Steven L. "Stevie" Crea (born July 18, 1947) is an American

mobster A gangster is a criminal who is a member of a gang. Most gangs are considered to be part of organized crime. Gangsters are also called mobsters, a term derived from ''mob'' and the suffix '' -ster''. Gangs provide a level of organization and ...

and former

underboss Underboss ( it, sottocapo) is a position within the leadership structure of certain organized crime groups, particularly in Sicilian, Greek, and Italian-American Mafia crime families. The underboss is second in command to the boss. The underbo ...

of the

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 ...

. In August 2020, he was sentenced to life imprisonment for murder and racketeering.

Lucchese crime family

Rise to power

Crea was inducted into the Lucchese crime family sometime in the 1980s, under the reign of boss Anthony Corallo. In 1990, family boss

Victor Amuso Vittorio "Little Vic" Amuso (born November 4, 1934) is an American mobster and the boss of the Lucchese crime family. He was described as "The Deadly Don" by Assistant United States Attorney Charles Rose. Amuso's reign is considered one of the bl ...

promoted Crea to

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 head ...

(captain), taking over Samuel "Sammy Bones" Castaldi's crew 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 ...

. Crea specialized in labor rackets, and gained power over Carpenter's Local 608, using it to extort New York City contractors. He also held a no-show job at Inner City Drywall, one of the city's largest

drywall Drywall (also called plasterboard, dry lining, wallboard, sheet rock, gypsum board, buster board, custard board, and gypsum panel) is a panel made of calcium sulfate dihydrate (gypsum), with or without additives, typically extruded between thick ...

contractors and was involved with Local 282 of the Cement and Concrete Workers Union. In 1993, with Amuso and

Anthony Casso Anthony Salvatore Casso (May 21, 1942 – December 15, 2020), nicknamed "Gaspipe", was an American mobster and underboss of the Lucchese crime family. During his career in organized crime, Casso was regarded as a "homicidal maniac" in the Italia ...

's support, Crea became

of the Lucchese family. Using his new clout, Crea shifted the family's power center away from the

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 ...

crews and back to the Bronx and

Upper Manhattan Upper Manhattan is the most northern region of the New York City borough of Manhattan. Its southern boundary has been variously defined, but some of the most common usages are 96th Street, the northern boundary of Central Park ( 110th Street), ...

crews which had historically controlled the family for decades. Durning the early 1990s, several Amuso/Casso loyalists, including

George Zappola Current members Ray Argentina Ray Argentina is a soldier in the Brooklyn faction. His younger brother Peter Argentina is an associate in the family. In 1992, Argentina along with Louis Daidone, Alan Taglianetti and Robert Molinelli were found gui ...

and Frank "Spaghetti Man" Gioia, Jr. had hatched a plot to kill Crea, and take over the family. They Brooklyn loyalists had planned to lure Crea to a sitdown (a mafia meeting) and then murder him. However, the plot fell through after Zapolla, Gioia, and the rest of Amuso/Casso faction were indicted and imprisoned.

Construction boss

From 1997 through 1999, Crea served as the head of the "Lucchese Construction Group", which also included Lucchese capos Dominic Truscello, head of the Prince Street crew, and Joseph Tangorra, head of a Brooklyn crew. The Construction Group brokered the bribes and "mob tax" payments to be received from contractors, and settled disputes over who would dominate a particular construction site. Also, the mobsters were placed on the company payroll so they could report legitimate taxable income to the U.S

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). During its existence, the Construction Group controlled over $40 million in construction contracts, increasing overall construction costs by 5%. In 1998, after acting Lucchese boss Joseph DeFede was indicted on labor

racketeering Racketeering is a type of organized crime in which the perpetrators set up a coercive, fraudulent, extortionary, or otherwise illegal coordinated scheme or operation (a "racket") to repeatedly or consistently collect a profit. Originally and of ...

and extortion charges, Crea became the family's new acting boss. In December 1999, Crea and Joseph Datello talked about bribery and extortion with Sean Richard, the son-in-law of

John Riggi John Riggi is an American television writer, producer, director, and actor who has worked on various television shows. He is from Cincinnati, Ohio. He attended high school at Elder High School, in Cincinnati, OH. He has worked as a writer on ...

, the boss of the

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 ...

. It was later revealed that Richard was wearing a hidden recording device. In 1999, it was revealed that Crea had formed an alliance with members of 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 ...

in extorting local officials of New York City's carpenters, laborers and bricklayers unions.

