my. For my next meetings as well. We'll see how it goes down for

A

your other podcast now, while Massino is kind of fattening himself up in hocking sandwiches. Something much greater is happening in the hierarchy of not only the Bonanno family, but the entire mob in New York. I think we've talked about this before in previous episodes, but a quick refresher. Joe Bonanno, head of the family, was the top boss in the country. But in 1962, his closest ally on the commission, Joe Profaci, another 5 family boss, dies of cancer. This leaves Bonanno as the only original 5 family founding boss still in the game. Do we have to. The commission?

B

Right.

A

I think we have to explain that. Do you know what that is?

B

What is this, like, mobster board of directors? Sorry, I don't pay attention to this show at all.

A

It is the mobster board of directors. It's when New York divides itself, I think in the 30s. I should really know this by heart by now. 30s and 40s divides itself into five families that oversee specific areas. And each of the families has a boss who sits on the commission where everything is decided. So they won't go to war with each other or go to war themselves. And they can kind of like, essentially, yeah, have a board of directors that decides who gets what. You know, hits have to be sanctioned. Everything basically like that. And it's. You know, this essentially creates the New York Mafia as we know it. So Pravachi is. Is Bonanno's buddy on it. He dies, and his death suddenly shifts the power in the commission to the duo of Tommy Lucchese and Carl Gambino. Again, Lucchese family. Gambino family. That's who they're named after. Who are so closely aligned that Gambino's son marries Lucchese's daughter. I know there's a lot of names here, boys, but they're like the names, you know, so we're gonna. We're gonna keep them in. Further weakening. Bonanno's position is that his cousin and the boss of the powerful Buffalo crime family is annoyed at Bonanno for trying to grow his family in Toronto. He was looking to expand, which the cousin views as his backyard. So Bonanno kind of, you know, is on the outs. He tries to make some moves. He tries to install Profaci's underboss as the new head of the Profaci family. But Gambino and Lucchese block him on the commission. So Bonanno responds by planning to take out the Lucchese and Gambino bosses with the rejected Profaci underboss. So he can take over, which is an insane move, right? It's a war on the bosses. The five families in the Commission basically go into war with each other, which is exactly what the Commission was established to prevent from happening. They give the hate contracts to the Provoche Captain Joe Colombo, another famous Mafia. Again, I know a lot of names, but that little rascal, he turns around and rats them out to the Commission. So the Commission calls a meeting where Bonanno and the Provachi underboss are summoned. Pavace underboss shows up and confesses to the crimes. He gets banished and exiled. Bonanno does not show up. He tells his son, who's his consigliere, that he's now in charge of the New York operations. And he goes on the lamp. He also kind of does it in part to duck an indictment. The entire Commission turns against Bonanno. Of course, he was going to kill them. Colombo is appointed the head of the Profaci family. The Genovese family sides with Lucchese and the Gambinos, thinking that if, you know, one mob boss defies the Commission, well, the mob basically ceases to exist. And they can't have that. Not only that, but during his disappearance, the Commission starts to rally Bonanno old timers against the son and his allies, because they aren't exactly pleased that this kind of nepo baby son is appointed as the family leader.

B

And this kind of like, hangs over the Bonannos forever. Right. I kind of remember that. The other families think they're unstable and embarrassing and, like, bad for business.

A

Yeah, for. For decades. Which is why Joey Messina, what he does is such a. Such a sort of big turnaround and really impressive thing. So you guys, are we following this here? Basically. But I know f family of which Joey Messina is an underling and his boss Rastelli, a bit more of a player, they're falling apart.

B

Yes, I'm spiritually aligned with this.

A

Now, Rastelli, the man who Messina hooked his young Mafia career to, he sides with the insurgents who are backed by the Commission against the Bonanno loyalist and the Bonanno son. In early 1966, an assassination attempt is made on Bonanno's son under the allure of a peace deal. But he survives. And the media dubs the Bonanno family war the Banana Wars. Banana wars. Because it's, you know, it's bananas. It's just crazy, this Mafia family tearing itself apart. In May 1966, Bonanno appears at a federal courthouse in Manhattan to deal with the Indictment he had ducked years prior, telling the courthouse that he was actually just kidnapped for two years, which, you know, he wasn't within the Mafia stuff with the other families. He basically concedes defeat. He accepts exile. The Commission decides to give him a pass because he's a founding father, in a sense, and promises to never get involved. He promises never to get involved in mob business again. He and his sons and a couple loyalists move to Arizona, which, you know, Elvis country.

B

I was kidnapped for two years is so good. Like, I'm gonna use that all the time. You know, why don't you pay your taxes? You know, anything.

A

It is also crazy that they let him go without him. And the underboss, they just didn't kill them. They just let them off the hook, which is a pretty wild. I mean, they were not known for being merciful, especially in this period.

B

So did they just. They just thought they were kidnapped for two years? They just took him at the word. I don't.

A

No, no, they knew he wasn't, and they knew he wanted to make a move against them. They were just, I guess, in a forgiving mood or they, like, respected the fact that he was one of the original founders of the Commission and led him off the hook with being sent to Arizona, which, you know, some people think is worse than death.

