Nicholas “Nicky Skins” Stefanelli, the Gambino soldier who wore a wire for the G-men until committing suicide earlier this year, once was charged by federal prosecutors for his alleged role in beating a black man in a landmark civil rights case.

On September 30, 1972 the victim, Robert L. Chavers, was eating at Ed’s Diner in the white North Ward section of Newark, NJ, and Stefanelli and two other reputed Gambino mobsters allegedly beat him because they did not want black people at the eatery as reported in a March 8, 1975 article (“2 Are Guilty of Violating Civil Rights of a Black“) for The Associated Press.

Stefanelli and the two others, Robert Bisaccia and Louis Fulco, were charged by the United States Task Force Against Organized Crime with violating the victim’s civil rights under the public accomodations statute, and the case represented the first time that the Task Force had used the law against reputed mobsters in New Jersey.

A hung jury resulted in a mistrial against the trio, and the charge later was dismissed against Stefanelli although his co-defendants Bisaccia and Fulco pled guilty during a second trial against them.

Stefanelli, previously convicted on heroin trafficking and truck robbery charges, was a busy beaver for the FBI in recent years as he secretly recorded meetings with alleged mobsters from the North Jersey crew of the Philadelphia Mafia, the New England Mafia and his own Gambino family.

Last February the 69-year-old Stefanelli took his own life in a hotel room with a drug overdose two days after whacking video poker machine vendor Joseph Rossi as reported by the Daily News.  Apparently, the bloody drama played out after Stefanelli developed remorse over wearing a wire for the feds against his paisanos, and he blamed Rossi who previously snitched for his predicament.

After every big mob bust some paper runs a lame story about the waning days of the Mafia.

Over the last year the feds have been picking off reputed Patriarca mobsters for their alleged roles in extorting strip clubs and other businesses in Providence, RI, and this time — yes, really, this time for sure — the final nail has been driven into the crime family’s coffin as reported by Milton J. Valencia for The Boston Globe:

No more than 30 made, or sworn-in, members make up an organization that in its heyday was more than 100 strong, law enforcement officials say. Investigators, legal observers, and court records describe an organization that continues to erode, as made members and associates abandon the code of silence and cooperate with investigators. The younger crop is addicted to drugs, and the older, wiser members have either died or have gone to jail, officials said. “This is not your father’s Mafia,” said Massachusetts State Police Detective Lieutenant Stephen P. Johnson, who oversees organized crime investigations as head of the Special Service Section.

The predictions by some about the end of a particular mob family — or even the Mafia generally — are about as silly as the claims by others that there never was such a thing as “this thing of ours.”

Of course a mob family can have its ups and downs depending upon a number of factors ranging from the strength of  its leadership to pressure from law enforcement.  However, Anthony Cardinale  — a criminal defense attorney who has represented former Patriarca bosses  Francis “Cadillac Frank” and Gennaro Angiulo — aptly notes that “as long as there are criminals who need protection, there will be organized crime”:  “‘As long as there’s drugs going on, and bookmaking, there will always be a mob,’ he said. ‘Even with all the risks involved, there will still be somebody policing the bad guys, and that’s what the mob guys do.’”

Even the FBI on prior occassions has naively predicted the waning days of the Mafia.  Of course, infamous director J. Edgar Hoover denied its very existence for decades.

Following the record bust in January 2011 of more than 120 suspected mobsters involving seven Northeast Mafia families the FBI promptly declared victory over the Mafia, and in the New York Field Office  recklessly slashed the number of agents assigned to the crime families as then reported by Jerry Capeci for The Huffington Post:

Six weeks after the feds loudly proclaimed that they are still pursuing mobsters with a vengeance, the FBI has quietly cut the number of New York squads that investigate the notorious Five Families. There used to be five, one for each. That’s been cut to just three. It’s not just re-organizing either. The total number of mob-busting agents is also cut by some 25 per cent, Gang Land has learned.

Mob watchers and mob busters were shocked by the FBI’s inexplicable move.   After all, there’s still 700 made guys and 7,000 mob associates in NYC, the Genovese crime family continues to operate unscathed, hundreds of unsolved gangland hits still haunt the streets, and billions in mob money parked in real estate and business fronts remains unrecovered.  Mission accomplished with so much left on the table?  Hardly.

Indeed, to the extent that the FBI has made some inroads with some families — i.e., Bonanno, Colombo, Lucchese — its own agents fear that the cut-and-run mentality now pervading management at the storied agency simply will allow the ever-resourceful, ever-evolving mobsters to regroup as reported by Josh Margolin for the New York Post:  “Sources inside the FBI and other federal agencies told The Post they fear the shakeup will let the families regroup.”  After all, it’s called organized crime for a reason, and numerous previous reports on the demise of the Mafia always have been greatly exaggerated in retrospect.

