Michael Esposito

From HollywoodMafia.com:

Mike Rizzitello hated [loanshark, pornographer] Walter Stevens. Mike and the Animal [Anthony Fiato] had even been about to blast him, one day in the garment center. They had to call it off when they saw some LAPD OC Squad guys tailing them around the streets. Walter had no idea how close he came that day to meeting his maker. Walter Stevens was a big time criminal, that had nightclubs, porn places, bookmaking operations and some shylocking. He was a winter summer guy, meaning he was locked up in prison all the time. The problem with Walter was the he did not want to share any of his criminal proceeds with Mike Rizzi or the LA Family. When a person opens a Candy Store he has to pay State Taxes and Federal Taxes on his sales. So when you operate a criminal enterprise you have to pay the local Mob Family, its street tax. The criminals all know they have to pay the Street Tax, in Chicago they kill you and leave you in your trunk to show others they have to pay. Walter had a large wholesale Porn business in the Valley and his partner was Mike Esposito. Mike was friendly with most of the wiseguys around town. Mike had grown up in what was then Italian Harlem, right across from the famous Rao's restaurant. Mikes father Sal had been with Tony Ducks Corallo, boss of the Luchese Family. The Animal liked Mike, but when Mike Rizzi decided to move in on Walters Porn business, the Animal was all business. Mike Rizzi decided that they would take over Walters assets in the porn company. The Animal first went to Mike Esposito as a friend to see if Mike would jump on board with the LA Family. Mike Esposito decided for his own reasons to stick with Walter. Mike and his father began to reach out to anybody that they felt could help, get this Animal off their backs. Mike actually reached out for Mike Rizzi, Mike had no idea that it was a Mike Rizzi operation. They sought help from the chased Colombo soldier Tony Peraino and his wannabee son Butchie. They told the Animal that Butchie said hello...

The Animal had to laugh at that thought because Butch was a nobody, he was no gangster. The real problem was that Mike and Walter operated in LA without giving up a dime to the guys who ran the town. No other family could interfere with the LA Family in its own backyard. This time the Animal went to see Mike with his Shylock partner Puggy, maybe the sight of Puggy would have helped Mike do the right thing. The Animal left after Mike was told that he had three days to walk straight. Sal Esposito tried to be the diplomat, so he sat down with the Animal at his club. Sal was a little more savvy than his son, asked the Animal if Mike Rizzi was behind this move. The Animal just told him to shut the fuck up and the Sal tried to use Jimmy Frattiano's old guy Sal Amarena to get the Animal to lay off. The Esposito's even tried freelance muscle guys like Tony Sposato and Ronnie Rome to no effect. The Animal let them think all their crying had worked by letting the deadline pass. The Animal then dispatched two of his men to throw some fear Mikes way. The men Steve Munichello and Carl Cataldo went into Mike and Walters office like an invading army and beat Mike Esposito to a bloody pulp. When they were leaving,they told the broken Mike that the Animal said hello.

The same day the beating was going down, some Mexican Mafia guys, locked up with Walter acting on orders from Red Morgan, stuck a shank into Walters neck. Walter was told that they had reached a point and that he must call his girlfriend on the outside, so she could deliver some cash to the LA Family. The girlfriend soon delivered a hundred thousand dollars in cash to the LA Family bagman Jimmy, at Carmine's restaurant. The LA Family and the Mexican Mafia cut up the score. They raped Walter and Mikes business for everything. Tough guy Tony Sposato made a call to Puggy to say...Tell the Animal I want no part of this.

Source Confirms That Russell Hampshire Sought To Put A Hit On His Former Partner Walter Gernert

5/21/01

Last week I spoke to a person with strong connections to both porn and the Mafia who said that he'd heard the audiotape from around 1981 where VCA owner Russell Hampshire can be heard asking for a Mafia murder of his business partner of the time Walter Gernert.

My reliable source says that the tape remains firmly in the possession of former Mafia muscleman Anthony Fiato, who in 1998 published his autobiography "The Animal In Hollywood: Anthony Fiato's Life in the Mafia."

We may soon have audio excerpts of Hampshire's request to play on the internet.

