In this episode, retired intelligence unit detective Gary Jenkins examines the life of Bobby Boriello, a key figure in the Gambino crime family and closely associated with John Gotti. I explore Boriello’s beginnings in South Brooklyn and his ascent as an enforcer for the Gallo gang, detailing his numerous criminal activities and connections that allowed him to evade serious consequences.

This show covers his involvement in significant events, such as the assassination of Paul Castellano and the tensions with the Genovese family. I reflect on the violent and tumultuous nature of his life, culminating in his murder in 1991, which highlights the inherent dangers of organized crime. As Borrello’s story unfolds, I delve into the themes of loyalty, betrayal, and power dynamics within the Mafia, offering personal insights and humor.

This will be the last episode until February. The next episode will host Mark Black, who tells about his life in the Federal prison hospital in Springfield and his care of John Gotti as he battled cancer and other mobster’s plots.

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[0:00] A little story about Bobby Boriello, who was a Gambino soldier and a big moneymaker

[0:05] for the Gotti family and the Gambino family. You want to call it the Gotti family or the Gambino family? It never did become the Gotti family, did it? Much to John Gotti’s chagrin, I’m sure. Anyhow, this is going to be the last one for the month of January. I’m going to take some time off. I’m going to take a little vacation. And I’ve been working pretty hard at doing my books. And I’ve done a couple of books, a New York book and the Chicago book. And I’m getting set for the next year, doing some other things this next year. So I’ll get back to putting one out at least every week at the last of January. I know the one I’ve already got it set that we’re going to come back into like, I think the last Monday or Sunday in January is going to be a guy named Mark Black, who was in the penitentiary in Springfield, the hospital, federal hospital down there. With John Gotti and some other guys. And he got all embroiled in some.

[1:02] Some mafia drama, carrying messages from one person to the other. And, and so anyhow, it’s a really interesting story. It’ll be a great one to come back to. So I hope you guys all had a Merry Christmas and a happy new year. I’m not very good at wishing people all that kind of stuff before I forget about it. I just put out podcasts. That’s all I do. You know, me, I’m just a plain guys. Guys, come on back in February. Hey, all you wiretappers out there. Glad to be back here in the studio. Glad to have you in the studio with me. This is Gary Jenkins, retired Kansas City Police Intelligence Detective and now podcasters. Most of y’all know. If you don’t, why keep listening. You’ll learn who I am

[1:43] and what I’m about. I have a lot of fun doing this. Going back to New York today, guys, going to Bobby Borrello.

[1:50] Bobby Boriello was a gaudy guy, if you remember right. He probably is one of the trigger men on the Castellano hit. Now, going way on back, he grew up in South Brooklyn, and he grew up in a neighborhood that was dominated by several mob families, Gambino, Genovese, and the Columbo crime families. He was surrounded by mobsters from, you know, from the time he was a little kid. His younger brother, Stevie, was close to Crazy Joe Gallo and Albert Gallo and Frank Ileano. Um steve played a role in getting gallows crew uh really ensconced in south brooklyn and and their rackets down there and he brought bobby in and he was really he was a big kid and he got a reputation pretty quick as an enforcer within the gallow gang but he moved on beyond that Now, between 1967, 1972.

[2:49] His rap sheet grew considerably. He was arrested six times from weapons possession to assault, larceny, gambling, the usual stuff, you know. No matter what, he didn’t go to jail, and his criminal career advanced. Didn’t go to jail. Bobby Boriello didn’t go to jail because he became important to different mafia guys, and they got those political connections. By the 1980s, he will become a made man in the Gambino family.

[3:18] And what’s interesting is Mikey Scars DiLeonardo will talk about being inducted by Sammy the Bull Gravano with Junior Gotti, and because John Gotti did not want it to look bad, did not want him, he to make his own son, he didn’t think it looked good, Bobby Borrello will be inducted in that same ceremony with Mikey Scars and Junior Gotti. He really will have strong ties with all these guys, John Gotti, Sammy the Bull, Nicholas and Jojo Carrozzo. Borrello will be seen with Gotti quite a little bit. They were like friends. They’ll spend weekends on Long Island gambling and partying and going to performances and just, you know, general social things as well as the business. Bobby Borrello conducted most of his business as he got, you know, after he became a made guy at the one over a golf club. It was in Carroll Gardens in New York. It was a social club. It was operated by a paraplegic gangster named Joe Pitts. It’s Joe Pitts Corneliaro. This dude was involved in loan sharking and gambling. He’ll eventually be killed. These guys, there’s constant danger surrounding them. Constantly, they’re in danger. During his early years in the Gambino family, and even before, he was suspected of being involved in more than one murder. That gives him a hell of a reputation out there.

[4:44] Uh, other criminal activities are extorted, the usual extortion, loan sharking and drug trafficking. And, you know, he really had a good solid status within the Gambino family. He could take care of business. He could make money. He could do what needed to be done. And, you know, the Gambino’s under Gotti, they didn’t mind dealing.

