Abraham Telvi

Past member(s)

Joseph Abate

Joseph "Joe" Abate (July 8, 1902 – 1994) was a capo in the family's New Jersey faction. In the 1920s, Abate served as an enforcer for Al Capone in Chicago before settling in New Jersey.Raab, p.1-3 In June 1976, Abate attended Anthony Accetturo's induction ceremony into the Lucchese family. In 1979, Abate went into semiretirement and Accetturo succeed him as boss of the New Jersey faction.Raab, p. 10-11 He moved to Margate, New Jersey was appointed New York City's new Correction Commissioner. She was confronted about her father's past and denied that he was ever involved in organized crime. In 1994, Joseph Abate died of natural causes. In 1998, his daughter Catherine admitted that she could no longer dismiss allegations that her father belonged to the Lucchese crime family.

Settimo Accardi

Settimo "Big Sam" Accardi (October 23, 1902 in Vita, Sicily – December 3, 1977) served as capo in the family's New Jersey faction up until his deportationDevico
p.161
/ref> and was one of the largest heroin traffickers during the 1950s. Accardi emigrated to the U.S. shortly before World War I and associated with mobsters Joseph Sica, Willie Moretti, Joe Adonis and Abner Zwillman. During World War II, Accardi sold counterfeit food ration cards. On January 22, 1945, he became a naturalized US citizen. His naturalization was revoked on July 10, 1953, because he had not disclosed two previous arrests during his naturalization hearing.

In 1955, Accardi was arrested on a federal narcotics charge in Newark, New Jersey, where he continued smuggling heroin into the US and Canada. Accardi later moved to Toronto, Canada, to oversee this operation. In 1960, U.S. authorities finally located Accardi in Turin, Italy and on November 28, 1963, after a long legal fight, Accardi was extradited back to New York. On July 21, 1964, Accardi was convicted on narcotics conspiracy and skipping bail. On August 24, he was sentenced to fifteen years of imprisonment and a $16,000 fine. He died on December 3, 1977.

Joseph Brocchini

Joseph E. "Joe Bikini" Brocchini (1933 – May 20, 1976) was a soldier under Joseph "Joe Brown" Lucchese in the Corona crew. Born and raised in Corona, Queens, he was arrested as a 17-year-old along with four other youths for carrying out a series of burglaries that robbed eight businesses in north Queens of $26,000 during a week-long spree in 1950. Police believed that the burglary ring was responsible for approximately twenty robberies in Queens and Nassau County before being apprehended.

Brocchini, who was known as an enforcer, later became involved primarily in loansharking and gambling. By the early 1960s, he was managing a lucrative weekly dice game in Manhattan's Little Italy, and also had interests in auto theft and narcotics. Circa 1967, Brocchini ventured into the pornography business via a partnership with a Jewish associate. He became one of the most successful pornographers in New York City and allegedly owned or controlled at least four pornography distribution companies as well as five adult book shops/peep shows in Times Square. The State Investigation Commission charged in 1970 that his pornography businesses had grossed $1.5 million a year. During this period, Brocchini relocated to the affluent town of Harrison in Westchester County. On April 20, 1972, Brocchini was among twelve people linked to the Lucchese, Colombo and DeCavalcante families indicted on charges of wholesale promotion of obscene material. The arrests were made following a four-month undercover police investigation of New York's major pornography distributors.

In 1976, Brocchini was involved in a dispute with Roy DeMeo, a Gambino family associate at the time, with Brocchini giving DeMeo a black eye. DeMeo and his ''caporegime'' Nino Gaggi decided to kill Brocchini in revenge and, knowing that they would never be given permission by the Lucchese family, decided to disguise Brocchini's murder as a robbery-gone-wrong. Weeks later, on May 20, 1976, Brocchini was shot five times in the head in the office of his used car dealership in Woodside, Queens, where he conducted his day-to-day operations, by Roy DeMeo and Henry Borelli. DeMeo and several of his associates had first handcuffed and blindfolded two other employees at the car lot and ransacked the office, giving the killing the appearance of an armed theft-gone-awry. Brocchini was laid to rest at Mount Saint Mary Cemetery in Flushing, Queens.

His brother-in-law Alfred "Sonny" Scotti and others took over his operations. Brocchini's murder remained a mystery to law enforcement and to the Lucchese family for several years. At the time, police detectives believed that he was killed because of suspicions that he was skimming profits for himself without permission from his boss. Gambino associate Dominick Montiglio would later reveal the events surrounding Brocchini's murder after becoming a government witness in 1983.

Robert Caravaggio

Robert "Bucky the Boss" Caravaggio (1939 – July 28, 2017) was a soldier and leader of the New Jersey faction. From 1986 to 1988, Caravaggio was one of the twenty defendants in the 21-month-long trial of Lucchese crime family's New Jersey faction.Rudolph, p.13-14 In August 1997, Caravaggio, along with other members of the Lucchese family's New Jersey faction, was indicted and charged with racketeering, loan-sharking and gambling. In 2004, the New Jersey Commission of Investigation stated that Caravaggio was the head of the Lucchese crime family's North Jersey faction. Caravaggio was overseeing operations in Northern Jersey, especially in Morris County. Caravaggio died on July 28, 2017, from pancreatic cancer.

