Joe Bruno's Mobsters - Six Volume Set

by Bruno, Joe

  OK guys – the show Mob Wives sucks; it’s possibly the worst show in the history of television (Jersey Shore?). The people on the show are imminently unlikable, and Karen Gravano is one of the least likable.

  But come on now. She has the right to go to a Pennsylvania gun range and legally fire a gun. And if she lived in Florida, she could obtain a concealed carry permit, even though she has a criminal record (as long as someone doesn’t lie on their application, it’s possible to get a concealed carry permit even if you have a criminal record, as long as your past crime didn’t include a gun.).

  To show how ridiculous these charges are, a spokesman for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Philadelphia Field Division said it has not yet opened a criminal probe of the incident. “We are aware of the show and the episode. We do not have a criminal investigation.”

  Nor should they.

  You want to punish Karen Gravano for her and her father’s crimes, don’t watch Mob Wives, and don’t buy Karen Gravano’s book Mob Daughter.

  But don’t try to have her arrested for something she has every right to do: fire a gun at a legal gun range.

  Responses to “The Families of Sammy Gravano’s Victims Want Karen Gravano Arrested for Shooting a Gun At Legal Gun Range”

  Jos - You’re wrong… Her touching the gun, handling the gun is a crime and she actually shot it. She is a convicted felon. To have your civil rights restored in a state is only good in that state. She violated both state and federal law.

  JB - Jos, I’ve heard different opinions on this. The key is if her rights were restored, and where. We don’t have all the information yet. She claims they were restored. We’ll find out soon if charges are brought against her.

  I would think that the producers of the show would have checked this out before they shot the episode. But this show is so screwed up, maybe they didn’t.

  Time will tell.

  Jos - One more thing JB … that didn’t look like any shooting range I ever saw. It looked like the backyard of a farm.

  Editor’s note: As of the publication date of this book, no charges have even been brought against Karen Gravano for firing guns at the Pennsylvania gun range.

  Mob Wives Again Causes My Blog to Get Bombarded With Hits

  April 3, 2012

  It happened last Monday, and now it’s happened again on Monday April 2, 2012. And all it proves is that the American public loves to watch a train wreck.

  My blog Joe Bruno on the Mob got 20,000 hits before noon today; the great majority of those hits were on articles I’ve written concerning the TV show Mob Wives. I’ve written more than 340 articles for my blog; only 16 on Mob Wives.

  Go figure.

  I forced myself to watch Mob Wives last night (Sunday, April 1) and it certainly was an April Fool’s joke turned bad.

  Last week (March 25) Mob Wives finally disclosed that Hector “Junior” Pagan was in police custody. Even though before Thanksgiving last year it was revealed in the newspapers, and on the Internet, that Pagan was a rat for the FBI, viewers, not aware of that fact, were conned into thinking this was happening in real time. Or close to real time.

  On last night’s show, Renee Graziano was featured for most of the show doing her “I’m going crazy” routine; and doing a damn good job at it, too.

  In no particular order, Renee began crying, banging her hands over her face and head, and hugging other crying mob wives such as Karen Gravano, who has some experience with the rodent kingdom herself.

  It was enough to make my ear hairs hurt, and Renee’s antics compelled my four dogs to start howling at the TV screen, as if they had seen a vampire.

  It wasn’t until the last few minutes of the show that viewers were given a hint Pagan was now a stool pigeon. But this revelation did not come through Renee, but from other mob wives reading the local newspapers.

  At show’s end, Renee was still supposedly in the dark as to why her ex-husband “self-incarcerated” himself, (Pagan was actually pulled off the streets by the FBI because he had served his purpose by wearing a wire while talking to several alleged mob figures, including Renee Graziano’s father, Anthony “TG” Graziano, who was arrested the same day Pagan went bye-bye).

  Then the viewers got the all–telling promo for next week’s show. Next week, Renee will go from despair, to plain anger, as well she should, when she finds out the truth about Pagan; a man so low, he can lick the curb standing up.

