Gambino crime family
Encyclopedia
The Gambino crime family is one of the "Five Families
" that dominates organized crime
activities in New York City
, United States
, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the Mafia
(or Cosa Nostra). The group is named after Carlo Gambino
, boss of the family at the time of the McClellan hearings in 1963 when the structure of organized crime first gained public attention. The group's operations extend from New York and the eastern seaboard to California
. Its illicit activities include labor and construction racketeering, gambling
, loansharking, extortion
, money laundering
, prostitution
, dumping violations, construction, building and cement violations, fraud
and wire fraud
, hijacking
, pier thefts, and fencing
.
The rise of what for a time was the most powerful crime family in America began in 1957, the day Albert Anastasia
was assassinated while sitting in a barber chair at the Park-Sheraton Hotel in Manhattan. Experts believe Carlo Gambino helped orchestrate the hit to take over the family. Gambino partnered with Meyer Lansky
to control gambling interests in Cuba. The family’s fortunes grew through 1976, when Gambino appointed his brother-in-law, Paul Castellano
, as boss. Castellano infuriated upstart capo John Gotti
, who orchestrated Castellano's murder in 1985. Gotti's downfall came in 1992, when his underboss Sammy Gravano
decided to cooperate with the FBI. Gravano's cooperation brought down Gotti, along with most of the top members of the Gambino family. The family is now run by Domenico Cefalu
.
upon the New York Mafia scene around 1906, which is when D'Aquila's name first appears on police records for running a confidence scam, a racket that requires a great deal of intelligence and patience. D'Aquila had immigrated to the United States as an influential Palermitano mafioso, and quickly used his ties to other Mafia leaders across the country to create a network of connections and to gain influence within the Italian-American underworld. By 1910 D'Aquila had become the leader of his own New York–based Sicilian Mafia group, one of four that emerged by the mid 1900s.
These four crime families included D'Aquila's own crime family based in East Harlem, Manhattan
, which was also the base of the "first family", the Morello crime family
. The Morello family was originally led by Giuseppe Morello
and his half-brothers, Vincent, Ciro and Nick Terranova, and then by Joe Masseria
, who became D'Aquila's biggest rival in New York. Two Brooklyn-based crime families emerged: one was the Castellammarese clan, led by Nicola "Cola" Schiro from Roccamena
, Sicily
(not from Castellammare del Golfo
, Sicily, where the majority of his Brooklyn crime family members came from), and second was a group led by Alfred Mineo
based in Brooklyn.
Eventually, two more Mafia groups emerged in New York City during Prohibition: This was a break-away faction from the Morello crime family based in the Bronx and led by Gaetano Reina
, who was once aligned with boss Ciro "The Artichoke King" Terranova
, and the last group formed in the late 1920s based in Brooklyn and led by Joe Profaci
.
Profaci became boss of one of the Five Families of New York that soon emerged once power in New York's Italian underworld was consolidated and the factions re-structured into the crime families that ruled organized crime in the city and across the country for the next eight decades.
By the mid 1910s D'Aquila had become the most influential Mafia boss in New York, in part because former New York Mafia "boss of bosses", Giuseppe Morello and his brother-in-law and second-in-command, Ignazio Saietta
, had been imprisoned for 30 years in 1909 for counterfeiting. D'Aquila continued to amass power and influence within New York's Sicilian underworld and across the nation as his crime family grew in numbers and territory.
The expansion of the D'Aquila crime family was aided by the decimation of the Brooklyn
Camorra
led by Neapolitan Mafia boss, Don Pellegrino Morano
, when Morano and his second-in-command, Alessandro Vollero
were imprisoned for life in 1917, following a war with the Morello crime family, which led to the murder of boss Nick Morello (born Terranova) in 1916, for which Morano and Vollero were convicted.
By the beginning of Prohibition, the remaining Neapolitan Mafia members and the territory once under control of bosses Morano and Vollero were absorbed into the D'Aquila crime family. Soon after the Brooklyn-based Mineo group was also absorbed into Toto D'Aquila's crime family, making it the largest and most influential in New York City. The only remaining rival that D'Aquila needed to fear was the expanding forces and growing influence of boss Giuseppe "Joe the Boss" Masseria. Masseria had taken over the Morello crime family interests and territory by 1920, and quickly began to amass a great deal of power and influence, enough to rival D'Aquila by the mid 1920s.
By the late 1920s D'Aquila and Masseria were headed for a showdown and inevitable war, but Masseria struck first and D'Aquila was killed on October 10, 1928 by Masseria family gunmen. The crime family D'Aquila had led passed into the hands of his second-in-command or underboss, Alfred Mineo
and his top lieutenant Steve Ferrigno
, who at the height of the Prohibition
era commanded the largest and most influential Sicilian crime family in New York City.
The Castellammarese War
, between rival New York bosses Joe Masseria
and Salvatore Maranzano
claimed many victims, including Mineo and Ferrigno who were ambushed and killed on November 5, 1930, outside Ferrigno's home at 759 Pelham Parkway South. It was the latest in a long line of killings on both sides of the war, which ultimately ended with the deaths of both principals – Masseria in April 1931 and Maranzano five months later. The main beneficiary (and organizer of both hits) was Charlie "Lucky" Luciano, who rearranged New York's organized crime and established the basis of the "Five Families
" of New York, which became known as the Commission
of the Cosa Nostra
.
, the first recognized leader of what became the Gambino family was Vincent Mangano
, an older mafioso who was still very much steeped in the Old World traditions of "honor," "tradition," "respect" and "dignity." However, he was somewhat more forward-looking than Masseria and Maranzano. He branched out into activities including extortion, union racketeering, and illegal gambling operations including horse betting, running numbers and lotteries.
Mangano also established the City Democratic Club, ostensibly to promote bedrock American values but in reality as a cover for Murder, Inc.
, the notorious band of mainly Jewish hitmen who did the bidding of the Italian-American run families, for a price. The operating head of the troupe was Mangano family underboss Albert Anastasia
, known as the "Lord High Executioner". Vince's brother Phil Mangano was also a prominent member.
He also had close ties with Emil Camarda, a vice-president of the International Longshoremen's Association
. Through the association, Mangano and the family controlled the Manhattan
and Brooklyn
waterfront with a mailed fist. From 1932 onward, the president of Local 1814 of the ILA was Anthony "Tough Tony" Anastasio
, Albert Anastasia's younger brother (Anthony kept the original spelling of their last name). He was one of the family's biggest earners, steering millions of dollars in kickbacks and payoffs to the Mangano coffers. Tough Tony made no secret of his ties to the mob; he only had to say "my brother Albert" to get his point across.
Around this time, Carlo Gambino
was promoted within the organization, as was another future boss of the family, Gambino's cousin Paul Castellano
.
Called to answer for the crimes of which he was suspected by the other New York bosses, Anastasia never admitted to his involvement in the deaths of the Manganos, but did claim that Vince had been planning to have him killed. He was already running the family in Mangano's "absence," and few in the organization found themselves inclined to depose one of the most feared killers of the age. With the support of Frank Costello
, boss of the Luciano crime family
, Anastasia was formally acclaimed boss of the renamed Anastasia family. Carlo Gambino, a wily character with designs on the leadership himself, maneuvered himself into position as underboss.
for the two bosses. This particularly helped Costello, as Vito Genovese
was angling to replace him, but knew he couldn't make a move as long as Anastasia was in the picture.
Genovese thus jumped on the 1952 killing of a Brooklyn man named Arnold Schuster
, who Anastasia had killed for the most minor of indiscretions (acting as a prosecution witness against a bank robber Anastasia didn't even know), as evidence that Anastasia was unbalanced and generated too much heat for the syndicate. With Gambino secretly siding with Genovese against his own boss, the wheels were in motion for the removal of Anastasia.
On October 25, 1957, Anastasia was murdered while sitting in a barber's chair at the Park Sheraton Hotel on West 56th Street. For many years, the murder was believed to have been committed by Joseph "Crazy Joe" Gallo
. Later, Colombo crime family
boss and Gallo foe, Carmine "Junior" Persico
claimed credit. Modern historians believe that Carlo Gambino ordered caporegime Joseph "Joe the Blonde" Biondo
to kill Anastasia and Biondo gave the contract to soldier Stephen Armone
. On the morning of October 25, 1957 Armone, along with Arnold Wittenburg and Stephen Grammauta
, murdered Anastasia in the barbershop of the Park Sheraton Hotel. As Anastasia sat in the barber chair the three assailants rushed in, shoved the barber out of the way, and started shooting. The wounded Anastasia allegedly lunged at his killers, but only hit their reflections in the wall mirror. Anastasia died at the scene.
Anastasia's underboss Carlo Gambino took the reins of the family, which from then on bore his name. Biondo was rewarded with the underboss position, which he kept until being demoted in 1965. Stephen Grammauta eventually became a caporegime in the 1990s. Six months earlier, Costello had been driven into retirement by an attempt on his life, clearing the way for Genovese.
Gambino quickly built the family into the most powerful crime family in the United States, with close ties to Meyer Lansky
's offshore gaming houses in Cuba and the Bahamas, a lucrative business for the Mafia. The failure of Joseph "Joe Bananas" Bonanno
, the head of the Bonanno crime family
and Gambino's top rival, to kill off Gambino and the heads of other New York crime families in the aftermath of the Bonanno War, saw Gambino become the most powerful leader of the "Five Families".
Gambino allegedly stretched his power as far as to organize the shooting of Joseph Colombo
, head of the Colombo crime family, on June 28, 1971. Colombo survived the shooting but remained in a coma until his death in 1978. He was buried next to Joseph Gallo.
In either case, Gambino's influence stretched into behind-the-scenes control of the Lucchese crime family
, led by Carmine "Mr. Gribbs" Tramunti
. Gambino also allegedly influenced the selection of Frank "Funzi" Tieri as front boss of the Genovese crime family, after the murder of Thomas Eboli
, whom Gambino, allegedly, had had killed over money owed. It is also more likely believed Eboli was killed by own crime family for his erratic ways.
Under Gambino, the family gained particularly strong influence in the construction industry. It acquired behind-the-scenes control of Teamsters
Local
282, which controlled access to most building materials in the New York area and could literally bring most construction jobs in New York City to a halt.
