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

mobster A gangster (informally gangsta) 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 ...

and former

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

of the

Lucchese crime family The Lucchese crime family (pronounced ) is an Italian Americans, Italian American American Mafia, Mafia crime family and one of the "Five Families" that dominate organized crime activities in New York City and New Jersey, within the nationwide c ...

of New York. In August 2020, Crea was sentenced to life imprisonment for murder and racketeering.

Lucchese crime family

Rise to power

Steven Crea grew up on Arthur Avenue in

the Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

, a neighborhood that had a strong

Mafia "Mafia", as an informal or general term, is often used to describe criminal organizations that bear a strong similarity to the Sicilian Mafia, original Mafia in Sicily, to the Italian-American Mafia, or to other Organized crime in Italy, organiz ...

presence. In the late 1970s, Crea worked closely with his mentor and close friend Vincent DiNapoli, a " made" member of

Genovese crime family The Genovese crime family (), also sometimes referred to as the Westside, is an Italian Americans, Italian American American Mafia, Mafia crime family and one of the "Five Families" that dominate organized crime activities in New York City and Ne ...

, who was in the construction "rehab" industry. By 1979, Crea and Vincent DiNapoli began working with SEBCO (South East Bronx Community Organization), an organization created by Catholic priest Louis Gigante, who was the brother of Genovese family boss

Vincent Gigante Vincent Louis Gigante ( , ; March 29, 1928 – December 19, 2005), also known as "Chin", was an American mobster who was boss of the Genovese crime family in New York City from 1981 to 2005. Gigante started out as a professional boxer who fo ...

. SEBCO was an organization of low-income housing in the South East Bronx that was funded by the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development. Crea and DiNapoli's drywall companies were able to secure millions of dollars in construction projects award by SEBCO. Sometime in the early 1980s, Crea was inducted into the

, under the reign of boss

Anthony Corallo Anthony "Tony Ducks" Corallo (born Antonio Corallo, ; February 12, 1913 – August 23, 2000) was an American mobster and boss of the Lucchese crime family in New York City. Corallo exercised tremendous control over trucking and construction unions ...

. In 1983, DiNapoli was imprisoned, and Crea took control of the construction business with SEBCO. The

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

(FBI) reported that Crea visited Vincent DiNapoli in prison a number of times. Crea lived in a home just across the street from DiNapoli and he became DiNapoli's daughter godfather, helping her arrange her wedding while DiNapoli was in prison. In 1985, Crea was convicted of conspiracy to plot to murder a Bronx man who Crea believed had assaulted his wife, but in 1987, his conviction was overturned. In 1990, family boss Victor Amuso promoted Crea to ''

caporegime A ''caporegime'' or ''capodecina'', usually shortened to ''capo'' or informally referred to as "captain", "skipper" or "lieutenant", is a leadership position in the Mafia (both the Sicilian Mafia and Italian-American Mafia). A ''capo'' is a "made m ...

'' (captain), taking over Samuel "Sammy Bones" Castaldi's crew in the Bronx. Crea specialized in labor racketeering, and gained control 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, gib board, gypsum board, buster board, turtles board, slap board, custard board, gypsum panel and gyprock) is a panel made of calcium sulfate dihydrate (gypsum), with or with ...

contractors and was involved with Local 282 of the Cement and Concrete Workers Union. In 1993, imprisoned family boss Vic Amuso promoted Crea to

of the Lucchese family. Crea along with his Bronx allies, shifted the family's power center away from the Brooklyn faction and back to the Bronx and

Upper Manhattan Upper Manhattan is the northern section 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, 110th Street (the northern boundary of Central Park), 1 ...

crews, which had historically controlled the family for decades. This angered former underboss

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, he was regarded as a "homicidal maniac" in the Italian-A ...

and his

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

loyalists

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

and Frank "Spaghetti Man" Gioia, Jr. who during the early 1990s, plotted to murder Crea and retake control of the family. The Brooklyn loyalists planned to lure Crea to a sit-down (a mafia meeting) and then murder him. However, the plot fell through after Zappola, Gioia, and the rest of Casso's 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 caporegimes (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. The group also, placed mobsters on company payrolls 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 Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, which is responsible for collecting Taxation in the United States, U.S. federal taxes and administerin ...

(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 coercion, coercive, fraud, fraudulent, extortionary, or otherwise illegal coordinated scheme or operation (a "racket") to repeatedly or consistently collect a profit. ...

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 o ...

, the boss of the

DeCavalcante crime family The DeCavalcante crime family, also known as the North Jersey crime family or the North Jersey Mafia, is an Italian American Mafia crime family that operates mainly in northern New Jersey, particularly in Elizabeth, Newark, West New York and ...

. 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, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the American Mafia. ...

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 (e.g., money or goods) through coercion. In most jurisdictions it is likely to constitute a criminal offence. Robbery is the simplest and most common form of extortion, although making unfounded ...

, and

bid-rigging Bid rigging is a fraudulent scheme in a procurement action which enables companies to submit non-competitive bids. It can be performed by corrupt officials, by firms in an orchestrated act of collusion, or by officials and firms acting together. ...

charges. The

District Attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, county prosecutor, state attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or solicitor is the chief prosecutor or chief law enforcement officer represen ...

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 known as a plea agreement or plea deal, is a legal arrangement in criminal law where the defendant agrees to plead guilty or no contest to a charge in exchange for concessions from the prosecutor. These concessions can include ...

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, supervised release, or being on paper, is a form of early release of a prisoner, prison inmate where the prisoner agrees to abide by behavioral conditions, including checking-in with their designated ...

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 an American mobster who is a member of the Lucchese crime family. He previously served as acting boss before being imprisoned in 2017. Narcotics trafficking In 1959, while serving a sentence at the Green H ...

, 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. The family was known as the Maranzano crime family until its founder Sal ...

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 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 and organized crime group in New York City consisting of Italian-American hit-men and heroin dealers who were semi-independent from the Italian-American Mafia and, according to federal prosecutors, dominat ...

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 for the murder of Michael Meldish, he was demoted from his underboss position. Crea was initially incarcerated at the United States Penitentiary, Canaan in

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

. In April 2024, it was reported by Jerry Capeci that Crea was seeking compassionate release from prison after being diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer.Steve Crea Seeks Release On Bail Pending Appeal Due To 'Exceptional Circumstances' — A Deadly Disease
Jerry Capeci, ''Gang Land News'' (April 4, 2024) He is undergoing treatment at Federal Medical Center, Butner, North Carolina.

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 20th-century American criminals 21st-century American criminals Acting bosses of the Five Families American gangsters of Italian descent American male criminals' American people convicted of murder Bosses of the Lucchese crime family Consiglieri Criminals from the Bronx Gangsters from New York City Gangsters sentenced to life imprisonment People convicted of corruption People convicted of murder under the RICO Act Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by the United States federal government