Lowdown on Life of an Underboss: "Nicky Mouth" Santora
COSA NOSTRA NEWS EXCLUSIVE
Interview with Belinda Rossetti
Belinda, give us a shout if and and when you see this!
Interview with Belinda Rossetti
Belinda, give us a shout if and and when you see this!
Because they do exist - they are not a figment of David Chase and Jerry Capeci's imaginations.They are not characters on TV shows or in films. Men who hold rank -- bosses, underbosses, consiglieris, either official or acting -- are human beings who get out of bed one foot at a time.
Frequently, they go to prison and die there. Sometimes they die in their own bed of natural causes....
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| Belinda Rossetti (message to her: Belinda, get in touch with me when you can...) |
We met recently with Belinda Rossetti, a lovely dark-eyed bella donna who works as a paralegal for a high-powered attorney.
Quite easy on the eyes, she is also a hotblooded New York Italian who has met a cadre of wiseguys, some of whom she has gotten to know, er, quite well. (She is publishing a book soon; thought I'd toss that out.)
Among the wiseguys she knows is Nicky "Mouth" Santora. Belinda was willing to tell us about him -- meaning her personal experiences with the man. What's more, she did so on the record, not hiding behind anonymity.
First, some background on Nicky "Mouth" Santora. He was underboss of the Bonanno family when Belinda was with him; he may have since lost the title. Capeci, for one, refers to him as "former underboss."
Santora was born on June 21, 1942, in New York, the son of Modesto Santora, a soldier for Colombo underboss Joseph Magliocco. Santora became a made man along with mobsters Dominick "Sonny Black" Napolitano, Benjamin "Lefty" Ruggiero and Joseph "Big Joey" Massino in the mid 1970s.
In time Santora became capo of Napolitano's old crew, when "Sonny Black" was taken out for bringing "Donnie Brasco" into the family. Santora was just settling into his new promotion when he was thrown under indictment due to testimony provided by undercover Fed Joe Pistone. About 100 Bonanno mobsters in all went on trial and were convicted. Santora, along with "Lefty" Ruggiero, Antonio Tomasulo, and Anthony "Fat Tony" Rabito, would be convicted for illegal gambling racketeering, distribution of narcotics and conspiracy to distribute narcotics in the mid 1980s, receiving an 8- to10-year prison sentence. Joseph Massino took over as boss in August 1991.
Upon Santora's release in 1992, he created a partnership with newly promoted Bonanno acting consigliere, Rabito, to pull in funds from extortion, loansharking, illegal gambling, drug trafficking and money laundering operations in Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx, throughout the mid 1990s.
Quite easy on the eyes, she is also a hotblooded New York Italian who has met a cadre of wiseguys, some of whom she has gotten to know, er, quite well. (She is publishing a book soon; thought I'd toss that out.)
Among the wiseguys she knows is Nicky "Mouth" Santora. Belinda was willing to tell us about him -- meaning her personal experiences with the man. What's more, she did so on the record, not hiding behind anonymity.
First, some background on Nicky "Mouth" Santora. He was underboss of the Bonanno family when Belinda was with him; he may have since lost the title. Capeci, for one, refers to him as "former underboss."
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In time Santora became capo of Napolitano's old crew, when "Sonny Black" was taken out for bringing "Donnie Brasco" into the family. Santora was just settling into his new promotion when he was thrown under indictment due to testimony provided by undercover Fed Joe Pistone. About 100 Bonanno mobsters in all went on trial and were convicted. Santora, along with "Lefty" Ruggiero, Antonio Tomasulo, and Anthony "Fat Tony" Rabito, would be convicted for illegal gambling racketeering, distribution of narcotics and conspiracy to distribute narcotics in the mid 1980s, receiving an 8- to10-year prison sentence. Joseph Massino took over as boss in August 1991.
Upon Santora's release in 1992, he created a partnership with newly promoted Bonanno acting consigliere, Rabito, to pull in funds from extortion, loansharking, illegal gambling, drug trafficking and money laundering operations in Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx, throughout the mid 1990s.
Longtime Bonanno consigliere Anthony "Tony" Spero was indicted in 2001 for assorted mob mayhem and was sentenced to life imprisonment. Toward 2003, indictments were again handed out, this time to both Massino and Vitale. Because of this, Santora got another bump and was promoted to acting underboss in 2003.
