Date: Mon, 20 Sep 2004 11:50:13 -0400
From: jerry capeci
Subject: RE: Thomas Papanier


Andrew,

I received your letter request - finally, a mix-up at the post office and
will tell you that I believe Papania, or Papanier, is a fraud. I have stated
that on television, a report by news reporter Tony Aiello, and will repeat a
few things about him that I have stated already. Sorry to take so long to
get back to you, but it's been hectic lately.


I have not written any articles about him but I know a little about him. I
think he's a fraud. He has made a career of "telling his story." To get
attention, his story has to be unique or it gets lost amongst all the others
who are seeking an audience. Combining La Cosa Nostra, one of America's
favorite boogey men and religion has proved to be a successful gig for
Papania.

He was never the No. 3 man in the Gambino crime family under Paul Castellano.
He is not, nor was he ever a "made" member of the Gambino family. No one in
law enforcement and no former gangsters say he was. That certainly would seem
to rule out his claims, and when you analyze them, they seem quite far fetched.

I have seen some of his videotaped sermons. His "testimony" about his robberies
of Carlo Gambino's social clubs -- FOUR TIMES! -- are nonsense. We do know that
he was a gofer and errand man for a time for Tommy Billotti, a onetime key aide
to Castellano. He did relocate to Georgia, and was a muscleman for a drug dealer.
He was indicted, and acquitted after trial. But, most of what he says in the tapes
he sells is greatly exaggerated drivel. He has spent time in Staten Island, and he
worked as a bouncer for a while at a niteclub there, but he is NOT on the various
government lists of members of the Gambino Family going back to the early 1960's.
We do NOT know if he is a relative of Joe Masseria, as he often claims. He may be, but
he certainly ain't what he claims to be.


Jerry Capeci
P.O. Box 863
Long Beach, NY 11561
http://www.ganglandnews.com