Former member of the family, Albanian John Alite, is arrested

John Alite, 63, an adviser in Englishtown, NJ, was charged Friday with multiple counts of extortion, indecent corporate behaviour and other charges, the New Jersey Attorney General said in a press release.

Officials claim Alite loaned off the maximum legal standard and then threatened debtors with violent acts if they did not hand over the money and property, it broadcast Telegraphy.

Prosecutors claim that Alite also used his business, Straightened-Out Integrity, Inc., to promote the scheme.

“These arrests are the result of rigorous investigative work and strong co-operation between the New Jersey State Law Division and State Police, which work hard every day in pursuit of justice”, said Prosecutor General Jennifer Davenport.

Our “Office is committed to ensuring that all businesses behave fairly and legally. The alleged behavior in this case was everything else, and we will work to hold those who cheat and steal” responsible, he stressed among other things.

An Albanian-American from Queens, Alite has long had links to organised crime, as the leading leader of the notorious Gottti criminal family and an early member of the Gambino family.

In 2015 he spoke at CBS News in an interview about his earlier decision to leave the mafia. He claimed he committed 15 murders, had shot 30 to 40 people and had beaten more than a hundred others with baseball sticks.

He described an organised murder, saying afterwards: “while we were in conversation, I shot him two or three times in the head, then I spit on him. It was nothing, like going to a baseball game, I went out (after) for a hamburger of cheese, Coca-Cola and fries”.

Alite suffered more than 14 years in prison in the United States and Brazil, and after being released, he denied his connections with the mafia. He continued to launch a known podcast called “Catch Me On The Run”, where he discovered details about his years with the mafia and the flight from the federations.

He wrote or appeared in many books as well as in some documentaries. Alite was appointed to the council by the mayor of Englishtown, Daniel Francisco, in May 2025. He told Guardian he wanted to run to help the community after his daughter died of a phantanyli overdose.

“Plus, I'm no longer a criminal. I'm on a mission to do things the right way”, he said at the time. /Periscopi