Nicholas "Little Nick" Corozzo (born March 17, 1940) is an American New York mobster who is 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
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 ...
.
Biography
Nicholas Corozzo was born at 1825 Pitkin Avenue in the
Brownsville neighborhood of Brooklyn. Nicholas Corozzo's first headquarters was located in a small candy store on the corner of Eastern Pkwy & Atlantic Ave. in the
Ocean Hill section of Brooklyn, known as "The Hill" to his crew members. He later opened a social club next to the candy store which became his new headquarters. Corozzo later moved his headquarters to the
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 ...
section of Brooklyn. Nicholas is the older brother of alleged reputed Gambino consigliere
Joseph "Jo Jo" Corozzo as well as twin brothers Blaise Corozzo, a Gambino soldier, and Anthony Corozzo who is an associate of the Gambino crime family. Anthony Corozzo is a longtime parishioner of Our Lady of Loreto Church located at the corner of Pacific St. & Sackman St. in
Brownsville, Brooklyn
Brownsville is a residential neighborhood in eastern Brooklyn in New York City. The neighborhood is generally bordered by Crown Heights to the northwest; Bedford–Stuyvesant and Cypress Hills to the north; East New York to the east; Canarsie ...
where he regularly attended Sunday mass. Anthony Corozzo along with his lifelong friend and Gambino crime family associate Dominick Mondelli aka Donny Mondelli, were well known for organizing neighborhood reunions and charitable events for the church for decades. Anthony died on April 17, 2020. Nicholas Corozzo is the uncle of Joseph Corozzo Jr, a high-profile New York
defense attorney
A criminal defense lawyer is a lawyer (mostly barristers) specializing in the defense of individuals and companies charged with criminal activity. Some criminal defense lawyers are privately retained, while others are employed by the various ...
. Nicholas' daughter, Bernadette, is married to Gambino associate Vincent Dragonetti.
Prior to Corozzo's incarceration, he lived in
Bellmore, Long Island In New York, The Bellmores collectively refers to:
* Bellmore, New York
Bellmore is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in Nassau County, New York, United States. The population according to the 2010 census was 16,218. Bellmore is locate ...
. He stands at 5′5" tall and weighs approximately 170 pounds.
Ruling Panel
During the early 1980s, Nicholas Corozzo was a bitter rival of Gambino captain
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 ...
. When Gotti became boss in 1985, he declined to promote Corozzo to captain. However, since Corozzo was such a good earner for the family, Gotti did not want to get rid of him. In turn, Corozzo professed loyalty to Gotti.
["Nicholas Corozzo: Gambino Capo Escapes Dragnet"](_blank)
AMV Case Files Fugitives It was only after Gotti went to prison in 1992 that Corozzo was finally promoted to
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 ...
, along with Gambino soldier
Leonard "Lenny" DiMaria. With Gotti in prison, Corozzo, DiMaria, and Nicholas' brother Joseph, now the alleged
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 ...
, formed a ruling panel that unofficially ran the Gambino family. In the mid 1990s, Corozzo was elevated to serve on the ruling panel.
["John Gotti - The Last Mafia Icon"](_blank)
Crime Library on truTV.com
In 1996, Corozzo allegedly ordered the murder of
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 ...
associate
Robert Arena. Arena had allegedly murdered
Anthony Placido, a member of Corozzo's crew, and had failed to return some stolen
marijuana
Cannabis, also known as marijuana among other names, is a psychoactive drug from the cannabis plant. Native to Central or South Asia, the cannabis plant has been used as a drug for both recreational and entheogenic purposes and in various tra ...
to a drug dealer. On June 26, 1996, the Gambino gunmen found Arena driving with Thomas Maranga, an Arena childhood acquaintance with no criminal connections, in the
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 ...
section of Brooklyn. After forcing Arena to stop the car, the gunmen shot and killed both men. However, till this day there is no concrete evidence that Corozzo ordered the murder of Robert Arena.
Florida arrest
![Nicholas Corozzo - Gambino](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/89/Nicholas_Corozzo_-_Gambino.jpg)
In December, 1996, Corozzo was indicted in
Miami, Florida
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 20 racketeering charges that included attempted murder,
arson
Arson is the crime of willfully and deliberately setting fire to or charring property. Although the act of arson typically involves buildings, the term can also refer to the intentional burning of other things, such as motor vehicles, wat ...
, 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 ...
. Corozzo was accused of running a loansharking business in
Deerfield Beach, Florida
Deerfield Beach is a city in Broward County, Florida, United States, just south of the Palm Beach County line. The city is named for the numerous deer that once roamed the area. As of the 2020 census, the population was 86,859. It is a principal ...
that charged 260% yearly interest on loans. Federal agents arrested Corozzo as he emerged from the surf at a beach in
Key Biscayne, Florida
Key Biscayne is an island town in Miami-Dade County, Florida. The population was 12,344 at the 2010 census.
Key Biscayne lies south of Miami Beach and east of Miami. The village is connected to Miami via the Rickenbacker Causeway, originally ...
. In August 1997, Corozzo pleaded guilty to racketeering charges in Florida and was sentenced to five to ten years in prison. Later that year, Corrozo again pleaded guilty 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 ...
to racketeering and bribing a jail guard.