On October 15, 1976, Gambino died of a heart attack, and control of the family passed not to the obvious choice, longtime underboss Aniello "Mr. Neil" Dellacroce
, but to Paul Castellano
, whose sister was married to Gambino. Allies of Dellacroce were thoroughly unhappy about that move, but Dellacroce himself kept his men in line, and was kept on as Castellano's Underboss.
The Dellacroce faction remained displeased, believing that Castellano had inherited the role rather than earning it. They were also annoyed that Castellano saw himself more as a businessman than a crime boss, even though he expanded the family's influence in the construction industry. For all intents and purposes, the Gambinos held veto power over all construction projects worth over $2 million in New York City.
Castellano did retain a degree of muscle to keep Dellacroce's allies in check, including the notorious crew run by Anthony "Nino" Gaggi
and Roy DeMeo
, which was believed to have committed over 200 murders during Castellano's regime from the late 1970s and mid 1980s. While Castellano was still in charge, most of the family affairs were run and controlled unofficially by a four-man ruling panel which included powerful Garment District
leader Thomas "Tommy" Gambino
, bodyguard and later Underboss Thomas "Tommy" Bilotti
, and powerful Queens faction-leaders Daniel "Danny" Marino and James "Jimmy Brown" Failla
, all top rivals of John Gotti.
It was not a time for the family to be embroiled in inner turmoil and argument, as the Federal Bureau of Investigation
had targeted the Gambino family as the easiest of the five families to infiltrate – FBI tapes obtained from a bug planted in a lamp on Castellano's kitchen table caught him discussing illegal deals with his subordinates, and by the early 1980s Castellano was up on a number of charges and faced with conviction. He let it be known that he wanted Carlo Gambino's son Thomas
to take over the family should he be sent to jail, with Thomas Bilotti
(Castellano's chauffeur and bodyguard) as his underboss, which further enraged the Dellacroce faction, particularly John Gotti
.
In 1983, a federal indictment charged 13 members of the Gambino family with drug trafficking. This group included John Gotti's brother, Gene
, and his best friend, Angelo "Quack Quack" Ruggiero
, who got his nickname for his non-stop talking. The feds had in fact been listening in on his home phone conversations since 1980 – they had Ruggiero on tape discussing family business, making drug deals, and expressing contempt for Castellano. If Castellano knew they were dealing drugs, in violation of his no-drug policy, Ruggiero would be killed. By law, the accused were allowed transcripts of wiretap conversations to aid their defense, and Castellano demanded to be shown them, though Dellacroce did his best to put him off.
Dellacroce was by this time suffering from cancer, but with Ruggiero desperate for help, his friend John Gotti stood up for him. All the same, Castellano maintained that he wanted the transcripts, or he would have Ruggiero and Gotti removed. Gotti realized he had to act fast, and the death of his mentor Dellacroce on December 2, 1985, paved the way for him to take out Castellano.
On December 16, 1985, Bilotti and Castellano arrived at the Sparks Steak House
in Manhattan for a dinner meeting with capo Frank DeCicco
. As the two men were exiting their car, four unidentified men shot them to death. Right after the shootings, John Gotti proclaimed himself the new boss of the Gambino crime family. Gotti appointed DeCicco as underboss and promoted Ruggiero to caporegime. At that time, future underboss Salvatore "Sammy the Bull" Gravano was allegedly elevated to caporegime.
Known as the "Dapper Don," Gotti was well known for his hand-tailored suits and silk ties. Unlike his colleagues, Gotti made little effort to hide his mob connections and was very willing to provide interesting sound bites to the media. Gotti's home in Howard Beach, Queens, was frequently seen on television. Gotti liked to hold meetings with family members while walking in public places so that law enforcement agents could not record the conversations. One of Gotti's neighbors in Howard Beach was his dear friend Joseph "Big Joe" Massino, underboss of the Bonanno crime family. Another of Gotti's neighbors, John Favara
, accidentally killed Gotti's 12-year-old son in a traffic crash. Soon after the boy's death, Favara was kidnapped and murdered.
Mob leaders from the other families were enraged at the Castellano murder and disapproved of Gotti's high-profile style. Gotti's strongest enemy was Genovese crime family boss Vincent "The Chin" Gigante
, a former Castellano ally. Ironically, Gigante had participated in the last unsanctioned hit on a Cosa Nostra boss, that of Frank Costello
in 1957. Gigante allegedly conspired with Lucchese crime family leaders Vittorio "Vic" Amuso
and Anthony "Gaspipe" Casso
, to put out a contract on Gotti's life. On April 13, 1986, a car bomb meant for Gotti instead killed DeCicco.
Eventually, Gotti's brash demeanor and belief that he was untouchable (he was acquitted on federal charges three times, earning the nickname the "Teflon Don") proved his undoing. The FBI had managed to bug an apartment above the Ravenite Social Club
in Little Italy, where an elderly widow let mobsters hold top-level meetings. Gotti was heard planning criminal activities and complaining about his underlings. In particular, he complained about Gravano, portraying him as a "mad dog" killer. Gravano responded by turning state's evidence and testifying against Gotti.
On April 2, 1992, largely on the strength of Gravano's testimony, Gotti and consigliere Frank "Frankie Loc" LoCascio
were convicted and received a sentence of life without parole.
and Nicholas "Little Nick" Corozzo
. The latter was due to take over as acting boss but was himself sentenced to eight years in prison on racketeering charges. Gotti's son, John "Junior" Gotti
, took over as head of the family, but in 1998 he too was convicted of racketeering and sentenced to 77 months in jail.
When Gotti Sr died in prison in 2002, his brother Peter
took over as boss, allegedly alongside D'Amico, but the family's fortunes have dwindled to a remarkable extent given their power a few short decades ago, when they were considered the most powerful criminal organization on earth. Peter Gotti was imprisoned as well in 2003, as the leadership allegedly went to the current administration members, Nicholas Corozzo, Jackie D'Amico and Joseph Corozzo.
As former rivals of John Gotti took completely over the Gambino family, mostly because the rest of Gotti's loyalists were either jailed or under indictments, and because Gotti, Sr died in prison in 2002, then-current head of white collar crimes and caporegime, Michael "Mikey Scars" DiLeonardo
turned state's evidence, due to increased law enforcement and credible evidence to be presented in his racketeering trial, and chose to testify against mobsters from all of the Five Families. One of the last Gotti supporters, DiLeonardo testified against, among others, Peter Gotti and Anthony "Sonny" Ciccone
from 2003 to 2005, and disappeared into the Witness Protection Program. At the same time, Sammy Gravano, Gotti's former Underboss, had evaded the program in 1995 and was arrested and jailed for operating an Ecstasy
-ring that stretched from Arizona
to New York City in 2003. During that same year, he was sentenced to 19 years in prison, ironically due to informants amongst his associates.
In 2005, Nicholas Corozzo and his longtime underling Leonard "Lenny" DiMaria
were released from prison after serving ten years for racketeering and loansharking charges in New York
and Florida
. That same year, US law enforcement recognized Corozzo as the Boss of the Gambino crime family, with his brother Joseph Corozzo as the family Consigliere, Arnold "Zeke" Squitieri
as the acting Underboss and Jackie D'Amico as a highly regarded member with the Corozzo brothers.
and Long Island
. A federal grand jury later that day accused 62 people of having ties to the Gambino crime family, and offenses such as murders, conspiracy, drug trafficking, robberies, extortion and other crimes were included in the indictment. By the end of the week, more than 80 people were indicted in the Eastern District of New York. The case is now referred to as United States of America v. Agate et al. It was assigned to Judge Nicholas Garaufis
. The FBI was able to collect the needed information through informant Joseph Vollero
, the owner of a truck company on Staten Island, who secretly recorded several conversations between him and members of the Gambino family about three years prior to when the indictment was handed out.
Among the arrested were the current Gambino crime family leaders John "Jackie Nose" D'Amico
, Joseph "Jo Jo" Corozzo
and Domenico "Italian Dom" Cefalu
, including Gambino family caporegime Leonard "Lenny" DiMaria
, Francesco "Frank" Cali
, Thomas "Tommy Sneakers" Cacciopoli
. However, recognized captain and co-acting boss Nicholas "Little Nick" Corozzo
, one of the main leaders indicted in the case, fled his home on Long Island, acting on prior knowledge, and was considered a fugitive by US law enforcement, until his arrest before turning himself in on May 29, 2008, after almost four months on the run.
The federal operation broke up a growing alliance between the Gambinos and the Sicilian Mafia, which wanted to get further into the drug trade
. One of those arrested in the raids in the US was Frank Cali
, a captain in the Gambino family. He is allegedly the "ambassador" in the US for the Inzerillo crime family.
and Bartolomeo "Bobby" Vernace was running the Gambino family while the administration members were in prison. Marino, Vernace, Gambino, Cefalu, D'Amico, Nicholas Corozzo
, and Arnold Squitieri
have all been listed as leaders in the family. In July 2011, it was reported that Domenico Cefalu
has been promoted to official boss of the crime family, putting an end to the Gotti regime.
Today the Gambino family still controls the piers in Brooklyn and Staten Island through infiltrated labor unions. A pair of indictments in 2009 and 2010, respectively, show that the family is still very active in New York City. During the 2009 calendar year, the Gambino family saw many important members released from prison. In 2009, former National Basketball Association
(NBA) referee Tim Donaghy
said that Gambino associate James Battista used Donaghy's knowledge of NBA games to pick winners in illegal sports gambling.
On November 18, 2009, the NYPD arrested 22 members and associates of the Lucchese and Gambino crime families as part of "Operation Pure Luck". The raid was a result of cases involving loan sharking and sports gambling on Staten Island. There were also charges of bribing New York City court officers and Sanitation Department officials. On April 20, 2010, Gambino capo Daniel Marino and thirteen other members/associates were arrested and indicted for numerous criminal activities. In addition to the racketeering charges, the fourteen defendants were charged with murder, sex trafficking, sex trafficking of a minor, jury tampering, extortion, assault, wire fraud, narcotics trafficking, loan-sharking and gambling. All the defendants pleaded guilty to lesser charges.
created an alliance between the Gambino family and three Sicilian clans: the Inzerillo's, the Spatola's and the Di Maggio's. Carlo Gambino's relatives controlled the Inzerillo clan under Salvatore Inzerillo
in Passo di Ragano, a neighborhood in Palermo, Sicily. Salvatore Inzerillo coordinated the major heroin trafficking from Sicily to the US, bringing his cousins John
, Giuseppe and Rosario Gambino
to the US to supervise the operation. The Gambino brothers ran a Cafe on 18th Avenue in Bensonhurst and took their name "Cherry Hill Gambinos" from Cherry Hill, New Jersey
. The Gambino family in America began increasing in size with more Sicilian members.
