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Greg Scarpa: The Mafia's Grim Reaper Who Played the FBI! 💀🔥 Unbelievable Double Life Revealed!
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Mar 22, 2025
Welcome back to our channel, where we dive deep into the extraordinary lives of the most intriguing and controversial figures in history. Today, we unravel the mind-blowing story of Gregory Scarpa, a feared Colombo Mafia Family member who shockingly served as a secret FBI informant. 😱💼 Discover how Scarpa, known as the "Grim Reaper," manipulated both the Mafia and the FBI, eliminating rivals and evading prison. His life was a twisted tale of power, betrayal, and violence. From orchestrating hits to FBI missions, Scarpa’s story is one you won't believe. In this video, we'll explore: - Scarpa's ruthless rise in the Colombo Mafia Family 💣 - His secret collaboration with the FBI and shocking missions 🤯 - The violent legacy he passed down to his son and associates 🪓 - The scandalous relationships that fueled his life 💔 📚 Chapters: 00:00 Introduction 02:45 Early Life in Brooklyn 07:20 Joining the Colombo Mafia 10:35 Becoming an FBI Informant 16:10 Secret Missions and Torture 21:45 Family and Personal Life 26:00 Junior’s Involvement 30:45 Scarpa’s Criminal Enterprise 35:00 The Unbelievable Double Life
View Video Transcript
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welcome back to our Channel where we dive deep into the extraordinary lives of some of the most intriguing and
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controversial figures in history today we have a story that might just be the
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most fascinating one yet meet Gregory Scarpa a man who lived a double life as
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both a feared member of the Columbo Mafia family and a secret informant for the FBI his connections ran so deep that
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the agents supervising him became his allies aiding him in evading prison and
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continuing his illicit activities get ready for a journey into the unbelievable and complex world of
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Gregory Scarpa Gregory Scarpa was selective in leaking information and
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distorting facts using these tactics to eliminate those who hindered him and
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systematically increase his power some even believe that Scarpa was the great Cardinal of the family pulling the
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strings and controlling everything from behind the scenes he started Wars killed
1:00
and ordered the deaths of dozens he turned his son into a killer officially
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allowed his wife to have a lover and then turned him into a killer as well even near the end of his life when he
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was reduced to a walking skeleton due to illness scarpa's influence remained
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formidable despite being ravaged by advancing AIDS he still rode around the
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city shooting his enemies how's that for a synopsis want a more detailed story
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then meet Gregory Scarpa a man on the other side of the law not much is known about scarpa's
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early life he was born in 1928 in Bensonhurst a workingclass neighborhood
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in Brooklyn to a poor Italian-American family there are also rumors that he was
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born in Italy and moved to the United States with his parents at an early age
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however I will stick to the first version for this story from a book written with the participation of his
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son we learned that in 1949 Gregory Scarpa married Connie
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forest with whom he had a son Gregory Scarpa Jr who will also feature in our
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narrative today by the early 1950s when his son was born Scarpa was already
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involved in crime as evidenced by his arrest for burglary it was also during the 1950s that he appears to have become
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a member of the mafia family we now know as the Columbo family its boss at the
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time was Joe profasi who had a conflict with the Galla Brothers in the 1960s
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which I will delve into further I talked about this in more detail in my video about the Gallow
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Brothers at that time Scarpa was close to calero loiko better known as Charlie
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the Sig who was then a conier realizing that the cancer stricken Joe praki
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wouldn't last long Charlie began making plans to take over the family however he
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was overtaken by Joseph meoko who became boss after prophecy's death and demoted
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Charlie to Captain Charlie then started plotting against Mago Scarpa was even
3:08
contracted to kill maglio but Charlie later called it off for some reason in
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the end Charlie never gained power and Joe Columbo became the boss Scarpa who
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had supported his mentor played a part in Charlie's downfall when it became clear that his Ascension wouldn't happen
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more on that later at this time Greg Scarpa sir was working
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as an informant in 1960 he was arrested for armed robbery and FBI agents began
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recruiting him by the fall of 1961 Scarpa had surrendered and agreed to
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cooperate he became a confidential informant and received regular payments for his work Scarpa would receive more
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than $150,000 from the authorities during his time as an informant which is over a
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million in today's equivalent from that moment on Greg kept the FBI informed
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about everything happening inside the American Mafia especially within the Colombo family a couple of years before
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Joe vachi appeared before the Senate and revealed the inner workings of the mafia to the entire country he had already
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done so privately in conversations with agents there is even a version that says
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all the information vache shared was actually given to him by FBI agents
