CARAMANDI - Nicholas "The Crow" Caramandi

Mr Kandi tell us why or how did you get the nickname Nick the crow it means shrewd bird who gave you that name and this fella from the neighborhood he wasn't so shrewd he must have known you pretty good probably and how would you get these individuals the drug dealers bookmakers lone sharks to give you a piece of their profits well we would threaten them with bodily harm or death if they didn't pay Mr caramandi when you were growing up did you learn the 10 commandments yes yes I did did you learn Thou shalt not steal yes I did that Thou shalt not kill sure yeah how about Thou shalt not lie yes the three Commandments I just mentioned how many of them did you break I broke them all John K breze was a high-profile lone shark and drug dealer that was his first mistake his second mistake was his belief that he could ignore the little guy who was now running the mob from Atlantic City it's really not that [ __ ] complicated they wanted a piece of him he didn't want to give these guys nothing so they killed him the hit was set up by Joseph chicky changolini one of four new capos appointed shortly after Scarfo took over the organization the others were scarfo's nephew Philip leonetti Phil testa's son Salvatore and Chucky merlino's brother Lawrence together with Scarfo and his new underboss Chucky Merino they formed the nucleus of the bloody criminal organization that was poised to unleash A Reign of Terror on the Philadelphia underworld calab got his shortly after having dinner with changolini in K's Little Italy the same South Philadelphia restaurant where Angelo Bruno dined on the night of his death changolini was walking calib to his car when two men approached from behind and opened fire the gunman Tommy deljo and Francis fafy inella were members of chalin's crew and were on their way up the organizational ladder both were highly ambitious and murder was the quickest way for advancement in the scar full mob Tommy and fafy were waiting down the street chicky walked him out and Tommy and faffy banged him Pat the cat with the getaway driver after that they all got made Tony meets Anthony feni got made too but I don't know what the [ __ ] he did to deserve it John Cali was gunned down on October 6th 1981 he died of two gunshot wounds to the Head three to the chest the police report of the shooting said that two gunmen wearing ski masks and gloves approached him from behind and opened fire police found two pistols the ski masks and the gloves in a gutter the coldblooded public execution fit the pattern that was beginning to take hold now that Scarfo was in charge 5 months earlier on May 27th leader of the Greek Mafia Chelsea Stevie Boris was killed in similar fashion and shortly after that Franky flowers the Alonso was brutally beaten when he too refused to pay scarfo's New Street tax the L Fair era of Angelo Bruno was over it was no longer Live and Let Live Nikki Scarfo was now in charge and scoro wanted a piece of everyone's action during this time I'm still with Mickey Diamond but I wasn't making any money and I was getting [ __ ] disgusted I am burnt out in the [ __ ] city with the gold and the other scams I was running I'm going nowhere real [ __ ] [Music] fast I'm going down to the RAC tracks I'm friendly with Pat the cats burrito and I start getting friendly with Charlie White Char and H Pat the cat came out of Trenton he moved to Philadelphia and went to work for changolini he did some bookmaking and had some lone shark money on the street he was just an associate until the Cali hit then he got made see Pat was an earner not a hitter turns out out this [ __ ] had longdistance plans he knew already a whole year in advance he wanted me Charlie White and my partner Junior Steno with him that's all he wanted he just wanted to be left the [ __ ] alone with changolini as his CLE as an earner not a [ __ ] hitter yeah Pat used to tell me [ __ ] yeah he'd he'd ask me if I'm happy if I'm making any money we used to go to dinner sometimes at Paco's place around 10th in tasa so I'd say to him I'll put it this way I owe this guy Paco 31 Grand and I'm giving him 600 and5 a week interest so no I ain't making no [ __ ] money Pat tells me to be patient he says things are going to be different see the order was out to kill Mickey diamond in fact I was in the way twice when they were trying to kill him later I find out that Nick Scarfo had said the next time if anybody's with him they go too [ __ ] [ __ ] the Mickey Diamond contract was an example of the Sinister almost diabolical way scarfo's mind worked he put the contract out on Dominic Mickey diamond deito for reasons that perhaps only he fully understood Mickey Diamond had certainly angered enough people he was constantly trying to get over on someone welching on debts finagling his way into ant out of deals even caramandi was growing tired of his mob Mentor but scarfo's animosity went back further almost 20 years to their early days in South Philadelphia and Mickey Diamond's friendship with the hated Joe the Boss Retta the old conigliari who wanted