Gaetano "Corky" Vastola (born May 20, 1928) is a New Jersey mobster who became a

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

in the DeCavalcante crime family in New Jersey.

Record mogul

In 1946, Vastola was arrested for burglary in New York City. He was convicted and received a suspended sentence and probation because he was a youthful offender. In his early years, Vastola was a concert promoter for singers Ray Charles and

Aretha Franklin Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Referred to as the " Queen of Soul", she has twice been placed ninth in ''Rolling Stone''s "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". With ...

, and a golf partner with actor/singer Sammy Davis Jr. A part owner of Roulette Records, Vastola was the listed songwriter on several

doo-wop Doo-wop (also spelled doowop and doo wop) is a genre of rhythm and blues music that originated in African-American communities during the 1940s, mainly in the large cities of the United States, including New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Chica ...

hits from the 1950s and 1960s, including The Valentines song " Lily Maebelle",

The Cleftones The Cleftones were an American vocal group formed in 1955, who were then called The Silvertones at Junior High School 40 in Jamaica, Queens, New York City. Formation In 1955, the members of the group were high school students attending Jamaica H ...

song " You Baby You", and The Wrens song "Hey Girl". During this period, Vastola also engaged in the counterfeiting of music records, netting him a $500,000 profit. In 1960, Vastola was convicted of trademark offenses and received a one-year suspended sentence. The

Internal Revenue Service The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service for the United States federal government, which is responsible for collecting U.S. federal taxes and administering the Internal Revenue Code, the main body of the federal statutory ta ...

(IRS) also fined Vastola $215 for not reporting his illegal income.

Criminal activities

In 1965 Vastola was arrested for a burglary and larceny. In 1969, Vastola and mobster Daniel "Danny" Annunziata had demanded a $20,000 extortion payment from the operators of an illegal dice game in

Trevose, Pennsylvania Trevose, also known as the TVO(tee,vee,oh) is a census-designated place within Lower Southampton Township, Pennsylvania. Trevose is located within both Bensalem and Lower Southampton townships in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, which is north of a ...

. The operators appealed the demand to DeCavalcante boss Sam DeCavalcante, who allegedly reduced the demand to $12,000 plus a negotiating fee of $3,800. In March 1972, Vastola was convicted of extorting the dice game operators and was sentenced to 30 months in prison. Vastola's conviction was later overturned. By 1980, Vastola had become a

for the family, leading a crew of mobsters in Union County, New Jersey. Vastola had a close working relationship with Jimmy Rotondo, head of the New York Wing of the family, based predominantly in Brooklyn (until the latter's death).

Plot for Vastola's murder

In 1987, Vastola was sent to jail for assaulting a record company executive who balked at his extortion demands. While housed at the Metropolitan Correction Facility in Manhattan. Vastola shared a cell with

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

John Gotti John Joseph Gotti Jr.Capeci, Mustain (1996), pp. 25–26 (, ; October 27, 1940 – June 10, 2002) was an American gangster and boss of the Gambino crime family in New York City. He ordered and helped to orchestrate the murder of Gambino boss ...

. After spending time with Vastola, Gotti became convinced that Vastola would become a government witness rather than spend time in prison. When Gotti was released, he pressured current DeCavalcante boss John Riggi to agree to Vastola's murder. In 1992, Federal prosecutors charged Gotti, in this new racketeering case, with five murders, including conspiracy to murder Vastola, loansharking, illegal gambling, obstruction of justice,

bribery Bribery is the Offer and acceptance, offering, Gift, giving, Offer and acceptance, receiving, or Solicitation, soliciting of any item of value to influence the actions of an official, or other person, in charge of a public or legal duty. With reg ...

and tax evasion.

Prison and release

On May 3, 1988, Vastola was convicted of extortion and two counts of racketeering conspiracies and was sentenced to 20 years in prison. In late 1990, Vastola lost his final appeal and was sent to prison. In May 1998, Vastola was released from prison.

References

External links

New York Times: New Indictment Cites Talk of Killing Gravano Family
By JOSEPH F. SULLIVAN
A Tale of Two Tapes
by Paul Hoffman

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vastola, Gaetano 1928 births American gangsters of Italian descent DeCavalcante crime family Mafia extortionists People convicted of racketeering Living people