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Fort Pitt Museum is a two-way museum – an indoor as well as an outdoor one – located in downtown Pittsburgh, located on the formation of the Ohio River in downtown Pittsburgh. It is situated in the Point State Park and is a popular part of the Senator John Heinz History Center family of Museums and Programs. Text your First & Last Name to 0497 667 057 to join our SMS Service. 'River Rats – Adventures in Poker' is an upcoming road trip comedy about two friends from Pittsburgh who travel to Vegas for the biggest poker tournament of their lives. We are in pre-production and already have a few locations set and plan to start filming June 2015. The next level of poker in Pittsburgh starts here with On the River. The weekly podcast from River Rats Poker League. Highlighting our Top players from Wee.

Jeffrey Christian (born July 30, 1970) is a Canadian-American former ice hockey forward who was drafted 23rd overall by the New Jersey Devils. He played 18 games in the National Hockey League for the New Jersey Devils, Pittsburgh Penguins, and the Phoenix Coyotes and played professionally in North American and Europe for over two decades. After his playing career was completed, Christian joined the Columbus Jr. Blue Jackets as a head coach for parts of three seasons. Christian was hired by the Wheeling Nailers midway into the 2015-16 as an assistant coach and was later named Head Coach, holding the position from July 2016 to the completion of the 2017-18 season.

Playing career[edit]

Born in Burlington, Ontario, Christian was drafted 23rd overall by the New Jersey Devils in the 1988 NHL Entry Draft and attended six NHL training camps with the Devils. Christian played two games for New Jersey during the 1991–92 season, scoring no points. He played in the American Hockey League (AHL) with the Utica Devils and the Albany River Rats. After four full seasons with the Devils organization, Christian signed a three-year contract with the Pittsburgh Penguins. He appeared in 15 games for the Pittsburgh Penguins over three seasons, scoring two goals and two assists during the 1996–97 season. During these years, Christian played alongside the all time NHL greats like Mario Lemieux, Jaromir Jagr, Ron Francis, Petr Nedved, Tomas Sandstrom, Luc Robitallie, Larry Murphy, Joe Mullen and John Cullen. Christian was the MVP of the Cleveland Lumberjacks, scoring 40 goals and 40 assists in 66 games during the 1996–97 International Hockey League (IHL) season. Christian played one more game in the NHL for the Phoenix Coyotes, then two more years in the IHL for the Las Vegas Thunder and Houston Aeros before returning to the Lumberjacks. Christian then moved to Europe, spending four seasons in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga for the Krefeld Pinguine, DEG Metro Stars, and Hannover Scorpions; and one season in the Elite Ice Hockey League in the United Kingdom for the Sheffield Steelers. Christian returned to North America in 2005 joining the Central Hockey League's Youngstown Steelhounds and Tulsa Oilers. After two successful seasons with the Oilers, Jeff was the first player signed by the CHL expansion team, the Missouri Mavericks, for the 2009–10 season.^[1] He also served as an assistant coach for the Mavericks.^[1]

On September 11, 2010, he signed for the CHL's Mississippi RiverKings, based in Southaven, Mississippi, twenty minutes away from Memphis, Tennessee, where his daughter, Ryan, was being treated for cancer at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.^[2] On February 22, 2011, the RiverKings waived Christian, but he was picked up on waivers the next day by the Evansville IceMen, also of the CHL.^[3][4] In his final game, Christian had an assist and scored the game-winning goal in a shoot-out.

He is one of only a few players in hockey history to play over 1400 professional games (1406) while scoring over 500 goals (574), over 700 assists (792) and having over 3300 penalty minutes (3370).^[5]

Coaching and Consulting Career[edit]

Throughout his playing career, Christian held the role of player/assistant coach several times. In the summer of 2006 when the Youngstown Steelhounds (Central Hockey League) fired Head Coach Jean LaForest they turned to Christian to evaluate the hockey operations department, recruit and sign players. The Missouri Mavericks (Central Hockey League) signed Christian as the 1st player ever in their history. In the role of player/assistant coach, Christian helped build the inaugural Mavericks team along with Head Coach Scott Hillman. Christian took a break from hockey and coaching while fighting cancer with his daughter Ryan. After her passing, Christian became Head Coach of the AAA Ohio Jr BlueJackets for two and a half seasons. He coached the 2002 birth year and the 2003 birth year. He took the 2002 Pee Wee to the prestigious Quebec World Pee Wee Tournament. After a chance meeting with Pittsburgh Penguins Assistant General Manager Bill Guerin at a Cleveland area rink, Christian was hired as an assistant coach for the Wheeling Nailers of the ECHL in January 2016.^[6] Took over as head coach of the Nailers during the second round of the 2016 Kelly Cup playoffs when David Gove took a personal leave of absence to deal with his drug addiction. Christian guided the Nailers to the Kelly Cup finals, losing to the Allen Americans in six games. On July 12, 2016, Christian was named as the Nailers' head coach.^[7] After a two-year stint as the Nailers' head coach, his contract was not renewed after not making the Kelly Cup playoffs in either season.^[8] It was reported that he was harassing female fans.^[9][10] Under his guidance the Nailers had a winning regular season record of 69-58-16-1. Also, Christian shares the All Time Nailers' playoff wins record with 10. Since parting ways with the Nailers, Christian became a skill coach in the Columbus, Ohio area working with individual players, their families and teams. Also, Christian was flown to Austria to consult with Villach in the top Austrian Hockey League (EBEL).^[11] Since this consulting trip Christian has become a Hockey Consultant working closely with several North American and European teams. Amongst the many services he provides are player evaluations, player recruiting, agent/team relations, staff and systems evaluation.

While with the Pittsburgh Penguins organization, Christian was Head Coach and Director of Hockey Operations of their AA affiliate in Wheeling, WV. He was responsible for all aspects of the Hockey Operations Department including recruiting/signing players, arranging housing, planning the season schedule and coordinating road trips, public appearances include radio/TV and delivering Christmas gifts to the less fortunate. Christian also oversaw the Hockey Operations budget and managed the salary cap.

Christian attended the NHL Draft, Prospect, Development and Training Camps with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Jeff was actively involved in these camps evaluating the players and went on the ice with Penguins players/prospects.^[12]

Personal and philanthropic life[edit]

Born in Burlington, Ontario, Jeff spent the first seven years of his life in the tough east end of Hamilton, Ontario, where he later trained at the famous McGory's boxing gym as a teen. Jeff is the son of two time Grey Cup Champion with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, tight end Gord Christian.^[13] The Christian family moved to the small village of Mount Hope where Gord, and mother Diane, raised seven children. Three of these brothers, Gord, Brandon, and Michael, played professional hockey. Jeff was a stand out athlete at Ancaster High School and enshrined on the Ancaster High School Wall of Fame. He played hockey, football and basketball. As quarterback and linebacker of the Ancaster Royals JV team, Christian won championships two out of three years.

