Thomas Pitera
Encyclopedia
Thomas "Tommy Karate" E. Pitera (born December 2, 1954) is a former Mafia hitman
in the Bonanno crime family
. Pitera earned a reputation as a vicious and sadistic killer who enjoyed murdering people. He was suspected by law enforcement of as many as 60 murders. He was well known for his use of karate
and other martial arts
when fighting which is a skill he had learned at a young age. It earned Pitera his nickname "Tommy Karate".
, Pitera grew up in the Gravesend
section of Brooklyn
to parents Joseph Pitera and Catherine. His father was a wholesale candy distributor salesman. Thomas had thick, jet-black hair with piercing blue-gray eyes and high cheekbones. He had a particularly high pitched effeminate falsetto voice that was compared by biographer Philip Carlo
to Michael Jackson
's but having even more falsetto. Mob associate Frank Gangi thought Pitera sounded more like Mickey Mouse
or Minnie Mouse
. Pitera was a quiet child who was bullied in school. He attended David A. Boody Junior High School and left little impression with his teachers.
As a child, Pitera was a huge fan of the 1969 The Green Hornet
television show and actor Bruce Lee
; this began his lifelong interest in martial arts. Pitera was highly skilled in martial arts
, having spent 27 months training assiduously in Tokyo, Japan where he studied under the revered Hiroshi Masumi after winning an arduous kumite
competition in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn
. He was trained to use the tonfa
, nunchucks and katana
s. While in Japan, he grew his hair down to his shoulders to adopt the Bruce Lee image.
After his scholarship ended, he sought work in a chopsticks
factory to underwrite his stay and earn more money. This led him to acquire the nickname "Tommy Karate" by friends and mobsters. After returning from Japan, Pitera joined the Bonanno family and quickly earned a reputation for violence and murder. Pitera was one of the most feared soldiers on the streets, amongst the likes of Tony Mirra
and Roy DeMeo
, who were two other brutal underworld killers.
Pitera belonged to a family faction headed by captains Alphonse "Sonny Red" Indelicato, Dominick Trinchera
and Philip Giaccone
. This group opposed the current leadership under boss Philip Rastelli
and his leading captains Joseph Massino and Dominick Napolitano. In 1981, Massino and Napolitano set up the murders of the three rival captains in a Brooklyn club. After their deaths, Massino made peace with the rest of the leaderless faction, including Pitera. Pitera was working for Bruno Indelicato, until Bruno became a drug addict and fled New York. During the 1980s Pitera became a made man
of the Bonanno family. Pitera then worked for Anthony Spero
who put him in Frank Lino
's crew.
as he walked ahead to their car and shot him to death. Johnson had been a close associate of Gambino crime family
boss John Gotti
since the two of them had been petty burglars and thieves. Johnson had also had served as a driver to Gotti after Gotti became a made man
and Captain with the Gambinos. In 1985, Gotti discovered that Johnson had been a government informant since 1966. Pitera murdered Johnson as a favor to Gotti. The hit had been delegated to Pitera and fellow gunman, Vincent "Kojak" Giattino, by Gambino Capo Edward Lino.
Pitera was close to Bonanno Consigliere
Anthony Spero
, who headed the violent Bath Beach crew. This group was involved in extortion
, loan sharking, drug dealing and murders. Pitera's crew was notorious for robbing drug dealers and then reselling their drugs. Pitera murdered two Colombian
drug kingpins
and then resold their 40 pounds of cocaine
. Pitera killed Tala Siksik, a Middle-Eastern drug supplier, in his Brooklyn apartment. Pitera then stripped the body, sliced it into six pieces in the bathtub, and then buried it at a secret dumping ground. Investigators eventually found six of Pitera's victims in a mob graveyard in Staten Island
near the William T. Davis Wildlife Refuge
. Pitera had decapitated the bodies and buried the heads separately to impede their identification using dental records.
Pitera's approach to murder and body disposal was cold-hearted and clinical. He used the Staten Island graveyard because he believed that the damp soil would accelerate decomposition. Pitera studied books on dissection
and carried a special tool kit for cutting up bodies. He always insisted on burying corpses deep enough so that police dog
s could not locate their scents. Before burying body parts, Pitera either wrapped them in plastic or placed them in suitcases.
