Paulie Gualtieri Signal Corps, where he was eventually drummed out through Section 8 (discharged because of psychiatric reasons). Afterwards, he spent more time in and out of prison on various criminal charges. He eventually was inducted into the DiMeo crime family, becoming a close associate of Johnny Soprano and helping to mentor his son Tony. Paulie got his nickname "Paulie Walnuts" after hijacking a truck in the early 1990s which he believed was filled with television-sets, but only contained walnuts. His surname is taken from real life DeCavalcante crime family mobster Frank Gualtieri, who served under Vincent Palermo. In the episode "From
Paulie Gualtieri Palmice, with Christopher Moltisanti. In season two, when Tony becomes the family's street boss, while Junior remains boss only in name, Paulie is promoted to capo of Tony's old crew. This meant that Pussy, Chris, and Furio Giunta amongst others, report to him. To help set up the crew's stolen car distribution operation, Paulie travels with Tony and Chris to Italy. Paulie also helps run the "executive game," a high-stakes poker game. In the episode "From Where to Eternity," while Chris is in the hospital recovering from the bullet wounds caused by Matthew Bevilaqua and Sean Gismonte's failed assassination attempt,