Frank Dimatteo – författare

The shocking true story of  the most ruthless and deadly mob boss in the annals of the American Mafia. In the golden age of organized crime, Carmine “The Snake” Persico was the King of the Streets. The defacto boss of the Colombo Mafia family since the 1970s, he oversaw gang wars, murders, and major rackets, even  from prison. He is suspected of personally murdering as many as 60 people and ordering the hits of hundreds more. Sentenced to 139 years in the fed, he continued to exert power over a vast criminal empire from behind bars. His brutal rise and bloody reign is the stuff of legend.  In this blistering street-level account, “Mafia survivor” Frank Dimatteo teams up with true-crime master Michael Benson to take down one of the most notorious figures in the American La Cosa Nostra. This is the real inside story of Carmine “The Snake” Persico,  from his crime-filled childhood on the streets of Brooklyn to the long-term jail sentences that didn’t stop him from controlling his criminal empire with the help of his brother, the equally kill-crazy Alphonse "Allie Boy" Persico. His deadly teen years as leader of the fearsome Garfield Boys. His recruitment into the Profaci—later the Colombo—crime family. His bloody  betrayal of the Gallo brothers. His role in the hair-raising ambush-slaying of Albert Anastasia—the Lord High Executioner of Murder, Inc.—as he sat in a barbershop chair getting a shave. The terror he struck into the hearts of the New York Mafia’s other families, and even his own crews. And the many courtroom trials where Persico walked after witnesses came down with sudden cases of amnesia  Today, Carmine “The Snake” Persico schmoozes with Ponzi king Bernard Madoff behind bars where at age 84 his legend, packed as it is with coldblooded brutality, continues to inspire goodfellas everywhere.

WHO REALLY KILLED “CRAZY JOE” GALLO? AT LAST, THE TRUTH CAN BE TOLD. AND IT WASN’T FRANK “THE IRISHMAN” SHEERAN AS HE CLAIMED. This is the shocking and brutal story of Carmine DiBiase—aka Sonny Pinto—the elusive Mafia killer who went from small-time street punk to FBI’s Most Wanted list to Death Row—only to be released on the streets to kill and kill again . . . among those who died by his gun was Joey Gallo.  “Sober, he was nothing, but drunk he would blow your head off.” That’s how Pete the Greek described Carmine “Sonny” DiBiase, the Colombo crime family hitman who’d been terrorizing Manhattan’s Little Italy since he was a kid. After beating and robbing a local tailor and doing time in reformatory, Sonny set up operations at The Mayfair Boys Civic and Social Club, an illegal poolroom where he shot and killed his best friend on Christmas day . . .  A prime suspect of this and other crimes, Sonny went on the lam and off the grid for seven years. He then surrendered himself to police, was tried for murder and sentenced to death. But after a second trial, he walked away a free man—free to kill again.   Joey “Crazy Joe” Gallo and his President Street mob waged  a deadly Mafia civil war with the Colombo crime family, and in particular, Carmine “the Snake” Persico. A contract was put out for Gallo and his gang. And on that fateful night of April 7, 1972, in a Little Italy restaurant, Gallo was assassinated . . . by Carmine “Sonny” DiBiasi..   This is the true story of who really whacked Crazy Joey Gallo on that fateful night of April 7, 1972.

