His godfather was Salvatore Callinbrano, a made man and caporegime in the Genovese crime family, which maintained a powerful influence on the Brooklyn docks.

Prior to his marriage to Lillian, Casso had a serious relationship with fellow South Brooklyn native Rosemarie Billotti, whose parents hoped he would marry.

[8]Following his arrest inside the house in Mount Olive by the FBI in 1993, Lillian Casso "was incensed, and felt betrayed—violated—used" when she learned that her husband had secretly continued his relationship with Rosemarie Billotti.

Even though she eventually agreed to visit her husband in federal prison, for the rest of her life, Lillian Casso, according to Philip Carlo, "could not understand how Anthony could be so deceitful, duplicitous—such a two-faced pig.

[14] Gambino caporegime John Gotti, whose crew had worked with Casso to conduct drug deals, and other captains, were planning to kill family boss Paul Castellano believing that he was too weak to lead them.

Amuso and Casso were chosen to handle the assassinations, and were instructed to use a car bomb to try and shift suspicion to Sicilian mobsters, or Zips, related to Castellano.

[17] Corallo, wanting to maintain the family's half-century tradition of a seamless transfer of power, called both Casso and Amuso to Furnari's Staten Island home.

These profits included: $15,000 to $20,000 a month from extorting Long Island delivery and carting companies; $75,000 a month in kickbacks from eight air freight carriers operating in the New York area in exchange for guaranteed labor peace and no protests from workers over their low benefits; $20,000 a week in profits from illegal, unlicensed video game machines set up in businesses with connections to the Lucchese family; and $245,000 annually from a major family-owned concrete supplier.

In another instance, the two bosses received $600,000 from the Gambino family for allowing it to take over a Lucchese-protected contractor for a housing complex project on Coney Island.

[19] Casso had a close alliance with Russian boss Marat Balagula, who operated a multibillion-dollar gasoline bootlegging scam in Brighton Beach.

Balagula did in fact have balls—he was a ruthless killer when necessary—but he also was a smart diplomatic administrator and he knew that the combined, concerted force of the Italian crime families would quickly wipe the newly arrived Russian competition off the proverbial map.

[21]Shortly afterward, Balagula's rival, a fellow Russian immigrant named Vladimir Reznikov, drove up to the former's office building in the Midwood section of Brooklyn.

[21] Then, on June 12, 1986, Reznikov entered the Rasputin nightclub in Brighton Beach and placed a 9mm Beretta against Balagula's head, demanding $600,000 in exchange for not pulling the trigger.

Accetturo considered the contract on his wife a violation of the American Mafia's longstanding rule against killing mobsters' relatives who are not involved in the life, and he chose accordingly to break his blood oath and cooperate with the Feds.

[28] In January 1991, Casso received an early warning, from a secret law enforcement source he referred to as his "crystal ball", about an upcoming federal indictment.

[29] Shortly before he and Amuso both went into hiding, Casso summoned Alphonse D'Arco, the caporegime of The Vario Crew, to a meeting at the Rodman gun at John Paul Jones Park, in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn.

[31] In early 1991, Amuso and Casso ordered the murder of made man and caporegime Peter Chiodo, a fellow Windows Case defendant who had pleaded guilty without asking their permission.

Despite being common practice in the Calabrian 'Ndrangheta, Casso's threat was a violation of a longstanding American Mafia rule against killing mobsters' relatives who are not involved in, "The Life".

The DA's Office informed FBI Agent Richard Rudolph, who arranged for a Federal warrant allowing Lastorino's phone to be tapped.

[53] Afterwards, Casso began making plans for Lucchese members to find out what prison buses would be transporting him and arrange an ambush,[54] as well as assassinating the presiding judge, Eugene Nickerson, to buy himself more time.

[53] The two lead prosecutors on the case, Charles Rose and Gregory O'Connell, later told Jerry Capeci that they had hoped to use Sammy Gravano as a witness against Casso.

"[58] Facing the prospect of a trial at which D'Arco, Acceturo, and Chiodo were due to be star witnesses against him, as well as spending the rest of his life in prison, Casso reached out to FBI Agent Richard Rudolph and offered to turn informant.

Casso was immediately moved to the Federal Prison at La Tuna, near El Paso, Texas and housed in the famous "Valachi Suite" as he debriefed.

"[59] In response, Casso disclosed that decorated NYPD Detectives Stephen Caracappa and Louis Eppolito had been on his payroll and had committed eight murders under his orders.

Casso further explained that Detectives Carracappa and Eppolito, who had also served on the Federal Organized Crime Strike Force, had also leaked the names of both Police and FBI informants, which had resulted in many other murders.

[2] The two lead prosecutors on the case, Charles Rose and Gregory O'Connell, later said they'd feared Casso could be acquitted at trial, since they did not have any taped conversations as evidence.

However, Casso was vindicated to some extent when Gravano pleaded guilty in 2000 to operating a massive narcotics ring, which included selling ecstasy to adolescents.

In 1998, Casso was removed from the witness protection program after prosecutors alleged numerous infractions, in 1997, including bribing guards, assaulting other inmates and making "false statements" about Gravano and D'Arco.

[67][66] Casso later told The New York Times' organized-crime reporter Selwyn Raab that, before turning informer, he was seriously considering a deal that would have allowed him the possibility of parole after 22 years.

I have disgraced my family heritage, lost the respect of my children and close friends, and most probably added to the sudden death of my wife and confidant for more than 35 years.