Mob Wives season 2 primer: Promo video, poster, new cast member and arrests

I figured I’d do a little checking to see what my Staten Island fairies have been up to and holy freakin’ crap Drita D’Avanzo, Renee Graziano, Karen Gravano and Carla Facciolo have been busy. Instead of breaking this all up I figured I’d just give a big ol’ here’s what’s up with the upcoming 2nd season of the breakout reality hit Mob Wives on VH1.

First up there is some promos making the rounds including the above poster which I love and the following teaser video clip which I love even more. The Mob Wives are set for a 2nd season premiere of New Years Day and the following should get you properly amped. It’s not the greatest quality but it’s still killer:

New Year. New War. That sounds about right and did I mention that the gals were looking fantastic? Speaking of fantastic looking Mob Wives, VH1 has officially announced a new edition to the cast, Ramona Rizzo.

Ramona is the granddaughter of Benjamin “Lefty Guns” Ruggiero. If you’ve ever seen the film Donnie Brasco, and shame on you if you haven’t, Ruggiero was portrayed by none other than Al Pacino. Incidentally, Lefty Guns played a critical role in the downfall of the mob in New York City when he took undercover FBI informant Joe Pistone, alias Donnie Brasco, under his wing.

Here is the official promo shot of Ramona Rizzo courtesy of VH1:

Ramona Rizzo of Mob Wives

Mob Wives executive producer Jenn Graziano said:

“Her grandfather is the one person — aside from her father — who’s probably Ramona’s biggest hero…When they were making [‘Donnie Brasco’] — and this is Ramona’s personality to a T — she went to the set, called Pacino out of his trailer and said: ‘I understand you’re playing my grandfather. You’ve got a job to do. You need to play him right. This is what he was, and this is what he wasn’t.’”

In an article from the New York Post Jenn Graziano noted how close Karen Gravano and Ramona were growing up:

“Karen and Ramona grew up together, did their first Communion together and slept over each other’s houses. “They’re really close and call each other ‘cousins.”

The photo on the right is from Ramona’s Twitter account of the two “cousins” hanging out.

In one other bit of additional Mob Wives news Anthony Graziano, the father of Renee and reputed former consigliere of the Bonanno crime family has been sent back to federal prison on extortion charges. In addition, Renee Graziano’s ex-husband, Hector Pagan Jr., was arrested and arraigned Monday on allegations he was the gun muscle for a five-man crew that robbed a weekly card game run by the Bonanno crime family in the summer of 2009.

According to the feds Pagan Jr. allegedly pointed a gun at one of the victim’s legs as they demanded they empty their pockets. The crew rounded up around $5,000 but two adjacent safes proved to be empty.

It looks like I’m gonna be squeezing in a little Mob Wives with my football come New Years.