James Ida
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James Ida also known as "Little Guy" (born 1940) is an American mobster and former consigliere 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 Ame ...
. Ida was born to first generation immigrants from
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. Growing up in the
Little Italy Little Italy is a general name for an ethnic enclave populated primarily by Italians or people of Italian ancestry, usually in an urban neighborhood. The concept of "Little Italy" holds many different aspects of the Italian culture. There are ...
neighborhood of
Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
,
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 * '' ...
, Ida was inducted into the Genovese crime family in the late 1970s. Ida was placed in the Little Italy-based crew of captain Matthew "Matty the Horse" Ianniello, frequently serving as Ianniello's bodyguard and chauffeur. Ida's younger brother Joseph also served in Ianniello's crew.


Racketeering in Little Italy

In 1988, after Ianniello was convicted on federal
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 ...
charges, Ida took over the Ianniello crew. In 1991, after consigliere
Louis Manna Louis Anthony "Bobby" Manna (born December 2, 1929, in Hoboken, New Jersey), is an American mobster and former consigliere of the Genovese crime family operating with the family's New Jersey faction. Genovese family Manna was a close associate ...
was convicted of federal racketeering charges, Ida became the official consigliere of the Genovese family. When boss Vincent Gigante and underboss
Venero Mangano Venero Frank "Benny Eggs" Mangano (September 7, 1921 – August 18, 2017) was the underboss of the Genovese crime family. In 1991, Mangano was convicted of one count of extortion and a related conspiracy count for rigging windows contracts, and i ...
went to prison, Ida handled the day-to-day functions of the Genovese family with acting boss Liborio Bellomo. Ida also oversaw rackets involving the Mason Tenders Union and the
San Gennaro Januarius ( ; la, Ianuarius; Neapolitan and it, Gennaro), also known as , was Bishop of Benevento and is a martyr and saint of the Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church. While no contemporary sources on his life are preserved, late ...
Feast in
Little Italy Little Italy is a general name for an ethnic enclave populated primarily by Italians or people of Italian ancestry, usually in an urban neighborhood. The concept of "Little Italy" holds many different aspects of the Italian culture. There are s ...
. Each vendor working at the Feast had to pay tribute to the Genovese family."19 indicted in blow to Genovese mob"
New York Times June 12, 1996
Ida helped oversee the collection of rents from some 400 vendors. While the mob typically demanded $4,000 a booth, the society running the festival would report to city officials that booth vendors had paid only $1,000 or so each. The city would then assess each vendor a 25 percent permit fee based on this rent. The result was that the city and charities received very little money.
New York Times April 24, 1997
Ida also owned a social club in Little Italy that he used for family business. However, in 1990, capo James Messera was sent to prison based partly on conversations recorded by law enforcement at the club. Ida soon switched to conducting business on walks through the neighborhood and meetings in diners and parks. To counter Ida's new strategy, Federal investigators in 1994 obtained warrants for use of roving bugs and were able to intercept six of Ida's conversations with family members and union associates.


Protection for La Toya Jackson

In 1994, Ida was involved in the extortion of money from singer
La Toya Jackson La Toya Yvonne Jackson (born May 29, 1956) is an American singer and television personality. The fifth child and middle daughter of the Jackson family, Jackson first gained recognition on the family's variety television series, ''The Jacksons'', ...
. According to the
FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...
, Jackson's husband Gordon was paying the Genovese family $1,000 per month for the use of Genovese soldier John Schenone as a "bodyguard" whenever the singer visited New York. Schenone would then present the checks to Ida. On one occasion, the FBI recorded Ida angrily complaining to Schenone about receiving a
bad check Dishonoured cheques (also spelled check) are cheques that a bank on which is drawn declines to pay (“honour”). There are a number of reasons why a bank would refuse to honour a cheque, with non-sufficient funds (NSF) being the most common one ...
from the Jacksons.


Prison

In June 1996, Ida and 19 other Genovese members and associates were charged with violating the
Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act is a United States federal law that provides for extended criminal penalties and a civil cause of action for acts performed as part of an ongoing criminal organization. RICO was en ...
(RICO). The government offered Ida a 15-year plea deal in exchange for cooperation, but Ida refused it. However, fellow mobster Bellomo accepted a
plea agreement A plea bargain (also plea agreement or plea deal) is an agreement in criminal law proceedings, whereby the prosecutor provides a concession to the defendant in exchange for a plea of guilt or '' nolo contendere.'' This may mean that the defendan ...
, reportedly enraging Ida. The FBI was sufficiently concerned about the threat to notify Bellomo's lawyer and to place Bellomo and Ida in
solitary confinement Solitary confinement is a form of imprisonment in which the inmate lives in a single cell with little or no meaningful contact with other people. A prison may enforce stricter measures to control contraband on a solitary prisoner and use additi ...
. Ida's time incarcerated for the durations of his trial was spent in solitary. He connected with Pavle Stanimirovic, also known as Paul Montana and 'Punch', the son of Vojislav Stanimirović. Ida dubbed him "Paulie Cats", reminding the young and rising criminal that violence is not the way to earn respect. He had been placed in the SHU for a violent cutting that in Otisville CF at the same time as the trial . However, both Bellomo's and Ida's lawyers refuted reports that there was any tension between the two mobsters. On April 24, 1997, after an eight-week trial, Ida was convicted of the 1988 DiLorenzo murder, the conspiracies to murder Ralph DeSimone in 1991 and Dominic Tucci in 1995, and racketeering charges involving the San Gennaro Feast. Ida received a life prison sentence. After Ida's imprisonment, former capo Ianniello retook control of Ida's Little Italy crew. In March 2012, Ida was serving life without parole at the
Federal Correctional Institution, Otisville The Federal Correctional Institution, Otisville (FCI Otisville) is a medium-security United States federal prison for male inmates located near Otisville, New York. It is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP), a division of the United ...
, a medium security facility in New York. As of 2020, he is serving his sentence at
Federal Correctional Institution, Schuylkill The Federal Correctional Institution, Schuylkill (FCI Schuylkill) is a medium-security United States federal prison for male inmates in Pennsylvania. It is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a division of the United States Department of Ju ...
.


References


Further reading

*Jacobs, James B., Coleen Friel and Robert Radick. ''Gotham Unbound: How New York City Was Liberated from the Grip of Organized Crime''. New York: NYU Press, 1999. *Jacobs, James B., Christopher Panarella and Jay Worthington. ''Busting the Mob: The United States vs. Cosa Nostra''. New York: NYU Press, 1994. *Raab, Selwyn. ''Five Families: The Rise, Decline, and Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empires''. New York: St. Martin Press, 2005. * Theoharis, Athan G. (ed.) ''The FBI: A Comprehensive Reference Guide''. Phoenix: Oryx Press, 1999. *United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Governmental Affairs. Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. ''Organized Crime: 25 Years After Valachi : Hearings Before the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations''. 1988.


External links


U.S. Indicts 19 in Genovese Mob Case
by Don Van Natta, Jr.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ida, James 1940 births American gangsters of Italian descent Genovese crime family Living people Gangsters sentenced to life imprisonment Consiglieri