Tommy pitera mobsters biography

American mobster (born 1954)

Thomas Pitera (; born December 2, 1954) is an American mobster hinder the Bonanno crime family emblematic New York. Pitera, a fighter and later on a policeman of his own crew, was suspected by law enforcement leave undone as many as 60 murders.^{[citation needed]} Pitera was well reveal for his use of karate and other martial arts while in the manner tha fighting, a skill he esoteric learned at a young junk and which earned him nicknames like "Tommy Karate", and "The Karate Guy".

Pitera is delivery a life sentence at USP Big Sandy in Inez, Kentucky.

Early years

Thomas Pitera grew ready to react in the Gravesend neighborhood observe Brooklyn, New York City, glory son of Joseph "Joe" Pitera, an Italian-American from Campagna remove Province of Salerno, and Empress Bugowski, of German and Swell descent from Rhineland-Palatinate.

His papa was an independent concession be upstanding a set wholesale candy salesman.

Pitera fake the David A. Boody Let fall High School at 228 Thoroughfare up one`s S in Gravesend, where powder left little impression with crown teachers, daydreamed a lot other was bullied by his aristocracy because of his high-pitched voice.^{[citation needed]} Before he became compassionate in martial arts he craved to become involved in office baseball but was too ostracized by fellow students to counter the varsity baseball team.

Elegance later broke into Boody avoid stole the school baseball team's equipment as an act search out revenge and sold it thoroughly "fences" in the neighborhood.

He was later arrested and emotional for the burglary but was convicted as a juvenile existing his record was sealed. Oversight attended a Dojo in Sparid Bay, Brooklyn and quickly coral to the top of dominion class.

He had a common regimen of working out, plagiarizing weights, reading about Kyokushin battle strategies and tactics and respect violent films, mostly kung fu films.

Martial arts

At the attack of 12, Pitera had archaic a huge fan of honourableness 1966 The Green Hornet beg show and actor Bruce Revel in starring alongside Van Williams, triggering his lifelong interest in soldierly arts.

It was later congeal in 1969 with the liberate of the film Marlowe leading James Garner and Lee importance "Lee Wong". He let sovereignty thick, straight, black hair fashion down past his ears hatred disapproval by his parents progress to not wanting him to gaze like a "hippie", started wear and tear sushi as a regular small percentage of his diet and wrapped up himself in Eastern philosophy.

After winning an arduous kumite disaccord in Sheepshead Bay, Pitera burnt out 27 months in Tokyo, Nihon training assiduously under the venerable Japanese martial artsShihan Hiroshi Masumi in the ways of high-mindedness Ko-ryūNinjutsu. While there he depress mostly fish, rice and fit to eat seaweed and read books reposition war and fighting becoming excellent martial artist and academic hoodwink the subject.

He began lock think of himself as unconquerable.

His mother and aunt Angelina Bugowski went to visit him and were impressed with justness change to his physical expire, maturity, sensibility and understanding eradicate the Japanese culture and common. He was trained to take a rain check the tonfa, nunchucks and katanas.

While in Japan, he grew his hair down to surmount shoulders to adopt the King Lee image.^{[citation needed]} After fulfil scholarship ended, he sought research paper in a chopsticks factory sound out underwrite his stay and mislead more money. This led him to acquire the nickname "Tommy Karate" by friends and guy mobsters, despite that he special in Togakure-ryū and not karate.

Criminal career

Upon returning to Borough, Pitera joined the Bonanno offence family and quickly became singular of their most feared hitmen. He belonged to a Bonanno faction headed by caporegimesAlphonse "Sonny Red" Indelicato, Frank Lino, Dominick Trinchera and Philip Giaccone. That group opposed the current dominance under bossPhilip Rastelli and dominion leading caposJoseph Massino and Dominick Napolitano.

In 1981, Massino scold Napolitano set up the murders of the three rival capos in a Gravesend club co-owned by Sammy Gravano. After their deaths, Massino made peace interest the rest of the leaderless faction, including Pitera. During say publicly 1980s, Pitera became a "made man" of the Bonanno stock and was assigned to Lino's crew by Bonanno consigliereAnthony Spero.

On August 29, 1988, Pitera allegedly ambushed and murdered Wilfred "Willie Boy" Johnson as take action walked ahead to their automobile. Johnson had been a longtime associate and driver for Gambino family boss John Gotti. Picture hit was reportedly delegated hit upon Pitera and fellow gunman Vincent "Kojak" Giattino after Gotti abstruse discovered that Johnson had back number a government informant since 1966.

Pitera was charged with depiction Johnson murder but acquitted at one\'s fingertips trial.

Pitera was close drop a line to Spero, whose Bath Beach proletariat were involved in extortion, credit sharking, drug dealing and assassination, as well as robbing remedy dealers and then reselling their product. Pitera's associates, Lloyd Modell and Frank Martini, murdered couple Colombian dealers and stole 16 kilograms of cocaine.

The killers intended to drive their automobile to Staten Island to inhume the bodies, but as they could not drive a close off shift, they left the motor car – with the bodies interior the trunk – in keen Brooklyn parking garage.

Martini pretended back to Sicily and lengthened his relationship with the Bonanno crime family while Pitera attach Tala Siksik, a Middle Orient drug supplier, in his Borough apartment.

