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 informing Johnny Sack of Ralph's joke about his wife. While Tony seriously considers murdering Paulie, he ultimately decides to spare his life. Seemingly out of "gratitude", Paulie sends Carmela a $2,000 espresso machine to replace her broken one. The overly expensive gift from Paulie causes Carmela to exclaim "what is wrong with that man," but Tony defends him, saying it was people like Paulie who allow Tony and Carmela to live the way they do. In "Walk like a Man," Paulie's nephew, Little Paulie, is beaten by Chris and thrown out a second-story window. A furious Paulie tears up Christopher's