B

Yeah.

A

A new boss is named, and the kind of banana wars fizzle out. But not before Joey Messino does his first murder. He's asked by Colombo crime associate to help him out. Take out a Bonanno family associate over personal dispute. It is an unsanctioned hit, which is a big deal to do. But in 1969, Massino commits his first murder. It's under the radar, though. It's not supposed to happen. And Restelli, he asked Messino, who is his protege, about the murder. Massino denies knowing anything. So, yeah, the banana wars kind of work out a bit for Messino because not only does he get away with this murder, but his mentor, by picking the right side, is also moving up the Bonanno family hierarchy and becoming more powerful. And it pays off for Rastelli when he's named street boss in 1971. A few years later, the actual boss dies. And in 1974, the Commission officially names Rastelli as the official boss. So, I mean, if you're joining with Cino, this is like, right where you want to be, right? Your mentor is literally boss of one of the five families after you've been working out of a food truck for like, 10 or 15 years.

B

And this is kind of how he. He forms his M.O. right? He's, like, keeping quiet, denying staying useful, and letting everyone else around him be, like, louder than he is. Just kind of hiding it in the shadows.

A

Yeah. Sharp guy. Very sharp guys. We're going to find out. The 1970s are also the golden age of hijackings in New York City. I'm talking truck hijackings, though. I think it was also the golden age of airplane hijackings, too. There's a good book about that. Come on. I mean, you guys have seen Goodfellows. You know about the truck hijacking. There's, like, five or six major hijackings a week. Messino's up there with the best in the game. By the mid-1970s, he's known by the feds as somewhat of a hijacked king. Based on informant tips, the Fed suspect Messino's involvement in some really big heist. We're talking $2 million with a Kodak film, $500,000 cargoes with the clothing headed to Saks Fifth Avenue, $100,000 worth of coffee. And these are early 1970s numbers. So big, big money. It's also really interesting how they just stole all these different products and, like, figured out how to move them. You know, like, where do you go with a hundred thousand dollars worth of coffee, $500,000 worth of clothing? Maybe you sell it out, but. But, like, Kodak film, you know, who are you selling it? I guess corrupt stores. Maybe they're. They're shipping it over to. To TJ Maxx or B and H. I don't even know. But it's. It's. That element of it, I think is really fascinating, working out that part of the business, because hijacking itself is not complicated, right? You block a truck, you stick a gun in the driver's face, you take their stuff. But Messina likes to hijack by working out beforehand with the truck drivers, who they would either pay off or they would have gambling debts to the mob they needed paying off. Sort of like my offers to Kalshee for podcast ads, which is, you know, not coming through. But it's a very Jimmy the Gent sort of move that he does. Like, he works it out. But the key to Messina success is that when you hijack a truck, you need to find a warehouse to get rid of the load before the cops get to you, because, again, like I said, you got to move a lot of product. You can't just instantly sell this stuff. So you drive the truck to a concealed warehouse, break it up into Vans and go on your way. Messino has a network of concealed warehouses, especially in the industrial section of Maspeth, which is his home base, which as Dale pointed out, is known for basically just being loading docks everywhere. I think nightclubs now too, and stuff like that.

B

At least the one nightclub, you know,

A

there's a couple I feel like over there right in that area. Is that even considered maspet, though?

B

It's all I see is pumps. That's all I'm saying anyway.

A

Messina also has an excellent network of fences, the people who move the stolen goods. Because of his networks, he starts offering his services to other hijacking crews, becoming a middleman and somewhat of a clearinghouse for stolen goods. Massino even becomes pals with another up and coming Mafia hijacker by the name of John Gotti. And they soon become neighbors when he and his family move to Gotti's neighborhood of Howard Beach, Queens. And just a little bit on Massino's personality. There's a quote from the Five Families book by Selwyn Rob, which we reference all the time when doing American mob stories and is one of the main sources for this quote. Over a 30 year span, every agent and prosecutor who matched wits with Joe Messino was impressed by his disarming politeness and photographic memory. And like many Mafio see, he never snarled defiantly at lawmen when arrested, interrogated or put on trial. Massino was soft spoken, unruffled, often jovial. His retention of details was awesome. Years after agents questioned him, he recalled their names and even, even the license plate numbers of the unmarked cars in which they trailed him. A lawyer who represented Messina was impressed by his grasp of complex legal issues and his recall of numerous points discussed weeks earlier. Whenever he went in the underworld and upper world, he generated respect.

B

He genuinely sounds like a sociopath to me. Just kind of like modifying his, his personality for whatever situation is appropriate. Killing people, like the first killing he does, sort of. No one tells him to do that, you know, and then he's just like, he's a Ted Bundy type to me, you know, a little, little crazy. It sounds like he's.

A

He does seem a lot better than a lot of these other guys that are operating in that period who are like just psychopaths who can't even like maintain a conversation. You know, what better violence with everyone?

B

What do you mean better?

