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
Alphonse Gabriel Capone (; January 17, 1899 – January 25, 1947), sometimes known by the nickname "Scarface", was an American gangster and businessman who attained notoriety during the Prohibition era as the co-founder and boss of the ...
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
Margate City is a city in Atlantic County, New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, Margate City's population was 5,317, a reduction of 1,037 over the previous decade.Catherine Abate
Catherine M. Abate (December 8, 1947 – May 17, 2014) was a New York State Senator. She was also a former commissioner of New York City's Correction Department.
Abate was of Italian ancestry. Her father was Joseph Abate, a longtime member ...
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
Vita or VITA (plural vitae) is Latin for "life", and may refer to:
* ''Vita'', the usual start to the title of a biography in Latin, by which (in a known context) the work is often referred to; frequently of a saint, then called hagiography
* Vit ...
– 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
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
and associated with mobsters
Joseph Sica Joseph "JS" Sica (August 20, 1911 – November 21, 1982) was a New Jersey mobster involved in armed robbery, murder for hire, extortion, and narcotics distribution. Sica mentored many West Coast mobsters, including Mike Rizzitello and Anthony "th ...
,
Willie Moretti
Guarino "Willie" Moretti (February 24, 1894 – October 4, 1951), also known as Willie Moore, was a notorious underboss of the Genovese crime family and a cousin of the family boss Frank Costello.
Criminal career
Born Guarino Moretti in Bari, ...
,
Joe Adonis
Joseph Anthony Doto (born Giuseppe Antonio Doto, ; November 22, 1902 – November 26, 1971), known as Joe Adonis, was an Italian-American mobster who was an important participant in the formation of the modern Cosa Nostra crime families in New Yo ...
and
Abner Zwillman
Abner "Longie" Zwillman (July 27, 1904 – February 26, 1959) was a Jewish-American mobster who was based primarily in North Jersey. He was a long time friend and associate of mobsters Lucky Luciano and Meyer Lansky. Zwillman's criminal organi ...
. 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
Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.Turin, Italy
Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. T ...
, where he continued
smuggling
Smuggling is the illegal transportation of objects, substances, information or people, such as out of a house or buildings, into a prison, or across an international border, in violation of applicable laws or other regulations.
There are various ...
heroin into the US and
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
. Accardi later moved to
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
, 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
Extradition is an action wherein one jurisdiction delivers a person accused or convicted of committing a crime in another jurisdiction, over to the other's law enforcement. It is a cooperative law enforcement procedure between the two jurisdict ...
back to New York. On July 21, 1964, Accardi was convicted on
narcotics
The term narcotic (, from ancient Greek ναρκῶ ''narkō'', "to make numb") originally referred medically to any psychoactive compound with numbing or paralyzing properties. In the United States, it has since become associated with opiates ...
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
A soldier is a person who is a member of an army. A soldier can be a conscripted or volunteer enlisted person, a non-commissioned officer, or an officer.
Etymology
The word ''soldier'' derives from the Middle English word , from Old French ...
Corona
Corona (from the Latin for 'crown') most commonly refers to:
* Stellar corona, the outer atmosphere of the Sun or another star
* Corona (beer), a Mexican beer
* Corona, informal term for the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, which causes the COVID-19 di ...
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
Enforcer or enforcers may refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media Comics
* Enforcer (comics), a Marvel Comics character
* Enforcers (comics), a Marvel Comics team
* New Enforcers, another Marvel Comics team
Film and television
* ''The Enforcer ...
, later became involved primarily in loansharking and gambling. By the early 1960s, he was managing a lucrative weekly
dice game
Dice games are games that use or incorporate one or more dice as their sole or central component, usually as a random device.
The following are games which largely, if not entirely, depend on dice:
Collectible dice games
Patterned after the su ...
in Manhattan's
Little Italy
Little Italy is a general name for an ethnic enclave populated primarily by Italians or people of Italian ancestry, usually in an urban neighborhood. The concept of "Little Italy" holds many different aspects of the Italian culture. There are s ...
, 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 shop
A sex shop is a retailer that sells products related to adult sexual or erotic entertainment, such as sex toys, lingerie, pornography, and other related products.
An early precursor of the modern sex shop was a chain of stores set up in th ...
s/
peep show
A peep show or peepshow is a presentation of a live sex show or pornographic film which is viewed through a viewing slot.
Several historical media provided voyeuristic entertainment through hidden erotic imagery. Before the development of the ci ...
s in
Times Square
Times Square is a major commercial intersection, tourist destination, entertainment hub, and neighborhood in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is formed by the junction of Broadway, Seventh Avenue, and 42nd Street. Together with adjacent ...
. 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
Harrison may refer to:
People
* Harrison (name)
* Harrison family of Virginia, United States
Places
In Australia:
* Harrison, Australian Capital Territory, suburb in the Canberra district of Gungahlin
In Canada:
* Inukjuak, Quebec, or " ...
in
Westchester County
Westchester County is located in the U.S. state of New York. It is the seventh most populous county in the State of New York and the most populous north of New York City. According to the 2020 United States Census, the county had a population o ...
. On April 20, 1972, Brocchini was among twelve people linked to the Lucchese,
Colombo
Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo me ...
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
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 ...
associate at the time, with Brocchini giving DeMeo a black eye. DeMeo and his ''caporegime''
Nino Gaggi
Anthony Frank Gaggi (born Antonino Frank Gaggi; August 7, 1925 – April 17, 1988), also known as Nino Gaggi, was a capo in the New York Gambino crime family who supervised the infamous DeMeo crew, headed by Roy DeMeo.
Biography
Gaggi was ...
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
Flushing may refer to:
Places
* Flushing, Cornwall, a village in the United Kingdom
* Flushing, Queens, New York City
** Flushing Bay, a bay off the north shore of Queens
** Flushing Chinatown (法拉盛華埠), a community in Queens
** 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
Dominick Montiglio (born Dominick Anthony Santamaria; July 17, 1947 – June 27, 2021) was an American former associate of the Gambino crime family.
Early life
Montiglio was born in New York City to Anthony Santamaria and Marie Gaggi, both of Si ...
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
Current members Ray Argentina
Ray Argentina is a soldier in the Brooklyn faction. His younger brother Peter Argentina is an associate in the family. In 1992, Argentina along with Louis Daidone, Alan Taglianetti and Robert Molinelli were found gu ...
,
Matthew Madonna
Matthew Madonna (November 2, 1935) is a member of the Lucchese crime family who served as acting boss before being imprisoned in 2017.
Narcotics trafficking
In 1959, while serving a sentence at the Green Haven Correctional Facility in Upstate Ne ...
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
Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan ...
Giancana, 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
Paul John "Frankie" Carbo (born Paolo Giovanni Carbo, ; August 10, 1904Bureau of Narcotics, Sam Giancana, The United States Treasury Department. ''Mafia: The Government’s Secret File on Organized Crime''. 2007(pg. 85)/ref> – November 9, 1976) w ...
, in a group known as "The Combination", an arm of
Murder, Inc.
Murder, Inc. (Murder, Incorporated) was an organized crime group, active from 1929 to 1941, that acted as the enforcement arm of the National Crime Syndicatea closely connected criminal organization that included the Italian-American Mafia, the ...
which acted as boxing promoters; the group was accused of fixing matches. During this period, Coco met
Rocky Graziano
Thomas Rocco Barbella (January 1, 1919 – May 22, 1990), better known as Rocky Graziano, was an American professional boxer and actor who held the World Middleweight title. Graziano is considered one of the greatest knockout artists in boxing hi ...
, then an amateur boxer fighting in the
Lower East Side
The Lower East Side, sometimes abbreviated as LES, is a historic neighborhood in the southeastern part of Manhattan in New York City. It is located roughly between the Bowery and the East River from Canal to Houston streets.
Traditionally an im ...
.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
''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with ''de jure'' ("by la ...
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
Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...
car-wash operator in a dispute over a bill. On November 12, 1953, Coco was sentenced to
life in prison
Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment for a crime under which convicted people are to remain in prison for the rest of their natural lives or indefinitely until pardoned, paroled, or otherwise commuted to a fixed term. Crimes for ...
.''Ring Figure Gets Life Term'' (November 13, 1953) ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
''Sosin, Milt ''Parolee Fingered in Extortion Case''. (August 24, 1972)
The Miami News
''The Miami News'' was an evening newspaper in Miami, Florida. It was the media market competitor to the morning edition of the ''Miami Herald'' for most of the 20th century. The paper started publishing in May 1896 as a weekly called ''The Miami ...
McClellan hearings
The Valachi hearings, also known as the McClellan hearings, investigated organized crime activities across the United States. The hearings were initiated by Arkansas Senator John L. McClellan in 1963. Named after the major government witness agains ...
, government witness
Joseph Valachi
Joseph Michael Valachi (September 22, 1904 – April 3, 1971) was an American mobster in the Genovese crime family who is notable as the first member of the Italian-American Mafia to acknowledge its existence publicly in 1963. He is credited wit ...
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
Carmine Paul "Mr. Gribbs" Tramunti (October 1, 1910 – October 15, 1978) was an Italian-born American mobster who was the boss of the Lucchese crime family.
Biography
Operating in Harlem
Carmine Paul Tramunti was born October 1, 1910, in Napl ...
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
Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...
on extortion and
loansharking
A loan shark is a person who offers loans at extremely high interest rates, has strict terms of collection upon failure, and generally operates outside the law.
Description
Because loan sharks operate mostly illegally, they cannot reasonably ...
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
Consigliere ( , ; plural ) is a position within the leadership structure of the Sicilian, Calabrian, and Italian-American Mafia. The word was popularized in English by the novel ''The Godfather'' (1969) and its film adaptation. In the novel, a c ...
'' for the Lucchese family while boss
Anthony Corallo
Anthony "Tony Ducks" Corallo (February 12, 1913 – August 23, 2000) was an American mobster and boss of the Lucchese crime family in New York City. Corallo exercised tremendous control over trucking and construction unions in New York.
Biograph ...
,
Salvatore Santoro
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, Aba ...
and
Christopher Furnari
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, Ab ...
were on trial in the
Commission Case
Commission or commissioning may refer to:
Business and contracting
* Commission (remuneration), a form of payment to an agent for services rendered
** Commission (art), the purchase or the creation of a piece of art most often on behalf of another ...
. Coco later resigned and continued to operate in New York and Florida.
In 1986, Coco created a bingo operation to
launder money
Money laundering is the process of concealing the origin of money, obtained from illicit activities such as drug trafficking, corruption, embezzlement or gambling, by converting it into a legitimate source. It is a crime in many jurisdictions ...
The Baltimore Sun
''The Baltimore Sun'' is the largest general-circulation daily newspaper based in the U.S. state of Maryland and provides coverage of local and regional news, events, issues, people, and industries.
Founded in 1837, it is currently owned by Tr ...
''. The mobsters used Bingo World, a company operating
bingo
Bingo or B-I-N-G-O may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Gaming
* Bingo, a game using a printed card of numbers
** Bingo (British version), a game using a printed card of 15 numbers on three lines; most commonly played in the UK and Ireland
** Bi ...
halls in several states, to launder the money. Coco and
Chicago Outfit
The Chicago Outfit (also known as the Outfit, the Chicago Mafia, the Chicago Mob, the Chicago crime family, the South Side Gang or The Organization) is an Italian-American organized crime syndicate or crime family based in Chicago, Illinois, tha ...
members
Dominic Cortina
Dominic Cortina (January 28, 1925 – November 19, 1999) was a Chicago mobster and high-ranking member of the Chicago Outfit criminal organization, who oversaw gambling. His nicknames were "Big Dom", "Large", and "the Hat."
Chicago Outfit career ...
and
Donald Angelini
Donald Angelini (September 30, 1926 – December 6, 2000) was a mobster nicknamed "The Wizard of Odds" with the Chicago Outfit, a criminal organization that specialized in gambling operations.
Career
After years in the Outfit, Angelini became t ...
Ralph "Raffie" Cuomo (1933 – April 2008), also known as "Raffaele", was a soldier who owned
Ray's Pizza
Ray's Pizza, and its many variations such as "Ray's Original Pizza", "Famous Ray's Pizza" and "World-Famous Original Ray's Pizza", are the names of dozens of pizzerias in the New York City area that are generally completely independent (a few ha ...
on Prince Street between Elizabeth and Mott Streets in
Little Italy
Little Italy is a general name for an ethnic enclave populated primarily by Italians or people of Italian ancestry, usually in an urban neighborhood. The concept of "Little Italy" holds many different aspects of the Italian culture. There are s ...
. 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
East New York is a residential neighborhood in the eastern section of the borough of Brooklyn in New York City, United States. Its boundaries, starting from the north and moving clockwise, are roughly the Cemetery Belt and the Queens borough lin ...
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
, was the capo of the
Vario Crew
The Vario Crew, also known as the Canarsie Crew, is a group of Italian-American mobsters within the Lucchese crime family that controls organized crime activities within the New York metropolitan area but has been predominantly based from Brookl ...
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
Paul Vario (July 10, 1914 – May 3, 1988) was an American mobster and made man in the Lucchese crime family. Vario was a caporegime and had his own crew of mobsters in Brooklyn, New York. Following the testimony of Henry Hill, Vario was convic ...
.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
Steven L. "Stevie" Crea (born July 18, 1947) is an American mobster and former underboss of the Lucchese crime family. In August 2020, he was sentenced to life imprisonment for murder and racketeering.
Lucchese crime family
Rise to power
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
Multiple (cerebral) sclerosis (MS), also known as encephalomyelitis disseminata or disseminated sclerosis, is the most common demyelinating disease, in which the insulating covers of nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord are damaged. This d ...
; 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
The Lucchese crime family's New Jersey faction, also known as the Jersey Crew,Carlpg. 232-236/ref> is a powerful crew within the Lucchese crime family. The members operate throughout the Northern New Jersey area. During the 1970s into the late 198 ...
after
Settimo Accardi
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, Aba ...
was deported. Delasco ran his crew from
East Orange, New Jersey
East Orange is a City (New Jersey), city in Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, the city's population was 69,612. The city was List of municipalities in ...
, where he controlled jukebox machines, cigarette vending machines, illegal gambling and loan-sharking operations in
Newark, New Jersey
Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area. In the late 1950s, Delasco took
Anthony Accetturo
Anthony "Tumac" Accetturo (born 1938) is a former caporegime and leader of the Lucchese crime family New Jersey faction, New Jersey faction of the Lucchese crime family, popularly called "The Jersey Crew."
Biography
Accetturo was born in 1938 i ...
as his protege. When Delasco died in the late 1960s, Accetturo took over his rackets.
Anthony DiLapi
Anthony DiLapi (February 9, 1936 – February 4, 1990), also known as "Blue Eyes over the Bridges" or "Fat Anthony", was a soldier. His uncle,
Salvatore Santoro
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, Aba ...
, was a former underboss in the Lucchese family.Lawson and Oldham p.245-252 /ref> DiLapi controlled the Lucchese family's
Teamsters
The International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT), also known as the Teamsters Union, is a labor union in the United States and Canada. Formed in 1903 by the merger of The Team Drivers International Union and The Teamsters National Union, the u ...
union local in New York City's Garment District and a bookmaking business, and owned part of a vending machine company in Brooklyn. He also worked with
Thomas Gambino
Thomas Francis Gambino (; born August 23, 1929) is an Italian-American New York City mobster and a longtime caporegime of the Gambino crime family who successfully controlled lucrative trucking rackets in the New York City Garment District. He ...
, the son of
Carlo Gambino
Carlo Gambino (; August 24, 1902 – October 15, 1976) was an Italian-American crime boss of the Gambino crime family. After the Apalachin Meeting in 1957, and the imprisonment of Vito Genovese in 1959, Gambino took over the Commission o ...
and son-in-law of Thomas Lucchese, in extorting businesses in the Garment District.