. The two Gambino crews operating in New Jersey are the Mitarotonda crew and the Sisca crew. Other capos operating in New Jersey include John D'Amico, Louis Ricco, Francesco Cali, and Thomas Cacciopoli.
faction operates in Tampa
and the South Florida counties of Broward
, Palm Beach
and Dade
.
Five Families
The Five Families are the five original Italian-American Mafia crime families which have dominated organized crime in America since 1931. The Five Families in New York remain as the powerhouse of the Italian Mafia in the United States.-History:...
" that dominates organized crime
Organized crime
Organized crime or criminal organizations are transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals for the purpose of engaging in illegal activity, most commonly for monetary profit. Some criminal organizations, such as terrorist organizations, are...
activities in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the Mafia
American Mafia
The American Mafia , is an Italian-American criminal society. Much like the Sicilian Mafia, the American Mafia has no formal name and is a secret criminal society. Its members usually refer to it as Cosa Nostra or by its English translation "our thing"...
(or Cosa Nostra). The group is named after Carlo Gambino
Carlo Gambino
"Don" Carlo Gambino, was a Sicilian mafioso who became Boss of the Gambino crime family, that still bears his name today. After the 1957 Apalachin Convention he unexpectedly seized control of the Commission of the American Mafia. Gambino was known for being low-key and secretive...
, boss of the family at the time of the McClellan hearings in 1963 when the structure of organized crime first gained public attention. The group's operations extend from New York and the eastern seaboard to California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. Its illicit activities include labor and construction racketeering, gambling
Gambling
Gambling is the wagering of money or something of material value on an event with an uncertain outcome with the primary intent of winning additional money and/or material goods...
, loansharking, extortion
Extortion
Extortion is a criminal offence which occurs when a person unlawfully obtains either money, property or services from a person, entity, or institution, through coercion. Refraining from doing harm is sometimes euphemistically called protection. Extortion is commonly practiced by organized crime...
, money laundering
Money laundering
Money laundering is the process of disguising illegal sources of money so that it looks like it came from legal sources. The methods by which money may be laundered are varied and can range in sophistication. Many regulatory and governmental authorities quote estimates each year for the amount...
, prostitution
Prostitution
Prostitution is the act or practice of providing sexual services to another person in return for payment. The person who receives payment for sexual services is called a prostitute and the person who receives such services is known by a multitude of terms, including a "john". Prostitution is one of...
, dumping violations, construction, building and cement violations, fraud
Fraud
In criminal law, a fraud is an intentional deception made for personal gain or to damage another individual; the related adjective is fraudulent. The specific legal definition varies by legal jurisdiction. Fraud is a crime, and also a civil law violation...
and wire fraud
Wire fraud
Mail and wire fraud is a federal crime in the United States. Together, 18 U.S.C. §§ 1341, 1343, and 1346 reach any fraudulent scheme or artifice to intentionally deprive another of property or honest services with a nexus to mail or wire communication....
, hijacking
Robbery
Robbery is the crime of taking or attempting to take something of value by force or threat of force or by putting the victim in fear. At common law, robbery is defined as taking the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the person of that property, by means of force or fear....
, pier thefts, and fencing
Fence (criminal)
A fence is an individual who knowingly buys stolen property for later resale, sometimes in a legitimate market. The fence thus acts as a middleman between thieves and the eventual buyers of stolen goods who may or may not be aware that the goods are stolen. As a verb, the word describes the...
.
The rise of what for a time was the most powerful crime family in America began in 1957, the day Albert Anastasia
Albert Anastasia
Albert Anastasia was boss of what is now called the Gambino crime family, one of New York City's Five Families, from 1951-1957. He also ran a gang of contract killers called Murder Inc. which enforced the decisions of the Commission, the ruling council of the American Mafia...
was assassinated while sitting in a barber chair at the Park-Sheraton Hotel in Manhattan. Experts believe Carlo Gambino helped orchestrate the hit to take over the family. Gambino partnered with Meyer Lansky
Meyer Lansky
Meyer Lansky , known as the "Mob's Accountant", was a Polish-born American organized crime figure who, along with his associate Charles "Lucky" Luciano, was instrumental in the development of the "National Crime Syndicate" in the United States...
to control gambling interests in Cuba. The family’s fortunes grew through 1976, when Gambino appointed his brother-in-law, Paul Castellano
Paul Castellano
Constantino Paul "Big Paul" Castellano , also known as "The Howard Hughes of the Mob" and "Big Paulie" , was an American Mafia boss in New York City. He succeeded Carlo Gambino as head of the Gambino crime family, at the time, the nation's largest Mafia family...
, as boss. Castellano infuriated upstart capo John Gotti
John Gotti
John Joseph Gotti, Jr was an American mobster who became the Boss of the Gambino crime family in New York City. Gotti grew up in poverty. He and his brothers turned to a life of crime at an early age...
, who orchestrated Castellano's murder in 1985. Gotti's downfall came in 1992, when his underboss Sammy Gravano
Sammy Gravano
Salvatore "Sammy the Bull" Gravano is a former underboss of the Gambino crime family. He is known as the man who helped bring down John Gotti, the family's boss, by agreeing to become a Federal Bureau of Investigation informant and turn state's evidence.Originally a mobster for the Colombo crime...
decided to cooperate with the FBI. Gravano's cooperation brought down Gotti, along with most of the top members of the Gambino family. The family is now run by Domenico Cefalu
Domenico Cefalu
Domenico "Italian Dom" Cefalu, also known as Greaseball and Dom from 18th Avenue is the boss of the Gambino crime family and leader of the organization's Sicilian faction....
.
Origins
The origins of the Gambino crime family can be traced back to the emergence of Italian mafioso Salvatore "Toto" D'AquilaSalvatore D'Aquila
Salvatore "Toto" D'Aquila was a New York City mobster from the Mustache Pete-era and the first boss of the Gambino crime family....
upon the New York Mafia scene around 1906, which is when D'Aquila's name first appears on police records for running a confidence scam, a racket that requires a great deal of intelligence and patience. D'Aquila had immigrated to the United States as an influential Palermitano mafioso, and quickly used his ties to other Mafia leaders across the country to create a network of connections and to gain influence within the Italian-American underworld. By 1910 D'Aquila had become the leader of his own New York–based Sicilian Mafia group, one of four that emerged by the mid 1900s.
These four crime families included D'Aquila's own crime family based in East Harlem, Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
, which was also the base of the "first family", the Morello crime family
Morello crime family
The Morello crime family is the direct ancestor of the Genovese crime family, the oldest of New York City's Five Families.-From Corleone to America:...
. The Morello family was originally led by Giuseppe Morello
Giuseppe Morello
Giuseppe "the Clutch Hand" Morello , also known as "The Old Fox", was the first boss of the Morello crime family and later top adviser to Giuseppe "Joe the Boss" Masseria. He was known as Piddu and his rivals the Castellammarese knew him as Peter Morello...
and his half-brothers, Vincent, Ciro and Nick Terranova, and then by Joe Masseria
Joe Masseria
Giuseppe "Joe the Boss" Masseria was an early Mafia don in the United States. He was boss of what is now called the Genovese crime family, one of the New York Mafia's Five Families, from 1922 to 1931.-Early days:...
, who became D'Aquila's biggest rival in New York. Two Brooklyn-based crime families emerged: one was the Castellammarese clan, led by Nicola "Cola" Schiro from Roccamena
Roccamena
Roccamena is a comune in the Province of Palermo in the Italian region Sicily, located about 35 km southwest of Palermo. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 1,669 and an area of 33.3 km²....
, Sicily
Sicily
Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...
(not from Castellammare del Golfo
Castellammare del Golfo
Castellammare del Golfo is a town and comune in the Trapani Province of Sicily. The name is roughly translated "Sea- Fortress of the Gulf", deriving from the medieval fortress in the harbor...
, Sicily, where the majority of his Brooklyn crime family members came from), and second was a group led by Alfred Mineo
Alfred Mineo
Alfredo "Al Mineo" Manfredi was a Brooklyn based New York mobster, who headed a strong American Mafia crime family during the Castellammarese War. Mineo's organization would eventually become the present-day Gambino crime family....
based in Brooklyn.
Eventually, two more Mafia groups emerged in New York City during Prohibition: This was a break-away faction from the Morello crime family based in the Bronx and led by Gaetano Reina
Gaetano Reina
Gaetano "Tommy" Reina was the first Boss of the Lucchese crime family in New York City.-Early years:Gaetano Reina was born in September 1889 in Corleone, Sicily to Giacomo Reina and Carmela Runmore. In the early 1900s the Reina family moved to New York City and settled on 107th Street in East Harlem...
, who was once aligned with boss Ciro "The Artichoke King" Terranova
Ciro Terranova
Ciro "The Artichoke King" Terranova was a New York City gangster and one time underboss of the Morello crime family.-Early life:Ciro Terranova was born in the town of Corleone, Sicily...
, and the last group formed in the late 1920s based in Brooklyn and led by Joe Profaci
Joe Profaci
Giuseppe "Joe" Profaci was a New York La Cosa Nostra boss who was the founder of what is today known as the Colombo crime family. Established in 1928, this was the last of the Five Families to be organized. He was the family's boss for over three decades.-Family ties:Profaci's sons were Frank...
.
Profaci became boss of one of the Five Families of New York that soon emerged once power in New York's Italian underworld was consolidated and the factions re-structured into the crime families that ruled organized crime in the city and across the country for the next eight decades.
