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Author | Kenny Gallo |
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Language | English |
Genre | True crime, Biography |
Publisher | Phoenix Books |
Publication date | August 2009 |
Published in English | August 2009 |
Media type | Print (paperback, hardcover) |
Pages | 383 pp (Hardcover ed) |
ISBN | 978-1597776158 |
Breakshot: A Life in the 21st Century American Mafia is an American memoir by Kenny "Kenji" Gallo, a former member of the Colombo Crime Family and The Milano Brothers who became an informant in the federal witness protection program. The book, which was titled after the undercover code name the FBI gave him, was released by Phoenix Books in August 2009, with co-writer Matthew Randazzo V.
The book is a story of life as a criminal and mafia associate. Breakshot includes Gallo's efforts to solve the 1987 murder of Joe Avila, [1] a local restaurateur in Orange County, California, who was also said to be one of OC's biggest cocaine dealers in the 1980s. [2]
After years in the mob, Gallo turned informant and wore an undercover wire against New York's Colombo and Lucchese Mafia Families, as well as the Milano family, in exchange for a fresh start in life witness protection program. [3]
Gallo filed a lawsuit in 2011 against Phoenix Books for publishing his autobiography Breakshot: A Life in the 21st Century American Mafia without a contract, taking his copyright, and selling the paperback rights to Simon & Schuster without his permission and without paying him. [4] The suit was settled, according to Courthouse News Service . [5]
In February 2014, Gallo filed a second lawsuit, this one against Simon & Schuster, claiming that Simon & Schuster stole rights to his autobiography by registering the copyright under his co-author's and former publisher's names. [5]
Publishers Weekly wrote, in a starred review, "Crammed with the kind of characters and detail that make pages turn and moviemakers salivate, self-described 'mobster, drug lord, and porn kingpin,' Gallo's story of life as a criminal and Mafia associate is tantalizing material." [6]
Blogcritics , in a November 2009 review by Scott Deitche wrote, "Breakshot joins the canon of better Mafia books, and among the subgenre of Mafia tell-alls, it's one of the strongest in recent years". [7]
The OC Weekly wrote that the book "sheds new light on Newport Beach’s dark past as a haven for Italian mobsters and Colombian cartel figures." [8]
In 2011, Breakshot was optioned by producer Henrik Bastin and sold to Fox Broadcasting Company for development as a weekly hour-long dramatic series with Robert Moresco as producer/screenwriter. [3]
Alphonse "Al" Indelicato, also known as Sonny Red, was a powerful American caporegime in New York City's Bonanno crime family who was murdered with Dominick Trinchera and Philip Giaccone for planning to overthrow Bonanno boss Philip Rastelli.
Carmine John Persico Jr., also known as "Junior", "The Snake" and "Immortal", was an American mobster and the longtime boss of the Colombo crime family in New York City from 1973 until his death in 2019. He had been serving 32 years in federal prison from 1987 until his death on March 7, 2019.
Joseph Dominick Pistone is an American former FBI agent who worked undercover as Donnie Brasco between September 1976 and July 1981, as part of an infiltration primarily into the Bonanno crime family, and to a lesser extent the Colombo crime family, two of the Five Families of the Mafia in New York City. Pistone was an FBI agent for 17 years, from 1969 until he resigned in 1986. The evidence collected by Pistone led to over 200 indictments and over 100 convictions of Mafia members—and some responsible for his infiltration were also killed by other mobsters.
The Five Families refer to five Italian American Mafia crime families that operate in New York City. In 1931, the five families were organized by Salvatore Maranzano following his victory in the Castellammarese War.
The Colombo crime family is an Italian American Mafia crime family and is the youngest of the "Five Families" that dominate organized crime activities in New York City within the criminal organization known as the American Mafia. It was during Lucky Luciano's organization of the American Mafia after the Castellammarese War, following the assassinations of "Joe the Boss" Masseria and Salvatore Maranzano, that the gang run by Joseph Profaci became recognized as the Profaci crime family.
Vittorio "Little Vic" Amuso is an American mobster and the boss of the Lucchese crime family. He was described as "The Deadly Don" by Assistant United States Attorney Charles Rose. Amuso's reign is considered one of the bloodiest periods in American Mafia history during the late 1980s and early 1990s, alongside his former underboss and close protégé Anthony Casso, who turned informer against him in 1994. Since the death of Colombo crime family boss Carmine Persico in March 2019, Amuso is currently the longest-serving crime family boss of the Five Families and American Mafia, dating back to 1987. Amuso has been serving a life sentence since 1992 and is currently located at the Federal Correctional Complex, Butner, in North Carolina, on murder and racketeering charges.