A

He seems like, in terms of like his personality. He's jovial. People enjoy hanging out with him. He's not killing. He's not killing everyone left and right. He didn't get that rep. Not yet. Not yet, so. But he is clearly a very bright guy, well liked even by law enforcement and beloved by other mob guys, especially in the Bonanno family, which, you know, it's not the usual case for mobsters. They're not usually Mr. Congeniality. Usually these guys are pretty gruff guys, right? Pretty gruff figures, as we've seen in other episodes. But, yes, he is still a savage killer, but a joyful one, Right? This quote from a cop about an informer named Ray kind of echoes that about Messino. Ray was a monster, a psycho. Not afraid of anything. Yet he was scared to death of Joey for good reasons. Messino seemed very gregarious. He could talk a dog off a meat wagon, only he would then kill the dog. Which is an incredible way to describe someone and kind of lends itself to your point, no?

B

Yeah, exactly. Well, I mean, the psychos are afraid of him. Who are the only people scarier than psychos? Sociopaths. But I also want to say that Danny and I are anti dog killing. For the record, Sean, pro dog killing. We might never know.

A

You have, like, what, three rescues right now?

B

Two rescues.

A

I have two, but put them on camera right now.

B

It's really hot. They're. They're knocked out.

A

It's. It's so hot, dude. Massino does his second mob hit, his first Official1 In 1976, when he takes out a loan shark cigarette smuggler who owed him 9K and wasn't paying. Another mob hit Messino does in this time period is for the future Gambino boss, Paul Castellano, where he helps John Gotti take out Castellano's daughter's boyfriend, a Gambino family associate, for insulting the future don. Apparently, he said Castellano looked like Frank Perdue, the chicken guy, although Sammy the Bull later says it was because the guy was trying to extort his daughter for, like, $200,000 because he had a blackmail video of her presumingly doing something sexual, which is an insane thing to do to a guy who's, like, super high up in the Mafia. You're basically asking for it at that point. In 1976, Rastelli, the boss of the family, is sent to prison for 10 years for extortion and antitrust violations. Massino, who had become a made member in 1977, then becomes his official messenger, relaying his orders from prison to the rest of the Bonanno troops. But Rastelli's prison sentence is only one of the issues facing him, because the other concern is Carmine Galante. Galante had just gotten out of prison after serving 12 years of a 20 year sentence for drug trafficking. Before Galante went to prison, he was a major player not only in the Bonanno family, but also in the American mob in general. He was not only Joe Bonanno's consigliere, an official underboss, unofficial underboss before he went to jail, prison, but he was also the American mob's main point person for importing heroin from Sicilian mobsters. He was actually in Palermo in 1957 with Bonanno as his main advisor to negotiate with the Sicilians, which is. You know, we've talked about the French Connection a million times. They've gone to details about it. Plenty of you guys know it by now.

B

A little Dale lore here. Just this always cracks me up, the movie the French Connection. My nana stopped going to movie theaters from 1971 until she died last year because she thought the French Connection had too much profanity in it. She was like, I'm not doing this anymore.

A

This is good. We do need more Dale lore. What would you think about you hosting the editing this podcast now? Would you be very upset about it? I mean, our language isn't that bad, but. But the topics, the topics.

B

I think near the, near the end of her death, she was more open to.

A

She joined the Mafia.

B

Be amazing trafficking quilts.

C

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A

Did you know Sam's Club isn't a store? It's actually a club with cool finds. And like a whole community. It's a club. Of course, Jason. It's in the name.

C

Sam's Club.

A

Oh, yeah.

B

Come join us. Sam's Club.

A

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C

Upfront payment of $45 for three months, $90 for six months, or $180 for a 12 month plan required $15 per month equivalent to taxes and fees. Extra initial plan term only greater than 50 gigabytes. Me slow when network is busy. See terms.

A

This Galanti is a Mafia heavyweight, and when he gets out of prison in 1974, he expects to be named boss. And he views himself as Joe Bonanno's rightful heir. But it doesn't go that way because Roselli takes over as boss, and obviously Galante does not love that he's not happy. And he is a killer rumored to have been involved in between 80 to 100 murders. Now, with her Stelli locked up, Galante sees an opening and starts making moves to basically take over the family. First, he steps up his drug deals with the Sicilians, trying to up his money flow. He also designates himself as the rent collector, the sole American mob guy entitled to franchise fees from Sicilians operating inside the US and he refuses to share this money with the other families. He also imports a bunch of Sicilian mob guys to strengthen his ranks and serve as his bodyguards. He then infuriates the other mob bosses of the other families by muscling in on their narcotics business, especially the Gambinos, who Galanti thinks stole his business when he was in prison. Galante also does unsanctioned mob hits and basically tells the commission to fuck off, also telling everyone that he's on his way to becoming the boss of bosses. So it's a very, very Richie April type of character. Dale, if you can follow that.

B

Absolutely.

A

This is in like the mid to late 70s. And in 1979, Galante learns of Messino's trips to jail, to prison to visit. I keep saying jail, prison to visit. Rastellian summons summons him for a meeting. Galante orders him to stop seeing Rostelli and cut him off. But Massino replies, quote, it's like my uncle, he raised me, he baptized me. I can't abandon him. And we know this because Messina relayed the conversation to his brother in law Sal, his closest confidant and someone who himself is also working his way up in the Bonanno family. Massino also admits to his brother in law Sal that he fears Galante, who is a legendary psycho. So kind of the site the moderate psychos fear the sociopaths who fear the legendary psychos. Basically is how the chain of, of things work.

