The Great Escape: The Inside Story of the Dannemora Prison Escape

By Paul "Doc" Gaccione

Written in his own unique style, Author Paul “Doc” Gaccione covers his experiences as a prisoner in this maximum security facility during the time of the Danemora Prison Escape. Filled with vivid scenes that conjure a place wracked with daily conflict and risk. Only someone who has lived this experience and negotiated the labyrinth of life could produce such a remarkably vibrant story and deeply intimate account of a very private man’s experience in prison
This is a story of a man, who according to the FBI and New York’s Organized Crime Task Force, is a leading member of the Mafia.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Brighton Publishing LLC
• Release date: Sep 12, 2017
• ISBN: 9781621834472

Paul "Doc" Gaccione

According to the FBI and New York’s Organized Crime Task Force, Paul “Doc” Gaccione is a leading member of the Mafia. At the time of this book’s release, he has been arrested and is under indictment for murder. After spending six months in Rikers Island jail, he was released on $1,000,000.00 bail.Paul “Doc” Gaccione was born and grew up in Lyndhurst, New Jersey. An amateur boxing champion who excelled in athletics he became a leader in the physical fitness industry. He now holds a Doctorate in naturopathic medicine. He’s the proud father of four children and eleven grandchildren, and his principal beliefs are is that “To demand respect, you have to give respect” and “No man should ever raise his hands to a woman.”Despite the many downfalls that occurred from time to time in his life and the many allegations against him, he has always maintained a belief in being positive. He also spends some time doing motivational speaking. He presently shares his life with his girlfriend Marie.“Beyond the Beyond” is his first published work, but Gaccione says, “If I become spiritually motivated to write again, I will do so.”

Book preview

THE GREAT ESCAPE

The Inside Story of the

Dannemora Prison Escape

Paul Doc Gaccione

Brighton Publishing LLC

435 N. Harris Drive

Mesa, AZ 85203

WWW.brightonpublishing.com

ISBN13: 978-1-62183-447-2

Copyright © 2016

eBook

Smashwords Edition

Cover Design: Tom Rodriguez

All rights reserved. This is a work based on a true story. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Dedication

I dedicate this book to the memory of:

My nephew, Joseph Gaccione, Karla Borelli; Louis Morella, Carmine Tirone, James LaFaso, Jr., Don Platten, Jr.

Sam Stellatella

Acknowledgement

Kim Orefice Kist, who’s tireless efforts were a major reason why I was able to have accomplished writing my last three books.

Special Gratitude

John Liuzzi, Ron Kist

Tom Ciardella, Sam Stellatella

John Gaccione, Mark Gaccione

Marie Platten, John Gaccione, Jr.

Gina & Charlie King, Louise Kuhnle

Roe & Jim LaFaso, Todd & Ken Doviak

Publisher’s Note

This book contains the author’s original unedited words as written.

Never before has man had such capacity to control his own environment, to end thirst and hunger, to conquer poverty and disease, to banish illiteracy and massive human misery. We have the power to make the best generation of mankind in the history of the world.

~JFK

Introduction

From the Author

This is a book that has been written by a man that according to the FBI and New York Organized Crime Task Force, is a leading member of the mafia. Paul Doc Gaccione was arrested, accused of murder, and spent six months in Rikers Island until he was released on a one-million-dollar bail.

He was arrested and convicted of being the driver in a mafia hit that they say occurred 20 years before his arrest. The day of his arrest, he was sitting at his desk in his home writing his first book, Beyond the Beyond, My Journey to Destiny.

Despite having never read a book in its entirety, and having no literary or writing skills, he was inspired to write his first book based off some special occurrences that took place in his life. That book was published and hit the Amazon bestseller list in the spiritual category.

He then was inspired to write his second book, Mysteries and Beliefs, which he then held up from being published because he had gotten the insight to reorganize that material. He plans to have that book published 6 to 8 months from the release of this book.

He then penned his third book, The Godfather of Souls, which Barnes and Noble gave a 5-star rating. The author was coined with that name, Godfather of Souls, from a featured story that the New York Post had done on his first book.

What makes this author and his book so special, so unique, is that for the first time we are getting a glimpse not into the Hollywood glamour of an accused member of the mafia, but a glimpse into the man himself, in his own words. That is very rare and, in this case, it happens to also be an incredible story.