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propos opponents of this version believe that a low-ranking mafia member like vachi simply could not have known so
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much and that through him Jay Edgar Hoover wanted to tell the country
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everything the FBI had learned about kosa norra why would Hoover need to
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perform such maneuvers you might ask the thing is much of the information was
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obtained through not entirely legal means such as unauthorized
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wiretapping telling everything through Bachi was ideal for Hoover according to
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this version FBI agents learned about the mafia's setup from Scarpa who was much closer to the top as a captain and
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then provided this information to vache to reveal to the world Hoover's ultimate
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goal in this game was to increase funding for the FBI agents supplied
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vachi with all the necessary data leading the country to learn about the true power of the Kos Nostra through him
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and in turn the state gave Hoover more money to fight organized crime whether
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this was true or not we won't delve into it leaving these thoughts to you our
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viewers instead as always we will stick to the facts that are indisputable and
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important for today's story scarpa's collaboration with the FBI let's go back
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to that his collaboration can be roughly divided into official and unofficial the
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former included all reports and dat data that came from Scarpa through his supervising agent to FBI headquarters as
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payment Scarpa would receive official regular payments and bonuses from the FBI for his
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Services the latter included secret missions that Greg carried out for the FBI illegal Deeds he engaged in with his
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supervising agent and the protection he received when facing prison sentences
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let's be frank the first part is boring and not particularly interesting to talk about we will return to it when
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discussing how Scarpa fought for power by using official reports to divert suspicions or remove other mafiosi from
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his path for now let's focus on the second part and start with the secret
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missions according to Scarpa himself as conveyed through the stories of those close to him who knew about his work for
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the FBI he had quite a few Special Operations he claimed he helped the
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government frame members of the Israeli mad assisted in some Kay Special
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Operations gathered information on Howard Hughes and his Mafia connections and even tortured people however we only
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know details about one of his secret missions for the government which did indeed involve torture were all the
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others true I cannot confirm these incidents the mentioned torture case
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involved the killing of three civil rights activists Michael schwarner James Cheney and Andrew Goodman by the Q cluck
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clan in Ohio during the summer of 1964 when they disappeared Without a
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Trace public outrage ensued the FBI took over the investigation but despite their
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efforts they couldn't find the boys Dead or Alive the bureau suspected the
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involvement of the clan but couldn't prove anything that's when Greg Scarpa
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was brought in Scarpa abducted one of the clan members and took him to a house
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deep in the woods inside the house Scarpa started beating the man and demanded to know what happened to the
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missing boys whenever the captive provided some information Scarpa would go outside and pass it on to the FBI
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agents waiting outside they would verify the information and if the man lied the
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torture continued the captive only gave up when Scarpa began cutting off his
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genitals he confessed to all those involved in the deaths of the three boys and revealed field where the bodies were
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buried in the end the FBI gained Fame and honor and Scara received several
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commendations and had all his expenses covered the man who was kidnapped was
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not believed by anyone when he claimed he was tortured by some Rogue SST in the
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FBI service scarpa's main mistress Linda Shiro also accompanied him on this
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Mission Greg had a total of three constant women his wife Conor Linda and
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the beauty queen from Israel Lily Janie however Linda always remained the
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primary one it must be said that she and Scarpa made a good couple Scarpa met her
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shortly before the mission we talked about earlier when he was around 40 years old and she had just turned 18
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initially their relationship was like something out of a romantic movie however Linda started feeling
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restricted in her role as the mistress she wanted Greg to divorce his wife
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Scarpa had no intention of doing that but he was willing to live together with Linda and start a family without getting
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legally married this didn't satisfy Linda she was Catholic and wanted their children
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to be baptized according to all the rules with both a father and a mother
