Anthony Arillotta, the reputed Genovese capo out of Springfield, MA who was indicted last February for his alleged role in the 2003 hit of his predecessor Adolfo "Big Al" Bruno, may now be playing for Team America as reported by Jerry Capeci for The Huffington Post. Also charged for their alleged roles in the Bruno hit are Arthur Nigro, a reputed former acting Genovese boss, and Fotios "Freddy" Geas, a supposed sometime enforcer for Arillotta. Frankie Roche, the admitted triggerman in the Bruno slaying, alleges that he was paid $10,000 by Geas for the job.
It's rather ironic that Arillotta may have flipped since he allegedly sought the rubout of Bruno based on the suspicion that the latter had become a government informant as reported by Stephanie Barry for The Republican:
Investigators describe Bruno's slaying as a classic mob hit in every sense: the much-younger Arillotta allegedly sought permission from New York bosses to take Bruno out because the mobster was perceived as a weak leader and had raised suspicions he was working as an informant for the FBI, according to the indictment.
The trial against the defendants is scheduled for November 1 in the federal courthouse in Manhattan, and Capeci writes that according to a source Pasquale DeLuca may be indicted as an additional defendant:
Late yesterday, as news of Arillotta's apparent defection spread like wildfire in organized crime circles, a usually reliable source told Gang Land that the feds were planning to add aging Genovese wiseguy, Pasquale (Scop) DeLuca, who is identified as a co-conspirator in the Massachusetts case, as a defendant. DeLuca, 78, is currently serving a five year prison stretch for being part of the conspiracy to murder mobster Ralph Coppola, who was killed in 1998 and whose body has never been found.
