Simone Rizzo "Sam" DeCavalcante (March 3, 1912 – February 7, 1997), known as "Sam the Plumber", was an
Italian-American
Italian Americans ( it, italoamericani or ''italo-americani'', ) are Americans who have full or partial Italian ancestry. The largest concentrations of Italian Americans are in the urban Northeast and industrial Midwestern metropolitan areas, ...
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 ...
who was
boss
Boss may refer to:
Occupations
* Supervisor, often referred to as boss
* Air boss, more formally, air officer, the person in charge of aircraft operations on an aircraft carrier
* Crime boss, the head of a criminal organization
* Fire boss, a ...
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 Jer ...
of
North Jersey
North Jersey comprises the northern portions of the U.S. state of New Jersey between the upper Delaware River and the Atlantic Ocean. The designation of northern New Jersey with a distinct toponym is a colloquial one rather than an administrati ...
. Claiming descent from the
Italian royal family
The House of Savoy ( it, Casa Savoia) was a royal dynasty that was established in 1003 in the historical Savoy region. Through gradual expansion, the family grew in power from ruling a small Alpine county north-west of Italy to absolute rule o ...
, DeCavalcante was nicknamed "The
Count
Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York ...
". The
Kefauver hearings
The United States Senate Special Committee to Investigate Crime in Interstate Commerce was a special committee of the United States Senate which existed from 1950 to 1951 and which investigated organized crime which crossed state borders in the Un ...
later named 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 Delawa ...
Mafia the DeCavalcante crime family since he was the boss of the family at the time of those hearings.
New Jersey mob boss
DeCavalcante oversaw illegal gambling,
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 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 ...
in New Jersey. Living in the Lawrenceville section of
Lawrence Township, Mercer County, New Jersey
Lawrence Township is a township in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. Located at the cross-roads between the Delaware Valley region to the south and the Raritan Valley region to the north, the township is an outer-ring suburb of New Yo ...
, but working in Newark, DeCavalcante commanded a crime family of around 60 "
made men
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 ...
" active in the tri-state area of New Jersey, New York and Connecticut.Police Cameras Click as DeCavalcante's Son Marries Murray Schumach, ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' (January 4, 1970) His legal business front was the Kenilworth Plumbing and Heating Co., a plumbing supply store in
Kenilworth, New Jersey
Kenilworth is a borough in Union County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough's population was 7,914,Simone DeCavalcante
Associated Press
The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. new ...
(February 10, 1997) He and his wife Mary had three sons, Carl, Frank and Robert. After the retirement of family boss Nicholas Delmore (real name Nicholas Amoruso) between 1960 and 1964, DeCavalcante replaced him. Shortly after that, he acted as a liaison between the Mafia Commission and the
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 ...
after the beginning of the Bonanno War between the New York
Five Families
The Five Families refers to five major New York City organized crime families of the Italian American Mafia formed in 1931 by Salvatore Maranzano following his victory in the Castellammarese War.
Maranzano reorganized the Italian American gangs ...
.
From 1961 to 1965, DeCavalcante was the subject of a
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) investigation known as the "Goodfella Tapes". This investigation confirmed claims by informant
Joe Valachi
Joseph Michael Valachi (September 22, 1904 – April 3, 1971) was an American mobster in the Genovese crime family who is notable as the first member of the Italian-American Mafia to acknowledge its existence publicly in 1963. He is credited wit ...
, provided crucial information on
La Cosa Nostra
The American Mafia, commonly referred to in North America as the Italian American Mafia, the Mafia, or the Mob, is a highly organized Italian American criminal society and organized crime group. The organization is often referred to by its membe ...
, and revealed the existence of the Mafia Commission. However, since no court order was issued for the wire tap, none of tapes could be used to indict DeCavalcante. In 1969, after compiling almost 2,300 transcript pages of taped conversations, the FBI released them to the public. DeCavalcante was among 55 men and women indicted by a federal
grand jury
A grand jury is a jury—a group of citizens—empowered by law to conduct legal proceedings, investigate potential criminal conduct, and determine whether criminal charges should be brought. A grand jury may subpoena physical evidence or a p ...
on December 16, 1969 in connection with a $20 million-per-year interstate numbers racket centered in Newark and
Troy, New York
Troy is a City (New York), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and the county seat of Rensselaer County, New York, Rensselaer County. The city is located on the western edge of Rensselaer County and on the eastern bank of the Huds ...
. He was formally charged with gambling offenses on January 2, 1970. The following day, he attended the wedding of his son, Carl DeCavalcante, a senior at the
University of Vermont
The University of Vermont (UVM), officially the University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, is a public land-grant research university in Burlington, Vermont. It was founded in 1791 and is among the oldest universities in the Unite ...
, to Cynthia Ann Snyder at St Michael's Church in Trenton. Although he had initially barred news reporters from entering the ceremony, DeCavalcante relented and invited news people into the reception, saying: "You can drink what we drink, eat what we eat on me, but I don't want any of my guests embarrassed."Son of Alleged Mafia Chief Weds ''
The Burlington Free Press
''The Burlington Free Press'' (sometimes referred to as "BFP" or "the Free Press") is a digital and print community news organization based in Burlington, Vermont, and owned by Gannett. It is one of the official "newspapers of record" for the St ...
'' (January 5, 1970) Plainclothes policemen also photographed the wedding from outside.
On September 24, 1970, following an eight-day trial, DeCavalcante was convicted by a federal jury in Newark of three counts of
conspiracy
A conspiracy, also known as a plot, is a secret plan or agreement between persons (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder or treason, especially with political motivation, while keeping their agr ...
to extort money from the operators of an illegal dice game. It was the first criminal conviction of DeCavalcante, who was 57 years old at the time. He "received the verdict impassively", according to ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
''. DeCavalcante's co-defendants, Daniel Annunziata and Gaetano "Corky" Vastola, were convicted on one count each.DeCavalcante Is Found Guilty ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' (September 25, 1970)
In 1976, he was released from prison.
Retirement
DeCavalcante moved to Florida in 1976. In 1980, he passed control of the family to Giovanni "John the Eagle" Riggi and retired to
Miami Beach, Florida
Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida. It was incorporated on March 26, 1915. The municipality is located on natural and man-made barrier islands between the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay, the latter of which ...
. He starting planning to build a legitimate resort casino in
South Florida
South Florida is the southernmost region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is one of Florida's three most commonly referred to directional regions; the other two are Central Florida and North Florida. South Florida is the southernmost part of ...
; however, the project died when voters rejected casino gambling in a 1986 referendum.Tampa Bay Times, Nov 25, 2009: ''"A Timeline of Gambling in Florida"'' by Mary Ellen Klas While officially "retired", many suspected that DeCavalcante was still involved with the crime family, providing advice to Riggi through his son Simone Junior.
DeCavalcante died of natural causes at age of 84, at a hospital in Miami, Florida on February 7, 1997. He is buried at Greenwood Cemetery in Hamilton, New Jersey.
References
Further reading
*Zeigler, Henry A. ''Sam the Plumber'', Signet Books, 1970.
*Kelly, Robert J. ''Encyclopedia of Organized Crime in the United States''. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 2000.
*Sifakis, Carl. ''The Mafia Encyclopedia''. New York: Da Capo Press, 2005.