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when she couldn't convince Greg to divorce his wife she decided to marry someone else her plan was as follows
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find a gullible guy charm him into marrying her have children with Scarpa baptize them and then divorce the guy in
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her view this would satisfy all religious considerations Scarpa had reservations
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about this idea but he couldn't stop Linda from carrying out her plan she proceeded with her plan regardless the
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man she chose was named Charlie Shiro and they got married in March
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1968 Linda lived with Charlie but spent all her free time with Greg Scarpa would
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often be at the shirro family home when Charlie was at work Linda would disappear for days at a time without
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explaining much to her husband for a while Charlie made excuses for the chaos
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around him but this situation couldn't last forever he eventually found out about the affair after the birth of
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their first child who was of course Gregs despite knowing about Greg's
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reputation Charlie couldn't take any action he simply waited for Linda to
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Tire of playing this game which eventually happened after the birth of Greg's second child Linda decided it
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wasn't worth continuing the charade and divorced Charlie if you think their personal lives became more traditional
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after that you'd be mistaken Greg found himself another mistress Lily Dian and Linda decided she
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deserved a lover on the side as well preferably someone Young and energetic
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to make their infidelity worth it whether this constituted true infidelity in the traditional sense is hard to say
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Linda told Greg about her plan to see other people on the side he didn't object they both concluded that Linda
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had the right to explore this believing it could bring new emotions to their intimate
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lives this time Linda chose a man named Larry Maza who delivered groceries to
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their home it wasn't difficult for Linda to seduce him and soon they became lovers Linda would tell him her husband
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wasn't home and they would indulge freely often this was a lie with Scarpa
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in another room after mza left Greg and Linda excited by what had transpired
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would become intimate themselves at some point Linda thought it would be beneficial for Greg and
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Charlie to meet in person so that Scarpa could assist her lover with work as he
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wasn't satisfied with his job as a courier under a pretext manufactured for matah this meeting took place and Scarpa
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offered him a new opportunity he sponsored Larry who then opened a betting station for an illegal Lottery
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gradually Scarpa involved matah more in his illegal activities eventually making
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him one of the Hitmen on his team the issue of mat's relationship
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with Linda was openly discussed with him as it deeply troubled Mesa he even feared that the meeting where Scarpa
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addressed it would be his last but he was fortunate this unconventional love
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triangle lasted for about 15 years in addition to Maza Scarpa also introduced
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his Elder son Gregory Scarpa Jr whom I'll refer to as Junior into the
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criminal World from a young age Junior witnessed the world his father belonged
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to as Scarpa and his associates often gathered at their home to discuss matters or divide the spoils while
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junior did didn't fully understand everything he sensed something ominous in scara's world when Junior was a
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teenager scarper revealed his true identity to him during a walk explaining
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that he was involved in the mafia and also worked for the government portraying it as a service to the
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country Scarpa likened himself to something akin to James Bond which left
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a lasting impression on the young teenager it was during this time that Scarpa began to introduce violence into
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his son's life for instance when Junior was 15 he got into a fight in a bar with
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an older man Scarpa found out about it took his son and together they went to
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the bar Scarpa brutally assaulted the man and then made his son kick the
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unconscious body about a year later Junior participated in a boxing
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competition where he lost a tough fight by decision Scarpa then forced him to
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locate and beat up his opponent outside the the ring Junior couldn't find the guy but this incident vividly
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illustrates the kind of upbringing Scarpa provided Greg couldn't bear the thought
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of anyone being stronger than his son or disrespecting him so he compelled Junior
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to adopt the same attitude as Junior came of age Scarpa began involving him
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in his illegal activities gradually introducing discussion about killings
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Scarpa gave him detailed instructions on how to execute killings effect itively dispose of bodies and avoid getting
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caught although Junior wasn't comfortable with these conversations his loyalty to his father kept him from
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objecting soon this loyalty led him to be responsible for dozen of his own