By the mid 1910s D'Aquila had become the most influential Mafia boss in New York, in part because former New York Mafia "boss of bosses", Giuseppe Morello and his brother-in-law and second-in-command, Ignazio Saietta
Ignazio Saietta
Ignazio Lupo , also known as Ignazio Saietta and Lupo the Wolf, was a Sicilian-American Black Hand leader in New York City during the early 1900s. His business was centered in Little Italy, Manhattan, where he ran large extortion operations and committed other crimes including robberies,...
, had been imprisoned for 30 years in 1909 for counterfeiting. D'Aquila continued to amass power and influence within New York's Sicilian underworld and across the nation as his crime family grew in numbers and territory.
The expansion of the D'Aquila crime family was aided by the decimation of the Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
Camorra
Camorra
The Camorra is a Mafia-type criminal organization, or secret society, originating in the region of Campania and its capital Naples in Italy. It is one of the oldest and largest criminal organizations in Italy, dating to the 18th century.-Background:...
led by Neapolitan Mafia boss, Don Pellegrino Morano
Pellegrino Morano
Pellegrino Morano was a leader of the Neapolitan Camorra gangs in Brooklyn, New York. He operated from his Coney Island gang and is considered the American "Grand Master" from roughly 1907-1917.-Background:...
, when Morano and his second-in-command, Alessandro Vollero
Alessandro Vollero
Alessandro Vollero was a New York mobster and a high ranking member of the Brooklyn Camorra crime organization. Vollero served as a lieutenant to gang boss Pellegrino Morano during the Mafia-Camorra War of 1916....
were imprisoned for life in 1917, following a war with the Morello crime family, which led to the murder of boss Nick Morello (born Terranova) in 1916, for which Morano and Vollero were convicted.
By the beginning of Prohibition, the remaining Neapolitan Mafia members and the territory once under control of bosses Morano and Vollero were absorbed into the D'Aquila crime family. Soon after the Brooklyn-based Mineo group was also absorbed into Toto D'Aquila's crime family, making it the largest and most influential in New York City. The only remaining rival that D'Aquila needed to fear was the expanding forces and growing influence of boss Giuseppe "Joe the Boss" Masseria. Masseria had taken over the Morello crime family interests and territory by 1920, and quickly began to amass a great deal of power and influence, enough to rival D'Aquila by the mid 1920s.
By the late 1920s D'Aquila and Masseria were headed for a showdown and inevitable war, but Masseria struck first and D'Aquila was killed on October 10, 1928 by Masseria family gunmen. The crime family D'Aquila had led passed into the hands of his second-in-command or underboss, Alfred Mineo
Alfred Mineo
Alfredo "Al Mineo" Manfredi was a Brooklyn based New York mobster, who headed a strong American Mafia crime family during the Castellammarese War. Mineo's organization would eventually become the present-day Gambino crime family....
and his top lieutenant Steve Ferrigno
Steve Ferrigno
Stefano "Steve" Ferrigno was a New York mobster of Sicilian origin who led an important Italian criminal gang in the 1920s. Ferrigno was assassinated along with Alfred Mineo during the so-called Castellammarese War....
, who at the height of the Prohibition
Prohibition
Prohibition of alcohol, often referred to simply as prohibition, is the practice of prohibiting the manufacture, transportation, import, export, sale, and consumption of alcohol and alcoholic beverages. The term can also apply to the periods in the histories of the countries during which the...
era commanded the largest and most influential Sicilian crime family in New York City.
The Castellammarese War
Castellammarese War
The Castellammarese War was a bloody power struggle for control of the Italian-American Mafia between partisans of Joe "The Boss" Masseria and those of Salvatore Maranzano. It was so called because Maranzano was based in Castellammare del Golfo, Sicily...
, between rival New York bosses Joe Masseria
Joe Masseria
Giuseppe "Joe the Boss" Masseria was an early Mafia don in the United States. He was boss of what is now called the Genovese crime family, one of the New York Mafia's Five Families, from 1922 to 1931.-Early days:...
and Salvatore Maranzano
Salvatore Maranzano
Salvatore Maranzano was an organized crime figure from the town of Castellammare del Golfo, Sicily, and an early Cosa Nostra boss in the United States. He instigated the Castellammarese War to seize control of the American Mafia operations, and briefly became the Mafia's "Boss of Bosses"...
claimed many victims, including Mineo and Ferrigno who were ambushed and killed on November 5, 1930, outside Ferrigno's home at 759 Pelham Parkway South. It was the latest in a long line of killings on both sides of the war, which ultimately ended with the deaths of both principals – Masseria in April 1931 and Maranzano five months later. The main beneficiary (and organizer of both hits) was Charlie "Lucky" Luciano, who rearranged New York's organized crime and established the basis of the "Five Families
Five Families
The Five Families are the five original Italian-American Mafia crime families which have dominated organized crime in America since 1931. The Five Families in New York remain as the powerhouse of the Italian Mafia in the United States.-History:...
" of New York, which became known as the Commission
The Commission (mafia)
The Commission is the governing body of the American Mafia. Formed in 1931, the Commission replaced the "Boss of all Bosses" title, with a ruling committee, consisting of the New York Five Families bosses and the boss of the Chicago Outfit...
of the Cosa Nostra
American Mafia
The American Mafia , is an Italian-American criminal society. Much like the Sicilian Mafia, the American Mafia has no formal name and is a secret criminal society. Its members usually refer to it as Cosa Nostra or by its English translation "our thing"...
.
After the Castellammarese War
Following a brief period under the control of Frank ScaliceFrank Scalice
Francesco "Frank" Scalice also known as Don Cheech and Wacky, was an Italian-American mobster active in New York City, who led the future Gambino crime family from 1930 to 1931, and was underboss from 1951 to 1957.-Boss:Scalice was born in Palermo, Sicily in 1893, and later emigrated to the US,...
, the first recognized leader of what became the Gambino family was Vincent Mangano
Vincent Mangano
Vincent Mangano , born Vincenzo Giovanni Mangano, also known as "The Executioner" as he was named in a Brooklyn newspaper, was the head of the Mangano crime family from 1931 to 1951. His brother Philip Mangano was his right hand man and de facto, or substituto, underboss of the crime family which...
, an older mafioso who was still very much steeped in the Old World traditions of "honor," "tradition," "respect" and "dignity." However, he was somewhat more forward-looking than Masseria and Maranzano. He branched out into activities including extortion, union racketeering, and illegal gambling operations including horse betting, running numbers and lotteries.
Mangano also established the City Democratic Club, ostensibly to promote bedrock American values but in reality as a cover for Murder, Inc.
Murder, Inc.
Murder, Inc. was the name given by the press to organized crime groups in the 1920s through the 1940s that resulted in hundreds of murders on behalf of the American Mafia and Jewish Mafia groups who together formed the early organized crime groups in New York and...
, the notorious band of mainly Jewish hitmen who did the bidding of the Italian-American run families, for a price. The operating head of the troupe was Mangano family underboss Albert Anastasia
Albert Anastasia
Albert Anastasia was boss of what is now called the Gambino crime family, one of New York City's Five Families, from 1951-1957. He also ran a gang of contract killers called Murder Inc. which enforced the decisions of the Commission, the ruling council of the American Mafia...
, known as the "Lord High Executioner". Vince's brother Phil Mangano was also a prominent member.
He also had close ties with Emil Camarda, a vice-president of the International Longshoremen's Association
International Longshoremen's Association
The International Longshoremen's Association is a labor union representing longshore workers along the East Coast of the United States and Canada, the Gulf Coast, the Great Lakes, Puerto Rico, and inland waterways...
. Through the association, Mangano and the family controlled the Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
and Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
waterfront with a mailed fist. From 1932 onward, the president of Local 1814 of the ILA was Anthony "Tough Tony" Anastasio
Anthony Anastasio
Anthony "Tough Tony" Anastasio was a New York City mobster and labor racketeer for the Gambino crime family who controlled the Brooklyn dockyards for over thirty years...
, Albert Anastasia's younger brother (Anthony kept the original spelling of their last name). He was one of the family's biggest earners, steering millions of dollars in kickbacks and payoffs to the Mangano coffers. Tough Tony made no secret of his ties to the mob; he only had to say "my brother Albert" to get his point across.
Around this time, Carlo Gambino
Carlo Gambino
"Don" Carlo Gambino, was a Sicilian mafioso who became Boss of the Gambino crime family, that still bears his name today. After the 1957 Apalachin Convention he unexpectedly seized control of the Commission of the American Mafia. Gambino was known for being low-key and secretive...
was promoted within the organization, as was another future boss of the family, Gambino's cousin Paul Castellano
Paul Castellano
Constantino Paul "Big Paul" Castellano , also known as "The Howard Hughes of the Mob" and "Big Paulie" , was an American Mafia boss in New York City. He succeeded Carlo Gambino as head of the Gambino crime family, at the time, the nation's largest Mafia family...
.
Mangano brothers murdered
Anastasia and Mangano never entirely saw eye to eye, even though they worked together for 20 years. Mangano wasn't pleased that Anastasia preferred the company of other gangsters rather than those in his own family. He also resented how the other families used Anastasia's services without his permission. On numerous occasions the two almost came to blows. This was only going to end badly for Mangano, and in April 1951, Phil Mangano was discovered murdered, while his brother disappeared without a trace. Although it has never been proven, it is generally believed that both were murdered by Anastasia.Called to answer for the crimes of which he was suspected by the other New York bosses, Anastasia never admitted to his involvement in the deaths of the Manganos, but did claim that Vince had been planning to have him killed. He was already running the family in Mangano's "absence," and few in the organization found themselves inclined to depose one of the most feared killers of the age. With the support of Frank Costello
Frank Costello
Frank Costello was an Italian New York City gangster who rose to the top of America's underworld, controlled a vast gambling empire across the United States and enjoyed political influence.Nicknamed the "Prime Minister of the Underworld", he became one of the most powerful and influential Mafia...
, boss of the Luciano crime family
Genovese crime family
The Genovese crime family , is one of the "Five Families" that dominates organized crime activities in New York City, United States, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the Mafia . The Genovese crime family has been nicknamed the "Ivy League" and "Rolls Royce" of organized crime...
, Anastasia was formally acclaimed boss of the renamed Anastasia family. Carlo Gambino, a wily character with designs on the leadership himself, maneuvered himself into position as underboss.
