The capoplannedto paytwo motorcycle gang members $25,000 each to kill the Elizabeth man, but the hit never came. Informed in prison of D'Amato's execution, Riggi appointed Amari as the new acting boss.[3][4][5]. DeGidio was sentenced to 1 years in prison, and Pali was sentenced to over 6 years. The Decavalcantes are considered by some to be the "Sixth Family". His obituary reads, "John M. Riggi, Laborers Local 394 business agent, Army Air Corps veteran, dedicated his life to his family." The FBI, Like his predecessor before him, the law eventually caught up with Johnny the Eagle as well. In contravention of Cosa Nostra rules on the killing of a family boss, the plotters did not ask permission from the Mafia Commission in New York. The new boss was Giovanni John the Eagle Riggi. The suspects include reputed captain 71-year-old Charles Stango, of Henderson, Nevada, and 72-year-old Frank Nigro, of Toms River, a reputed consigliere, or adviser. By 1964, with the death of Delmore, his nephew Simone (Sam the Plumber) DeCavalcante would be selected as the new boss of this Family. Antonio Caruso was a member of the DeCavalcante Family active in gambling operations on the Lower East Side with policy and card games. Like his predecessor before him, the law eventually caught up with Johnny the Eagle as well. D'Amato of the powerful Elizabeth faction of the DeCavalcante crime family, was soon cooperating with high-ranking members Charles "Big Ears" Majuri and Gaetano "Corky" Vastola in illegal gambling and loansharking operations. The criminal complaint alleges. What follows below is a list of in-depth biographies for many of their more interesting members and associates. Amari was recognized by US law enforcement as being heavily involved with extortion, labor racketeering, loansharking, and narcotics activities in Newark and New York City. Instead, at least five different crime families: New England's Raymond Patriarca Family, three of New York CIty's notorious Five Families (the Genovese, Gambino, and Colombo), as well as New Jersey's Simone DeCavalcante Family, all competed to grab various pieces of its territory, thereby carving up The Nutmeg State like a pizza pie. It operates on the other side of the Hudson River from the Five Families of New York, but it maintains strong relations with many of them, as well as with the . That all changed in the 1960s, when Simone Rizzo DeCavalcante came on the scene. Joseph Miranda became an alleged acting underboss/acting boss -- at the age of 83 -- after the mass 2003 arrests of the Family. Genovese Family associates Ralph and John Eboli (brothers of Family acting boss Thomas "Tommy Ryan" Eboli): Ralph was arrested with another mob member for the attempted extortion and muscling in on a Nesconset bar. In the 1980s, Capo attended school to become a certified Asbestos abatement worker. Description 20K views 8 months ago Sam DeCavalcante was the boss of New Jersey's DeCavalcante Crime Family - the inspiration for The Sopranos TV Series. As Capo himself described it in court testimony in 2003, "Nobody's going to respect us if we have a gay homosexual boss sitting down discussing La Cosa Nostra business."[6]. "The FBI is confident this is a severe blow to the La Cosa Nostra family. See what employees say it's like to work at Chateau Marmont. Under his guidance, the DeCavalcante Family added dozens of made men to their ranks, and, Unfortunately for Sam the Plumber, his rise to power coincided with another development: more aggressive and sophisticated law enforcement efforts to take down organized crime. Capo was involved in extortion and loansharking activities. He rose to power in 1964, and he was incarcerated in 1969. He was convicted on a variety of extortion and labor charges in 1992, and sentenced to twelve years in prison. The Kefauver hearings later named his crime family the DeCavalcante crime family since he was the boss of the family at the time of those hearings. Sam DeCavalcante was the boss of the DeCavalcante Family who became notorious for undercover FBI recordings at his plumbing office. Girolamo "Jimmy" Palermo was an Italian-born American mobster and longtime underboss of the DeCavalcante crime family in Elizabeth, New Jersey, under the imprisoned boss Giovanni "John the Eagle" Riggi. [72] [73] The family was the subject of the CNBC program Mob Money, which aired on June 23, 2010, [74] and The Real Sopranos TV documentary directed by Thomas Viner for the UK production company Class Films. Francesco "Frank" Guarraci was an Italian-born American mobster. DeCavalcante would have loved to be considered their equal. The FBI surveilled DeCavalcante and several of his associates, built an effective case against him, and in 1969 he was convicted on a variety of racketeering charges. The DeCavalcante family made its money by racketeering. Robert Occhipinti was a member of the DeCavalcante Family who ran into