Pitera shot Siksik team a few times in the back, sliced the body up into scandalize pieces, and then buried whack at a secret dumping attempt. Investigators eventually found six go along with Pitera's victims in a alliance graveyard in Staten Island close to the William T. Davis Flora and fauna Refuge. Pitera had decapitated leadership bodies and buried the heads separately to impede their label using dental records.

Pitera's nearer to murder and body management was cold-hearted and clinical. Crystalclear used the Staten Island burial-ground because he believed that leadership damp soil would accelerate resolution and the wildlife refuge would ensure the bodies were crowd together discovered during construction projects. Pitera studied books on dissection famous carried a special tool bale for cutting up bodies.

Sharp-tasting always insisted on burying corpses deep enough so that police force dogs could not locate their scents. Before burying body accomplishments, he either wrapped them recovered plastic or placed them take away suitcases. Pitera's weakness was ditch he enjoyed keeping jewelry limit other souvenirs of his work.^{[citation needed]}

On June 4, 1990, Pitera was indicted for heading unmixed drug dealing crew and arrangement his involvement in seven murders, including the 1988 Johnson murder.^[1] Investigators alleged that Pitera difficult been involved in as visit as thirty murders.^[2] Pitera's mob sold about 220 pounds objection cocaine per year, multiple kilos of heroin and hundreds fall for pounds of marijuana.

DEA agents discovered more than sixty careless weapons, knives, swords, and learning such as The Hitman's Handbook and Kill or Be Killed, which dealt primarily with homicide techniques as well as excruciate and the dismemberment of cadavers, in Pitera's apartment in Gravesend.^[3]

Trial

One of Pitera's crew members, Manage Gangi, the nephew of Genovese familycapoRosario Gangi, decided to asseverate against Pitera.

Frank had antiquated arrested for driving under representation influence and allegedly started experience Pitera's worst atrocities in diadem mind while sitting in rectitude holding cell. Frank confessed norm all the murders he was involved in with Pitera, tube provided information on other Pitera murders.

He described how Pitera matter-of-factly murdered Gangi's girlfriend Phyllis Burdi while she was passed out in bed after distribution cocaine and sex with Gangi. Pitera then cut Burdi's of an animal carcass into six pieces in say publicly bathroom. Gangi also testified divagate during a fight with trim drug dealer named Marek Kucharsky, Pitera pulled a knife cope with repeatedly stabbed Kucharsky and when all is said cut his throat.

In Pitera's trial, the chief prosecutor, Painter W. Shapiro, demanded the cessation sentence for the "heinous, rotten and depraved" murders committed gross Pitera. He called Pitera ingenious "heartless and ruthless killer," explaining in detail how Pitera grief-stricken one victim by slowly, knowingly shooting him seven times alter various parts of the item, in one of a rooms of murders carried out put back a deliberately barbaric manner.

Grandeur prosecution also produced a Medicament Enforcement Administration (DEA) agent who testified to digging up author containing the dismembered bodies contempt some of Pitera's victims.

Pitera's defense lawyer, David A. Ruhnke, urged the jury to disallow the death penalty on significance grounds that Pitera had rebuff prior criminal record and lapse other participants in the murders were allowed to plead blameworthy to lesser charges.

Moreover, two of the murder fatalities, Richard Leone and Solomon Close-together, were killed on March 15, 1989, after the Federal passing penalty law went into effect.^[4] The four other murders took place earlier, so those counts carried maximum sentences of brusque in prison. Pitera's aunt, sister-in-law and two cousins testified more Pitera's defense that he was a loving and caring brotherhood member.^[5]

Life sentence

On June 25, 1992, Pitera was convicted of liquidate six people and supervising a-one massive drug dealing operation get round Brooklyn.

However, Pitera was shoplift in the 1988 Johnson murder.^[6] During the deliberation on imprisonment, the jury rejected the cessation penalty for Pitera.^[7] In Oct 1992, alluding to evidence rove Pitera brutally killed his fatalities and dismembered their bodies, Enthusiast Reena Raggi sentenced him lay aside life in prison, saying, "Mr.

Pitera, nobody deserves to fall as these people died."^[8]

After honesty verdict was read, Pitera smiled and gave a thumbs share out to reporters sitting in leadership Brooklyn courtroom; he had detested the death penalty. However, Pitera was irritated that Gangi was petitioning Judge Raggi for top-notch reduction of his 10-year house of correction sentence.

As Pitera later remarked,

Gangi said he was consciencestricken about killing five people station that he became an inform because he wanted to carry on a new life. He gets 10 years, a good parcel out, and he goes whimpering wallet weeping to the judge farout for a break. If you're really sorry for killing cinque people, you take your castigating like a man.

Later in 1992, Judge Raggi again refused smashing motion to reduce Gangi's sentence.^[9] On April 3, 2012, depiction U.S.

Second Circuit Court realize Appeals denied Pitera's motion cart DNA testing of the weaponry and other evidence in of Pitera's murders. As range April 2017, Pitera is delivery a life sentence at authority United States Penitentiary, McCreary proximate Pine Knot, Kentucky. Pitera's denizen number is 29465-053.^[10]

References

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