By “the end of the last century, prosecutors and FBI officials all too frequently proclaimed that even the mob’s sacred stronghold in New York was crushed” as reported by Selwyn Raab for The New York Times in commenting on the January 2011 record roundup:

[I]n the early 2000s the Justice Department dropped Cosa Nostra investigations as a priority, reassigning hundreds of agents to antiterrorist units. In New York, the linchpin in the F.B.I.’s crusade against wise guys, the number of agents and Police Department investigators assigned to battling the five families in combined task forces declined to about 100 from a high point of 450. Last [January's] indictments demonstrated how effectively the borgatas had regrouped.

Gratuitous declarations about the death of the Mafia ignore its fundamental character which is to exist as an organic entity independent of individual members.  Raab further writes:

Above all, though, the mob’s ability to survive is a legacy from Charles (Lucky) Luciano. He was a brilliant criminal executive who created the framework, culture and ground rules for the American Mafia 80 years ago. Luciano realized that other ethnic gangs were loosely organized, usually involved in just one type of crime and easily obliterated when their leaders were imprisoned. Hence his cardinal principle: the organization — the family — was supreme and not reliant on a single individual or one racket. Whenever a boss or a capo was removed, a replacement would be waiting in the wings to keep the loot flowing. * * * There have always been, and always will be, ambitious, greedy wise guys who are willing to risk long prison sentences for the power and riches glittering before them.

For the FBI to have taken their eye off the Mafia over the last decade was nothing short of reckless which cost billions of dollars to the legitimate economy and incalculable heartache to its victims.  Indeed, “organized crime is like a chronic disease,” and “if it is not managed and controlled, it will kill us” as reported by Edwin Stier for the New York Post:  “We must be honest with ourselves that it will always be there, and we must be willing to devote the resources necessary to keep it in check.”

The end of the Mafia?  Someday, perhaps.  Like when world peace is declared and the lion lays down with the lamb.  Until then, wake up and smell the coffee.

The Colombo family was a principal target in the January 2011 FBI raid against the Italian Mafia in the Northeast, and on Friday the feds announced that with the exception of reputed soldier Ralph Scopo Jr. it has wrapped up the case as reported by John Marzulli for the Daily News:

Scopo, 63, claims he is suffering from liver failure and thus is too sick to stand trial on extortion charges relating to the Cement and Concrete Workers Union Local 6A, according to court papers.  He was scheduled for trial in January but Brooklyn Federal Judge Kiyo Matsumoto adjourned the trial date Friday until April due to his claims of deteriorating health.

Friday otherwise was marked with guilty pleas from the five remaining defendants in the Colombo case, and in a press release the FBI took a victory lap as reported by AFP.  However, the Bureau may have reached too far by expressing its “optimism” that the Mafia “will become a thing of the past”:  “‘The dwindling strength of all five La Cosa Nostra families is cause for optimism that their pernicious influence in various industries — and their violence in pursuit of that influence — will become a thing of the past,’ said FBI assistant director-in-charge Mary Galligan.”

Predictions about the end of a particular mob family — or even the Mafia generally — are about as silly as the claims by others that there never was such a thing as “this thing of ours.”  Of course a mob family can have its ups and downs depending upon a number of factors ranging from the strength of  its leadership to pressure from law enforcement.  To the extent that the FBI has made some inroads with some families — i.e., Bonanno, Colombo, Lucchese — its own agents express no doubt that the ever-resourceful, ever-evolving mobsters will regroup particularly after the Bureau slashed the number of agents assigned to target the wise guys as reported by Josh Margolin for the New York Post.

After all, it’s called organized crime for a reason, and numerous previous reports on the demise of the Mafia always have been greatly exaggerated in retrospect.  Anthony Cardinale — a criminal defense attorney who has represented former Patriarca bosses  Francis “Cadillac Frank” and Gennaro Angiulo — aptly notes that “as long as there are criminals who need protection, there will be organized crime” as reported by Milton J. Valencia for The Boston Globe:  “‘As long as there’s drugs going on, and bookmaking, there will always be a mob,’ he said. ‘Even with all the risks involved, there will still be somebody policing the bad guys, and that’s what the mob guys do.’”

By “the end of the last century, prosecutors and FBI officials all too frequently proclaimed that even the mob’s sacred stronghold in New York was crushed” as reported by Selwyn Raab for The New York Times:

[I]n the early 2000s the Justice Department dropped Cosa Nostra investigations as a priority, reassigning hundreds of agents to antiterrorist units. In New York, the linchpin in the F.B.I.’s crusade against wise guys, the number of agents and Police Department investigators assigned to battling the five families in combined task forces declined to about 100 from a high point of 450. Last [January's] indictments demonstrated how effectively the borgatas had regrouped.