Pitera's one weakness was that he enjoyed keeping jewelry and other souvenirs of his work. This went beyond Mafia culture and was classic serial killer
behavior.
On June 4, 1990, Pitera was indicted for heading a drug dealing crew and for his involvement in seven murders, including the 1988 Johnson murder. Investigators alleged that Pitera had been involved in as many as 60 murders. Pitera's crew sold about 220 pounds of cocaine per year, multiple kilos of heroin and hundreds of pounds of marijuana. FBI agents discovered more than 60 automatic weapons, knives, swords, and literature such as The Hitman's Handbook and Kill or Be Killed, which dealt primarily with assassination techniques as well as torturing and dismembering cadaver
s, in Pitera's apartment in Gravesend, Brooklyn
.
Captain Rosario Gangi
, decided to testify against Pitera. Frank had been arrested for driving under the influence
and allegedly started reliving Pitera's worst atrocities in his mind while sitting in the holding cell. Gangi confessed to all the murders he was involved in with Pitera, and provided information on other Pitera murders. Gangi described how Pitera matter-of-factly assassinated Gangi's girlfriend Phyllis Burdi while she was passed out in bed after sharing cocaine and sex with Gangi. Pitera then cut Burdi's corpse into six pieces in the bathroom. Gangi also testified that during a fight with a drug dealer named Marek Kucharsky, Pitera pulled a knife and repeatedly stabbed Kucharsky and finally cut his throat.
In Pitera's trial, the chief prosecutor, David W. Shapiro, demanded the death sentence
for the "heinous, cruel and depraved" murders committed by Pitera. He called Pitera a "heartless and ruthless killer" explaining in detail how Pitera tortured one victim by slowly, deliberately shooting him seven times in various parts of the body, in one of a series of murders carried out in a deliberately barbaric manner. The prosecution also produced a Drug Enforcement Administration
(DEA) agent who testified to digging up graves containing the dismembered bodies of some of Pitera's victims.
Pitera's defense lawyer, David A. Ruhnke, urged the jury to reject the death penalty on the grounds that Pitera had no prior criminal record
and that other participants in the murders were allowed to plead guilty to lesser charges. Moreover, only two of the murder victims, Richard Leone and Solomon Stern, were killed on March 15, 1989, after the Federal death penalty law went into effect. The four other murders took place earlier, so those counts carried maximum sentences of life in prison. Pitera's aunt, sister-in-law and two cousins testified on Pitera's defense that he was a loving and caring family member.
to reporters sitting in the Brooklyn courtroom; he had avoided the death penalty. However, Pitera was irritated that Gangi was petitioning Judge Raggi for a reduction of his 10 year prison sentence. As Pitera later remarked,
Later in 1992, Raggi again refused a motion to reduce Gangi's sentence. As of 2011, Pitera is serving a life sentence at the United States Penitentiary (USP) Allenwood
, which is located within the Federal Correctional Complex (FCC) Allenwood
, Pennsylvania
. Pitera's inmate number is 29465-053.
Hitman
A hitman is a person hired to kill another person.- Hitmen in organized crime :Hitmen are largely linked to the world of organized crime. Hitmen are hired people who kill people for money. Notable examples include Murder, Inc., Mafia hitmen and Richard Kuklinski.- Other cases involving hitmen...
in the Bonanno crime family
Bonanno crime family
The Bonanno crime family is one of the "Five Families" that dominates organized crime activities in New York City, United States, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the Mafia ....
. Pitera earned a reputation as a vicious and sadistic killer who enjoyed murdering people. He was suspected by law enforcement of as many as 60 murders. He was well known for his use of karate
Karate
is a martial art developed in the Ryukyu Islands in what is now Okinawa, Japan. It was developed from indigenous fighting methods called and Chinese kenpō. Karate is a striking art using punching, kicking, knee and elbow strikes, and open-handed techniques such as knife-hands. Grappling, locks,...
and other martial arts
Martial arts
Martial arts are extensive systems of codified practices and traditions of combat, practiced for a variety of reasons, including self-defense, competition, physical health and fitness, as well as mental and spiritual development....
when fighting which is a skill he had learned at a young age. It earned Pitera his nickname "Tommy Karate".