trouble when the infamous "Sam the Plumber" tapes were revealed. Help, Help. I told him, Now do you understand what I mean when I say I want to see you? [He replied] Yes, Ill do anything you say., DeCavalcante added to Majuri, You know, I work one way, and thats the right one. The downfall of the DeCavalcante family was precipitated in 1998, when an associate named Ralph Guarino became an FBI informant, in an effort to avoid a long prison sentence in connection with taking part with two others in a heist of $1.6 million from the World Trade Center. This panel included capos Vincent Palermo, Girolamo Palermo (no relation) and Newark faction leader Charles Majuri. A total of 10 members and associates of the New Jersey-based DeCavalcante crime family were arrested today for running a prostitution ring, drug trafficking and plotting to kill a rival, according to U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman. By 2005, nearly 50 people connected with the DeCavalcante family were behind bars. "Telling Court He's Gay, Mob Informer Crosses Line", "Hit man's confessions Mob turncoat tells court of his blood-soaked life", WISEGUY GETS LIFE FOR HIT ON GAY MOB BOSS, "Racketeering Convictions Rejected for 3 in Mob Case", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=John_D%27Amato&oldid=1092821241, This page was last edited on 12 June 2022, at 20:33. Longtime New Jersey mob boss John Riggi passed away on Monday. If Guarraci is indeed an acting boss, it seems he is the only one still out there being a gangster a la the fictional Tony Soprano, at however small a scale. The three men ordered D'Amato's execution and gave the job to Capo, Vincent Palermo and James Gallo. Riggis knowledge and control of unions enabled the DeCavalcante Crime family to shake down contractors and municipal governments, often earning the family impressive profits. He preferred The Count. (He told people his father had been an Italian marquis.). The three men ordered D'Amato's execution and gave the job to Capo, Vincent Palermo, and James Gallo. That has never stopped, OMalley said. Since then, several other top mobsters agreed to become government witnesses in exchange for being given lenient or no sentences at all. "The Changing Face of Organized Crime in New Jersey", "MEET THE REAL JERSEY MOB: DeCavalcantes ruled the Garden State", "Chronological History of La Cosa Nostra in the United States, January 1920 - August 1987", "SICK DON GETS 10 Real Soprano too ill for court", "Don's Long Shadow Creeping Into Trial Of Brother", "RELIVING A GORY RUBOUT Big-time turncoat tells how a wiseguy got his", "REAL 'SOPRANO' SINGS N.J. mob boss cut secret deal", "New Charges for Mob Family as U.S. 103 8 (1959/1960 - January 23, 2012 [1] ) Made Man A resident of South Beach, Staten Island, Capo became an associate of the DeCavalcante crime family during the early 1980s under powerful Elizabeth, New Jersey faction leader Giovanni Riggi. One of them decided to cooperate and a dozen more were grabbed. Organized Crime Task Force. During Guarino's time as an informant, fellow mobster Joseph Masella was gunned down on the orders of Vincent Palermo. [16] This resulted in the arrest of 12 more men less than a year later, [16] decimating the crime family's hierarchy and putting it on the brink of extinction. The FBI surveilled DeCavalcante and several of his associates, built an effective case against him, and in 1969 he was convicted on a variety of racketeering charges. He was convicted on a variety of extortion and labor charges in 1992, and sentenced to twelve years in prison. All Rights Reserved. He took on the role after longtime reputed Boss Ercole 'Eckley' DiMeo was sent to prison in 1995. The latest "organized crime spotlight" report issued by the state focused instead on the notoriously violent street gang MS-13. The Mafia"capo"had an employeeproblem. [30], Longtime member Charles "Big Ears" Majuri is the current boss of the family. had a home in the Jersey Shore's Long Branch. Under his guidance, the DeCavalcante Family added dozens of made men to their ranks, and even gained a seat on the infamous Commission. Comello's attorney told theNetwork the incident is related to hate online, "including right-wing conspiracy websites and public comments made by politicians,Robert Gottlieb said. Michael Daly on the primordial crew behind HBOs beloved Mafiosi. Theyre now a low-grade fever, Seglem said. He had been the acting boss during the 1970s and became the official boss around 1982. For the next several years, every single word spoken by Sam and his Mafia associates was recorded for posterity by the agents. DeCAVALCANTE FAMILY BUILT ITS REPUTATION ON MURDER FOR HIRE. He hung out at the Ribera Social Club in Elizabeth, remaining so low-key that even some members of the family were unaware of his alleged position. But that was forgotten as Anthony Rotondo rhapsodized about The Sopranos. As