After being released from prison, DiLapi was summoned to a meeting with Anthony Casso, and fled. Casso ordered Burton Kaplan to use two NYPD detectives on his payroll, Louis Eppolito and Stephen Caracappa, to track down DiLapi. The two detectives found him in
Reseda, California
Reseda is a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1912, and its central business district started developing in 1915. The neighborhood was devoted to agriculture for many years. Earthquakes ...
. Vic Amuso and Anthony Casso then ordered Joseph "Little Joe" D'Arco to kill DiLapi. On February 4, 1990, D'Arco shot DiLapi to death in his
Hollywood, California
Hollywood is a neighborhood in the central region of Los Angeles, California. Its name has come to be a shorthand reference for the U.S. film industry and the people associated with it. Many notable film studios, such as Columbia Pictures, ...
apartment building's underground garage. DiLapi was shot five times in the face and four times in the body. On April 6, 2006, Eppolito and Caracappa were convicted of murder for their role in eight mob killings, including that of Anthony DiLapi.
Jackie DiNorscio
Johnny Dio
Salvatore DiSimone
Salvatore "Sally Bo" DiSimone (sometimes spelled DeSimone) (died October 2017), was a former capo. His son Anthony was a member of
the Tanglewood Boys
The Tanglewood Boys was an Italian-American recruitment gang or "farm team" for the American Mafia, specifically the Lucchese crime family.Garciap. 220/ref> The gang frequently operated from the Tanglewood Shopping Center in Yonkers, New York.
...
. In 1994, his son Anthony went into hiding after the murder of Louis Balancio. In 1999, his son Anthony turned himself in to the police and was sentenced in 2000 to 25 years to life. On December 22, 2003, a soldier in his crew Albert J. Circelli Jr. was shot and killed inside
Rao's
Rao's () is a Southern Italian restaurant founded in 1896. It is located at 455 East 114th Street, on the corner of Pleasant Avenue in East Harlem, New York City. Rao's has sister restaurants in Los Angeles and Las Vegas, Nevada.
History
The res ...
, an Italian restaurant located in Harlem by mafia associate Louis "Louie Lump Lump" Barone. In 2005, the FBI revealed that DiSimone and Lucchese soldier Daniel Latella had meetings in doctors' offices with
Gambino 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 ...
capo
Greg DePalma
Gregory J. DePalma (April 24, 1932 – November 18, 2009, Butner, North Carolina) was a Caporegime in the Gambino crime family who was responsible for introducing an undercover Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agent in his crew.
Celebrity lif ...
. His son Anthony DiSimone served seven years in prison before the conviction was overturned; he later pled guilty to manslaughter in 2010, and served no additional time. DiSimone's other son Andrew DiSimone became a made member in the Lucchese family. Salvatore DiSimone died in October 2017. In 2018, a soldier in his crew Dominick Capelli was indicted for operating a large illegal gambling operation in Westchester.
Christopher Furnari
Christopher "Christie Tick" Furnari, Sr. (April 30, 1924 – May 28, 2018) was a former consigliere until his 1986 racketeering conviction. He was sentenced to 100 years in prison before being released in 2014 after serving almost 28 years.
In 1924, Christopher Furnari was born in New York to first-generation Sicilian-
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
emigrants from
Furnari
Furnari ( Sicilian: ''Fùrnari'') is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Messina in the Italian region Sicily, located about east of Palermo and about west of Messina.
Furnari borders the following municipalities: Falcone ...
, a commune in the
Province of Messina
Messina (, ) was a province in the autonomous island region of Sicily in Italy. Its capital was the city of Messina. It was replaced by the Metropolitan City of Messina.
Geography Territory
It had an area of , which amounts to 12.6 percent o ...
loanshark
A loan shark is a person who offers loans at extremely high interest rates, has strict terms of collection upon failure, and generally operates outside the law.
Description
Because loan sharks operate mostly illegally, they cannot reasonably ...
operations in
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
and Northern
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
. By 1943, the 19-year-old Furnari had already served two prison terms for armed robbery. Furnari was also sentenced to 15 to 30 years after he and several other youths were arrested with three girls in a car and charged with rape.
In 1956, Furnari was released from prison on
parole
Parole (also known as provisional release or supervised release) is a form of early release of a prison inmate where the prisoner agrees to abide by certain behavioral conditions, including checking-in with their designated parole officers, or ...
Anthony Corallo
Anthony "Tony Ducks" Corallo (February 12, 1913 – August 23, 2000) was an American mobster and boss of the Lucchese crime family in New York City. Corallo exercised tremendous control over trucking and construction unions in New York.
Biograph ...
. During the late 1950s, Furnari became involved in
illegal gambling
Gaming law is the set of rules and regulations that apply to the gaming or gambling industry. Gaming law is not a branch of law in the traditional sense but rather is a collection of several areas of law that include criminal law, regulatory law, c ...
and loansharking. Furnari soon became an influential member of the Brooklyn faction of the family and was earning $25,000 a day. In 1962, at age 38, Furnari became a
made man
In the American and Sicilian Mafia, a made man is a fully initiated member of the Mafia. To become "made", an associate first must be Italian or of Italian descent and sponsored by another made man. An inductee will be required to take the oat ...
in the Lucchese family. In 1964, Furnari became a caporegime.
The Lucchese powerbase was traditionally in
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
and
the Bronx
The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...
, the family's birthplace; the family's first three bosses, Gaetano "Tom" Reina, Tommaso "Tommy" Gagliano, and Thomas Lucchese, were all from this area. In contrast, Furnari belonged to the less influential Brooklyn faction. Furnari operated his crew in
Bensonhurst
Bensonhurst is a residential neighborhood in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bordered on the northwest by 14th Avenue, on the northeast by 60th Street, on the southeast by Avenue P and 22nd ...
at the 19th Hole, a nondescript bar and mob social club. His crew was involved in illegal gambling,
loansharking
A loan shark is a person who offers loans at extremely high interest rates, has strict terms of collection upon failure, and generally operates outside the law.
Description
Because loan sharks operate mostly illegally, they cannot reasonably ...
, extortion, burglary, narcotics dealing, occasional murder contracts, and union and construction rackets. At this time, Furnari's criminal record included convictions for assault and sex offenses.
Furnari controlled New York District Council 9, which represented 6,000 workers who painted and decorated hotels, bridges, and subway stations in New York. Furnari managed the Council through the union secretary and treasurer, James Bishop, and Bishop's associate, Frank Arnold. Bishop and Arnold would pick up cash payments from the contractors, who charged a 10 to 15 percent tax on all major commercial painting jobs, and passed the payments to Furnari.
The 19th Hole, Furnari's social club, was the hub of criminal activity in Bensonhurst. Mobsters from every New York crime family conducted business in the club and socialized over food and drink. In the mid-1960s, aspiring mobsters Vittorio "Vic" Amuso and
Anthony "Gaspipe" Casso
Anthony or Antony is a masculine given name, derived from the ''Antonii'', a '' gens'' ( Roman family name) to which Mark Antony (''Marcus Antonius'') belonged. According to Plutarch, the Antonii gens were Heracleidae, being descendants of Anton ...
joined Furnari's crew. Furnari saw that both men could make money and were willing to use violence if needed. Furnari put Amuso and Casso in charge of a large bookmaking operation and debt collecting operation.
In 1967, family boss Thomas Lucchese died of a
brain tumor
A brain tumor occurs when abnormal cells form within the brain. There are two main types of tumors: malignant tumors and benign (non-cancerous) tumors. These can be further classified as primary tumors, which start within the brain, and seconda ...
Five Families
The Five Families refers to five major New York City organized crime families of the Italian American Mafia formed in 1931 by Salvatore Maranzano following his victory in the Castellammarese War.
Maranzano reorganized the Italian American gangs ...
of New York organized crime decided to "open the books', allowing a new generation of mob associates to become
made men
In the American and Sicilian Mafia, a made man is a fully initiated member of the Mafia. To become "made", an associate first must be Italian or of Italian descent and sponsored by another made man. An inductee will be required to take the oa ...
. Furnari immediately sponsored Amuso and Casso for family membership and then made them overseers of the "Bypass Gang", a highly successful burglary ring. During the 1970s and 1980s, the Bypass Gang reportedly stole hundreds of millions of dollars in cash, jewelry, and other merchandise.
In January 1972, Furnari backed and sanctioned the squad of armed robbers who took the famed Pierre Hotel in Manhattan under siege and stole approximately $3 million in jewels and cash. The
Pierre Hotel robbery
The Pierre hotel robbery was a January 2, 1972 robbery at The Pierre in New York City. The robbery netted $3 million (worth $27 million today), and was organized by Samuel Nalo; Robert "Bobby" Comfort, an associate of the Rochester Crime Family; a ...
stands as the largest unrecovered hotel robbery in history. The case was never solved: none of the perpetrators ever confessed to the heist and only a diamond necklace valued at $780,000 was recovered. The eight brazen armed robbers were Robert Comfort, Sammy Nalo, Donald 'Tony the Greek' Frankos, Al Green, Ali Ben, Robert "Bobby" Germaine, and Al Visconti.
In 1980, Furnari was promoted to
consigliere
Consigliere ( , ; plural ) is a position within the leadership structure of the Sicilian, Calabrian, and Italian-American Mafia. The word was popularized in English by the novel ''The Godfather'' (1969) and its film adaptation. In the novel, a c ...
in the Lucchese family. He wanted Casso to take over as capo of the 19th Hole crew, but Casso declined and endorsed Amuso instead. Casso opted to become Furnari's aide; a consigliere is allowed to have one soldier work directly for him.
Furnari now enjoyed enormous influence both within his own family, the other New York families, and crime families from other US cities. Furnari continued to oversee his criminal interests from the 19th Hole, but spent much of his time providing advice and mediation for family members as well as settling disputes with the other families. Furnari reigned as one of New York's top Mafia bosses throughout the early 1980s until his 1985 racketeering indictment.
On February 25, 1985, Furnari was indicted in the Mafia Commission case, the most comprehensive
Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act
The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act is a United States federal law that provides for extended criminal penalties and a civil cause of action for acts performed as part of an ongoing criminal organization.
RICO was en ...
(RICO) prosecution brought against the mob at the time. Furnari was indicted as a result of a
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, ...
(FBI) probe that used undercover surveillance and bugging techniques against the mob leaders. The bug that snared Furnari had been placed in
Salvatore Avellino
Salvatore Avellino Jr. (born November 19, 1935), also known as "Sal" is an American mobster and former caporegime in the Lucchese crime family who was involved in labor racketeering in the garbage and waste management industry on Long Island, New ...
's
Jaguar
The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large cat species and the only living member of the genus '' Panthera'' native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the largest cat species in the Americas and the th ...
car. FBI surveillance recorded Corallo conducting business with Furnari and other family leaders. Pleading not guilty to the charges, Furnari was released on $1.75 million bail pending trial.
In early 1986, while Furnari was awaiting the Commission trial, the Lucchese family uncovered a new, potentially lucrative racket. A Russian-American
crime family
A crime family is a unit of an organized crime syndicate, particularly in Italian organized crime and especially in the Sicilian Mafia and Italian American Mafia, often operating within a specific geographic territory or a specific set of activit ...
based in
Brighton Beach
Brighton Beach is a List of Brooklyn neighborhoods, neighborhood in the southern portion of the New York City Borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn, within the greater Coney Island area along the Atlantic Ocean coastline. Brighton Beach i ...
in Brooklyn, run by
Ukrainian
Ukrainian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Ukraine
* Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe
* Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine
* So ...
immigrant
Marat Balagula
Marat Yakovlevich Balagula (russian: Мара́т Я́ковлевич Балагула; 8 September 1943 – 19 December 2019) was a Jewish-American organized crime figure, crime boss, and close associate of the Lucchese crime family and Colomb ...
, had started to
bootleg
Bootleg or bootlegging most often refers to:
* Bootleg recording, an audio or video recording released unofficially
* Rum-running, the illegal business of transporting and trading in alcoholic beverages, hence:
** Moonshine, or illicitly made ...
gasoline. By collecting gasoline taxes from customers and then not paying them to the government, Balagula was making very large profits. When
Colombo crime family
The Colombo crime family (, ) is an Italian American Mafia crime family and is the youngest of the "Five Families" that dominate organized crime activities in New York City within the criminal organization known as the American Mafia. It was du ...
capo
Michael Franzese
Michael Franzese () ('' né'' Grillo; born May 27, 1951) is an American former mobster who was a caporegime in the Colombo crime family, and son of former underboss Sonny Franzese. Franzese was enrolled in a pre-med program at Hofstra University ...
started pressing Balagula for extortion payments, Balagula went to Furnari for help. Casso later reported on a meeting at the 19th Hole, in which Furnari told Balagula,
Here there's enough for everybody to be happy... to leave the table satisfied. What we must avoid is trouble between us and the other families. I propose to make a deal with the others so there's no bad blood.... Meanwhile, we will send word out that from now on you and your people are with the Lucchese family. No one will bother you. If anyone does bother you, come to us and Anthony will take care of it.
As a result of the 19th Hole meeting, the
Five Families
The Five Families refers to five major New York City organized crime families of the Italian American Mafia formed in 1931 by Salvatore Maranzano following his victory in the Castellammarese War.
Maranzano reorganized the Italian American gangs ...
imposed a two cent per gallon "Family tax" on Balagula's bootlegging operation, which became their greatest moneymaker after
drug trafficking
A drug is any chemical substance that causes a change in an organism's physiology or psychology when consumed. Drugs are typically distinguished from food and substances that provide nutritional support. Consumption of drugs can be via insuffla ...
. According to one former associate,
The LCN reminded Marat of the
apparatchik
__NOTOC__
An apparatchik (; russian: аппара́тчик ) was a full-time, professional functionary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union or the Soviet government ''apparat'' ( аппарат, apparatus), someone who held any position ...
s in the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
. He thought as long as he gave them something they would be valuable allies. Then all of a sudden he was at risk of being killed if he couldn't pay to the penny.
According to author
Philip Carlo
Philip Carlo (April 18, 1949 – November 8, 2010) was an American journalist and best selling biographer of Thomas Pitera, Richard Kuklinski, Anthony Casso, and Richard Ramirez. Carlo had amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), commonly known as "Lo ...
,
It didn't take long for word on the street to reach the Russian underworld: Marat Balagula was paying off the Italians; Balagula was a punk; Balagula had no balls. Balagula's days were numbered. This, of course, was the beginning of serious trouble. Balagula did in fact have balls, he was a ruthless killer when necessary, but he also was a smart diplomatic administrator and he knew that the combined, concerted force of the Italian crime families would quickly wipe the newly arrived Russian competition off the proverbial map.
On June 12, 1986, one of Balagula's rivals, Russian-American gangster
Vladimir Reznikov
Vladimir Reznikov (died June 13, 1986, Brighton Beach, Brooklyn, New York City) was a Russian American gangster. After attempting to retrieve money owed to him for a fraudulent gas license provided by Marat Balagula (for whom he sold bootlegged ga ...
, entered Balagula's nightclub in Brighton Beach. Reznikov pushed a 9mm
Beretta
Fabbrica d'Armi Pietro Beretta (; "Pietro Beretta Weapon Factory") is a privately held Italian firearms manufacturing company operating in several countries. Its firearms are used worldwide for a variety of civilian, law enforcement, and militar ...
handgun against Balagula's skull and demanded $600,000 and a percentage of Balagula's rackets. After Balagula acceded to his demands, Reznikov told him, "Fuck with me and you're dead, you and your whole fucking family; I swear I'll fuck and kill your wife as you watch, you understand?"