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killings with Greg Scarpa SAR orchestrating most of them as mentioned
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earlier Junior was aware that Scarpa worked for the FBI his first handler was
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an agent named Anthony Villano Scarpa informed his team that he had a contact
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in law enforcement but didn't specify who or where exactly naturally everyone
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assumed it was a local police officer whom they occasionally needed to pay off in reality it was an FBI agent and there
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is substantial evidence that scarper regularly provided him with money to
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mention they sometimes collaborated for instance scarpa's men might steal 100
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cases of whiskey Scarpa would take his cut of 20 cases and then inform volano
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of the remaining stash with this tip off volano could approach those accountable
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for covering the losses often insurance companies he would negotiate informing
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them he knew the whereabouts of a batch of whiskey valued at $60,000 but would only disclose the
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location for $110,000 to minimize costs companies
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typically complied furthermore the FBI would investigate the theft and Scarpa would
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receive a government bonus for the valuable intelligence from one theft Greg gained a share of the stolen goods
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money from the insurance company and a government bonus despite sharing with Fano it was a remarkably effective plan
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as reliable as Swiss watches there's also unconfirmed information that Villano and later his successor Lindo
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were implicated in nfts this speculation suggests that
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during activities like Bank break-ins the FBI agent would be stationed in a
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car monitoring details on special radio waves known to authorities if the agent
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caught wind that police had detected suspicious activity at the bank he promptly alerted scarpa's Associates
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however direct involvement of FBI agents in scarpa's Affairs if it occurred wasn't widespread they covered for him
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and received payments but not all agents were implicated Scarpa also managed separate
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operations firstly the claims about FBI agent involvement lack verification and
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secondly even if true it wasn't Universal scarpa's theft team operated
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consistently targeting Banks and jewelry stores the crew even had their own
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Innovations one member devised a lockpick that easily cracked open phone booth coin compartments scarpe himself
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sometimes practiced these techniques his theft operation was highly exclusive among roughly 50
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members in the so-called wimpy boys team named after scarpa's Social Club approximately 10 could be considered
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professional thieves another 10 to 15 served as hired Hitman juggling other
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jobs and sources of income though their primary task was often elimination even more exclusive was the
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group specializing in luxury car theft scarpa's Associates made these cars untraceable and profit able to resell
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similarly skilled were those targeting trucks carrying various goods from clothes to electronics and food they
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could earn between $5,000 to $10,000 per truck depending on its
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contents others were involved in illegal lotteries bookmaking and Loan sharking
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all paying a percentage to Scarpa for instance he provided $80,000 to lone
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sharks for Street lending collecting $100 per week for every $110,000 LED out
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the loone Sharks themselves could earn $300 to $400 on the same amount making
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it a lucrative Enterprise especially given scarpa's reputation and the certainty of
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collections continuing the list one cannot Overlook the presence of drug traffickers who operated within scarpa's
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team with even Junior involved in this illicit trade among the most notorious
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groups in Gregs organization were the muscle strongman specialized in intimidation if a debtor failed to repay
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a loan or a businessman refused extortion demands these individuals were dispatched known for their expertise in
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Breaking Limbs and instilling fear as evidenced Scarpa and his team were
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involved in nearly every Avenue of illicit profit including fraud Greg took
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particular pleasure in credit card fraud acquiring duplicate cards fraud
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acquiring duplicate cards that his associates used for purchases the goods bought were resold for cash or used for
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everyday expenses such as groceries or dining out this fraudulent activity
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generated hundreds of thousands of dollar annually for instance in 1985 an
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agent of the United States Secret Service covertly sold 300 credit cards
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to scarpa's operation Greg could have made over a million
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if he had used all 300 credit cards bought from a secret service agent for
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$999,000 instead Greg faced fraud charges that carried a potential sentence of 7 years in prison and a
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$250,000 fine however the FBI intervened and discovered that Scarpa had not paid
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the $999,000 but only considered the purchase the judge also considered
