Philip Abramo (born 1945), also known as "The King of Wall Street" and "Lou Metzer", is a

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 he ...

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 Delaware ...

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 ...

who was allegedly involved in security fraud and murder. He is the capo of the DeCavalcante family's crew 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 ...

, United States.

Early years

Born in New York, Abramo graduated from

Cardinal Hayes High School Cardinal Hayes High School is an American Catholic high school for boys in the Concourse Village neighborhood of the Bronx, New York City, New York. The school serves the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York. It is a member of the Catholic H ...

in 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 ...

. One of the few

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 ...

mobsters to attend college, he graduated from

Pace University Pace University is a private university with its main campus in New York City and secondary campuses in Westchester County, New York. It was established in 1906 by the brothers Homer St. Clair Pace and Charles A. Pace as a business school. Pace ...

with a degree in

accounting Accounting, also known as accountancy, is the measurement, processing, and communication of financial and non financial information about economic entities such as businesses and corporations. Accounting, which has been called the "languag ...

. In 1971, he was convicted of possessing stolen property. In 1973, he was convicted of conspiracy to distribute heroin and sentenced to seven years in federal prison.

White collar crime

At some point, Abramo joined the DeCavalcante family and eventually 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 oa ...

, or full member, of the family. He became involved in

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 ...

, and

microcap stock fraud In business and investing, term microcap stock (also micro-cap) refers to the stock of public companies in the United States which have a market capitalization of roughly $50 million to $300 million. The shares of companies with a market capitali ...

schemes. Abramo was the hidden control person behind Sovereign, a prominent

microcap In business and investing, term microcap stock (also micro-cap) refers to the stock of public companies in the United States which have a market capitalization of roughly $50 million to $300 million. The shares of companies with a market capitali ...

stock company and its sister trading firm, Falcon Trading. He also controlled two penny stock firms, Toluca Pacific Securities and Greenway Capital. He allegedly controlled other

small-cap Market capitalization, sometimes referred to as market cap, is the total value of a publicly traded company's outstanding common shares owned by stockholders. Market capitalization is equal to the market price per common share multiplied by ...

stock dealers through brokers and traders owing allegiance to him.

Murder

In addition to

white collar crime The term "white-collar crime" refers to financially motivated, nonviolent or non-directly violent crime committed by individuals, businesses and government professionals. It was first defined by the sociologist Edwin Sutherland in 1939 as "a ...

, Abramo also allegedly committed murder. In 1989, he and other DeCavalcante family members allegedly murdered Frederick Weiss, a recycling executive and former city editor of the '' Staten Island Advance'' newspapers. The murder was a favor to Gambino crime family boss John Gotti, who feared that Weiss was cooperating with the

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) on a waste company investigation. In 1992, Abramo allegedly participated in the killing of DeCavalcante boss

John D'Amato John "Johnny Boy" D'Amato (died January 1992) was a New Jersey mobster and former acting boss of the DeCavalcante crime family. After being recruited by Gambino crime family boss John Gotti to take over the family, he was suspected of engaging ...

, suspected of homosexual acts. As Abramo's status rose in the DeCavalcante family, he frequently served as a liaison between the DeCavalcantes and the five crime families of New York. The FBI identified him as a frequent visitor to Gotti prior to his imprisonment in 1992. Abramo is also the brother-in-law of

Alan Longo Alan Longo (born April 2, 1950) also known as Baldie is an American mobster and a former caporegime in the Genovese crime family. Stock scams Longo ran his Brooklyn rackets out of a social club in the Carroll Gardens section of Brooklyn. During ...

, a member of the

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 ...

Conviction and prison

In 1994, Abramo was indicted in New Jersey for allegedly swindling 300 people nationwide out of $1 million by selling them fraudulent lines of credit. In October 2000, he was indicted on charges of racketeering, conspiracy to murder, and

securities fraud Securities fraud, also known as stock fraud and investment fraud, is a deceptive practice in the stock or commodities markets that induces investors to make purchase or sale decisions on the basis of false information, frequently resulting in lo ...

. During his trial, he made the following statement: On July 4, 2003, Abramo was convicted of five murders, including those of D'Amato and Weiss, as well as racketeering and loan sharking charges. In 2006, he was sentenced to life in prison. In September 2008, a federal appeals court reversed his racketeering conviction and ordered a new trial. According to the

Federal 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 ...

, Abramo was released on January 21, 2018.

References

External links

Testimony Concerning The Involvement of Organized Crime on Wall Street
by Richard H. Walker (September 13, 2000)

by William K. Rashbaum (October 20, 2000)

, United States District Court of Southern District of New York
DeCavalcante Verdict
By JOHN ELIGON {{DEFAULTSORT:Abramo, Philip 1945 births Living people American gangsters of Italian descent Gangsters from New York City Criminals from the Bronx DeCavalcante crime family American people convicted of murder People convicted of racketeering Gangsters sentenced to life imprisonment Pace University alumni