John "Jackie" D'Amico (July 11, 1936 – December 27, 2023) was an American

mobster A gangster (informally gangsta) 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 ...

and

caporegime A ''caporegime'' or ''capodecina'', usually shortened to ''capo'' or informally referred to as "captain", "skipper" or "lieutenant", is a leadership position in the Mafia (both the Sicilian Mafia and Italian-American Mafia). A ''capo'' is a "made m ...

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 w ...

who served as street boss of 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, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the American Mafia. ...

from 2005 to 2011. "Street boss" had been the family's number one position ever since official Boss Peter Gotti started serving a life sentence in prison.

Early life

His parents were born in the village of Vietri sul Mare in the

Campania Campania is an administrative Regions of Italy, region of Italy located in Southern Italy; most of it is in the south-western portion of the Italian Peninsula (with the Tyrrhenian Sea to its west), but it also includes the small Phlegraean Islan ...

region of Italy. D'Amico is not related to Bonanno crime family soldier Joseph D'Amico. D'Amico received the nickname "Nose" because of his " Romanesque nose", one mob informant told the courts during his testimony. At the Gotti trial, mobster Michael “Mikey Scars” DiLeonardo said, " 'Amicohad his nose fixed, a (

rhinoplasty Rhinoplasty (, nose + , to shape), commonly called nose job, medically called nasal reconstruction, is a plastic surgery procedure for altering and reconstructing the human nose, nose. There are two types of plastic surgery used – plastic sur ...

). He had a big, distorted nose at one time", D'Amico was said to have been upset with prosecutors for using the nickname. D'Amico was an old friend of Irving "Hal" Hershkowitz, the founder and president of the non-alcoholic beverage corporation Big Geyser, Incorporated,"A Slice of Mafia With Your Sparkling Water?"
Village Voice, May 27, 2008 He worked in their

Maspeth, Queens Maspeth is a residential and commercial community in the Borough (New York City), borough of Queens in New York City. It was founded in the early 17th century by Dutch and English settlers. Neighborhoods sharing borders with Maspeth are Woodside ...

warehouse. He maintained the job until he was brought to trial and convicted of extortion. He started as a delivery truck driver with a base salary of $23,000 but later switched to working as a salesman on commission and his salary was raised to $71,000 a year. At the same warehouse where D'Amico had an office block, he was a co-worker of Lucchese crime family capo

Matthew Madonna Matthew Madonna (November 2, 1935) is an American mobster who is a member of the Lucchese crime family. He previously served as acting boss before being imprisoned in 2017. Narcotics trafficking In 1959, while serving a sentence at the Green H ...

who is also listed on the company payroll. Assistant U.S. Attorney Roger Burlingame suspected that while ostensibly on the payroll, D'Amico was given a no-show job allowing him to collect health benefits from the company, a Jaguar that was leased by the company, and to claim lawful employment. Herskowitz stated to reporter Tom Robbins that he had known D'Amico for thirty years and considered him a good, long-time friend. Hershkowitz and D'Amico attended New Utrecht High School together, the same high school that Sammy Gravano attended before dropping out.

Rise to power

By the late 1960s, D'Amico was a bookmaker and soldier in the Gambino family, then ruled by boss Carlo Gambino. In the 1970s, D'Amico became an associate of

Ozone Park, Queens Ozone Park is a neighborhood in the southwestern section of the New York City boroughs of New York City, borough of Queens, New York (state), New York, United States. It is next to the Aqueduct Racetrack in South Ozone Park, Queens, South Ozone ...

-based capo John Gotti. In 1976, D'Amico began operating loansharking, illegal gambling,

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 ...

and labor

racketeering Racketeering is a type of organized crime in which the perpetrators set up a coercion, coercive, fraud, fraudulent, extortionary, or otherwise illegal coordinated scheme or operation (a "racket") to repeatedly or consistently collect a profit. ...

activities in Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx. After Gambino died in 1976, his brother-in-law Paul Castellano became the new boss. During the late 1970s, D'Amico was promoted to

in the Brooklyn faction. With income from loansharking,

, and illegal gambling operations, D'Amico gained much respect within the family On December 16, 1985, Castellano and his underboss Thomas Bilotti were gunned down outside the Sparks Steak House in

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

. Gotti, who had orchestrated their assassination, now became the Gambino boss. D'Amico became one of Gotti's closest associates. In 1992, Gotti was convicted on racketeering charges and sentenced to

life imprisonment Life imprisonment is any sentence (law), sentence of imprisonment under which the convicted individual is to remain incarcerated for the rest of their natural life (or until pardoned or commuted to a fixed term). Crimes that result in life impr ...

. When John Gotti went to prison, he created a ruling panel, or "administration", to supervise the family. This panel included D'Amico, Gotti's son John "Junior" Gotti as acting boss, Peter Gotti, and Joseph Arcuri. The four men would meet to discuss business at Hawaiian Moonlighters Club, the new Gambino headquarters in

Little Italy Little Italy is the catch-all name for an ethnic enclave populated primarily by Italians or people of Italian ancestry, usually in an Urban area, urban neighborhood. The concept of "Little Italy" holds many different aspects of the Italian cul ...

. Other accounts state that Nicholas Corozzo, not Arcuri, was on the panel."Mob Bosses Gotti"
TruTV Crime Library After federal law enforcement began focusing on Junior Gotti, John Gotti allegedly designated him as the new acting boss. In 1998, D'Amico was charged with racketeering and loansharking. On January 19, 1999, he pleading guilty to a single count of operating an illegal gambling operation in

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

whose profits went to Junior Gotti. On July 8, 1999, D'Amico was sentenced to 20 months in prison.

Release from prison

In September 2001, D'Amico was released from prison. According to federal authorities, D'Amico became the Gambino acting boss in 2003. However, with the 2006 release of Nicholas Corozzo, a report stated that both D'Amico and Corozzo were running the family, with Arnold "Zeke" Squitieri as underboss and Joseph "Jo Jo" Corozzo as consigliere. On February 7, 2008, D'Amico was arrested along with more than 60 affiliates of the Gambino family after Operation Old Bridge picked up an informant named Joseph Vollaro. The operation went on to terminate the

drug trafficking A drug is any chemical substance other than a nutrient or an essential dietary ingredient, which, when administered to a living organism, produces a biological effect. Consumption of drugs can be via inhalation, injection, smoking, ingestion, ...

between the Gambino crime family in New York and their connections in

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

. While D'Amico was placed at the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) in Brooklyn, Corozzo became a fugitive. On March 14, 2008, D'Amico was released on bail from the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) in Brooklyn, New York. Following the indictments from Operation Old Bridge, D'Amico was still on trial regarding multiple counts of

charges. In May, 2008, D'Amico pleaded guilty to extorting a cement company out of $100,000 and was sentenced on August 18, 2008, to two years in prison at the Metropolitan Correctional Center, New York City. D'Amico had been scheduled for release from prison on November 3, 2009. However, in February 2009, the imprisoned D'Amico was charged with arranging the 1989 Weiss murder and was kept in prison. On August 5, 2010, D'Amico pleaded guilty to conspiring to assault Frederick Weiss with a dangerous weapon. The district attorney agreed to a lenient plea agreement because the case against D'Amico was "very, very weak". D'Amico was incarcerated at the Metropolitan Correctional Center, New York City and was released on June 15, 2012. D'Amico died on December 27, 2023, at the age of 87.

Early life

Rise to power

Release from prison

References

Further reading