After Reznikov left the nightclub, Balagula suffered a massive
heart attack
A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...
. He insisted, however, on being treated at his home in Brighton Beach, where he felt safer. At home, Balagula asked Casso to come help him. Casso gave these instructions to Balagula, "Send word to Vladimir that you have his money, that he should come to the club tomorrow. We'll take care of the rest." Casso also requested a photograph of Reznikov and a description of his car.
The next day, Reznikov arrived at Balagula's nightclub to pick up his money. Lucchese soldier
Joseph Testa
Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the mo ...
confronted Reznikov and fatally shot him. According to Casso, "After that, Marat didn't have any problems with other Russians."
In September 1986, Furnari went on trial in the famous New York Mafia Commission case, along with Corallo and underboss Salvatore "Tom Mix" Santoro. The charges included extortion and labor racketeering within the construction industry and murder for hire of former
Bonanno crime family
The Bonanno 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, and in the United States, as part of the criminal phenomenon known as the A ...
boss Carmine "Lilo" Galante. Galante had been gunned down on July 12, 1979, allegedly on the orders of the Commission. Some have argued that Furnari wasn't on the Commission then and had no connection with the Galante hit. However, Furnari could not use this as a defense argument.
By the fall of 1986, Corallo realized that he, Santoro and Furnari would not only be convicted, but were facing sentences that would all but assure they would die in prison. Furnari persuaded Corallo that either Amuso or Casso should become the new boss. At a meeting in Furnari's home, Furnari, Amuso and Casso all agreed that Amuso should succeed Corallo as boss.
On November 19, 1986, Furnari was convicted on all counts, including the Galante murder. On January 13, 1987, Furnari was sentenced to 100 years in prison without parole and fined $240,000.
With the imprisonment of Corallo and Furnari, Amuso became boss, and Casso became consigliere and later underboss. Peter "Fat Pete" Chiodo took over Furnari's Bensonhurst crew.
In 1990, Amuso and Casso became fugitives to avoid prosecution in the famous "Windows Case." In 1992, Amuso was captured and sentenced to life in prison. In 1993, Casso was also captured; however, in 1994 he struck a deal with the government to testify against Furnari and other family leaders.
In 1995, Furnari started challenging the "no parole" stipulation of his sentence in court. The government had previously revoked Casso's witness deal with prosecutors, and in 1996 Casso was sentenced to life in prison. Furnari's lawyers insisted that Casso's court testimony against Furnari was tainted.
In July 2000, the
Third Circuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (in case citations, 3d Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts for the following districts:
* District of Delaware
* District of New Jersey
* East ...
Federal Court of Appeals ruled that the parole board officials had been denying Furnari's parole eligibility on the tainted assertions of mob turncoat Casso. However, in 2001, the
Bureau of Prisons
The Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) is a United States federal law enforcement agency under the Department of Justice that is responsible for the care, custody, and control of incarcerated individuals who have committed federal crimes; that i ...
National Appeal Board ruled that Furnari was a multiple murderer and was not eligible for
parole
Parole (also known as provisional release or supervised release) is a form of early release of a prison inmate where the prisoner agrees to abide by certain behavioral conditions, including checking-in with their designated parole officers, or ...
, based on what some people considered to be Casso's discredited testimony. On February 15, 2006, Furnari filed a
habeas corpus
''Habeas corpus'' (; from Medieval Latin, ) is a recourse in law through which a person can report an unlawful detention or imprisonment to a court and request that the court order the custodian of the person, usually a prison official, t ...
petition in District Court claiming that the United States parole commission had improperly denied him parole. On June 20, 2007, the court denied his petition.
Furnari was imprisoned in the Allenwood Medium
Federal Correctional Institution
The Federal Bureau of Prisons classifies prisons into seven categories:
* United States penitentiaries
* Federal correctional institutions
* Private correctional institutions
* Federal prison camps
* Administrative facilities
* Federal correctio ...
(FCI) in
Allenwood, Pennsylvania
Allenwood (also called Union Town) is a census-designated place in Gregg Township, Union County, Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2010 census, its population was 321. Federal Correctional Complex, Allenwood
The Federal Correctional Compl ...
. His projected release date was November 24, 2044, effectively a life sentence. However, since he was convicted before Congress eliminated parole for federal prisoners, he and his co-defendants became eligible for parole in 1996. Furnari was the only defendant to be granted early release by the
U.S. Parole Commission The United States Parole Commission is the parole board responsible for granting or denying parole to, and supervising the parole releases of, incarcerated individuals who fall under its jurisdiction. It is part of the United States Department of Ju ...
, most likely relating to the weak evidence behind his murder conviction. Furnari was released from a prison hospital in Minnesota on September 19, 2014, after serving 28 years. On May 28, 2018, Furnari died at his home in Staten Island, New York.
Tommy Gagliano
Stefano LaSalle
Stefano "Steve" LaSalle (real name LaSalaCritchley p.130-131 /ref>) was an early member of the Morello family; he later joined Reina's family.Critchley p. 111–113 /ref> In 1915, East Harlem's Italian lottery "king"
Giosue Gallucci
Giosuè Gallucci (; December 10, 1864 – May 21, 1915), also known as Luccariello, was a crime boss of Italian Harlem in New York City affiliated with the Camorra. He dominated the area from 1910–1915 and was also known as the undisputed "King ...
was murdered, allowing LaSalle and Tommaso Lomonte to take over the lottery games. LaSalle served as underboss to Thomas Lucchese and later Carmine Tramunti, until he retired in the 1970s.
Frank Lastorino
Frank "Big Frank" Lastorino (April 9, 1939 – November 2022) was a soldier, former capo and consigliere of the Lucchese family. Lastorino was formally inducted into the crime family in 1987. In the late 1980s, the family's consigliere
Christopher Furnari
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, Ab ...
put Lastorino in charge of the Lucchese family's portion of a bootleg gasoline scheme with Russian mobster
Marat Balagula
Marat Yakovlevich Balagula (russian: Мара́т Я́ковлевич Балагула; 8 September 1943 – 19 December 2019) was a Jewish-American organized crime figure, crime boss, and close associate of the Lucchese crime family and Colomb ...
. In August 1990, Lastorino was ordered by
Anthony Casso
Anthony Salvatore Casso (May 21, 1942 – December 15, 2020), nicknamed "Gaspipe", was an American mobster and underboss of the Lucchese crime family. During his career in organized crime, Casso was regarded as a "homicidal maniac" in the Italia ...
to murder mobster Bruno Facciola.Carlo pp.179–180 The order to murder Facciola was given after Casso had received information from two NYPD police detectives
Louis Eppolito and Stephen Caracappa
Stephen Caracappa and Louis Eppolito were former New York City Police Department (NYPD) detectives who worked on behalf of the Five Families of the American Mafia, principally the Lucchese and Gambino crime families, while they committed vari ...
on his payroll that Bruno Facciola was an informant. On August 24, 1990, Frank Lastorino, Louie Daidone and Richard Pagliarulo murdered Bruno Facciola.Capeci, Robbins pp.285–287 Lastorino arranged to bring Facciola to a Brooklyn garage, where Lastorino stabbed Facciola and Pagliarulo shot him six times in the face and chest. Daidone stuffed a dead canary into Facciola's mouth, put his body in the trunk of his 1985 Mercury sedan and abandoned the car on East Fifty-Fifth Street in Canarsie. In April 1991, Lastorino was ordered by Anthony Casso to murder Gambino family capo Bartholomew Boriello, who was a former bodyguard of
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 ...
. On April 13, 1991, Lastorino shot Boriello to death outside his
Bensonhurst, Brooklyn
Bensonhurst is a residential neighborhood in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bordered on the northwest by 14th Avenue, on the northeast by 60th Street, on the southeast by Avenue P and 22nd ...
home. The Boriello murder was allegedly performed with the assistance of Louis Eppolito and Stephen Caracappa. In September 1991, during a Staten Island meeting, Vic Amuso and Anthony Casso replaced
Alphonse D'Arco
Alphonse "Little Al" D'Arco (July 28, 1932 – March 28, 2019) was an American mobster who became the acting boss of the Lucchese crime family in New York City. He was the first boss, acting or otherwise, of a New York crime family to become a go ...
as acting boss and created a four-man ruling panel that consisted of Lastorino, Alphonse D'Arco, Anthony Baratta, and
Salvatore Avellino
Salvatore Avellino Jr. (born November 19, 1935), also known as "Sal" is an American mobster and former caporegime in the Lucchese crime family who was involved in labor racketeering in the garbage and waste management industry on Long Island, New ...
.Capeci, Robbins pp.334Raab, pp.498–499 On September 18, 1991, Lastorino, along with capo Anthony Baratta and soldier Mike DeSantis, conspired to kill Alphonse D'Arco in the Kimberly Hotel in Manhattan but failed. D'Arco defected on September 21, 1991, and became a government witness.Mob boss Said to Have Fled Over Botched Assassination by Selwyn Raab (October 3, 1991) New York Times
In October 1991, Lastorino, along with Anthony Baratta, Salvatore Avellino, Richard Pagliarulo, Anthony Tortorello, George Conte, Thomas Anzellotto and Frank Papagni inducted (made) Thomas D'Ambrosia, Joseph Tortorello Jr., Frank Gioia Jr., Gregory Cappello and Jody Calabrese into the crime family during a ceremony that was held in a
Howard Beach, Queens
Howard Beach is a neighborhood in the southwestern portion of the New York City borough of Queens. It is bordered to the north by the Belt Parkway and Conduit Avenue in Ozone Park, to the south by Jamaica Bay in Broad Channel, to the east by 1 ...
home. Some time after, Lastorino was appointed consigliere of the family. It was later revealed by government informant Frank Gioia Jr. that Lastorino was ordered by Anthony Casso to murder Patrick Testa on December 2, 1992. Casso intended to blame the murder on the Gambino family in a plot to kill
John A. Gotti
John Angelo Gotti (born February 14, 1964) is an American former mobster who was the acting boss of the Gambino crime family from 1991 to 1999. Gotti became acting boss when the boss of the family, his father John Gotti, was sent to prison. The ...
. In April 1993, Lastorino was indicted and jailed along with Michael DeSantis and Richard Pagliarulo on murder conspiracy, extortion and other racketeering charges.Capeci, Ganglan pp.151-152 /ref> During the May 16, 1994, trial, the prosecution planned to use government witnesses and former Lucchese mobsters Alphonse D'Arco, Peter Chiodo, and associate Corrado Marino to testify against Lastorino. In June 1995, Lastorino took a plea deal and was sentenced to 18 years in prison. Lastorino was released from prison on December 23, 2008, after serving 14 years in prison on conspiracy to commit murder, racketeering and several murders, including the murder of painters union official James Bishop. On June 22, 2011, his son Carl Lastorino attempted to kill Peter Argentina, shooting him in the hand and shoulder at a Brooklyn tire shop. When Carl tried to escape, he was shot to death by police in an apparent suicide-by-cop. Lastorino died in 2022 at age 83.
Carmine LoCascio
Carmine "Willie the Wop" LoCascio (September 23, 1911 – March 13, 1983) was a New York mobster who was involved in drug trafficking along with his brother Peter LoCascio. In 1929, he was arrested on bootlegging, narcotics and robbery. LoCascio would frequent Oldtimers Bar on 184th Street in Corona Queens. He worked with his brother Peter LoCascio, John Ormento, Sam Accardi, brothers Joseph and John Amici, Charles DeStefano, Charles Bracco, Salvatore Santoro, Joseph Marone and Charles Albero in various criminal rackets. On August 15, 1962, Carmine LoCascio along with Lucchese mobster Angelo Loicano and Genovese family members Rosario and Joseph Mogavero were charged with transporting around 400 kilograms of heroin between January 1950 to August 1962 in the United States.
Peter LoCascio
Peter Joseph "Mr. Bread" LoCascio (June 10, 1916 – September 2, 1997) was a New York mobster involved in drug trafficker along with his older brother Carmine LoCascio. In 1935, he was arrested on illegal alcohol trafficking and narcotic trafficking. In the 1940s, LoCascio was identified as a major heroin drug trafficker. LoCascio would frequent been seen in the Lower East Side and Little Italy in Manhattan. He worked with his brother Carmine LoCascio, John Ormento, brothers Joseph and Peter DiPalermo, Rocco Mazzie, James Picarelli and Sammy Kass in many criminal rackets.
Anthony Loria Sr.
Anthony "Tony" Loria Sr., also known as "Tony Aboudamita", was a mobster who played a major role in the
French Connection
The French Connection was a scheme through which heroin was smuggled from Indochina through Turkey to France and then to the United States and Canada, sometimes through Cuba. The operation started in the 1930s, reached its peak in the 1960s, and ...
heroin
Heroin, also known as diacetylmorphine and diamorphine among other names, is a potent opioid mainly used as a recreational drug for its euphoric effects. Medical grade diamorphine is used as a pure hydrochloride salt. Various white and brow ...
scandal. Loria, along with his longtime partner Vincent Papa and his crew, are known as "The Men who Stole The French Connection".
Loria was known to federal agents and the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs as a major drug trafficker within the
Lucchese Crime Family
The Lucchese 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, in the United States, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as ...
. He was convicted in 1961 of trafficking heroin but his conviction was overturned on appeal in 1968 because of violations of the Fourth Amendment.
He was implicated along with Papa, Anthony Passero, Virgil Alessi and Frank D'Amato in the
New York Police Department
The New York City Police Department (NYPD), officially the City of New York Police Department, established on May 23, 1845, is the primary municipal law enforcement agency within the City of New York, the largest and one of the oldest in ...
scandal, in which over $70 million worth of drugs seized during the French Connection operation was stolen from the police property room. The crew stole 398 pounds of heroin and 120 pounds of cocaine from 1969 to 1972. In October 1973, Loria was indicted, along with the boss of the Lucchese Family
Carmine Tramunti
Carmine Paul "Mr. Gribbs" Tramunti (October 1, 1910 – October 15, 1978) was an Italian-born American mobster who was the boss of the Lucchese crime family.
Biography
Operating in Harlem
Carmine Paul Tramunti was born October 1, 1910, in Napl ...
and 42 other mobsters, on drug dealing charges.
He died in 1989 from natural causes.
Joseph Lucchese
Joseph "Joe Brown" Lucchese was a capo and brother to
Tommy Lucchese
Thomas Gaetano Lucchese (born Gaetano Lucchese; ; December 1, 1899 – July 13, 1967), sometimes known by the nicknames "Tommy", "Thomas Luckese", "Tommy Brown" or "Tommy Three-Finger Brown" was an Italian-American gangster and founding member of ...
, the boss of the Lucchese crime family. He controlled gambling operations along with
Aniello Migliore
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, Ab ...
. In 1963, during the
Valachi hearings
The Valachi hearings, also known as the McClellan hearings, investigated organized crime activities across the United States. The hearings were initiated by Arkansas Senator John L. McClellan in 1963. Named after the major government witness again ...
, Lucchese was identified as a capo in the Lucchese family. He died during the early 1970s.
Tommy Lucchese
Anthony Luongo
Anthony "Buddy" Luongo was a former capo in the Harlem-Bronx faction. Luongo was a longtime protégé of Lucchese Underboss Salvatore "Tom Mix" Santoro and would meet him weekly at Santoro Beverage Company on Morris Park Ave in the Bronx. In 1986, Luongo tried to take over the Lucchese family after boss Anthony Corallo was imprisoned during the Commission case. According to informant Al D'Arco, the murder of Luongo was organized by Vic Amuso and Anthony Casso who suspected that Underboss Santoro was plotting with his two protégé Luongo and Anthony DiLapi to seize control of the family.
