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 (with Salvatore "Big Pussy" Bonpensiero), torturing a hotel co-owner so the crew can own 25% of the business, and extorting a soccer coach by giving him an unwanted free TV. When suspicions that Big Pussy is an informant first surface, Paulie volunteers to investigate (and murder if necessary). His method of taking Pussy to a bath house and trying to get him to undress for a steambath lacks subtlety and drives Pussy into hiding. In Tony's brief and bloody war with Corrado "Junior" Soprano's crew, following Junior's attempt on Tony's life, Paulie is assigned the hit on Junior's consigliere Mikey