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scarpa's role as an informant and author authorities decided to spare him Greg
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received only a 5-year suspended sentence and a $10,000 Fine By the time
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of this incident scarpa's FBI Handler had changed from Villano to dto Villano
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stopped working with Scarpa in the mid 1970s due to an internal investigation that resulted in his transfer from New
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York and subsequent retirement Scarpa meanwhile had ceased his collaboration
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with the FBI in 1975 however in in 1980 he was convinced to return by agent Lindo whom Greg
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quickly persuaded to collaborate with him much like vatate with him much like
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volano Scarpa provided doto with information about individuals who obstructed his rise to power or posed a
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threat within the American Mafia dito in turn shielded Scarpa from legal
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repercussions and according to some accounts indirectly aided in several of
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scarpa's murders typically dto would provide Intelligence on targets
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locations or alert Scarpa when someone planned to cooperate with authorities for instance this was evident in the
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case of scarpa's close associate Joe Brewster when dito learned that Brewster intended to speak to the police A Move
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That Could endanger both Scarpa and dito Scarpa ordered Brewster's
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assassination Scarpa and doto quickly found common ground and shared a goal
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where violence and abuse use of authority were acceptable means their objective was clear to enhance scarpa's
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influence within the mafia thereby advancing dito's career as well
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ultimately they aimed to install Scarpa or his proxy as the boss of the Columbo family placing an informant at the
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highest Echelon of the American Mafia potentially facilitating the downfall of
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numerous criminal Enterprises the entire organization operated like a house of cards to
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substantiate these claims let's consider a few concrete examples of this duplicity we'll start with how Scarpa
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got rid of Charlie as mentioned at the very beginning when Charlie wielded significant influence in the Columbo
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family Scarpa spoke favorably of him in reports to the FBI even while providing
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information about his crimes however as Charlie began losing power and hitting
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rock bottom scarpa's rhetoric changed he started almost insulting Charlie in his
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reports to the agents this shift was part of a very calculated game recognizing Charlie's
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weakness Greg began plotting a cunning conspiracy against him pay attention now
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carpa slowly started feeding the FBI information about Charlie's deteriorating relationships with his
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sons Then Greg either struck a deal with Charlie's grandson Richard or simply
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robbed him while Richard was at work transporting company stocks worth hundreds of thousands of dollars from
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one place to another Scarpa told the FBI that he had nothing to do with it with
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it but knew where some of the stocks were kept the agents found them there Scarpa also implied that Charlie might
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have been behind the robbery because one of Charlie's men contacted Greg with an offer to buy the stocks Richard was
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summoned to answer questions before a grand jury sometime later Richard was
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found dead immediately after his death the chief assistant district attorney in
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Brooklyn Elliot Golden named Richard a star witness thus confirming the motive
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for his murder and fears that he had started cooperating with the authorities the primary suspicion in the
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murder fell on Charlie later it became known that Scarpa was aware of the
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illegal dealings between Golden and Joe Columbo although there's no direct
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evidence of this one could speculate that he may have pressured golden to make a statement about the star witness
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thereby justifying the motive for Richard's Murder by Charlie when the entire web was woven Charlie himself was
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killed and all suspicions fell on his son Frank who supposedly Avenged
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Richard's death thus Scarpa removed the final piece from the
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board first scarper removed the Old Man Who Knew Too Much about him but had now
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hit rock bottom making his actions unpredictable now let's turn to Joe
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Columbo if the setup with Charlie was more for personal safety the situation
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with Columbo was more about a power struggle Scarpa acted more discreetly here employing a strategy akin to water
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slowly eroding concrete eventually punching a hole through it in simpler terms he seized every opportunity to
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undermine Columbo in 1967 Scarpa informed the FBI of the
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location of Columbo's son's wedding allowing undercover agents to capture several new faces a year later scarper
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reported Columbo's son for planning to melt down silver coins and sell them as precious metal at a higher value than
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their nominal worth when Columbo's son was arrested Joe staged a multi-day