From real-life "Mafia Survivor" Frank Dimatteo, the gripping account of the life and crimes of the most feared mafia boss of all time: Carmine “Lilo” Galante, the prime mover behind the legendary French Connection. HIS WAR CRY: “I RULE EVERYTHING.” FOR HALF A CENTURY HE ALMOST DID.The brutal and blood-stained true story of one of  the most feared bosses in American Mafia history, who rose from tenement street thug to notorious hit man to a prime mover behind the legendary French Connection. And the bodies piled up. The son of Sicilian immigrants, Camillo Carmine Galante was raised in Manhattan’s Little Italy and by all accounts born bad. At age ten his home away from home was juvenile detention. By fifteen he was terrorizing the streets of New York’s Lower East Side, scoring high marks for the “errands” he was running for his La Cosa Nostra elders. When he turned twenty, Galante was already one of the mob’s top enforcers­–a sadistic thrill killer and clinically diagnosed psychopath with big dreams: whack his way into controlling organized crime the world over, vowing to kill Mafia chieftans Tommy Lucchese and Carlo Gambino and take control of their mob families. Carmine “Lilo” Galante’s rise to Mafia star was infamous: hit man for the Luciano and Genovese crime families; named consigliere by Joseph Bonnano; he wiped out eight members of the Gambinos; on behalf of Mussolini he assassinated the  publisher of an anti-Fascist newspaper. “The biggest dope peddler in the country” according to law enforcement, Galante helped orchestrate one of the largest heroin trafficking operations on record—a power move too dangerous for his rivals in the narcotics trade. The heads of the five New York families decided that the psychotic Galante had to be stopped. On July 12, 1979, finishing his lunch in a Brooklyn restaurant, Galante got what he’d dished out his whole life: a shotgun blast to the face, his trademark cigar still clenched in his teeth . . .Frank Dimatteo is a lifelong Brooklynite, Mafia “survivor,” and publisher of Mob Candy magazine. He is the author of the acclaimed memoir, The President Street Boys: Growing Up Mafia, as well as Mob Candy’s Brooklyn Gangsters and Manhattan Gangsters.Michael Benson is the author of more than sixty books, including the true crime titles Betrayal in Blood, Killer Twins, and Mommy Deadliest. He also wrote Who’s Who in the JFK Assassination, and most recently, The Devil at Genesee Junction. He regularly appears on ID: Investigation Discovery channel, including On the Case with Paula Zahn, and Deadly Sins. He is the recipient of the Academy of American Poets award.

The shocking crime-drenched saga of the New York mobs in Red Hook, Brooklyn—where the streets ran red with blood—by a Mafia survivor who grew up there . . . For more than a hundred years, the Red Hook section of Brooklyn was Ground Zero for organized crime. Whoever controlled the piers controlled everything. From the infamous Irish gang known as The White Hand at the turn of the century, to the notorious Italian Gallo brothers who ran President Street—and everything else—generations later, the blood-soaked history of Red Hook is the story of American crime at its most powerful, corrupt, and coldly efficient. It's all here: the brutal mob hits, bullet storms, and backstabbings of the most colorful cutthroats to ever terrorize the streets. A rogue’s gallery of killers with nicknames like “The Mad Hatter,” “The Executioner,” “Wild Bill,” and “Peg Leg.” The Brooklyn bar fight that gave Al “Scarface” Capone his legendary scars. The godfather of America’s first Sicilian crime family whose gruesomely mangled hand could scare men half to death. And, to bring it all home, the author’s own eyewitness account of multiple shootings growing up as the son of a Mafia bodyguard. Packed with jaw-dropping stories of public violence and personal vengeance, vivid insights into the Mafia’s way of life, and shocking portraits of America’s most wanted crime families, Red Hook is a must-read for anyone fascinated by the history of organized crime in America.

