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 Tony, who chides Paulie. The tensions between Paulie and Chris culminate in "Pine Barrens" when Tony assigns Paulie and Chris the task of collecting a payment owed to Silvio by a Russian mobster named Valery. They botch the simple assignment after they get into a fight with Valery at his apartment. Believing Valery is dead after Paulie chokes him with a lamp, they take Valery out into the Pine Barrens to dispose of him. Valery, who is later revealed to be a former Russian military commando, is still alive, and knocks both Paulie and Chris to the ground with a