Mafia Membership Back in Fashion

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Headline maker John Gotti, hailed as the last Godfather.

​Since the 2002 death of the last great Godfather, John Gotti, the Italian underworld has been resting in peace -- until its resurrection... now. A tell-all book, a Gotti Jr. trial, and Bonanno crime family members in a South Florida courtroom. Mafia madness is in the air, and I smell a rat.

Six members of a South Florida crew of the New York-based Bonanno crime family,entered guilty pleas in Fort Lauderdale federal court Wednesday to a bonanza of racketeering charges.

The men from Broward and Palm Beach counties went turncoat, admitting to taking part in drug trafficking, illegal high-stakes gambling, counterfeit checks, insurance fraud, arson, and identity theft. 

Group "enforcer" Pasquale Rubbo, 43, sang like a canary, saying it was impossible to escape the clutches of Mob life. "When I came out of prison, I was connected to the mob," Rubbo says. "I had some obligations. I got back into the life, as they call it."

Singing along with Rubbo is his brother, Joseph Rubbo of Coral Springs, Lee Klein of Boynton Beach, Daniel S. Young of Delray Beach, Frank D'Amato of West Palm Beach, and Billie Robertson of Boynton Beach. All are set to face the music at sentencing in January.

According to the Herald, alleged ring leader, Thomas Fiore of Boynton Beach, has decided to keep the Family's code of silence (at least for now), pleading not guilty along with four other co-conspirators.

In other Mafia matters, the Dapper Don's daughter has entered a more modern, more legal racket, writing a tell-all called, This Family of Mine: What It Was Like Growing Up Gotti. In it, Gotti finally admits that her father, former boss of the Gambino crime family, was a cold-blooded killer.

"I loved the man ... but I loathed the life," she tells the CBS newsmagazine 48 Hours Mystery. "How can anybody worship that life? How can anybody think there was glory in that life?"
Gotti divulges intimate details of the Teflon Don's life, even talking about the day he died, including morbid details of his final journey home in a body bag.

The release of Victoria's memoir comes on the heels of the start of her brother Junior Gotti's fourth racketeering trial in five years. Gotti, who allegedly ran the Gambino dynasty after his father's demise, is facing murder conspiracy charges for allegedly ordering the whacking of two men associated with a drug ring he operated out of Florida.

This courtroom battle is shaping up to be worthy of a scene from Goodfellas, complete with violent courtroom outbursts and death threats galore.