The stunning blood-soaked saga of a real-life GodfatherDon Carlo Gambinothe quiet gangster with a whispery voice who struck fear into his enemies as he rose to the top of the Mafia family ladder, told by an insider who lived in that world, knew those families, and met Gambino face-to-face. . . He was one of the four Mafia leaders who inspired Mario Puzo'sThe Godfatherand perhaps, next to Lucky Luciano, the most powerful Mob boss of them all. Born into a mafioso family in Sicily, Carlo Gambino came to America illegally as a stowaway in 1921. Jumping ship in Virginia, he joined his cousins in Brooklyn, and the Sicilian gangs that ruled the streets. By 1931, he was a soldier in Joe ';The Boss' Masseria's war with the Castellammarese clan, a bloody rivalry between Old World crime families that ended with the creation of the Five Families system by Luciano. Over the next three decades, Gambino rose higher in the ranks after a series of brutal Mob hits and executions. In 1957, following the murder of Albert ';Lord High Executioner' Anastasia, Gambino took overbecoming the biggest crime boss in America. This is the life and times of an underworld legend. Packed with shocking details and firsthand insights, Carlo Gambino: Boss of Bosses is the definitive account of this real-life Godfather, written by someone who grew up in that world and met Gambino personally. Author Frank DiMatteo's chilling recollections of his encounters with Gambino add a rare human dimension to one of the greatest crime sagas ever told. It is the story of a quietly understated Mob boss who allegedly orchestrated some of the Mafia's most infamous hitsincluding the barbershop shooting of Anastasiabut who miraculously served time only for tax evasion. For better or worse, Gambino's story is the story of America, filled with ambition, fueled by greed, and riddled with bullets.

“When Mom got out of jail, it was great having her home.”Mondo the Dwarf. Frankie Shots. Jospeh “Little Lolly Pop” Carna. Larry “Big Lolly Pop” Carna. Salvatore “Sally Boy” Marinelli. Johnny Tarzan. Louie Pizza. Sally D, Bobby B, Roy Roy, and Punchy.They were THE PRESIDENT STREET BOYS of Brooklyn, New York.Frank Dimatteo was born into a family of mob hitmen. His father and godfather were shooters and bodyguards for infamous Mafia legends, the Gallo brothers. His uncle was a capo in the Genovese crime family and bodyguard to Frank Costello. Needless to say, DiMatteo saw and heard things that a boy shouldn’t see or hear.He knew everybody in the neighborhood. And they knew him. . .and his family. And does he have some wild stories to tell. . .From the old-school Mafia dons and infamous “five families” who called all the shots, to the new-breed “independents” of the ballsy Gallo gang who didn’t answer to nobody, Dimatteo pulls no punches in describing what it’s really like growing up in the mob. Getting his cheeks pinched by Crazy Joe Gallo until tears came down his face. Dropping out of school and hanging gangster-style with the boys on President Street. Watching the Gallos wage an all-out war against wiseguys with more power, more money, more guns. And finally, revealing the shocking deathbed confessions that will blow the lid off the sordid deeds, stunning betrayals, and all-too-secret history of the American Mafia.Originally self-published as Lion in the BasementRaves For THE PRESIDENT STREET BOYS: Growing Up Mafia“Frankie D was born and raised in this life—and he’s still alive and still free. They don’t come any sharper then Frankie D. A real gangster story. Read this book!” —Nicky “Slick” DiPietro, New York City“I know Frankie D from when i was a kid living in South Brooklyn. It was hard reading about my father, Gennaro “Chitoz” Basciano, but I knew it was the truth. Frankie’s book is dead on the money—I couldn’t put it down.” —Eddie Basciano, somewhere in Florida“It’s been forty years since I’ve been with Frankie D doing our thing on President Street. This book was like a flashback, Frankie D nails it from beginning to the end. Bravo, from one of the President Street Boys.” —Anthony “Goombadiel” DeLuca, Brooklyn, New York“As a neighborhood kid I grew up around President Street and know firsthand the lure of ‘the life’ as a police officer and as a kid that escaped the lure. I can tell you the blind loyalty that the crews had for their bosses—unbounded, limitless, and dangerous. As the Prince of President Street, Frank Dimatteo, is representative of a lost generation of Italian Americans. If any of this crew had been given a fair shot at the beginning they would have been geniuses in their chosen field.” —Joseph "Giggy" Gagliardo, Retired DEA Agent, New York City“The President Street Boys takes me back as if it was a time machine. Its authenticity is compelling reading for those interested in what things were really like in those mob heydays; not some author’s formulation without an inkling of what was going on behind the scenes. I loved the book because I was there, and know for sure readers will love it too.” —Sonny Girard, author of Blood of Our Fathers and Sins of Our Sons