In December 1986, Luongo was lured to 19th Hole bar in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn to meet with Vic Amuso who persuaded Luongo meet him in nearby house. In the Brooklyn home Luongo met with Vic Amuso, Anthony Casso, Bobby Amuso and Dom Carbucci, until Bobby Amuso excused himself and returned killing Luongo by shooting him three times in the head. Luongo was buried somewhere in Canarsie, Brooklyn.
Mariano Macaluso
Mariano "Mac" Macaluso (born June 7, 1912) was a former member. He served as consigliere during the 1960s. In the 1960s, Macaluso became partners with Lucchese mobster Andimo "Tony Noto" Pappadio in Ideal Trucking and in Garment Carriers Corporation. In 1986, after the
Mafia Commission Trial
The Mafia Commission Trial (in full, ''United States v. Anthony Salerno, et al'') was a criminal trial before the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York in New York City, United States, that lasted from February 25, 19 ...
, Macaluso became the new underboss. In 1989, boss Vic Amuso forced him into retirement. In 1992, he died from natural causes.
Vincent Mancione
Vincent "Vinny Casablanca" Mancione (1964) is a soldier and former acting capo. In 2002, Mancione was indicted along with consigliere Joseph Caridi, capo John Cerrella and soldier Carmelo Profeta for extorting the ''Hudson & McCoy Fish House'' restaurant in Freeport, Long Island. Mancione was released from prison on August 2, 2006. Mancione died in 2013.
Thomas Mancuso
Thomas "Tommy Tea Balls" Mancuso (August 29, 1907 – 1981) former member of the Harlem crew. Mancuso and Carmine Tramunti were part owners of the Pussycat Bar and club in New York City. On August 14, 1968, Mancuso was indicted on narcotics charges; convicted on March 26, 1969 and sentenced to 1 year in prison. In 1980, Mancuso and Samuel Cavalieri were under investigation for corruption of Local 29 of Blasters, Miners and Drill runners Union. Mancuso died in 1981.
Frank Manzo
Frank Manzo (February 2, 1925 – October 23, 2012), also known as "Francesco Manzo", "Frank Manse", and "Frankie the Wop", was a soldier in the
Vario Crew
The Vario Crew, also known as the Canarsie Crew, is a group of Italian-American mobsters within the Lucchese crime family that controls organized crime activities within the New York metropolitan area but has been predominantly based from Brookl ...
who oversaw the family's interests at
John F. Kennedy International Airport
John F. Kennedy International Airport (colloquially referred to as JFK Airport, Kennedy Airport, New York-JFK, or simply JFK) is the main international airport serving New York City. The airport is the busiest of the seven airports in the Ne ...
("JFK") in
Queens, New York
Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long I ...
. He served as a union delegate in the
United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America
The United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, often simply the United Brotherhood of Carpenters (UBC), was formed in 1881 by Peter J. McGuire and Gustav Luebkert. It has become one of the largest trade unions in the United State ...
, controlled Local 295 and owned two trucking companies: LVF Air Cargo, Inc., and LVF Airport Service Inc. at JFK Airport. Manzo also owned Villa Capra, a restaurant in
Cedarhurst, New York
Cedarhurst is a village in the Town of Hempstead in Nassau County, on the South Shore of Long Island, in New York, United States. The population was 6,592 at the 2010 census.
The Incorporated Village of Cedarhurst is located in the region o ...
, where he conducted illegal activities.
In 1972, Manzo was kidnapped by
James McBratney
James McBratney (November 17, 1941 – May 22, 1973) was an Irish American gangster, believed to have been involved in the 1972 kidnappings of Emanuel "Manny" Gambino (nephew of Carlo Gambino) and Lucchese crime family caporegime Francesco ...
, Eddie Maloney, Tommy Genovese, and Richie Chaisson; they held him for $150,000 in ransom, then released him when it was paid. In 1983, Manzo was overheard in an FBI wiretap, saying, "We rule this airport". In 1985, Manzo, Local 295 President Frank Calise, Local 851 Vice-president Harry Davidoff, and others were indicted on charges of extorting shipping and trucking companies at JFK Airport. In 1986, Manzo pled guilty to racketeering and was sentenced to twelve years in prison and fined $325,000. On April 8, 1987, Manzo was banned from
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
casinos due to his history of involvement with organized crime.
Manzo was released from prison in 1994. In 1995, Manzo was charged with racketeering for extorting $2 million in payoffs from cement company owner John Quadrozzi over a 13-year period, between 1978 and 1991. However, the charges were dropped when the judge ruled that the crimes were covered under his 1986 plea agreement. On October 23, 2012, Manzo died in his sleep.
Aniello Migliore
Aniello "Neil" Migliore (October 1933 – September 11, 2019), born in Queens, New York, was a made man. He served as a capo, as the acting consigliere, and as the underboss on a ruling panel in the family. Migliore was a close associate of family bosses
Tommy Lucchese
Thomas Gaetano Lucchese (born Gaetano Lucchese; ; December 1, 1899 – July 13, 1967), sometimes known by the nicknames "Tommy", "Thomas Luckese", "Tommy Brown" or "Tommy Three-Finger Brown" was an Italian-American gangster and founding member of ...
and
Anthony Corallo
Anthony "Tony Ducks" Corallo (February 12, 1913 – August 23, 2000) was an American mobster and boss of the Lucchese crime family in New York City. Corallo exercised tremendous control over trucking and construction unions in New York.
Biograph ...
.Newton pp.92 /ref> He was recruited into the Lucchese family by capo Joseph Laratro, who controlled illegal gambling operations in Corona, Queens. By the late 1950s Migliore, a soldier, already was overseeing Laratro's illegal gambling operations from bookmaking, policy operations and large telephone setups.The Committee, 197 pp.196 /ref> In 1957, it was reported that after paying tribute to his boss, Migliore was making $50,000 a day from running illegal gambling operations in New York City. On November 14, 1957, Migliore was suspected of driving boss Tommy Lucchese and underboss Steve LaSalle to the famous Apalachin Meeting, a national
Cosa Nostra
The Sicilian Mafia, also simply known as the Mafia and frequently referred to as Cosa nostra (, ; "our thing") by its members, is an Italian Mafia-terrorist-type organized crime syndicate and criminal society originating in the region of Sicily a ...
summit in
Apalachin, New York
Apalachin ( ) is a census-designated place within the Town of Owego in Tioga County, New York, United States. The population was 1,131 in the 2010 census. The CDP is named after Apalachin Creek. ''Apalachin'' means "from where the messenger retur ...
that was broken up by law enforcement. The next day on November 15, 1957, Migliore was in a car accident while driving through
Binghamton
Binghamton () is a city in the U.S. state of New York, and serves as the county seat of Broome County. Surrounded by rolling hills, it lies in the state's Southern Tier region near the Pennsylvania border, in a bowl-shaped valley at the conflue ...
, New York leading to more suspicion that he was supposed to attend the Apalachin Meeting.
On October 22, 1974, Migliore was indicted, along with members Frank Altimari, Nicholas Bonina, Anthony Romanello, Frank Ruggiero, Richard Rubino, Thomas DeMaio, brothers Michael Struzzieri and William Struzzieri, and NYPD Police Officer James Maxwell, on bribery charges in order to protect a gambling operation in Queens. Migliore as a capo represented the family's interest in ''Northberry Concrete'', a Brooklyn-based contractor and member of the New York City's Concrete club.Goldstock pp.85 /ref> He also held a salesman position with "Port Dock and Stone", one of the main suppliers of trap rock to the two companies that controlled the production of concrete in New York City.
On March 21, 1986, Migliore was indicted, along with Genovese family acting boss
Anthony Salerno
Anthony "Fat Tony" Salerno (August 15, 1911 – July 27, 1992) was an American mobster who served as underboss and front boss of the Genovese crime family in New York City from 1981 until his conviction in 1986.
Early life
Salerno was born and ...
, Genovese family captains
Vincent Cafaro
Vincent "Fish" Cafaro (born August 27, 1933) was a mobster and protegee of Anthony "Fat Tony" Salerno, a top lieutenant in the Genovese crime family, until becoming a government informant and witness.
Labor racketeer
Cafaro was born in the sma ...
,
Vincent DiNapoli
Vincent DiNapoli (June 21, 1937 – November 16, 2005) was a caporegime in the Genovese crime family, involved in labor racketeering. DiNapoli is best known for creating a cartel in the 1970s that controlled the price of drywall in New York Ci ...
and Giuseppe Sabato, Genovese family members Louis DiNapoli, Carmine Della Cava and Thomas Cafaro, and
Cleveland crime family
The Cleveland crime family or Cleveland Mafia is the collective name given to a succession of Italian-American organized crime gangs based in Cleveland, Ohio, in the United States. A part of the Italian-American Mafia (or ''Cosa Nostra'') phenom ...
members
John Tronolone
John "Peanuts" Tronolone (December 12, 1910 − May 29, 1991) was a Cleveland, Ohio mobster who succeeded crime boss James Licavoli as head of the Cleveland crime family. Tronolone ran the Cleveland family following the Licavoli-Nardi gang wars f ...
and Milton Rockman, Gambino family member Alphonse Mosca, and four businessmen, Edward J. Halloran, Nicholas Auletta, Alvin O. Chattin, and Richard Costa, on extortion and bid rigging charges. The charges alleged Migliore and other mobsters had rigged the bidding process for the supplying of concrete to high rise building projects in Manhattan such as the Trump Plaza and sites for
Mount Sinai School of Medicine
The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (ISMMS or Mount Sinai), formerly the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, is a private medical school in New York City. It is the academic teaching arm of the Mount Sinai Health System, which manages eigh ...
and
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK or MSKCC) is a cancer treatment and research institution in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, founded in 1884 as the New York Cancer Hospital. MSKCC is one of 52 National Cancer Institute– ...
. In November 1986, ''The New York Times'' reported Migliore, a captain and owner of a Queens marble business who also controlled gambling operations with Joe Lucchese (the brother of former boss Thomas Lucchese) replaced Anthony Corallo as the new boss of the Lucchese family, after Corallo was convicted during the Commission trial. Former Lucchese mobster
Alphonse D'Arco
Alphonse "Little Al" D'Arco (July 28, 1932 – March 28, 2019) was an American mobster who became the acting boss of the Lucchese crime family in New York City. He was the first boss, acting or otherwise, of a New York crime family to become a go ...
revealed that Vic Amuso was chosen as the new family boss and Migliore served as consigliere before being replaced by
Anthony Casso
Anthony Salvatore Casso (May 21, 1942 – December 15, 2020), nicknamed "Gaspipe", was an American mobster and underboss of the Lucchese crime family. During his career in organized crime, Casso was regarded as a "homicidal maniac" in the Italia ...
when Migliore went to prison. On May 4, 1988, Migliore was convicted was sentenced to 24 years in prison and fined $266,000.
In 1991, Migliore's conviction was overturned and he was released from prison. Migliore held an on-the-book job as a sales representative with a traprock supplier in the concrete business.
On April 3, 1992, Migliore was celebrating the birthday of a friend's granddaughter at Tesoro's Restaurant in Westbury,
Long Island
Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...
. During the party, a shooter in a passing car fired shotgun blasts through the restaurant window. Migliore was struck in the neck and upper body. Despite his wounds, Migliore survived.
On May 14, 1997, Migliore was released from prison.
In 2003, it was reported by author Jerry Capeci that the Lucchese crime family was being run by a three-man ruling committee consisting of Migliore,
Matthew Madonna
Matthew Madonna (November 2, 1935) is a member of the Lucchese crime family who served as acting boss before being imprisoned in 2017.
Narcotics trafficking
In 1959, while serving a sentence at the Green Haven Correctional Facility in Upstate Ne ...
, and
Joseph DiNapoli
Current members Ray Argentina
Ray Argentina is a soldier in the Brooklyn faction. His younger brother Peter Argentina is an associate in the family. In 1992, Argentina along with Louis Daidone, Alan Taglianetti and Robert Molinelli were found gu ...
in the absence of an acting boss. Migliore, who served as underboss in the past to Anthony Corallo, was considered the biggest influence on the ruling committee. Migliore died on September 11, 2019.
Richard Pagliarulo
Richard "Richie the Toupe" Pagliarulo (November 30, 1948 – 1999) was a hit man and former capo, who took over as capo of
Peter Chiodo
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, Aba ...
's old Bensonhurst crew. In 1991, Pagliarulo served as a member of a panel that conducted a Lucchese crime family induction ceremony in Howard Beach, Queens.Capeci p.225–227 (Gang Land, 2003) He sponsored both Gregory "Whitey" Cappello and Jody Calabrese for membership during the ceremony. Pagliarulo was imprisoned on the information and testimony of Frank Gioia Jr. who stated that Pagliarulo helped
Louis Daidone
Current members Ray Argentina
Ray Argentina is a soldier in the Brooklyn faction. His younger brother Peter Argentina is an associate in the family. In 1992, Argentina along with Louis Daidone, Alan Taglianetti and Robert Molinelli were found gu ...
plan the murder Bruno Facciola. He was later sentenced to life in prison for murder and racketeering.
Former Lucchese capo turned government informant Peter Chiodo, admitted that he ordered soldiers Pagliarulo and Michael "Baldy Mike" Spinelli to murder Lucchese associate Sarecho "Sammy the Arab" Nalo. On October 25, 1988, Sarecho Nalo was murdered, while on the phone with Greek crew boss Spiro Velentzas disputing gambling territory when Michael Spinelli pulled the trigger shotting him. In 1999, Pagliarulo died in prison of a heart attack.
Vincent Papa
Vincent C. Papa (December 5, 1917 – July 26, 1977) was a former made member in the family who became notorious for masterminding the theft of the
French Connection
The French Connection was a scheme through which heroin was smuggled from Indochina through Turkey to France and then to the United States and Canada, sometimes through Cuba. The operation started in the 1930s, reached its peak in the 1960s, and ...
heroin from the
New York Police Department
The New York City Police Department (NYPD), officially the City of New York Police Department, established on May 23, 1845, is the primary municipal law enforcement agency within the City of New York, the largest and one of the oldest in ...
(NYPD) property office. Papa grew up in
Astoria, Queens
Astoria is a neighborhood in the western portion of the New York City borough of Queens. Astoria is bounded by the East River and is adjacent to three other Queens neighborhoods: Long Island City to the southwest, Sunnyside to the southeast ...
and owned a tire company in the neighborhood. He had been arrested 28 times; two of the arrests were on drug charges. Papa ran his criminal operations from Ditmars Car Service, in Astoria, Queens, and from the Astoria Colts Social Club. He worked closely with mobsters Anthony Loria and Virgil Alessi.
Between 1969 and 1972, New York Police Department detectives James Farley, Joseph Nunziata, Frank King and others were paid by Papa to steal approximately $70 million in confiscated narcotics (
heroin
Heroin, also known as diacetylmorphine and diamorphine among other names, is a potent opioid mainly used as a recreational drug for its euphoric effects. Medical grade diamorphine is used as a pure hydrochloride salt. Various white and brow ...
) from the New York City Police Property Clerk's office in
Lower Manhattan
Lower Manhattan (also known as Downtown Manhattan or Downtown New York) is the southernmost part of Manhattan, the central borough for business, culture, and government in New York City, which is the most populated city in the United States with ...
. Papa was arrested on February 3, 1972, in a car parked on Bronxdale Avenue with
Joseph DiNapoli
Current members Ray Argentina
Ray Argentina is a soldier in the Brooklyn faction. His younger brother Peter Argentina is an associate in the family. In 1992, Argentina along with Louis Daidone, Alan Taglianetti and Robert Molinelli were found gu ...
in the back seat. There was a suitcase with $967,500 in hundred dollar bills. In 1975, Papa was convicted and sent to the
Atlanta Federal Prison
The United States Penitentiary, Atlanta (USP Atlanta) is a medium-security United States federal prison for male inmates in Atlanta, Georgia. It is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a division of the United States Department of Justice ...
in
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
. In 1977, Papa was stabbed to death in prison. He is buried in St. John's Cemetery in
Queens
Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...
