Joe Bruno's Mobsters - Six Volume Set (94 page)

That’s what, in the interest of fairness and full disclosure, they were supposed to do. The fact that they refused to do so tells me all I need to know about the integrity of this program.

Anthony Graziano is Not Angry Anymore With His “Mob Wives”
 Daughters

February 3, 2012

Even though his two daughters, Jennifer and Renee Graziano, are involved in the TV tell-all
Mob Wives
, reputed Bonanno crime family captain Anthony Graziano feels like it’s water under the bridge. And despite the fact that Renee’s ex-husband, Hector “Junior” Pagan, joined Team America, and was instrumental in having Graziano arrested again - according to Graziano’s lawyer Patrick Parrotta - everything in hunky-dory in the Graziano household.

Parrotta told the press at Graziano’s arraignment in late January, “He (Graziano) does not hold what Hector did against his daughters.”

And that’s the way it should be. No matter what - blood is blood, and just because Pagan became a scumbag of the first order, does not mean Graziano’s daughters should be held responsible. Children make mistakes, and if every time a daughter or son pissed off a father he stopped talking to them, there would be stone silence throughout the world.

Parrotta also brought up an interesting point in his interview with the
New York Daily News.
Despite the fact that Pagan began wearing a wire in August 2011, at the same time he was appearing in an episode of Mob Wives, Parrotta said he was unsure if the government directed Pagan to go on the show as a way of “cozying up to the Grazianos.”

The more I think of it, the more it starts to make sense. I wouldn’t put it past the Feds to do anything legal they deemed necessary to put someone connected with organized crime behind bars. And where ordering Pagan to infiltrate the Graziano’s inner circle again is certainly legal, it still stinks to the high heavens.

Remember one thing for sure - high-profile arrests and convictions (and anyone associated with the Mafia is certainly high-profile) generates promotions and fame for the Feds - agents and prosecutors alike. And promotions mean more pay, and more pay means higher retirement benefits, or maybe a future in politics, or a future judgeship … and so forth and so on.

In the final analysis, it all comes down to cash and notoriety with the Feds. And putting away anyone whom the Feds perceive as “the bad guys,” is just an added bonus.

The only problem I have with that is this: what if the Feds think you or I, unjustifiably, are the bad guys? Would they stop at anything to put us in prison?

It’s happened before that certain people were unjustly targeted by the law. Wall Street people were arrested in droves during Rudy Giuliani’s reign as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, only for it to emerge later that the charges against some of these people were dropped for lack of evidence. This was after these people were forced to do the embarrassing “perp walk” in front of the cameras.

Could the same thing happen to us?

I hope not.

But I’m not so sure.

Responses to “Anthony Graziano is Not Angry Anymore With His ‘Mob Wives’ Daughters”

Ron
- This is SOOO funny! I can’t believe these people actually think these guys are being discriminated against because they’re Italian. All these guys…and I mean ALL of them…not just the guys that got arrested, are scumbag hoodlums.

Discrimination against Italians? I’m Italian. I see Italians who have committed murder after murder, narcotics, extortion…are in prison on RICO charges and ask a judge to be let out to coach their son’s Little League game, attend their daughter’s wedding, and attend their children’s First Holy Communion. And the judges grant the requests.

I ASK ANY READERS - WHEN IN HELL HAS A U.S. JUDGE ALLOWED A BLACK PERSON TO DO THAT? WHEN? And I answer, NEVER!

Renee Graziano Weeps in Court

February 8, 2012

It was an extremely uncomfortable situation in Federal court on Tuesday, February 7, 2012.

Mob Wives
star Renee Graziano sat in court to hear the criminal charges alleged against her father Anthony Graziano, who was arrested recently, along with several other alleged Mafia figures, including Vincent (Vinny TV) Badalamenti. Also in the courtroom were the relatives of the other defendants, but nary a word, or glance was exchanged between Renee, who was in tears, and the other defendant’s relatives.

The reason for the cold shoulder appears to be that Renee Graziano’s ex-husband, Hector “Junior” Pagan, who has been featured in episodes of
Mob Wives
(including one where the two apparently were headed back together), has been working as an informant for the Feds. Besides giving the Feds inside information on the defendants, Pagan wore a wire while speaking to Anthony Graziano. This wire allegedly revealed that Graziano asked Pagan to collect an overdue usurious loan. This was one of the charges leveled against Graziano in court.

When a reporter approached Renee and asked if she felt uncomfortable being around the relatives of the other defendants, she said, “I don’t feel uncomfortable around anybody. I send my apologies and I feel horrible, but I’m not responsible (for Pagan’s treachery). I didn’t do anything. But I can understand they may feel uncomfortable around me.”

I really don’t see the need for any apologies on Renee’s part. Obviously, she and the executives of
Mob Wives
knew nothing about Pagan working for Team America. The Feds would never allow this knowledge to leak out; otherwise they would have a very dead ex-informant on their hands.

I realize the show
Mob
Wives
is an abomination, especially from the standpoint of the average Italian-American. I watched one episode and my ears were ringing from all the cursing (one of the stars banged out 22 variations of the f-bomb in a short segment, and seemed proud of the fact).

I lived in Little Italy in New York City (Manhattan) for 48 years, and I never heard a woman curse in front of me, let alone in front of tens of millions of viewers. (I know women curse, but in my neighborhood, never in front of men. And men never cursed in front of women either. Just the rules. If an f-bomb ever slipped out, there would be an immediate profuse apology; or a severe smack in the face. Maybe even worse.)

However, no matter what you think of the show, or of Renee Graziano in particular, you have to know she was an innocent victim in all of Pagan’s treachery. And what about her son AJ, who is the most innocent victim of all?