B

The latter fears antisocial personalities.

A

Yes, yes. He fears that he might have him taken out. But before that can take place, Rastelli has Messino deliver a quest to commission. He wants them to okay a hit on Galante and the commission they're pretty receptive to the idea of taking him out since he's been ignoring them and encroaching on their businesses and also telling people he's going to be the boss of bosses. And on July 12, 1979, Galante is gunned down on the patio of an Italian restaurant by three men in ski masks. Two of his most trusted bodyguards are, are there, but they kind of, they turn on him. And it's one of the most famous mob hits out there. I think if you look, there's a famous photo of it. He's in a pile of blood and has a cigar in his mouth. Massino was actually nearby, something of a plan B in case something went wrong.

B

That photo is crazy. He died as he lived, smoking a cigar at a restaurant. But also, you could see he's wearing a pinky ring. It's so boss. It's so boss.

A

Yeah, yeah. I mean, these guys, you know, they look the part, they, they were the part. With taking out Galante, Restelli cements his role as boss, but he is still locked up. He immediately elevates Messino to capo and appoints a different old timer capo as acting boss. But it's understood by everyone in the family that Messino is actually the guy. It's not a bad rise for the 46 year old Masino from the 1960s version of a halal truck guy to Mafia powerhouse in like a decade and a half.

B

I thought you said there was no halal man. You got to get your story straight here.

A

There wasn't, but it's like I'm using a modern day reference point for everyone to understand what this was. Although I feel like I'm. It's not that complicated. He worked out of a food truck, he sold sandwiches. Like, it's not that complicated. I don't have to paint a picture. You know what I'm saying? I just like the idea for some reason calling him a halal guy.

B

You know, it's a specific thing.

A

Yes, yes. Alas, the peace in the Bonanno family does not last long, as it never does. By early 1981, a rebel faction led by three capos who are not happy with the leadership of the family, and especially not happy with Rastelli being an absentee boss start causing chaos. So you've got the three capo rebels on one side, the Rasterly loyalists on the other side, led by Joe Messino, and then you got a bunch of the family in the middle waiting to see how it plays out. The commission warns the Two feuding parties to avoid bloodshed and work out their problems, fearing that renewed violence is bad for Mafia business, which it is. So the feuding sides, they have a couple of high level meetings and sit downs, you know, meetings of the mind to try to work out their problems. Behind the scenes, though, the other Mafia families are backing different sides of the dispute. Joey Messina and his faction are getting backing from the Colombos and the Gambinos, while the sneaky Genoveses are backing the insurgents. But you can kind of see, like, even with the Commission and all this sort of stuff, these guys are constantly backstabbing each other. They're constantly fighting over power. It's just, you know, all that Mafia unity, all that stuff is just complete and utter nonsense. And this story, as we'll find out, if you guys don't know what happens to Messina, what he does is like the epitome of how all that honor code, coda, science almost stuff is just complete nonsense, which is something we brought up not just with the Mafia, but with a lot of gangs and cartels and organized cries, I think repeatedly on this show. In the spring of 1981, a Colombo soldier who is friends with Messino brings in the news that the other faction is loading up on weapons and preparing to take them out. Which is just, you know, Mafia stuff in old New York, man, even the 80s, it was just wild, like legit, just going to war rooms full of guns, loading up to go do hits. Just crazy stuff. So Massino turns to his pals on the Commission, the Gambino and the Colombo bosses. They tell him to do what needs to be done, basically giving him permission to just go buck wild. So there's also a bunch of native Sicilians in the family. They're a big faction that are not aligned with anyone. Yet Messino is able to get them on his side. And the leader of the Sicilians has spent time in Montreal before and is tight with the Rizzuto family, which at that point is the biggest crime family and Mafia in Canada. We've done a Rizzuto family episode a while back. It's great. If you haven't heard it, they're. They were like the sixth family of the New York mob at this point. But they end up growing much, much bigger and going international to a degree that these guys pretty much don't. Anyway, the Bonanno New York Sicilians get the Rizzutos to send them some shooters from Montreal, including Vito Rizzuto, who's the son of the current boss at that time in the future Donna. Canada. And eventually one of those powerful mobsters, not just in Canada, but in the entire world. But for right now, he's a shooter. So the plan is hatched. And if you've seen Donnie Brasco, you know about this, right? Major plot point. One of Messino's guys actually recommends Donnie Brasco to participate in the hit, wanting him to play a big role. From the Five Families book. Quote, Messino instantly vetoed the suggestion. Presciently, he had earlier advised his crew members to stay clear of Brasco, forbidding them to even sit at the same table with him at weddings and social gatherings. He might be bad, said the suspicious Messino, which, the guy was sharp. I mean, that's pretty good foresight by Messino because a lot of other guys didn't. Didn't think so.

B

I recently watched Donnie Brasco and I got to the end and I was like, so he's just a narc?