. Papa's infamous theft became famous after the movie '' French Connection II''.
Andimo Pappadio
Andimo "Tony Noto" Pappadio was a former member of who controlled the Lucchese family's garment district racket. In the 1960s, Pappadio became partners with Lucchese mobster Mariano Macaluso in Ideal Trucking and in Garment Carriers Corporation. In 1965, Pappadio was sentenced to two years in prison for refusing to answer questions before a Federal grand jury in Manhattan about meeting with Tommy Lucchese. In the 1970s, his two brothers Fred and Michael Pappadio joined him in controlling Ideal Trucking in the Garment district. In 1975, Pappadio was a suspected of controlling construction contracts of the Suffolk County Meadows horse racetrack. On September 24, 1976, Pappadio was shot and killed outside his home in Lido Beach, Long Island.
Michael Pappadio
Michael "Mike" Pappadio was a Bronx soldier who controlled the Garment district racket, after his bother Andimo Pappadio was murdered. Pappadio worked closely with family boss Anthony Corallo. In the 1970s, Pappadio joined his brother Andimo in controlling Ideal Trucking in the Garment district. In 1987, the family's new boss Vic Amuso and Anthony Casso suspected Pappadio of skimming 15 million a year from the shakedown and loan sharking rackets in the garment district. Amsuo and Casso ordered Pappadio to be removed from the garment district racket and replaced him with Sidney Lieberman. Anthony Casso planned Pappadio's murder ordering brothers Carmine Avellino to bring Pappadio to Crown Bagels, a bakery on Rockaway Boulevard in the South Ozone Park, Queens. On May 13, 1989, Pappadio and Avellino arrived at the bakery, when Pappadio entered he was ambushed by Al D'Arco who smashed him over the head with copper cable and then George Zappola shot him in the head killing him. The murderers emptied Pappadio's pockets taking cash and an address book to be given to Casso before putting his body into a body bag. Government informant Al D'Arco suspected that Casso had arranged with Vic Orena Jr., son of the Colombo family acting boss, to use one of the Colombo family's-controlled funeral home for Pappadio's body.
Michael Perna
Michael J. Perna (1942 – October 28, 2020) was the acting capo of the New Jersey faction. Perna's father Joseph Perna was a mob bookmaker and shylock during the 1960s operating from
Newark, New Jersey
Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area. His son Joseph R. "Big Joe" Perna followed him into the life and became a member of the Lucchese family's New Jersey faction. His younger brother Ralph V. Perna is also a member in the New Jersey faction. During the 1980s, Perna was a member of
Michael Taccetta
Michael Salvatore Taccetta (born September 16, 1947), also known as "Mad Dog," is a high-ranking member of the Lucchese crime family, who controlled the family's New Jersey faction in the 1980s.
Personal life
Taccetta, also known as "''Mike T' ...
's inner circle and controlled operations from the Hole in the Wall, a luncheonette in Newark's Down Neck section.Rudolph p.308 /ref> In August 1988, Perna was acquitted in the 21-month trial along with the other twenty members of the New Jersey faction. On April 18, 1991, Perna was charged in two separate indictments.Rudolph p.420-422 /ref> The first indictment charged Perna, along with Michael Taccetta,
Martin Taccetta
Martin "Marty" Taccetta (born May 2, 1951) is an imprisoned New Jersey mobster who was the alleged boss of the Jersey Crew, a powerful faction of the Lucchese crime family.
Early life
Born in Newark, New Jersey in 1951, Martin Taccetta is the s ...
, Anthony Accetturo and Tommy Ricciardi, with racketeering. The second indictment charged Perna, along with Michael Taccetta, Anthony Accetturo and Tommy Ricciardi, with corruption. On August 13, 1993, Perna convicted in the first trial. During the second trial both Thomas Ricciardi and
Anthony Accetturo
Anthony "Tumac" Accetturo (born 1938) is a former caporegime and leader of the Lucchese crime family New Jersey faction, New Jersey faction of the Lucchese crime family, popularly called "The Jersey Crew."
Biography
Accetturo was born in 1938 i ...
agreed to become Government witnesses; they testified against Perna and Taccetta. On September 20, 1993, Perna and Michael Taccetta pled guilty to federal racketeering. In the plea deal both Perna and Michael Taccetta admitted they bribed or tried to bribe jurors in the 1988 trial against 20 members of the Lucchese family and the 1991 trial of
John Riggi
John Riggi is an American television writer, producer, director, and actor who has worked on various television shows. He is from Cincinnati, Ohio. He attended high school at Elder High School, in Cincinnati, OH.
He has worked as a writer on ...
, the boss of the
DeCavalcante crime family
The DeCavalcante crime family, also known as the North Jersey Mafia, is an Italian-American Mafia organized crime family that operates mainly in northern New Jersey, particularly in Elizabeth, Newark, West New York, and various other North Jersey ...
. Perna and Michael Taccetta were sentenced to twenty-five years each. He was released from prison on July 31, 2015. Michael J. Perna died on October 28, 2020.
Joseph Pinzolo
Bonaventura "Joseph" Pinzolo (1887 – September 5, 1930), also known as "Fat Joe", was the boss of the family during 1930. In July 1908, Pinzolo was arrested for trying to bomb 314 East 11th Street in an effort to force owner Francisco Spinelli to pay
Black Hand
Black Hand or The Black Hand may refer to:
Extortionists and underground groups
* Black Hand (anarchism) (''La Mano Negra''), a presumed secret, anarchist organization based in the Andalusian region of Spain during the early 1880s
* Black Hand (e ...
extortion demands.Critchley, p.29 After his arrest Pinzolo gave up his boss Giuseppe Costabile, a Camorrista who controlled the area south of
Houston Street
Houston Street ( ) is a major east–west thoroughfare in Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs the full width of the island of Manhattan, from FDR Drive along the East River in the east to the West Side Highway along the Hudson River in t ...
East River
The East River is a saltwater tidal estuary in New York City. The waterway, which is actually not a river despite its name, connects Upper New York Bay on its south end to Long Island Sound on its north end. It separates the borough of Queens ...
. Pinzolo served 2 years and 8 months to 5 years after refusing to testify against Costabile.
In February 1930, Gaetano Reina was murdered and boss Joseph Masseria backed Pinzolo to take control of the Reina family. Pinzolo may have been responsible for Reina's murder, although the most widely suspected culprit for that crime was Vito Genovese. As boss Pinzolo was unfamiliar with the members of the family and the East Harlem area. His promotion angered Tommaso Gagliano, Tommy Lucchese and Dominick Petrilli, who formed a splinter group within the family and planned his murder.Maas, p.65-67 On September 5, 1930, Pinzolo's body was found in the Brokaw building on 1487 Broadway in Suite 1007 occupied by California Dry Fruit Importers. The office was leased by Tommy Lucchese four months earlier.Critchley, p.181 According to Joseph Valachi the killer was Girolamo "Bobby Doyle" Santucci. Valachi also mentioned that after Pinzolo's assassination a meeting was held on Staten Island to uncover who was responsible for the murder.
Stefano Rannelli
Stefano Salvatore "Steve" Rannelli (sometimes spelled Rondelli) (born in Palermo, Sicily – November 19, 1936) was an early member of Tom Reina's family in the Bronx. In 1922, Rannelli was arrested for a shooting several bystanders on August 8, after another gunman attempted to shoot
Joe Masseria
Giuseppe "Joe the Boss" Masseria (; January 17, 1886April 15, 1931) was an early Italian-American Mafia boss in New York City. He was boss of what is now called the Genovese crime family, one of the New York City Mafia's Five Families, from 1922 t ...
. In 1930, Reina was murdered, and boss of bosses
Joe Masseria
Giuseppe "Joe the Boss" Masseria (; January 17, 1886April 15, 1931) was an early Italian-American Mafia boss in New York City. He was boss of what is now called the Genovese crime family, one of the New York City Mafia's Five Families, from 1922 t ...
appointed his ally Joe Pinzolo as the new boss of the Reina family. Within the Reina family, Tommaso Gagliano formed a splinter group with
Tommy Lucchese
Thomas Gaetano Lucchese (born Gaetano Lucchese; ; December 1, 1899 – July 13, 1967), sometimes known by the nicknames "Tommy", "Thomas Luckese", "Tommy Brown" or "Tommy Three-Finger Brown" was an Italian-American gangster and founding member of ...
, Steve Rannelli, John DiCaro and others who opposed Pinzolo's leadership. On September 5, 1930, Joe Pinzolo was murdered by Girolomo "Bobby Doyle" Santuccio. All the members of the Reina family held a meeting on Staten Island to determine who murdered Pinzolo, but nothing came of that meeting because everyone remained silent. This allowed Gaetano Gagliano to become boss of the family.
After the Pinzolo murder, Rannelli began working with
Salvatore Maranzano
Salvatore Maranzano (; July 31, 1886 – September 10, 1931) was an Italian-American mobster from the town of Castellammare del Golfo, Sicily, and an early Cosa Nostra boss who led what later would become the Bonanno crime family in New York City. ...
Giuseppe Morello
Giuseppe "the Clutch Hand" Morello (; May 2, 1867 – August 15, 1930), also known as "The Old Fox", was the first boss of the Morello crime family and later top adviser to Giuseppe "Joe the Boss" Masseria. He was known as ''Piddu'' ( Sicilian d ...
, the gunmen were Sebastiano Domingo and another unidentified man. During the
Castellammarese War
The Castellammarese War () was a bloody power struggle for control of the Italian-American Mafia that took place in New York City, New York, from February 1930 until April 15, 1931, between partisans of Joe "The Boss" Masseria and those of Salv ...
, Rannelli continued working with Maranzano until he failed to murder Paul Gambino, the brother of Carlo Gambino, a Masseria family member and was demoted by Maranzano. On November 19, 1936, Rannelli was murdered outside of 235 East 107th Street, a building that was owned by Vincent Rao. Government witness Joseph Valachi, revealed that Rannelli was murdered because he had plotted against
Vito Genovese
Vito Genovese (; November 21, 1897 – February 14, 1969) was an Italian-born American mobster who mainly operated in the United States. Genovese rose to power during Prohibition as an enforcer in the American Mafia. A long-time associate and ch ...
and
Lucky Luciano
Charles "Lucky" Luciano (, ; born Salvatore Lucania ; November 24, 1897 – January 26, 1962) was an Italian-born gangster who operated mainly in the United States. Luciano started his criminal career in the Five Points gang and was instrumenta ...
.
Vincenzo Rao
Vincenzo "Vincent" John Rao (June 21, 1898
Palermo
Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan ...
– September 25, 1988),Giancan p.602 /ref> also known as Vincent or Vinny, was a former
Consigliere
Consigliere ( , ; plural ) is a position within the leadership structure of the Sicilian, Calabrian, and Italian-American Mafia. The word was popularized in English by the novel ''The Godfather'' (1969) and its film adaptation. In the novel, a c ...
in the family. His father was Antonio Rao and his mother Liboria Gagliano.Critchle pp. 89–90, 205 /ref> He had a brother Calogero "Charles" and a sister Maria Speciale.Critchle pp. 89–90, 148, 205 /ref> On his mother's side, Rao was a distant relative to Tommaso Gagliano. He was a cousin to gangster
Joseph Rao Joseph "Tough Joey" Rao (pronounced "Ray-oh"), also known as Joey Rao and Joseph Cangro (March 12, 1901 – May 10, 1962) was a New York mobster who was both a rival and an associate of mobster Dutch Schultz. Rao was involved in drug trafficking, ...
. He married Carmelina Alberti and the couple had two daughters, Nina Vento and Liboria Pancaldo. On December 5, 1921, Vincenzo Rao became a naturalized United States citizen in New York City.
He began his criminal career working for the Gaglianos in East Harlem. Rao became a powerful mobster in the lathing end of the
lath and plaster
Lath and plaster is a building process used to finish mainly interior dividing walls and ceilings. It consists of narrow strips of wood ( laths) which are nailed horizontally across the wall studs or ceiling joists and then coated in plaster. The ...
industry. He became partners in Five Boro Hoisting Company, United Lathing Company, Westchester Lathing Corporation and Ace Lathing Company operating from the Bronx and Westchester. In the 1950s, boss
Gaetano Lucchese
Thomas Gaetano Lucchese (born Gaetano Lucchese; ; December 1, 1899 – July 13, 1967), sometimes known by the nicknames "Tommy", "Thomas Luckese", "Tommy Brown" or "Tommy Three-Finger Brown" was an Italian-American gangster and founding member of ...
promoted Rao to
Consigliere
Consigliere ( , ; plural ) is a position within the leadership structure of the Sicilian, Calabrian, and Italian-American Mafia. The word was popularized in English by the novel ''The Godfather'' (1969) and its film adaptation. In the novel, a c ...
in the family.
In 1957, Rao was arrested with 60 other mobsters at the abortive Apalachin meeting in rural
Apalachin, New York
Apalachin ( ) is a census-designated place within the Town of Owego in Tioga County, New York, United States. The population was 1,131 in the 2010 census. The CDP is named after Apalachin Creek. ''Apalachin'' means "from where the messenger retur ...
. When asked by investigators why he was at the meeting, Rao said he went there for the luncheon buffet and did not speak to anyone else because he was not "introduced". During the 1963
Valachi hearings
The Valachi hearings, also known as the McClellan hearings, investigated organized crime activities across the United States. The hearings were initiated by Arkansas Senator John L. McClellan in 1963. Named after the major government witness again ...
, Rao was listed as the Lucchese family's consigliere. In 1965, Rao was convicted on perjury charges and was sentenced to five years in prison. At the same time the longtime boss Thomas Lucchese had become ill and Rao was thought of as a suitable successor. His chance to become the new boss never came to fruition due to his trials. During the early 1970s, Rao retired. On September 25, 1988, Rao died of natural causes and is buried at
Ferncliff Cemetery
Ferncliff Cemetery and Mausoleum is located at 280 Secor Road in the hamlet of Hartsdale, town of Greenburgh, Westchester County, New York, United States, about north of Midtown Manhattan. It was founded in 1902, and is non-sectarian. Ferncliff ...
in
Hartsdale, New York
Hartsdale is a hamlet located in the town of Greenburgh, Westchester County, New York, United States. The population was 5,293 at the 2010 census. It is a suburb of New York City.
History
Hartsdale, a CDP/hamlet/post-office in the town of Greenb ...
.
Gaetano Reina
Michael Russo
Michael "Mike Valentino" Russo (November 23, 1893 - March 1975) was a long-time soldier of the
Lucchese crime family New Jersey faction
The Lucchese crime family's New Jersey faction, also known as the Jersey Crew,Carlpg. 232-236/ref> is a powerful crew within the Lucchese crime family. The members operate throughout the Northern New Jersey area. During the 1970s into the late 198 ...
. During his younger days, Michael Russo reportedly work as an "enforcer". In the early 1920s, Russo was inducted into the
Newark
Newark most commonly refers to:
* Newark, New Jersey, city in the United States
* Newark Liberty International Airport, New Jersey; a major air hub in the New York metropolitan area
Newark may also refer to:
Places Canada
* Niagara-on-the ...
family of
Gaspare D'Amico Gaspare D'Amico (22 September 1886 – 1975) was a bootlegger and a powerful Mafia figure in New Jersey, US.
Biography
D'Amico was born in Villabate, Sicily. He and his brother immigrated to the United States prior to the arrival of their parents ...
