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 shovel. He escapes and leads Paulie and Chris on a brief chase in the woods. Paulie shoots Valery in the head; however, he and Chris are unable to find the seemingly mortally wounded Valery, and the two are dumbfounded as to what happened to him. Afterwards, Paulie and Chris decide to get in the car and look for him, but they lose their way. They become hungry, extremely cold, tired, and frustrated with each other. Later, a heated exchange prompts Chris to pull his gun and threaten to kill Paulie. The next morning, they are rescued by Tony and Bobby