Gerardo "Jerry" Catena (January 8, 1902 – April 23, 2000) was an American mobster and a top member of the

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 American M ...

during the 1950s and 1960s, along with Thomas "Tommy Ryan" Eboli, Philip "Benny Squint" Lombardo and Michael "Big Mike" Miranda. He was ranked as the fourth richest mobster in the United States by ''Fortune'' magazine.

Early life in Jersey

Catena was born on January 8, 1902, in

South Orange, New Jersey South Orange, officially the Township of South Orange Village, is a suburban township in Essex County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the village's population was 16,198, reflecting a decline of 766 (4.5%) fro ...

to Francesco and Donata Speziale, and subsequently became familiar with legendary mobsters Guarino "Willie" Moretti, Thomas Greco, Cosmo "Gus" Frasca, and Abner "Longy" Zwillman. He was married to Catherine McNally and was the father to Patricia, Geraldine, Donna, Vicki and Richard. He was the brother of Eugene, Mary Frederico and Sadie Dellasante. He was a vending machine racketeer with interests in People's Express Co., Advance Vending Co, Runyon Vending Sales Co and TrenMetals/Kool-Vent Awning Co. all based in

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

to join the forces of

Charlie "Lucky" Luciano Charles "Lucky" Luciano ( , ; born Salvatore Lucania ; November 24, 1897 – January 26, 1962) was an Italian-born gangster who operated mainly in the United States. Luciano started his criminal career in the Five Points gang and was instrument ...

and

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 ...

during the early 1920s, when the rise of two

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 ...

dons named Giuseppe "Joe the Boss" Masseria and

Salvatore Maranzano Salvatore Maranzano (; July 31, 1886 – September 10, 1931) was an Italian-American mobster from the town of Castellammare del Golfo, Sicily, and an early Cosa Nostra boss who led what later would become the Bonanno crime family in New York City. ...

, began fighting a bloody internal battle called the

Castellammarese War The Castellammarese War () was a bloody power struggle for control of the Italian-American Mafia that took place in New York City, New York, from February 1930 until April 15, 1931, between partisans of Joe "The Boss" Masseria and those of Salv ...

Joining the Lucianos

Little is known of Catena in his early days of the

Luciano 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 American Ma ...

, but reportedly he was a

soldier A soldier is a person who is a member of an army. A soldier can be a conscripted or volunteer enlisted person, a non-commissioned officer, or an officer. Etymology The word ''soldier'' derives from the Middle English word , from Old French ...

in the crew that became the powerful Genovese crew during the late 1920s, headed by later underboss Vito "Don Vito" Genovese. As the time passed, and Charles Luciano went to prison and later deportation in the 1940s, Genovese organized the shooting of the boss of the Luciano crime family,

Frank Costello Frank Costello (; born Francesco Castiglia; ; January 26, 1891 – February 18, 1973) was an Italian-American crime boss of the Luciano crime family. In 1957, Costello survived an assassination attempt ordered by Vito Genovese and carried out by ...

, in 1957, which forced Costello to retire. Apparently, Catena is to have risen through the ranks, as he was listed as the

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

in the late 1950s, heading 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 Delaware ...

faction of the Genovese crime family, under the leadership of Vito Genovese.

Attending Apalachin

Catena was attending the so-called Apalachin Meeting in 1957, and was one of the hundred mafiosi who were indicted after the convention, following the arrest of Vito Genovese in 1959. As Genovese and many others of the Genovese crime family were under indictment, Catena began cooperating with longtime captains

Anthony "Tony Bender" Strollo Anthony C. Strollo (June 18, 1899 – disappeared April 8, 1962), also known as "Tony Bender", was a New York mobster who served as a high-ranking capo of the Genovese crime family for several decades. Biography Early years Anthony Strollo was ...

, Michele "Big Mike" Miranda and Thomas "Tommy Ryan" Eboli, and were unofficially running the Genovese crime family.