, and during his time under this family, he attended the 1928 Cleveland Mafia meeting at the Hotel Statler as an official member. In 1933, he was one of the individuals arrested in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
in connection with the murder of John Bazzano, who was the boss of the
Pittsburgh crime family
The Pittsburgh crime family,CapeciChapter 5 "Mafia Families Poison the Northeast"/ref> also known as the LaRocca crime family''Organized Crime in Pennsylvania: Traditional and Non-Traditional''. Pennsylvania Crime Concession. April 15, 1988 or P ...
at the time. When the D'Amico family collapsed in 1937 with its
rackets
Racket may refer to:
* Racket (crime), a systematised element of organized crime
** Protection racket, a scheme whereby a group provides protection to businesses or other groups through violence outside the sanction of the law
* Racket (sports equ ...
being divided up by the Commission, Michael Russo joined the Lucchese crime family, presumably to serve under
Settimo Accardi
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, Aba ...
Mafia
"Mafia" is an informal term that is used to describe criminal organizations that bear a strong similarity to the original “Mafia”, the Sicilian Mafia and Italian Mafia. The central activity of such an organization would be the arbitration of d ...
members, Russo, already in semi-retirement, was listed as living at 105 Ridgely Avenue,
Iselin, New Jersey
Iselin is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) located within Woodbridge Township, in Middlesex County, New Jersey.assault
An assault is the act of committing physical harm or unwanted physical contact upon a person or, in some specific legal definitions, a threat or attempt to commit such an action. It is both a crime and a tort and, therefore, may result in crim ...
,
burglary
Burglary, also called breaking and entering and sometimes housebreaking, is the act of entering a building or other areas without permission, with the intention of committing a criminal offence. Usually that offence is theft, robbery or murder ...
homicide
Homicide occurs when a person kills another person. A homicide requires only a volitional act or omission that causes the death of another, and thus a homicide may result from accidental, reckless, or negligent acts even if there is no inten ...
,
embezzlement
Embezzlement is a crime that consists of withholding assets for the purpose of conversion of such assets, by one or more persons to whom the assets were entrusted, either to be held or to be used for specific purposes. Embezzlement is a type ...
. Some of Michael Russo's other associates were:
Vito Genovese
Vito Genovese (; November 21, 1897 – February 14, 1969) was an Italian-born American mobster who mainly operated in the United States. Genovese rose to power during Prohibition as an enforcer in the American Mafia. A long-time associate and ch ...
,
Joe Profaci
Giuseppe "Joe" Profaci (; October 2, 1897 – June 6, 1962) was an Italian-born New York City Cosa Nostra boss who was the founder of what became the Colombo crime family. Established in 1928, this was the last of the Five Families to be organi ...
, Joe Magliocco, Charles Tourine Sr., and former friends in the old Newark family: Andrew Lombardino and Emanuel Cammarata, by then both
Colombo
Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo me ...
members. Other aliases of Russo listed by the FBN were: Mike Fedesco, Mike Partiro, Max Sender.
Salvatore Santoro
Salvatore T. "Tom Mix" Santoro, Sr. (November 18, 1915 Bureau of Narcotics, Sam Giancana, The United States Treasury Department. ''Mafia: The Government’s Secret File on Organized Crime''. 2007 (pg. 626) /ref> – January 2000)Capeci, Jerry. "The complete idiot's guide to the Mafia. (pg. 251) /ref> served as
underboss
Underboss ( it, sottocapo) is a position within the leadership structure of certain organized crime groups, particularly in Sicilian, Greek, and Italian-American Mafia crime families. The underboss is second in command to the boss. The underbo ...
in the
Lucchese crime family
The Lucchese 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, in the United States, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as ...
during the 1980s before being convicted in the
Mafia Commission Trial
The Mafia Commission Trial (in full, ''United States v. Anthony Salerno, et al'') was a criminal trial before the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York in New York City, United States, that lasted from February 25, 19 ...
and sentenced to 100 years in federal prison.
He was born in
Leonia, New Jersey
Leonia is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States census, the borough's population was 8,937,Tom Mix
Thomas Edwin Mix (born Thomas Hezikiah Mix; January 6, 1880 – October 12, 1940) was an American film actor and the star of many early Western films between 1909 and 1935. He appeared in 291 films, all but nine of which were silent films. He w ...
" because in his younger years he closely resembled the
Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
-
German-American
German Americans (german: Deutschamerikaner, ) are Americans who have full or partial German ancestry. With an estimated size of approximately 43 million in 2019, German Americans are the largest of the self-reported ancestry groups by the Unite ...
western film actor by that name.
Santoro started working for the Gagliano crime family, forerunner of the Lucchese family, in the early 1930s. He served as an associate of future boss Tommy "Three-Finger Brown" Lucchese's ''107th Street gang'' Volkman, Ernest. "Gangbusters: The Destruction of America's Last Great Mafia Dynasty". (1998 (pg. 131) /ref> in operating
extortion
Extortion is the practice of obtaining benefit through coercion. In most jurisdictions it is likely to constitute a criminal offence; the bulk of this article deals with such cases. Robbery is the simplest and most common form of extortion, ...
,
loansharking
A loan shark is a person who offers loans at extremely high interest rates, has strict terms of collection upon failure, and generally operates outside the law.
Description
Because loan sharks operate mostly illegally, they cannot reasonably ...
,
narcotics
The term narcotic (, from ancient Greek ναρκῶ ''narkō'', "to make numb") originally referred medically to any psychoactive compound with numbing or paralyzing properties. In the United States, it has since become associated with opiates ...
and prostitution rings during the 1930s. He was
made
Made or MADE may refer to:
Entertainment Film
* ''Made'' (1972 film), United Kingdom
* ''Made'' (2001 film), United States Music
* ''Made'' (Big Bang album), 2016
* ''Made'' (Hawk Nelson album), 2013
* ''Made'' (Scarface album), 2007
*'' M.A.D.E. ...
sometime in the 1940s operating
drug trafficking
A drug is any chemical substance that causes a change in an organism's physiology or psychology when consumed. Drugs are typically distinguished from food and substances that provide nutritional support. Consumption of drugs can be via insuffla ...
and loansharking rings.
On July 6, 1942, Santoro received six months to two years in prison after pleading guilty to conspiring to import narcotics from Mexico.
In March 1951, Santoro was indicted on charges of conspiracy to import
opium
Opium (or poppy tears, scientific name: ''Lachryma papaveris'') is dried latex obtained from the seed capsules of the opium poppy ''Papaver somniferum''. Approximately 12 percent of opium is made up of the analgesic alkaloid morphine, which i ...
from
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
and convert it into
heroin
Heroin, also known as diacetylmorphine and diamorphine among other names, is a potent opioid mainly used as a recreational drug for its euphoric effects. Medical grade diamorphine is used as a pure hydrochloride salt. Various white and brow ...
. Santoro went into hiding and allegedly spent time in Europe before returning to
Oyster Bay, New York
The Town of Oyster Bay is the easternmost of the three towns which make up Nassau County, New York, United States. Part of the New York metropolitan area, it is the only town in Nassau County to extend from the North Shore to the South Shore o ...
. On September 24, 1951, he surrendered to federal authorities in New York City. On January 7, 1952, after pleading guilty to narcotics charges, a judge labeled Santoro as a "bad fellow" and sentenced him to four years in prison.
In 1951 or 1953, longtime boss
Tommy Gagliano
Thomas Gagliano (born Tommaso Gagliano; ; May 29, 1883 − February 16, 1951) was an Italian-American mobster and boss of what U.S. federal authorities would later designate as the Lucchese crime family, one of the "Five Families" of New York Ci ...
died. Underboss Tommy Lucchese took over what was now called the Lucchese crime family. Lucchese then promoted Santoro to capo of the family's powerful Bronx faction.
As capo Santoro operated out of
East Harlem
East Harlem, also known as Spanish Harlem or and historically known as Italian Harlem, is a neighborhood of Upper Manhattan, New York City, roughly encompassing the area north of the Upper East Side and bounded by 96th Street to the south, F ...
and
the Bronx
The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...
, controlling large heroin drug trafficking operations during the 1950s. In 1958 he was arrested and tried for narcotics charges. He was alleged to be a partner and associate of
Ellsworth Johnson
Ellsworth Raymond "Bumpy" Johnson (October 31, 1905 – July 7, 1968) was an American crime boss in the Harlem neighborhood of New York City.
Early life
Ellsworth Raymond "Bumpy" Johnson was born in Charleston, South Carolina, on October 31, 1905 ...
, although this never was confirmed. Santoro was convicted of all charges in 1959 and was given a twenty-year prison sentence.
When Santoro was released from prison in 1978 he took over as underboss, continuing to oversee the powerful Bronx faction of the family. He left the drug trade alone and instead took over the labor and construction racketeering operations for the family in New York City. Santoro gained a reputation as a labor racketeer and worked with ''
consigliere
Consigliere ( , ; plural ) is a position within the leadership structure of the Sicilian, Calabrian, and Italian-American Mafia. The word was popularized in English by the novel ''The Godfather'' (1969) and its film adaptation. In the novel, a c ...
''
Christopher Furnari
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, Ab ...
and other top capos in the family. He bought a home on City Island Avenue in
City Island, Bronx
City Island is a neighborhood in the northeastern Bronx in New York City, located on an island of the same name approximately long by wide. City Island is located at the extreme western end of Long Island Sound, south of Pelham Bay and east o ...
.
In the early 1980s,
Anthony Corallo
Anthony "Tony Ducks" Corallo (February 12, 1913 – August 23, 2000) was an American mobster and boss of the Lucchese crime family in New York City. Corallo exercised tremendous control over trucking and construction unions in New York.
Biograph ...
found a new way to discuss business without ever meeting his top underlings Santoro and Furnari. Corallo used his
Jaguar
The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large cat species and the only living member of the genus '' Panthera'' native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the largest cat species in the Americas and the th ...
with a phone inside and talked to mostly Santoro on the phone while he was driving around in New York with his chauffeur
Aniello Migliore
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, Ab ...
. This succeeded mostly because the noise of the old Jaguar was so loud that it was not possible to hear what Corallo and others were saying. However, after the Jaguar came with a new engine and new filter,
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, ...
agents planted a bug in it, and listened in to Corallo's conversations with Santoro, mostly about the profit from the labor and construction racketeering operations in the Bronx, where they extorted unions and had influence in the construction industry.
As US law enforcement undertook a concerted effort to crush
organized crime
Organized crime (or organised crime) is a category of transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally th ...
activities in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
during the mid-1980s, they put eleven top members of the
Five Families
The Five Families refers to five major New York City organized crime families of the Italian American Mafia formed in 1931 by Salvatore Maranzano following his victory in the Castellammarese War.
Maranzano reorganized the Italian American gangs ...
, including the entire leadership of the Lucchese crime family, Corallo, Santoro and consigliere Christopher "Christie Tick" Furnari, on trial, called the
Mafia Commission Trial
The Mafia Commission Trial (in full, ''United States v. Anthony Salerno, et al'') was a criminal trial before the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York in New York City, United States, that lasted from February 25, 19 ...
or the Commission Case. The defendants were arrested on February 25, 1985, on various charges, including labor racketeering, extortion, loansharking, illegal gambling and murder.
The trial began in September 1986. The charges also involved the execution of
Bonanno crime family
The Bonanno 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, and in the United States, as part of the criminal phenomenon known as the A ...
de facto boss
Carmine Galante
Carmine Galante (; February 21, 1910 – July 12, 1979) was an American mobster. Galante was rarely seen without a cigar hanging from is mouth, leading to the nickname "The Cigar" and "Lilo" (a Sicilian term for cigar). Galante had a long career ...
in 1979, allegedly on the orders of the Commission because they saw Galante as a potential rival who planned to take over all organized crime operations in the New York area.
On November 19, 1986, Santoro and the other defendants were convicted on all counts. On January 13, 1987, Santoro was sentenced to 100 years in prison and fined $250,000.
In January 2000, Santoro died at age 87 of natural causes at a medical center for federal prisoners. Corallo died months later in August 2000.
Patrick Testa
Patrick Louis "Patty" Testa (March 11, 1957 – December 2, 1992) was a soldier. Testa was the younger brother to
Joseph Testa
Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the mo ...
.
In 1984, he was indicted on fraud and theft charges, along with members of the Gambino family's DeMeo crew. Testa was sentenced to two years in prison and after his release joined the Lucchese crime family.
On December 2, 1992, Testa was murdered, shot in the back of the head nine times. It was later revealed that Anthony Casso had ordered Frank Lastorino to murder Testa.
Anthony Tortorello
Anthony "Torty" Tortorello was a former capo of the "Prince Street crew". In 1986, Tortorello was overheard by Genovese mobster asking why Vincent Gigante was upset by drug deals when Gigante himself profited from drug deals. When Gigante heard these statements he demanded Tortorello's death, but Anthony Casso was able to save his life by planning a phony beating of Tortorello to appease Gigante's demand.
In October 1991, Tortorello, along with Frank Lastorino, Anthony Baratta, Salvatore Avellino, Richard Pagliarulo, George Conte, Thomas Anzellotto and Frank Papagni, inducted (made) Joseph Tortorello, Thomas D'Ambrosia, Frank Gioia Jr., Gregory Cappello and Jody Calabrese into the crime family during a ceremony that was held in a
Howard Beach, Queens
Howard Beach is a neighborhood in the southwestern portion of the New York City borough of Queens. It is bordered to the north by the Belt Parkway and Conduit Avenue in Ozone Park, to the south by Jamaica Bay in Broad Channel, to the east by 1 ...
home. Tortorello sponsored his son Joseph "Torty Jr." during the ceremony. His son Joseph "Torty Jr." later went on to control a drug operation in lower Manhattan.
In 1996, Tortorello was arrested and charged with the murder and robbery of a Manhattan designer; he later took a plea deal and was sentenced to ten years in prison. In late 2000, Tortorello died in a Kentucky prison.
Carmine Tramunti
Dominic Truscello
Dominic "Crazy Dom" Truscello (April 29, 1934 – July 2018) was the capo of the "Prince Street Crew". In the 1990s, Truscello, along with
Steven Crea
Steven L. "Stevie" Crea (born July 18, 1947) is an American mobster and former underboss of the Lucchese crime family. In August 2020, he was sentenced to life imprisonment for murder and racketeering.
Lucchese crime family
Rise to power
Crea ...
and Joseph Tangorra, formed the "Lucchese Construction Group", supervising all the Lucchese family's construction-related rackets. On September 6, 2000, Truscello was indicted, along with acting boss Steven Crea, capo Joseph Tangorra, soldiers Joseph Datello, Philip DeSimone, Arthur Zambardi, Anthony Pezzullo, and Joseph Truncale, on labor racketeering, extortion, and bid-rigging charges. In September 2002, Truscello and Steven Crea were indicted on information supplied by Joseph Defede, who became a government witness in February. The indictment charged Truscello with extorting "Commercial Brick", a construction company. In October 2003, Truscello pled guilty to federal extortion charges. On January 9, 2006, Truscello was released from prison. On May 31, 2017, Truscello, along with Street Boss Matthew Madonna, Underboss Steven Crea Sr., Consigliere Joseph DiNapoli and other members of the family, were indicted and charged with racketeering, murder, narcotics (cocaine, heroin, marijuana, prescribed medication), and firearms offenses. Truscello died during the trial in July 2018.
