The Men Behind Mob Wives: Benjamin “Lefty Guns” Ruggiero

By Kiesha Joseph

Benjamin Ruggiero is the late grandfather of Ramona Rizzo of VH1 Mob Wives. He was well known in La Cosa Nostra as “Lefty Two Guns”, “Lefty Guns” and “Lefty.” He was given the nickname, Lefty, because when he shot dice, he always roll them with his left hand. The nickname, Two Guns, came from the observation that whenever he shot someone, he always did it with one gun in each hand.

Lefty was a La Cosa Nostra mobster who refused to turn into a mob rat, even to save his own life. “Lefty Two Guns” Ruggiero was a Bonanno Crime Family soldier, well known as the friend and mentor of undercover FBI agent Joseph "Donnie Brasco" Pistone, who infiltrated The Family during an undercover operation. The hit movie “Donnie Brasco”, starring Al Pacino, was based on this agent's interactions with Lefty.

This is the biography of Lefty Ruggiero AKA Lefty Two Guns. Get to know him, as a person, not just the soldier who was fooled by Donnie Brasco, or grandfather of one of the VH1 Mob Wives.

All Ebooks in This Series

The Men Behind Mob Wives: Sammy “The Bull” Gravano (Father of Karen Gravano)
The Men Behind Mob Wives: Anthony “TG” Graziano (Father of Renee Graziano)
The Men Behind Mob Wives: Salvatore “Sally Dogs” Lombardi (Uncle of Angela “Big Ang” Raiola)
The Men Behind Mob Wives: Joseph Ferragamo, Louis Facciolo and Bruno Facciolo (Ex-husband, Father and Uncle of Carla Facciolo)
The Men Behind Mob Wives: Benjamin “Lefty Guns” Ruggiero (Grandfather of Ramona Rizzo)
The Men Behind Mob Wives: Lee D'Avanzo (Husband of Drita D'Avanzo)
The Men Behind Mob Wives: Hector “Junior” Pagan (Ex-Husband of Renee Graziano)
The Men Behind Mob Wives: Salvatore “Sally Dogs” Lombardi (Uncle of Angela “Big Ang” Raiola)
The Men Behind Chicago Mob Wives: Frank “The German” Schweihs (Father of Nora Schweihs)
The Men Behind Chicago Mob Wives: John A. “Big John” Fecarotta (Uncle of Renee Fecarotta)

• Language: English
• Publisher: Kiesha Joseph
• Release date: Sep 15, 2012
• ISBN: 9781301261857

Kiesha Joseph

My name is Kiesha Joseph. I'm from the Los Angeles, CA area. I've always been known as "Information Central" or "The Geek" among my friends and family. As I continued to gather information on certain subjects, the amount of information would continue to grow into small books. Eventually, I was encouraged to start putting this information in eBooks to sell online. Many of my ebooks are very comprehensive and informative, while others are entertaining and fictional.

Book preview

The Men Behind Mob Wives: Benjamin Lefty Guns Ruggiero

Kiesha Joseph

Copyright 2012 by Prison Rideshare Network

Smashwords Edition

The Biography of Benjamin Lefty Guns Ruggiero

NAME: Benjamin Lefty Guns Ruggiero

OCCUPATION: Soldier in the Bonanno Crime Family

BIRTH DATE: April 19, 1926

DEATH DATE: November 24, 1994

PLACE OF BIRTH: Manhattan, New York

NICKNAME: Lefty Guns

Benjamin Ruggiero was well known in the Cosa Nostra as Lefty Two Guns, Lefty Guns and Lefty. He was given the nickname, Lefty, because when he shot dice, he always roll them with his left hand. The nickname, Two Guns, came from the observation that whenever he shot someone, he always did it with one gun in each hand.

Ruggiero was a Bonanno crime family soldier, who is well known as the friend and mentor of undercover FBI agent Joseph Donnie Brasco Pistone. The hit movie Donnie Brasco was based on this agent's interactions with Lefty. The role of Lefty was played by Al Pacino.

Benjamin Ruggiero was born on April 19, 1926 in the Manhattan, New York neighborhood known as the Fourth Ward. He was raised in a private housing development in an area of Manhattan called Little Italy. The development was called Knickerbocker Village on a street named Monroe