
Sign up to save your podcasts
Or


Retired Intelligence Detective Gary Jenkins brings you the best in mob history with his unique perception of the mafia. In this episode, I speak with author Matt Birkbeck about the life of William “Big Billy” D’Elia, a prominent figure in the mafia. We discuss D’Elia’s role as a negotiator for the mob and his close relationship with Russell Bufalino. The conversation delves into behind-the-scenes dealings, connections to influential individuals, and the complexities of the criminal world. We highlight the scarcity of information about the Russell Bufalino family and the power they held.
The book offers unparalleled insights into the inner workings of organized crime, including behind-the-scenes dealings and Billy’s rise to power within the mob. We uncover Muhammad Ali’s visit to Ted Kennedy on Russell Bufalino’s behalf, showcasing these hidden alliances’ unpredictable nature. The power and respect commanded by Bufalino become evident as we explore anecdotes of his interactions with figures like Frank Sinatra. We also touch on Bufalino’s influence through his connection to the Teamsters Union.
We recommend Matt Birkbeck’s book for true crime enthusiasts and provide valuable resources for listeners dealing with PTSD and substance abuse.
Get 50% off your Factor Foods order – use the code gangland50 when you check out at Factor Foods
Hit me up on Venmo for a cup of coffee or a shot and a beer @ganglandwire
Click here to “buy me a cup of coffee”
To go to the store or make a donation or rent Ballot Theft: Burglary, Murder, Coverup click here
To rent Brothers against Brothers, the documentary, click here.
To rent Gangland Wire, the documentary, click here
To buy my Kindle book, Leaving Vegas: The True Story of How FBI Wiretaps Ended Mob Domination of Las Vegas Casinos.
To subscribe on iTunes click here. Please give me a review and help others find the podcast.
Transcript
[0:00] Welcome, all you guys back here in the studio Ganglans Wire where I have a special guest today, Matt Birkbeck.
[1:14] What other true crime books do you have?
[1:25] I wrote two books on a really interesting case involving a girl who was kidnapped as a toddler, called Books for a Beautiful Child and Finding Sharon, which became a Netflix film last year.
[1:49] Interesting. Just a little aside, Matt, there’s a true crime author, And I think he produced the movie about Danny Green and the Cleveland mob, a guy named Rick Varello.
[2:43] Billy was the head of the Bufalino family beginning in 1994, following the death of Russell Bufalino.
[3:39] Russell, for those, even for your listeners who think they may know who Russell Buffalino was, they don’t know. Very few people know this, but he was arguably one of the most powerful and influential organized crime figures of the 20th century. He was that big. He was involved in so many different things, from Cuba, to the Appalachian Conference, to testifying before Bobby Kennedy, to the Teamsters, where he was just incredibly influential.
[4:09] He knew and loved Jimmy Hoffa.
[4:39] And that just spoke volumes to me. So that’s who Billy DeLeo was. Billy had the benefit of being tutored, being protege of Russell Buffalino. And he subsequently took on Russell’s role as the mob’s negotiator when Russell went to prison in the mid-1980s.
[5:14] And how did you happen to get in connecting with him? Billy actually connected with me. It was August of 2020.
[6:13] Anyone. But a couple of things occurred. One, he saw The Irishman, the film, in 2019, and he was outraged by it over a couple of things. One, the portrayal of Bufalino, not the acting of Joe Pesci, who was marvelous, but the portrayal of Bufalino as being and somewhat subservient to some other mob leaders, which wasn’t the case in Billy’s eye.
[6:53] This situation involving him and his former friend of his, this billionaire.
[6:57] So they reached out to me, I jumped at the chance, it took a number of months to get Billy comfortable with the idea of talking to a reporter or a writer, an author. But once Billy got comfortable and began to trust me and we got going, we spoke for roughly another year and a half. And the result’s the book. Interesting. Now, in your book, you talk a lot about Bufalino bringing Big Billy on trips to New York City and going to the jewelry district, because he had some action down there getting stolen jewelry, I think, from people and other business that he had. And going to Copacabana, which is kind of part of the Irishman story, and the movie, they had this. And there’s another guy named Pete the Greek, Dacopolis, who was part of Joey Gallo’s crew that was with Joey Gallo that night that they had been in the Copacabana, and there was this confrontation, supposedly. So did he talk about that? What did What’d he tell you about going to New York with Bufalino?