Angelo Urgitano
Angelo "Cheesecake" Urgitano was a former capo of the "Harlem crew". His father Tommy Urgitano, received the nickname "Cheesecake", while walking in Pleasant Avenue he called up to a girl looking out a window and asked her for money to buy a cheesecake. Urgitano was raised between Pleasant Avenue and 114th Street, keeping his father's nickname "Cheesecake" and eventually became a made member in the Lucchese family. Urgitano became a powerful mobster operating from Pleasant Avenue and eventually became the caporegime of the Harlem crew. In the late 1990s, Michael Blutrich, the owner of Scores (a strip club franchise) became a government informant and identified Urgitano as a caporegime in the Lucchese family. His son Joseph "Joey Cupcakes" Urgitano was arrested for murder of a Colombo family associate.
Paul Vario
Past associate(s)
James Burke
Stephen Caracappa and Louis Eppolito
Michael DiCarlo
Michael "Mikey Muscles" DiCarlo (died May 16, 1978) was an associate from
Bensonhurst
Bensonhurst is a residential neighborhood in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bordered on the northwest by 14th Avenue, on the northeast by 60th Street, on the southeast by Avenue P and 22nd ...
, Brooklyn. A small-time associate of an unidentified Lucchese family ''caporegime'' in Brooklyn, DiCarlo was also named as a gay pimp in "The Rothstein Files", documents on the sex industry in Manhattan compiled by former
New York City Police Department
The New York City Police Department (NYPD), officially the City of New York Police Department, established on May 23, 1845, is the primary municipal law enforcement agency within the City of New York, the largest and one of the oldest in ...
(NYPD)
vice squad
A vice is a practice, behaviour, or habit generally considered immoral, sinful, criminal, rude, taboo, depraved, degrading, deviant or perverted in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refer to a fault, a negative character trai ...
detective Jim Rothstein in the 1970s.NYC Crime Spot x Manny Grossman.On location in Bayside,Queens & Flatlands Brooklyn.The Gemini Lounge NYC Crime Spot and Manny Grossman,
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
(November 4, 2021) A champion bodybuilder, he owned a gym in
Mill Basin
Mill Basin is a residential neighborhood in southeastern Brooklyn, New York City. It is on a peninsula abutting Jamaica Bay and is bordered by Avenue U on the northwest and the Mill Basin/Mill Island Inlet on its remaining sides. Mill Basin is ...
where he trained local young men and boys.
DiCarlo was ordered killed by his ''capo'' after molesting a boy whose family had connections to the Luccheses, and the murder contract was given to
Gambino 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 ...
soldier Roy DeMeo. On May 16, 1978, DiCarlo was shot, stabbed and beaten to death with a hammer, and also sodomized with a broomstick, before being dismembered by DeMeo, Henry Borelli, Edward Grillo, Joseph Guglielmo, Chris Rosenberg,
Anthony Senter
Anthony or Antony is a masculine given name, derived from the ''Antonii'', a ''gens'' ( Roman family name) to which Mark Antony (''Marcus Antonius'') belonged. According to Plutarch, the Antonii gens were Heracleidae, being descendants of Anton, ...
and
Joseph Testa
Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the mo ...
at an
afterhours club An afterhours club (''aka'' after hours club and afterhour club) is a nightclub that is open past the designated curfew closing time for clubs that serve alcohol (which is often an hour long). Such clubs may cease serving alcohol at the designated t ...
in Flatlands which was briefly operated by the DeMeo crew. His remains were disposed of in the
Fountain Avenue
Fountain Avenue is a north–south running street in Brooklyn, New York. Traffic on the avenue is bidirectional for most of its length.
Its north end is at the intersection of Atlantic Avenue and Conduit Avenue. The south end, previously a sw ...
landfill.
An associate of DiCarlo from
Canarsie
Canarsie ( ) is a mostly residential neighborhood in the southeastern portion of Brooklyn, New York City. Canarsie is bordered on the east by Fresh Creek Basin and East 108th Street; on the north by Linden Boulevard; on the west by Ralph Aven ...
, Scott Cafaro, was also murdered by the DeMeo crew in February or March 1979 when the crew was hired by a rape victim's father to kill Cafaro, who had been acquitted of the rape in court.
Beverly Hills
Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California. A notable and historic suburb of Greater Los Angeles, it is in a wealthy area immediately southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Bev ...
and was a narcotics dealer active in Los Angeles and the West Coast.
In 1980, Penosi, along with his cousin
Frank Piccolo
Frank Louis Piccolo also known as Frank Lanza (July 2, 1921 – September 19, 1981), was a ''caporegime'' in the Gambino crime family in Bridgeport, Connecticut who became involved in a famous extortion case with singer Wayne Newton.
Biograp ...
(a member of the Gambino crime family), stopped Genovese family mobsters from extorting his friend
Wayne Newton
Carson Wayne Newton (born April 3, 1942) is an American singer and actor. One of the most popular singers in the nation from the mid-to-late 20th-century, Newton remains one of the best-known entertainers in Las Vegas. He is known by the nicknam ...
. ( Wayne Newton v. NBC).
In June 1981, Penosi and Piccolo were charged with conspiring to extort money and 'valuable rights' from Newton and entertainer Lola Falana. The first trial resulted in a hung jury and the second trial in 1982 found Penosi not guilty on all charges.
Abraham Telvi
Abraham "Abe" Telvi (September 12, 1934 – July 28, 1956) was an associate of
Johnny Dio
Giovanni Ignazio Dioguardi (; April 29, 1914 – January 12, 1979), known as John "Johnny Dio" Dioguardi, was an Italian-American organized crime figure and a labor racketeer. He is known for being involved in the acid attack which led to the bli ...
.Sifakis, p.439 In 1956, Telvi was ordered by Dio to throw acid on New York journalist
Victor Riesel
Victor Riesel (; March 26, 1913 – January 4, 1995) was an American newspaper journalist and columnist who specialized in news related to labor unions. At the height of his career, his column on labor union issues was syndicated to 356 newspape ...
for making radio and television broadcasts about labor union corruption. In the morning of April 5, 1956, Telvi attacked Victor Riesel as he was leaving
Lindy's
Lindy's was two different deli and restaurant chains in Manhattan, New York City. The first chain, founded by Leo "Lindy" Lindemann, operated from 1921 to 1969.("Opening date was Aug. 20, 1921.") In 1979, the Riese Organization determined that th ...
, a
Broadway
Broadway may refer to:
Theatre
* Broadway Theatre (disambiguation)
* Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
** Broadway (Manhattan), the street
**Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...
restaurant, throwing sulfuric acid onto his face, leaving him permanently blind. In the attack, Telvi had burned himself badly on the right side of his face and neck with some of the acid that splashed on him. He was paid $1,175 in cash and began demanding more money from Dio.Sifakis, p.439 On July 28, 1956, Telvi was found dead on Mulberry Street with a bullet in his head.
Vincent Zito
Vincent Zito (December 18, 1940 – October 26, 2018) was a former associate to the Lucchese family. Zito had a criminal record and had been arrested in the past for loan sharking. His elder brother Anthony Zito, who had been arrested in 1971 for extortion, was also linked to the Lucchese family. On October 26, 2018, Zito was found murdered in his Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn home, after being shot twice in the head. On March 7, 2019, Anthony Pandrella a Gambino family associate was indicted for murdering Zito. The indictment claimed Anthony Pandrella a longtime friend of Zito murdered him and stole his loan sharking business.
Government informants and witnesses
Anthony Accetturo
Anthony Casso
Peter Chiodo
Peter "Fat Pete" Chiodo (1951–2016), was a former
caporegime
A caporegime or capodecina, usually shortened to capo or informally referred to as "captain" or "skipper", is a rank used in the Mafia (both the Sicilian Mafia and Italian-American Mafia) for a ''made member'' of an Italian crime family who head ...
in the Lucchese family before becoming a government witness. In 1987, Chiodo became a
made man
In the American and Sicilian Mafia, a made man is a fully initiated member of the Mafia. To become "made", an associate first must be Italian or of Italian descent and sponsored by another made man. An inductee will be required to take the oat ...
in the Lucchese family in a ceremony held in an apartment over a
funeral home
A funeral home, funeral parlor or mortuary, is a business that provides burial and funeral services for the dead and their families. These services may include a prepared wake and funeral, and the provision of a chapel for the funeral.
Services
...
in
Queens
Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...
. In 1989, Chiodo became a caporegime in charge of funneling payoffs from Local 580 of the Ironworkers' Union to the Lucchese leadership. He was known as "Fat Pete" because of his enormous girth– to , depending on the source.
In 1989, the Lucchese family began worrying about indictments from the Windows case. The Luccheses and three other New York families had participated in a window replacement scheme that stole millions of dollars from the
New York City Housing Authority
The New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) is a public development corporation which provides public housing in New York City, and is the largest public housing authority in North America. Created in 1934 as the first agency of its kind in the U ...
(NYCHA). Worried that construction union leader John Morrissey might testify for the prosecution, family leaders ordered Chiodo to lure Morrissey to New Jersey, where he was murdered.
In 1991, Chiodo was charged with violations of the
Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act
The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act is a United States federal law that provides for extended criminal penalties and a civil cause of action for acts performed as part of an ongoing criminal organization.
RICO was en ...
(RICO) in the Windows case. Chiodo realized that the government's case was so solid that he would likely die in prison if convicted. He decided to plead guilty in return for a lighter sentence.
However, Chiodo did not ask Lucchese official boss Vittorio "Vic" Amuso and official underboss
Anthony "Gaspipe" Casso
Anthony or Antony is a masculine given name, derived from the ''Antonii'', a '' gens'' ( Roman family name) to which Mark Antony (''Marcus Antonius'') belonged. According to Plutarch, the Antonii gens were Heracleidae, being descendants of Anton ...
for permission to take a plea. Amuso and Casso were both in hiding due to the Windows case. Suspecting Chiodo was about to turn informer, Amuso and Casso ordered him killed. Casso gave the contract to acting boss Alphonse 'Little Al' D'Arco. The order shocked D'Arco, who knew that Chiodo had been a close confidant of Casso for years.
On May 8, 1991, two shooters ambushed Chiodo at a gas station in
Staten Island
Staten Island ( ) is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located in the city's southwest portion, the borough is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull an ...
, where he was working on a car. Chiodo received 12 bullet wounds in the arms, legs, and torso, but survived the attack. Doctors credited Chiodo's massive girth for saving his life; none of the slugs penetrated a vital organ or artery."People Do Whatever They Feel Like" New York Magazine Jan 9, 1995 page 26 However, he suffered several abdominal wounds and a disabled right arm.
Chiodo had anticipated that he was in Amuso and Casso's bad books; he knew that Amuso and Casso had a habit of "marking guys rats and killing them". Just before the hit, he told D'Arco that he'd gotten word that "you and I are going to be killed and hurt".
Following the unsuccessful assassination attempt, Lucchese mobsters delivered a blunt threat to Chiodo's lawyer that they would kill Chiodo's wife if he testified, a violation of a longstanding Mafia rule against harming women. While Chiodo had turned down several offers to flip, the threat against his wife was the last straw. He opted to break his blood oath and become a government witness, by his own account, to protect his family. New York Times September 17, 1991 The government quickly brought Chiodo's immediate family into the federal
Witness Protection Program
Witness protection is security provided to a threatened person providing testimonial evidence to the justice system, including defendants and other clients, before, during, and after a trial, usually by police. While a witness may only require p ...
.
With the failure of his gunmen to murder Chiodo, D'Arco soon became afraid of the wrath of his bosses. After a 1991 meeting during which he feared being murdered, D'Arco went into hiding and soon became a government witness himself.
In September 1991, using a wheelchair due to his wounds, Chiodo testified in the Windows trial. Chiodo stated that he had undergone a "transformation" from a violent criminal to a man with a conscience. When asked what prompted this transformation, Chiodo replied "I was shot 12 times".
Chiodo's remaining family in
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
soon suffered retaliation from the Luccheses. On March 10, 1992, Lucchese associate Michael Spinelli shot Patricia Capozallo, Chiodo's sister, while she was driving in
Bensonhurst
Bensonhurst is a residential neighborhood in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bordered on the northwest by 14th Avenue, on the northeast by 60th Street, on the southeast by Avenue P and 22nd ...
. Capozallo suffered wounds to the arm, back and neck but survived. On February 2, 1993, the body of Frank Signorino, Chiodo's uncle, was found in the trunk of a car in
East New York
East New York is a residential neighborhood in the eastern section of the borough of Brooklyn in New York City, United States. Its boundaries, starting from the north and moving clockwise, are roughly the Cemetery Belt and the Queens borough lin ...
. The body displayed several gunshot wounds to the head.
Chiodo provided valuable evidence that helped convict both Amuso and Casso as well as many other gangsters. While testifying in different cities, the government had to fly Chiodo in a special plane due to his
morbid obesity
Obesity is a medical condition, sometimes considered a disease, in which excess body fat has accumulated to such an extent that it may negatively affect health. People are classified as obese when their body mass index (BMI)—a person's we ...
."Peter (Big Pete) Chiodo sentenced 17 years after arrest" New York Daily News September 11, 2007 In July 1997, Chido testified against
Genovese crime family
The Genovese crime family, () also sometimes referred to as the Westside, is an Italian-American Mafia crime family and one of the "Five Families" that dominate organized crime activities in New York City and New Jersey as part of the American M ...
boss
Vincent Gigante
Vincent Louis Gigante (; March 28, 1928 – December 19, 2005), also known as "The Chin", was an American mobster who was boss of the Genovese crime family in New York City from 1981 to 2005. Gigante started out as a professional boxer who fough ...
in another Windows-related racketeering trial.
On September 11, 2007, Chiodo was sentenced to 17 years in prison on racketeering charges. However, due to his testimony, Chiodo was to serve no time in prison and was placed in the Witness Protection Program. Peter Chiodo died in January 2016, aged 65, of natural causes.
Alphonse D'Arco
Joseph D'Arco
Joseph "Little Joe" D'Arco is a former soldier who is currently in
witness protection
Witness protection is security provided to a threatened person providing testimonial evidence to the justice system, including defendants and other clients, before, during, and after a trial, usually by police. While a witness may only require p ...
, as had his father, former acting boss
Alphonse D'Arco
Alphonse "Little Al" D'Arco (July 28, 1932 – March 28, 2019) was an American mobster who became the acting boss of the Lucchese crime family in New York City. He was the first boss, acting or otherwise, of a New York crime family to become a go ...
, until his death. In early 1990, Vic Amuso and Anthony Casso ordered D'Arco to kill Anthony DiLapi, a soldier who was in hiding. On February 4, 1990, he shot DiLapi to death in his
Hollywood, California
Hollywood is a neighborhood in the central region of Los Angeles, California. Its name has come to be a shorthand reference for the U.S. film industry and the people associated with it. Many notable film studios, such as Columbia Pictures, ...
apartment building's underground garage. In September 1991, D'Arco's father became a marked man (being targeted for death) and, fearing for his own life, surrendered to the F.B.I. and agreed to become a witness.
Joseph DeFede
Joseph "Little Joe" DeFede (1934 – July 15, 2012) was a former
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
mobster and acting boss of the
Lucchese crime family
The Lucchese 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, in the United States, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as ...
who eventually turned informant. Born in 1934, DeFede grew up in the
Queens
Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...
borough of New York City. In his early days, he operated a hot dog vendor truck in
Coney Island, Brooklyn
Coney Island is a peninsular neighborhood and entertainment area in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Brighton Beach and Manhattan Beach to its east, Lower New York Bay to the s ...
handball
Handball (also known as team handball, European handball or Olympic handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of throwing it into the g ...
partner of Lucchese leader Vittorio "Vic" Amuso, DeFede was inducted into the family in 1986 after Amuso became boss.
DeFede's rise and fall in the New York mob can all be attributed to Amuso. In 1994, Amuso was convicted of federal
racketeering
Racketeering is a type of organized crime in which the perpetrators set up a coercive, fraudulent, extortionary, or otherwise illegal coordinated scheme or operation (a "racket") to repeatedly or consistently collect a profit.