Scarfo dead and to the dispute with Angelo Bruno over Chucky Marino's improper advances towards the niece of two respected Old Line Bruno mob figures the brothers Mark and funie Marone so in the early 60s Scaro was hanging out with Chucky Marino he was older than Chucky by about 10 years but they'd hang out together Chucky wasn't a maid member then but he was involved with Nikki and a couple of things now there were these two brothers the maronies alons and Gino Marone these guys were old school they were calib and Chucky this [ __ ] was [ __ ] around with their niece their sister's daughter this sh [ __ ] was something you just did not [ __ ] do so they wanted Chucky killed they went to Joe the Boss Retta and had a sit down with these two brothers everything was to the letter they knew this [ __ ] inside out upside down right side left but who comes to bat for Chucky Scaro it was a big [ __ ] thing at the time Scarfo represented Chucky and Mickey Diamond spoke for these two brothers well Scarfo saves Chucky's [ __ ] life he doesn't get killed and although Chucky denied it up and down these two brothers knew he was [ __ ] around with the niece it was something everybody remembered I think from that point on Scarfo never liked Mickey Diamond when Scarfo decided deito had to go he gave the assignment to the very same two brothers whom Mickey diamond had stood up for in the dispute with Marino and Scarfo nearly two decades earlier like some feudal Lord Scarfo was testing the Marcone brothers would they be loyal to the mafia code and blindly follow the orders of their new boss or would they bulk and worn Mickey Diamond one of their oldest friends either way scarel figured himself a winner if they waren a diamond then they would become targets as well and instead of one contract he could put out three and be rid of all of them it was a spite thing for him this just goes to show you how vengeful he can be how bitter he can get Kandi's past performance as an earner for the mob was the one thing he had going for him during this period of upheaval and when Scarfo whose lust for power was matched only by his insatiable greed took over the organization in March of 1981 he recognized that the crow could be a valuable asset Scarfo knew caramandi he trusted him then I started having problems with chicken Narducci caramandi was a heavy Gambler at narducci's card games and owed him several thousand always a source of friction within the underworld but their problems ran deeper than that Nardi was not a big fan of Kandi's hustle in fact several years earlier he had gone after the crow in a dispute over one of Kandi's scams in addition to his gold and his $1,000 bill routine caramandi had become a master of selling a $5,000 3 karat diamond ring the hustle worked like this caroni would offer the ring to a sucker at a good price he'd even let the mark take the ring to a jeweler to have it appraised after the appraisal there would be more haggling overprice during these negotiations Kandi would replace the real diamond ring with a fake that was identical in size shape and design he had dozens of them made up it's one of my biggest cons I must have sold this ring 200 times on one occasion however he sold the diamond to a South Philadelphia restaurant owner who was a friend of both Nardi and Angelo Bruno most of car M's victims couldn't or wouldn't bring legal action against him but the crow knew that Bruno was a higher court of appeal whose decision he would have to abide by so one day chicki nuchi comes around the enen street cafe he hands me the ring the phony one he says to me give me the [ __ ] money so I say I don't got it well you better get it so Mickey diamond interven and tells him listen chicky I got to do the right thing here you got to go through the proper channels Mickey was a soldier and so was nuchi so so they get in touch with Angelo Bruno and Tony bananas we straightened everything out I gave the guy back his [ __ ] money anyway I had a lot of problems with chicky he used to have a ziget game it's this Italian card game and before I went into the can I owed him some money I used to borrow big off of this guy 10 grand 15 grand at a time this is back in 74 when when I was rolling high with a [ __ ] [Music] counterfeiting most of my money went into gambling and sometimes I used to go to H ziget games then one weekend I lost I lost big [Music] 50k so I had a history of these problems with Narducci but I was on good terms with Scarfo he liked me and I liked him I think that helped me it didn't [ __ ] hurt you know I was always known to be a hustler a good earner and I had a real good rapport with Scarfo then Phil Testa went and got himself all blown up and now Nikki is boss so I'm in and out at this time hustling like a [ __ ] Maniac not making any real money playing poker at Paco's Place living off some lone shock money we still had out there we started with 50,000 and had maybe 140 on the street in 18 months it took time to collect all that [ __ ] money after Tony went and we paid back the 50 then one day I'm sitting in a car with this guy