John "Johnny Carnegs" Carneglia (born 1945) is an American

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 ...

in 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 ...

. He was sentenced to 50 years in prison in 1989 for racketeering and drug trafficking charges.

Early life

Carneglia was born in 1945 in

Ozone Park, Queens Ozone Park is a neighborhood in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Queens, New York, United States. It is next to the Aqueduct Racetrack in South Ozone Park, a popular spot for Thoroughbred racing and home to the Resorts ...

. For years, John Carneglia was heavily involved in large scale drug distribution networks with Gambino mobster

Gene Gotti Eugene Gotti (born 1946) is an American mobster in the Gambino crime family. He was sentenced to 50 years in prison in 1989 for racketeering and drug trafficking charges; he was released in 2018. Early life Gotti was born in the Bronx, New York, ...

, the brother of John Gotti, and Gambino capo

Angelo Ruggiero Angelo "Quack Quack" Ruggiero Sr. (; July 29, 1940 – December 4, 1989) was a member of the Gambino crime family and a friend of John Gotti's. Once Gotti became leader of the family he made Ruggiero a caporegime. Although he showed little orga ...

. John and Charles Carneglia owned a junkyard in the

East New York East New York is a residential neighborhood in the eastern section of the borough of Brooklyn in New York City, United States. Its boundaries, starting from the north and moving clockwise, are roughly the Cemetery Belt and the Queens borough li ...

section of Brooklyn that was reportedly used for

narcotics trafficking The illegal drug trade or drug trafficking is a global black market dedicated to the cultivation, manufacture, distribution and sale of prohibited drugs. Most jurisdictions prohibit trade, except under license, of many types of drugs through ...

, disassembling of stolen cars, and burying mob murder victims. John would allegedly remove jewelry from corpses prior to dissolving them in acid and then hang the baubles as trophies from the basement rafters. During the 1970s, John unofficially adopted Kevin McMahon, a 12-year-old boy he discovered sleeping in his pool house. John served as a surrogate father to McMahon until John's imprisonment in 1989. After that, Charles supervised McMahon's activities as a Gambino associate. In 2009, McMahon became a government witness and testified against Charles.

Murders

Law enforcement believes that Carneglia either directly or indirectly participated in the murders of

Bonanno crime family The Bonanno 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, and in the United States, as part of the criminal phenomenon known as ...

capos Philip Giaccone, Dominick Trinchera and

Alphonse Indelicato Alphonse "Al" Indelicato (February 25, 1931 – May 5, 1981), also known as Sonny Red, was a powerful American caporegime in New York City's Bonanno crime family who was murdered with Dominick Trinchera and Philip Giaccone for planning to overth ...

; Gambino boss

Paul Castellano Constantino Paul Castellano (; June 26, 1915 – December 16, 1985), was an American crime boss who succeeded Carlo Gambino as head of the Gambino crime family. Castellano was killed in an unsanctioned hit on December 16, 1985. Early life Cast ...

and underboss

Thomas Bilotti Thomas "Tommy" Bilotti (March 23, 1940 – December 16, 1985) was an American mobster with the Gambino crime family who served as underboss for two weeks. It was this promotion that helped trigger the 1985 assassination of Gambino boss Paul Caste ...

; and Gotti neighbor John Favara. In 1980, John Carneglia allegedly participated in the Favara murder. While driving in the Howard Beach neighborhood, Favara accidentally hit and killed Gotti's 12-year-old son Frank Gotti as he was riding a minibike. Carneglia and other Gambino mobsters allegedly abducted Favara from outside of his place of work in

New Hyde Park, New York New Hyde Park is a village in the Towns of Hempstead and North Hempstead in Nassau County, on Long Island, in New York, United States. It is the anchor community of the Greater New Hyde Park area. The population was 9,712 at the 2010 census. ...

, murdered him, and placed his body in a barrel full of acid at the junkyard. Favara's remains remain undiscovered. In 1981, Carneglia allegedly disposed of the bodies of Giaccone, Trinchera, and Indelicato. The three capos had been plotting against imprisoned Bonanno boss Philip Rastelli. As a favor to Rastelli, Castellano allowed Rastelli associates to ambush the men in a Gambino social club, and then give the three bodies to Carneglia for disposal. Carneglia allegedly buried the corpses in a vacant lot close to his house in Queens. In 2004, children playing in the lot discovered one of the bodies. In 1985, John Carneglia allegedly participated with other gunmen in the Castellano and Bilotti murders. The two Gambino leaders were ambushed as they exited a car outside Sparks, a

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 ...

steak house A steakhouse, steak house, or chophouse refers to a restaurant that specializes in steaks and chops, found mainly in North America. Modern steakhouses may also carry other cuts of meat including poultry, roast prime rib, and veal, as well as ...

. A witness stated that he saw Carneglia shooting Bilotti as he lay on the ground. Allegedly, Carneglia was the gunman who actually shot Castellano in the head. Carneglia's boss, John Gotti, had ordered Castellano's assassination so that Gotti could take over the Gambino leadership. No charges were ever filed against Carneglia.

Conviction and prison

In early 1987, Carneglia and Gotti went to trial on federal charges of

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 ...

illegal gambling Gaming law is the set of rules and regulations that apply to the gaming or gambling industry. Gaming law is not a branch of law in the traditional sense but rather is a collection of several areas of law that include criminal law, regulatory law, ...

, murder, and armed hijackings. On March 13, 1987, all the defendants, including Carneglia, were acquitted on all charges. Later in 1987, Carneglia and John Gotti's brother Gene, went to trial on the 1983 federal charges of

obstruction of justice Obstruction of justice, in United States jurisdictions, is an act that involves unduly influencing, impeding, or otherwise interfering with the justice system, especially the legal and procedural tasks of prosecutors, investigators, or other gov ...

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 operating a continuing criminal narcotics enterprise. In January 1988, the judge declared a

mistrial In law, a trial is a coming together of parties to a dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to adjudicate claims or disputes. One form of tribunal is a court. The tribunal, ...

on this second case due to government charges of jury tampering. On July 27, 1988, in a retrial, the judge again declared a mistrial because jurors failed to reach a verdict. On May 23, 1989, in his third trial on the 1983 charges, Carneglia was convicted of running a heroin distribution ring. On July 7, 1989, Carneglia was sentenced to 50 years in prison and fined $75,000, the same penalty given to Gene Gotti. He was released on June 11, 2018.

References

External links

Federal Bureau of Prisons Inmate Locator
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carneglia, John 1945 births Living people American gangsters of Italian descent American prisoners and detainees American drug traffickers American people convicted of drug offenses Gambino crime family Mafia hitmen People convicted of racketeering Prisoners and detainees of the United States federal government People from Ozone Park, Queens

Early life

Murders

Conviction and prison

References

Further reading

External links