A thousand stories have been written about the fates of Vitale, Massino, Vincent "Vinny Gorgeous" Basciano and other members of the Bonanno family.
Despite the testimony of Joseph Massino in 2005, Santora was not touched and managed to slip under the government's radar -- until he was indicted along with Rabito, and 17 others in a loansharking and illegal gambling operation that stretched from Brooklyn to Queens, Manhattan to Staten Island, bringing in a smooth $210,000 a week from January 2003 to July 2004.
Since February 13, 2007, Santora has been the reputed underboss of the Bonanno family (although, as noted, Capeci calls him the former underboss). Vincent Basciano remains the reputed boss, and Rabito the reputed consigliere. Santora was released from the Loretto Federal Correctional Institute in southwest Pennsylvania on September 16, 2009.
Then last December Santora, now 70, got 20 months behind bars for extortion, plus associating with mobsters while on release for a prior conviction.
Interestingly, not every Mafia underboss of today lives the kind of life you'd expect. Indeed, Santora certainly doesn't. According to Rossetti, he sounds more like a brokester, if you ask me. [UPDATE: I found confirmation for my speculation on this point. None other than Joe Massino seems to agree. According to a New York Times article: "At another point in the conversation, Mr. Massino called Nicky Santora, a Bonanno underboss, a 'brokester.' He testified that that meant he 'ain’t got any money,' would borrow from people and 'just forgets to pay.'"]
A thousand stories have been written about the fates of Vitale, Massino, Vincent "Vinny Gorgeous" Basciano and other members of the Bonanno family.
Despite the testimony of Joseph Massino in 2005, Santora was not touched and managed to slip under the government's radar -- until he was indicted along with Rabito, and 17 others in a loansharking and illegal gambling operation that stretched from Brooklyn to Queens, Manhattan to Staten Island, bringing in a smooth $210,000 a week from January 2003 to July 2004.
Since February 13, 2007, Santora has been the reputed underboss of the Bonanno family (although, as noted, Capeci calls him the former underboss). Vincent Basciano remains the reputed boss, and Rabito the reputed consigliere. Santora was released from the Loretto Federal Correctional Institute in southwest Pennsylvania on September 16, 2009.
Then last December Santora, now 70, got 20 months behind bars for extortion, plus associating with mobsters while on release for a prior conviction.
Interestingly, not every Mafia underboss of today lives the kind of life you'd expect. Indeed, Santora certainly doesn't. According to Rossetti, he sounds more like a brokester, if you ask me. [UPDATE: I found confirmation for my speculation on this point. None other than Joe Massino seems to agree. According to a New York Times article: "At another point in the conversation, Mr. Massino called Nicky Santora, a Bonanno underboss, a 'brokester.' He testified that that meant he 'ain’t got any money,' would borrow from people and 'just forgets to pay.'"]
Lacking a basic fashion sense, broke enough to have to borrow money from his lover, he was certainly no John Gotti -- but then no one was, except John Gotti.
Santora is almost a comical, tragic figure as Rossetti recalls moments with him.
"For an underboss, Santora didn't fit the bill," Rossetti told me. "He wore cheap suits, pants that were about two sizes too small and cheap jewelry. One time he was at my home and we were talking -- and his waist was so tight the button popped off his pants. I started laughing. He says, "I don't know how that came off.'"
She added: "He'd wear an old, velour sweater under a suit jacket - it just didn't go. In one of the photos from his arrest, he's wearing a jogging suit. You can see the same velour shirt with a V-neck under the jogging suit...it doesn't go."
One evening at dinner he wore a baby blue plastic watch. "Something you'd see at a Walmart or Kmart on those tables for $10," Rossetti said. "It had huge 'diamonds' all around the face. I wondered when I saw it, why he would do that? Did he think it looked like real diamonds? It actually wasn't funny.
"I felt bad for him. That's all he knew...hustling. But he had no money. He still owes me $1,000. The only think Nicky had was his name associated with the Bonanno family, and Donnie Brasco. People fear Nicky but he's nothing without a gun or some uneducated Knockaround Guy standing beside him.
"He lived with a 'girlfriend' and supposedly they were engaged for years. He lived off her. Nicky told me her ex-husband is a doctor, hence the money."