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Wiretap Came Between Mob, Louisiana Gambling

``Two members of the Gambino crime family, boss John Gotti and his righthand man, Sammy "The Bull" Gravano, chatted with two members of the once-powerful Marcello family from New Orleans -- boss Anthony S. "Mr. A." Carolla and associate Sebastian "Buster" Salvatore.

``Their purpose: Bring the Gambino family into Louisiana to help the Marcello family cut out a lucrative swath of what they were convinced was the future -- casinos and video poker machines, even though it would be another year before the games would be legal.

``…They might have succeeded, and New Orleans might still have major mob problems today, if it hadn't been for a wiretap on a delicatessen pay phone.

``…About the time video poker machines started coming on line in Louisiana in 1992, the FBI was running a court-approved wiretap on a pay telephone in a French Quarter deli where bookmaking was suspected.

``…But what the feds heard on that pay phone stunned them -- various mob figures in Louisiana talking with their counterparts in the East about infiltrating the video poker businesses through 'front organizations.'…"

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