Augustus Sclafani, d. 1986, also known as "Big Gus", was a New York mobster who was a mob associate with the
Gambino crime family
The Gambino crime family (pronounced ) is an Italian-American Mafia crime family and one of the "Five Families" that dominate organized crime activities in New York City, United States, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the Ame ...
. Sclafani is not to be confused with the younger Augustus "Gus Boy" Sclafani, another Gambino family member.
During the 1970s, Sclafani and Mildred Russo, his mother-in-law, used her position as a court clerk in the
Daniel Patrick Moynihan United States Courthouse
The Daniel Patrick Moynihan United States Courthouse is a courthouse at 500 Pearl Street (Manhattan), Pearl Street, along Foley Square, in the Civic Center, Manhattan, Civic Center neighborhood of Lower Manhattan in New York City. The 27-story co ...
for the
to leak confidential information on the Gambino family to
Paul Castellano. In 1987, both Russo and Sclafani were indicted for racketeering and conspiracy to obstruct justice. Sclafini had already been declared as a fugitive from justice, although law enforcement believed that Sclafani was dead.
According to mob witness
Sammy Gravano, while
Paul Castellano was boss of the Gambino family, Sclafani accused Gambino mobster
Frank DeCicco of being a mob informant. DeCicco successfully defended himself from this charge and told Gravano that he would murder Sclafani after Castellano was out of power. In 1986, Gambino hitman
Joseph Watts
Joseph Watts (born 1942) also known as "The German" is an associate of the Gambino crime family. He was a close confidant of former boss John Gotti and participated in the infamous 1985 assassination of Paul "Big Paul" Castellano. Watts was not a ...
shot and stabbed Sclafani to death in a club in
Little Italy, Manhattan on orders from new Gambino boss
John Gotti
John Joseph Gotti Jr.Capeci, Mustain (1996), pp. 25–26 (, ; October 27, 1940 – June 10, 2002) was an American gangster and boss of the Gambino crime family in New York City. He ordered and helped to orchestrate the murder of Gambino boss ...
.
After Castellano's murder, DeCicco told Gravano that "Gus is gone."
External links
The Smoking Gun.com: Murder of Augustus SclafaniBy LEONARD BUDER
Real Deal Forum: New York Times Former Gotti Henchman Faces New Charges on Releaseby ALAN FEUER
Year of birth missing
Year of death missing
Gambino crime family
People murdered by the Gambino crime family
Murdered American gangsters of Italian descent
Deaths by firearm in Manhattan
People murdered in New York City
Male murder victims
Deaths by stabbing in the United States
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