Hampshire totally denies the story.

I know of no other media source within the porn industry that has run this story though I know various porn journalists who are well aware it. Including Paul Fishbein, publisher of Adult Video News, who outright lies to the news media repeatedly about the role of the Mafia in the industry.

Frank Rich writes Sunday for the NYTimes.com: "I ask if organized crime is a factor in today's porn world. "When I got here, I heard there were mob companies," he [Fishbein] answers. "But I've never even been approached by a criminal element. I've never been threatened or bribed. So if it ever existed, it's part of the history of the business." He almost sounds disappointed."

Luke says: Paul Fishbein knows about Metro Home Video. In January 1997, as Paul Fishbein very well knows (because he assigned Mark Kernes to write a story about it), Metro pled guilty to working with the Gambino crime family. Fishbein knows very well about porn's numerous ties to the Mob but he keeps quiet about it, and lies about it, because to admit such truths would be bad for business.

Fishbein told Sundays New York Times magazine: "Porn doesn't have a demographic -- it goes across all demographics," says Paul Fishbein, 42, the compact and intense man who founded Adult Video News. "There were 11,000 adult titles last year versus 400 releases in Hollywood."

Luke says: This is nonsense. Porn does have a demographic - men particularly single secular men. Porn sells much better in Democratic areas and states than Republican ones.And out of these supposed 11000 new titles last year, no more than 2000 were new movies. Most "new titles" are just old footage rereleased as compilations.

Fishbein knows very well that porn has a demographic but again, to admit such truth would be bad for business.

I quote from page 134 of the book "Animal" published 1998 by Barricade Books, New York.

Mafia enforcer Anthony Fiato says:

"After I bailed out Harvey Ross [aka Harvey Rosenthal, long time employee of Russ Hampshire who died of cancer in 1994, thief, assisted in the 1982 murder of actor Frank Christi with pornographers and dupers Alan Betts and Ronald Coe who are associates of Robert Zeichick aka Puggy, criminal, thief, pornographer], he started coming to the club regularly and told me all about the pornographers he knew. Now Harvey's acting like one of my crew… He tells me he's working for a place called the American Video Library for Russ Hampshire, who Harvey says wants to have somebody killed. Russ realized who I [LA mafia enforcer Anthony Fiato] was and knew me by reputation, and he's also good friends with Michael Esposito. Russ knew that Harvey [Rosenthal] was friendly with me, and he [Russ Hampshire] brought up this deal to Harvey that his partner, Walter [Gernert], was throwing away the business by doing so much cocaine. Harvey came back and told me that Russ had told him he wanted to have his partner [Walter Gernert] killed.

"So I send Harvey to Radio Shack for a seventy-eight-dollar pocket recorder and arrange a meeting with Russ. I told Harvey, 'Get him [Hampshire] alone again and get him to repeat what he'd said. Harvey goes to the meeting, follows him into the men's room, and asks him if he was really sure he wanted to go through with this. Harvey gets him to say he wants his motherf---ing partner dead and is willing to pay Anthony fifty-thousand to do the job. Half up front and half when it's done. We take the half up front.

"After Harvey met with him, we made another meet, this time at the Tail O' Pop on La Cienega [Blvd]. Harvey, Puggy, John Di Mittia and I were at the meeting. When Russ walked in I could see the fear on his face. He only expected to be meeting me [Fiato] and Harvey [Rosenthal]. Russ was carrying a briefcase and sat down. He appeared to know everybody at the table. I told Harvey to take out the tape and play it for him.

"Russ's eyes almost popped out of his head like a frog. I gave him the tape. I said, 'Here, you're lucky this came to my attention because this motherf---er Harvey was going to blackmail you.' He was so happy, he slid the briefcase over in the booth and handed over twenty-five thousand cash, just like that. We're not going to kill anybody for this guy. And we don't have to. He can't go to the cops. He can't do anything. It was sweet.

"When he [Hampshire] left, we just laughed. I'd had Harvey make six copies of that f---ing tape. Russ kept paying for two years until finally after the fifth or sixth time he turned his pockets inside out and said, 'All I've got left is lint. Tell Walter, tell the cops. Tell anybody you want. I don't care what you do.' "At that point we'd taken thousands from the guy and we didn't need to hurt anyone."