Frank "Punchy" Illiano was a Brooklyn Captain with the Genovese crime family. During the 1960s and 1970s, he served as a top lieutenant to the Gallo brothers in their two wars with the Colombo crime family leadership.
Kenny "Kenji" Gallo is a Japanese-Italian American gangster-turned-informant, a former director and producer of adult films, and an author.
Dominick "Big Trin" Trinchera was an American caporegime in the Bonanno crime family who was murdered with Alphonse Indelicato and Philip Giaccone for planning to overthrow Bonanno boss Philip Rastelli.
Gregory Scarpa nicknamed the Grim Reaper and also the Mad Hatter, was an American caporegime and hitman for the Colombo crime family, as well as an informant for the FBI. During the 1970s and 80s, Scarpa was the chief enforcer and veteran hitman for Colombo boss Carmine Persico. He was sentenced to life in prison in 1993 for three murders, and died on June 4, 1994.
The Lucchese crime family is an Italian-American Mafia crime family and one of the "Five Families" that dominate organized crime activities in New York City, in the United States, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the American Mafia. Members refer to the organization as the Lucchese borgata; borgata is Mafia slang for criminal gang, which itself was derived from Sicilian word meaning close-knit community. The members of other crime families sometimes refer to Lucchese family members as "Lukes".
Joseph Iannuzzi Jr.,, also known as "Joe Dogs", "Joe Diner" and "Joe Drywall", was a Gambino crime family associate and FBI informant whose cooperation influenced events surrounding the late 1985 assassination of Gambino family boss Paul Castellano and played an indirect, but valuable, role in the 1985 Mafia Commission Trial. Iannuzzi is the author of several books: The Mafia Cookbook, Cooking on the Lam, and his autobiography Joe Dogs: The Life and Crimes of a Mobster. Iannuzzi died September 20, 2015, in Kerrville, Texas, at the Veterans Administrations Medical Center.
Alden Joseph Brown, known professionally as Peter North, is a Canadian retired pornographic actor, director and producer. He has 2,588 credits as an actor.
Matthew Randazzo V is an American true crime writer and historian originally from New Orleans, Louisiana, who currently lives on the Olympic Peninsula of Washington. Randazzo is of Sicilian-American, Isleño and Cajun descent. He is the author of Ring of Hell: The Story of Chris Benoit & The Fall of the Pro Wrestling Industry (2008), co-author with Kenny "Kenji" Gallo of the Phoenix Books release Breakshot: A Life in the 21st Century American Mafia (2009) and author with the gangster Frenchy Brouillette of Mr. New Orleans: The Life of a Big Easy Underworld Legend (2010), which claims to be the first book to break the code of secrecy in the New Orleans Mafia family. Breakshot was republished in 2010 by the Simon & Schuster imprint PocketBooks.
The Los Angeles crime family, also known as the L.A. Mafia or the Southern California crime family, is an Italian-American organized crime syndicate based in Los Angeles as part of the larger Italian-American Mafia. Since its inception in the early 20th century, it has spread throughout Southern California. Like most Mafia families in the United States, the Los Angeles crime family gained power bootlegging alcohol during the Prohibition era. The L.A. family reached its peak strength in the 1940s and early 1950s under Jack Dragna, although the family was never larger than the New York or Chicago families. The Los Angeles crime family itself has been on a gradual decline, with the Chicago Outfit representing them on The Commission since the death of boss Jack Dragna in 1956.
Michael Anthony Rizzitello, also known as "Mike Rizzi", was a high ranking Italian American mobster in the Los Angeles crime family. Rizzitello's criminal record stretched back to 1947. He was also featured in several biography novels by mobsters-turned-informants Jimmy Fratianno, Anthony Fiato, and Kenny Gallo (Breakshot).
Vincent Dominic "Jimmy" Caci was a Los Angeles crime family member and a Caporegime (Captain) in the family.
Craig Anthony Fiato, also known as Anthony the Animal and Tony Rome, was an American mobster and hitman for the Los Angeles crime family who later became an undercover informant and government witness. In the words of retired FBI undercover agent Bob Hamer, "Anthony Fiato was a major player in that whole organized crime scene" in 1980s Los Angeles.
Arlyne Brickman (1934–2020) was a mafia informant.