  The producers of Mob Wives, which includes Renee’s sister, Jennifer Graziano, are milking this Graziano family tragedy for all its worth (like making chicken salad out of chicken spit). Instead of telling the viewers in one minute what happened five months ago, it’s taken them three shows (maybe more) to let the viewers know:

  1. Pagan went into the wind.

  2. Renee is overwrought that her ex-husband is going back to jail, as well as her father.

  3. Pagan is an FBI informant who was instrumental in putting TG Graziano back into the can.

  Welcome to the wacky world of Reality TV. It’s all about ratings, not about the truth. Surprise, surprise.

  I now wait with baited breath for the April 9 Mob Wives extravaganza. But before I watch that show, I’m going to get myself good and drunk so that I can endure almost 60 minutes of bad, over-the-top acting, that is no longer part of a Reality Show, but in actuality a rotten piece of half-truths manipulated by the producers to bring more viewers to the table.

  I know. Watching and reporting on Mob Wives is dirty work, but someone’s got to do it.

  Tequila anyone?

  P.S. – The final tally for Monday, April 2 on my blog Joe Bruno on the Mob, was 25,652 hits. In fact, I’m starting to feel punchy from all the hits.

  Responses to “The Program Mob Wives Again Causes My Blog to Get Bombarded With Hits”

  Mar - I think Renee can be over-the-top at times, but let’s cut her some slack. The father of her only child became a rat and not only that - he rats on her father who is 71 years old. I believe any woman would break down. I personally don’t think Renee knew Junior was going to turn, especially on her father. I think had she known or had any idea, she would have warned her father.

  And I do not think it’s right saying that the Graziano family is milking the situation for ratings. They all knew in doing a reality show all the dirty laundry would come out, and the reality is that lifestyle isn’t all it seems to be to outsiders. Plus, some people can’t do the time and its possible anyone can turn on you at any time. My heart goes out to the Graziano family. I hope they all can pull through this.

  JB - Mar, I didn’t say the Graziano family was milking the situation for ratings. I said the producers of the show Mob Wives are milking the situation for ratings. And Jennifer Graziano is one of the producers. Just my opinion.

  Ten - I’m sorry, but I feel so bad for Renee and her son, and her family. I have to say I didn’t know about her dad until my husband mentioned it to me when I told him about the 3/25 show. I hate that Junior did that to her and her family and I hope one day he gets what he deserves!!!!!

  The - I fell over your blog while looking for Jerry Capeci, because Carla had mentioned his comments on Junior’s newly found addiction to cheese.

  I started watching the wives by accident and then realized that I had had a nodding acquaintance with Carla while I was working my way through Pace (College), and I guess that she was starting her Wall Street thing.

  Only a novice who watches a “reality show” believes that it's done in real time, and only those people who don’t live in the tri-state area didn’t know about Junior. Remember, while we know that New York (that is Manhattan) is the center of the planet, people in the rest of the country have other things to do.

  ABC’s account about TG’s arrest was interesting. Renee always goes around the show saying - do you know who my father is? Eyewitness News introduced him as Renee’s father, and then told you his name. It’s been so long, that a whole generation of people probably had
to Google him.

  Granted Rene’s Lady MacBethisms are a bit much, but in terms of reality shows, Mob Wives and (God help me) Housewives of Beverly Hills are most realistic, but it took a suicide and three arrests to do so.

  Sug – Well, I live in Georgia and the closest thing I know of a mob is a batch of crazy ladies that knock you down getting to a sale at Wal-Mart! So to find anything about the mob that does not include blue-haired old ladies I must Google. There is where the Joe Bruno blog came up first and I found a lot of other interesting facts above the mob wives info (a little note, I was looking up “Junior the Rat”). Anyway, keep writing interesting and funny tidbits, and I will continue to visit (your blog).

  Pat - Good blog Joe. I’ve watched the show in the past, but I got really turned off watching “grown women” have fist fights. It does not send a good message to the younger viewing audience. With all of the bullying going on in schools throughout the nation, it just really turned me off. I’m a New Yorker, born and raised, and I’ve thrown a few good right hooks in my day. But that was many moons ago. When you reach a certain age you have to use better judgment.