Early years
Born in New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, Pitera grew up in the Gravesend
Gravesend, Brooklyn
Gravesend is a neighborhood in the south-central section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn, USA.The derivation of the name is unclear. Some speculate that it was named after the English seaport of Gravesend, Kent. An alternative explanation suggests that it was named by Willem Kieft for the...
section of Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
to parents Joseph Pitera and Catherine. His father was a wholesale candy distributor salesman. Thomas had thick, jet-black hair with piercing blue-gray eyes and high cheekbones. He had a particularly high pitched effeminate falsetto voice that was compared by biographer Philip Carlo
Philip Carlo
Philip Carlo was a journalist and best selling biographer of Thomas Pitera, Richard Kuklinski, Anthony Casso, and Richard Ramirez.-Life:...
to Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...
's but having even more falsetto. Mob associate Frank Gangi thought Pitera sounded more like Mickey Mouse
Mickey Mouse
Mickey Mouse is a cartoon character created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks at The Walt Disney Studio. Mickey is an anthropomorphic black mouse and typically wears red shorts, large yellow shoes, and white gloves...
or Minnie Mouse
Minnie Mouse
Minerva "Minnie" Mouse is an animated character created by Ub Iwerks and Walt Disney. The comic strip story "The Gleam" by Merrill De Maris and Floyd Gottfredson first gave her full name as Minerva Mouse. Minnie has since been a recurring alias for her. Minnie is currently voiced by actress Russi...
. Pitera was a quiet child who was bullied in school. He attended David A. Boody Junior High School and left little impression with his teachers.
As a child, Pitera was a huge fan of the 1969 The Green Hornet
The Green Hornet
The Green Hornet is an American radio and television masked vigilante created by George W. Trendle and Fran Striker, with input from radio director James Jewell, in 1936. Since his radio debut in the 1930s, the Green Hornet has appeared in numerous serialized dramas in a wide variety of media...
television show and actor Bruce Lee
Bruce Lee
Bruce Lee was a Chinese American, Hong Kong actor, martial arts instructor, philosopher, film director, film producer, screenwriter, and founder of the Jeet Kune Do martial arts movement...
; this began his lifelong interest in martial arts. Pitera was highly skilled in martial arts
Martial arts
Martial arts are extensive systems of codified practices and traditions of combat, practiced for a variety of reasons, including self-defense, competition, physical health and fitness, as well as mental and spiritual development....
, having spent 27 months training assiduously in Tokyo, Japan where he studied under the revered Hiroshi Masumi after winning an arduous kumite
Kumite
Kumite means sparring, and is one of the three main sections of karate training, along with kata and kihon. Kumite is the part of karate in which you train against an adversary, using the techniques learned from the kihon and kata....
competition in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn
Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn
Sheepshead Bay is a bay separating the mainland of Brooklyn, New York City from the eastern portion of Coney Island, the latter originally a barrier island but now effectively an extension of the mainland with peninsulas both east and west...
. He was trained to use the tonfa
Tonfa
The tonfa , also known as tong fa or tuifa, is an Okinawan weapon. It is a stick with a handle, and is about 15-20 inches long. It was traditionally made from red oak and wielded in pairs...
, nunchucks and katana
Katana
A Japanese sword, or , is one of the traditional bladed weapons of Japan. There are several types of Japanese swords, according to size, field of application and method of manufacture.-Description:...
s. While in Japan, he grew his hair down to his shoulders to adopt the Bruce Lee image.
After his scholarship ended, he sought work in a chopsticks
Chopsticks
Chopsticks are small, often tapered, sticks used in pairs of equal length as the traditional eating utensils of China and its diaspora, Japan, Korea, Vietnam and Northern provinces of Laos, Thailand and Burma. Generally believed to have originated in ancient China, they can also be found in some...
factory to underwrite his stay and earn more money. This led him to acquire the nickname "Tommy Karate" by friends and mobsters. After returning from Japan, Pitera joined the Bonanno family and quickly earned a reputation for violence and murder. Pitera was one of the most feared soldiers on the streets, amongst the likes of Tony Mirra
Anthony Mirra
Anthony "Tony" Mirra was an Italian-American mobster and soldier for the Bonanno crime family...
and Roy DeMeo
Roy DeMeo
Roy Albert DeMeo was a soldier in the Gambino crime family. He is infamous for heading the DeMeo crew, a gang suspected by the FBI of murdering at least 70 people between 1973 and 1983. The vast majority were disposed of so thoroughly that they were never found...
