Friends of Ours

The Heyday Of New Haven's Mob

Christopher Hoffman at the New Haven Independent has a five-part series on the history of the Mafia in New Haven, CT:

Thirty years ago this summer, New Haven's most infamous mobster, Salvatore "Midge Renault" Annunziato, disappeared. Literally hundreds of newspaper articles were written about Midge during his lifetime, but most of his and the mob's story in the Elm City has remained hidden. What follows is part one of a five-part series lifting the veil of secrecy and silence that has long concealed Midge (pictured, from his FBI file) and the mafia in New Haven. It also tells the stories of two other gangsters who with Midge long dominated the New Haven underworld, Ralph "Whitey" Tropiano and William "The Wild Guy" Grasso. This series is based on thousands of pages of FBI files, as well as police, prison, court and other public records, newspaper articles and dozens of interviews and conversations. Some names and minor information have been changed to protect the innocent. 

Part One: Salvatore "Midge Renault" Annunziato

Part Two:  Ralph "Whitey" Tropiano

Part Three:  FBI Identifies Top Hoodlums

Part Four:  William "Billy" Grasso

Part Five:  Finale

Profile: Hon. Alan H. Nevas

Judge Alan H. Nevas is retiring from the bench after 23 years.  Before his nomination to the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut in 1985, Nevas was the United States Attorney for Connecticut where he targeted the Mafia:

He . . . targeted organized crime after a slew of gang-related murders in Fairfield County, including the assassination of Frank Piccolo, a Gambino crime family captain on Bridgeport's busy Main Street on a Saturday afternoon. FBI plants, court-authorized wiretaps and cooperating witnesses led to indictments of Francis and Gus Curcio, Salvador Basso and Vincent Pollina, all affiliated with the Genovese crime family; Thomas DeBrizzi, who succeeded Piccolo as the Gambino head, and others.