Friends of Ours

Nicky Deuce Is Nickleodeon's Shame

Kiddy network Nickleodeon will premiere Nicky Deuce on May 27 which "centers on Nicholas Borelli II, a.k.a. Nicky Deuce, a nerdy teen who finds himself in Brooklyn with a mobster uncle he never knew he had after his plans to attend math camp go awry" as reported by The Huffington Post.

The film casts several actors from The Sopranos, and last year Nickelodeon executive Majorie Cohn said "having the Sopranos actors adds a level of authenticity and fun" as then reported by Martin Chilton for The Telegraph.  Among the tv show's alumni who appear in the upcoming flick is Tony Sirico who was convicted on a 1970 gun charge after allegedly harassing John Addison who operated the gay club The Together.

The Italian American ONE VOICE Coalition is calling for a boycott of Nicky Deuce, and president Manny Alfano says "these trash-television purveyors now want to brainwash a new generation with this insidious and hurtful stereotype of Italian Americans" as reported by Suburban News.

Frankly, it's hard to accept the mob genre as an appropriate subject for a kiddy network to explore give the long history of child exploitation by the Mafia.

What's next for Nickleodeon?  A movie about Mike Umbers and Ed Murphy who pimped out underage boys for the Gambino and Genovese crime families?  Or maybe an expose on the child porn racket operated by Gambino capo Robert DiBernardo?   Perhaps Nickleodeon can next tell the story about the Sicilian mobsters who kidnapped 11-year-old Giuseppe Di Matteo, and then after torturing the boy for two years finally killed him and dissolved his body in acid?  How about a series on pedophile mobsters like Genovese capo Salvatore Granello or Outfit crew boss Jimmy Allegretti?

No doubt Nicky Deuce is nothing but white-washed comedic entertainment about the Mafia.  To flip a phrase from Majorie Cohn the movie is less about "authenticity" and more about "fun."  However, given the harm which the Mafia has perpetrated against children, portraying it as anything but pure evil perhaps is the real fault with Nicky Deuce.

Shame on Nickleodeon.

20 Suspected MS-13 Members Charged With Food Truck Extortion Scheme

The LAPD has busted twenty suspected MS-13 members for their alleged roles in shaking down protection money from food trucks on construction sites for the last five years as reported by Andrew Blanstein for the Los Angeles Times.

MS-13 originated in Los Angeles, CA but operates in more than 40 states with at least 8,000 members across the country, and last October the Treasury Department designated it as a transnational criminal organization which freezes their U.S. assets and bans Americans from conducting business with them according to an agency press release.

The crime group is among those behind the child sex trade in the United States, and "in Northern Virginia, 12 gang members, mostly MS-13, have been locked up for child sex trafficking in the past two years" as reported by Pamela Brown for WJLA:

"We're seeing most of the cases coming from MS-13 with regards to sex trafficking and we've seen a number of those cases from the past year," said John Torres, Special Agent in Charge with ICE Homeland Security Investigations. "For us it's a disturbing trend."

Meanwhile, clueless Democrats like U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein insist that law abiding Americans do not need semi-automatic guns or standard-capacity magazines for self-protection even as the street gangs and drug cartels take over our streets.

Further reading that may be of interest:

Mexican Citizens Arm Against Drug Cartels

Three Mexican Brothers Charged In New York City's Child Sex Trade

Three Mexican brothers have been indicted in a Brooklyn federal court for their alleged roles in smuggling children over the border to pimp out in the Big Apple as reported by Jonathan Dienst for WNBC: 

Investigators said the traffickers worked with livery cab drivers who would help solicit customers by handing out cards with pornographic photos. The drivers would then deliver the girls to paying customers.  Homeland Security officials said the suspects would beat the victims when they did not earn enough money.

View more videos at: http://nbcnewyork.com.

MS-13 Goes To Washington

The notorious street gang MS-13 is well-entrenched in the mid-Atlantic region.

On Friday a leader from its Washington, D.C. clique was sentenced to 76 years in prison after pleading guilty "to a conspiracy responsible for a long list of crimes, including murders" as reported by CNN.

MS-13 is among the organized crime groups behind the child sex trade in the United States, and "in Northern Virginia, 12 gang members, mostly MS-13, have been locked up for child sex trafficking in the past two years" as reported by Pamela Brown for WJLA:

"We're seeing most of the cases coming from MS-13 with regards to sex trafficking and we've seen a number of those cases from the past year," said John Torres, Special Agent in Charge with ICE Homeland Security Investigations. "For us it's a disturbing trend."

Earlier this year the Treasury Department designated MS-13 as a transnational criminal organization in order to freeze their financial assets and block their commercial transactions.

Weekly Gang Roundup

***  A "425-pound [reputed] gang member with an equally large rap sheet is a accused of attempting to kidnap a 10-year-old boy on his way to soccer practice" in Santa Ana, CA.

***  Suspected MS-13 member charged for his alleged role in the gang's child prostitution racket in Northern Virginia: 

"This arrest marks the twelfth gang member we have charged with child sex trafficking," said U.S. Attorney MacBride. "We hope gang members and other pimps realize they face serious prison time for profiting from forcing these children into sexual slavery."

***  Reputed True Blood (TB22) member is fifth defendant to plead guilty for his role in the alleged gang rape of a 14-year-old girl in St. Paul, MN:  "Ramsey County Attorney John Choi had vowed an aggressive prosecution of the suspects, calling it the kind of crime 'that shocks the conscience of a community.'"

***  Breakaway factions from the Gangster Disciples are responsible for the runaway murder rate in Chicagoland:  "authorities say the gang is eating itself from within, riven by feuding factions with names like the Killa Ward and The Hit Squad that engage in bloody conflicts over turf they once shared."

***  Street gang membership increasingly is comprised of little kids in New Jersey: 

Edwin Torres, a special agent for the state Commission of Investigation's Organized Crime and Street Gang Unit,said he's seen an increasing number of young gang members -- even as young as 8 years old. "It's very disheartening to talk to a child who is now 12 years old, who had been a gang member for years. It's really sad to see, and I know he's not alone," he said.  Children account for almost half of the gangs in New Jersey, and they're under the age of 18, Torres said.

***  Pennsylvania Senate passes bill that would make it a crime to recruit gang members, and the penalty would be enhanced for recruiting someone younger than 16 years old:

"This is not just a crime prevention measure, it's a child protection effort as well," said Senator Erickson. "Gang leaders use lies to recruit young people into their group, and they use intimidation and outright violence to prevent members from leaving."

***  Sheriff Jesse Bane says gang members are not welcome in Harforf County, MD following the bust of the World's Most Dangerous gang on drug charges:  "we will be relentless in our pursuit of you and your organization."