[5:02] They didn’t mind taking that drug money. You know, he was also part of junior Gotti’s crew when John Gotti promoted his son to Capo and Sammy, the bull wanted that done for some reason this crew had some guys jackie cavallo charlie cornelia tommy twits cassia polly and dominic fat dom borghese he was involved you know all over new york city and particularly south brooklyn worked with anthony toto anastasio and some other guys like that you know he was involved with the eventually become involved with the trucking construction loan sharking because that’s what gambinos do they were in trucking construction and loan sharking as well as gambling and hijacking and all the usual things late 1980s he got into the world of strip clubs like i noticed in kansas city they did the same thing later on they started getting into strip clubs there’s a guy named steve kaplan who was paying tribute to him and junior gotti for different strip clubs all up down the east coast so he really and And, and, and Michael.

[6:09] Mikey scars was involved in that one down in, uh, extorting money from that one down in, uh, uh, Atlanta, Georgia.

[6:16] So these guys, you know, really reached out with their strip clubs as he rose up in the ranks, his most powerful ally was junior Gotti.

[6:24] And, and he was actually junior Gotti named him a boss over some other guys and his crew and December, 1990, after John Gotti senior was indicted, he created a five man ruling panel over the Gambino family and Junior is part of that. Bobby Borelli, you know, is operating alongside of him and operating his rackets out of his Brooklyn Social Club. John Gotti.

[6:48] Ordered Borelli to eliminate a guy named Louis De Bono, who was a Gambino soldier who had gotten a really lucrative contract to install fireproofing foam in the Twin Towers. After De Bono’s death, Borelli takes care of Louis De Bono. Sammy Gravano, Sammy the Bull, takes over that business and kind of a lot of tensions in the family over that. Borelli tried to kill a Genovese crime family associate named Preston Geritano in Brooklyn on the street. The hit failed. It led to like a kind of a negotiation between the Genovese and Canvino crime families, which they do that. And in the end, Gertano was allowed to live, but he can’t try to get revenge against Borrello, Bobby Borrello. Bobby Borrello’s luck will run out April 13th, 1991.

[7:43] Killed him right in front of his house in Bensonhurst. Now, go figure that one. And that’s not really, but guess who did it? It wasn’t a Gambino that had this done. It was a Lucchese, a big Frank Lasterino, chimed twice in the head and five times in the body.

[7:59] Anthony Casso, Gas 5 Casso, ordered this. He had gotten the information from his NYPD officers, Louis Eppolito and Stephen Caracoppa, about where to find him. They had done a little surveillance on him, knew where he lived. Just getting into his 1991 Lincoln town car, wife Susan, their two children were inside the house, unaware that their husband and father had been killed just outside. You know, when he was killed, he was under investigation by multiple federal agencies and the Kings County District Attorney’s Office for this cocaine trafficking conspiracy and for his suspected role in the murder of Paul Castellano. A guy named Dominic LaFaro had identified Bobby Borrello as one of the shooters, And he also claimed that Bobby Brello was, uh, one of the Gambino’s family’s most, most, most accomplished hit men. So this guy was a bad dude. It was a career, lifelong career mobster came up under Joey Gallo, uh, which, you know, that makes sense and, and live the life. He lived life. I wonder if he’d be running a podcast today, if he’d gone in and then came back out, I didn’t seem like guys trying to podcast, but you ever thought Sammy, the boat would run a podcast.

[9:15] After Bobby Borrello dies, his brother, Steve Borrello, has been a gangster all along with the Gambino family, and he’s managing loan sharking and gambling extortion rackets in Brooklyn and Staten Island. And he’s still, to this day, he’s out there doing the deal. So Bobby Borrello, he had a life in the mafia that was, you know, really typical of a guy that came up in the family,

[9:43] stayed in the family, whatever family he was around and died in the family. You know you live by the sword you die by the sword this is a place a life where loyalty is important power is important and betrayal intertwines in around all this loyalty and power so you just never know what’s coming next and and very few escape either they spend the rest of their life in the penitentiary they go into witness protection or they get killed hardly anybody goes on the shelf as they say so that’s the story of bobby borrello a gambino soldier who uh who was a moneymaker and an important guy that john got his rise to become the boss of the gambino family.

[10:31] Thanks a lot guys and you know i like to ride motorcycles so watch out for motorcycles when you’re out there and if you have a problem with ptsd be sure and go to the va website if you’ve been in the military and get that hotline number and if you have a problem with drugs or alcohol you can get a hotline number off of anthony uh rugiano’s website another gambino guy.

[10:52] Uh he’s in not witness protection but he’s he’s out of the game now and he’s a drug and alcohol counselor down in florida you maybe go down there to florida and be in his treatment center however however that works let me know if that ever happens uh don’t forget that i i’ve got a book leaving vegas about the wiretaps that we ran in las vegas and in kansas city to uncover the skim uh i have a couple movies about kansas city mob activities gangland wire and and brothers against brothers the sabello spiro war you can rent them on amazon and keep coming back and don’t forget to like and subscribe and tell your friends about us and get on my youtube channel or my facebook page i got a lot of people on it we have a lot of interesting discussions right now i’m building a on youtube in the community tab i’m learning all kinds of stuff here in the community tab we’re we’re now building our second fantasy family we built one between new york and chicago who would be the boss the underboss of consigliere it’s just a fun thing that we do and now i’m doing the uh midwood three midwest families cleveland kansas city and milwaukee who should be out of those three who would be the best boss who would be the best consigliere who would be the best uh underboss who would be a good capo come on back guys and and we’ll have some more fun with the Mafia.