Carmine Lombardozzi (February 8, 1913 – May 9, 1992) was a high-ranking member 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 th ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. He was known as "Alberto", "The Doctor", the "King of

Wall Street Wall Street is an eight-block-long street in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs between Broadway in the west to South Street and the East River in the east. The term "Wall Street" has become a metonym for ...

" and "The Italian

Meyer Lansky Meyer Lansky (born Maier Suchowljansky; July 4, 1902 – January 15, 1983), known as the "Mob's Accountant", was an American organized crime figure who, along with his associate Charles "Lucky" Luciano, was instrumental in the development of the ...

". By the end of his criminal career, Lombardozzi was the biggest earner for the Gambino family.

Biography

Background

Carmine Lombardozzi was born in Brooklyn on December 8, 1913 to Camillo Lombardozzi and Annunziata Antonelli. Carmine's six brothers were John, Daniel, Paul, Cosmo, Dominick, and youngest brother Anthony (Sonny) Lombardozzi. He had three sisters, Edith, Mary, and Jenny. Lombardozzi's first wife was Mary Corrolla. After being married to Corrolla for 29 years, Lombardozzi had an affair with the young daughter of Stabato Muro, a Profaci mobster. When Muro complained to the family leadership, Lombardozzi was forced to divorce Corrolla and marry Muro. He had a stepdaughter, Renee Lombardozzi. His nephews included Daniel Marino and George Lombardozzi, both of whom eventually joined the

.Carl Sifakis, ''The Mafia Encyclopedia'', (Facts on File, 2005), p.271 Lombardozzi was six feet tall, but tended to hunch over and look shorter. He was described as having a high strung temperament, always watching for threats around him. A wealthy man, Lombardozzi owned a

Rolls-Royce Rolls-Royce (always hyphenated) may refer to: * Rolls-Royce Limited, a British manufacturer of cars and later aero engines, founded in 1906, now defunct Automobiles * Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, the current car manufacturing company incorporated in ...

automobile, a

yacht A yacht is a sailing or power vessel used for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, though the term generally applies to vessels with a cabin intended for overnight use. To be termed a , as opposed to a , such a pleasu ...

, and a waterfront mansion in Mill Basin, Brooklyn.

Gambino mobster

Lombardozzi, though only a '' caporegime'' (captain), allegedly ran the entire Gambino

shylock Shylock is a fictional character in William Shakespeare's play ''The Merchant of Venice'' (c. 1600). A Venetian Jewish moneylender, Shylock is the play's principal antagonist. His defeat and conversion to Christianity form the climax of the ...

and stock market rackets. He was involved in

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

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 ...

, and was said to have earned the Gambino crime family a lot of money during his criminal career. Considered a traditional mafiosi, Lombardozzi was described as having a "brilliant mind" for numbers. In November 1957, new

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

boss

Vito Genovese Vito Genovese (; November 21, 1897 – February 14, 1969) was an Italian-born American mobster who mainly operated in the United States. Genovese rose to power during Prohibition as an enforcer in the American Mafia. A long-time associate and chi ...

called a meeting of high-ranking

Cosa Nostra The Sicilian Mafia, also simply known as the Mafia and frequently referred to as Cosa nostra (, ; "our thing") by its members, is an Italian Mafia-terrorist-type organized crime syndicate and criminal society originating in the region of Sicily ...

figures at the farm home of mobster Joseph Barbara in Apalachin, New York. Lombardozzi attended the meeting. According to some sources, Lombardozzi was in serious trouble with

leaders over mishandling of funds. They privately discussed murdering him, but old friend Joseph Profaci, boss of the Profaci crime family, dissuaded them. Soon after the meeting started,

New York State Troopers The New York State Police (NYSP) is the state police of the state of New York in the United States. It is part of the New York State Executive Department, and employs over 5,000 sworn state troopers and 711 civilian members. History The State ...

raided the farm and arrested dozens of mobsters, including Lombardozzi. When questioned by law enforcement, Lombardozzi said he had come to Apalachin to go hunting. When asked why he didn't have any hunting equipment, Lombardozzi said he was planning to buy it there. For failing to cooperate in the investigation of the infamous Apalachin Meeting, Lombardozzi spent 14 months in prison. On November 30, 1964, Lombardozzi was sentenced to 30 days in jail for

contempt of court Contempt of court, often referred to simply as "contempt", is the crime of being disobedient to or disrespectful toward a court of law and its officers in the form of behavior that opposes or defies the authority, justice, and dignity of the cour ...

