Thomas "Tommy" Bilotti (March 23, 1940 – December 16, 1985) was an American mobster with 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 ...

who served as underboss for two weeks. It was this promotion that helped trigger the 1985 assassination of 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 ...

; Bilotti would end up killed as well as part of the assassination.

Early life

As a young man, Bilotti joined the

Staten Island Staten Island ( ) is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located in the city's southwest portion, the borough is separated from New Jersey b ...

crew of Gambino capo Michael D'Alessio. Bilotti also spent time as Alexander DeBrizzi's chauffeur and bodyguard. Bilotti later became a criminal associate of John D'Alessio, Michael's brother. Bilotti was involved in

labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the la ...

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 ...

extortion Extortion is the practice of obtaining benefit through coercion. In most jurisdictions it is likely to constitute a criminal offence; the bulk of this article deals with such cases. Robbery is the simplest and most common form of extortion, ...

and

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 ...

. Bilotti soon gained a reputation for violence. In one incident, Bilotti assaulted Colombo associate Robert Pate. In 1970, D'Alessio allegedly recruited Bilotti and his brother, Joseph, to murder Thomas Ernst, the boyfriend of D'Alessio's daughter. However, the murder attempt failed when D'Alessio's daughter shot at them.

Castellano protegeé

Over the years, Bilotti became a close aide-de-camp, and confidant for capo Paul Castellano. Bilotti was a regular visitor to Castellano's

Todt Hill, Staten Island Todt Hill ( ) is a hill formed of serpentine rock on Staten Island, New York. It is the highest natural point in the five boroughs of New York City and the highest elevation on the entire Atlantic coastal plain from Florida to Cape Cod. The summi ...

, mansion and was considered a close family friend. However, when Castellano started an affair with his maid, Bilotti kept it secret from Castellano's wife. Bilotti and Castellano owned Scara-Mix, a concrete company on Staten Island. He was also heavily involved in the Steam Fitters Local 638 of the Plumbers Union that was represented by George Daly, an associate who belonged to his crew. Daly served as Local 638's business agent until his 1987 conviction for soliciting bribes to ensure labor peace.

Conspiracy

Aniello Dellacroce Aniello John "Neil" Dellacroce (March 15, 1914 – December 2, 1985) was an American mobster and underboss of the Gambino crime family. He rose to the position of underboss when Carlo Gambino moved Joseph Biondo aside. Dellacroce was a mentor ...

's death of cancer on started a chain of events that led to Castellano's murder two weeks Several factors contributed to the conspiracy to kill Castellano; his failure to attend Dellacroce's wake was an insult to the Dellacroce family and his followers.Blum, p. 107 Secondly, Castellano named his bodyguard Bilotti as the new underboss. Castellano also hinted that he planned on breaking up the Gotti crew over rumors of drug dealing. Gravano suggested killing both Castellano and Bilotti while they were eating breakfast at a diner. However, when DeCicco tipped Gotti off that he would be having a meeting with Castellano and several other Gambino mobsters at Sparks Steak House on December 16, Gotti and the other conspirators decided to kill him then.

Death

Sparks Steak House Entrance (Manhattan, New York)

On Monday, December 16, 1985, Bilotti drove Castellano to the prearranged early evening meeting at Sparks Steak House in

Midtown Manhattan Midtown Manhattan is the central portion of the New York City borough of Manhattan and serves as the city's primary central business district. Midtown is home to some of the city's most prominent buildings, including the Empire State Buildi ...

, on near (

Salvatore Scala Salvatore Scala (1944 – December 30, 2008), also known as "Fat Sal" and "Uncle Sal", was a New York mobster who became a '' caporegime'' in the Gambino crime family. Scala was born in Fort Lee, New Jersey, to first-generation immigrants from ...

, Edward Lino, and John Carneglia) waited near the restaurant entrance; positioned down the street were backup shooters

Dominick Pizzonia Dominick "Skinny Dom" Pizzonia (born November 19, 1941) is a New York mobster and captain with the Gambino crime family who was a hitman and loanshark. Pizzonia allegedly participated in several high-profile murders. Early life and rise Born in the ...

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 ...

, and the scene from a car across As Castellano was exiting the car at the front of the restaurant at around 5:26 pm EST, the gunmen ran up and shot him several Allegedly, John Carneglia was the gunman who shot Castellano in the head. as he exited from the driver's door; before leaving the murder scene, Gotti drove over to view

Aftermath

Bilotti is buried fifty yards away from Castellano in the

Moravian Cemetery The Moravian Cemetery is a cemetery in the New Dorp neighborhood of Staten Island, New York City. Location Located at 2205 Richmond Road, the Moravian Cemetery is the largest and oldest active cemetery on Staten Island, having opened in 1740. ...

New Dorp, Staten Island New Dorp is a neighborhood on the East Shore of Staten Island, New York City, United States. New Dorp is bounded by Mill Road on the southeast, Tysens Lane on the southwest, Amboy and Richmond Roads on the northwest, and Bancroft Avenue on the no ...

. He left behind ten children, including a six-week-old baby daughter; his wife Donna suffered a

nervous breakdown A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness or psychiatric disorder, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. Such features may be persistent, relapsing and remitt ...

and a

miscarriage Miscarriage, also known in medical terms as a spontaneous abortion and pregnancy loss, is the death of an embryo or fetus before it is able to survive independently. Miscarriage before 6 weeks of gestation is defined by ESHRE as biochemica ...

. Five years after Castellano's murder, Gotti was arrested by the FBI in late 1990 on racketeering and denied bail 10 days with the help of Gravano becoming a government witness, Gotti was convicted of numerous racketeering charges, including the 1985 Castellano and Bilotti Gotti was sentenced to life in federal where he died of throat cancer a decade later In the TV movie ''

Boss of Bosses ''Boss of Bosses'' is a 2001 American made-for-TV movie about the life of former Gambino crime family boss Paul Castellano directed by Dwight H. Little. It stars Chazz Palminteri as Paul Castellano, Patricia Mauceri as his wife Nina, Mark Margo ...

'', Bilotti is portrayed by actor

Richard Foronjy Richard Foronjy (born August 3, 1937) is an American film and television actor. He is perhaps best known for playing the mobster Tony Darvo in the 1988 film ''Midnight Run''. Partial filmography *'' Serpico'' (1973) - Corsaro *'' The Gambler ...

. In the 1996 made-for-TV movie '' Gotti'', Bilotti is portrayed by actor Ron Gabriel.

References