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protest and Scarpa helped him with that while simultaneously keeping the FBI informed of Columbo's plans garpa was
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also one of the most active members of the Italian-American civil rights League supposedly working for the
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organization's interests the Italian-American civil rights League established by Columbo to
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protect the rights of Italian Americans further cemented scarpa's relationship with the boss after that information
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began to flow to the FBI about Columbo's earnings and the corrupt connections he
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had at his disposal now we approach a very interesting version of why and by whom
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Joe Columbo was killed this occurred at a rally organized by Columbo in the
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summer of 1971 he was shot by a black man named Jerome Johnson which led to Columbo
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falling into a lengthy coma and later dying I've already discussed two main
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versions of this incident in my videos one blames Joe Gallo while the other blames Carlo Gambino it is generally
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believed that it was indeed Gambino more details about this can be found in my
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video about Carlo Gambino and the Gallow Brothers Scarpa initially pushed the
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FBI's version that it was Joe Gallow at first he said that all was well between Columbo and Gallow but shortly before
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the assassination he radically changed his opinion and started to say that a war might break out soon he mentioned
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that Columbo feared an attack citing as evidence a car with AFC American
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circulating in his neighborhood Scarpa told the agents that Columbo believed
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these individuals were friends of Joe Gallow whom he had befriended in prison
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moreover after the assassination Scarpa was able to tell the FBI a surprising
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amount about the shooter even though neither the police nor other informants knew much about
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Johnson all of this raises the idea that Columbo might have been killed by Scarpa
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who then shifted all the blame on to Joe Gallow however these are only
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speculations as the evidence in this regard is too indirect what we do know
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for certain is that after Columbo's death Scarpa immediately shifted his Focus to Carmine perso who would later
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become the new boss of the family the first thing Scarpa did was accuse perso of killing Joe Gallow but that was just
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the beginning multiple bosses being imprisoned due to a conspiracy known as
28:56
the concrete Club the essence of this scheme was that Mobsters from different families
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conspired to take over the construction industry in New York extorting money from construction firms Scarpa also
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provided the FBI with an address where members of the Columbo family Soldier Ralph scopo under boss jaro Lela and
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Captain Dominic Mont Morano were discussing matters related to the concrete Club FBI agents installed
29:25
listening devices there these recordings among others led to the arrest of the
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Mobsters as well as the family boss Carmine perso who ended up in prison for
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100 years in the late 1980s with a couple of informants and the help of others Scarpa quickly
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eliminated three higher ranking members of the family however he had no
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intention of stopping even though by that time he was fatally ill the illness
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began with persistent back pain the cause of which was unknown but Greg fought it by regularly taking
30:00
painkillers this in turn led to gastrointestinal diseases culminating in
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internal bleeding in 1986 doctors performed an operation and saved
30:11
scarpa's life but he also needed a blood transfusion familiar acquaintances and
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Associates of Greg became donors among them a 29-year-old bodybuilder named
30:22
Paul May shortly after the blood transfusion May passed away it turned
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out that he had contracted AIDS from intramuscular injections of anabolic steroids using the same needle as
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several other bodybuilders his weakened immune system couldn't fight off pneumonia Scarpa then got tested and the
30:43
results were Bleak he was also infected he fought the disease as best he could
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but it inexorably took its toll nevertheless this did not stop him from continuing to scheme and kill people by
30:56
the early 1990s Scarpa found himself in the leading role in bloodiest Mafia war of that decade
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named the third Columbo War the most common version of its beginning suggests
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that the acting boss Vic Oren decided to rebel against Carmine proo who was the
31:16
true boss and was incarcerated however there is another version where Scarpa is depicted as The
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Mastermind behind the conflict deliberately instigating tension and
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manipulating both sides to further his own agenda Scarpa was the puppet master
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who initiated this war Arena was the antithesis of Scarpa he made his money
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mostly from nonviolent crimes and was against the drug trade he was also loyal
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to the perso faction of the family for most of his Mafia career and Carmine trusted him so much that he made him his
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acting boss when he went to prison in the late 1980s for the mafia a commission trial Scarpa didn't like this
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Arrangement so he started to get closer to Arena on the one hand while on the other hand making it seem like Vic