As for the lawyer in court who said about Renee Graziano, “She’s the one with the fake face and the black shoe polish hair, right?” he deserves a kick in the belly. That potty-mouth retort was totally irrelevant to the trial, and if I were his client, I’d make this lawyer totally irrelevant too; by firing him on the spot.

I know there are people out there gloating about the Graziano family’s problems, but I’m not one of them.

Remember the old Indian proverb, “Walk a mile in my shoes.”

Or the verse in the Bible, “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.”

People need to show a little compassion. They’ll never know when they’ll need a little compassion themselves.

Responses to “Renee Graziano Weeps in
 Court”

Joe
- As an Italian-American I have such mixed feelings about these types of shows. On the one hand epics like the Godfather are art. Even shows like Goodfellas, The Bronx Tale… etc….are entertaining.

The thing that slays me about this show is that everyone acts like a victim here. Are you kidding me? Choices guys! You chose the life. Even those of you who were born into can find their way out.

Rat Pagan May Be Implicated in a
 Murder

February 14, 2012

They say what comes around goes around.

It looks like Hector Junior Pagan, resident rat of the popular VHI TV show
Mob
Wives
, could be facing a murder rap, even though he became an informant whose actions resulted in the arrests of several alleged mob figures, including his former father-in-law Anthony Graziano.

According to an article in the
New York Post,
Pagan, who allegedly secretly began wearing a wire around the same time he was appearing in cameos on
Mob
Wives
, allegedly took part in the robbery-murder of James Donovan, a Lucchese family associate, in the Gravesend section of Brooklyn in July 2010. According to the
Post
, “attorneys Ronald Fischetti and Eric Franz (who are representing Vincent “Vinny TV” Badalamenti) wrote to Brooklyn federal prosecutors, asking for information about Pagan’s role in the Donovan murder.”

Badalamenti is one of the alleged mob figures whom Pagan secretly taped, and those tapes are one of the reasons Badalamenti was arrested in late January.

Pagan is the ex-husband of
Mob
Wives
star Renee Graziano, who says she was as surprised as anyone when it was revealed Pagan had become an informant. Renee has recently denounced Pagan and says she supports her father “100 percent.”

The kicker here is, even though Pagan may have been promised a reduced sentence for his cooperation, he was most likely under obligation to reveal every crime he had committed in the past to get that deal. If Pagan didn’t reveal his role in the Donovan murder and it can be proven that he indeed was involved, his deal with the government could go right out the window.

Couldn’t happen to a nicer guy.

Responses to “Rat Pagan May Be Implicated in a Murder”

Ani
- I’d rather pull my teeth out one by one than to watch Renee “AKA Lunatic” cry, scream aggghh… And what’s up with big Ang…This is some crazy s**t!!

JB
- The show is really a comedy show. Only the producers didn’t intend it to be. Nobody involved with the show should quit their day jobs.

And
Ani, I’ve already pulled all my teeth watching the show. I’m starting on my nose next.

Non
- The old guard were men of honor. I’m glad my grandfather passed away when he did so he did not have to see the fall of the empire. So very sad. PS Free Frankie Loc.

Hector Pagan to Testify Against Vinny TV

February 16, 2012

According to an indictment brought by the Federal government, Vincent “Vinny TV” Badalamenti, an alleged top Bonanno crime family banana, dispatched three tough guys to “have a little chat” with mob informant Hector “Junior” Pagan, who was allegedly delinquent on a $5,000 loan. And the chief witness against Badalamenti in his upcoming trial is Pagan himself, who had been wearing a wire while talking to various alleged mobsters, including his ex-father-in-law Anthony Graziano, the father of Pagan’s ex-wife Renee Graziano, one of the co-stars of VH1’s
Mob
Wives
.

However, Badalamenti’s lawyers expect to have a field day grilling Pagan on the stand when it comes time for Pagan’s to perform his rat act in court.

“We intend to attack his credibility and expose his motive to testify falsely for the government,” Ronald Fischetti, Badalamenti’s defense lawyer, told the
New York Post
.

 
           As was reported yesterday in this blog, Fischetti, along with his co-counsel Eric Franz, intend to allege that Pagan was involved in the murder of alleged Lucchese crime family associate James Donovan in the Gravesend section of Brooklyn in 2010. In fact, Fischetti and Franz have written to Brooklyn federal prosecutors asking for information about “Pagan’s role in Donovan’s murder.”

If there is evidence that Pagan was involved in Donovan’s murder, Badalamenti’s lawyers will allege that Pagan is just making up tales out of school in order to save his own skin.

It wouldn’t be the first time a mob canary testified against former pals in order to get a reduced sentence. As far back as 1941, Abe “Kid Twist” Reles, one of Murder Incorporated’s top killers, turned state’s evidence and began testifying against his former associates. Reles’ testimony helped put killers like Harry “Pittsburg Phil” Strauss, Mendy Weiss, and Louie “Lepke” Buchalter right into the Sing Sing electric chair.

However, on November 12, 1941, before Reles could testify against other Murder Inc. alumni like Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel, Frankie Carbo, and Albert Anastasia, Reles went flying out of the 6
th
floor window of the Half Moon Hotel in Coney Island, while supposedly under 24-hour New York City police guard.

The official New York police department report was that Reles “fell” out of the window while trying to escape. However,  mob boss Frank Costello said years later that he spread $50,000 around the N.Y. City police department in order to quicken Reles’ demise. In fact, Costello said the cops who were supposed to be guarding Reles, were the ones who actually flung Reles out the window.