Wives, he wrote, "have left the housework undone and husbands have slipped away from their jobs to watch." The subject of all this excitement was an unlikely one: Congressional hearings. Hours and hours of them. What made it all so fascinating was the topic: Organized crime. Gangsters. Or, as Americans were learning right there on TV, something called "the Mafia."
Benedetto Nitto Santapaola, a Sicilian mafia boss and one of the most dangerous figures in Italian criminal history, has died aged 87. Santapaola, who was widely believed to have been the architect of a campaign of bloodshed that scarred Italy in the 1980s and 1990s, died on Monday in a Milan prison where he was serving multiple life sentences.
The 38-count superseding indictment names defendants whom prosecutors identified as members or affiliates of the Anti-Tren gang that emerged from Tren de Aragua, which federal authorities on Jan.20, 2025 designated a foreign terrorist organization. Prosecutors used racketeering conspiracy or RICO statutes, tying groups to crimes, for a wide range of actions, including some linked to an April 15, 2024 double murder in the Bronx.
Persico Jr., 62, of Todt Hill, is facing a maximum of two years behind bars but was reportedly expected to receive anywhere from five to 11 months. In 2023, Persico Jr. was sentenced to five years in prison for his role in a labor union extortion plot carried out by top leadership within the Colombo crime family. He was granted supervised release last summer on the condition he avoid all contact with members of organized crime.
The leader of Ireland's largest drugs gang 'The Family' is in garda custody and due to appear in court on Monday morning charged with serious organised crime offences.