Gentleman's Video vs Maverick Video
2003-06-18 12:18:05
Marc Stewart of Maverick Video says: "Mike [Esposito] has been talking to everyone about this since February. He called me up and said that a couple of his scenes or chromes on the cover are his. I told him we have all the rights. I told him that we are sticking to the letter of the contract. Everything is clean. I have taken it to an attorney. I called Mike back and said, 'Your contracts are not what you think they are.' I think he made a mistake when he put the contracts together. He made them a little too lose, which inadvertently gave us the right to use chromes, when he intended it to be footage.

"He also claimed we were hurting him because we were selling at a reduced rate things he was selling for more. I said that I paid top dollar for his footage. He received the money. Maybe he's jealous that we are so successful. I also told him that I plan to counter-sue him for libel because he's said that we've stolen his material. That's patently a lie."

Luke: "He also says that your company is owned by Caballero."

Marc: "Yes, he said that to me. I own the company, Maverick. He's made a lot of accusations, what can I say? I am waiting for him to serve me. He's been saying this since February. Month after month. I welcome the lawsuit because I know I'm going to win. So bring it on.

"There's Mike's side of the story, there's Marc's side, and the truth somewhere in the middle. Let a jury of our peers decide what the truth is based on the contracts we signed."

Maverick has been in business since December of 2002. "It's niche market is the less-expensive DVD, compilation movies of 2,4, and 5 hours. We purchase all of our footage.

"Mike is trying to get me to pay him. He's tried to corner me. He told me, 'I want a piece of your action. I want a piece of every sale you made. I want a piece of your DVDs. And I want a cash amount I deserve.' It was a large number.

"I met with him once in person and he harassed me on the telephone two or three times a week for a few months. Finally, after I went to my attorney, I said my attorney looked over the contracts and I'm ok. And he said, 'I didn't mean it to be like that.' And I said, 'Mike, what you mean and what you signed are two different things.'"

Luke: "Does it intimidate you that Michael Esposito reportedly has Mafia ties?"

Marc: "Excuse me?"

Luke: "Does it intimidate you that Michael Esposito reportedly has Mafia ties?"

Marc: "No. I'd rather him take it to court than to have cement shoes, looking up at the top of the water."

Marc used to run Sacred Pools for Toshi Gold.

....................................

Michael Esposito, owner of Gentleman's Video tells me: "I sent a Cease and Desist to Maverick Video in Woodland Hills. They're pirating my materials. I'll be talking to my attorneys this weekend about bringing them into federal court.

"Marc Stuart is the president of Maverick Video.

"I was at a company and I saw some DVDs with Mr. 18 Inch on them. He's under contract with me only."

Mr. 18 Inch is a black man with an 18-inch appendage who lives in Arizona and flies into LA every few weeks and does a video for Michael Esposito.

Michael: "I called Maverick and talked to Marc Stuart. He said he didn't know about it... I said, 'How could buy the material if you didn't know about it?' I sent him a Cease and Desist.

"I looked at his model releases and it says somebody in Beverly Hills. Then he says he's going to get back to me. He doesn't call me. He's stalling me.

"Number one, he's a whore because he sells his DVDs for a dollar. He can do that because he's not paying anybody for using the material. He's not paying any royalties. He's just creating havoc.

"I had a good conversation with him but it looks like it was lip service.

"I want to do everything the right way. This week I'm going to speak to my attorneys and do what I have to do legally. This is nothing personal. This is business. Guys like this can't just say arbitrarily that they bought the footage from somebody else and that's it. And I'm supposed to say ok, and walk away. If I walk away from this, then everybody's going to take a shot at me.

"Out of 15 of Maverick's DVDs, ten of them have my material on the cover.

"Not only am I going to go after Maverick, I'm going to go after the printer who printed the sleeves, the replicator... None of these people have a "hold-harmless" agreement.

"I worked hard for this. I've always run a clean ship. I've invited the guy to come down here to talk to me and he gave me a Tuesday/Thursday routine. I'm tired of it."