  Pat - You know what’s funny is the girl Drita. She talks about beating people up all the time. I was her size when I was 10 years old. If that girl weighs 115 pounds soaking wet she’s heavy. TV gives you 10 pounds too. What’s sad is that when you watch all of these shows, everyone is pitted against one another. Then the others form an alliance. The next generation of shows will be called “Former Reality TV Stars – Where Are They Now?”

  Pat - They have real-life stories, but the fighting is hideous. It’s like when everyone bottlenecks on the highway to stop and see the accident. I’ve only seen the show two times and that was enough for me.

  Anthony Graziano Pleads Guilty

  April 14, 2012

  Pleading guilty was the smart thing to do; the right move. However, Anthony “TG” Graziano has only one man to blame for his latest trip to the slammer, and that man is his former son-in-law, Hector “Junior” Pagan.

  Graziano was on home detention - the last leg of his eight-year bit - when Pagan paid him a cordial, social visit. Of course, Pagan was wired for sound by the FBI (in his wristwatch) when Graziano asked Pagan to help him collect on an old loansharking debt. Pagan said he’d do his best to help out his former father-in-law, then he turned over the wired watch to the FBI, and went immediately into the Witness Protection Program.

  Pagan had previously been wired up while talking shop with several other alleged mobsters, which led to their arrests too. To add insult to injury, Pagan is scheduled to testify at their upcoming trials, if it ever comes to that.

  All of this happened while Pagan was co-starring in the VH1 television disaster called Mob Wives, which also stars Graziano’s daughter Renee, who had the misfortune of once being married to Pagan, and was foolishly trying to reconcile with Pagan while the TV cameras rolled. To complete the Graziano trilogy, Graziano’s daughter Jennifer (Renee’s sister) is the producer of the show.

  However, the 71-year-old Anthony Graziano, knowing the Feds had the goods on him with the Pagan tape, decided to plead guilty, and now, when sentenced, he faces approximately three years in prison. If Graziano had gone to trial, he could have gotten as much as 20 years in the can, making it virtually a lifetime sentence.

  Like I said before; it was a smart move by Graziano. And if the other alleged mobsters, including Nicholas Santora, play it smart too, they’ll cop a plea like Graziano. When the FBI has you on tape admitted to planning, or committing crimes, it’s as good as a conviction.

  The only question is - why would the Feds play ball with Pagan, when one of the crimes they had him on was involvement in a murder during a robbery gone awry?

  Of course, the FBI is notorious for making deals with the Devil if it means numerous convictions against alleged Mafia figures. But considering what a slimeball Pagan is, the Feds would have served the public much better by putting the cuffs on Pagan, and then trying to make their criminal cases against the other men by other means. At least then, the FBI’s hands would be clean.

  It’s a travesty of justice when the Feds make a deal with a creep like Pagan just to pump up their arrests sheets, filled with alleged Mafia figures, who may or may have not committed the crimes they are accused of.

  But I guess if you want promotions in the FBI, the number of convictions is more important than the quality of convictions.

  And the beat goes on.

  Responses to “Anthony Graziano Pleads Guilty”

  Hel -Don’t you think TG (Anthony Graziano) is wrong too? I mean, don’t get me wrong, I hate to see someone turn rat to save their own ass. But, isn’t when you collect a mob debt, it means either you pay or die?

  JB - Not really, Hel. If you kill someone, how are you going to collect your money? They use the threat of violence to collect debts. Very rarely does this mean the death sentence for the person who owes the money. Dead men don’t pay.

  Ros - Poor Renee, hope she gets better.

  JB - Every time she looks at her weekly paycheck from Mob Wives, Renee feels much better. It's all about the money.

  Coo - I saw her on one of the talk shows this week - she looked GREAT! LOL Joe!

  JB - Coo, it must have been a stand-in. Or you have a distorted TV set.

  Ros - She's going to give herself a stroke, and there's not enough money in the world sorry... LOL!

  Ter - Brutta !!!!!!!

  Ros - I can barely watch her on TV sometimes. She gives me anxiety - like Bitch chill out!!!!! LOL!