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believed in him so much that he wanted to betray pero and take full power into
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his own hands Scarpa carried out his plan with the help of a guy named huaso who had
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been working with his team as a partner for a long time Scarpa first lobbied for
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casso's admission into the family where he was placed on Vic Ora's team as Caso
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grew closer to Arena Scarpa had his eyes and ears in the camp of his main opponent in the power struggle casso
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played his role so skillfully that Arena started to trust him a lot and helped him with his career in the mafia too
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thus with one secret and one obvious Patron cesa went from a soldier to a consigli a in a matter of years however
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it should be noted that scarpa's loyalty was based more on fear than on Love on
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the one hand cesa did have a good relationship with Arena Vic even helped
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him distance himself from Scarpa but Greg scared cesa too much for him to break the bond
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completely additionally rumors were constantly circulating in the mafia that Scarpa was an informant no one could
33:20
prove anything but that scared Cesar too for Greg knew where the bodies of the
33:25
people Cesar had killed on his orders were hidden Scarpa realized that fear
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alone would not be enough to make cesa go against Arena cesa had gotten too
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close to him and it would be foolish to dismiss the possibility that he might betray
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Greg nevertheless Scarpa had already decided to get Vic out of his way and
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started weaving his web again Angelina to PLL the captain on whether they
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supported Pico's rule when Angelina did so orena eliminated him it would later
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turn out that Angelina was killed for a different reason generally on the orders of pero himself however when sometime
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later cesa was appointed consilier and Arena asked him to make the same inquiry
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cesa became nervous Scarpa on the other hand added fuel to the fire by telling
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him that he had heard cesa was being prepared to be assassinated when he went to the ceremony for accepting new
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members which he as consigliere was a obliged to attend eventually Cesar under pressure
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from Scarpa decided to kill Arena but the attempt was unsuccessful after this
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the family split into two factions one sided with Arena and the other with proo
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who by this time was convinced that Arena was indeed plotting a coup there were talks for a while both between the
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factions and with other families but in November 1991 there was a complete
34:57
assassination attempt on Scarpa signaling the start of a fullscale war
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Greg himself was involved in four murders in this confrontation despite looking more like a walking skeleton due
35:09
to Advanced AIDS he traveled around New York with a gun seeking out enemies and
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mercilessly shooting and killing them however orena was still alive and then
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Scarpa began to realize his other plan if he couldn't kill Vic he decided to
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put him away especially since the groundwork for this was already laid this plan centered around the
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murder of Tommy oser for which Arena was eventually imprisoned oser was killed by
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Scarpa because Tommy suspected that Greg was an informant and started discussing it with other gangsters we know this
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from the testimony of Greg Scarpa Jr it's also known that when the Columbo war broke out and it became clear that
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Scarpa couldn't kill Arena directly he planted the guns from the that crime on Vic this move initiated Arena's
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apprehension in fact Vic was convicted based on circumstantial evidence rumors
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hearsay and a weapon that was planted on him devoid of
36:12
fingerprints after his imprisonment the war stopped and so did scarpa's
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multi-prong scheme before I tell you about the fall of the Grim Reaper as Greg was called I want to take a moment
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to discuss the murders he committed as this aspect is is crucial in understanding his character we've
36:31
previously discussed the murders of Charlie and Joe Brewster as well as the four killings during the Columbo's third
36:36
war however Scarpa didn't stop there there was also domenic suer who
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complained to family Captain Anthony scappa about Scara Jr being insubordinate during a heist Greg
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remembered this and patiently waited for suer to make a mistake so he could obtain permission from the family boss
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to kill him when the opportunity arose Scarpa pulled the trigger himself
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additionally there was his mistress Lily the John's lover who was planning to
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talk to the IRS about Scarpa and their joint business interests Greg personally
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shot her there was also a man in his social club who owed money to his lone shark and another time he killed a
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regular limousine driver for insulting Scarpa Jr Greg also killed another driver when he found out he was trying
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trying to molest his daughter I've chosen these examples out of about two dozen murders attributed to Scarpa to
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show you that Greg could kill for just about anything from a power struggle to
37:40
a simple insult the next two examples are meant to demonstrate that for his own safety