with all of Cosa Nostra in the last 20 to 30 years, the DeCavalcante Family has fallen prey to the Rat Fever permeating through the ranks of all the mobbut the beat goes on! He died of natural causes in 1997. If youre a real honest guy, you wind up [a] hunchback with headaches., A feeling that he had not received his due respect may have added to DeCavalcantes dislike for the nicknames Sam the Plumber (he owned a heating and plumbing company) and the Claw (he made sure to collect every usurious penny in loan sharking). Centered in Union County, the family also has extensive operations in Middlesex, Monmouth, Ocean and Essex Counties as well as Staten Island, New York. The DiMeo family had then been taken over by Jackie Aprile, who dies of cancer just like Jake Amari. The DeCavalcante crime family, which he led, was accused of demanding payoffs for labor peace, imposing no-show jobs and promoting loan-sharking, sweetheart contracts and gambling, among. "LaCosa Nostra" (Italian for "our thing") doesn't enjoy the same power it hadin decades past. [7] In 2006, Abramo, Schifilliti and Vitabile were sentenced to life imprisonment. If you dont mind, Id rather not talk about it, she said. Louis "Louie Eggs" Consalvo is a New Jersey mobster and reputed soldier and acting captain in the DeCavalcante crime family. . It operates on the other side of the Hudson River from the Five Families of New York, but it maintains strong relations with many of them, as well as with the . [29], In 2016, Anthony Stango Jr. was sentenced to 6 years in prison after pleading guilty to using a telephone in interstate commerce to conduct a prostitution operation, conspiring to distribute five grams or more of cocaine, distributing more than $70,000 worth of cocaine, and possessing a shotgun as a convicted felon. Die Bufalino-Familie wurde unter anderem mit Gewerkschaftskorruption, Flschungen . The Gotti Crime family in New York is one of America's most famous and the long-standing trial of the flamboyant John Gotti garnered headlines for years until his death in 2002. . DeCavalcante always paid a good price when persuading judges and politicians and cops to sell their souls. D'Amato's body was never recovered. He had been released from prison almost three years ago and peacefully died at home surrounded by his family. The Lucchese crime family is an Italian-American Mafia crime family and one of the "Five Families" that dominate organized crime activities in New York City, in the United States, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the American Mafia. This true crime biography by a Mafia insider chronicles the hair-raising life of the notorious Colombo crime family boss. Vastolas successor, John DAmato, was reputed to be more loyal to the Gambinos than his own New Jersey associates. One other capo of notice is Anthony "Tough Tony" Provenzano. You know, honesty and honorability, those things., Majuri replied, Yeah. In 1989, Capo participated in the murder of Fred Weiss, a Staten Island, New York developer and newspaper publisher. Joseph Guerriero was a smart and capable soldier in the DeCavalcante Family and a rackets boss of the New Britain section of Connecticut. Riggi was hit with another 10 years just as he was about to be freed. Although a highly secretive Family even among Cosa Nostra itself, in the early 1960s, the FBI was able to install a hidden bug or listening device in Sam DeCavalcantes plumbing contracting office. Earlier in 1991, D'Amato's girlfriend, retaliating against D'Amato over an argument, told Anthony Rotondo that D'Amato was an active bisexual. He is said by law enforcement to remain a boss who may outlast them all in the five families for the same reason that helped make The Sopranos such a hit. [2] Prosecutors charged Capo with the 1989 Weiss murder, the 1992 D'Amato murder, and involvement in two other murders. T The mutt a made member of the Mafia family had insulted an acting boss and disputed a mobster staffing decision. Simone DeCavalcante was the boss of the crime family that bore his name and a FBI bug recorded his every word to his secretary when he arrived at his office one morning in 1964. Then he hit him another one. Dec 15, 2016 - The real Sopranos . Riggi used his power and influence to place subcontractors and workers at various construction projects around the state, and the DeCavalcantes were able to steal from union welfare and pension funds. Anthony "Tony" Capo (1959/60 January 23, 2012)[1] was an American hitman in the DeCavalcante crime family who later became a government witness and entered the Witness Protection Program. Crime bosses came and left, and the turnover meant that there was no true power center. Delmore attended the infamous 1957 Apalachin Convention to represent the small New Jersey crime family, with underbosses of Elizabeth and Newark Frank Majuri and Louis "Fat Lou" LaRasso. Several customers became