His story will sweep you into not only his world, but also his book, as effortlessly as only the finest master storytellers can. Writers like this – and books like this – are very rare, not only because of who he is, but because of the scope of what he has written.

At the time of this books release, he has been confidently waiting for his appeal decision.

Foreword

From the Author

This is a book telling of the famous prison escape that took place in Upstate New York at the infamous Clinton Correctional Facility located in the village of Dannemora.

Since the opening of Clinton prison in 1845 it has earned the reputation of being the toughest and most harsh of all the prisons in New York State.

Clinton prison is considered the disciplinary prison of the New York State prison system. The majority of the prisoners being sent to Clinton prison are looked at as the worst of the worse.

Clinton prison had gained the reputation of being unescapable being that there had never been a successful escape in the modern-day history of the prison.

What gave the escape from Dannemora such National attention was because the escapees were extremely dangerous and feared killers. For almost a month, no one from the North Country was able to rest or feel safe while those two dangerous prisoners were at large.

What is going to make this book so special is that you’re going to get the inside story from the author, who is presently serving a twenty to life sentence here at Clinton. You’re also going to get a picture of what the atmosphere was like at the prison during those tense 22 days.

You will also be getting opinions and comments from the prisoners that were serving their time at Clinton during the escape.

The uniqueness of this book is that along with the story of the prison escape the author will be telling of his personal journey to destiny. You the reader, will also be getting an in-depth picture of what it would be like serving a sentence in a maximum prison.

As incredible as you may find all the events leading up to the prison escape, you may even find many of the signs that the author is experiencing as even more incredible as he proceeds on his journey to destiny.

The Story

After the shackles were put around my ankles and the handcuffs fastened around my wrist a correctional officer helped me up the steps and onto the bus that was headed to Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora. It seems like every time those handcuffs are put on me I get an itch in an area where I couldn’t reach and scratch. That really drives me crazy, it’s a time when you need a strong mind.

As other inmates were being escorted onto the bus, I began to reminisce from when I was convicted of being a member of the mafia and part of a mob hit. I had just spent the last thirteen months of my life at Auburn Correctional Facility.

This prison is not only the oldest prison in the State of New York, but also the oldest prison in the Country. What makes inmates consider Auburn the worst of all the maximum prisons in the State of New York is that all of their facilities are outside.

When you need to use the phone, take a shower, watch TV, go lift weights, go to commissary, or just spend recreation hanging out talking to other inmates, it’s all done outside. You may say that during the summer months that this is no big deal, but when you think of the winter months in Up-State New York where it gets below zero on many days, the situation becomes quite difficult.

Also, Auburn Prison is one of only a few maximum prisons that is not a TV facility. What I mean by that, TV facilities allow you to buy a 13-inch flat screen color TV in commissary and the prison offers a cable TV hook up right in your cell.

As bad as I wanted to be placed in a TV facility, I was quite confident that I would be, especially because I knew the odds were about 80 percent in my favor that I would be placed in a TV facility.

I remember how heart broken and despondent I felt, I had a great concern how I was going to be able to handle being caged in a 6 by 10-foot cell all the time, especially being that I’m not a reader despite writing my first book, Beyond the Beyond My Journey to Destiny that hit the Amazon best-selling list for a while.

As I look back on my destiny it was meant to be the way it turned out. During my time at Auburn Prison I was able to complete writing my second book, Mysteries and Beliefs which I had started on the street. I also was able to have the opportunity to have written my third book, The Godfather of Souls, which is a prison story without the distractions of a TV.

When the time came that I was eligible to request a transfer, because I had put in the necessary time at Auburn without being given a disciplinary ticket, I found the decision tough to make if I was going to request a transfer.

All my family and friends were trying to encourage me to make the transfer to a TV facility, and despite me knowing how bad I wanted a TV, now that I had the opportunity, I questioned if I should make the move.

The reason was that I was quite blessed the way things turned out during my stay at Auburn. It started out that I had a spotlight put on me from both the correctional officers and inmates alike for being some kind of high profile mobster. I guess having a book published perhaps added to that.

I must say that as time went by I became a very respected inmate from the correctional officers. I believe that to be true with most of all the inmates also. I believe that I was able to achieve this from taking advantage of being in the spotlight by mentoring many of the young inmates.