Jeff and Dorie Christian were married July 21, 2001 at the Old Mill in Ancaster, Ontario. They have two daughters, Ryan Elise and Tyler Rachel. The Christian's lost Ryan Elise to an extremely rare cancer on January 24, 2013 after a three-year fight.

Throughout his playing career, Jeff was award the Community Service Award for giving back to children and the community. The Jeff Christian Charitable Foundation was founded in 2005 in Youngstown, Ohio to benefit under privileged children in the area. The JCCF later benefited the children in the great Tulsa area as well.

After being signed with the Missouri Mavericks, he lived in the Kansas City suburb of Blue Springs, Missouri, with his wife, Dorie and daughter, Ryan. While playing with the Mavericks, Ryan (age 8) was diagnosed with Pediatric Adrenal cortical Carcinoma, a rare cancer. Ryan was treated at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee.^[2]

Christian retired after the 2010–11 season.^[14] After retiring, Christian and his family moved back to the Kansas City/Independence Missouri area where Jeff became the first Director of Hockey at the Carriage Club. The Christian family's journey and Ryan's fight were the subject of a feature article in Sports Net Magazine.^[15] As Ryan's three year fight progressed the Christian Family moved to Columbus Ohio. Prime social club poker. On January 24, 2013 Ryan lost her three-year battle with cancer.

Currently living in the Columbus, Ohio area with his family, he founded and runs the Team Ryan Charitable Foundation.^[16] The Team Ryan Charitable Foundation for Pediatric Cancer Research has been established to honor Ryan, raise money and awareness for pediatric cancer research. As Founder and President, Jeff is directly responsible for organizing, planning, promoting and executing fundraisers that benefit leading pediatric cancer research institutes such as St Jude Children's Research Hospital and the Princess Margaret Cancer Center. Jeff often gives talks/speeches on numerous subjects ranging from his life in minor league hockey to what life after losing a child is like.

Christian is also a certified Realtor and a hockey skills coach/consultant.

Awards and accolades[edit]

• 1990-91: Leading Rookie Scorer, Utica Devils (AHL)
• 1990-91: Rookie Of The Year, Utica Devils (AHL)
• 1994-95: Community Service Award, Cleveland Lumberjacks (IHL)
• 1996-97: Team MVP, Cleveland Lumberjacks (IHL)
• 1998-99: John Cullen Award (Sportsmanship), Houston Aeros (IHL)
• 1998-99: Turner Cup Champion, Houston Aeros (IHL)
• 1999-00: Community Service Award, Cleveland Lumberjacks (IHL)
• 2005-06: First Team All-Star, Central Hockey League
• 2005-06: Most Valuable Player runner-up, Central Hockey League
• 2005-06; 2006-07: Scored the game winning goal in back-to-back CHL All-Star Games. Christian's sticks from those respective games are currently in the Hockey Hall Of Fame archives.
• 2006-07: Leading Scorer, Central Hockey League^[17]
• 2006-07: First-Team All Star, Central Hockey League^[17]
• 2006-07: League MVP, Central Hockey League^[17]

Christian wore a Captain's letter on his jersey 11 seasons and played in 5 All Star Games.

Career statistics[edit]

River Rats Poker Pittsburgh Play

References[edit]

1. ^ ^ab'Hillman Happy to Land Former MVP Christian'. The Examiner. July 3, 2013. Archived from the original on June 25, 2013. Retrieved June 9, 2013.
2. ^ ^ab'Mississippi Bound: Former All-Star Christian Signs with RiverKings'. The Examiner. 2010-09-11. Archived from the original on 2011-06-17. Retrieved 2010-09-11.
3. ^'RiverKings Waive Jeff Christian'. OurSportsCentral.com. 2011-02-22. Retrieved 2011-03-17.
4. ^'IceMen Obtain Star LW Jeff Christian'. OurSportsCentral.com. 2011-02-23. Retrieved 2011-03-17.
5. ^'Jeff Christian at eliteprospects.com'. www.eliteprospects.com. Retrieved 2019-01-18.
6. ^'Nailers Name Jeff Christian as Assistant Coach'. Wheeling Nailers official website. Archived from the original on 2016-10-11. Retrieved 2016-04-24.
7. ^'NAILERS NAME JEFF CHRISTIAN AS HEAD COACH'. ECHL. July 12, 2016. Archived from the original on July 13, 2016. Retrieved July 12, 2016.
8. ^'Nailers Part With Coach'. The Intelligencer and Wheeling News Register. April 11, 2018.
9. ^'Nailers' Silence Is Deafening | News, Sports, Jobs - The Intelligencer'. www.theintelligencer.net. Retrieved 2018-09-08.
10. ^'Wheeling Watch: Thoughts following the end of the Nailers' season'. www.dkpittsburghsports.com. Retrieved 2018-09-08.
11. ^Uhr, 06 00; Dezember 2018, 05 (2018-12-05). 'Die Adler holen sich einen Experten aus Übersee an Bord'. www.kleinezeitung.at (in German). Retrieved 2019-01-25.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
12. ^Wheeling Nailers Hockey, Pens Development Camp - Jeff Christian and Mark Recchi Interviews, retrieved 2019-01-18
13. ^'60th Grey Cup', Wikipedia, 2018-11-24, retrieved 2019-01-18
14. ^'Ryan Christian Perseveres Through Cancer Fight'. The Examiner. December 26, 2011. Archived from the original on February 21, 2013. Retrieved April 15, 2012.
15. ^'Sportsnet magazine Big Read: Long road home - Sportsnet.ca'. www.sportsnet.ca. Retrieved 2019-01-18.
16. ^'Daughter's memory never far for Jeff Christian'. NHL.com. Retrieved 2019-01-18.
17. ^ ^abc'Jeff Christian Named CHL MVP'. Hockey Fights. Archived from the original on 2019-04-17. Retrieved 2019-01-18.

External links[edit]

• Jeff Christian career statistics at The Internet Hockey Database

Real Life Goodfella

Eugene 'Nick the Blade' Gesuale was a notorious Capo in the Genovese Crime Family who was the infamous 'Pittsburgh Connect' in the movie Goodfellas.