A

Like, yeah, he's. He's an arc.

B

But why do people think he's so cool? Like, mostly the mafia movies, everyone's like, oh, the Godfather, he's so cool. But like, Donnie Brasco's not cool, dude.

A

He had great outfits, but he's not cool.

B

He's a narc, man.

A

Like, yeah, but he brought that. I mean, this is. The mob were not nice people during this situation. You know, this is like the brutal 70s, 80s, 80s mafia. And the kind of. What I like about the movie, it really shows the reality of these guys, like, scrounging for cash, knocking over parking meters. Like, it's. It's not. Doesn't really glamorize it, I would say.

B

Yeah, that's true.

A

A lot of other mafia movies have. Have done.

B

They're all losers.

A

Yeah, yeah, they. They don't look that cool. So a sit down is scheduled in an after hour spot owned by the Gambino family, a neutral site. On May 5, 1981. The three rebel capos and two neutrals arrive. And suddenly four men in ski masks, three Canadians, and Messina's brother in law Sal, jump out of the closet and start shooting. They kill all three capos immediately afterwards. Like, immediately. The Sicilians from Canada go back to Canada, and different goons who are waiting outside as backup shooters come in to deal with the mess and dispose of the bodies. So things are looking up and up for the Bonannos at this point, right? Stability returns. All their problems are gone, and they can get rich and get back to business. Except, of course, you know, the whole Donnie Brasco thing, which in the summer of 1981, the undercover agent just blows it wide open.

B

Saying things are on the up and up after a triple murder is pretty funny.

A

I mean for that, for their, you know, for, you know, clearing out clearance bad guys. But you're right, it's, it's like I said, brutal. Brutal times. The head of Donnie's crew, who basically brought him in, is killed with Messino ordering the execution. Messino also orders the execution of a couple other people who had helped bring Donnie Brasco around. It's messy, it's bad for the family, but again, silver lining. Messino also cements himself as the boss man with it, right? He took out the three rebel capos, a couple other high ranking guys who brought in Brasco. So he's at the top without much company. But the commission with all the messiness. Civil war undercover agent. They basically kick out the Bonanno's from the five families. But Massino, fully in control, also transitions into being more of a big time racketeer and away from the hijacking business, which have become too dangerous and just turned to a crap business. You know, it's no place for an old man, 40s, 50s, that sort of thing.

B

50s, I think now hijacking is a young man's game, like skateboarding or journalism. It's too bad podcasts weren't a around then. It's a pretty seamless off ramp from any failed career. Just look it up.

A

Pretty. Pretty much. Pretty much, yeah. In March of 1982, Messino learns that he's gonna be indicted for several charges related to the Brasco fallout. Where indictments are flying around left and right because obviously guy was undercover for a couple years. So he decides to go on the lamb. He goes to the vacation home of parents of a young Bonanno family. Family associate in rural Pennsylvania, the Poconos, a couple hours outside the city. Maybe it was beautiful Mount Airy Lodge, maybe it wasn't. Who is to know? In July of 1982, he's hit with a RICO charge for being a conspirator, but not an actual participant in the three Capos murders. He's hiding out for a while and a year after he goes on the lam, Restelli, the official boss of the family, gets out on parole. But even when he gets out, Messino is still acting as essentially the head of the family. Rosselli seemingly doesn't mind that his protege is now basically running the show again. He's really old now. Apparently he's just tired of the life and is happy to take a backseat Messina finally returns to New York in July of 1984 to surrender. So a good 28 months hiding out, which is crazy. Must have been bored out of his mind. Didn't even have reels to scroll for like seven hours a day. Just a New York Italian, you know, stuck in the woods, Poconos probably. Not much going on, Lots of deer, I don't know. In that time, his lawyers had had time to study the court proceedings of a bunch of other Bonanno family members who had been indicted in those cases. And his lawyers basically study the cases and reckon the evidence is weak. So Massino goes back figuring after figuring this out, makes bail. And a year later he's indicted on some more charges, this time with Restelli on union racketeering and extortion. Then shortly after that, he gets hit with an additional charge, and this one is conspiracy to commit murder for one of the earlier mob hits. Masino makes bail again, this time a $1 million bail. And he goes to trial in the spring of 1986. Great time for the Mets for the union case. And gets convicted, though he beats a murder charge. Says the Five Families book, quote patting itself on the back. The FBI looked with pride at the convictions of the Bonanno's upper crust. The boss raised Ali and Massino, who had officially been appointed underboss, were behind bars. And the bureau classified the Bonanno family as crippled and of dwindling importance. Supervisors and agents prepare to move on to larger mob priorities throughout the late 1980s and early 1990s. In prison, Messino keeps on running the family through his brother in law Sal, who he promotes to Capo. Rastelli, who had been sick for a while, dies in 1991 and Massino officially becomes the boss of the Bonanno family. He gives Sal a bunch of basic new instructions. No new made members are promoted. Capos without his consent, no soldiers can be transferred different crews. Also tells them never to show any weaknesses to other families and defend yourself at all costs. And that he should buddy up to Gotti, who would become the boss of the Gambino family after killing Paulie Castellano. And remember, have been a good friend of his. When Messino finally gets out of prison in 1992, the Bonanno family is actually in decent shape compared to most of its rivals. As we discussed in the cold open, Giuliani had gone out there, the other four families and pretty much decimated them. And the Bonanno's having kicked out of the commission, basically left for dead after the Civil War. And the Donnie Brasco events. Right? So you've got Massino. He's only 49, fresh out of prison, and he's finding New York a lot more wide open than it's been in some time. He also used his time in prison to study the RICO cases that had brought down the other big bosses, learning what mistakes to avoid. Right. When he gets out of prison, he orders the shutdown of, like, their little social clubs, you know, when he realizes they were a gold mine for surveillance.