; Lombardozzi had repeatedly dodged questions about a jewelry scam committed by his brother. In 1963, Daniel Marino and other Gambino associates assaulted 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) agent at the funeral of Lombardozzi's father. Although Lombardozzi was not involved in the attack, the family leadership blamed him for his nephew's poor judgement. On August 27, 1965, Lombardozzi was arrested for assaulting a police officer. Police had tried to arrest him in a Brooklyn restaurant but Lombardozzi punched a detective in the face, starting a brawl that involved a female companion and several bystanders. On March 18, 1969, Lombardozzi was sentenced to one year in prison on contempt charges for refusing to discuss mob involvement with legitimate businesses before a

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 ...

. While serving this prison sentence, doctors were forced to remove one of Lombardozzi's kidneys due to

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

. On June 12, 1970, Lombardozzi was sentenced to two years in prison for

conspiring 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 cash $50,000 in stolen

brokerage A broker is a person or firm who arranges transactions between a buyer and a seller for a commission when the deal is executed. A broker who also acts as a seller or as a buyer becomes a principal party to the deal. Neither role should be con ...

checks. Three months after the check-cashing trial, Lombardozzi was back in court facing two counts of attempting to defraud 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 t ...

. The crime involved the illegal cashing of winning tickets from Yonkers Raceway in

Yonkers, New York Yonkers () is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States. Developed along the Hudson River, it is the third most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City and Buffalo. The population of Yonkers was 211,569 as en ...

, and what was then Roosevelt Raceway in Westbury, New York. In September 1970, Lombardozzi's co-defendant was found guilty on one of the two charges, but the jury acquitted Lombardozzi on one count and declared themselves unable to reach a verdict on the other. On November 20, 1975, Lombardozzi was

indicted An indictment ( ) is a formal accusation that a person has committed a crime. In jurisdictions that use the concept of felonies, the most serious criminal offence is a felony; jurisdictions that do not use the felonies concept often use that of ...

on 17 counts of

perjury Perjury (also known as foreswearing) is the intentional act of swearing a false oath or falsifying an affirmation to tell the truth, whether spoken or in writing, concerning matters material to an official proceeding."Perjury The act or an inst ...

based on his previous grand jury testimony about loansharking and

arson Arson is the crime of willfully and deliberately setting fire to or charring property. Although the act of arson typically involves buildings, the term can also refer to the intentional burning of other things, such as motor vehicles, wate ...

-for-hire schemes. Investigator used

electronic surveillance Surveillance is the monitoring of behavior, many activities, or information for the purpose of information gathering, influencing, managing or directing. This can include observation from a distance by means of electronic equipment, such as ...

to record Lombardozzi's conversations at a motel and diner in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn. On one occasion, the listening device fell from the bottom of the diner table to the floor next to Lombardozzi's feet. However, an undercover policeman went to the table and claimed he had lost his

pager A pager (also known as a beeper or bleeper) is a wireless telecommunications device that receives and displays alphanumeric or voice messages. One-way pagers can only receive messages, while response pagers and two-way pagers can also acknow ...

. An unsuspecting Lombardozzi handed the device to the detective. On April 16, 1981, Lombardozzi was indicted on charges of failing to report his

income in his federal income tax returns. His headquarters for this racket was a

Kiwanis Kiwanis International ( ) is an international service club founded in 1915 in Detroit, Michigan. It is headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States, and is found in more than 80 nations and geographic areas. Since 1987, the organizat ...

clubhouse in Mill Basin, Brooklyn. He used to meet with Salvatore Stagnitta Lombardozzi and his brother Cosmo were close friends of 'Mr Stan', the notorious Serbian criminal Vojislav Stanimirovic responsible for the Vizcaya heist. This connection with the rare non-Italian businessman was Lombardozzi's entry to New York's Diamond District. He was a mentor to the Serbian authority's son Pavle Stanimirović. Fruitless recording efforts by the FBI yielded much discussion of activities that weren't illegal; Lombardozzi prized his

and wine cellar, though not in that order. 'The Doctor' was considered a class act and Italian elder statesman. With friends and family he avoided the subject of crime but told tales of mafia legends like Lucky Luciano, Meyer Lansky, and his own experience at

Apalachin Apalachin ( ) is a census-designated place within the Town of Owego in Tioga County, New York, United States. The population was 1,131 in the 2010 census. The CDP is named after Apalachin Creek. ''Apalachin'' means "from where the messenger retur ...

. On April 16, 1981, Lombardozzi was indicted on charges of failing to report his loansharking income in his federal income tax returns. He was convicted and sentenced to six months in prison.

Death

On May 9, 1992, Carmine Lombardozzi died at home of

heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome, a group of signs and symptoms caused by an impairment of the heart's blood pumping function. Symptoms typically include shortness of breath, excessive fatigue, ...

at age 79. He is buried at St. John Cemetery in Middle Village, Queens.

Biography

Background

Gambino mobster

Death

References

Further reading