While in federal prison, Corozzo shared a cell with Gambino associate
Joseph Vollaro
Joseph Vollaro, also known as "Joey V" and "Joe Andrews" (born 1966), is a Staten Island-based American trucking executive and Gambino crime family associate who is now a government informant and witness.
Vollaro did construction work and worked ...
, who was serving a drug conviction. After his release, Vollaro started paying tribute to Corozzo's crew on a trucking company he started. However, facing another drug conviction in 2004, Vollaro agreed to become a government informant and record his conversations with Corozzo.
After Corozzo's release from prison on June 10, 2004, it was expected he would again take over the Gambino crime family. However, due to increased law enforcement attention, he initially kept a low profile. The Gambinos were reportedly led by
Jackie D'Amico
John "Jackie" D'Amico (born July 11, 1937) is a New York City mobster and caporegime who served as street boss of the Gambino crime family from 2005 to 2011. "Street boss" had been the family's number one position ever since official Boss Peter G ...
until 2005. Corozzo kept his position as a Caporegime, despite health concerns and tight
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 ...
restrictions. In 2006, a new report stated that Nicholas Corozzo and D'Amico were the new bosses of the Gambino family, with
Arnold "Zeke" Squitieri as underboss and Joseph Corozzo as consigliere.
Indictment and prison
In February 2008, Corozzo was indicted twice, one for the federal
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. ...
and the other for the state Operation Touchback. The federal indictment was for the 1996 Arena and Maranga murders and other racketeering charges, with Vollaro as their main witness. The state indictment, prosecuted by Queens County District Attorney Richard A. Brown, Organized Crime and Rackets Bureau Chief Gerard A. Assistant District Attorney Benjamin J. Mantell, included the top count of enterprise corruption surrounding a Queens-based gambling ring that grossed almost $10 million over two years from
sports betting
Sports betting is the activity of predicting sports results and placing a wager on the outcome. The frequency of sports bet upon varies by culture, with the vast majority of bets being placed on association football, American football, basket ...
.
Amid a roundup of 62 mobsters named in an indictment, Corozzo had fled his Long Island home.
The FBI searched intensively for Corozzo and the television program ''
America's Most Wanted
''America's Most Wanted'' (often abbreviated as ''AMW'') is an American television program whose first run was produced by 20th Television, and second run is under the Fox Alternative Entertainment division of Fox Corporation. At the time of i ...
'' did a feature on him. On May 29, 2008, after four months as a fugitive, Corozzo walked into the FBI's New York City office and surrendered.
[
In July 2008, Corozzo pleaded guilty to the state enterprise corruption charges.] On April 17, 2009, Corozzo was sentenced to 13 and a half years in federal prison for the 1996 Arena and Maranga murders.
Corozzo was originally incarcerated at the United States Penitentiary, Leavenworth
The United States Penitentiary, Leavenworth (USP Leavenworth) is a medium security U.S. penitentiary with an adjacent minimum security satellite camp in northeast Kansas. It is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a division of the Unite ...
, a medium security facility in Leavenworth, Kansas
Leavenworth () is the county seat and largest city of Leavenworth County, Kansas, United States and is part of the Kansas City metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 37,351. It is located on the west bank of t ...
, but was later moved to the Federal Correctional Complex, Florence, a high security facility in Florence, Colorado
The City of Florence is a Statutory City located in Fremont County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 3,822 at the 2020 United States Census. Florence is a part of the Cañon City, CO Micropolitan Statistical Area and the Front ...
. As of March 2015, he was incarcerated at the Federal Correctional Institution, Loretto
The Federal Correctional Institution, Loretto (FCI Loretto) is a low-security United States federal prison for male inmates in Pennsylvania. An adjacent satellite prison camp houses minimum-security male offenders. It is operated by the Federal Bu ...
, a low security facility in Loretto, Pennsylvania
Loretto is a borough in Cambria County, Pennsylvania, Cambria County, Pennsylvania. As of the 2010 United States census, 2010 census it had a population of 1,302. Like the rest of Cambria County, it is part of the Johnstown, Pennsylvania Metropoli ...
. As of March 2018, Corozzo was imprisoned at the low security Federal Correctional Institution, Allenwood Low
The Federal Correctional Institution, Allenwood Low (FCI Allenwood Low) is a low-security United States federal prison for male inmates in Gregg Township, Union County, Pennsylvania. It is part of the Allenwood Federal Correctional Complex (FCC A ...
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 March 2, 2020, but he was released early on November 29, 2019.Bureau of Prisons Inmate Locator
/ref>
References
Further reading
*Capeci, Jerry. ''The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Mafia''. Indianapolis: Alpha Books, 2002.
*Raab, Selwyn. ''Five Families: The Rise, Decline, and Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empires''. New York: St. Martin Press, 2005.
*United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Governmental Affairs. Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. ''Organized Crime: 25 Years After Valachi: Hearings Before the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations of the Committee on Governmental Affairs''. 1988
External links
Wanted: One boss for notorious crime family
by Tom Troncone
The One that Got Away... Caught! - WCBS 880
{{DEFAULTSORT:Corozzo, Nicholas
1940 births
People from Brownsville, Brooklyn
Acting bosses of the Five Families
American prisoners and detainees
Bosses of the Gambino crime family
Gambino crime family
American gangsters of Italian descent
Living people
American crime bosses
Inmates of ADX Florence
People from Bellmore, New York
People convicted of racketeering
People convicted of corruption