When people think of the Italian Mafia they usually think of New York, but at one time the Five Families had factions in cities all across the nation. Especially East Coast hubs like Pittsburgh. In Western Pennsylvania the mob's been active since the 1920s, when young Sicilian and Italian immigrants got into bootlegging, securing a power base for future generations. The Pittsburgh branch of the Genovese Crime Family has been recognized as one of the 24 traditional Mafia families in the United States. Running drugs, gambling, loansharking and infiltrating labor unions in the Steel City for close to five decades.

Eugene 'Nick the Blade' Gesuale was one of the areas most influential and high profile mobsters. A towering and infamous figure he was a 'gangster's gangster.' An old school Mafiaso who made his bones in the 1960s, carved out a drug empire in the 1980s and spent almost 30 years in federal prison for his prohibition-related crimes. Nick the Blade was a player in the Pittsburgh mob for multiple decades, even earning a mention in the classic gangster film, Goodfellas as Henry Hill's 'Pittsburgh Connection.' But like everything in the criminal underworld, Nick the Blade and the Pittsburgh Mafia were eventually rendered obsolete by a relentless law enforcement campaign that was destined to wipe them out.

Making his Bones

Gesuale grew up running numbers in the East Liberty section of Pittsburgh. A Larimer native, his father worked for Bell Telephone. After dropping out of Central Catholic High School in the 10th grade he attended the Pittsburgh Beauty Academy studying to become a hair dresser, a skill he would fall back on when he went to prison. A strange skill for a tough guy, but regardless, Gesuale was as tough as they come. Police arrested Gesuale 13 times between 1959 and 1981, but none of the cases ever resulted in a conviction. 'That's because witnesses would never testify,' a local prosecutor said.

A young and fearsome mobster, Gesuale earned his his nickname, Nick the Blade, after a pair of knife wielding altercations. Legend holds that he cut a man's face for checking out his girlfriend at a movie theatre and that he stabbed another man after a fight broke out in a basketball game he was playing in. Pittsburgh police arrested him for numerous assaults in the 1970s and '80s, including a brawl in Shadyside, a shooting in a Downtown parking lot, and an attempt to kill a man by running him over with his car. But each time, the victims refused to cooperate and the charges were dropped.

'Chaz, as we called him in prison was a throwback gangster,' Zach, a convicted drug dealer who did time with Gesuale in the Bureau of Prisons, tells Real Crime. 'He didn't mess around. If he had a problem with you, he would tell you. If it was serious he would just strap up. You wouldn't even see him coming. Even at 70-years-old he was talking about getting dudes hit.'

By the 1960s, Nick the Blade was running rampant in East Liberty and dealing heroin, according to the FBI, Pittsburgh police and the former Pennsylvania Crime Commission. He proved a cunning and slippery adversary for law enforcement. When Big John La Rocca, the region's longtime Mafia Don, named Michael Genovese as the head of the family in the late 1970s, his drug-friendly atmosphere proved paramount to Gesuale's ascension in the ranks of the Three Rivers mob. Unlike most Mafia Dons of the day, Genovese actively encouraged narco activity amongst his troops.

According to FBI records, Gesuale 'made his bones' in the gangland slaying of Pittsburgh mob flunky Alphonse Marano in December 1967. Marano had unknowingly brought in an undercover IRS agent and introduced him to soon-to-be underboss, Joseph (Jo Jo) Pecora, who was in charge of West Virginia's rackets and casinos. With the undercover agent in place a string of raids occurred on December 23, 1967 and Pecora was arrested at the mob social club Marano helped run on the evening of December 27 on interstate gambling charges.

Genovese blamed Marano for the pinch, the loss of revenue and the infiltration. The next morning Marano was found dead in the trunk of his car on an abandoned road in Westmoreland County shot three times in the back of the head. A classic mob rub-out. Gesuale was picked up for questioning by authorities in the investigation, but never charged. In 1973, the 'Lebanese Connection' case, accused Nick the Blade and 10 others of smuggling heroin into Pittsburgh from Beirut. But a federal judge tossed the case due to lack of evidence.

'Chaz had a long run in the drug game,' Zach tells Real Crime. 'He made a lot of money. Uk blackjack basic strategy chart. Money that sustained him through his 28 years of incarceration. When it came to paper, he didn't play. He was about his business, in the streets and in prison. A serious Mafiaso and drug kingpin. He was like the Teflon Don for a long time before they got him.'

Throughout the rest of 1970s and into the mid-1980s, Nick the Blade was one of Pittsburgh biggest narcotic's traffickers. He was also the go-to enforcer for Steel City mob brass. Like his mentors in the family, future crime family underboss Chuckie Porter and Penn Hills Capo Louie Raucci, as well as syndicate Godfathers, Sebastian (Big John) La Rocca and Michael Genovese, Nick the Blade was a Mafia lifer who followed the code of Omerta. He also acted as a liaison between the local LCN and the area's outlaw bikers.

Fearsome Drug Kingpin

Gesuale, formerly of East Liberty and Highland Park, headed a marijuana and cocaine distribution network in the late 1970s and 1980s with ties to both Western Pennsylvania's LaRocca/Genovese La Cosa Nostra family and the Pagans motorcycle gang, the Pennsylvania Crime Commission wrote in a 1990 report. Particularly close to Michael Genovese, Nick the Blade seemingly had free reign to do as he pleased. John LaRocca, the mob boss for many years, was once asked why he kept around someone as volatile as Gesuale. 'He keeps the heat off of us,' he replied.

'Eugene Gesuale was a kilo-weight drug dealer, a thief and a violent criminal,' Allegheny County Common Pleas President Judge Jeffrey A. Manning, who helped prosecute Gesuale in the 1980s while working as an assistant U.S. attorney, said. 'He was vicious. He was amoral. It wasn't about what was right and wrong. He did whatever he wanted. He was as bad as it gets. He was the ultimate thug. He loved playing the role of the Mafia capo, the don.'

Between 1978 and 1982, Gesuale made in excess of $1 million from his illegal operations, an Internal Revenue Service investigation determined. That equals roughly $3 million today. That bankroll allowed Gesuale to live in a $1,200-a-month penthouse apartment on Bunkerhill Street in Highland Park under an assumed name, wear a different pair of Gucci shoes everyday, dine at the best restaurants Pittsburgh had to offer, buy his girlfriends fancy gifts at New York boutiques, fly first-class all over the world, drive Cadillacs and Jaguars (often registered in his mothers name), and pay cash for big losses at Las Vegas casinos, prosecutors said in court.