Frankie Carbo

Alfonso Cataldo

Alfonso T. "Tic" Cataldo (April 18, 1942 – August 21, 2013) was a soldier in the New Jersey faction. Cataldo grew up in Newark, New Jersey with his cousins Michael and Martin Taccetta. From 1986 to 1988, Cataldo was one of the twenty defendants in the 21-month-long trial of the Lucchese crime family's New Jersey faction.Rudolph, p.13-14 During the trial Cataldo was listed as a member supervising numbers and loansharking operations in New Jersey. In 2002, Cataldo was indicted on illegal gambling charges and for the October 7, 1981 murder of William Kennedy. In 2004, the New Jersey Commission of Investigation stated that Cataldo was running illegal gambling operations in New Jersey. In December 2007, Cataldo was indicted, along with capos Joseph DiNapoli, Matthew Madonna and Ralph V. Perna and others, on gambling, money laundering and racketeering charges. On August 21, 2013, Cataldo died of natural causes. Alfonso is a blood relative to Genovese capo Augustino "Crazy Augie" Cataldo and Genovese soldier Pete "Scarface" Cataldo.

Samuel Cavalieri

Samuel "Big Sam" Cavalieri (April 11, 1911 – November 4, 1987) was a former capo of the Harlem crew. In 1980, Cavalieri and Thomas Mancuso were under investigation for corruption of Local 29 of Blasters, Miners and Drill runners Union. The investigators suspected that Cavalieri illegal paid off Local 29 President Louis Sanzo and Local 29 secretary-treasurer Amadeo Petito. The investigation revealed that in 1978, Petito met in Cavalieri's social club in East Harlem. In 1981, Cavalieri was found guilty of criminal contempt and sentenced to 3 1/2 years in prison. On November 4, 1987 Cavalieri died of natural causes.

Ettore Coco

Ettore "Eddie" Coco (July 12, 1908 Palermo, SicilyGiancana, pp.399 – December 1991) was a former acting boss in the Lucchese family.DeVico, pp. 175 In the 1940s, Coco worked with James Plumeri, Frank Palermo, Harry Segal and Felix Bocchicchio for soldier Frankie Carbo, in a group known as "The Combination", an arm of Murder, Inc. which acted as boxing promoters; the group was accused of fixing matches. During this period, Coco met Rocky Graziano, then an amateur boxer fighting in the Lower East Side.Myler, Thomas & Sugar, Bert R. ''The Sweet Science Goes Sour: How Scandal Brought Boxing to its knees''. 2006
(pg 31)
/ref> He helped Graziano start a professional boxing career and throughout the following years was viewed as a de facto boxing manager.Christenberry, Robert K. ''My Rugged Education in Boxing'' by Robert K. Christenberry (May 26, 1952) Life Magazin
pg.114–116, 118, 120, 123–124, 126, 129–130)
/ref> In the late 1940s, Coco was suspected of placing wagers and taking bets on fights while Graziano was accused of taking bribes. These accusations continued until Graziano retired in 1952. In 1953, Coco was arrested in Florida for murdering a Miami car-wash operator in a dispute over a bill. On November 12, 1953, Coco was sentenced to life in prison.''Ring Figure Gets Life Term''
(November 13, 1953) ''The New York Times''Sosin, Milt ''Parolee Fingered in Extortion Case''. (August 24, 1972) The Miami Newsbr>(pg 7A)
/ref> During the 1963 McClellan hearings, government witness Joseph Valachi identified Coco as a ''capo'' in Gaetano "Tommy" Lucchese's crime family.''The Gaetano Lucchese Family McClellan 1963 Chart ''. Gangrule.com
/ref> In 1965, Coco was released from prison after serving ten years on his life sentence. He stayed in Florida and was under government surveillance. In July 1967, family boss Thomas Lucchese died and Coco became a candidate to become the new boss. He served as ''acting boss'' in 1967. In late 1967, Anthony "Tony Ducks" Corallo went to Florida and met with Coco. Coco later stepped down as ''acting boss'' and Carmine Tramunti became the new boss. Coco continued to operate as a capo under Tramunti, with criminal activities in New York and Florida that kept him under strict government watch.

In 1972, Coco, his brother-in-law James Michael Falco, and Louis "Louis Nash" Nakaladski were indicted in Miami on extortion and loansharking charges.''United States of America vs. Louis Nakaladski, Ettore Coco''
. July 6, 1973 (Docket: No. 72-3441); (Citation: 481 F. 2d 289).
July 22, 1974 (Docket: No. 73-3681); (Citation: 496 F. 2d 1359).Pileggi, Nicholas. ''The Decline and Fall of the Mafia''. (March 3, 1972) Life (Magazine
(pg. 42–44)
/ref> During the trial, witness Joel Whitice testified that he borrowed money in the late 1960s from Falco. He made payments to Falco, Coco and Nash, and described Coco as the leader of a loan-sharking ring. Coco was convicted and sentenced to fifteen years in prison on loan-sharking and extortion. By the late 1980s, Coco was considered a semi-retired mobster living in Florida. In 1986, he served as ''consigliere'' for the Lucchese family while boss Anthony Corallo, Salvatore Santoro and Christopher Furnari were on trial in the Commission Case. Coco later resigned and continued to operate in New York and Florida.

