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Dominick Napolitano
Dominick Napolitano (June 16, 1930 – August 17, 1981), also known as Sonny Black, was an American Mafia caporegime in the Bonanno crime family. He is known for unwittingly allowing FBI agent Joseph D. Pistone to become an associate in his crew and nearly having him become an inducted member of the family and cosa nostra. Early life Napolitano's grandparents were immigrants from Naples, Italy. Napolitano was born with blond hair, but by his forties it had turned a gunmetal white-silver color. To hide the color, he dyed it black, earning him the nickname "Sonny Black". He was a close friend of future Bonanno crime family boss Joseph Massino; incarcerated boss Philip Rastelli knew Napolitano before he went to prison. He was close to Carmine Napolitano (May 30, 1943 – February 15, 1999), a cousin and fellow Bonanno mobster. Like his sons Peter Napolitano (November 17, 1957 – June 29, 1994), Aniello Napolitano and Rocco Napolitano who were born and raised in Williamsbur ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive with a respective county. The city is the geographical and demographic center of both the Northeast megalopolis and the New York metropolitan area, the largest metropolitan area in the United States by both population and urban area. New York is a global center of finance and commerce, culture, technology, entertainment and media, academics, and scientific output, the arts and fashion, and, as home to the headquarters of the United Nations, international diplomacy. With an estimated population in 2024 of 8,478,072 distributed over , the city is the most densely populated major city in the United States. New York City has more than double the population of Los Angeles, the nation's second-most populous city. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Michael Sabella
Michael "Mikey Cigars" Sabella (1911–1989) was an American mobster who was a ''caporegime'' in the Bonanno crime family of New York City and a relative of Philadelphia crime family boss Salvatore Sabella. Biography Early years Born in Little Italy, Manhattan to Sicilian parents from Castellammare del Golfo. He was a close relative of Castellammarese mobster Dominick "Mimi" Sabella and his brother, the early Philadelphia crime family boss Salvatore Sabella. Mike Sabella became a soldier for the Bonanno family serving under boss Joseph Bonanno in 1957. He was involved in gambling and loansharking during the 1950s. Before the Bonanno wars of the 1960s, Sabella had been a soldier first in the crew of fellow Castellammarese Carmine Galante and later under Joe Notaro, both top Joe Bonanno loyalists. During the conflict between the Bonannos and Gaspar DiGregorio, Mike Sabella initially remained loyal to the Bonanno faction, but eventually the Commission convinced him to join Di ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Frank Lino
Frank "Curly" Lino (October 30, 1938 – August 2, 2023) was an American former caporegime in the Bonanno crime family who later became an informant. Biography Early life Lino was born in a house on West Eight Street in Gravesend, Brooklyn, New York City. The marriage of his mobster father Robert A. Lino, Sr. and his mother was arranged by Genovese crime family patriarch and founder Vito Genovese during the 1930s. Frank attended Brooklyn's Lafayette High School but dropped out in tenth grade. His father died in 1989, according to what Michael DiLeonardo said during testimony against John A. Gotti. Almost every male member of his family was involved in La Cosa Nostra. After dropping out of high school in the 1950s he joined a violent street gang called the "Avenue U Boys". As a member of the "Avenue U Boys" Lino was involved in robberies. Lino first became associated with the La Cosa Nostra at the age of seventeen, and operated the local floating card games controlled by a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Louis Attanasio
Louis "Louie HaHa" Attanasio Jr. (born June 22, 1944) is an American mobster and reputed captain in the Bonanno crime family. He is the brother of Bonanno mobster Robert Attanasio. Attanasio earned the nickname "HaHa" because he laughed whenever he killed a man. Attanasio was married twice, marrying young and divorcing his first wife in 1992. In 2003, he divorced his second wife Erica, who allegedly suffered from a bipolar disorder. In the divorce settlement, Erica allegedly received $200,000 over a span of five years. In April 1984, Attanasio participated in the murder of Bonanno soldier Cesare Bonventre. Bonanno leaders Philip Rastelli and Joseph Massino had ordered Bonventre's murder because they felt he was a threat to their power. On the day of the murder, Attanasio and Bonanno mobster Salvatore Vitale picked up Bonventre to bring him to a meeting with Rastelli. As Vitale drove into a garage, Attanasio shot Bonventre twice in the head. Surprisingly, Bonventre still str ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nicholas Santora
Nicholas Angelo "Nicky Mouth" Santora (June 21, 1942 – October 27, 2018) was the reputed underboss of the Bonanno crime family. Biography Early life Nicholas Santora was born on June 21, 1942, and became known in his teens as a tough mobster from New York City. He was the son of Modesto Santora, a sidewalk soldier for the Colombo crime family under boss Joseph Magliocco. Originally a member of a youth gang, Santora became a made man along with mobsters Dominick "Sonny Black" Napolitano, Benjamin "Lefty" Ruggiero and Joseph "Big Joey" Massino in the mid 1970s. Santora became involved with the Bonanno family while boss Philip "Rusty" Rastelli was imprisoned. Rastelli's reign was threatened by Carmine "Lilo" Galante, who felt he was the rightful boss because he had been underboss and consigliere under boss Joe Bonanno. Santora started out in a crew led by Galante-supporter Michael "Mikey" Sabella, and became heavily involved with extortion, loansharking, labor racketeering ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Benjamin Ruggiero
Benjamin "Lefty" Ruggiero (April 19, 1926 – November 24, 1994) was an American mobster in the Bonanno crime family. He is well known for his friendship and mentorship of FBI undercover agent Joseph D. Pistone, who Ruggiero knew as Donnie Brasco. When Pistone's operation was ended on July 26, 1981, the FBI intercepted and arrested Ruggiero on August 29, 1981. In November 1982, Ruggiero was sentenced to 15 years in prison for racketeering conspiracy; he was released in April 1993 before his death from cancer. Life Early life Ruggiero was born on April 19, 1926, in Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan, and grew up in the Knickerbocker Village private housing development in Little Italy, Manhattan. His father, Fiori Ruggiero, worked as a truck driver, and his mother, Frances, was a housewife. Ruggiero had two younger siblings named Dominick and Angelina. Ruggiero joined the Bonanno family organization as a young man, serving as a street soldier under caporegime Michael Sabella. Ruggie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bookmaking