Along with high-level drug dealing that helped him to control the majority of the cocaine and heroin markets in Pittsburgh, Gesuale was involved in bookmaking, loan sharking and extortion, the commission reported. He also ran a prostitution business in Manhattan's 'Little Italy' section, with the apparent approval of New York City mob families, and most afternoons, Gesuale could be found making deals out of a bar in Swissvale, a former Gesuale cocaine dealer and bike gang member testified in court.

'Chaz loved to gamble and be in the middle of the action,' Zack tell Real Crime. 'Even in prison he always played poker and bet on games. And not just a couple of stamps like most dudes. He would bet $500-1000 a game, every Sunday during football season. And he;d win too. You'd always see Chaz out at rec playing poker after he worked out. That was just want he did.'

FBI surveillance logs from that time period noted Gesuale acting as 'top-muscle' for Porter and Raucci. His name surfaced in the press for a 'shakedown turned violent,' when he and Billy Porter beat up Pennsylvania policy kingpin Harry Martorella with a baseball bat and accidentally shot a passerby on December 20, 1978. The attack took place at a downtown Pittsburgh parking structure Martorella owned.

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Martorella co-owned the property with his two brothers, who were partners in a robust citywide numbers lottery that catered to both street figures and a more civilized clientele.Their refusal to pay a monthly tribute to the mob led to the broad daylight assault that cost Gesuale and Billy Porter almost two years apiece in jail. But the beatdown let others know what would happen is they didn't pay.

FBI agent Roger Greenbank, who worked to dismantle the Pittsburgh Mafia's since the late 1970s, called Gesuale, 'a crude and fearsome narcotics kingpin' who had 'absolutely no redeeming qualities.' The 6-foot-4, 250-pound East Liberty mob enforcer and drug dealer once was seen on surveillance snorting cocaine with one hand and urinating off a balcony with the other. He was the John Belushi of the Mafia, albeit with a sever violent streak.

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Goodfellas Connection

Nick the Blade attained a level of pop-culture fame as the infamous 'Pittsburgh connection' from the Oscar-nominated film Goodfellas. Gesuale supplied wholesale cocaine to real-life New York Lucchese mob associates Henry Hill, James 'Jimmy the Gent' Burke and Thomas 'Two-Gun Tommy' DeSimone, portrayed by Ray Liotta, Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci in the Martin Scorsese helmed gangster flick. The person referred to as the Pittsburgh connection is never seen in the film, but Nick the Blade was the Mafia drug dealer hooking up Henry Hill.

'Chaz used to love the notoriety that film brought him,' Zack says. 'He was locked up when it came out and he reveled in the infamy. He used to tell people all the time, ‘I'm the Pittsburgh connection from the Goodfellas film.' He was very proud of that little bit of fame. It made him feel like a star, but he wold always make it clear that he wasn't a snitch like Henry Hill. He hated rat motherfuckers.'

The Lucchese crew met Gesuale via a former prison cellmate of Hill's, Pittsburgh Mafia associate Paul Mazzei. He was affiliated with Chucky Porter and his younger brother Billy, but Mazzei worked under Nick the Blade moving coke, heroin and marijuana. Mazzei, like Hill, became a federal informant and was implicated in the 1970s Boston College men's basketball point-shaving affair, the national scandal involving B.C. power forward and Pittsburgh-native Rick Kuhn.

'Chaz used to tell us all the time that he ran that Boston College point shaving scheme,' Zack tells Real Crime. 'He said he made tons of money betting on the games and that Mazzei and Hill reported to him on that venture, getting his ok for every move. He loved sports and gambling so much that I wholeheartedly believed him, even though he wasn't indicted on the case.'

Busted

The indictment that eventually brought down Gesuale was filed in January 1985 and included Pittsburgh wise guy John 'Johnny Three Fingers' Leone, Pagan motorcycle gang boss Daniel 'Danny the Deacon' Zwibel, and Roy Ingold, a Pittsburgh Press truck driver, who'd later testify against him. Prior to the indictment Gesuale was tipped off by FBI secretary Jacqueline Wymard, who leaked information about the case to her boyfriend, mobster John Carrabba, who in turn tipped off Gesuale's guys, allowing Nick the Blade to disappear.

When the U.S. Attorney's office brought its case Gesuale's life of high-living by way of crime finally ground to a halt. He was being charged with numerous offenses including, 'engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise.' Judge Manning, who tried the case with Assistant U.S. Attorney Bruce Teitelbaum, summed up Nick the Blade- 'He's a hustler, a gambler, a spendthrift, a man with a violent temper, and a man with expensive taste.'

On Jan. 4, 1985, a fugitive warrant was issued for his arrest, following his failure to show up for trial. He landed on the U.S. Marshals Service's 15 most-wanted list. The feds said he fled with almost $600,000 in cash and was running his drug empire from Jamaica. He was finally arrested in July 1986 in Montego Bay. The United States Marshal Service worked closely with Jamaican Police in his arrest and shipped the fugitive back to the United States to face trial.

Ingold was instrumental in snitching Gesuale out and telling agents where he was. Investigators knew Gesuale was a big basketball fan, and at that time, there were only two satellite dishes on the island. One was installed at a Montego Bay hotel. For Nick the Blade the gig was up. His love of sports doomed him. Authorities flew him back to Pittsburgh on a Learjet in July 1986 and he was taken to trial later that year. Five days into trial, Gesuale decided to plead guilty. U.S. District Judge Donald Ziegler sentenced him to 45 years.

Using a combination of informants, wiretaps and surveillance the feds systematically worked their way up the chain of command

by using drug dealers Marvin Droznek and Joey Rosa as government witnesses to provide details of the mob's inner workings. Their testimony ultimately led to the prosecutions of more than 40 people. The top dogs were Raucci and Porter, Nick the Blade's two main running partners. After the 1990 trial, the two men and their associates went to prison.

'I like [former U.S. Attorney] Tom Corbett's statement on the night of the convictions, on the courthouse steps,' said FBI agent Greenbank. ''We have successfully severed the head from the body of La Cosa Nostra in Western Pennsylvania.' And I think he was right. We took off the largest moneymakers for the family. It was an awful lot of hard work by a lot of people.'

In his underworld career, Gesuale was the subject of numerous drug, gambling, loansharking, extortion and murder investigations, dating back almost a half-century. He was a main player in the Pittsburgh mob. Chuckie Porter and Louie Raucci, his peers, were convicted of a RICO and drug conspiracy in 1990. Porter defected to the government and entered the Federal Witness Protection Program. Raucci died in prison in 1995. But Nick the Blade did his time. Waiting patiently, like men in prison do, for his return to society.