I was also fortunate when I arrived at Auburn prison that the program committee ruled, because of my age, that I didn’t have to take any programs or job that was mandatory for all inmates. So that gave me extra time for my writing, and helping many of the inmates.

When I finally made the decision to be transferred to a TV facility, as I was sitting with my counselor, he told me that I had to give him my request then and there on which facility I wish to be transferred to. At that moment, the only prison that I could think of that for sure was a TV facility was Clinton prison, so I said, Clinton, little did I know that it was a disciplinary prison.

How ironic that the two prisons that I wound up in are both disciplinary prisons. What I mean by that is most inmates that are sent to either Auburn or Clinton are coming there straight from the box.

These are prisons that have the reputation of being strict because they have many of the problem inmates. I have no doubt that it was destiny that sent me to these two prisons because this is where my work is. When inmates hear me tell how I requested to come here they all make fun of me. They say, You’re the only person that actually requested to come to Clinton in Dannemora.

As I was getting off the bus after we arrived at Clinton, I was questioning if I made the right decision. I said to myself, I was so fortunate at Auburn, how could I get so lucky again? The first half hour we were put in a holding cell until we saw a sergeant, which was the procedure before we were able to get our property and be assigned a cell.

When I was called into the sergeant’s office, the first words out of his mouth were, Have a seat you Guinea bastard, as he started to laugh while he was holding my records in his hands. He then opened my file, glanced at it and then said, I want you close to me, I want to put you as a lower F porter, and all you will have to do is a little light dusting.

I was just ready to respond by saying, I don’t work, all my time I spend is on my writing, but then something told me to shut my mouth and see what he was talking about. He then said, I’m going to send word to the program committee that I want you as my lower F porter so you’re close by me.

After leaving his office, close by was a table and there was an officer and also a few inmates that were giving the inmates that had just arrived their property. As I approached the table there was this inmate named Joey that said to me, Your name is Doc? When I replied, Yeah he said, I was waiting for you, I have the sheet with the names of the new arrivals, and I noticed your name, I know a few of your friends.

From his facial features and his olive skin, along with his New York City, Brooklyn accent and his mannerism, I had no doubt that he was Italian. He was of average height and looked to be in pretty good shape for being sixty-two.

As he talked I just stood there and listened, he then said, I’ll come see you shortly, as soon as they assign you to your cell. When I walked into my cell my heart was broken, the blood rushed to my head and I said to myself, What did I do, as I looked at this empty cell with just this one tiny rusty broken locker.

There was no large shelf that went from one wall to the other like at Auburn. That shelf was so important to be able to put your can foods and property on. There was no desk with drawers that I was so use to having, especially that it was so important for all the hours that I put into my writing.

I was also despondent after arriving and hearing from one of the porters that the block that I was going to had just went to commissary. That meant I would have to wait another two weeks before I could go to the store.

I also heard that when you go to commissary and want to buy a TV, you have to order it and it takes two weeks before you get it. So, I was looking at one month the earliest before I would be watching TV. I had hoped that the circumstances were going to be different being that the super bowl was only just one week away.

Within minutes of having all those thoughts, Joey pulls up to the front of my cell. He seemed quite enthusiastic as he said, I’m going to take care of you, I’m going to set you up with the best job in the prison, it’s a porter job. In a couple of days, if not sooner, I’m going to have you down on the bottom tier with myself and the other porters.

I wanted to tell Joey what I almost told the sergeant, but again I decided to keep my mouth shut and see what was going on. Joey then graciously offered to give me anything that I might need, but I was fortunate to have everything that you could want in my property bags that I had just received.

Joey then said, I’ll be back shortly, in the meantime, only unpack your necessities, I hope to have you moved real soon, there is an open cell down here by me.

Shortly after time passed, Joey was back, this time with another inmate that introduced himself as J.R. Joey then said, He’s the clerk for lower F block, he’s kind of the head of the porters, he’s very respected amongst the C.O.’s. J.R. laughed and said to Joey, Thanks for the kind words. J.R. then said to me, The sergeant that overlooks this block has left for the day, when he comes in tomorrow I’m almost certain that I can have you moved down to our tier and also get you the porter job.

When he said that, it dawned on me what the sergeant said to me when I first came in, so I said to J.R., The sergeant that interviewed me earlier said something about wanting me on lower F close to him, that he had light dusting for me.