, who were two other brutal underworld killers.
Pitera belonged to a family faction headed by captains Alphonse "Sonny Red" Indelicato, Dominick Trinchera
Dominick Trinchera
Dominick "Big Trin" Trinchera was a Bonanno crime family capo who was murdered with Alphonse Indelicato and Phillip Giaccone for planning the overthrow of aspiring Bonanno boss Phillip Rastelli.-Biography:Born in Rockland, New York, Trinchera was the son of an immigrant from Rome, Italy and an...
and Philip Giaccone
Philip Giaccone
Phillip Giaccone also known as "Philly Lucky" and "The Priest" was a Bonanno crime family member.-The three capos murder:...
. This group opposed the current leadership under boss Philip Rastelli
Philip Rastelli
Phillip "Rusty" Rastelli was a New York mobster and former boss of the Bonanno crime family.-Biography:...
and his leading captains Joseph Massino and Dominick Napolitano. In 1981, Massino and Napolitano set up the murders of the three rival captains in a Brooklyn club. After their deaths, Massino made peace with the rest of the leaderless faction, including Pitera. Pitera was working for Bruno Indelicato, until Bruno became a drug addict and fled New York. During the 1980s Pitera became a made man
Made man
A made man, also known as a Mafioso , made guy, man of honor, or uomo d'onore , is someone who has been officially inducted into the Sicilian or American Mafia . They may also be referred to by some as a goodfella or wiseguy...
of the Bonanno family. Pitera then worked for Anthony Spero
Anthony Spero
Anthony Spero was the consigliere and one time acting boss of the Bonanno crime family.-Biography:Spero was a large man with dark hair, a dark complexion and was good looking in a rough way" Philip Carlo wrote...
who put him in Frank Lino
Frank Lino
Frank "Curly" Lino is a Sicilian-American caporegime in the Bonanno crime family who later became an informant.-Biography:...
's crew.
Criminal career
On August 29, 1988, Pitera ambushed Wilfred "Willie Boy" JohnsonWilfred Johnson
Wilfred "Willie Boy" Johnson was a United States Federal Bureau of Investigation informant from 1969 to 1985. He provided the FBI with information relating to John Gotti and other members of the Gambino family...
as he walked ahead to their car and shot him to death. Johnson had been a close associate of Gambino crime family
Gambino crime family
The Gambino crime family is one of the "Five Families" that dominates organized crime activities in New York City, United States, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the Mafia . The group is named after Carlo Gambino, boss of the family at the time of the McClellan hearings in 1963...
boss John Gotti
John Gotti
John Joseph Gotti, Jr was an American mobster who became the Boss of the Gambino crime family in New York City. Gotti grew up in poverty. He and his brothers turned to a life of crime at an early age...
since the two of them had been petty burglars and thieves. Johnson had also had served as a driver to Gotti after Gotti became a made man
Made man
A made man, also known as a Mafioso , made guy, man of honor, or uomo d'onore , is someone who has been officially inducted into the Sicilian or American Mafia . They may also be referred to by some as a goodfella or wiseguy...
and Captain with the Gambinos. In 1985, Gotti discovered that Johnson had been a government informant since 1966. Pitera murdered Johnson as a favor to Gotti. The hit had been delegated to Pitera and fellow gunman, Vincent "Kojak" Giattino, by Gambino Capo Edward Lino.
Pitera was close to Bonanno Consigliere
Consigliere
Consigliere is a position within the leadership structure of Sicilian and American Mafia crime families. The word was popularized by Mario Puzo's novel The Godfather , and its film adaptation...
Anthony Spero
Anthony Spero
Anthony Spero was the consigliere and one time acting boss of the Bonanno crime family.-Biography:Spero was a large man with dark hair, a dark complexion and was good looking in a rough way" Philip Carlo wrote...
, who headed the violent Bath Beach crew. This group was involved in extortion
Extortion
Extortion is a criminal offence which occurs when a person unlawfully obtains either money, property or services from a person, entity, or institution, through coercion. Refraining from doing harm is sometimes euphemistically called protection. Extortion is commonly practiced by organized crime...
