Angelo F. Ponte (April 20, 1925 – December 12, 2018) was an American mobster. He was reportedly active in 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 ...

carting Carting is a dog sport or activity in which a dog (usually a large breed) pulls a dogcart filled with supplies, such as farm goods, camping equipment, groceries or firewood, but sometimes pulling people. Carting as a sport is also known as dry ...

rackets for many decades. He was careful to cultivate political connections, and managed to have himself named a Knight of Malta by the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. Ponte was a target of the

operation wasteland Operation Wasteland was an undercover investigation into organized crime control of the waste disposal industry in New York City. The investigation resulted in the indictment and conviction of over one hundred participants in price-fixing and bi ...

investigation. On 28 January 1997 he pleaded guilty to participating in a

Mafia "Mafia" is an informal term that is used to describe criminal organizations that bear a strong similarity to the original “Mafia”, the Sicilian Mafia and Italian Mafia. The central activity of such an organization would be the arbitration of d ...

run operation to control and manipulate the

cartage Haulage is the business of transporting goods by road or rail between suppliers and large consumer outlets, factories, warehouses, or depots. This includes everything humans might wish to move in bulk - from vegetables and other foodstuffs, to cloth ...

business in New York City. At the same hearing, his son Vincent pleaded guilty to paying a $10,000 bribe. He was the founder of F. Illi Ponte Ristorante on the West Side highway and has extensive real estate holdings throughout the Lower West Side (Manhattan). Ponte died in February 2017 at the age of 92. He had four siblings: Vincent, John, Margaret, and Dina.Frank Angelo Ponte Obituary
/ref>

Notes and references

He is also a major character in the book Takedown: The Fall of the Last Mafia Empire by Rick Cowan. Ponte is one of four brothers Frank, Anthony, and Joseph. It is rumored to be that they are also part of the Genovese crime family. 1925 births 2017 deaths American gangsters of Italian descent American Roman Catholics Genovese crime family Knights of Malta American restaurateurs {{US-crime-bio-stub