  Jos - My wife watches the show. I can hear all the screaming from my Man Cave! LOL!! And they all have trash mouths on the show. That’s so unattractive.

  Vir - Renee, kick your husband’s ass to the curb. He’s nothing but a rat! He’s going to cause you to have a stroke.

  Jos - Heck, he only went with her in the first place because of her father’s rank! Most of them rat when facing a long sentence. Only very few will hold up their vows to omerta.

  Don - Renee Graziano looks like Roy DeMeo in drag.

  Mic - They are all a waste of time

  Lil - The fact Junior ratted, in itself, shows him for what he is: a piece of scum. How could a man do this this within his own family, and to a man who is in his 70's? It just makes me think that this cheese-eating scum really could care less about his child. We all know he could have cared less about Renee. But his kid??

  Come on! What a piece of crap. I hope, as much as I hate to say it, that he gets his due.

  Ger - YOU SONS OF BITCHES...!!!!!!

  Ant - This is sad. I hope TG survives until he is released from prison. Now Junior, that no-good rat fake-ass gangster lost everyone because he wanted to play KING RAT! Let him go out to Arizona and wait for the other rat garbage bag to get out (Sammy “The Bull” Gravano).

  Karma Junior, karma. That’s all I have to say to you. And I hope AJ and Renee HATE YOU! YOU SCUMBAG!

  Meg - I hope Junior rots in hell! Disgusting! God have mercy on his soul. And I hope Renee and AJ get through this.

  Vinny TV Takes a Plea Bargain

  April 20, 2012

  As did Anthony Graziano, Vincent (Vinny TV) Badalamenti took a plea deal, and like Graziano - it was the right thing to do.

  This plea deal, combined with other plea deals, will stop Hector “Junior” Pagan from taking the stand at the trial of the men he wore a wire on, and the men he ratted on. (But that still makes Pagan a rat – a rat of the worst kind).

  We all know by now (the TV show Mob Wives finally revealed the truth, after six months of avoiding the truth) that Pagan wore a wire while talking to his ex-father-in-law Anthony Graziano, who is the father of Mob Wives star Renee Graziano (talk about dumbing down the meaning of the word “star.”)

  On this wire Graziano asked Pagan to collect a long-overdue usurious debt. As a result, Graziano was arrested and Pagan quickly disappeared off the streets and into the Witness Protection Program - ending any chance, i
f there ever was one - that Renee and Junior would get back together - if anyone in the right mind cared in the first place.

  Rather than go to trial, Anthony Graziano, along with Badalamenti, pled guilty as charged and will do approximately two years in prison (maybe less). As was reported in the New York Daily News, Badalamenti has now pled guilty to one felony (the nonviolent collection of an unlawful debt), and may do as little as two years in the slammer. Because of his plea bargain, the government has agreed to drop the racketeering and extortion charges against Vinny TV, which has made Vinny TV a happy man indeed. There were several other co-defendants in the “trial that will never happen,” who have all pled guilty as charged.

  The big question is: “Why was the government so eager to accept plea deals, when with Pagan testifying at the trial, the accused men would have been facing big-time in prison if they were found guilty?”

  The reason could only be, as was pointed out in the New York Daily News, was that the Feds “weren’t thrilled with the prospect of putting Pagan on the witness stand.”

  Why?

  Since Pagan is now known worldwide as a rat, and anyone who has ever watched Mob Wives (and sadly, that’s a lot of people), who become jurors in the alleged mob trials of the men Pagan rated on, would give very little credence to anything Pagan said on the witness stand. On Mob Wives, it’s obvious Pagan is a low-life conniver, and worse. So rather than take the chance a jury would find the defendants not guilty because of the notoriety and lack of credibility of Pagan, the Feds waved nice plea deals in front of the defendants and the accused men wisely accepted the deals.

  The good news is that Season Two of Mob Wives in finally over.

  The bad news is that will be a Season Three.

  You can’t win them all.

  Jerry Capeci’s Gangland Says Hector “Junior” Pagan May Still Have to Testify in Court and Junior Doesn’t Like It One Bit.