we're getting ready to go to the racetrack it's about noon who comes around Mickey his [ __ ] pulls over and jumps in the car so I says to him hey Mick I'm going down to the track you know I got a couple hundred on me I'm going to take a shot right I mean with the [ __ ] luck I'm having why the [ __ ] not he was down with me at the track the day before this [ __ ] was becoming a nuisance he wouldn't leave me the [ __ ] alone called me 50 [ __ ] times a day wanting to know what I was doing where I was at man the [ __ ] party was over Tony wasn't around no more he was dead and you [ __ ] broom sweeps clean you dig now Mickey had a car wash at 26 in passan he wasn't doing so great so he says to me I got to meet somebody I'll see you later maybe tonight he jumped out of the car and that was it now I come back from the track that night I [ __ ] won so I meet with this girl and I take her to Dante and Luigi's for dinner we're [ __ ] celebrating Chucky Marino's in there ready to leave so he sees me he comes over and he says to me hey Nikki tell Mickey I said hello so knowing Chucky over the years I knew that [ __ ] remark meant something so I says to him what do you mean by that Chucky I mean explain that what what what do you mean whoa hold up calm the [ __ ] down Nick just tell him I said hello so we go home later that night about 8:30 9 Mickey's girlfriend she calls me Nick have you heard from Mickey I tell her no but I'd seen him earlier in the day I'm figuring he's with this other broad he used to fool with he had a few broads he was fooling with so the next day which was a Friday night we go to Pacos Pat and Charlie had told me to meet them there listen to me your [ __ ] problems are over my friend this [ __ ] guy he's dead they just haven't found his body yet then Pat tells me I'm going to be with him from now on he says we're going to start shaking down bookmakers and anybody else doing anything illegal he had already told changolini about it it was going to be me Charlie White and my partner Junior Steno and Pat Pat says to me if Junior don't want to do it you better tell him to get the [ __ ] out of town cuz he can't stay here Dominic deo's body was found on the afternoon of February 25th 1982 in the trunk of his own car parked at 9th and Banbridge streets in South Philadelphia his hands and feet had been tied behind him his body had been placed in plastic trash bags secured with twine he had been shot in the head and the weapon of choice was a 38 caliber handgun a police report noted that DeVito a heavy Gambler who was frequently in debt had been reported missing the day before by his girlfriend the woman told police she last saw deito on the afternoon of February 22nd no one has ever been charged with a DeVito murder but few people spent much time mourning Mickey Diamond's death I had to collect the lone shock money that was on the street I got the books from his girlfriend and all the [ __ ] money we collected went to them guys the Scarfo direct we got nothing Mickey's girl she didn't even have money to [ __ ] bury him so they gave me six grand to give to [Music] her Dominic deito hadn't been buried a week when Pat the cat fito set up headquarters in a clubhouse on bankr Street in South Philadelphia he brought caramandi in and stel in as his associates eventually elevating their status to proposed members working in a crew under Joseph chicki changolini kerandi became part of what would soon be called the bomb squad a group of mobsters who began the systematic Shakedown and extortion of the non-affiliated segments of the Philadelphia underworld Scarfo wanted to impose a street taxs on bookmakers lone sharks and drug dealers operating outside the organization this was in marked contrast to the way Bruno had conducted business Bruno preferred alliances brought about by Mutual needs and influence he wanted bookmakers and lone sharks to know that they could come to him for assistance Financial or otherwise maybe they needed to edge off some heavy betting maybe they had a scam going that had gotten too big to handle maybe they had the inside track on a lucrative Construction contract and needed a silent partner to help Finance the deal they would go to Bruno or one of his people because they knew he would be fair that he would share the deal and that when it was over everyone could go back about his business until something else came along Scarfo changed those rules in many ways he was the underworld reflection of the pinstriped Outlaws who were terrorizing Wall Street at the same time both seemed to subscribe to the same philosophy greed is good get it all get it now take no prisoners caramandi adapted perfectly to the new approach after more than a year of looking over his shoulder he again felt secure about his mob connections he survived the bloodletting that had left a dozen more highly regarded mob figures dead now he was a step closer to the Inner Circle he was a proposed member in good standing his past association with Tony bananas caponegro a possible sore Point had Festa remain in power was no longer a problem Scarfo