Anastasia eliminated
For most of the 1950s, the Luciano and Anastasia families' fortunes were closely linked, and provided solidarity in the National Crime SyndicateNational Crime Syndicate
The National Crime Syndicate was the name given by the press to a loosely-organized multi-ethnic organized crime syndicate. Its origins are uncertain....
for the two bosses. This particularly helped Costello, as Vito Genovese
Vito Genovese
Vito "Don Vito" Genovese was an Italian mafioso who rose to power in America during the Castellammarese War to later become leader of the Genovese crime family. Genovese served as mentor to future mob boss Vincent "The Chin" Gigante...
was angling to replace him, but knew he couldn't make a move as long as Anastasia was in the picture.
Genovese thus jumped on the 1952 killing of a Brooklyn man named Arnold Schuster
Arnold Schuster
Arnold L. Schuster was a Brooklyn, New York, clothing salesman and amateur detective, known for his involvement in the capture of bank robber Willie "The Actor" Sutton and for subsequently being the victim of a gangland murder by the Gambino crime family...
, who Anastasia had killed for the most minor of indiscretions (acting as a prosecution witness against a bank robber Anastasia didn't even know), as evidence that Anastasia was unbalanced and generated too much heat for the syndicate. With Gambino secretly siding with Genovese against his own boss, the wheels were in motion for the removal of Anastasia.
On October 25, 1957, Anastasia was murdered while sitting in a barber's chair at the Park Sheraton Hotel on West 56th Street. For many years, the murder was believed to have been committed by Joseph "Crazy Joe" Gallo
Joseph Gallo
Joseph Gallo may refer to:*Joseph Edward Gallo, cheese producer, brother of winemakers Ernest and Julio Gallo*Joseph N. Gallo, American gangster, consigliere of the Gambino crime family...
. Later, Colombo crime family
Colombo crime family
The Colombo crime family is the youngest of the "Five Families" that dominates organized crime activities in New York City, United States, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the Mafia ....
boss and Gallo foe, Carmine "Junior" Persico
Carmine Persico
Carmine John Persico, Jr. also known as "Junior", "The Snake" and "Immortal", has been the de-facto boss of the Colombo crime family since the early 1970s. Persico has overseen gang wars, murders, and major rackets, most of the time from prison. He has been serving life imprisonment without...
claimed credit. Modern historians believe that Carlo Gambino ordered caporegime Joseph "Joe the Blonde" Biondo
Joseph Biondo
Joseph Biondo , also known as "Joe Bandy", "Joe the Blonde", and "Little Rabbit", was a New York mobster with the Gambino crime family who was heavily involved in gambling activities. Biondo was also the family underboss for approximately eight years.-Career:Born in Barcellona Pozzo di Gotto in...
to kill Anastasia and Biondo gave the contract to soldier Stephen Armone
Stephen Armone
Stephen Armone , also known as "14th Street Steve", was a New York gangster with the Gambino crime family who ran gambling operations in Lower Manhattan. He was the older brother of Gambino capo Joseph Armone. Armone moved to the United States with his family to Queens...
. On the morning of October 25, 1957 Armone, along with Arnold Wittenburg and Stephen Grammauta
Stephen Grammauta
Stephen "Stevie Coogan" Grammauta is a caporegime with the Gambino crime family who allegedly participated in the murder of mob boss Albert "Mad Hatter" Anastasia.- Early life & crime :...
, murdered Anastasia in the barbershop of the Park Sheraton Hotel. As Anastasia sat in the barber chair the three assailants rushed in, shoved the barber out of the way, and started shooting. The wounded Anastasia allegedly lunged at his killers, but only hit their reflections in the wall mirror. Anastasia died at the scene.
Anastasia's underboss Carlo Gambino took the reins of the family, which from then on bore his name. Biondo was rewarded with the underboss position, which he kept until being demoted in 1965. Stephen Grammauta eventually became a caporegime in the 1990s. Six months earlier, Costello had been driven into retirement by an attempt on his life, clearing the way for Genovese.
Gambino promotes the family
By all accounts, Genovese was angling to become Boss of all Bosses, and believed that Gambino would support him. Gambino, however, had his own mind. He secretly joined forces with Luciano and Costello to get Genovese out of the way as well. Gambino helped trick Genovese into a lucrative drug deal, then paid a small-time Puerto Rican dealer to testify against him. Genovese was sent to prison in late 1957, and died there in 1969.Gambino quickly built the family into the most powerful crime family in the United States, with close ties to Meyer Lansky
Meyer Lansky
Meyer Lansky , known as the "Mob's Accountant", was a Polish-born American organized crime figure who, along with his associate Charles "Lucky" Luciano, was instrumental in the development of the "National Crime Syndicate" in the United States...
's offshore gaming houses in Cuba and the Bahamas, a lucrative business for the Mafia. The failure of Joseph "Joe Bananas" Bonanno
Joseph Bonanno
Joseph Charles Bonanno, Sr. was a Sicilian-born American mafioso who became the boss of the Bonanno crime family. He was nicknamed "Joe Bananas," a name he despised.-Early life:...
, the head of the Bonanno crime family
Bonanno crime family
The Bonanno crime family is one of the "Five Families" that dominates organized crime activities in New York City, United States, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the Mafia ....
and Gambino's top rival, to kill off Gambino and the heads of other New York crime families in the aftermath of the Bonanno War, saw Gambino become the most powerful leader of the "Five Families".
Gambino allegedly stretched his power as far as to organize the shooting of Joseph Colombo
Joseph Colombo
Joseph "Joe" Colombo, Sr. was the boss of the Colombo crime family, one of the "Five Families" of the Cosa Nostra in New York.-Background:...
, head of the Colombo crime family, on June 28, 1971. Colombo survived the shooting but remained in a coma until his death in 1978. He was buried next to Joseph Gallo.
In either case, Gambino's influence stretched into behind-the-scenes control of the Lucchese crime family
Lucchese crime family
The Lucchese crime family is one of the "Five Families" that dominates organized crime activities in New York City, United States, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the Mafia . The family originated in the early 1920s with Gaetano "Tommy" Reina serving as boss up until his murder...
, led by Carmine "Mr. Gribbs" Tramunti
Carmine Tramunti
Carmine "Mr. Gribbs" Tramunti was a New York mobster who was the boss of the Lucchese crime family. Tramunti helped build the massive French Connection heroin smuggling ring.-Operating in Harlem:...
. Gambino also allegedly influenced the selection of Frank "Funzi" Tieri as front boss of the Genovese crime family, after the murder of Thomas Eboli
Thomas Eboli
Thomas "Tommy Ryan" Eboli was a New York City mobster who eventually became the acting boss of the Genovese crime family.-Early life:...
, whom Gambino, allegedly, had had killed over money owed. It is also more likely believed Eboli was killed by own crime family for his erratic ways.
Under Gambino, the family gained particularly strong influence in the construction industry. It acquired behind-the-scenes control of Teamsters
Teamsters
The International Brotherhood of Teamsters is a labor union in the United States and Canada. Formed in 1903 by the merger of several local and regional locals of teamsters, the union now represents a diverse membership of blue-collar and professional workers in both the public and private sectors....
Local
Local union
A local union, often shortened to local, in North America, or a union branch in the United Kingdom and other countries is a locally-based trade union organization which forms part of a larger, usually national, union.Local branches are organized to represent the union's members from a particular...
282, which controlled access to most building materials in the New York area and could literally bring most construction jobs in New York City to a halt.
On October 15, 1976, Gambino died of a heart attack, and control of the family passed not to the obvious choice, longtime underboss Aniello "Mr. Neil" Dellacroce
Aniello Dellacroce
Aniello John "Mr. Neil" Dellacroce , also known as "Father O'Neil" and "The Tall Guy", was an Italian-American gangster and underboss of the Gambino crime family. A capo of his own crew for many years he rose to the position of underboss when Carlo Gambino moved Joseph Biondo aside.-Early...
, but to Paul Castellano
Paul Castellano
Constantino Paul "Big Paul" Castellano , also known as "The Howard Hughes of the Mob" and "Big Paulie" , was an American Mafia boss in New York City. He succeeded Carlo Gambino as head of the Gambino crime family, at the time, the nation's largest Mafia family...
, whose sister was married to Gambino. Allies of Dellacroce were thoroughly unhappy about that move, but Dellacroce himself kept his men in line, and was kept on as Castellano's Underboss.
The FBI closes in on Castellano
Castellano did retain a degree of muscle to keep Dellacroce's allies in check, including the notorious crew run by Anthony "Nino" Gaggi
Anthony Gaggi
Anthony "Antonino" "Nino" Frank Gaggi was a captain in the New York Gambino crime family who supervised the infamous DeMeo crew, headed by Roy DeMeo. It is estimated that the DeMeo crew murdered between 75 and 200 people....
and Roy DeMeo
Roy DeMeo
Roy Albert DeMeo was a soldier in the Gambino crime family. He is infamous for heading the DeMeo crew, a gang suspected by the FBI of murdering at least 70 people between 1973 and 1983. The vast majority were disposed of so thoroughly that they were never found...
, which was believed to have committed over 200 murders during Castellano's regime from the late 1970s and mid 1980s. While Castellano was still in charge, most of the family affairs were run and controlled unofficially by a four-man ruling panel which included powerful Garment District
Garment District, Manhattan
The Garment District, also known as the Garment Center, the Fashion District, or the Fashion Center, is a neighborhood located in the Manhattan borough of New York City. The dense concentration of fashion-related uses give the neighborhood, which is generally considered to span between Fifth Avenue...
leader Thomas "Tommy" Gambino
Thomas Gambino
Thomas "Tommy" Gambino is a New York mobster and a longtime Caporegime of the Gambino crime family who successfully controlled lucrative trucking rackets in the New York City Garment District.-Early life:...
, bodyguard and later Underboss Thomas "Tommy" Bilotti
Thomas Bilotti
Thomas Bilotti was a New York mobster and then Underboss for the reputed Boss of the Gambino crime family, Paul Castellano.-Early years:...
, and powerful Queens faction-leaders Daniel "Danny" Marino and James "Jimmy Brown" Failla
James Failla
James "Jimmy Brown" Failla was a senior caporegime with the Gambino crime family who was a major power in the garbage hauling industry in New York City...