, loan sharking, drug dealing and murders. Pitera's crew was notorious for robbing drug dealers and then reselling their drugs. Pitera murdered two Colombian
Colombian people
Colombian people are from a multiethnic Spanish speaking nation in South America called Colombia. Colombians are predominantly Roman Catholic and are a mixture of Europeans, Africans, and Amerindians.-Demography:...
drug kingpins
Drug lord
A drug lord, drug baron or kingpin is the term used to describe a person who controls a sizable network of persons involved in the illegal drugs trade. Such figures are often difficult to bring to justice, as they might never be directly in possession of something illegal, but are insulated from...
and then resold their 40 pounds of cocaine
Cocaine
Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...
. Pitera killed Tala Siksik, a Middle-Eastern drug supplier, in his Brooklyn apartment. Pitera then stripped the body, sliced it into six pieces in the bathtub, and then buried it at a secret dumping ground. Investigators eventually found six of Pitera's victims in a mob graveyard in Staten Island
Staten Island
Staten Island is a borough of New York City, New York, United States, located in the southwest part of the city. Staten Island is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull, and from the rest of New York by New York Bay...
near the William T. Davis Wildlife Refuge
William T. Davis Wildlife Refuge
The William T. Davis Wildlife Refuge is an wildlife refuge straddling the New Springville and Travis sections of Staten Island. The park was named in honor of Staten Island native William T. Davis, a renowned naturalist and entomologist who along with the Audubon Society started the refuge with...
. Pitera had decapitated the bodies and buried the heads separately to impede their identification using dental records.
Pitera's approach to murder and body disposal was cold-hearted and clinical. He used the Staten Island graveyard because he believed that the damp soil would accelerate decomposition. Pitera studied books on dissection
Dissection
Dissection is usually the process of disassembling and observing something to determine its internal structure and as an aid to discerning the functions and relationships of its components....
and carried a special tool kit for cutting up bodies. He always insisted on burying corpses deep enough so that police dog
Police dog
A police dog, often referred to as a "K-9 dog" in some areas , is a dog that is trained specifically to assist police and other law-enforcement personnel in their work...
s could not locate their scents. Before burying body parts, Pitera either wrapped them in plastic or placed them in suitcases.
Pitera's one weakness was that he enjoyed keeping jewelry and other souvenirs of his work. This went beyond Mafia culture and was classic serial killer
Serial killer
A serial killer, as typically defined, is an individual who has murdered three or more people over a period of more than a month, with down time between the murders, and whose motivation for killing is usually based on psychological gratification...
behavior.
On June 4, 1990, Pitera was indicted for heading a drug dealing crew and for his involvement in seven murders, including the 1988 Johnson murder. Investigators alleged that Pitera had been involved in as many as 60 murders. Pitera's crew sold about 220 pounds of cocaine per year, multiple kilos of heroin and hundreds of pounds of marijuana. FBI agents discovered more than 60 automatic weapons, knives, swords, and literature such as The Hitman's Handbook and Kill or Be Killed, which dealt primarily with assassination techniques as well as torturing and dismembering cadaver
Cadaver
A cadaver is a dead human body.Cadaver may also refer to:* Cadaver tomb, tomb featuring an effigy in the form of a decomposing body* Cadaver , a video game* cadaver A command-line WebDAV client for Unix....
s, in Pitera's apartment in Gravesend, Brooklyn
Gravesend, Brooklyn
Gravesend is a neighborhood in the south-central section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn, USA.The derivation of the name is unclear. Some speculate that it was named after the English seaport of Gravesend, Kent. An alternative explanation suggests that it was named by Willem Kieft for the...
.
Trial
One of Pitera's crew members, Frank Gangi, the nephew of Genovese crime familyGenovese crime family
The Genovese crime family , is one of the "Five Families" that dominates organized crime activities in New York City, United States, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the Mafia . The Genovese crime family has been nicknamed the "Ivy League" and "Rolls Royce" of organized crime...
Captain Rosario Gangi
Rosario Gangi
Rosario "Ross" Gangi is a New York City mobster and captain in the Genovese crime family who became involved in labor racketeering and white collar crime.-Biography:...