knew caramandi long before he hooked up with Tony bananas he appreciated his ability as an earner now the crow was out on the street every day further proving his Worth to the organization this time he had some status more important he had St the income and as an added bonus Pat the cat burrito told caramandi he could forget about the 31,000 he owed pacco other people might be impressed or frightened by the wanting and ruthless violence of the mob but to caramandi the awesome power of the organization showed up on the bottom line to be able to arbitrarily wipe out a lone sharking debt now that was power carami who had spent his whole life hustling for a buck who always spent more than he earned then borrowed more than he could pay was Intoxicated by the strength of those around him more than ever he wanted to be one of them so the day after they find Mickey's body I go over to Junior's house and I tell him this is the story I tell him we're going to be with Pat we're going to start shaking down number riters bookmakers drug dealers whatever whoever I tell him it's going to be him and me and Charlie White now I didn't know Charlie White all that well he was a bookmaker I knew him over the years but we were never close now Junior this rat [ __ ] is scared shitless he's [ __ ] paranoid so I say to him Jay you ain't got a [ __ ] Choice what are you going to do huh look let's just go over there and talk to them all right just just talk but at the end of the [ __ ] night just remember you don't got a [ __ ] choice so me and Junior get in the car and head over to 1838 Bang that's our new spot Pat lays it out for junior in the same way he told it to me it's the four of us now Pat says he's waiting for the okay from changolini but he says we're going to start a poker game in here we're going to remodel the place he says to me you you guys ain't got nothing to worry about nobody's going to bother you [ __ ] with you you're with me [Music] now a couple of days later Pat gets the okay from changolini that we can start shaking down those [ __ ] drug dealers now we start man oh [ __ ] man we went after those [ __ ] we shook them the [ __ ] down and roughed them the [ __ ] up book makers lone shocks anybody we could [ __ ] reach we were [ __ ] [ __ ] Terrors [ __ ] animals we' go out and tell people you don't pay either you get the [ __ ] out of business or we're going to kill you I mean there was no [ __ ] [ __ ] we were bringing guys back to bankr Street three 4 five at a [ __ ] time we had bird dogs guys who would tip us off tell us who was dealing drugs or who was writing numbers they'd point the guys out to us and we'd go get them we had control of all of the [ __ ] shakedowns we shook down everybody in the beginning in the [ __ ] beginning we must have had 60 70 guys that were paying anywhere from 100 to 300 a week we were getting packages of of guys 25 Lodge for past performances ain't that some [ __ ] we had a guy named Johnny giving us 300 a week another guy big Lou 300 a week from him we had this guy named slim he had a bar in restaurant he was big in numbers and lone shock we got 10,000 up front from this [ __ ] another 300 every [ __ ] week with so many guys we were [ __ ] rolling in it after 2 months go by we're collecting five 6 7 Grand a week Pat tells us that the deal was scarel gets half this is what you call the [ __ ] elbow and on that [ __ ] elbow is Scarfo Chucky Merino Frank Monty chalini Philip leonetti Chucky's brother Lawrence and salvi tester every week I would take half and put it on the other side for Scarfo and the other half I would chop up every day we'd work the [ __ ] shakedowns then we started this poker game in here it would start on a Friday and maybe last till Monday over a weekend we could cut up 8 10 12 Grand there was a $20 or $40 limit sometimes we'd have no [ __ ] limit we used to take 5% from the pot I was making 1,200 1500 a [ __ ] week between the cuts from the shakedowns plus the [ __ ] poker game [Music] meanwhile police continued stumbling over the bodies of mobsters and MOB Associates less than a month after the Deo murder law enforcement authorities made another Grizzly Discovery in South Philadelphia Roco marinucci's body turned up in a parking lot in the 1500 Block of South 8th Street marinucci was the 30-year-old South Philadelphia pizza shop owner who set off the bomb that killed Phil Tesa and although police had questioned him about the Testa contract they were never able to gather enough evidence to link him to the bombing now it didn't matter the timing and Circumstance ances surrounding his death confirmed his involvement marinucci had been shot repeatedly in the head and chest his hands were tied in front of his body with a clothesline the first police officers on the scene also noticed that marinucci's cheeks were puffed out this turned out to be a message from his killer stuffed inside marinucci's mouth were three large unexploded firecrackers the date was March 15th 1982 the first anniversary of the Bomb Blast that had killed Phil Testa Salvatore salvi Testa had struck again [Music]