Guilty plea on corruption charges

On September 6, 2000, Crea and other members of the Lucchese Construction Group were indicted in New York on state enterprise corruption, labor racketeering,

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, ...

, and bid-rigging charges. The

District Attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or state attorney is the chief prosecutor and/or chief law enforcement officer representing a U.S. state in a l ...

charged that these schemes had systematically siphoned off millions of dollars from both public and private construction projects. Specifically, Crea used mob associates to extort building contractors who wished to receive rights to no-bid jobs or who wanted to reduce the number of union members on their payrolls. Crea's attorney was able to negotiate a favorable

plea agreement A plea bargain (also plea agreement or plea deal) is an agreement in criminal law proceedings, whereby the prosecutor provides a concession to the defendant in exchange for a plea of guilt or '' nolo contendere.'' This may mean that the defendan ...

which called for Crea to plead guilty to enterprise corruption and restraint of trade charges, and in January 2004 he received a 34-month prison sentence."Atlas shrugged: Judge Hands Labor Racketeering Kingpin a Soft Sentence, Over Prosecutors' Complaints"
by Tom Robbins Village Voice – The Laborers.net (March 9, 2004) Crea also pleaded guilty to similar federal charges and served both sentences concurrently.

Back to power

On August 24, 2006, Crea was released from prison with

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 that prohibited him from associating with other mobsters or union officials. On November 17, 2009, Crea's parole restrictions expired. Since his release it was speculated that he would take over the Lucchese crime family when his parole was up. In March 2010, the FBI observed at a Bronx social club Crea meeting with capo John Castellucci. In July 2014, Jerry Capeci reported that Vic Amuso remains the official boss while Crea serves as acting boss. When the US attorneys office in Manhattan arrested him in 2017, they alleged he was the underboss of the family.

Racketeering indictment and life sentence

On May 31, 2017, Crea was indicted and held without bail for racketeering, fraud and murder conspiracy. The indictment built on charges previously filed against a reputed Lucchese soldier and associate in February 2017 with the murder of Michael Meldish in the Bronx on November 15, 2013;

Matthew Madonna Matthew Madonna (November 2, 1935) is a member of the Lucchese crime family who served as acting boss before being imprisoned in 2017. Narcotics trafficking In 1959, while serving a sentence at the Green Haven Correctional Facility in Upstate Ne ...

, Crea and his son Steven D. Crea, were charged and suspected of serving as co-conspirators in the Meldish gangland execution. Crea is also accused of ordering the attempted murder of a

Bonanno crime family The Bonanno 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, and in the United States, as part of the criminal phenomenon known as the A ...

associate. The FBI also accuses Crea of giving his approval for one of his underlings driving to New Hampshire in an attempt to find and murder an informant. Crea was personally charged with mail and wire fraud in connection of his skimming involvement with the construction of a New York City hospital. On November 15, 2019, Crea, Madonna,

Christopher Londonio Current members Ray Argentina Ray Argentina is a soldier in the Brooklyn faction. His younger brother Peter Argentina is an associate in the family. In 1992, Argentina along with Louis Daidone, Alan Taglianetti and Robert Molinelli were found gu ...

and Terrence Caldwell were convicted in White Plains federal court of executing the murder of

East Harlem Purple Gang The East Harlem Purple Gang was a gang or organized crime group consisting of Italian-American hit-men and heroin dealers who were semi-independent from the Italian-American Mafia and, according to federal prosecutors, dominated heroin distribu ...

leader Michael Meldish. On August 27, 2020, Crea was sentenced to life in prison, along with a $400,000 fine and the forfeit of $1 million. After Crea's 2020 imprisonment it was reported that Crea had been demoted as underboss as the word was that if he was convicted in the Michael Meldish murder case he would lose his position. As of October 2022, it was reported that Patrick Dellorusso has taken the reigns as underboss after previously serving as acting underboss.

References

External links

Judge Hands Labor Racketeering Kingpin a Soft Sentence, Over Prosecutors' Complaints
by Tom Robbins
Luchese Underboss and Captain Plead Guilty to Extortion Charges in Federal Court
'' District Attorney of New York (October 1, 2003) {{DEFAULTSORT:Crea, Steven 1947 births Living people Lucchese crime family Place of birth missing (living people) American gangsters of Italian descent Acting bosses of the Five Families American crime bosses People convicted of corruption People convicted of racketeering Gangsters sentenced to life imprisonment American people convicted of murder Consiglieri Gangsters from New York City Criminals from the Bronx