[7:53] Yeah, no, he spoke about it at length. So what was really interesting about Russell, and was actually genius on his part in that he was living in Northeast Pennsylvania, but he spent half his time in New York City, from Sunday through Wednesday, he had an apartment for many, many years. And Russell had a restaurant called the Vesuvio, which was in midtown. And he only frequented the Vesuvio and maybe a couple of other restaurants, I want to be in a place called Johnny D’s.
[8:24] And he actually, as Billy describes in the book, performers would have to come visit with Russell.
[9:34] Well, yeah. It’s kind of the Cinderella story, isn’t it? You reach out and tap somebody at a young age and say, you know, like, you’re the next prince. Come on and let me show you how to be it.
[9:45] Yeah. That’s what’s really interesting about this book. It’s a very intimate book in terms of a relationship between two men.
[10:23] There was so much that goes on beneath the scenes. I mean, when you read this book, he wasn’t just involved in disputes involving organized crime figures.
[11:00] Yeah, I have to agree with you. After doing this show for the last several years and getting to know guys personally, former Bob guys personally, and even though I worked on when I was working on them, I just saw it as black and white, good or bad.
[11:29] Yeah, no, I agree with you a hundred percent. So it kind of changed how I think of things.
[12:20] So this goes back to Russell and then Billy becoming a so-called negotiator for the mob.
[13:49] Spent a lot of time in Kansas City. He knew the Savellas. He knew Nick Savella.
[14:00] Tom Hanks Interesting. That whole Savella thing, I noticed the way he wrote.
[14:04] The way you wrote and the way he told you about like when Russell went to Leavenworth, Nick Savella was already up there and he was getting really old.
[15:02] So Billy knew him and Billy knew his nephew, Tony, who took over the family when Nick went to prison.
[15:31] He was one of the actors in Goodfellas.
[15:39] Trump didn’t end around and he had already had tie, had longstanding ties with organized crime figures. And he reached out to two guys in Los Angeles. One guy was Mike Rizzatelli, a heavyweight in LA, and they threatened DeLeo. DeLeo reaches out to friends he has in Pittsburgh, but they’re not big enough to intervene. So what do they do? They reach out to Billy DeLea.
[16:02] And there’s this big meeting in New York in 1988 during the Grammys where Billy’s there and these two guys walk in and they see Billy and they know that’s it. It’s not going to happen.
[17:10] That’s a very specific case there that people don’t usually get that. This book is a must-read, guys, I’ll tell you right now. You got anything else that you want people to know about that book?
[17:23] Like I said earlier, it’s not what you might think the traditional mob book, where there’s a lot of violence and a lot of bloodshed and criminality. I mean, the criminality is there, but this is really, like I said earlier, an intimate story regarding Russell Buffalino and his young protege and so-called son, Billy DeLeon, and Billy’s rise to power. And now, you know, Billy, you know, the first part of the book, Billy’s an observer, he’s a fly on the wall. And he lays what was going on for like 10 years or so, including a real interesting meeting involving the men who ordered the murder of Jimmy Hoffa.
[18:11] He becomes a participant. And he becomes, unbeknownst to law enforcement, he becomes de facto head of the Bufalino family, which had been a very, very powerful and important family in this country. And so the book itself is a really unique look at the underpinnings of organized crime. And of course, what we just talked about, this really incredible gray area where, I mean, I read about Muhammad Ali visiting with Ted Kennedy in Washington on behalf of Bufalino. And these are narratives that you’re not really going to see anywhere else, or you you won’t see anything else.