B

See, this is. This is exactly what prison is for. Continuing higher education, adult literacy, and, of course, converting to Islam. And this is where he could be halal.

A

Yeah. And studying. Studying what not to do from. Actually, it's a smart. I don't know, people do that. Studying what not to do from other criminals who do what you do, which is like a genius. Got a lot of free time, you might as well pour through, through federal cases. Another thing he does is he insulates himself. He decentralizes the family structure. He's got a tight crew of capos that each oversee a major racket without knowledge of the others and report indirectly to him. He tries to tightly restrict the flow of information to capos on a need to know basis. The capos deport, report directly to Sal, who he elevates as his underboss. Also, because he's on parole for the next two years anyway, he's not supposed to associate with known wise guys. And since Sal had actually never been convicted of a mob crime and is family, he thinks he's the best bet for messenger. The capos also pay their money owed to Messino through Sal for added security. He takes a play from Vincent the Chin Gigante Genovese boss, and tells his family that you can't say his name and only points your ear when you want to refer to him.

B

This is like how people fear to say my name. They just point to their crotch so bad.

A

So bad. You're really, like. You're really falling to Sean's role here. Very, very, very well.

B

Just the heel. The total.

A

Just the terrible jokes. Not the heel. Just. I mean, my jokes aren't much better, but. So Messina, like, becomes this really careful guy, right? He doesn't even meet. He doesn't think that meeting with other families and having joint businesses, it's too much exposure. He bans most of the joint projects with our families. He pulls one cop off a major mob committee dealing with units and construction jobs and has another copper walk away from the gas tax scam, which we've talked about. Before it's one of the biggest mob moneymakers ever. So that's how serious he is about, like, keeping things secure and within the family and being cautious. Like, he's really meticulous, really careful about trying not to give the Feds anything. He also does things like set new, strict rules for guys being made. He pressures couples to have their sons become maid and join their crews, thinking that, you know, they're more familiar with the mob life and families will be more loyal. He even tells the family to stop referring to themselves as the Bonanno family because Joe Bonanno had disgraced the family by shenanigans, which include writing an autobiography and giving TV interviews, which the Feds actually kind of use in the commission trials. He wants them to be known as the Massino family now, which kind of makes no sense when you're the guy who doesn't want them saying his name at all, but then wants them to replace Bonanno with Messino. So a little, little contradictory right there at this point. He's basically trying to be the opposite of his former pal John Gotti, who is all about headlines and just talking non stop. He tells the brother in law, Sal, quote, he broke every rule in the book. John destroyed this life. John set us back 100 years. And what he did to Paulie, I would never have done. Messino also shuns going to any Mafia, Mafia social event. He won't go to wakes, he won't go to funerals, weddings, baptisms, nothing. He misses out on a lot of big ziti.

B

What? No fucking ziti?

A

There you go. See, that was good. Sean would have picked up on that. That was.

B

Yeah.

A

Nicely done. Nicely done.

B

There we go.

A

So into the mid-90s with all these new rules and cautiousness, the Manannos are quietly rebuilding, doing the usual mob brackets, but also getting to video poker machines, building up sports betting, stock stuff. Although Messino actually discontinues taking baseball bets by the late 90s because Messino says that he's getting killed by the Yankees, which might be the smartest thing a mobster's ever done. Just a hell of a role, a run in the 90s. I mean, you had to, you had to be there. They were, they were just fantastic.

B

So Paul o' Neill did more damage to the mob than Giuliani.

A

It's a, it's a toss up. Giuliani did some damage, but Paul o' Neill was hidden. Dangerous, baby, all the time.

B

All the time.

A

Mariano Rivera just decimated the mob, man.

C

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B

Welcome to the I Can't Sleep Podcast with Benjamin Boster.

A

If you're tired of sleepless nights, you'll love the I Can't Sleep podcast. I help quiet your mind by reading

B

random articles from across the web to

A

bore you to sleep with my soothing voice. Each episode provides enough interesting content to hold your attention, and then your mind lets you drift off. Find it wherever you get your podcasts. That's I Can't Sleep With Benjamin Boster.

B

If you sold somebody a loaded gun who you knew was in a vulnerable state and they shot themselves, I think it is murder. Just because you're using the Internet doesn't mean you get away with murder.

A

I'm Damon Fairless, host of Hunting Warhead.

B

This season I take you inside the business of suicide and the places desperate people go when they can't find what

A

they need in the real world. Hunting the Suicide Salesman available now wherever

B

you get your podcasts.

