ready to run out of my fucking house,” he confides to Sal.
“But they never said.”
Unfortunately for Ralph, capturing Sal and his “evil fucking mind” was not what the FBI had in mind when it signed up its new informant. Ralph was spending much of his time talking with a low-level street nobody about one caper that was already solved and numerous new capers that would probably go exactly nowhere. The FBI had something else in mind. Three days after strapping on his secret device, Ralph was talking with a DeCavalcante associate named Tommy DiTorra about this and that when DiTorra mentioned a Vinny. No last name, just Vinny.
DiTorra was explaining how the DeCavalcante crime family had decided to take over a financially unstable school-bus company, Manti Transportation, which was run by one of their loan-shark victims. The guy owed everybody—the banks, the taxman, his landlord, and, most important, the DeCavalcante crime family. Therefore this Vinny with no last name had decided that he was going to make himself partner of the company and put one of his people on the payroll at Manti Transportation. That way Vinny with no last name could keep the company afloat and make some money. This Vinny put his driver, Joey O, on the payroll as employee of the month at Manti, and the bus-company owner was complaining to the mystery Vinny. DiTorra recounted the conversation for Ralphie in fairly obvious terminology anyone familiar with the average Mafia movie would know and understand completely.
“He didn’t want Joey O to shake him down,” DiTorra said. “He said, ‘Who is he to threaten me?’ and everything. ‘They’re gonna block my buses in and bah, bah, bah.’ It’s all bullshit, now he can’t even pay. Now he don’t even have enough money to pay. Then he told Vinny at the table, ‘You know, I gotta pay protection.’ Vinny said, ‘Let me tell you something. You don’t ever mention that word in front of me.’ ” DiTorra laughed. “He’s such a fucking jerk when he talks, this guy Manti.”
This Vinny had come up before in Ralphie’s talks with Sal. The FBI wasn’t sure who he was. Ralphie had mentioned Vinny as someone powerful enough to help him out. He implied that Vinny, who was, at the time, at the Super Bowl, might be able to get him cash when he returned while Ralphie figured out how to exchange foreign currency stolen from the Trade Center.
“You know he knew about this,” Ralphie said. “Maybe he’s got somebody who’s reasonable, maybe ten, fifteen percent. But I don’t mind giving him a kick. You know, give him fifty thousand.”
Then Ralphie mentioned Vinny as someone powerful enough to be obeyed. Ralphie mentioned that Vinny had sent down an order to stop trying to get rid of the foreign money all at once. “Let me explain to you what’s going on,” he said. “Vinny Ocean sends this message to stop peddling. The whole neighborhood is talking about it. So I just stopped.”
And there it was—Vinny Ocean. Vincent Palermo. At the time when Ralphie signed up as a government informant and the New York FBI decided it wanted to cross the Hudson River, Vincent Palermo was a name the bureau wanted to hear about on tape. They knew very little about him. His name emerged hardly at all in organized-crime intelligence files. He was the future for the DeCavalcante crime family: a made guy who really looked like a legitimate guy. He was a smart businessman, had been married to a niece of Sam the Plumber, and had only one arrest in his background—a misdemeanor charge for stealing frozen shrimp down at the Fulton Fish Market in lower Manhattan. The brief mention of him by Ralphie and DiTorra was hardly enough to get a grand jury to indict, but it implied things. If Ralphie was able to work his way closer to Vinny Ocean, there could be developments.
It would not be easy. There was a reason Vinny had no significant arrests during his more than thirty years in the Mafia. He said very little, spoke
“But they never said.”
Unfortunately for Ralph, capturing Sal and his “evil fucking mind” was not what the FBI had in mind when it signed up its new informant. Ralph was spending much of his time talking with a low-level street nobody about one caper that was already solved and numerous new capers that would probably go exactly nowhere. The FBI had something else in mind. Three days after strapping on his secret device, Ralph was talking with a DeCavalcante associate named Tommy DiTorra about this and that when DiTorra mentioned a Vinny. No last name, just Vinny.
DiTorra was explaining how the DeCavalcante crime family had decided to take over a financially unstable school-bus company, Manti Transportation, which was run by one of their loan-shark victims. The guy owed everybody—the banks, the taxman, his landlord, and, most important, the DeCavalcante crime family. Therefore this Vinny with no last name had decided that he was going to make himself partner of the company and put one of his people on the payroll at Manti Transportation. That way Vinny with no last name could keep the company afloat and make some money. This Vinny put his driver, Joey O, on the payroll as employee of the month at Manti, and the bus-company owner was complaining to the mystery Vinny. DiTorra recounted the conversation for Ralphie in fairly obvious terminology anyone familiar with the average Mafia movie would know and understand completely.
“He didn’t want Joey O to shake him down,” DiTorra said. “He said, ‘Who is he to threaten me?’ and everything. ‘They’re gonna block my buses in and bah, bah, bah.’ It’s all bullshit, now he can’t even pay. Now he don’t even have enough money to pay. Then he told Vinny at the table, ‘You know, I gotta pay protection.’ Vinny said, ‘Let me tell you something. You don’t ever mention that word in front of me.’ ” DiTorra laughed. “He’s such a fucking jerk when he talks, this guy Manti.”
This Vinny had come up before in Ralphie’s talks with Sal. The FBI wasn’t sure who he was. Ralphie had mentioned Vinny as someone powerful enough to help him out. He implied that Vinny, who was, at the time, at the Super Bowl, might be able to get him cash when he returned while Ralphie figured out how to exchange foreign currency stolen from the Trade Center.
“You know he knew about this,” Ralphie said. “Maybe he’s got somebody who’s reasonable, maybe ten, fifteen percent. But I don’t mind giving him a kick. You know, give him fifty thousand.”
Then Ralphie mentioned Vinny as someone powerful enough to be obeyed. Ralphie mentioned that Vinny had sent down an order to stop trying to get rid of the foreign money all at once. “Let me explain to you what’s going on,” he said. “Vinny Ocean sends this message to stop peddling. The whole neighborhood is talking about it. So I just stopped.”
And there it was—Vinny Ocean. Vincent Palermo. At the time when Ralphie signed up as a government informant and the New York FBI decided it wanted to cross the Hudson River, Vincent Palermo was a name the bureau wanted to hear about on tape. They knew very little about him. His name emerged hardly at all in organized-crime intelligence files. He was the future for the DeCavalcante crime family: a made guy who really looked like a legitimate guy. He was a smart businessman, had been married to a niece of Sam the Plumber, and had only one arrest in his background—a misdemeanor charge for stealing frozen shrimp down at the Fulton Fish Market in lower Manhattan. The brief mention of him by Ralphie and DiTorra was hardly enough to get a grand jury to indict, but it implied things. If Ralphie was able to work his way closer to Vinny Ocean, there could be developments.
It would not be easy. There was a reason Vinny had no significant arrests during his more than thirty years in the Mafia. He said very little, spoke
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