This guy was banging Hollywood starlets, running rackets in L.A. and Vegas, and got recruited by the CIA to help assassinate Fidel Castro. Enough said.

A bed, a television, a PlayStation, and a secondary exit leading to the garage—a small, secret room tucked away behind the bathroom, accessible only via a complex mechanism operated by a remote control. This is where 35-year-old Valentino Gionta Jr.—a man with a long criminal record and the third generation of the Camorra clan that has stained Torre Annunziata with blood for half a century—had been hiding for twenty days. Fifty years of Camorra history are encapsulated in his name: he is the grandson of a man currently serving a life sentence, who was once tried for the murder of journalist Giancarlo Siani (though later acquitted by the Court of Cassation). Now 72, the grandfather remains incarcerated under the strict 41-bis regime—an unrepentant, die-hard boss. The same is true for his father, Aldo Gionta—known as the "poet boss"—who authored a book titled *Aldulk the Rebel*. The volume contains his prison memoirs, but according to the Anti-Mafia authorities, it also includes lyrics for songs such as "Nun c'amma arennere" ("We Must Not Surrender"), which became a cult hit in the narrow alleys of the "Quadrilatero delle Carceri" district, popularized by the *neomelodico* singer Tony Marciano.

NEW SERIES

CLEVELAND'S GAMBLING WARS: Angelo Lonardo and the Mayfield Road Mob

In 1927, Cleveland's first Mafia boss, “Big Joe” Lonardo, was murdered during the city's bloody Prohibition wars. Two years later, his teenage son Angelo sought revenge, killing the man believed responsible. Convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison alongside his cousin, Angelo eventually walked free after a second trial.

But his criminal career was just beginning.

As Prohibition came to an end, Angelo “Big Ange” Lonardo joined forces with the Mayfield Road Mob, turning his attention to Cleveland's lucrative numbers racket, a multimillion-dollar gambling enterprise built largely by black entrepreneurs.

What followed was a struggle for control involving extortion, intimidation, and deadly violence.

In Part One of my new standalone series, Cleveland's Gambling Wars: Angelo Lonardo and the Mayfield Road Mob, I explore the Lonardo family’s bloody history, the Mafia’s entry into Cleveland's gambling business, and a violent conflict that would claim innocent lives.

Individuals mentioned in this article include Angelo "Big Ange" Lonardo, Joseph “Big Joe” Lonardo, Salvatore “Black Sam” Todaro, Dominic Sospirato, Angelo “Little Ange” Sciria, Frank Milano, Al Polizzi, the Angersola brothers, John DeMarco, Dominic DeMarco, Victor Mannino, Milton Rockman, Rufus “The Emperor” Jones, John “Hot Stuff” Johnson, Willie Richardson, Benny Mason, Frank Hoge, Willie Hoge, Detective Sergeant Audley Bramer, Paul Goins, Prudence Thompson, Cleveland Press reporter Clayton Fritchey, and historian Frank Kuznik.

https://timgill924.substack.com/p/clevelands-gambling-wars-angelo-lonardo?r=1ixz1x&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

If he does get a movie I doubt it not holding my breath since his life storu is a walking movie from his dad to him and so on. I’d want the punisher guy as Sonny Franzese idk I ain’t no movie director should I put narrating maybe the movie shoood open w Michele telling the story during his trails or sum I’d bet it’s feel like the real life god father frfr! Or should the movie start off with Sonny and his trials and then we meet the main character Michael as a Pre Med student n then he hears the news of his father or idk thats all I got lol. Y’all want a MF Movie?

I assume that the YouTuber in question is Joey Merlino or Tommy Karate, because John goes on to talk about how made guys shouldn't be on social media.

Not the first RatTuber to claim that Barney has an army of troll accounts online...

He also says that he mostly reserves his ire for people who've said negative things about him, such as Cicale, Pennisi or Calandra.

The cocaine trade, investments in the local economy, and the release of several longtime Cosa Nostra figures are fueling new moves to reorganize the Palermo Mafia. After months marked by intimidation and the use of AK-47s against shopkeepers and business owners, the streets of the city appear to have grown quieter. Behind this apparent calm, however, new criminal power dynamics may be emerging, along with attempts to reconstitute the provincial Commission, known as the Cupola.

Palermo prosecutor Maurizio de Lucia warned of the organization's continued threat during an event titled Repubblica Insieme on Wednesday afternoon.

“Cosa Nostra remains an active criminal organization,” prosecutor Maurizio de Lucia warned during the event. “It is a reality we all have to reckon with.”

The growing importance of drug trafficking in the business activities of Mafia families is a particular cause for concern. The seizure of large sums of money in recent months by the Narcotics Section of the Palermo Flying Squad and the Guardia di Finanza's GICO unit illustrates the scale of the phenomenon. According to investigators' findings, the money was allegedly intended to pay for shipments of narcotics.