Gratuitous declarations about the death of the Mafia ignore its fundamental character which is to exist as an organic entity independent of individual members.  Raab further writes:

Above all, though, the mob’s ability to survive is a legacy from Charles (Lucky) Luciano. He was a brilliant criminal executive who created the framework, culture and ground rules for the American Mafia 80 years ago. Luciano realized that other ethnic gangs were loosely organized, usually involved in just one type of crime and easily obliterated when their leaders were imprisoned. Hence his cardinal principle: the organization — the family — was supreme and not reliant on a single individual or one racket. Whenever a boss or a capo was removed, a replacement would be waiting in the wings to keep the loot flowing. * * * There have always been, and always will be, ambitious, greedy wise guys who are willing to risk long prison sentences for the power and riches glittering before them.

For the FBI to have taken its eye off the Mafia in the United States over the last decade to chase down terrorists across the globe was nothing short of reckless which cost billions of dollars to the legitimate economy and incalculable heartache to its victims.  Indeed, “organized crime is like a chronic disease,” and “if it is not managed and controlled, it will kill us” as reported by Edwin Stier for the New York Post:  “We must be honest with ourselves that it will always be there, and we must be willing to devote the resources necessary to keep it in check.”

In fact, notwithstanding takedowns against the Mafia, the Genovese family remains largely untouched as reported by the New York Post:

“They remain a very powerful group,” agreed Jack Garcia, a legendary FBI undercover agent who posed as moneyman Jack Falcone to infiltrate the Gambino family for three years beginning in 2002. The Gambinos have dropped to No. 2, he said.  In the Genovese family, you really don’t have that many defectors. They’re still very entrenched in the unions and construction industry,” Garcia said.

Moreover, hundreds of unsolved gangland hits still haunt the streets and billions in mob money parked in real estate and business fronts remains unrecovered.  Mission accomplished against La Cosa Nostra with so much left on the table?  Hardly.

Mark Rossetti, the Patriarca capo who moonlighted as an FBI informant, was sentenced on Friday to 12 years in prison after pleading guilty to loansharking and extortion charges as reported by Milton J. Valencia for The Boston Globe.

Last July Rossetti was convicted for orchestrating a home burglary to steal drugs and money, and he got 7 to 9 years in prison, and then earlier this year was sentenced to 12 years after pleading guilty to heroin trafficking.

The sentences on his string of convictions will run concurrently.

Rossetti was charged in October 2010 by the Massachusetts Attorney General with running a 30-member crew, and he remains a suspect in six murders according to the State Police.

A six-person team from the Department of Justice currently is investigating the FBI’s Boston field office over its use of Rossetti as an informant.

Joseph Ruggiero Sr. is celebrated in Fall River, MA as a job-creating businessman who is saving the local economy but Col. Steven O’Donnell, superintendent of the Rhode Island State Police, “said in a September interview that Mafia investigators have identified Ruggiero as a ‘made man’ in the New England La Cosa Nostra, based on interviews with Mafia associates” as reported by Jo C. Goode for The Herald News.

Ruggiero and one-time Patriarca boss Frank Salemme “go way back” according to O’Donnell.

Some city officials have raised concerns over the relationship between Ruggiero and Fall River Mayor Will Flanagan, and question the “judgment of the board of directors of the Fall River Office of Economic Development which unanimously voted for Ruggiero’s position as an at-large member” as reported by Jo C. Goode for The Herald News.

Meanwhile, Mayor Flanagan, a former state prosecutor, “soundly defends” Ruggiero whom he “describes as ‘a self-made billionaire’ who coaches Little League and donates to charitable organizations” as reported by Jo C. Goode for The Herald News:

“Mr. Ruggiero is in his late 60s, and to date, he’s never received even a speeding ticket. This was a very in-depth (FBI) criminal investigation, and there have been several very in-depth criminal investigations into organized crime, both in Rhode Island and Massachusetts,” Flanagan said.  “At no point, even in the documents that you have, has he ever been alleged to commit a crime. At no point has he ever been charged with a crime and no point has he ever been convicted of a crime. I’ve spoken to Mr. Ruggiero about these allegations when I first met with him, and I’ve even spoken to him about these allegations as late as yesterday (last Thursday). He has definitively told me that he has never been involved in any wrongdoing.”

Speaking of Salemme, trial continues in a Boston court against Enrico Ponzo for his alleged role in the 1989 murder attempt against Cadillac Frank during a family squabble, and among those who testified yesterday for federal prosecutors was Vinnie Federico who recounted his mob induction ceremony which was secretly recorded by the FBI as reported by Laurel J. Sweet for the Boston Herald:  “on the tape played yesterday, convicted wiseguy Biagio DiGiacomo reminded Federico his service to the mob was for a whole lot longer and warned him, ‘you can never get out alive.’”

Enrico Ponzo is on trial in a Boston federal court for his alleged role in the 1989 murder attempt against Francis P. “Cadillac Frank” Salemme during a power struggle in the Patriarca family.

Ponzo was living on the lam as cattle rancher Jay Shaw in Marsing, ID for sixteen years until his apprehension in 2011, and both the prosecution and defense are using his flight to bolster their respective cases as reported by Jamie Grey for KTVB.  The government alleges Ponzo went into hiding to evade justice, and the defense insists he fled to save his own life.