ANOTHER OPINION: 2 Paths Out Of The Mob

BY GREG BUCCERONI/ Back in the mid 1970s through the early 1980s, John Veasey and I associated with known New York City and Philadelphia organized crime associates like Jimmy Burke, Henry Hill (Lucchese Crime Family, N.Y.C.) and Angelo Bruno (Philadelphia Crime Family), to mention a few.

We were juveniles then. Back in those days, the Mob would use juvenile delinquents to assist in the operation of running numbers, stolen property, low- to medium-level violence, in addition to other crimes. The rules were simple:
1) Never rat or betray the crew;
2) Never steal from the crew;
3) When violence is requested or needed by the crew, everyone targeted goes to the hospital or worse.

Juveniles were usually recruited to work with adult Mob associates in developing into future adult Mob associates. In addition, they could “fly under the law-enforcement radar” regarding a variety of Mob-related crime. Simply put, juveniles operated under a different set of laws when being arrested and questioned regarding crime. They were usually overlooked by law-enforcement officials with regards to Mob-related crime back in the 1970s.

By the end of the 1970s and going into the early 1980s, I started to distance myself from adult Mob associates here in Philadelphia and New York, after being influenced in a positive way by the late Philadelphia Mayor Frank Rizzo, along with activists David Fattah and C.B. Kimmins. I developed into a youthful community activist here in Philadelphia.

Unfortunately, John Veasey didn’t follow that path and eventually became a violent adult Mob associate instead. However, he eventually turned FBI witness against the Philadelphia Mob and entered into the witness-protection program.

Today, both of us have worked hard to turn our troubled lives around for the better in assisting those in our communities who are in need.

After watching FOX 29 MOB Talk episode with John Veasey recently and personally talking with Veasey on the telephone recently regarding the episode, I have been reassured violent criminals can truly turn their troubled lives around for the better, with a lot of hard work and positive faith.

Today I am a community volunteer with the Philadelphia Police Dept., District Attorney’s Office and the FBI. John Veasey is a respected businessman who assists at-risk youth in his community. It has been a long uphill struggle in turning lives around, but, in the end, it’s been worth the effort.

(Greg Bucceroni is coordinator of the Crime Victim Services / Youth Violence Prevention.)

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