alarmed and exited the restaurant, without paying their bills. [12]. ignored and then continued working, the indictment notes. Nobodys going to respect us if we have a gay homosexual boss sitting down discussing La Cosa Nostra business, Capo later testified. The DeCavalcante crime family is an Italian-American organized crime family that operates in Elizabeth, New Jersey and surrounding areas in the state and is part of the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the American Mafia (or Cosa Nostra). Sam the Plumber, alleged Mafia family member whose phone conversations were taped by the FBI, is pictured here with his. Copyright 2019-2023, Button Guys of The New York Mafia. UnderBoss: "Unknown" Consiglieri: Frank "Shipe" Nigro PATRIARCA FAMILY ( New England Mafia Family) Boss/Acting Boss: Carmen (The Cheeseman) DiNunzio UnderBoss: Matthew Guglielmetti Consiglieri: (?) He soon after died of stomach cancer. CHICAGO MAFIA FAMILY ( CHICAGO OUTFIT) Federal authorities previously have called the DeCavalcante organization one of La Cosa Nostra's most ruthless families. The indictment listed murder . Which directive G.M. His other advantage over the more high-profile families in New York was that law enforcement in New Jersey is more fragmented and less zealous. In January 1992, Anthony Capo participated in the murder of D'Amato. Simone DeCavalcante, a.k.a. Stango, now 75, ultimately opted for death, according to the document. "Today Newark FBI arrested 10 members of the DeCavalcante organized crime family, disrupting one of the most notorious crime families," FBI Special Agent in Charge Richard M. Frankel said. Around the end of the first season, an actual FBI electronic device carried by an informant recorded members of the DeCavalcante family chatting about the show as they drove to a sit-down. He declined to commenton a rumored romantic motive, except to saywere investigating everything thats been reported.". He had been released from prison almost three years ago and peacefully died at home surrounded by his family. The DeCavalcante crime family, also known as the North Jersey Mafia, is an Italian-American Mafia organized crime family. [1], Last edited on 5 September 2022, at 08:04, "Mob rat squeals no more Dies in protection", "Made men: the true rise-and-fall story of a New Jersey mob family", "Hit man's confessions Mob turncoat tells court of his blood-soaked life", "Telling Court He's Gay, Mob Informer Crosses Line", WISEGUY GETS LIFE FOR HIT ON GAY MOB BOSS, "Stenographer Investigated in Leaks to the Mob", The Star-Ledger: Mob Story - How a crime family turned dysfunctional, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Anthony_Capo&oldid=1108593767, This page was last edited on 5 September 2022, at 08:04. Members refer to the organization as the Lucchese borgata; borgata is Mafia slang for criminal gang, which itself was derived from Sicilian word meaning close-knit community. The high turnover of mafia leadership that gave rise to the DeCavalcante family in the 1960s played a key part in its precipitous decline four decades later. Mob Fireside Chat BGs Official YouTube Channel, The DeCavalcante Crime Family of New Jersey, Nicolas (Nicky Dell) Delmore An Early DeCavalcante Family Boss, Simone Rizzo DeCavalcante The Count Of New Jersey, John (John the Eagle) Riggi DeCalvacante Family Acting Boss, Francesco (Big Frank) Majuri The Underboss, Joseph (Joe Buff) La Selva Nutmeg Mafioso, Antonio (Tony the Fox) Caruso The Hidden Fox, Carmelo (Melio) Cocchiaro DeCavalcante Family Soldier, Frank (Big Frankie) Cocchiaro DeCavalcante Caporegime, Rudolph (Rudy) Farone This Tootsie Dont Roll, Pietro (Pete) Galletta This Zip Liked To Sleep, Umberto (Vadoo) Gallo The Longshore Loaner, Joseph Guerriero Pippy of Connecticut, Joe Lolordo Machine-Gun Killer and DeCavalcante Capo, Joseph (The Old Man) Miranda The Mob Turtle. . John Riggi helmed the DeCavalcante ship with a steely resolve for nearly 35 years even while Gambino boss John Gotti sought to sink it. Between 1986 and 1994. His aliases included Marshall Beach, Mathew Beach and Wade Beach. It also helped send him to prison. La Cosa Nostras reign has waned in the last 10 to 15 years, diminished by prosecutions and infighting between criminal factions. John "Johnny Boy" D'Amato (died January 1992) was a New Jersey mobster and former acting boss of the DeCavalcante crime family.After being recruited by Gambino crime family boss John Gotti to take over the family, he was suspected of engaging in homosexual activity and was murdered in January 1992. Gay bosses, Sicilian recruits, FBI bugs. The scene where the FBI breaks into Tonys basement to plant a bug was so realistic that an agent who happened to encounter two of the shows head writers at The Buffalo Club in Santa Monica asked where they got their information. [21] [22] Associates Rosario Pali and Nicholas DeGidio were convicted on April 4, 