Friday, March 6, 2009

Wiseguy Protection Program—Your Tax Dollars at Work

by Michele McPhee

You want to know the secret ways in which untold amounts of our federal tax dollars are squandered? Recently, I was asked whether I thought Joseph Milano—the owner of a Florida pizzeria named Goomba’s—was really a Mafia hitman named Joey “Crazy Joe” Calco I wrote about in my first book, Mob Over Miami.

I did and it was.

Calco (pictured above) is a confessed killer who was part of the notorious Bonanno crime family’s Bath Avenue Crew. He served six years in prison for murdering two of his pals. He promised federal Judge Edward Korman that if given another chance he “won’t let this court down and I won’t let you down.”

With that, Calco became one of the many in the absurdly expensive federal Witness Protection Program and was relocated to Florida with a girlfriend and his parents.

On January 23rd, two customers came into Goomba’s to complain about a calzone they had purchased. Milano (at right) pulled out a Luger 9mm handgun, jumped over the counter, and pistol-whipped the men. The attack was captured on surveillance tape (below). After the incident, Milano was arrested at his parents’ home and charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

Two weeks later, once police caught on, Joseph Milano, a.k.a. “Joey Calco,” was rearrested as a felon in possession of a firearm.

In the years since Calco became a maggot in Florida, he has been accused of sexually harassing a teenage girl who worked in the pizzeria and he has logged a battery arrest for slapping another teen employee.

Richie Capie, 35, one of the men Calco attacked, said he has heard the news that he was brutalized by a Mob hitman helped by the government.

“Now that’s in the back of my mind—the guy’s a killer," Capie said.

Calco is not the only wiseguy to get in trouble again after making a deal. Who could forget Sammy “the Bull” Gravano, the Gambino crime family hitman? I guess their contributions help stimulate the economy with police overtime?




12 comments:

Levi said...

Great post Michelle.

Isn't that great, that the government takes our money to relocate mafia scum bags?

I never thought the witness protection program would be used to protect and relocate thugs!

But the government is taking our money and spending it on duck ponds, ice rinks, ski hills and dog parks...

Rj said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Rj said...

wait a minute, he's not in prison right now?

Anonymous said...

I hope they had a better view of the tape because I didn't even see a gun.

There should be some way for citizens to have a say in what congress spends our tax dollars on. The waste is unbelievable.

Michele McPhee said...

Rj - He was released by the government as part of a plea bargain in exchange for his testimony against his Mafia bosses. But now he's in custody.

Michele McPhee said...

Leah - The gun was recovered on Calco when police arrived.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for that Michelle. I am curious as to what circumstances determine if a person gets into the witness protection program. Any idea?

cheryl said...

Leah, have you ever read the book "Wiseguys" by Paleggi? (I think that's his name) or seen the cinema version of the book "Goodfellas"?

Henry Hill was an unrepentant wiseguy that got caught selling drugs, though he was guilty of much more. He took the plea deal, went into witness protection, and continued his stupid life of crime under a different name.

You should read the book his children wrote as well. Eye opening.

FleaStiff said...

So whats new?
Prosecutors have always used bad guys to make a case against someone. Sometimes someone worse, sometimes someone better, but its nothing new.

Cops have always let drug smugglers operate freely provided they keep snitching on their competitors.

Did anyone think that Goodfella once relocated would become a good fellow? You can relocate an accountant or a lawyer and you can relocate a wife, but if you relocate a thug to a new location he just becomes a thug with a new name.

Anonymous said...

Buying an Ennemies Cooperation to Conquer a Group of ennemies, has been around since the begining of time (Read Utopia, By Thomas Moore), Now Does anyone Here think that The Goverment Could of Crippled The Cosa Nostra (Mafia) without the Help of Cooperators Like Calco, Cosa Nostra, Was used By Joe kennedy, to win His son, The Presidency of the U.S.A., They Controled all the Labor Unions in this Nation, They Had Control of every major Industry in this Country at one point, But Now are a Nothing, due to persons Like Calco, does anyone on here believe that, Mobsters would turn Informant without any reward, or that Law enforcement could break any of the Cases the Cooperators Lead them too, sometimes Law enforcement are not even aware the crimes have been committed, untill told about them by Cooperators, and theres not many Cooperators, like Calco, and Hill who go back to Life of Crime, 99% of them Dissapear and never do anything wrong in there Lives again.

Anonymous said...

LISTEN MICHELE MCPHEE.....YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THE HELL YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT! AND THOSE TWO YAHOOS COMPLAINING ABOUT THE "CALZONE" WERE NOT IN THERE TO COMPLAIN ABOUT CALZONES.....YOU DONT KNOW CRAP!!! WRITE ABOUT THINGS YOU KNOW SWEETIE....STICK TO THE FACTS!!

Anonymous said...

LISTEN MICHELE MCPHEE.....YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THE HELL YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT! AND THOSE TWO YAHOOS COMPLAINING ABOUT THE "CALZONE" WERE NOT IN THERE TO COMPLAIN ABOUT CALZONES.....YOU DONT KNOW CRAP!!! WRITE ABOUT THINGS YOU KNOW SWEETIE....STICK TO THE FACTS!!