Before his long prison sentence for conspiracy to murder Gambino boss John Gotti, Louie “Bobby” Manna served as consigliere to Genovese crime family boss Vincent “Chin” Gigante. A New Jersey-based mobster who came up through the Genovese family’s Greenwich Village crew, Manna was known for being rigid about how the Mafia should operate. Sammy “The Bull” Gravano, then a senior member of the Gambino family, dealt with Manna in the 1980s. Gravano recalled a meeting where the two families discussed Carmine Persico’s proposal to admit in court that the Mafia existed.
John Gotti sent Gravano and others to get Manna’s opinion on the matter. Gravano said Manna was absolutely opposed to the idea. “Absolutely and totally not. We don’t agree with that.
You cannot admit that there’s a mafia,” Gravano recalled Manna telling them. Manna was also described as someone who refused to discuss business deals and instead stuck to his role as consigliere. Gravano remembered Manna telling him and Frankie: “I’m not going to discuss business and business deals. All I discuss is goes to the boss.
I’m the consigliere. That’s all I talk about. I’m not interested in businesses or anything like that. ” Gravano noted Manna was very strong with his crew.
Johnny “Joe” Senese, a Bonanno crime family mobster, was the driver in the 1999 murder of powerful Bonanno member Gerlando “George from Canada” Sciascia, a hit ordered by family boss Joe Massino. According to former Bonanno associate Frank Fiordelino, Senese showed remorse about his involvement in the killing. Fiordelino met Senese in jail and described him as a good guy and real nice guy, saying he seemed remorseful about the Sciascia matter. He believed Senese felt misled by Joe Massino, a feeling shared by many others, especially after Massino cooperated with the government.
When asked about the street reaction to Sciascia’s murder, Fiordelino said there was none. He explained that by that time, the powerful Sicilian figures of the past were gone. “It died with the hit on Bonventre and a couple of people the pizza connection cases,” he said, noting that many young mobsters grew up without those powerful figures in their lives, as they were either in jail or dead. Michael “Mickey Boy” Paradiso is a Gambino crime family mobster with a fearsome reputation.
Mafia lore claims he once punched John Gotti in the face during his early career, and in recent years he was rumored to be the Gambino family’s consigliere. Paradiso spent several lengthy prison stretches, and on one occasion served time with future Bonanno captain Dominic Cicale. Cicale recalled his time in Allenwood prison with Paradiso, Louis “Louie Sheep” DeLuca, and others. He said these men did not try to steer him away from a life of crime; instead, prison served as a recruiting ground where they saw a man’s true colors.
Cicale described a group of 20 to 30 made guys from different crime families who were all laughing and joking with each other. Cicale said Paradiso had another nickname in prison: Attila the Hun. Although Paradiso looked out of shape and older, he was strong and solid, and had no feeling in one arm. “He would hit you with that arm, not even realizing the power behind it.
It would hurt, and he would feel no pain because he had no feeling,” Cicale said. Despite that ferocious reputation, Cicale described Paradiso as a sweetheart who could laugh at himself. He recalled how the inmates would joke with Paradiso, calling him “Superman” because he was so solid. Paradiso would jokingly plead, “All right, don’t tell him I did that.
Don’t tell him I did that. He’ll get me. He’ll get me,” which Cicale found hilarious. Salvatore Catalano was a Bonanno crime family mobster sometimes described as the head of the family’s Sicilian-born faction.
Along with Cesare Bonventre and Baldo Amato, Catalano was one of the Sicilian mobsters known as “the zips. ” He was a prominent figure in narcotics trafficking and served as acting boss of the Bonanno family in the early 1980s while official boss Philip Rastelli was in prison. Frank Fiordelino shared his knowledge of Catalano, saying he knew little about his criminal activities but knew he was very tight with money. Catalano owned a bakery and would still pick up his baker at 4 a.
m. to make sure the man had a ride to work, since Catalano did not drive. Fiordelino noted Catalano was a very good money guy and had an import record store on Knickerbocker Avenue, where he sold Italian colognes, records, and magazines, gradually climbing the ladder.