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 execution is carried out, tells Pussy "you were like a brother to me," at which point Tony adds, "to all of us." In the third season, Chris often chafes under Paulie's leadership, particularly after Chris becomes a made man in Paulie's crew. Paulie becomes more demanding of his regular payments and subjects Chris to a humiliating random strip search for wires. Things get heated when Paulie and Patsy Parisi show up unexpectedly at Christopher's apartment to get a take of Chris's loot. While meddling through a dresser drawer, Chris observes Paulie sniffing Adriana's panties, about which he later complains to