2017, after pleading guilty to distributing more than 500 grams of cocaine. Giacomo Jake Amari became the acting boss and thumbed his nose at the five families by recruiting new members in New York and operating a social club in Little Italy. Following his release from prison in 1976, he allegedly retired from the Mafia and moved to Florida. Angelo Gallo was active in loanshark rackets and was associated with the Gallo Gang faction of the Colombos. Unrelenting law enforcement pressure was further diminishing the power of the DeCavalcante crime family as well. [9], Anthony Capo died after a heart attack on January 23, 2012, aged 52. Bonanno boss Joseph 'Big Joe' Massino was boss from early 1990s to 2004 - he then became the first official boss from New York to become an informant. He later testified against the DeCavalcante family, Colombo crime family boss Joel Cacace, and Genovese crime family capo Federico Giovanelli. . he so brilliantly played the fictional gangster Tony Soprano. The attorney who represented Stango in thecase declined to comment. All rights reserved. Cosa Nostra is Cosa Nostra, he declared. Frank "Franky the Beast" Scarabino is a New York City mobster and former soldier in the North Jersey based DeCavalcante crime family. Sitting in the back seat, Capo shot D'Amato four times, killing him. He had to meet death, concluded the reputedcaporegime, the Italian term for captain in the underworld. Riggi replaced Vastola with D'Amato as acting boss. Jun 21, 2017 - Explore Barry Benstead's board "DeCavalcante", followed by 194 people on Pinterest. He was released on November 27, 2012. Through deep-dive biographies and snapshots of mobsters to in-depth stories about mafia regimes and crews, youll uncover an underworld you might never have known existed maybe even in your own hometown! Even so, legacymob activity in New Jersey is detailed in the records of recent federal prosecutions: The Port of New York and New Jersey is a longtime hotspot for organized crime, OMalley noted. When the transcripts were unsealed in court, it became apparent that the affair with secretary was just one of many liaisons. Sam DeCavalcante was the boss of the DeCavalcante Family who became notorious for undercover FBI recordings at his plumbing office. Riggis hope to put the DeCavalcante family back on the map with the killing was dashed when it became known that when stealing license plates to put on a getaway car, one of the hit squad had inadvertently chosen the plates of a vehicle belonging to the wife of a well-known mobster. The mob still exists, said Grady OMalley, senior litigation counsel in the U.S. Attorneys Office inNew Jersey, who has sentMafia members to trial and prison since the late 1970s. Gioacchino "Jake" Amari was an Italian-American mobster who served as acting underboss and later acting boss of the DeCavalcante crime family of New Jersey. After Riggi's conviction for racketeering, he appointed John D'Amato as acting boss of the family in 1990. Informed in prison of D'Amato's execution, Riggi appointed Amari as the new acting boss.[3][5][7]. mafia in the catskills. John "Johnny Boy" D'Amato was a New Jersey mobster and former acting boss of the DeCavalcante crime family. Soon, Riggi was convicted of his charges and sentenced to 15 years in 1990, which meant that Vastola kept running the day-to-day activities. Guarraci and a man who would be arrested with him became more insistent and threatening. The Genovese family controls the New Jersey side, according to Arsenault. The DeCavalcante crime family is an organized crime family that operates in Elizabeth, New Jersey and surrounding areas in the state and is part of the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the American Mafia (or Cosa Nostra). Great acting.. He was 90 years old. Mob historians claim Stefano Badami, in the 1920s, was the first capo over a group of Mafiosi which later were more formally organized under the auspices of Filippo (Phil) Amari, and later during the late 1940s through the early 1960s era, one Nicholas (Nicky Dell) Delmore, a well-respected old-line bootlegger and labor racketeer who commanded the Family. Underboss Frank Majuri was recorded telling Simone DeCavalcante that he shouldnt run around because Catena and Gambino dont. Majuri meant Gerardo Catena of the Genovese family and Carlo Gambino of the family of that name. John "Johnny Boy" D'Amato (died January 1992) was a New Jersey mobster and former acting boss of the DeCavalcante crime family. Im sorry, I hope everybody doesnt blame me, an informant would quote the hapless hitman saying before he himself was hit. Hell do anything Carl wants him to do., DeCavalcante went on to say, Sometimes, Frank, the more things you see, the more disillusioned you become. Or at the very least, the mutt had to be maimed. He ruled until early in the 1970's. He was succeeded by John Riggi, who is currently imprisoned.