Homecoming

Gesuale's older brother, Anthony, 75, who lives in Ohio, lost contact with his younger brother while he was behind bars, but he doesn't like the FBI's rundown of his brother's life. He thinks his brother's life was ruined by drugs and that informants set him up. 'It's a terrible thing, drugs,' he said. 'It all boils down to drugs. He was a victim of the drugs.'

Anthony noted that prior to getting involved with cocaine, Eugene was a successful hairdresser in Squirrel Hill. His brother was also a good student when they went to Catholic high school together. But later on drug's consumed Eugene and he became an addict. Even in prison, Eugene was using drugs and never got the help he needed for his addiction.

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As for his criminal life, Anthony said Eugene was not the drug kingpin the FBI said he was and that his sentence was harsher than sentences given to other people, as a result of the war on drugs. Eugene served more time than murderers. 'He never killed anyone,' Anthony said. 'Yes, he may have stabbed a few people, but those were neighborhood disputes. It's unjustifiable what they did to him.'

After serving 28 years in prison Gesuale was released from custody on October 31, 2014. Prohibited from returning to Pittsburgh, due to threats he made against law enforcement figures during the time of his conviction, Nick the Blade relocated to Florida, where he'd once been active in the drug underworld. At 72-years-old, his days as an active gangster were over, but he still carried it like the Mafiaso of his youth.

'Chaz had a Rolls Royce at the halfway house when he first got out,' Zach tells Real Crime. 'He used to park it right in front of the halfway house. It was a bad-ass Rolls that he bought for $100 grand in 1985. His sister held onto it that whole time for him. He still has money stashed from back in the day too. Chaz was definitely a big deal and liked the attention.'

Too old for the mob and too old for crime, Nick the Blade was interested in shopping his story to Hollywood. In prison, noted gangsta rapper T.I. had taken an interest in Gesuale and told the old gangster that he could get millions for his story. With that thought foremost in his mind, Chaz was interested in looking for a blockbuster movie deal. The Mafia Capo, who'd never snitched on anyone and followed the Mafia's code of Omertà, wanted a movie made about his life, a ‘la Goodfellas.

'They made a movie about that fucking rat,' he said. 'They need to make one about a real gangster like me.' During his time in prison, Chaz would regale prisoners, including T.I., with stories for hours and hours. He'd have his fellow prisoners rolling on the cell floors laughing at his tales. He had a serious mob story, but the way he told it was both comedic and tragic. Because to Chaz it wasn't about how bad or how tough he was, it was about all the crazy and ridiculous situations he got himself into during his life. Drugs, women, money, booze and violence- his life was a never ending cacophony of chaos, unorganized and off the hook.

Death of a Gangster

Christian retired after the 2010–11 season.^[14] After retiring, Christian and his family moved back to the Kansas City/Independence Missouri area where Jeff became the first Director of Hockey at the Carriage Club. The Christian family's journey and Ryan's fight were the subject of a feature article in Sports Net Magazine.^[15] As Ryan's three year fight progressed the Christian Family moved to Columbus Ohio. Prime social club poker. On January 24, 2013 Ryan lost her three-year battle with cancer.

Currently living in the Columbus, Ohio area with his family, he founded and runs the Team Ryan Charitable Foundation.^[16] The Team Ryan Charitable Foundation for Pediatric Cancer Research has been established to honor Ryan, raise money and awareness for pediatric cancer research. As Founder and President, Jeff is directly responsible for organizing, planning, promoting and executing fundraisers that benefit leading pediatric cancer research institutes such as St Jude Children's Research Hospital and the Princess Margaret Cancer Center. Jeff often gives talks/speeches on numerous subjects ranging from his life in minor league hockey to what life after losing a child is like.

Christian is also a certified Realtor and a hockey skills coach/consultant.

Awards and accolades[edit]

• 1990-91: Leading Rookie Scorer, Utica Devils (AHL)
• 1990-91: Rookie Of The Year, Utica Devils (AHL)
• 1994-95: Community Service Award, Cleveland Lumberjacks (IHL)
• 1996-97: Team MVP, Cleveland Lumberjacks (IHL)
• 1998-99: John Cullen Award (Sportsmanship), Houston Aeros (IHL)
• 1998-99: Turner Cup Champion, Houston Aeros (IHL)
• 1999-00: Community Service Award, Cleveland Lumberjacks (IHL)
• 2005-06: First Team All-Star, Central Hockey League
• 2005-06: Most Valuable Player runner-up, Central Hockey League
• 2005-06; 2006-07: Scored the game winning goal in back-to-back CHL All-Star Games. Christian's sticks from those respective games are currently in the Hockey Hall Of Fame archives.
• 2006-07: Leading Scorer, Central Hockey League^[17]
• 2006-07: First-Team All Star, Central Hockey League^[17]
• 2006-07: League MVP, Central Hockey League^[17]

Christian wore a Captain's letter on his jersey 11 seasons and played in 5 All Star Games.

Career statistics[edit]

River Rats Poker Pittsburgh Play

References[edit]

1. ^ ^ab'Hillman Happy to Land Former MVP Christian'. The Examiner. July 3, 2013. Archived from the original on June 25, 2013. Retrieved June 9, 2013.
2. ^ ^ab'Mississippi Bound: Former All-Star Christian Signs with RiverKings'. The Examiner. 2010-09-11. Archived from the original on 2011-06-17. Retrieved 2010-09-11.
3. ^'RiverKings Waive Jeff Christian'. OurSportsCentral.com. 2011-02-22. Retrieved 2011-03-17.
4. ^'IceMen Obtain Star LW Jeff Christian'. OurSportsCentral.com. 2011-02-23. Retrieved 2011-03-17.
5. ^'Jeff Christian at eliteprospects.com'. www.eliteprospects.com. Retrieved 2019-01-18.
6. ^'Nailers Name Jeff Christian as Assistant Coach'. Wheeling Nailers official website. Archived from the original on 2016-10-11. Retrieved 2016-04-24.
7. ^'NAILERS NAME JEFF CHRISTIAN AS HEAD COACH'. ECHL. July 12, 2016. Archived from the original on July 13, 2016. Retrieved July 12, 2016.
8. ^'Nailers Part With Coach'. The Intelligencer and Wheeling News Register. April 11, 2018.
9. ^'Nailers' Silence Is Deafening | News, Sports, Jobs - The Intelligencer'. www.theintelligencer.net. Retrieved 2018-09-08.
10. ^'Wheeling Watch: Thoughts following the end of the Nailers' season'. www.dkpittsburghsports.com. Retrieved 2018-09-08.
11. ^Uhr, 06 00; Dezember 2018, 05 (2018-12-05). 'Die Adler holen sich einen Experten aus Übersee an Bord'. www.kleinezeitung.at (in German). Retrieved 2019-01-25.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
12. ^Wheeling Nailers Hockey, Pens Development Camp - Jeff Christian and Mark Recchi Interviews, retrieved 2019-01-18
13. ^'60th Grey Cup', Wikipedia, 2018-11-24, retrieved 2019-01-18
14. ^'Ryan Christian Perseveres Through Cancer Fight'. The Examiner. December 26, 2011. Archived from the original on February 21, 2013. Retrieved April 15, 2012.
15. ^'Sportsnet magazine Big Read: Long road home - Sportsnet.ca'. www.sportsnet.ca. Retrieved 2019-01-18.
16. ^'Daughter's memory never far for Jeff Christian'. NHL.com. Retrieved 2019-01-18.
17. ^ ^abc'Jeff Christian Named CHL MVP'. Hockey Fights. Archived from the original on 2019-04-17. Retrieved 2019-01-18.

