Anthony Megale (August 1, 1953 – July 21, 2015), also known as "The Genius" was a

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 ...

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 he ...

and later acting underboss of the Gambino crime family. He was base in operations was in southwest

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capita ...

Criminal history

Allegedly born in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, Megale moved to Connecticut as a young man. Megale's residence was in Stamford, Connecticut. He married with a son and two daughters. At some point, Megale joined the Gambino family. In 1982, Megale was convicted of a narcotics offense. In 1990, Megale pleaded guilty to racketeering and was sentenced to six years in prison. Megale's plea deal included an admission that he belonged to a

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 ...

family, which infuriated Gambino boss John Gotti. In 1995, Megale was released from prison on parole. However, in 1998 he returned to prison for 11 months for associating with other criminals, a parole violation. In August 2001, Megale became a

in the Gambino family for its Connecticut operations. Megale died in July, 2015, just 8 months after being released from prison.

Extortion victims

In August 2002, Megale met with Harry Farrington, aka "Oil Can Harry" the owner of two strip clubs in

Fairfield County, Connecticut Fairfield County is a county in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is the most populous county in the state and was also its fastest-growing from 2010 to 2020. As of the 2020 census, the county's population was 957, ...

who was being extorted by mobsters from the

Patriarca crime family The Patriarca crime family (, ), also known as the New England Mafia, the Boston Mafia, the Providence Mafia, or The Office is an Italian-American American Mafia, Mafia crime family, family in New England. It has two distinct factions, one based ...

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the Can ...

. Megale contacted the Patriarca mobsters and told them that Stamford was his territory and then proceeded to extort Farrington himself. In September 2002, Megale told Farrington that he would have to pay Megale $2,000 a month in "protection" money plus a yearly $3,000 "Christmas bonus." If the payments were late, Megale threatened Farrington with violence and property destruction. Farrington's response was to go to law enforcement, which set Farrington up with a listening device for future meetings with Megale. Between November 2002 and February 2004, Farrington made regular payments to Megale while recording their meetings. In September 2002, Megale started extorting $200 a month from a vending machine operator who already been making payments to the Gambino family since 1996. During this period, Megale also extorted money from a construction company in

Westchester County, New York Westchester County is located in the U.S. state of New York. It is the seventh most populous county in the State of New York and the most populous north of New York City. According to the 2020 United States Census, the county had a population ...

and a

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 Delaware ...

trucking company.

Connecticut and New York convictions

In September 2004, with evidence from Farrington, Megale was indicted in Connecticut on 38 extortion charges. In October 2005, Megale pleaded guilty to lesser charges and on April 3, 2006, was sentenced to 86 months in prison. On March 31, 2006, Megale pleaded guilty to reduced charges in the New York case. On September 6, 2006, Megale was sentenced to more than 11 years in prison. Farrington sold his two clubs and moved out of state. Megale served his sentence at the Allenwood Federal Correctional Institution (FCI) in Allenwood, Pennsylvania. On December 1, 2014, he was released from prison. Megale died on July 21, 2015 at Stamford Hospital after suffering a heart attack.

External links

The Laborers: An Insider Look at The Connecticut Mob
by Ted Shaffrey * ''A bitter mob dispute over who controls Stamford gave the F.B.I. the opening it needed to wiretap a vital witness' by Ted Shaffrey December 1, 2005

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Megale, Anthony 1953 births Gambino crime family American gangsters of Italian descent Prisoners and detainees of the United States federal government 2015 deaths