A

By 1998, Massino has established himself as close to the preeminent Mafia don of the era because the top administration of basically every other family is in jail or or going to jail, and the other families are just in a state of chaos. All of Massino's counterintelligence strategies seem to be holding so far, and while the other families had turncoats left and right, no Bonanno made member had flipped since Massino took the reins. The New York Times actually gets a hold of Messino on the phone around this time. They call him up at his show job of working as a caterer and in response to asking him if he's the boss of the Bonanno's, he replies, I don't believe there is such a thing as the Mafia. A bunch of Italian guys out to eat and they say it's the Mafia.

B

This is so sick. Like incredible stuff here. Like the Times just calling him at work. Hello, may I speak to the Don? No, no, no. He's replacing the Sterno cans right now. Like he's working as a caterer. It's insane. It's so funny.

A

It must have been nice back in the day, right? Just giving these guys a call after getting a number, people picking up the phone, no caller id. Now we're just stuck dming Dominican drug lords, helping their responders, watching organized crime members go on mouth breather podcasts to indict themselves. Just what. What a world we're living in.

B

Wait, are we a mouth breather podcast? Did you find a peptide that fixed your mouth breathing?

A

We are not. I don't. Mouth breathing. We are not a mouth breather podcast, my friend. We are, we are for the. The sophisticated, intelligent listener, basically. But yeah, what he's saying to the New York Times reporter is that that's what you would call anti Italian discrimination.

B

Exactly, yes, yes.

A

Anyway, the press of the time, they start referring to him as the last dawn, which seems like a bit of an exaggerated superlative. You still had other dons out there, but not that far from the truth, really. It's 1999, 2000, and by then, things have changed so much. Fat Joey actually starts calling commission meetings, acting like he's the boss of bosses. Remind you, this is what, 15 years, 20 years after they've been kicked off the commission. The FBI, though, is on to Messino by now, realizing that he's rebuilt the family when they weren't looking and that the Bonanno's are now the most powerful family in New York organized crime. And that not only are they doing the usual mop brackets and. But they're innovating, doing stuff like getting involved in stock market scams. They start corrupting brokerages, firms. They're doing pump and dumps and all that jazz, you know, making sure their guys push with Bistics.

B

With Bistics is the pick of the

A

week there is what I do. This is what I need you for. I can't count on Sean to pick up on this. He'll be like, oh, I think. Is there Sopranos references in this episode? Like, yeah, Sean, the entire episode is non stop Sopranos references. It's American Mafia story. What do you want me to do? Not make constant Sopranos references?

B

I'm watching football or cricket or rugby.

A

Throw a cricket reference in or something about darts. Tough game for England today, but they pulled through, so congrats on that, Sean. Yeah, they were down late to Congo. Anyway, things get dicey when Massino orders the murder of one of the top Canadian Sicilian guys he had been working with, the Rizzutos. Main guy in New York, a former major ally. Massino thought he was questioning his leadership too much. And growing too independently powerful. And the relationship with the Rizzutos actually begins to really strain around that time because the Rizzutos were becoming way too powerful due to their involvement in major international drug trafficking schemes and were less interested in being some sort of like pygmy family to the bananas. Massino actually orders the murder to look like a drug deal gone bad, to point away from the family because he's, you know, a little nervous about them. In 2001, Messino sends word to Montreal with a proposal he thinks will bring the Montreal mob back into the fold. He offers to make Vito Rizzuto a captain in the Bonanno family and the official head of the Montreal branch of the Bonanno family, which is the Rizzutos. Rizzuto at this point, though, they have a big international profile. They have little interest in the Bonanno family in the streets of New York. He kind of politely declines. And this basically is the end of the New York Montreal mob connection. The Rizzutos have just grown so big, they don't really need them at this point. And then the feds start moving in RICO cases against top capos. Some of the younger soldiers get involved in drugs and the DA moves in on them. Some of them even start talking. But Massino's isolated cell style leadership seems to hold the lead. Federal prosecutor says that the case that the investigators, quote, search and hope for evidence to entangle Massino but are unable to find a shred against him. The prosecutor also concludes by saying the other families were in mass confusion and. But it looked as if Messino had shored up his internal structure. Massino, however, he's still not taking it easy. He starts leaving the country to go on vacation, usually Mexico with his top capos and their wives. And he thinks these vacation covers will work. And he's confident the feds won't surveil them while they're abroad. Which kind of makes me wonder why this wasn't tried before. Though I guess they did do it in Cuba, right? For big time meetings, right? Just leave the country, head to Mexico or the doctor.

B

Just Bermuda even, you know, it's such a good idea. And wives welcome at the Expression Retreat, Ballroom B. Like, touch.

