Giovanni "John" Gambino (; August 22, 1940 – November 16, 2017) was an Italian-born American mobster. Born in
Palermo
Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The city is noted for its ...
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 th ...
Together with his younger brothers Rosario (Sal) and Giuseppe (Joseph) he formed a faction in the crime family known as the Cherry Hill Gambinos for their base of operation in the
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 Delawa ...
town of that name. Although they were distant cousins of family boss
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 ...
, they did not owe him allegiance. They were Sicilian Mafiosi, men from Palermo, whose father had brought the family to New York in 1964. The Gambino brothers ran the Cafe Valentino on 18th Avenue in Bensonhurst,
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 ...
(later renamed as Cafe Giardino).Sterling, ''Octopus'', p. 107
The Gambinos hailed from the Passo di Rigano neighbourhood in Palermo, just as the Inzerillo clan, headed by Salvatore Inzerillo. Together the Inzerillo-Gambino Mafia clan formed a transatlantic Mafia family, based in Palermo and New York. The Inzerillo clan had been on the verge of total extermination by Totò Riina and the Corleonesi during the Second Mafia War in Sicily when in 1981 the family boss Salvatore Inzerillo was killed. With the intervention of the Gambino crime family in New York, a deal was worked out that allowed the surviving Inzerillos to take refuge in the US, with the agreement that none of them, or their offspring, could ever return to Sicily.Changes in Mafia Leadership Reveal New Links to US-Based La Cosa Nostra DNI Open Source Center, November 19, 2007 Many went to the New York area and joined forces with the Gambino family. They were dubbed "gli scappati" (the escapees). Time Magazine, November 5, 2007
Heroin trafficking
Despite a ban on drug dealing, the Gambino's were heavily involved in international heroin trafficking out of Bensonhurst.Davis, ''Mafia Dynasty'', p. 219 John Gambino was the converging point in the United States for a consortium of
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 bro ...
traffickers of the Sicilian Mafia, composed of the Inzerillo family and Stefano Bontade, and the final destination for its shipments of heroin that was refined in laboratories in Sicily from Turkish
morphine
Morphine is a strong opiate that is found naturally in opium, a dark brown resin in poppies ('' Papaver somniferum''). It is mainly used as a pain medication, and is also commonly used recreationally, or to make other illicit opioids. T ...
base. His relative Salvatore Inzerillo was the Gambino brothers’ principal interlocutor, the central personage in Sicily, with myriads interests and heavy capital investments.Sterling, ''Octopus'', pp. 199-200Giovanni Falcone, the investigating magistrate who was assigned the investigation into heroin trafficking case in 1980, estimated that by the late 1970s the Inzerillo-Gambino-Spatola network was smuggling US$600 million worth of heroin into the US each year.Shawcross & Young, ''Men Of Honour'', pp. 77-78
Money laundering
Gambino had close relationship with the Italian banker
Michele Sindona
Michele Sindona (; 8 May 1920 – 22 March 1986) was an Italian banker and convicted felon. Known in banking circles as "The Shark", Sindona was a member of Propaganda Due (#0501), a secret lodge of Italian Freemasonry, and had clear connect ...
. They dined often and openly at the luxurious Hotel Pierre on Fifth Avenue or the Gambino’s Café Valentino. Gambino was a frequent guest at New York dinner parties in Sindona’s honour. When Sindona got in trouble and was indicted for the bankruptcy of the
Franklin National Bank
Franklin National Bank, based in Franklin Square on Long Island, New York was once the United States' 20th largest bank. On October 8, 1974, it collapsed in obscure circumstances, involving Michele Sindona, renowned Mafia-banker and member ...
, John Gambino procured a false passport and helped to stage a bogus kidnap in August 1979, to conceal a mysterious 11-week trip to Sicily before his scheduled fraud trial.Sterling, ''Octopus'', pp. 190-202
However, Sindona also had put the Mafia’s heroin money at risk, due to his financial malpractice. The real purpose of the kidnapping was to issue sparsely disguised blackmail notes to Sindona’s past political allies – among them Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti – to engineer the rescue of his banks and recuperate Cosa Nostra’s money. Gambino accompanied Sindona’s attempt to recover the money, but the plans failed and Sindona was arrested, leading to the indictment of the Inzerillo-Spatola-Gambino network. It remains unclear if any of the Mafia money Sindona had lost was recovered.
Indicted in 1980 in relation with the heroin trafficking network, he was convicted and sentenced to six-and-a-half years jail sentence for heroin trafficking in Palermo (the sentence '' in absentia'' was confirmed by Italy’s Supreme Court in 1985). However, Gambino remained free because the US did not agree with Italian requests for extradition.Sterling, ''Octopus'', pp. 304-07 John and Joe Gambino were acquitted in a 1984 New Jersey drug case in which their brother, Rosario, was convicted and sentenced to 45 years in prison.Dozens Are Seized in New U.S.-Italian Drug Sweep The New York Times, December 2, 1988
Operation Iron Tower
On December 1, 1988, Italian and US law enforcement cracked down on the Gambino-Inzerillo network again with Operation Iron Tower. Italian and federal prosecutors indicted some 200 defendants in Italy and the US on drug trafficking charges. Among the arrestees was Joe Gambino, the owner of Cafe Giardino. A crowd of about 100 had gathered at the cafe to hear a newly arrived Italian singer. Federal agents moved in as the entertainment ended with one agent coming to the mike and saying, in effect, "This is your last dance." Some of the partygoers thought it was a joke and laughed, while a few tried to run but were caught. John Gambino wasn't charged – the FBI couldn't gather enough evidence against him – but was described in the court affidavit as the current leader of the "Brooklyn-based Sicilian faction of the Gambino family."