External links[edit]

• Jeff Christian career statistics at The Internet Hockey Database

Real Life Goodfella

Eugene 'Nick the Blade' Gesuale was a notorious Capo in the Genovese Crime Family who was the infamous 'Pittsburgh Connect' in the movie Goodfellas.

When people think of the Italian Mafia they usually think of New York, but at one time the Five Families had factions in cities all across the nation. Especially East Coast hubs like Pittsburgh. In Western Pennsylvania the mob's been active since the 1920s, when young Sicilian and Italian immigrants got into bootlegging, securing a power base for future generations. The Pittsburgh branch of the Genovese Crime Family has been recognized as one of the 24 traditional Mafia families in the United States. Running drugs, gambling, loansharking and infiltrating labor unions in the Steel City for close to five decades.

Eugene 'Nick the Blade' Gesuale was one of the areas most influential and high profile mobsters. A towering and infamous figure he was a 'gangster's gangster.' An old school Mafiaso who made his bones in the 1960s, carved out a drug empire in the 1980s and spent almost 30 years in federal prison for his prohibition-related crimes. Nick the Blade was a player in the Pittsburgh mob for multiple decades, even earning a mention in the classic gangster film, Goodfellas as Henry Hill's 'Pittsburgh Connection.' But like everything in the criminal underworld, Nick the Blade and the Pittsburgh Mafia were eventually rendered obsolete by a relentless law enforcement campaign that was destined to wipe them out.

Making his Bones

Gesuale grew up running numbers in the East Liberty section of Pittsburgh. A Larimer native, his father worked for Bell Telephone. After dropping out of Central Catholic High School in the 10th grade he attended the Pittsburgh Beauty Academy studying to become a hair dresser, a skill he would fall back on when he went to prison. A strange skill for a tough guy, but regardless, Gesuale was as tough as they come. Police arrested Gesuale 13 times between 1959 and 1981, but none of the cases ever resulted in a conviction. 'That's because witnesses would never testify,' a local prosecutor said.

A young and fearsome mobster, Gesuale earned his his nickname, Nick the Blade, after a pair of knife wielding altercations. Legend holds that he cut a man's face for checking out his girlfriend at a movie theatre and that he stabbed another man after a fight broke out in a basketball game he was playing in. Pittsburgh police arrested him for numerous assaults in the 1970s and '80s, including a brawl in Shadyside, a shooting in a Downtown parking lot, and an attempt to kill a man by running him over with his car. But each time, the victims refused to cooperate and the charges were dropped.

'Chaz, as we called him in prison was a throwback gangster,' Zach, a convicted drug dealer who did time with Gesuale in the Bureau of Prisons, tells Real Crime. 'He didn't mess around. If he had a problem with you, he would tell you. If it was serious he would just strap up. You wouldn't even see him coming. Even at 70-years-old he was talking about getting dudes hit.'

By the 1960s, Nick the Blade was running rampant in East Liberty and dealing heroin, according to the FBI, Pittsburgh police and the former Pennsylvania Crime Commission. He proved a cunning and slippery adversary for law enforcement. When Big John La Rocca, the region's longtime Mafia Don, named Michael Genovese as the head of the family in the late 1970s, his drug-friendly atmosphere proved paramount to Gesuale's ascension in the ranks of the Three Rivers mob. Unlike most Mafia Dons of the day, Genovese actively encouraged narco activity amongst his troops.

According to FBI records, Gesuale 'made his bones' in the gangland slaying of Pittsburgh mob flunky Alphonse Marano in December 1967. Marano had unknowingly brought in an undercover IRS agent and introduced him to soon-to-be underboss, Joseph (Jo Jo) Pecora, who was in charge of West Virginia's rackets and casinos. With the undercover agent in place a string of raids occurred on December 23, 1967 and Pecora was arrested at the mob social club Marano helped run on the evening of December 27 on interstate gambling charges.

Genovese blamed Marano for the pinch, the loss of revenue and the infiltration. The next morning Marano was found dead in the trunk of his car on an abandoned road in Westmoreland County shot three times in the back of the head. A classic mob rub-out. Gesuale was picked up for questioning by authorities in the investigation, but never charged. In 1973, the 'Lebanese Connection' case, accused Nick the Blade and 10 others of smuggling heroin into Pittsburgh from Beirut. But a federal judge tossed the case due to lack of evidence.

'Chaz had a long run in the drug game,' Zach tells Real Crime. 'He made a lot of money. Uk blackjack basic strategy chart. Money that sustained him through his 28 years of incarceration. When it came to paper, he didn't play. He was about his business, in the streets and in prison. A serious Mafiaso and drug kingpin. He was like the Teflon Don for a long time before they got him.'

Throughout the rest of 1970s and into the mid-1980s, Nick the Blade was one of Pittsburgh biggest narcotic's traffickers. He was also the go-to enforcer for Steel City mob brass. Like his mentors in the family, future crime family underboss Chuckie Porter and Penn Hills Capo Louie Raucci, as well as syndicate Godfathers, Sebastian (Big John) La Rocca and Michael Genovese, Nick the Blade was a Mafia lifer who followed the code of Omerta. He also acted as a liaison between the local LCN and the area's outlaw bikers.