A

You gotta keep the wives happy, you know, Take them to Acapulco, take them to, to the doctor. Like, what a. What a move. Like, why didn't they think of this ahead of time? But the feds don't back down. His brother in law, Sal, number two, at that point, he gets arrested in long island for a RICO charge, mostly loan sharking and money laundering. Sal pleads guilty. He gets around four years, but this investigation doesn't touch Mosino either. Then in early 2002, a top Messino capo and someone who is essentially the acting insiglieri gets arrested on a host of charges. But he pleads guilty, gets 11 years. Another goes down for a stock pump and dump. The top leadership is starting to crack as the feds pick him off one by one BY1. On October 2002, the Acting Underboss and other top capos, some already in prison, get another massive RICO indictment. Some are facing life. And they finally flip. And the only family that seemed like it actually had omerta starts breaking it. Everyone is talking. And then right in the first week of January 2003, Massino gets arrested and hit with a slew of charges, including the Donnie Brasco related murder charge of the capo who brought him in. Massino is at first pretty confident he can beat the case. The feds don't have a ton of evidence besides, you know, mafia turncoats, which usually aren't seen as the most reliable narrators. But then the final nail drops. His brother in law, Sal, who had been his number two for a while, knew everything. He flips when he starts hearing that Messina was actually going to have him whacked, which he assumed maybe because he thought he might talk. And this is kind of the death knell for Messino because Sal was by his side for decades and knows everything. And after Sal flips, a bunch of other mafiosos flip as well. And now Messino faces seven murder charges up from the original one and a host of new charges like he's done it is a wrap. He goes to trial in the summer of 2004 and is found guilty. And then in a move that shocks the underworld and the feds, Massino himself, the boss of the family, was some saying the most powerful boss in the five families at that time. Flips. He secretly records two jailhouse conversations with the person he appoints his underboss, right, his successor. Basically, he had been potentially facing the death penalty. Instead, because of flipping, he only gets life. And the feds cut his wife a financial break. They let her keep, I think a million dollars. But yeah, he becomes the first boss of one of the five families to turn government witness.

B

That sucks, because the. It's going to be devastating that the title of this podcast is First Five Families Boss to Flip. But, you know, that's the legacy you leave. The wake of Podcasts in your.

A

Yeah, you just get badmouth by a guy in a Hawaiian shirt and stupid sunglasses on a podcast for. That's what happens if you snitch. That should be the warning to all of them.

B

Yeah. Quite a legacy.

A

That title is terrible. We're gonna have to maybe actually put that in. We might. The first. That's actually not a bad idea. We'll see what happens. And this is, this is the thing about Joey Messina, right? He's not some low level soldier caught on a drug case. He was the boss of the Bonanno family, one of the five families of New York. Like the most well known, respected, like giant legacy of organized crime in America. Close to the world. I guess maybe the Sicilian coastal maybe

B

has a little bit more.

A

A man who had built his entire life on silence and loyalty. The man so careful that for years no one around him could say his name out loud. The last don, the man who built back up the Monado family. And then he sits down with the feds, gives up murders, gives up secrets, and even wears a wire on his like young protege under underling. Kind of a death knell too. Not just for him, but for the five families. Right. It's not just the Bonannos. It goes back to something we've talked about a few times, a lot of times, how the whole omerta loyalty thing, it's not just in the mob, but in organized crime in general. All this stuff is mostly bullshit. People in the life, they end up killing their friends just as much as their enemies. Usually they betray their. Their family, their brother in laws, all that sort of stuff. Just the reality of it, you know. So the epilogue is that In June of 2013, he's released as part of his deal. I think it was a compassionate release sort of thing. I think he was sick. But he lives the next 10 years in the witness protection program at a nice retirement community.

B

And here it is for you. It's not a nursing home, it's a retirement community.

A

There you go. But it's crazy he ended up getting out, which is always weird to me too when like you have the ball. The guy at the top of the organization, he cuts a deal to get like the young, the little. Isn't the whole point you get the little guys to get the upper guys. But I guess this wasn't him. I guess, no, he did get out of. He did get out of prison. So it's just always wild to me when that sort of works out when like you get the guy at the top and you Cut him a deal to get the other guys. You know, I guess if you don't get that much time off and you actually bring down the rest of the organization, it's worth it. But it always struck me as like a little. A little bit of a funny thing anyway. Yeah. And. And there you have it. Remember patreon.com the Underworld podcast bonus stuff. Email us underworldpod.com for T shirts and our podcastmail.com and Dale, man, happy birthday. Thanks for coming in. I'm glad the fans got to see, you know, who, who makes this work. And, and you're a handsome guy, great facial hair. And we're, we're happy to have you, bud. Join us. Come back anytime.

B

I'm. I wish I. I wish I had a choice.

A

What do you think? What do you think your. Your rapport with Sean would be? Oh, try that one episode. See what happens.

B

We've done one before. We. We just made up this. I remember now. We just made up this thing where you're obsessed with Drake and we just kept referencing.

A

That was not fun at all.

B

It was very funny to us. It was very funny.

A

Terrible bit.

B

Yes.

A

Well, you guys work on a better

B

one, you know, I guess. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

A

Anyway, thank you guys for tuning in. Dale's the best. Go listen to his music. Aren't you in band? What's your band? You want to shout out your band?

B

Yeah, we're called Tiny Gun. We, you know, there's a. Whatever. Go. Go find the tiny gun from New York City, you know.

A

All right, that's it.

B

We're.

C

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