Richard Boiardo
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Ruggiero Boiardo (December 8, 1890 – October 29, 1984) was an Italian-American mobster in the New Jersey faction of the Genovese crime family.


Early life

Boiardo was born on December 8, 1890, in
Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...
, and was raised in the town of Marigliano. He was placed in an orphanage as a child. He later claimed that he was the illegitimate son of an Italian nobleman who was a descendant of Matteo Maria Boiardo. Boiardo later became known as "The Boot", a nickname which he developed in his youth, had been said to have derived from the heavy footed way he disposed of his gangland foes.


Criminal career

In the early 1930s, Boiardo was ambushed and seriously wounded with 12
buckshot A shotgun shell, shotshell or simply shell is a type of rimmed, cylindrical (straight-walled) cartridges used specifically in shotguns, and is typically loaded with numerous small, pellet-like spherical sub-projectiles called shot, fired throu ...
pellet wounds. He survived. At the time, the press suspected
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 org ...
was responsible, but later evidence pointed to the members of another rival gang led by the Mazzocchi brothers, whom the Boot subsequently had murdered. "None of Ritchie's gang is above suspicion of planning the murder of their leader," the ''Newark Evening News'' reported. "There are also said to be men who would like to see Ritchie out of the way because of certain women who favored him with their regard." Other likely suspects included the Mazzocchi brothers, Willie Moretti, and even his close friend Al Capone. The number-one suspect, however, was Abner “Longy” Zwillman, a man sometimes referred to as "gangster number two". When the Boot's thirty-eight-caliber revolver fell to the hospital floor, after the attempt on his life, prosecutors had a case against him. It was an unusual one that appeared to be putting the victim of a crime on trial, rather than the perpetrators. The men who tried to assassinate the Boot were never found, at least by the authorities. The police were convinced the Boot knew who was behind the shooting. In his hospital room they gave the seriously wounded gangster descriptions of the men who had allegedly shot at him, but the Boot shrugged and said he didn't know. In the 1930s, Boiardo 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 ...
, or full member of the
Luciano 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 ...
established by Lucky Luciano. In 1957, this family became the
Genovese family The Genovese crime family, () also sometimes referred to as the Westside, is an Italian-American Italian-American Mafia, Mafia crime family and one of the "Five Families" that dominate organized crime activities in New York City and New Jersey as ...
under boss
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 ...
. With Abe Zwillman's death in 1959, Boiardo became the undisputed mob boss of Newark, who also owned residences in
Havana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.
,
Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...
and Florida, where he had major gambling interests. In April 1969, Richie Boiardo was convicted of conspiracy to violate gambling laws. Accordingly, he was sentenced to two-and-a-half to three years in State Prison and fined $1,000. He was incarcerated on November 18, 1970 at the New Jersey State Prison, Leesburg, New Jersey. The Boiardo family's association with Newark's Mayor Hugh Addonizio led to Addonizio's conviction, in 1969, on racketeering charges. This eliminated Addonizio as a contender to become the next governor of the State of New Jersey. Addonizio was sentenced to ten years and served 5 years and 2 months in a federal prison. The same federal grand jury that returned an indictment against Addonizio, also indicted 14 others including Richie Boiardo's son Anthony Boiardo, also known as "Tony Boy" Boiardo. The younger Boiardo is believed to have been in control of the Newark underworld at the time. During the criminal proceedings Tony Boy suffered a heart attack. He was never found by the courts to be healthy enough to stand trial on his extortion and conspiracy charges.


Death

Boiardo died of
natural causes In many legal jurisdictions, the manner of death is a determination, typically made by the coroner, medical examiner, police, or similar officials, and recorded as a vital statistic. Within the United States and the United Kingdom, a distinct ...
on October 29, 1984, aged 93, and was interred at Holy Cross Cemetery in
North Arlington, New Jersey North Arlington is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough's population was 15,392,Hugh Joseph Addonizio Hugh Joseph Addonizio (January 31, 1914 – February 2, 1981) was an American Democratic Party politician who was sentenced to prison for corruption. He was the 33rd Mayor of Newark, New Jersey, from 1962 to 1970, and a U.S. Congressman from ...
.


Popular culture

*
David Chase David Henry Chase (born August 22, 1945) is an American filmmaker. He wrote and produced the HBO drama ''The Sopranos'' which aired for six seasons between 1999 and 2007. Chase has also produced and written for such shows as ''The Rockford Files ...
, the creator of the
HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...
TV series ''
The Sopranos ''The Sopranos'' is an American Crime film#Crime drama, crime drama television series created by David Chase. The story revolves around Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), a New Jersey-based American Mafia, Italian-American mobster, portraying h ...
'', said the Soprano family was based on the Boiardo crime family, and their crews. *Richard Linnett's biography of Boiardo, ''In The Godfather Garden: The Long Life and Times of Richie the Boot Boiardo'' (2013), is based on archival material, classified and unclassified FBI and police files, interviews with Boiardo's family and friends, and the personal recollections of the Boot's grandson Roger Hanos.


References


Bibliography

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Further reading

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Boiardo, Richard 1890 births 1984 deaths Genovese crime family American gangsters of Italian descent American people convicted of manslaughter People from Livingston, New Jersey Gangsters from Newark, New Jersey Burials at Holy Cross Cemetery (North Arlington, New Jersey) Italian emigrants to the United States