Anthony M. DeStefano has 5 audiobooks on Listento.it, narrated by 5 narrators, with an average listener rating of 4.2★ across 4 ratings. The most-rated is Top Hoodlum.
Top Hoodlum
Summary
The press nicknamed him "The Prime Minister of the Underworld". The US Treasury's Bureau of Narcotics described him as "one of the most powerful and influential Mafia leaders in the U.S." But to friends and associates, he was simply "Uncle Frank". Who was Frank Costello really? That's the question Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Anthony M. DeStefano sets out to answer in this definitive portrait of one of the most fascinating figures in the annals of American crime.... Using newly released FBI files, eyewitness accounts, and family mementos, Top Hoodlum takes you inside the Mafia that Frank Costello helped build from the ground up, from small-time bootlegging and gambling to a nationwide racketeering empire. Sometimes shocking, sometimes amusing, and always riveting, these are the stories that have inspired American crime classics like The Godfather, Casino, Goodfellas, and The Sopranos. This is the man who made the Mafia such a powerful force in our nation's history. This is Top Hoodlum.
©2018 Anthony M. DeStefano (P)2018 Tantor
Gotti's Boys
Summary
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Anthony M. DeStefano takes you inside John Gotti's inner circle to reveal the dark hearts and violent deeds of the most remorseless and cold-blooded characters in organized crime. Men so vicious even the other mafia families were terrified of them. Meet Gotti's Boys.... Charles Carneglia: the ruthless junkyard dog who allegedly disposed of bodies for the mob - by dissolving them in acid then displaying their jewels. Gene Gotti: the younger Gotti brother who ran a multimillion-dollar drug smuggling ring - enraging his bosses in the Gambino family. Angelo "Quack-Quack" Ruggiero: the loose-lipped contract killer who was wire-tapped by the FBI - and dared to insult Gotti behind his back. Tony "Roach" Rampino: the hardcore stoner who looked like a cockroach - and used his gangly arms and horror-mask face to frighten his enemies. "Sammy the Bull" Gravano: the Gambino underboss who helped John Gotti execute Gambino mob boss Paul Castellano - then sang like a canary to take Gotti down. Contains mature themes.
©2019 Anthony M. DeStefano (P)2019 Tantor
Gangland New York
Summary
From the Bowery Boys and the Five Points Gang through the rise of the Jewish "Kosher Nostra" and the ascendance of the Italian Mafia, mobsters have played a major role in the city's history, lurking just around the corner or inside that nondescript building. Bill "the Butcher" Poole, Paul Kelly, Monk Eastman, "Lucky" Luciano, Carlo Gambino, Meyer Lansky, Mickey Spillane, John Gotti - each held sway over New York neighborhoods that nurtured them and gave them power. As families and factions fought for control, the city became a backdrop for crime scenes, the rackets spreading after World War II to docks, airports, food markets, and garment districts. The streets of Brooklyn, swamps of Staten Island, and vacant lots near LaGuardia Airport hosted assassinations and hasty burials for the unlucky. The bloodlettings, arrests, and trials became front-page fodder for tabloids that thrived on covering Mulberry Street. Chinese, Russian, and Greek mobsters rose to prominence and wrought bloody havoc as well. Each of Gangland New York's five sections - one for each borough - traces criminal activities and area exploits from the 19th century to now. Everyone knows about Umberto's Clam House in Little Italy, but now you can find Scarpato's restaurant in Coney Island, where Joe Masseria was killed by henchmen of Salvatore Maranzano, who in turn died in a Park Avenue office building at the hands of "Lucky" Luciano a few months later. From the Bronx to Brighton Beach, from New Springville to Ozone Park, here is a comprehensive, on-the-ground guide to mob life in the Rotten Apple.
©2015 Anthony DeStefano (P)2015 Tantor
Vinny Gorgeous
Summary
A vain man of good looks, small means, and no family links to the mob, Vincent "Vinny Gorgeous" Basciano steadily worked his way up to acting boss of the Bonanno crime family, becoming its leader when official boss Joseph Massino went to the clink in 2003. But at a time when the Mob was crawling with secret operatives and informants caving to government pressure to flip, Basciano obeyed the code of La Cosa Nostra. "I got faith in one guy," he told a group of mobsters during a secretly taped meeting. That man was Joseph Massino, head of the Bonanno borgata. But for all his loyalty, Basciano was still a hot-headed, cold-blooded killer, which led to his arrest. Then, in a remarkable betrayal that shook the Five Families to their foundation, Massino secretly cooperated with the FBI - the first official boss ever to roll over. As a result, Basciano faced the death penalty, but a federal jury, disturbed by the prosecution's use of criminal informants, reached a surprising verdict. Veteran crime author Anthony M. DeStefano tells the riveting story of the last true believer in the Mob's cult of brotherhood and how he was betrayed by the only man he ever trusted.
©2013 Anthony M. DeStefano (P)2013 Tantor
The Big Heist
Summary
One of the biggest scores in Mafia history, the Lufthansa Airlines heist of 1978 has become the stuff of Mafia legend - and a decades-long investigation that continues to this day. Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Anthony DeStefano sheds new light on this legendary unsolved case using recent evidence from the 2015 trial of 80-year-old Mafia don Vincent Asaro, who for the first time speaks out on his role in the fateful Lufthansa heist. This blistering you-are-there account takes you behind the headlines and inside the ranks of America's infamous crime families - with never-before-told stories, late-breaking news, and bombshell revelations. An invaluable addition to any crime library, this is the most complete, thorough, and up-to-date account of the Lufthansa heist currently available. Pulitzer Prize winner Anthony DeStefano draws from his years of experience reporting on the mob for New York Newsday - as well as his firsthand coverage of the Asaro indictment and attendance at the trial - to expose the all-too-human heart of organized crime in America. The Big Heist is thrilling, shocking, and impossible to pause.
©2017 Anthony M. DeStefano (P)2017 Blackstone Audio, Inc.