Underboss

After the imprisonment of Genovese in 1959, a "Committee/Ruling Panel" was to run the Genovese crime family, which consisted of Catena, Philip "Benny Squint" Lombardo,

Thomas Eboli Thomas "Tommy Ryan" Eboli (June 13, 1911 Scisciano, Italy – July 16, 1972 Crown Heights, Brooklyn, New York) was a New York City mobster who eventually became the acting boss of the Genovese crime family. Early life Born in Scisciano, in the P ...

(who was murdered in 1972) and Michele Miranda. This administration continued to run the family throughout the 1960s and early 1970s.

Imprisonment

Catena was incarcerated at the Yardville State Prison (now the

Garden State Youth Correctional Facility Garden State Youth Correctional Facility is a New Jersey Department of Corrections state prison that houses young adult offenders ages 18-30, located in the Crosswicks section of Chesterfield Township in Burlington County, New Jersey N ...

) from 1970 to 1975 because he had refused to testify before the

New Jersey State Commission of Investigation The New Jersey State Commission of Investigation (SCI) is an independent governmental fact-finding agency in the U.S. State of New Jersey whose mission is to identify and investigate organized crime, corruption and waste, fraud and abuse in governm ...

Retirement and death

After his incarceration, Catena was allegedly semi-retired due to illness, and became officially retired after his release in 1975, as he moved to Boca Raton,

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

that same year. Gerardo Catena died of natural causes on April 23, 2000, at the age of 98.

Involvement with Bally's

Catena was a secret investor in slot machine manufacturer

Bally Manufacturing Bally Manufacturing, later renamed Bally Entertainment, was an American company that began as a pinball and slot machine manufacturer, and later expanded into casinos, video games, health clubs, and theme parks. It was acquired by Hilton Hotel ...

during its early years. This resulted in William T. O'Donnell, the chairman and CEO, resigning from the company in 1979 in order for them to receive a casino permit to operate

Bally's Atlantic City Bally's Atlantic City is a casino hotel on the boardwalk in Atlantic City, New Jersey. It is owned and operated by Bally's Corporation. The Marlborough-Blenheim Hotel stood on the site before the casino was built. It is famous for its address of ...

casino.President of Bally Agrees to Sever Ties as Company Seeks Casino Permit. ''New York Times'' December 4, 197

/ref>

References

Sources *Bernstein, Lee. ''The Greatest Menace: Organized Crime in Cold War America''. Boston: Univ of Massachusetts Press, 2001. *Lamothe, Lee and Antonio Nicaso. ''Bloodlines: The Rise and Fall of the Mafia's Royal Family''. Toronto: HarperCollins Publishers, 2001. *Peterson, Robert W. ''Crime & the American Response''. New York: Facts on File, 1973. *Raab, Selwyn. ''Five Families: The Rise, Decline, and Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empires''. New York: St. Martin's Press, 2005. *Reppetto, Thomas. ''American Mafia: A History of Its Rise to Power''. New York: Henry Holt & Co., 2004. *Sterling, Claire. Octopus: The Long Reach of the International Sicilian Mafia. New York: Simon & Schuster (Touchstone Edition), 1991. *United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Governmental Affairs. Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. ''Profile On Organized Crime Mid-Atlantic Region''. Washington, D.C.: U.S. G.P.O., 1983

*''Pennsylvania Crime Commission: 1984 Report''. St. Davids, Pennsylvania: DIANE Publishing, 1984.

External links

*https://web.archive.org/web/20081024140730/http://www.politickernj.com/tags/jerry-catena *http://crimemagazine.com/eboli.htm *http://americanmafia.com/Cities/New_York_New_Jersey.html *http://carpenoctem.tv/mafia/genovesef.html {{DEFAULTSORT:Catena, Gerardo 1902 births 2000 deaths People from South Orange, New Jersey American gangsters of Italian descent Genovese crime family