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he could go to the extent of killing even those closest to him the first example is the death of scarpa's older
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brother Salvatore by the end of the 1980s there were relationship wasn't the
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best Salvatore seeing how his brother repeatedly evaded accusations the latest
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of which was an almost assured case involving credit cards began to speak about suspecting Greg of working for the
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government Scarpa killed him for this the second example is Gus farasi who was
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scarpa's nephew he was quite close to Greg and worked on his crew however when farasi killed a Drug
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Enforcement Administration agent Scarpa publicly dis disted himself from him in an interview fearing that such a
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connection could harm him as farasi was a major Target for law enforcement agencies several New York mafia families
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were interested in his murder and Scarpa either helped them find his nephew or killed him himself Greg was never
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punished for any of these murders all thanks to his FBI Guardian Angel Lon
38:52
Doo however Dio was not omnipotent and his subordinates were beginning to
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suspect more and more that their boss was not just supervising their most valuable informant but was playing a
39:04
double game agent Chris FAO proved to be the most incredulous he had long
39:10
suspected Doo but he was finally convinced when the lonar Carmine imbali was arrested imbali began to cooperate
39:18
with the authorities and revealed that he had heard Scarpa bragging at dinner about killing a man the prosecutor's
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office to whom imali told this passed the information to Chris FAO who reported it to
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dto within a couple of days imali said there was a rumor on the streets that Scarpa wanted to kill him FAO easily
39:38
traced the pattern here but couldn't believe it yet the final straw for FAO
39:43
which tipped the scales toward refusing to trust his boss was a conversation with dito after the murder of Arena
39:49
supporter Larry lampi when FAO informed D of this he replied yeah we're
39:55
definitely going to win it wasn't hard to guess that doto was specifically referring to the war in the Columbo
40:02
family as an FBI agent and the superior overseeing teams capturing members of the bonano and Colombo families he had
40:09
no business empathizing with anyone in an armed conflict this clearly indicated
40:15
that dito was engaged and taking scarpa's side favo began to act without
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consulting dito as much as possible he installed listening devices in the home and car of scarpa's team member Joseph
40:29
amberino those recordings helped link Scarpa to two murders and one attempted
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murder in March 1992 the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office obtained an
40:40
arrest warrant for Scarpa on charges of weapon possession after two officers
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witnessed him dropping a gun from his car window dito was with Scarpa during
40:51
this period but did not arrest him or inform the prosecution of his whereabouts meanwhile FAO circumventing
40:58
dto obtained an arrest warrant for Scarpa for conspiring to commit murder at the same time FAO received it and
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began watching Greg completely unsuspectingly assured by Doo that everything was fine and he had nothing
41:13
to worry about first Scarpa appeared in court over an issue with poorly
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sanitized blood at a hospital that infected him with AIDS where he won
41:24
$350,000 he then attended the court proceedings for illegal possession of a
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firearm it was here that favo arrested him as he left the courtroom by that
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time scarpa's Health was terrible and he looked like a walking skeleton his
41:41
imprisonment only worsened his condition he lost more weight showed signs of
41:46
dementia and other mental impairments and it became increasingly difficult for him to move each day his relatives
41:54
managed to have Greg placed under house arrest due to his hell however Scarpa wouldn't be himself if he
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complied with the rules of his house arrest one day his son Joseph from Linda
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told him about an altercation he had with two drug dealers Joseph was involved in drugs and the argument was
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business related Greg refused to listen he grabbed a gun got into the car with
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his son and his friend and went to find these guys upon finding them Scarpa
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initiated a shootout in which he himself l lost an eye and his son's friend died
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after this incident he was returned to prison Scarpa didn't defend himself in
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court on May 6th 1993 Greg Scarpa Jr pleaded guilty to three counts of murder
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and conspiracy to commit more murders he faced a life sentence without parole
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however considering his health the judge sentenced him to 10 years in prison in
42:53
his final years Greg Scarpas sir was bedridden his body scarred and suffering
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making even eating eating and drinking painful he passed away on june4
43:06
1994 after his death Linda Shiro received no support from the Columbo
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family there were rumors that she had developed a romantic relationship but these remain
43:18
unconfirmed lindo's fate took an unexpected turn despite suspicions
43:24
reported by FAO an FBI internal investigation found no grounds for
43:29
further action dto quietly retired after 30 years with the bureau escaping any
43:35
consequences for alleged connections with Greg Scarpa Greg Scarpa Jr imprisoned since
43:42
1988 spent over three decades in ax Florence one of the strictest US prisons
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released in 2020 his life had been marked by violence and crime this
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concludes the story of Greg scar Sr a figure whose life and actions were
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entwined with the dark underbelly of organized crime if you enjoyed the story of the
44:07
enigmatic Greg Scarpa don't forget to like subscribe and hit the Bell icon for
44:13
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