In 1986, Coco created a bingo operation to launder money from criminal rackets.McCord, Joe
''Chicago Man Admits Scheme At Bingo World''
April 8, 1992. ''The Baltimore Sun''. The mobsters used Bingo World, a company operating bingo halls in several states, to launder the money. Coco and Chicago Outfit members Dominic Cortina and Donald Angelini became silent partners in the company. The new owner, Stephen Paskind, served as the front owner of the company; while claiming he controlled 84% he actually only had 42%. Izaak Silber soon joined in the bingo operation. In 1991, Coco and his bingo partners were arrested. In December 1991, Coco died while awaiting trial on money laundering.West, Norris P
''Reputed Chicago mobster sentenced in conspiracy Local Bingo World was his target North County – Lunthicum * Ferndale * Brooklyn Park * Pumphery''
June 9, 1993. ''The Baltimore Sun''.

Anthony Corallo

Ralph Cuomo

Ralph "Raffie" Cuomo (1933 – April 2008), also known as "Raffaele", was a soldier who owned Ray's Pizza on Prince Street between Elizabeth and Mott Streets in Little Italy. In 1959, Cuomo opened the first "Ray's Pizza"; he later opened another in the Upper East Side. In 1969, he was convicted of drug trafficking after being found with 50 pounds of heroin. In 1995, Cuomo was arrested and charged with operating a drug network out of Ray's Pizza on Prince Street in New York. In 1998, Cuomo was sentenced to four years in prison for making heroin sales in the pizzeria. He was released from prison on May 24, 2002. Cuomo died in 2008 from complications of diabetes and a heart ailment. In October 2011, Cuomo's pizzeria "Ray's Pizza" on Prince Street closed over a rent dispute. Cuomo's pizzeria "Ray's Pizza" was later sold for almost $6 million.

Domenico Cutaia

Domenico "Danny" Cutaia (November 22, 1936 – August 14, 2018), born in East New York Brooklyn, was the capo of the Vario Crew operating from Brooklyn. His son Salvatore Cutaia is a member of the crew. His daughter Danielle married John Baudanza, who later became a member of the Lucchese family. Cutaia worked as a loan shark and as a chauffeur for capo Paul Vario.Capeci and Robbins
p.209
/ref> While working for capo Paul Vario, Cutaia also controlled some illegal gambling operations and had control of the carpenters union local in Brooklyn. He later took over as capo of Vario's crew in Brooklyn. During the early 1990s he was a member of a ruling panel along with Steven Crea and Joseph DeFede running the crime family. In 1995, Cutaia was indicted for extortion, loan sharking, and racketeering; in 1996, he pled guilty to extortionate extensions of credit and was sentenced to thirty months in prison.New Jersey Casinos Exclusion: Domenico Cutaia Exclusion List State of New Jersey Casino Control Commission In 2002, Cutaia was indicted on loan sharking charges; he pled guilty and was sentenced to two years and three years of supervised probation upon his release. In August 2005, he was released from prison.

His parole terms banned him from communicating with family members until August 2008. However, in January 2007 it was reported that Cutaia was the primary liaison between jailed boss Vittorio "Vic" Amuso and the three man panel of capos who were running the family. On February 28, 2008, Cutaia, his son Salvatore, his son-in-law John Baudanza, and former acting capo Michael Corcione were indicted on federal racketeering charges that included loansharking, extortionate collection of credit, extortion, marijuana distribution conspiracy, illegal gambling, bank fraud, and mail fraud for activities dating back to the 1980s. On October 25, 2009, Cutaia was sentenced to 39 months in federal prison for bank fraud. At the sentencing, Cutaia's attorney asked the court for home confinement, saying that Cutaia suffered from depression and advanced multiple sclerosis; the request was denied. In October 2012, Cutaia was sentenced to one year in prison for loan sharking. Cutaia was released from prison on October 4, 2013. He died on August 14, 2018.

Paul Correale

Paul "Paulie Ham" Correale (April 25, 1911 – died 1962) was a capo in the Lucchese family. Correale controlled gambling and narcotics in East Harlem. In December 1930, Correale and Carmine Tramunti had charges of robbery dropped and they were released from jail. Correale ran a Lucchese family gambling club between Second Avenue and East 112th Street in East Harlem. In 1952, Joseph Valachi and others murdered Eugenio Giannini near Correale's club.

Anthony Delasco

Anthony "Ham" Delasco (sometimes spelled Dolasco) was a former boxer and capo in New Jersey. In the 1950s, he took over The Jersey Crew after Settimo Accardi was deported. Delasco ran his crew from East Orange, New Jersey, where he controlled jukebox machines, cigarette vending machines, illegal gambling and loan-sharking operations in Newark, New Jersey