Fearsome Drug Kingpin

Gesuale, formerly of East Liberty and Highland Park, headed a marijuana and cocaine distribution network in the late 1970s and 1980s with ties to both Western Pennsylvania's LaRocca/Genovese La Cosa Nostra family and the Pagans motorcycle gang, the Pennsylvania Crime Commission wrote in a 1990 report. Particularly close to Michael Genovese, Nick the Blade seemingly had free reign to do as he pleased. John LaRocca, the mob boss for many years, was once asked why he kept around someone as volatile as Gesuale. 'He keeps the heat off of us,' he replied.

'Eugene Gesuale was a kilo-weight drug dealer, a thief and a violent criminal,' Allegheny County Common Pleas President Judge Jeffrey A. Manning, who helped prosecute Gesuale in the 1980s while working as an assistant U.S. attorney, said. 'He was vicious. He was amoral. It wasn't about what was right and wrong. He did whatever he wanted. He was as bad as it gets. He was the ultimate thug. He loved playing the role of the Mafia capo, the don.'

Between 1978 and 1982, Gesuale made in excess of $1 million from his illegal operations, an Internal Revenue Service investigation determined. That equals roughly $3 million today. That bankroll allowed Gesuale to live in a $1,200-a-month penthouse apartment on Bunkerhill Street in Highland Park under an assumed name, wear a different pair of Gucci shoes everyday, dine at the best restaurants Pittsburgh had to offer, buy his girlfriends fancy gifts at New York boutiques, fly first-class all over the world, drive Cadillacs and Jaguars (often registered in his mothers name), and pay cash for big losses at Las Vegas casinos, prosecutors said in court.

Along with high-level drug dealing that helped him to control the majority of the cocaine and heroin markets in Pittsburgh, Gesuale was involved in bookmaking, loan sharking and extortion, the commission reported. He also ran a prostitution business in Manhattan's 'Little Italy' section, with the apparent approval of New York City mob families, and most afternoons, Gesuale could be found making deals out of a bar in Swissvale, a former Gesuale cocaine dealer and bike gang member testified in court.

'Chaz loved to gamble and be in the middle of the action,' Zack tell Real Crime. 'Even in prison he always played poker and bet on games. And not just a couple of stamps like most dudes. He would bet $500-1000 a game, every Sunday during football season. And he;d win too. You'd always see Chaz out at rec playing poker after he worked out. That was just want he did.'

FBI surveillance logs from that time period noted Gesuale acting as 'top-muscle' for Porter and Raucci. His name surfaced in the press for a 'shakedown turned violent,' when he and Billy Porter beat up Pennsylvania policy kingpin Harry Martorella with a baseball bat and accidentally shot a passerby on December 20, 1978. The attack took place at a downtown Pittsburgh parking structure Martorella owned.

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Martorella co-owned the property with his two brothers, who were partners in a robust citywide numbers lottery that catered to both street figures and a more civilized clientele.Their refusal to pay a monthly tribute to the mob led to the broad daylight assault that cost Gesuale and Billy Porter almost two years apiece in jail. But the beatdown let others know what would happen is they didn't pay.

FBI agent Roger Greenbank, who worked to dismantle the Pittsburgh Mafia's since the late 1970s, called Gesuale, 'a crude and fearsome narcotics kingpin' who had 'absolutely no redeeming qualities.' The 6-foot-4, 250-pound East Liberty mob enforcer and drug dealer once was seen on surveillance snorting cocaine with one hand and urinating off a balcony with the other. He was the John Belushi of the Mafia, albeit with a sever violent streak.

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Goodfellas Connection

Nick the Blade attained a level of pop-culture fame as the infamous 'Pittsburgh connection' from the Oscar-nominated film Goodfellas. Gesuale supplied wholesale cocaine to real-life New York Lucchese mob associates Henry Hill, James 'Jimmy the Gent' Burke and Thomas 'Two-Gun Tommy' DeSimone, portrayed by Ray Liotta, Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci in the Martin Scorsese helmed gangster flick. The person referred to as the Pittsburgh connection is never seen in the film, but Nick the Blade was the Mafia drug dealer hooking up Henry Hill.

'Chaz used to love the notoriety that film brought him,' Zack says. 'He was locked up when it came out and he reveled in the infamy. He used to tell people all the time, ‘I'm the Pittsburgh connection from the Goodfellas film.' He was very proud of that little bit of fame. It made him feel like a star, but he wold always make it clear that he wasn't a snitch like Henry Hill. He hated rat motherfuckers.'

The Lucchese crew met Gesuale via a former prison cellmate of Hill's, Pittsburgh Mafia associate Paul Mazzei. He was affiliated with Chucky Porter and his younger brother Billy, but Mazzei worked under Nick the Blade moving coke, heroin and marijuana. Mazzei, like Hill, became a federal informant and was implicated in the 1970s Boston College men's basketball point-shaving affair, the national scandal involving B.C. power forward and Pittsburgh-native Rick Kuhn.

'Chaz used to tell us all the time that he ran that Boston College point shaving scheme,' Zack tells Real Crime. 'He said he made tons of money betting on the games and that Mazzei and Hill reported to him on that venture, getting his ok for every move. He loved sports and gambling so much that I wholeheartedly believed him, even though he wasn't indicted on the case.'

Busted

The indictment that eventually brought down Gesuale was filed in January 1985 and included Pittsburgh wise guy John 'Johnny Three Fingers' Leone, Pagan motorcycle gang boss Daniel 'Danny the Deacon' Zwibel, and Roy Ingold, a Pittsburgh Press truck driver, who'd later testify against him. Prior to the indictment Gesuale was tipped off by FBI secretary Jacqueline Wymard, who leaked information about the case to her boyfriend, mobster John Carrabba, who in turn tipped off Gesuale's guys, allowing Nick the Blade to disappear.

When the U.S. Attorney's office brought its case Gesuale's life of high-living by way of crime finally ground to a halt. He was being charged with numerous offenses including, 'engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise.' Judge Manning, who tried the case with Assistant U.S. Attorney Bruce Teitelbaum, summed up Nick the Blade- 'He's a hustler, a gambler, a spendthrift, a man with a violent temper, and a man with expensive taste.'

On Jan. 4, 1985, a fugitive warrant was issued for his arrest, following his failure to show up for trial. He landed on the U.S. Marshals Service's 15 most-wanted list. The feds said he fled with almost $600,000 in cash and was running his drug empire from Jamaica. He was finally arrested in July 1986 in Montego Bay. The United States Marshal Service worked closely with Jamaican Police in his arrest and shipped the fugitive back to the United States to face trial.

