John Gotti's Bergin Hunt and Fish Club crew are in jail or dead.With the arrest this month of reputed Gambino crime family hit man Joseph Watts, only three members of Gotti's crew remain alive and on the street.Reputed soldiers Ignazio (Iggy) Alogna, Michael (Mikey Gal) Guerrieri and John (Jack) Cavallo are survivors - and schemers.
They've struggled with serious illnesses and staying on the right side of the law.
"They don't have pensions to live on," pointed out Bruce Mouw, the former supervisor of the FBI's Gambino squad."These old guys will scheme until they die."Alogna, 75, a widower raising a grandson in Pennsylvania, once held the rank of capo but was busted down to soldier for trying to extort a businessman without permission."There's not going to be anything from this end, you know better than that," a man who identified himself as Alogna's son told the Daily News.
Long Island resident Cavallo, 60, beat a rap in 2007 after his lawyer persuaded a jury the feds nailed the wrong "Jack" for running a gambling parlor.Last year, 82-year-old Guerrieri got permission - because of his deteriorating health - to stop reporting to a probation officer after a gambling conviction.The crew's glory days were the 1970s and 1980s, when Gotti was a charismatic thug worshiped by his underlings.Gotti inherited the club on 101st Ave. in Ozone Park from Gambino capo Carmine Fatico. It was named for Bergen St. in Brooklyn, but misspelled. "The crew was remarkably loyal and disciplined," said a knowledgeable law enforcement source.
Of the core group, only Gotti's so-called "adopted son," Lewis Kasman, turned rat.
The inner circle included Gene Gotti (jail); John Carneglia (jail); Edward Lino (slain); Sal Scala (died recently in prison), and Anthony (Tony Lee) Guerrieri (dead).Other confidants included Angelo Ruggiero (dead); Anthony (Tony Roach) Rampino (jail); Vincent Artuso (jail); Ronald Trucchio (jail); Thomas (Tommy Sneakers) Cacciopoli (jail), and Charles Carneglia (currently on trial).The club's brick facade is intact, and the building houses a medical supply business and dog groomer."After Gotti died [in 2002], people started coming by and taking pictures," said Pedro Severino, owner of PSC Medical Supply. "Last year, three old guys came in a black Lincoln Town Car with a driver. They came in and looked around talking to each other, and then they left."Guerrieri summed up how much that old gang meant to him at a bail hearing where he refused a judge's order to stay away from wiseguys.
"I don't know no doctors or lawyers," he said, according to the Web site ganglandnews.com. "Who am I supposed to hang out with? Send me to jail. I can talk to all my friends in jail."His wish was granted, but three days later Guerrieri changed his mind and agreed to abide by the bail conditions.
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