, all top rivals of John Gotti.
It was not a time for the family to be embroiled in inner turmoil and argument, as the Federal Bureau of Investigation
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
had targeted the Gambino family as the easiest of the five families to infiltrate – FBI tapes obtained from a bug planted in a lamp on Castellano's kitchen table caught him discussing illegal deals with his subordinates, and by the early 1980s Castellano was up on a number of charges and faced with conviction. He let it be known that he wanted Carlo Gambino's son Thomas
Thomas Gambino
Thomas "Tommy" Gambino is a New York mobster and a longtime Caporegime of the Gambino crime family who successfully controlled lucrative trucking rackets in the New York City Garment District.-Early life:...
to take over the family should he be sent to jail, with Thomas Bilotti
Thomas Bilotti
Thomas Bilotti was a New York mobster and then Underboss for the reputed Boss of the Gambino crime family, Paul Castellano.-Early years:...
(Castellano's chauffeur and bodyguard) as his underboss, which further enraged the Dellacroce faction, particularly John Gotti
John Gotti
John Joseph Gotti, Jr was an American mobster who became the Boss of the Gambino crime family in New York City. Gotti grew up in poverty. He and his brothers turned to a life of crime at an early age...
.
In 1983, a federal indictment charged 13 members of the Gambino family with drug trafficking. This group included John Gotti's brother, Gene
Gene Gotti
Eugene Gotti is a New York mobster with the Gambino crime family who was a major drug trafficker.-Background:Born to John and Fannie Gotti, Gene has four brothers: deceased Gambino boss John Gotti, Peter Gotti, capo Richard V. Gotti, and soldier Vincent Gotti...
, and his best friend, Angelo "Quack Quack" Ruggiero
Angelo Ruggiero
Angelo Salvatore Ruggiero Sr. pronounced was a caporegime of the Gambino crime family and close friend of John Gotti.-Mob family roots:...
, who got his nickname for his non-stop talking. The feds had in fact been listening in on his home phone conversations since 1980 – they had Ruggiero on tape discussing family business, making drug deals, and expressing contempt for Castellano. If Castellano knew they were dealing drugs, in violation of his no-drug policy, Ruggiero would be killed. By law, the accused were allowed transcripts of wiretap conversations to aid their defense, and Castellano demanded to be shown them, though Dellacroce did his best to put him off.
Dellacroce was by this time suffering from cancer, but with Ruggiero desperate for help, his friend John Gotti stood up for him. All the same, Castellano maintained that he wanted the transcripts, or he would have Ruggiero and Gotti removed. Gotti realized he had to act fast, and the death of his mentor Dellacroce on December 2, 1985, paved the way for him to take out Castellano.
John Gotti takes over
Sparks Steak House
The Sparks Steak House is a restaurant located at 210 East 46th Street between Second & Third Avenues in Midtown Manhattan.-History:The restaurant was founded by brothers Pat and Mike Cetta in 1966...
in Manhattan for a dinner meeting with capo Frank DeCicco
Frank DeCicco
Frank DeCicco also known as Frankie D and Frankie Cheech was a New York mobster and labor racketeer for the Gambino crime family...
. As the two men were exiting their car, four unidentified men shot them to death. Right after the shootings, John Gotti proclaimed himself the new boss of the Gambino crime family. Gotti appointed DeCicco as underboss and promoted Ruggiero to caporegime. At that time, future underboss Salvatore "Sammy the Bull" Gravano was allegedly elevated to caporegime.
Known as the "Dapper Don," Gotti was well known for his hand-tailored suits and silk ties. Unlike his colleagues, Gotti made little effort to hide his mob connections and was very willing to provide interesting sound bites to the media. Gotti's home in Howard Beach, Queens, was frequently seen on television. Gotti liked to hold meetings with family members while walking in public places so that law enforcement agents could not record the conversations. One of Gotti's neighbors in Howard Beach was his dear friend Joseph "Big Joe" Massino, underboss of the Bonanno crime family. Another of Gotti's neighbors, John Favara
John Favara
John Favara was the backyard neighbor of Gambino crime family godfather John Gotti, in Howard Beach, New York....
, accidentally killed Gotti's 12-year-old son in a traffic crash. Soon after the boy's death, Favara was kidnapped and murdered.
Mob leaders from the other families were enraged at the Castellano murder and disapproved of Gotti's high-profile style. Gotti's strongest enemy was Genovese crime family boss Vincent "The Chin" Gigante
Vincent Gigante
Vincent Gigante was a short lived professional light heavyweight boxer who was known as "The Chin" Gigante. He fought 25 matches and lost four, boxing 121 rounds. On February 19, 1945, he fought Pete Petrello in Madison Square Garden and won by a knock out in the second round. During his successful...
, a former Castellano ally. Ironically, Gigante had participated in the last unsanctioned hit on a Cosa Nostra boss, that of Frank Costello
Frank Costello
Frank Costello was an Italian New York City gangster who rose to the top of America's underworld, controlled a vast gambling empire across the United States and enjoyed political influence.Nicknamed the "Prime Minister of the Underworld", he became one of the most powerful and influential Mafia...
in 1957. Gigante allegedly conspired with Lucchese crime family leaders Vittorio "Vic" Amuso
Victor Amuso
Vittorio "Little Vic" Amuso is a New York mobster and, as of 2011, the reputed Boss of the Lucchese crime family. Amuso is currently serving life at the Federal Correctional Complex in Beaumont, Texas on murder and racketeering charges....
and Anthony "Gaspipe" Casso
Anthony Casso
Anthony "Gaspipe" Casso is a former New York City mobster who served as underboss and acting boss of the Lucchese crime family until he was arrested in 1993, becoming a cooperating witness for the Federal Government...
, to put out a contract on Gotti's life. On April 13, 1986, a car bomb meant for Gotti instead killed DeCicco.
Eventually, Gotti's brash demeanor and belief that he was untouchable (he was acquitted on federal charges three times, earning the nickname the "Teflon Don") proved his undoing. The FBI had managed to bug an apartment above the Ravenite Social Club
Ravenite Social Club
The Ravenite Social Club was a club in New York City that was frequented and at some point used as headquarters of the Gambino crime family. It was located at 247 Mulberry St. in the Little Italy section of Manhattan. It is now a shoe store. The Ravenite was frequented by John Gotti and the rest of...
in Little Italy, where an elderly widow let mobsters hold top-level meetings. Gotti was heard planning criminal activities and complaining about his underlings. In particular, he complained about Gravano, portraying him as a "mad dog" killer. Gravano responded by turning state's evidence and testifying against Gotti.
On April 2, 1992, largely on the strength of Gravano's testimony, Gotti and consigliere Frank "Frankie Loc" LoCascio
Frank Locascio
Frank "Frankie Loc" LoCascio is a New York mobster who became the Consigliere to the Gambino crime family, under Boss John Gotti. LoCascio is the father of Salvatore LoCascio, a caporegime in the Gambino family....
were convicted and received a sentence of life without parole.
The family since Gotti
Gotti continued to rule the family from prison, while day-to-day operation of the family shifted to capos John "Jackie Nose" D'AmicoJackie D'Amico
John "Jackie the Nose" D'Amico is a New York mobster that served as street boss of the Gambino crime family 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:D'Amico stands 5'11" ...
and Nicholas "Little Nick" Corozzo
Nicholas Corozzo
Nicholas "Little Nick" Corozzo is a New York mobster who is the reputed acting boss of the Gambino crime family.-Biography:...
. The latter was due to take over as acting boss but was himself sentenced to eight years in prison on racketeering charges. Gotti's son, John "Junior" Gotti
Junior Gotti
John Angelo Gotti III or "Junior" Gotti is a former New York City mobster who in the 1990s, according to law enforcement claims, led the Gambino crime family of Cosa Nostra for his imprisoned father John J. Gotti, who died in 2002. Between 2004 and 2009 Gotti has been a defendant in four...
, took over as head of the family, but in 1998 he too was convicted of racketeering and sentenced to 77 months in jail.
When Gotti Sr died in prison in 2002, his brother Peter
Peter Gotti
Peter Gotti, also known as "One Eyed Pete", "Petey Boy", "One Eye" , is a New York mobster who is the former boss of the Gambino crime family and the older brother of deceased Gambino boss John Gotti.-Background:...
took over as boss, allegedly alongside D'Amico, but the family's fortunes have dwindled to a remarkable extent given their power a few short decades ago, when they were considered the most powerful criminal organization on earth. Peter Gotti was imprisoned as well in 2003, as the leadership allegedly went to the current administration members, Nicholas Corozzo, Jackie D'Amico and Joseph Corozzo.
As former rivals of John Gotti took completely over the Gambino family, mostly because the rest of Gotti's loyalists were either jailed or under indictments, and because Gotti, Sr died in prison in 2002, then-current head of white collar crimes and caporegime, Michael "Mikey Scars" DiLeonardo
Michael DiLeonardo
Michael "Mikey Scars" DiLeonardo is an Italian-American New York mobster who formerly belonged to the Gambino crime family and is now a government informant.-Background:...
turned state's evidence, due to increased law enforcement and credible evidence to be presented in his racketeering trial, and chose to testify against mobsters from all of the Five Families. One of the last Gotti supporters, DiLeonardo testified against, among others, Peter Gotti and Anthony "Sonny" Ciccone
Anthony Ciccone
Anthony "Sonny" Ciccone is a New York mobster and a captain of the Gambino crime family.Anthony was born to Sebastian and Gelsamina Piccolla from Pacentro, Italy. He was one of three brothers including Joseph and Salvatore, and two sisters, Anna and Margaret. He is the brother-in-law of mobster...
from 2003 to 2005, and disappeared into the Witness Protection Program. At the same time, Sammy Gravano, Gotti's former Underboss, had evaded the program in 1995 and was arrested and jailed for operating an Ecstasy
Methylenedioxymethamphetamine
MDMA is an entactogenic drug of the phenethylamine and amphetamine class of drugs. In popular culture, MDMA has become widely known as "ecstasy" , usually referring to its street pill form, although this term may also include the presence of possible adulterants...