[19:09] And Bufalino says, I don’t care where he is, this is my table.
[19:40] Did he do this on the your opinion after talking to big billy personally i just want to know is was he doing this on the strength of his personality and then billy took on that kind of the strength of their personality it wasn’t because they had a big hammer over anybody or that he was it was obviously capable to have somebody yet but there was none of that talk in the book it was more like.
[20:19] Well, there were two things going on. One area that Billy didn’t want to go into was violence.
[20:39] And you know, he’s in his mid seventies now. And so he was careful.
[21:35] He then taught him the intricacies of so-called scoring. Doing it, getting a score, whether it would be jewelry, Russell basically owned 47th street in Manhattan, which is where you find all the jewelry stores.
[22:38] They wanted to take over Kurupt’s contract. And Billy told Suge Knight, and Suge Knight knew who Billy was. And he just said to him, we’re taking him over. We’re taking over Kurupt’s contract. And Suge Knight said, okay. And Suge Knight is, I mean, he’s in prison now, but he was a real gangster type of guy. And he just walked away. And Billy ended up forming a company, selling shares, and he sold those shares. And Billy made millions from that.
[23:09] That’s why they called Russell the quiet on. I had written, you did mention this earlier, but another book I had written was on Russell Bufalino in 2013 called the quiet on.
[24:02] And when they read the book, they go, oh, my God, but what that was also one of the great things about doing this story is that you’re introducing the public to a figure that most people didn’t know anything about.
[24:40] So that’s the contrast in my bosses, the successful, my bosses and my bosses that, that are not so successful.
[24:47] Well, Matt Birkbeck, I really appreciate you coming on the show guys.
[25:05] No, I just thank you for having me on. I appreciate it and I enjoyed it.
By Gary Jenkins: Mafia Detective4.6
596596 ratings
Retired Intelligence Detective Gary Jenkins brings you the best in mob history with his unique perception of the mafia. In this episode, I speak with author Matt Birkbeck about the life of William “Big Billy” D’Elia, a prominent figure in the mafia. We discuss D’Elia’s role as a negotiator for the mob and his close relationship with Russell Bufalino. The conversation delves into behind-the-scenes dealings, connections to influential individuals, and the complexities of the criminal world. We highlight the scarcity of information about the Russell Bufalino family and the power they held.
The book offers unparalleled insights into the inner workings of organized crime, including behind-the-scenes dealings and Billy’s rise to power within the mob. We uncover Muhammad Ali’s visit to Ted Kennedy on Russell Bufalino’s behalf, showcasing these hidden alliances’ unpredictable nature. The power and respect commanded by Bufalino become evident as we explore anecdotes of his interactions with figures like Frank Sinatra. We also touch on Bufalino’s influence through his connection to the Teamsters Union.
We recommend Matt Birkbeck’s book for true crime enthusiasts and provide valuable resources for listeners dealing with PTSD and substance abuse.
Get 50% off your Factor Foods order – use the code gangland50 when you check out at Factor Foods
Hit me up on Venmo for a cup of coffee or a shot and a beer @ganglandwire
Click here to “buy me a cup of coffee”
To go to the store or make a donation or rent Ballot Theft: Burglary, Murder, Coverup click here
To rent Brothers against Brothers, the documentary, click here.
To rent Gangland Wire, the documentary, click here
To buy my Kindle book, Leaving Vegas: The True Story of How FBI Wiretaps Ended Mob Domination of Las Vegas Casinos.
To subscribe on iTunes click here. Please give me a review and help others find the podcast.
Transcript
[0:00] Welcome, all you guys back here in the studio Ganglans Wire where I have a special guest today, Matt Birkbeck.
[1:14] What other true crime books do you have?
[1:25] I wrote two books on a really interesting case involving a girl who was kidnapped as a toddler, called Books for a Beautiful Child and Finding Sharon, which became a Netflix film last year.