A bookmaker, bookie, or turf accountant is an organization or a person that accepts and pays out bets on sporting and other events at agreed-upon odds. History The first bookmaker, Harry Ogden, stood at Newmarket in 1795, although similar activities had existed in other forms earlier in the eighteenth century. Following the Gaming Act 1845, the only gambling allowed in the United Kingdom was at race tracks. The introduction of special excursion trains meant that all classes of society could attend the new racecourses opening across the country. Runners working for bookmakers would collect bets in clock bags. Cash flowed to the bookmakers who employed bodyguards against protection gangs operating within the vast crowds.Dick Kirby, ''The Race Track Gangs'', The Peeler issue 7 July 2002, 'Friends of the Met Police Museum' Illegal betting shops were fined, but some, like Bella Thomasson, ran betting businesses that the police appeared to turn a blind eye to. Range of events ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Truck Hijacking
Carjacking is a robbery in which a motor vehicle is taken over.Michael Cherbonneau, "Carjacking," in ''Encyclopedia of Social Problems'', Vol. 1 (SAGE, 2008: ed. Vincent N. Parrillo), pp. 110-11. In contrast to car theft, carjacking is usually in the presence and knowledge of the victim. A common crime in many places in the world, carjacking has been the subject of legislative responses, criminology studies, prevention efforts as well as being heavily dramatized in major film releases. Commercial vehicles such as trucks and armored cars containing valuable cargo are common targets of carjacking attempts. Carjacking usually involves physical violence to the victim, or using the victim as a hostage. In rare cases, carjacking may also involve sexual assault. Etymology The word is a portmanteau of ''car'' and ''hijacking''. The term was coined by reporter Scott Bowles and editor E. J. Mitchell with ''The Detroit News'' in 1991. ''The News'' first used the term in a report on the mur ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Loansharking
A loan shark is a person who offers loans at extremely high or illegal interest rates, has strict terms of collection, and generally operates outside the law, often using the threat of violence or other illegal, aggressive, and extortionate actions when seeking to enforce the satisfaction of the debt. As a consistent or repeated illegal business operation or " racket", loansharking is generally associated with organized crime and certain criminal organizations. Description Because loan sharks operate mostly illegally, they cannot use the legal system to collect such debts, thus they often resort to enforcing repayment by terms of blackmail and threats of violence. Historically, many moneylenders skirted between legal and criminal activity. In the recent western world, loan sharks have been a prominent feature of the criminal underworld. Loan sharking is not to be confused with predatory lending with extremely high interest rates such as payday or title loans, which is s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Extortion
Extortion is the practice of obtaining benefit (e.g., money or goods) through coercion. In most jurisdictions it is likely to constitute a criminal offence. Robbery is the simplest and most common form of extortion, although making unfounded threats in order to obtain an unfair business advantage is also a form of extortion. Extortion is sometimes called the " protection racket" because the racketeers often phrase their demands as payment for "protection" from (real or hypothetical) threats from unspecified other parties; though often, and almost always, such "protection" is simply abstinence of harm from the same party, and such is implied in the "protection" offer. Extortion is commonly practiced by organized crime. In some jurisdictions, actually obtaining the benefit is not required to commit the offense, and making a threat of violence which refers to a requirement of a payment of money or property to halt future violence is sufficient to commit the offense. Exaction ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Motion Lounge
The Motion Lounge was a nightclub located at 420 Graham Avenue, Williamsburg, Brooklyn. This was a hangout for the Bonanno crime family under caporegime Dominick "Sonny Black" Napolitano. It was one of the central locations in FBI agent Joseph D. Pistone's six-year undercover operation to infiltrate the Mafia, and featured in his autobiography '' Donnie Brasco: My Undercover Life in the Mafia''. A fictionalized version of the lounge featured in the film adaptation, '' Donnie Brasco''. External links''Donnie Brasco: My Undercover Life in the Mafia''at Google Books Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical charac ... Buildings and structures in Brooklyn Bonanno crime family Williamsburg, Brooklyn {{Crime-org-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Veterans Of Foreign Wars
The Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), formally the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States, is an Voluntary association, organization of United States Armed Forces, United States war veterans who fought in wars, Military campaign, campaigns, and Expeditionary warfare, expeditions on foreign land, waters, or airspace as United States Armed Forces, military service members. Established on September 29, 1899, in Columbus, Ohio, the VFW is headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri. It was Congressional charter, federally chartered in 1936. History The VFW resulted from the amalgamation of several societies formed immediately following the Spanish–American War. In 1899, little groups of veterans returning from campaigning in Cuba and the Philippines, Philippine Islands, founded local societies upon a spirit of comradeship known only to those who faced the dangers of that war side by side. Similar experiences and a common language drew them together. The American Veterans of F ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