-ring that stretched from Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
to New York City in 2003. During that same year, he was sentenced to 19 years in prison, ironically due to informants amongst his associates.
In 2005, Nicholas Corozzo and his longtime underling Leonard "Lenny" DiMaria
Leonard DiMaria
Leonard "Lenny" DiMaria , also known as "Fatso" and "the Conductor", is a New York mobster and Caporegime in the Gambino crime family...
were released from prison after serving ten years for racketeering and loansharking charges in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
and Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
. That same year, US law enforcement recognized Corozzo as the Boss of the Gambino crime family, with his brother Joseph Corozzo as the family Consigliere, Arnold "Zeke" Squitieri
Arnold Squitieri
Arnold "Squiggy" Ezekiel Squitieri of Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey is a convicted drug dealer and former acting boss and current Underboss of the Gambino crime family. He is also known as "Zeke", "Bozey", and "Squitty".-Murder charge:...
as the acting Underboss and Jackie D'Amico as a highly regarded member with the Corozzo brothers.
Jack Falcone
Retired FBI agent Joaquin Garcia infiltrated the Gambino crime family under the alias of Jack Falcone beginning in 2002. Greg DePalma, the Gambino family capo, offered Garcia the position of made man. However, the FBI investigation ceased in 2005 when Garcia's cover was in danger of being blown. But, with sufficient evidence to convict DePalma and several other high-ranking mafiosi, DePalma was arrested and convicted to twelve years in federal prison, thanks in large part to Garcia's efforts.Operation Old Bridge
On Thursday, February 7, 2008, an indictment and four-year-long FBI investigation known as Operation Old Bridge was issued, leading to the arrest of 54 people affiliated with the Gambino crime family that very day in New York City and its suburbs, New JerseyNew Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
and Long Island
Long Island
Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
. A federal grand jury later that day accused 62 people of having ties to the Gambino crime family, and offenses such as murders, conspiracy, drug trafficking, robberies, extortion and other crimes were included in the indictment. By the end of the week, more than 80 people were indicted in the Eastern District of New York. The case is now referred to as United States of America v. Agate et al. It was assigned to Judge Nicholas Garaufis
Nicholas Garaufis
Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis is a United States district judge serving on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York. He was nominated by President Clinton on February 28, 2000, to a seat vacated by Charles P. Sifton and confirmed by the United States Senate on May 24, 2000...
. The FBI was able to collect the needed information through informant Joseph Vollero
Joseph Vollero
Joseph Vollaro, also known as "Joey V" and "Joe Andrews" , is a Staten Island-based American trucking executive and Gambino crime family associate who is now a government informant and witness....
, the owner of a truck company on Staten Island, who secretly recorded several conversations between him and members of the Gambino family about three years prior to when the indictment was handed out.
Among the arrested were the current Gambino crime family leaders John "Jackie Nose" D'Amico
Jackie D'Amico
John "Jackie the Nose" D'Amico is a New York mobster that served as street boss of the Gambino crime family 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:D'Amico stands 5'11" ...
, Joseph "Jo Jo" Corozzo
Joseph Corozzo
Joseph "Jo Jo" Corozzo, Sr. , is a New York mobster who is the reputed Consigliere of the Gambino crime family.-Background:...
and Domenico "Italian Dom" Cefalu
Domenico Cefalu
Domenico "Italian Dom" Cefalu, also known as Greaseball and Dom from 18th Avenue is the boss of the Gambino crime family and leader of the organization's Sicilian faction....
, including Gambino family caporegime Leonard "Lenny" DiMaria
Leonard DiMaria
Leonard "Lenny" DiMaria , also known as "Fatso" and "the Conductor", is a New York mobster and Caporegime in the Gambino crime family...
, Francesco "Frank" Cali
Frank Cali
Francesco Paolo Augusto Calì , known as "Frank" or "Franky Boy", is a reputed acting captain in the Staten Island faction of the Gambino crime family. Law enforcement considers Cali to be the Gambino "ambassador to Sicilian mobsters" and have linked him to the Inzerillo Mafia family from Palermo...
, Thomas "Tommy Sneakers" Cacciopoli
Thomas Cacciopoli
Thomas Cacciopoli , also known as Tommy Sneakers and Cacci, is a high-ranking member of the Gambino crime family, holding the rank of Caporegime in the New Jersey faction of the family.- Days of John Gotti :...
. However, recognized captain and co-acting boss Nicholas "Little Nick" Corozzo
Nicholas Corozzo
Nicholas "Little Nick" Corozzo is a New York mobster who is the reputed acting boss of the Gambino crime family.-Biography:...
, one of the main leaders indicted in the case, fled his home on Long Island, acting on prior knowledge, and was considered a fugitive by US law enforcement, until his arrest before turning himself in on May 29, 2008, after almost four months on the run.
The federal operation broke up a growing alliance between the Gambinos and the Sicilian Mafia, which wanted to get further into the drug trade
Illegal drug trade
The illegal drug trade is a global black market, dedicated to cultivation, manufacture, distribution and sale of those substances which are subject to drug prohibition laws. Most jurisdictions prohibit trade, except under license, of many types of drugs by drug prohibition laws.A UN report said the...
. One of those arrested in the raids in the US was Frank Cali
Frank Cali
Francesco Paolo Augusto Calì , known as "Frank" or "Franky Boy", is a reputed acting captain in the Staten Island faction of the Gambino crime family. Law enforcement considers Cali to be the Gambino "ambassador to Sicilian mobsters" and have linked him to the Inzerillo Mafia family from Palermo...
, a captain in the Gambino family. He is allegedly the "ambassador" in the US for the Inzerillo crime family.
Current position and leadership
From 2005 to 2008, federal authorities successfully prosecuted the Gambino administration, several capos, and many soldiers and associates. Since both federal and New York State authorities rounded up the entire Gambino family hierarchy in early 2008, a three-man panel of street bosses Daniel "Danny" Marino, John GambinoJohn Gambino
John Gambino , is an American mobster. He became a made member of the Gambino crime family in 1975 and a capodecina or captain, and head of the crime family's Sicilian faction, appointed by family boss John Gotti in 1986, according to Mafia turncoat Sammy Gravano.-Transatlantic Mafia clan:Together...
and Bartolomeo "Bobby" Vernace was running the Gambino family while the administration members were in prison. Marino, Vernace, Gambino, Cefalu, D'Amico, Nicholas Corozzo
Nicholas Corozzo
Nicholas "Little Nick" Corozzo is a New York mobster who is the reputed acting boss of the Gambino crime family.-Biography:...
, and Arnold Squitieri
Arnold Squitieri
Arnold "Squiggy" Ezekiel Squitieri of Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey is a convicted drug dealer and former acting boss and current Underboss of the Gambino crime family. He is also known as "Zeke", "Bozey", and "Squitty".-Murder charge:...
have all been listed as leaders in the family. In July 2011, it was reported that Domenico Cefalu
Domenico Cefalu
Domenico "Italian Dom" Cefalu, also known as Greaseball and Dom from 18th Avenue is the boss of the Gambino crime family and leader of the organization's Sicilian faction....
has been promoted to official boss of the crime family, putting an end to the Gotti regime.
Today the Gambino family still controls the piers in Brooklyn and Staten Island through infiltrated labor unions. A pair of indictments in 2009 and 2010, respectively, show that the family is still very active in New York City. During the 2009 calendar year, the Gambino family saw many important members released from prison. In 2009, former National Basketball Association
National Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...
(NBA) referee Tim Donaghy
Tim Donaghy
Tim Donaghy is a former professional basketball referee who worked in the National Basketball Association for 13 seasons, from 1994 to 2007. During his career in the NBA, Donaghy officiated in 772 regular season games and 20 playoff games...
said that Gambino associate James Battista used Donaghy's knowledge of NBA games to pick winners in illegal sports gambling.
On November 18, 2009, the NYPD arrested 22 members and associates of the Lucchese and Gambino crime families as part of "Operation Pure Luck". The raid was a result of cases involving loan sharking and sports gambling on Staten Island. There were also charges of bribing New York City court officers and Sanitation Department officials. On April 20, 2010, Gambino capo Daniel Marino and thirteen other members/associates were arrested and indicted for numerous criminal activities. In addition to the racketeering charges, the fourteen defendants were charged with murder, sex trafficking, sex trafficking of a minor, jury tampering, extortion, assault, wire fraud, narcotics trafficking, loan-sharking and gambling. All the defendants pleaded guilty to lesser charges.
Bosses (official and acting)
- 1910–1928— Salvatore "Toto" D'AquilaSalvatore D'AquilaSalvatore "Toto" D'Aquila was a New York City mobster from the Mustache Pete-era and the first boss of the Gambino crime family....
– took over the Brooklyn Camorra in 1916 and merged with "Al Mineo's gang" forming the largest family in New York. He was killed on orders of boss Joe Masseria in 1928. - 1928–1930—Alfred "Al Mineo" ManfrediAlfred MineoAlfredo "Al Mineo" Manfredi was a Brooklyn based New York mobster, who headed a strong American Mafia crime family during the Castellammarese War. Mineo's organization would eventually become the present-day Gambino crime family....
– killed in Castellammarese War 1930. - 1930–1931 — Francesco "Frank/Don Cheech" Scalise – demoted after murder of boss of all boss es Salvatore MaranzanoSalvatore MaranzanoSalvatore Maranzano was an organized crime figure from the town of Castellammare del Golfo, Sicily, and an early Cosa Nostra boss in the United States. He instigated the Castellammarese War to seize control of the American Mafia operations, and briefly became the Mafia's "Boss of Bosses"...
. - 1931–1951 — Vincenzo "Vincent" ManganoVincent ManganoVincent Mangano , born Vincenzo Giovanni Mangano, also known as "The Executioner" as he was named in a Brooklyn newspaper, was the head of the Mangano crime family from 1931 to 1951. His brother Philip Mangano was his right hand man and de facto, or substituto, underboss of the crime family which...
– disappeared in April 1951, allegedly killed on orders of underboss Albert Anastasia. - 1951–1957 — Albert "Mad Hatter" AnastasiaAlbert AnastasiaAlbert Anastasia was boss of what is now called the Gambino crime family, one of New York City's Five Families, from 1951-1957. He also ran a gang of contract killers called Murder Inc. which enforced the decisions of the Commission, the ruling council of the American Mafia...