[1:49] Interesting. Just a little aside, Matt, there’s a true crime author, And I think he produced the movie about Danny Green and the Cleveland mob, a guy named Rick Varello.
[2:43] Billy was the head of the Bufalino family beginning in 1994, following the death of Russell Bufalino.
[3:39] Russell, for those, even for your listeners who think they may know who Russell Buffalino was, they don’t know. Very few people know this, but he was arguably one of the most powerful and influential organized crime figures of the 20th century. He was that big. He was involved in so many different things, from Cuba, to the Appalachian Conference, to testifying before Bobby Kennedy, to the Teamsters, where he was just incredibly influential.
[4:09] He knew and loved Jimmy Hoffa.
[4:39] And that just spoke volumes to me. So that’s who Billy DeLeo was. Billy had the benefit of being tutored, being protege of Russell Buffalino. And he subsequently took on Russell’s role as the mob’s negotiator when Russell went to prison in the mid-1980s.
[5:14] And how did you happen to get in connecting with him? Billy actually connected with me. It was August of 2020.
[6:13] Anyone. But a couple of things occurred. One, he saw The Irishman, the film, in 2019, and he was outraged by it over a couple of things. One, the portrayal of Bufalino, not the acting of Joe Pesci, who was marvelous, but the portrayal of Bufalino as being and somewhat subservient to some other mob leaders, which wasn’t the case in Billy’s eye.
[6:53] This situation involving him and his former friend of his, this billionaire.
[6:57] So they reached out to me, I jumped at the chance, it took a number of months to get Billy comfortable with the idea of talking to a reporter or a writer, an author. But once Billy got comfortable and began to trust me and we got going, we spoke for roughly another year and a half. And the result’s the book. Interesting. Now, in your book, you talk a lot about Bufalino bringing Big Billy on trips to New York City and going to the jewelry district, because he had some action down there getting stolen jewelry, I think, from people and other business that he had. And going to Copacabana, which is kind of part of the Irishman story, and the movie, they had this. And there’s another guy named Pete the Greek, Dacopolis, who was part of Joey Gallo’s crew that was with Joey Gallo that night that they had been in the Copacabana, and there was this confrontation, supposedly. So did he talk about that? What did What’d he tell you about going to New York with Bufalino?
[7:53] Yeah, no, he spoke about it at length. So what was really interesting about Russell, and was actually genius on his part in that he was living in Northeast Pennsylvania, but he spent half his time in New York City, from Sunday through Wednesday, he had an apartment for many, many years. And Russell had a restaurant called the Vesuvio, which was in midtown. And he only frequented the Vesuvio and maybe a couple of other restaurants, I want to be in a place called Johnny D’s.
[8:24] And he actually, as Billy describes in the book, performers would have to come visit with Russell.
[9:34] Well, yeah. It’s kind of the Cinderella story, isn’t it? You reach out and tap somebody at a young age and say, you know, like, you’re the next prince. Come on and let me show you how to be it.
[9:45] Yeah. That’s what’s really interesting about this book. It’s a very intimate book in terms of a relationship between two men.
[10:23] There was so much that goes on beneath the scenes. I mean, when you read this book, he wasn’t just involved in disputes involving organized crime figures.
[11:00] Yeah, I have to agree with you. After doing this show for the last several years and getting to know guys personally, former Bob guys personally, and even though I worked on when I was working on them, I just saw it as black and white, good or bad.
[11:29] Yeah, no, I agree with you a hundred percent. So it kind of changed how I think of things.
[12:20] So this goes back to Russell and then Billy becoming a so-called negotiator for the mob.
[13:49] Spent a lot of time in Kansas City. He knew the Savellas. He knew Nick Savella.
[14:00] Tom Hanks Interesting. That whole Savella thing, I noticed the way he wrote.
[14:04] The way you wrote and the way he told you about like when Russell went to Leavenworth, Nick Savella was already up there and he was getting really old.
