By Allan Lengel
ticklethewire.com
Jerry Capeci, the mob expert who runs the website Gang Land News, offers nothing but high praise in an article this week about FBI agent David Sebastiani, who went undercover to bring down some Philly mobsters.
Capeci wrote that Sebastiani, who works out the New York division and is a certified public accountant, spoke last week to “the American Apparel & Footwear Association about brand labels and intellectual property rights. The talk took place at the New York offices of Calvin Klein. To hear Sebastiani talk, you wouldn’t think he knew the difference between a mobster and a Ferragamo shoe salesman – even if one kicked him in the shins.
“If that’s what you thought, you would be wrong.”
Gang Land New reported that Sebastiani went undercover as a cash strapped financial wizard known as “Dino” who became a loanshark victim.
As a result, some Philly mobsters –Anthony Staino and associate Robert Ranieri — are facing criminal charges.
Gang Land reported “that the gangsters are not the first to be stung by the smooth-talking undercover agent over the last two decades.”
In the Philly case, Gang Land reported that the FBI sting involving the Philly mob caught reputed mobsters Staino and Ranieri in tape-recorded threats disclosed by the feds last month.
Sebastiani, who works in the cybercrime division in the New York office, is done as an undercover with the mob, Capeci writes.
But the appreciation for his undercover acting hasn’t vanished.
Ex-FBI undercover agent Joaquin (Big Jack) Garcia, who worked with Sebastiani in the past, and went undercover with the mob himself (and came a hair’s length away from being a “made guy”), said of Sebastiani:
“Dave was one of those guys who you could always count on in an undercover operation,” Garcia told Gang Land. “He would always do the job. He wouldn’t say anything stupid; he wouldn’t DO anything stupid. The FBI could always count on him, whether it was for a cameo appearance or a regular long-term role.”
To read Gang Land News click here. (It is a pay-to-read website)