Cocaine has become one of Cosa Nostra's main sources of revenue. Purchasing and distributing drugs requires agreements between different Mafia districts, while the profits must be reinvested in businesses capable of generating further income. According to information gathered from investigative sources, hundreds of thousands of euros derived from drug trafficking may also have been used to open bars and restaurants in central Palermo. These financial flows are creating new business opportunities while also fueling tensions between Mafia families.

The need to manage these disputes may have reopened an internal debate over whether the organization should reestablish a central governing body. Younger Mafia bosses are reportedly pushing for the return of the Cupola, aiming to create a structure capable of coordinating criminal strategies and settling disputes between the various districts.

The disagreements reportedly concern the management of drug supplies, unpaid debts, and disputes over the quality of certain shipments. Without a recognized authority, such conflicts could escalate into more serious violence.

There is a significant historical precedent. In 1981, the disappearance of a cocaine shipment helped trigger the Second Mafia War, which would plunge Palermo into bloodshed in the years that followed.

Today, Cosa Nostra does not possess the same military strength it had at the time, partly because numerous judicial operations have struck its leadership. Nevertheless, the possibility of renewed violence cannot be ruled out.

The weapons used in the intimidation campaign in recent months, including the AK-47 that spread fear throughout the city, have yet to be recovered, despite hundreds of searches ordered by the Anti-Mafia District Directorate across Palermo and the surrounding province.

Within the organization, two competing approaches are reportedly emerging.

Younger Mafia leaders want to accelerate the reconstitution of the provincial Commission, selecting representatives through internal discussions within the various districts. Their objective would not be to concentrate power in the hands of a single boss, but to restore a collective leadership capable of managing criminal business and containing internal disputes.

Older figures, by contrast, reportedly favor a less conspicuous arrangement: a federation of Mafia families that would preserve greater autonomy for individual districts and allow alliances to shift according to economic interests.

The older bosses' caution is also influenced by memories of the police operations that thwarted an earlier attempt at reorganization in 2018 and 2019. The Carabinieri's Cupola 2.0 operation and the Palermo Flying Squad's New Connection raid struck at plans to reconstitute the provincial Commission. The period was also marked by renewed rapprochement between the Corleonesi faction and the so-called scappati — Mafia figures who had survived the Second Mafia War and its aftermath by fleeing Sicily.

Another source of concern is the technology used by Mafia bosses to communicate. One system reportedly in use is No1BC, an encrypted telecommunications platform said to be particularly widespread among Palermo's Mafia leadership and difficult for law enforcement agencies to intercept.

Secure communications could facilitate contacts between members of the organization while making it more difficult for investigators to identify meetings and agreements. Against this backdrop, the possibility that a future Commission could coordinate its activities through group chats or video conferences has not been ruled out.

The situation is further complicated by the release of several prominent Palermo Mafia figures who have completed their prison sentences.

Among them is Pietro Tagliavia, a leading figure in the Brancaccio Mafia district, who returned to Palermo last February. His father, Francesco Tagliavia, is serving a life sentence for his involvement in the Via D'Amelio and Via dei Georgofili massacres.

Calogero Lo Piccolo has also been released in the Tommaso Natale area. His name has surfaced in accounts of the shifting criminal dynamics in the territory. However, no established evidence links him directly to the intimidation incidents involving the AK-47. He is reportedly currently volunteering with an association that assists people with disabilities.

In the Porta Nuova district, Tommaso Di Giovanni remains an important point of reference. Meanwhile, in Partinico, Francesco Nania has completed his period of house arrest. He is described as a figure with significant connections in the United States and well-established business interests.

The presence of veteran Mafia figures alongside the rise of newer players is contributing to a period of realignment within the criminal organization, in which control over drug trafficking revenues is becoming increasingly important.

The overall picture is of a Cosa Nostra seeking to establish a new balance of power, as the profits from drug trafficking strengthen ties between families while increasing the need to settle internal disputes.

The silence that has followed the intimidation campaign of recent months should therefore not necessarily be interpreted as a retreat by the organization. Instead, it may signal a period of negotiation and reorganization, during which Palermo's Mafia is determining what kind of leadership structure will govern its criminal interests in the years ahead.

Does anyone have a clear good video of the gene getting chased. The only one I found looks like it was recorded with a microwave.

Gotta be Philly, right? They have the largest remaining recruiting pool.

Chicago was never that large and is more or less defunct, NE is heavily diminished, New Jersey might not exist at all as an independent borgata, Detroit is just an extended blood family, Buffalo... maybe if you include the Canadian side?

Former solider Thomas Mallette and associate Ronald "Monkey Man" Filocomo I believe are also pictured .