When both J.R. and Joey heard that they both said, That’s it, you’re in, you have the job. Joey then said, Are you sure that’s what the sergeant said to you? I replied, Yeah. I didn’t really know what he was talking about, I was ready to tell him I don’t work, but then decided to keep my mouth shut.

J.R. then said, The sergeant that interviewed you is the sergeant I was talking about, so now I would say instead of you having a 99 percent chance of getting the job, I could tell you that you’re guaranteed to get it now based on what the sergeant told you.

J.R. was a tall good looking guy with a good built, I would say he was about six two. After hearing his last name, I knew he was of German decent. After talking to him briefly, he told me he was fifty and has been incarcerated for the last 20 years. I was happy to hear when he told me that he’s going home next year.

J.R. then asked me what Joey had asked me earlier, Do you need anything? I told him that I’m good, but I really appreciate the offer. I then said to J.R., I’m a little blown out over hearing that it’s going to take a month before I can get my TV, I was really hoping that I was going to be able to watch the super bowl next week.

J.R. responded, Don’t worry, we’re going to make you comfortable, as he was walking away. I then said to Joey, He seems like a really good guy. I then told Joey that I couldn’t thank him enough for what he had done, and how much I appreciated him looking out for me. Joey then said in that Italian Brooklyn accent, Don’t worry about nothing, I’ll see you tomorrow morning, then will get you moved by us, and then he left.

I then laid down on my bunk bed and thought to myself, Wow, maybe after meeting Joey and J.R. things here might turn out ok, maybe I made the right decision. Shortly after having those thoughts, J.R. pulled up to my cell and the gate door cracks open and J.R. walks into my cell holding a 13-inch color TV and cable wiring wrapped around his neck.

Just seconds later Joey comes walking into the cell holding these large heavy duty plastic square containers. Right behind him was another guy holding two more of those square containers. That other guy turned out to be one of the porters in the crew, he called himself L.A.

I then said to J.R., What’s going on? J.R. replied, I know how bad you want to watch TV, that’s the only reason you put in a transfer to here. I’m going to let you borrow my TV until you get yours, so now you will be able to watch the super bowl.

I replied, As unbelievable as this is, I can’t except it, I can’t impose on you like this, you have already been so kind to me. J.R.’s response was, I insist, I rarely have time to watch TV lately, I’m so busy doing other things. You will be doing me a favor, I will have no distractions for the next month, that will give me the opportunity to get my important work completed.

The way J.R. put it to me, he had convinced me to accept, so the guys then started putting the containers in my cell like it was furniture. They put two of the containers, one on top of the other, that became my TV stand.

The other two I did the same and used them as both a desk and a table. The other great thing about those containers were that they were used for storage for my clothes and my food.

Joey then said, Don’t get too comfortable, we’re moving you down by us tomorrow, then you could really get set up. After they left, I said to myself as I was lying on my bed watching color TV, How could I be so lucky, how could all this happen to me within only the first hour that I’m here. All I could say to myself is that it’s part of my destiny.

When morning came, just as Joey said, when I returned from the chow hall after having breakfast, the entire crew of porters came to my cell and started moving all of my property to the lower tier to a porter cell. Within a matter of minutes, I was in my new cell, which happened to be the first cell on the bottom tier. I then started to arrange everything in my cell. After I had completed organizing my cell to my liking, is when I first noticed that my cell gate door was open.

I nervously decided to take a few steps outside the cell. I then turned to my right and took another few steps that put me in front of my new neighbors’ cell. To my surprise his cell gate door was open also. As I looked in I saw this young man sitting at the side of his bed doing some writing. I called over to him and said, Pardon me. Before I could say another word, he invited me into his cell. He then introduced himself to me, he said, I’m Johnny Guica, you must be the new porter, welcome aboard.

After introducing myself, the first thing I said to him was, What the hell is going on here, they don’t lock the porter cells? The young man started to laugh as he said, "Hell no, you didn’t know that, that’s one of the perks of being a porter, most of the time we are let out of our cells. All the porters are allowed to hang out

Reviews for The Great Escape

[Jay Grey · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Repetitiveand rambling; it was not about the escape at all. It was the author babbling about destiny and his other books with about 20 pages on the escape.