[15:02] So Billy knew him and Billy knew his nephew, Tony, who took over the family when Nick went to prison.
[15:31] He was one of the actors in Goodfellas.
[15:39] Trump didn’t end around and he had already had tie, had longstanding ties with organized crime figures. And he reached out to two guys in Los Angeles. One guy was Mike Rizzatelli, a heavyweight in LA, and they threatened DeLeo. DeLeo reaches out to friends he has in Pittsburgh, but they’re not big enough to intervene. So what do they do? They reach out to Billy DeLea.
[16:02] And there’s this big meeting in New York in 1988 during the Grammys where Billy’s there and these two guys walk in and they see Billy and they know that’s it. It’s not going to happen.
[17:10] That’s a very specific case there that people don’t usually get that. This book is a must-read, guys, I’ll tell you right now. You got anything else that you want people to know about that book?
[17:23] Like I said earlier, it’s not what you might think the traditional mob book, where there’s a lot of violence and a lot of bloodshed and criminality. I mean, the criminality is there, but this is really, like I said earlier, an intimate story regarding Russell Buffalino and his young protege and so-called son, Billy DeLeon, and Billy’s rise to power. And now, you know, Billy, you know, the first part of the book, Billy’s an observer, he’s a fly on the wall. And he lays what was going on for like 10 years or so, including a real interesting meeting involving the men who ordered the murder of Jimmy Hoffa.
[18:11] He becomes a participant. And he becomes, unbeknownst to law enforcement, he becomes de facto head of the Bufalino family, which had been a very, very powerful and important family in this country. And so the book itself is a really unique look at the underpinnings of organized crime. And of course, what we just talked about, this really incredible gray area where, I mean, I read about Muhammad Ali visiting with Ted Kennedy in Washington on behalf of Bufalino. And these are narratives that you’re not really going to see anywhere else, or you you won’t see anything else.
[19:09] And Bufalino says, I don’t care where he is, this is my table.
[19:40] Did he do this on the your opinion after talking to big billy personally i just want to know is was he doing this on the strength of his personality and then billy took on that kind of the strength of their personality it wasn’t because they had a big hammer over anybody or that he was it was obviously capable to have somebody yet but there was none of that talk in the book it was more like.
[20:19] Well, there were two things going on. One area that Billy didn’t want to go into was violence.
[20:39] And you know, he’s in his mid seventies now. And so he was careful.
[21:35] He then taught him the intricacies of so-called scoring. Doing it, getting a score, whether it would be jewelry, Russell basically owned 47th street in Manhattan, which is where you find all the jewelry stores.
[22:38] They wanted to take over Kurupt’s contract. And Billy told Suge Knight, and Suge Knight knew who Billy was. And he just said to him, we’re taking him over. We’re taking over Kurupt’s contract. And Suge Knight said, okay. And Suge Knight is, I mean, he’s in prison now, but he was a real gangster type of guy. And he just walked away. And Billy ended up forming a company, selling shares, and he sold those shares. And Billy made millions from that.
[23:09] That’s why they called Russell the quiet on. I had written, you did mention this earlier, but another book I had written was on Russell Bufalino in 2013 called the quiet on.
[24:02] And when they read the book, they go, oh, my God, but what that was also one of the great things about doing this story is that you’re introducing the public to a figure that most people didn’t know anything about.
[24:40] So that’s the contrast in my bosses, the successful, my bosses and my bosses that, that are not so successful.
[24:47] Well, Matt Birkbeck, I really appreciate you coming on the show guys.
[25:05] No, I just thank you for having me on. I appreciate it and I enjoyed it.

2,181 Listeners

2,791 Listeners

2,769 Listeners

2,939 Listeners

673 Listeners

46,374 Listeners

824 Listeners

1,515 Listeners

435 Listeners

566 Listeners

774 Listeners

124 Listeners

263 Listeners

77 Listeners

118 Listeners