The brothers were released after initial indictments in 1988 and 1989. The New York Times, September 4, 1992 John Gambino was arrested on January 4, 1990. He later was charged in a superseding indictment with narcotics and racketeering violations. On January 5, 1990, he was released on a US$2 million personal recognizance bond signed by his wife Vittoria Gambino and his son Tommy Gambino.United States of America v. John Gambino United States Court of Appeals, Second Circuit. - 17 F.3d 572, February 24, 1994
Due to testimonies of Mafia turncoats such as Sammy Gravano of the New York Gambino crime family and Francesco Marino Mannoia, an Italian pentito who had become a government witness, Joe and John Gambino and six other defendants – including Francesco Inzerillo – were indicted on charges that they smuggled and distributed drugs, operated a number of organized-crime enterprises and took part in the 1988 murder of Francesco Oliveri. However, the brothers failed to appear at their arraignment on September 1, 1992, at the Federal District Court in Manhattan, forfeiting US$5 million bail.Gambinos Miss Court Date, Forfeiting $5 Million The New York Times, September 3, 1992 Electronic monitoring bracelets intended to keep track of them had been removed with the approval of the Government in July that year.
Arrest and trial
On September 17, 1992, they were arrested in a secluded motel suite in
Fort Lauderdale
A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facer ...
, South Florida, where they were said to have associates who would help them flee to
Venezuela
Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...
, where they owned an interest in a ranch. They were returned to Manhattan for trial.2 Gambinos Are Seized In Florida The New York Times, September 22, 1992
In February 1993, the trial against John and Joe Gambino, and their associates
Lorenzo Mannino
Lorenzo "Lore" Mannino (born 1959) is according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation a powerful caporegime in the Gambino crime family.
In 1994, Mannino pleaded guilty to drug trafficking and conspiring to murder Francesco Oliveri in 1988, a ...
and Matteo Romano, started. The prosecution portrayed them as the main distributors of heroin smuggled from Italy and
South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sou ...
to
Miami
Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...
and New York by the Sicilian Mafia, while the defense countered that the central drug and murder charges in the case were based on the uncorroborated testimony of Marino Mannoia and Gravano, whom the defense depicted as "killers and liars". The trial ended in mistrial in June 1993 when a jury was unable to reach a verdict on charges of racketeering, drug trafficking and murder.
Marino Mannoia was admitted into the Witness Protection Program in the United States (Italy had no such programme at the time). He testified he had met with John Gambino personally, who had inspected the quality of the heroin Marino Mannoia was refining in Palermo. His testimony finally induced the Gambinos to plead guilty to drug trafficking in an arrangement with prosecution.Stille, ''Excellent Cadavers'', p. 304
Guilty plea
In June 1994, after prosecutors recommended 15-year sentences without parole, the men agreed to plead guilty to the racketeering charges stemming from activity that took place from 1975 to 1992.3 Mob Figures Draw 15-Year Terms in Drug Case The New York Times, June 15, 1994 The New York Times, January 7, 1994
The pentito
Gaspare Mutolo Gaspare Mutolo (Palermo, February 5, 1940) is a Sicilian mafioso, also known as "Asparino".Cuntrera-Caruana Mafia clan received half of the load, while John Gambino took possession of the other 200 kilograms. The shipments were financed by a
consortium
A consortium (plural: consortia) is an association of two or more individuals, companies, organizations or governments (or any combination of these entities) with the objective of participating in a common activity or pooling their resources ...
of Sicilian Mafia clans, who had organized a pool to provide the money to buy the merchandise from Thai suppliers.The Rothschilds of the Mafia on Aruba by Tom Blickman, Transnational Organized Crime, Vol. 3, No. 2, Summer 1997.
Release
In prison Gambino survived a stroke, heart attacks, and open-heart surgery. Sitting in a wheelchair, he was released in October 2005, but was later arrested to face an extradition request by Italy.Prison term ended, a member of crime family faces new charges The Boston Globe, October 15, 2005 He was released on bail. In September 2006, he was freed when a federal judge overruled a decision that would have extradited him to Italy to face drug charges. The judge ruled that Gambino had already served a 15-year sentence in the US for drug trafficking and murder and could not be tried again for the same charges in Italy.Reputed mobster freed from prison The Boston Globe, September 12, 2006
According to court papers filed in
Brooklyn Federal Court
The United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York (in case citations, E.D.N.Y.) is the federal district court whose territorial jurisdiction spans five counties in New York State: the four Long Island counties of Nassau, ...
, John Gambino was one of a three-man panel that ran the Gambino family, jointly with
Daniel Marino Daniel Marino (born October 7, 1940) is an Italian American mobster and member of the Gambino crime family. He was identified as a member of the family's leadership panel, alongside John Gambino and Bartolomeo Vernace, in 2009.
On June 23, 1963, ...
and Bartolomeo ''"Bobby"'' Vernace after
Operation Old Bridge
Operation Old Bridge is the code name for the February 7, 2008 arrests in Italy and the United States that targeted the Gambino crime family; among the indicted were the reputed acting bosses Jackie D'Amico, Nicholas Corozzo and Joseph Corozzo. ...
in February 2008 decapitated the leadership. They oversaw a slimmed-down criminal gang of 200 made men active in drug trafficking, extortion and loansharking, according to the FBI. He was a high-ranking member of the family along with his wife's nephew Frank Cali.It's A Mob Family Circus , The New York Post, March 8, 2009 On November 16, 2017, Gambino died of natural causes in New York.