Originally and of ...
and murder charges and sent to prison for life. Amuso then named DeFede his acting boss to replace
Alphonse D'Arco
Alphonse "Little Al" D'Arco (July 28, 1932 – March 28, 2019) was an American mobster who became the acting boss of the Lucchese crime family in New York City. He was the first boss, acting or otherwise, of a New York crime family to become a go ...
with a weaker and more controllable man at the top, after Amuso began to suspect D'Arco of being a government witness against him.
On April 28, 1998, DeFede was indicted on nine counts of racketeering stemming from his supervision of the family rackets in New York's Garment District from 1991 to 1996. The prosecution claimed that the Lucchese family had been grossing $40,000 per month from Garment District businesses since the mid-1980s. In December 1998, DeFede pled guilty to the charges and received five years in prison.
During the late '90s, Amuso's relationship with DeFede began to sour. Suspecting that DeFede was hiding money from the family, Amuso replaced him as acting boss with
Steven Crea
Steven L. "Stevie" Crea (born July 18, 1947) is an American mobster and former underboss of the Lucchese crime family. In August 2020, he was sentenced to life imprisonment for murder and racketeering.
Lucchese crime family
Rise to power
Crea ...
, head of the family's powerful
Bronx
The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...
faction. Once Crea took over, family profits rose enormously. That was enough to convince Amuso that DeFede had been skimming profits; Amuso reportedly decided to have him murdered.
On February 5, 2002, DeFede was released from a
Lexington, Kentucky
Lexington is a city in Kentucky, United States that is the county seat of Fayette County, Kentucky, Fayette County. By population, it is the List of cities in Kentucky, second-largest city in Kentucky and List of United States cities by popul ...
prison medical center. Having heard of Amuso's plans to kill him, DeFede immediately became a government informant. DeFede provided details concerning the Garment District rackets and the protection rackets in
Howard Beach, Queens
Howard Beach is a neighborhood in the southwestern portion of the New York City borough of Queens. It is bordered to the north by the Belt Parkway and Conduit Avenue in Ozone Park, to the south by Jamaica Bay in Broad Channel, to the east by 1 ...
. He also provided information leading to the convictions of Crea,
Louis Daidone
Current members Ray Argentina
Ray Argentina is a soldier in the Brooklyn faction. His younger brother Peter Argentina is an associate in the family. In 1992, Argentina along with Louis Daidone, Alan Taglianetti and Robert Molinelli were found gu ...
, Dominic Truscello, Joseph Tangorra,
Anthony Baratta
Current members Ray Argentina
Ray Argentina is a soldier in the Brooklyn faction. His younger brother Peter Argentina is an associate in the family. In 1992, Argentina along with Louis Daidone, Alan Taglianetti and Robert Molinelli were found gui ...
, and a number of family captains, soldiers and associates. While testifying against
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 ...
boss
Peter Gotti
Peter Arthur Gotti (October 15, 1939 – February 25, 2021) was an American mobster. He was the boss of the Gambino crime family, part of the American Mafia, and the elder brother of the former Gambino boss John Gotti.
Early life
Gotti was born ...
, DeFede testified that he only earned $1,014,000, or approximately $250,000 per year, during his tenure as acting boss. DeFede also estimated that a low ranking family soldier would make on average $50,000 per year.
DeFede entered and left the
Witness Protection Program
Witness protection is security provided to a threatened person providing testimonial evidence to the justice system, including defendants and other clients, before, during, and after a trial, usually by police. While a witness may only require p ...
, moving to live in Florida under an assumed name. He and his wife reportedly lived on $30,000 a year and a modest annuity provided by the
U.S. Marshals Service
The United States Marshals Service (USMS) is a federal law enforcement agency in the United States. The USMS is a bureau within the U.S. Department of Justice, operating under the direction of the Attorney General, but serves as the enforcem ...
, their assets having been depleted by legal bills and the cost of creating new identities. On July 15, 2012, DeFede died from a heart attack.
Donald Frankos
Donald "Tony the Greek" George Frankos, (born November 10, 1938
Dannemora, New York
Dannemora is a town in Clinton County, New York, United States. The population was 4,898 at the 2010 census. The town is named after Dannemora, Sweden, an important iron-mining region.
The town of Dannemora contains a village also called Danne ...
), was a
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
-
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
contract killer
Contract killing is a form of murder or assassination in which one party hires another party to kill a targeted person or persons. It involves an illegal agreement which includes some form of payment, monetary or otherwise. Either party may b ...
and mob associate of the Lucchese family, who later became a government witness. His father George Argiri Frango left his home town of
Kardamyla
Kardamyla ( el, Καρδάμυλα) is a village and a former municipality on the island of Chios, North Aegean, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Chios, of which it is a municipal unit.
It is located in ...
on
Chios, Greece
Chios (; el, Χίος, Chíos , traditionally known as Scio in English) is the fifth largest Greek island, situated in the northern Aegean Sea. The island is separated from Turkey by the Chios Strait. Chios is notable for its exports of mastic ...
in 1905 as a crewman on a ship.Hoffman pp.49 George Frango married Irene, an immigrant from
and had three children: Georgia (1932), James (1935) and Donald (1938). In 1974, Frankos murdered Lucchese associate Richard Bilello.
In 1992, Frankos falsely claimed to author William Hoffman he took part in the murder of
Jimmy Hoffa
James Riddle Hoffa (born February 14, 1913 – disappeared July 30, 1975; declared dead July 30, 1982) was an American labor union leader who served as the president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) from 1957 until 1971.
F ...
, with a hit team consisting of him and
Irish-American
, image = Irish ancestry in the USA 2018; Where Irish eyes are Smiling.png
, image_caption = Irish Americans, % of population by state
, caption = Notable Irish Americans
, population =
36,115,472 (10.9%) alone ...
mobsters John Sullivan and
James Coonan
James Michael Coonan (born December 21, 1946), nicknamed "Jimmy C", is an Irish-American mobster and racketeer from Manhattan, New York who, from approximately 1977 to 1988, served as the boss of the Westies gang, an Irish mob group based in Hell ...
. According to Frankos's story, Hoffa was lured by his close friend Chuckie O'Brien to a house owned by Detroit mobster
Anthony Giacolone
Anthony “Tony Jack” Joseph Giacalone (January 9, 1919 – February 23, 2001), also known as Tony Jocks, was a Sicilian-American organized crime figure in Detroit. He served as a capo in the Detroit Partnership, and later as a street boss. In ...
. Once there, Hoffa was shot and killed by Coonan and Frankos using suppressed .22 pistols. Hoffa was then dismembered by Coonan, Sullivan, and Frankos. It has been asserted that he sealed the body in an oil drum and buried it underneath
Giants Stadium
Giants Stadium (sometimes referred to as Giants Stadium at the Meadowlands or The Swamp) was a stadium located in East Rutherford, New Jersey, in the Meadowlands Sports Complex. The venue was open from 1976 to 2010, and it primarily hosted sp ...
, however no evidence has ever been found to substantiate this claim. Author Jerry Capeci found these claims false because Frankos was in prison during Hoffa's disappearance.
Eugenio Giannini
Eugenio Giannini a former soldier who became an informant to the Bureau of Narcotics.Maas p.199-202 /ref> In 1942, Giannini was charged with heroin conspiracy and served fifteen months in prison. He moved to Europe in 1950, and began smuggling U.S. medical supplies into Italy. While in Italy he formed a connection to Charles Luciano and began informing on Luciano to the Bureau of Narcotics. Giannini was arrested on counterfeiting charges in Italy but the charges were dropped and he moved back to New York.
The Mafia in New York discovered that Giannini was an informer and ordered his murder. Genovese family capo Anthony "Tony Bender" Strollo gave the contract to Joseph Valachi. On September 20, 1952, Giannini's body was found on 107th Street shot to death. Valachi later revealed he recruited brothers Joseph and Pasquale Pagano and Fiore Siano to carry out the hit. They murdered Giannini near a gambling club run by Lucchese family soldier Paul Correale between Second Avenue and East 112th Street.
Frank Gioia Jr.
Frank "Spaghetti Man" Gioia Jr. (born August 10, 1967) is a former soldier who is currently in witness protection along with his father, former soldier Frank Gioia Sr. In 1991, Gioia Jr. was inducted into the Lucchese crime family in a ceremony held in Howard Beach, Queens. He was sponsored by George Conte, who was filling in for his real sponsor George Zappola. In June 1992, Gioia Jr. was arrested in Brooklyn on a gun charge. In 1993, Gioia Jr., along with George Zappola and Frank Papagni, plotted to have Steven Crea killed. In 1993, Gioia was arrested for trafficking heroin from Manhattan to Boston.
In 1994, Gioia found out that Frank Papagni planned to murder his father Frank Gioia Sr., prompting the son to become a government witness. After becoming a government witness, Gioia Jr. had testified against 60 defendants. Federal Prosecutor's credit Gioia Jr. with providing information and testimony against at least 70 mobsters in the Lucchese and Genovese crime families.
According to investigator Robert Anglen, a Phoenix, Arizona real estate developer, the individual known as Frank Capri is really former mob informant Frank Gioia Jr. Since 2015, Capri and his company have been accused in multiple lawsuits for failing to pay rent and contractors and misappropriating funds meant to pay for construction.
On February 5, 2020, Frank Capri and his mother Debbie Corvo were indicted on charges of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering in connection with the operation of various branded restaurant locations in Arizona and across the United States. The indictment charged Capri with the financial failure of Toby Keith and Rascal Flatts branded restaurants.
Henry Hill
Burton Kaplan
Burton Kaplan was an associate and government informant. During the 1980s Kaplan was the go-between for Lucchese crime family underboss
Anthony Casso
Anthony Salvatore Casso (May 21, 1942 – December 15, 2020), nicknamed "Gaspipe", was an American mobster and underboss of the Lucchese crime family. During his career in organized crime, Casso was regarded as a "homicidal maniac" in the Italia ...
and NYPD Detectives
Louis Eppolito and Stephen Caracappa
Stephen Caracappa and Louis Eppolito were former New York City Police Department (NYPD) detectives who worked on behalf of the Five Families of the American Mafia, principally the Lucchese and Gambino crime families, while they committed vari ...
. In 2006, Kaplan was released from federal custody and his remaining 18-year sentence for marijuana trafficking was dropped in return for cooperating in the case against Eppolito and Caracappa. In July 2009, Kaplan died from prostate cancer.
John Pennisi
John Pennisi is a former soldier who is currently in witness protection. In 2013, Pennisi was made into the Lucchese family in a secret initiation ceremony in a basement of a Staten Island home by acting boss Matthew Madonna and capo John Castellucci. Pennisi was a member of the Lucchese family's Brooklyn faction that operated from Tottenville, Staten Island. In October 2018, Pennisi started cooperating with the Federal Bureau of Investigation. In May 2019, government witness Pennisi testified in the trial against Eugene Castelle and revealed the current leadership of the crime family. Pennisi testified that in 2017, the Brooklyn faction of the family wrote a letter to imprisoned boss Vic Amuso complaining about how the power had shifted to the Bronx. According to Pennisi's testimony, imprisoned for life boss Vic Amuso sent a letter to Underboss Steven Crea which stated that Brooklyn based mobster Michael "Big Mike" DeSantis would take over as acting boss replacing the Bronx-based Matthew Madonna. The testimony from Pennisi stated that if the Bronx faction refused to step aside, imprisoned boss Amuso had approved of a hit list that included a captain and several members of the Bronx faction. During Pennisi's testimony, he revealed that the Lucchese family operates with a total of seven crews – two in The Bronx, two on Long Island, one in Manhattan, one in New Jersey and one in Brooklyn/Staten Island.
Dominick Petrilli
Dominick "The Gap" Petrilli was a former member. He got the nickname "The Gap" after losing two front teeth in a childhood fight. Petrilli met
Joseph Valachi
Joseph Michael Valachi (September 22, 1904 – April 3, 1971) was an American mobster in the Genovese crime family who is notable as the first member of the Italian-American Mafia to acknowledge its existence publicly in 1963. He is credited wit ...
in
Sing Sing
Sing Sing Correctional Facility, formerly Ossining Correctional Facility, is a maximum-security prison operated by the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision in the village of Ossining, New York. It is about north of ...
prison in
Ossining, New York
Ossining may refer to:
* Ossining (town), New York, a town in Westchester County, New York state
*Ossining (village), New York, a village in the town of Ossining
* Ossining High School, a comprehensive public high school in Ossining village
* Ossi ...
. In 1928, after Valachi was released from prison Petrilli introduced him to Girolama "Bobby Doyle" Santucci and Tom Gagliano. In 1942, Petrilli was convicted on narcotic charges and was deported to Italy.Maas p. 212-214 /ref> In November 1953, he reentered the U.S. and it was rumored he was working with the government. On December 9, 1953, he was murdered in a bar on East 183rd Street in the Bronx by three gunmen.
Thomas Ricciardi
Thomas "Tommy Boy" Ricciardi is a former soldier who is currently in witness protection. Both Thomas and his brother Daniel were associated with the Lucchese family's New Jersey faction before becoming government informants. Ricciardi was a member of Michael Taccetta's inner circle and controlled the group's illegal gambling operations.Rudolph p.308 /ref> In August 1988, Ricciardi, along with his brother Daniel and twenty other members of the New Jersey faction, were acquitted in a 21-month trial. On April 18, 1991, Ricciardi was indicted, along with Michael Taccetta,
Anthony Accetturo
Anthony "Tumac" Accetturo (born 1938) is a former caporegime and leader of the Lucchese crime family New Jersey faction, New Jersey faction of the Lucchese crime family, popularly called "The Jersey Crew."
Biography
Accetturo was born in 1938 i ...
, and Michael Perna, on corruption charges.Rudolph p.420-422 /ref> On August 13, 1993, they were all convicted of racketeering and both Thomas Ricciardi and Anthony Accetturo agreed to become government witnesses and testified against Taccetta and Perna. On September 6, 2001, Ricciardi was released from prison after serving 10 years, and is now currently in the witness protection program.
Vincent Salanardi
Vincent "Vinny Baldy" Salanardi is a former soldier of the Vario crew who became a government informant. In 2002, Salanardi was indicted along with consigliere Joseph Caridi, acting capo John "Johnny Sideburns" Cerrella and others. Salanardi reported to acting capo John "Johnny Sideburns" Cerrella and assisted in extorting the ''Hudson & McCoy Fish House'' restaurant in Freeport, Long Island. He began cooperating with the government, and continued to collect money from a loanshark debt and was dropped from the witness protection program. In March 2006, Salanardi was sentenced to 11 years and three months in prison. Salanardi was released from prison on October 29, 2012.
Frank Suppa
Frank "Goo Goo" Suppa is a former soldier who is currently in witness protection. Suppa was a soldier in the Lucchese family's New Jersey faction operating in Florida as Anthony Accetturo's right-hand man. In 1983, Suppa attended a sitdown along with Anthony Accetturo, Michael Taccetta, Thomas Ricciardi and Philadelphia crime family mobsters Jackie "the Nose" DiNorscio and Joseph Alonzo over DiNorscio joining the Lucchese family. In 1993, Suppa was indicted along with others on charges that they conspired to distribute up to 1,650 pounds of cocaine in the United States. In December 1996, Suppa, along with his son Anthony Suppa, Joseph Marino, David Deatherage and Steven Cassone, testified against Fabio Dicristifaro and Irving Schwartz in the case of the murder of Joseph Martino. In 1997, Dicristifaro and Schwartz received life sentences, based on the testimony of Suppa and other witnesses.
References
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