Ingold was instrumental in snitching Gesuale out and telling agents where he was. Investigators knew Gesuale was a big basketball fan, and at that time, there were only two satellite dishes on the island. One was installed at a Montego Bay hotel. For Nick the Blade the gig was up. His love of sports doomed him. Authorities flew him back to Pittsburgh on a Learjet in July 1986 and he was taken to trial later that year. Five days into trial, Gesuale decided to plead guilty. U.S. District Judge Donald Ziegler sentenced him to 45 years.

Using a combination of informants, wiretaps and surveillance the feds systematically worked their way up the chain of command

by using drug dealers Marvin Droznek and Joey Rosa as government witnesses to provide details of the mob's inner workings. Their testimony ultimately led to the prosecutions of more than 40 people. The top dogs were Raucci and Porter, Nick the Blade's two main running partners. After the 1990 trial, the two men and their associates went to prison.

'I like [former U.S. Attorney] Tom Corbett's statement on the night of the convictions, on the courthouse steps,' said FBI agent Greenbank. ''We have successfully severed the head from the body of La Cosa Nostra in Western Pennsylvania.' And I think he was right. We took off the largest moneymakers for the family. It was an awful lot of hard work by a lot of people.'

In his underworld career, Gesuale was the subject of numerous drug, gambling, loansharking, extortion and murder investigations, dating back almost a half-century. He was a main player in the Pittsburgh mob. Chuckie Porter and Louie Raucci, his peers, were convicted of a RICO and drug conspiracy in 1990. Porter defected to the government and entered the Federal Witness Protection Program. Raucci died in prison in 1995. But Nick the Blade did his time. Waiting patiently, like men in prison do, for his return to society.

Homecoming

Gesuale's older brother, Anthony, 75, who lives in Ohio, lost contact with his younger brother while he was behind bars, but he doesn't like the FBI's rundown of his brother's life. He thinks his brother's life was ruined by drugs and that informants set him up. 'It's a terrible thing, drugs,' he said. 'It all boils down to drugs. He was a victim of the drugs.'

Anthony noted that prior to getting involved with cocaine, Eugene was a successful hairdresser in Squirrel Hill. His brother was also a good student when they went to Catholic high school together. But later on drug's consumed Eugene and he became an addict. Even in prison, Eugene was using drugs and never got the help he needed for his addiction.

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As for his criminal life, Anthony said Eugene was not the drug kingpin the FBI said he was and that his sentence was harsher than sentences given to other people, as a result of the war on drugs. Eugene served more time than murderers. 'He never killed anyone,' Anthony said. 'Yes, he may have stabbed a few people, but those were neighborhood disputes. It's unjustifiable what they did to him.'

After serving 28 years in prison Gesuale was released from custody on October 31, 2014. Prohibited from returning to Pittsburgh, due to threats he made against law enforcement figures during the time of his conviction, Nick the Blade relocated to Florida, where he'd once been active in the drug underworld. At 72-years-old, his days as an active gangster were over, but he still carried it like the Mafiaso of his youth.

'Chaz had a Rolls Royce at the halfway house when he first got out,' Zach tells Real Crime. 'He used to park it right in front of the halfway house. It was a bad-ass Rolls that he bought for $100 grand in 1985. His sister held onto it that whole time for him. He still has money stashed from back in the day too. Chaz was definitely a big deal and liked the attention.'

Too old for the mob and too old for crime, Nick the Blade was interested in shopping his story to Hollywood. In prison, noted gangsta rapper T.I. had taken an interest in Gesuale and told the old gangster that he could get millions for his story. With that thought foremost in his mind, Chaz was interested in looking for a blockbuster movie deal. The Mafia Capo, who'd never snitched on anyone and followed the Mafia's code of Omertà, wanted a movie made about his life, a ‘la Goodfellas.

'They made a movie about that fucking rat,' he said. 'They need to make one about a real gangster like me.' During his time in prison, Chaz would regale prisoners, including T.I., with stories for hours and hours. He'd have his fellow prisoners rolling on the cell floors laughing at his tales. He had a serious mob story, but the way he told it was both comedic and tragic. Because to Chaz it wasn't about how bad or how tough he was, it was about all the crazy and ridiculous situations he got himself into during his life. Drugs, women, money, booze and violence- his life was a never ending cacophony of chaos, unorganized and off the hook.

Death of a Gangster

Taking Gesuale down was one of the first major victories for the feds fighting the mob in Western Pennsylvania, Manning said.

Though Genovese was never convicted, his condoning narcotics trafficking in the Pittsburgh mob led to convictions of his top people plus much of younger members and associates, destroying the organization's line of ascension. Those convictions and the old age of the other mobsters proved to be the downfall of the Pittsburgh family. 'Whoever is left, organized crime doesn't exist in Western Pennsylvania anymore,' Manning said. 'It's a bunch of old men, and that's a good thing.'

Eugene 'Nick the Blade' Gesuale, 73, was at Past Times Restaurant and Bar, 'when he suddenly fell over' at the end of July, bar manager David Ruiz said. He dropped dead of a heart attack while enjoying his usual glass of Pinot Grigio. 'He was on his cellphone and it looked as if he was having a seizure. I called 9-1-1.' Ruiz said. Gesuale was a regular at the S. Nova Road bar, which opened this past May.

Gesuale usually arrived at the bar alone and Ruiz described him as friendly and talkative. When Gesuale entered the bar Ruiz would set up a glass of his preferred wine. The old mobster would drink and talk on his cell phone. Gesuale's residence is listed in The Falls community off of Clyde Morris Boulevard in Ormond Beach, the police report noted.

The incident report, as the Journal Online noted, described how 'while police were on scene and he was being given CPR by another bar patron, his cellphone rang and it was a Facetime call from a cousin who identified himself as Geno.' The cousin, once informed of what was happening, asked that Gesuale's car keys and phone be given to the bar's owner.

'I was surprised he was nursing such a girly drink,' Roger Greenbank, the retired FBI agent who helped send him to federal prison for 28 years during the Mafia crackdown of the 1980s, said. 'Would have thought something more macho would have been his style.' At the end of his life, his former adversaries in law enforcement, had nothing but jokes for Chaz.

'I don't think he was a wine guy when he was in Pittsburgh,' said Bob Garrity, a retired FBI agent who investigated organized crime in Western Pennsylvania in the 1980s and 1990s. 'He seemed more like a shot guy.' But now Nick the Blade is a dead guy. Though he lives on in Mafia legend. He doesn't have a movie or a tell all book, because he wasn't really that type of guy, despite the enticement he felt in his old age. He was an old school gangster that came up the hard way, when men were men, and Mafiaso had to kill someone to get in.