, decided to testify against Pitera. Frank had been arrested for driving under the influence
Driving under the influence
Driving under the influence is the act of driving a motor vehicle with blood levels of alcohol in excess of a legal limit...
and allegedly started reliving Pitera's worst atrocities in his mind while sitting in the holding cell. Gangi confessed to all the murders he was involved in with Pitera, and provided information on other Pitera murders. Gangi described how Pitera matter-of-factly assassinated Gangi's girlfriend Phyllis Burdi while she was passed out in bed after sharing cocaine and sex with Gangi. Pitera then cut Burdi's corpse into six pieces in the bathroom. Gangi also testified that during a fight with a drug dealer named Marek Kucharsky, Pitera pulled a knife and repeatedly stabbed Kucharsky and finally cut his throat.
In Pitera's trial, the chief prosecutor, David W. Shapiro, demanded the death sentence
Capital punishment in the United States
Capital punishment in the United States, in practice, applies only for aggravated murder and more rarely for felony murder. Capital punishment was a penalty at common law, for many felonies, and was enforced in all of the American colonies prior to the Declaration of Independence...
for the "heinous, cruel and depraved" murders committed by Pitera. He called Pitera a "heartless and ruthless killer" explaining in detail how Pitera tortured one victim by slowly, deliberately shooting him seven times in various parts of the body, in one of a series of murders carried out in a deliberately barbaric manner. The prosecution also produced a Drug Enforcement Administration
Drug Enforcement Administration
The Drug Enforcement Administration is a federal law enforcement agency under the United States Department of Justice, tasked with combating drug smuggling and use within the United States...
(DEA) agent who testified to digging up graves containing the dismembered bodies of some of Pitera's victims.
Pitera's defense lawyer, David A. Ruhnke, urged the jury to reject the death penalty on the grounds that Pitera had no prior criminal record
Criminal record
A criminal record is a record of a person's criminal history, generally used by potential employers, lenders etc. to assess his or her trustworthiness. The information included in a criminal record varies between countries and even between jurisdictions within a country...
and that other participants in the murders were allowed to plead guilty to lesser charges. Moreover, only two of the murder victims, Richard Leone and Solomon Stern, were killed on March 15, 1989, after the Federal death penalty law went into effect. The four other murders took place earlier, so those counts carried maximum sentences of life in prison. Pitera's aunt, sister-in-law and two cousins testified on Pitera's defense that he was a loving and caring family member.
Life sentence
On June 25, 1992, Pitera was convicted of murdering six people and supervising a massive drug dealing operation in Brooklyn. Alluding to evidence that he brutally killed his victims and dismembered their bodies, Judge Reena Raggi sentenced him to life in prison, saying, "Mr. Pitera, nobody deserves to die as these people died." After the verdict was read, Pitera smiled and gave a thumbs upThumbs Up
A thumbs-up or thumbs-down is a common hand gesture achieved by a closed fist held with the thumb extended upward or downward in approval or disapproval, respectively...
to reporters sitting in the Brooklyn courtroom; he had avoided the death penalty. However, Pitera was irritated that Gangi was petitioning Judge Raggi for a reduction of his 10 year prison sentence. As Pitera later remarked,
"Gangi said he was sorry about killing five people and that he became an informer because he wanted to start a new life. He gets 10 years, a good deal, and he goes whimpering and weeping to the judge looking for a break. If you're really sorry for killing five people, you take your punishment like a man."
Later in 1992, Raggi again refused a motion to reduce Gangi's sentence. As of 2011, Pitera is serving a life sentence at the United States Penitentiary (USP) Allenwood
Allenwood
Allenwood is a small Irish village in County Kildare situated on the Grand Canal. Allenwood is located about from Dublin and half way between Rathangan and Clane in North County Kildare....
, which is located within the Federal Correctional Complex (FCC) Allenwood
Allenwood
Allenwood is a small Irish village in County Kildare situated on the Grand Canal. Allenwood is located about from Dublin and half way between Rathangan and Clane in North County Kildare....
, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
. Pitera's inmate number is 29465-053.
External links
- Wilfred “Willie Boy” Johnson: Part Two - Source Wahoo – Out Sourced by Allan May
- Federal Bureau of Prisons Inmate Locator Website
- Reppetto, Thomas Bringing Down the Mob: The War Against the American Mafia., Macmillan, 2006. ISBN 0805078029