– murdered in October 1957 on orders of underbossUnderbossUnderboss is a position within the leadership structure of Sicilian and American Mafia crime families. The underboss is second in command to the boss...
Carlo Gambino. - 1957–1976 — Carlo "The Godfather" GambinoCarlo Gambino"Don" Carlo Gambino, was a Sicilian mafioso who became Boss of the Gambino crime family, that still bears his name today. After the 1957 Apalachin Convention he unexpectedly seized control of the Commission of the American Mafia. Gambino was known for being low-key and secretive...
– died of natural causes 1976.- Acting 1974–1976 — Paul Castellano – acting boss during Gambino's illness, became official boss after his death.
- 1976–1985 — Paul "Big Paul" CastellanoPaul CastellanoConstantino Paul "Big Paul" Castellano , also known as "The Howard Hughes of the Mob" and "Big Paulie" , was an American Mafia boss in New York City. He succeeded Carlo Gambino as head of the Gambino crime family, at the time, the nation's largest Mafia family...
– killed on orders of capo John Gotti. - 1985–2002 — John "Dapper Don" Gotti Sr.John GottiJohn Joseph Gotti, Jr was an American mobster who became the Boss of the Gambino crime family in New York City. Gotti grew up in poverty. He and his brothers turned to a life of crime at an early age...
– imprisoned in 1990, died in 2002.- Acting 1992–1999 — John A. Gotti Jr., also known as John "Junior" Gotti, – imprisoned in 1999.
- Acting 1999–2002 — Peter Gotti – promoted to official boss.
- 2002–2011 — Peter "One Eye" GottiPeter GottiPeter Gotti, also known as "One Eyed Pete", "Petey Boy", "One Eye" , is a New York mobster who is the former boss of the Gambino crime family and the older brother of deceased Gambino boss John Gotti.-Background:...
– imprisoned in 2002, serving life sentence.- Acting 2002–2005 — Arnold "Zeke" SquitieriArnold SquitieriArnold "Squiggy" Ezekiel Squitieri of Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey is a convicted drug dealer and former acting boss and current Underboss of the Gambino crime family. He is also known as "Zeke", "Bozey", and "Squitty".-Murder charge:...
– imprisoned in 2006, projected release date is in November 2011. - Acting 2005–2008 — Nicholas "Little Nick" CorozzoNicholas CorozzoNicholas "Little Nick" Corozzo is a New York mobster who is the reputed acting boss of the Gambino crime family.-Biography:...
– convicted in 2008 Operation Old Bridge, projected release date is 2020. - Acting 2008–2010 — Ruling Committee/Panel: Daniel Marino (jailed), Bartolomeo "Bobby" Vernace (jailed), and John GambinoJohn GambinoJohn Gambino , is an American mobster. He became a made member of the Gambino crime family in 1975 and a capodecina or captain, and head of the crime family's Sicilian faction, appointed by family boss John Gotti in 1986, according to Mafia turncoat Sammy Gravano.-Transatlantic Mafia clan:Together...
.
- Acting 2002–2005 — Arnold "Zeke" Squitieri
- 2011–present – Domenico CefaluDomenico CefaluDomenico "Italian Dom" Cefalu, also known as Greaseball and Dom from 18th Avenue is the boss of the Gambino crime family and leader of the organization's Sicilian faction....
Street boss
Street boss is a position created 2005. It was the second most powerful position in the organization.- 2005–2011 Jackie "Jackie the Nose" D'AmicoJackie D'AmicoJohn "Jackie the Nose" D'Amico is a New York mobster that served as street boss of the Gambino crime family 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:D'Amico stands 5'11" ...
(arrested Feb. 17, 2008, release date June 15, 2012)
Underbosses
The underboss was traditionally the second most powerful position in the Gambino family (after the boss). However, the 2005 appointment of Jackie D'Amico as "street boss" made that position more important than underboss.- 19??-1928 Alfred MineoAlfred MineoAlfredo "Al Mineo" Manfredi was a Brooklyn based New York mobster, who headed a strong American Mafia crime family during the Castellammarese War. Mineo's organization would eventually become the present-day Gambino crime family....
(his group merged with the D'Aquila family at the start of Prohibition. Mineo was killed in 1930 during the Castellammarese WarCastellammarese WarThe Castellammarese War was a bloody power struggle for control of the Italian-American Mafia between partisans of Joe "The Boss" Masseria and those of Salvatore Maranzano. It was so called because Maranzano was based in Castellammare del Golfo, Sicily...
) - 1928–1930 Steve FerrignoSteve FerrignoStefano "Steve" Ferrigno was a New York mobster of Sicilian origin who led an important Italian criminal gang in the 1920s. Ferrigno was assassinated along with Alfred Mineo during the so-called Castellammarese War....
(killed in Castellammarese WarCastellammarese WarThe Castellammarese War was a bloody power struggle for control of the Italian-American Mafia between partisans of Joe "The Boss" Masseria and those of Salvatore Maranzano. It was so called because Maranzano was based in Castellammare del Golfo, Sicily...
in 1930) - 1931–1951 Albert "Mad Hatter" AnastasiaAlbert AnastasiaAlbert Anastasia was boss of what is now called the Gambino crime family, one of New York City's Five Families, from 1951-1957. He also ran a gang of contract killers called Murder Inc. which enforced the decisions of the Commission, the ruling council of the American Mafia...
(Became official boss in 1951) - 1951–1957 Frank ScaliceFrank ScaliceFrancesco "Frank" Scalice also known as Don Cheech and Wacky, was an Italian-American mobster active in New York City, who led the future Gambino crime family from 1930 to 1931, and was underboss from 1951 to 1957.-Boss:Scalice was born in Palermo, Sicily in 1893, and later emigrated to the US,...
(murdered in 1957) - 1957 Carlo GambinoCarlo Gambino"Don" Carlo Gambino, was a Sicilian mafioso who became Boss of the Gambino crime family, that still bears his name today. After the 1957 Apalachin Convention he unexpectedly seized control of the Commission of the American Mafia. Gambino was known for being low-key and secretive...
(Became official boss in 1957) - 1957–1965 Joseph BiondoJoseph BiondoJoseph Biondo , also known as "Joe Bandy", "Joe the Blonde", and "Little Rabbit", was a New York mobster with the Gambino crime family who was heavily involved in gambling activities. Biondo was also the family underboss for approximately eight years.-Career:Born in Barcellona Pozzo di Gotto in...
(removed by boss Carlo Gambino in 1965) - 1965–1985 Aniello "Neil" DellacroceAniello DellacroceAniello John "Mr. Neil" Dellacroce , also known as "Father O'Neil" and "The Tall Guy", was an Italian-American gangster and underboss of the Gambino crime family. A capo of his own crew for many years he rose to the position of underboss when Carlo Gambino moved Joseph Biondo aside.-Early...
(died of natural causes in 1985)- Acting 1974–1975 James "Jimmy Brown" FaillaJames FaillaJames "Jimmy Brown" Failla was a senior caporegime with the Gambino crime family who was a major power in the garbage hauling industry in New York City...
(replaced by Dellacroce after release from prison)
- Acting 1974–1975 James "Jimmy Brown" Failla
- Dec 1985 Thomas BilottiThomas BilottiThomas Bilotti was a New York mobster and then Underboss for the reputed Boss of the Gambino crime family, Paul Castellano.-Early years:...
(Murdered in 1985 on orders of capo John Gotti Sr. after 11 days) - 1985–1986 Frank DeCiccoFrank DeCiccoFrank DeCicco also known as Frankie D and Frankie Cheech was a New York mobster and labor racketeer for the Gambino crime family...
(murdered in 1986) - 1986–1990 Joseph "Piney" ArmoneJoseph ArmoneJoseph "Piney" Armone was a gangster in the Gambino crime family from 1986 to 1990.-Biography:Born on the Upper East Side, Manhattan, Armone earned his nickname "Piney" in the 1930s by extorting money from Christmas tree vendors. He was the younger brother of mobster Stephen Armone, a Gambino...
(imprisoned in 1986, died in prison 1992)- Acting 1986–1990 Frank LocascioFrank LocascioFrank "Frankie Loc" LoCascio is a New York mobster who became the Consigliere to the Gambino crime family, under Boss John Gotti. LoCascio is the father of Salvatore LoCascio, a caporegime in the Gambino family....
(moved to acting consigliere in 1990)
- Acting 1986–1990 Frank Locascio
- 1990–1991 Salvatore "Sammy the Bull" GravanoSammy GravanoSalvatore "Sammy the Bull" Gravano is a former underboss of the Gambino crime family. He is known as the man who helped bring down John Gotti, the family's boss, by agreeing to become a Federal Bureau of Investigation informant and turn state's evidence.Originally a mobster for the Colombo crime...
(turned government witness in 1991) - 1991–1999 Vacant
- 1999–present Arnold "Squiggy" SquitieriArnold SquitieriArnold "Squiggy" Ezekiel Squitieri of Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey is a convicted drug dealer and former acting boss and current Underboss of the Gambino crime family. He is also known as "Zeke", "Bozey", and "Squitty".-Murder charge:...
(imprisoned in 2002 and 2005, projected release date is November 12, 2011)- Acting 2002–2005 Anthony "The Genius" MegaleAnthony MegaleAnthony Megale , also known as "The Genius", "Tony Connecticut", "Machiavelli", "Mac", "The Brain", "Mr. T", and "Gas Man" is a Connecticut mobster who became the acting underboss of the Gambino crime family.-Criminal history:...
(imprisoned in 2006) - Acting 2005–2011 Domenico "Italian Dom" CefaluDomenico CefaluDomenico "Italian Dom" Cefalu, also known as Greaseball and Dom from 18th Avenue is the boss of the Gambino crime family and leader of the organization's Sicilian faction....
- Acting 2002–2005 Anthony "The Genius" Megale
Consigliere
In Italian, consigliere means "advisor." The consigliere's highest priority is to help the boss make decisions. Together, the boss, street boss, underboss, and consigliere are referred to as "the administration."- 19??-1930 Giuseppe Triana
- 1931–1951 Philip ManganoPhilip ManganoPhilip "Phil" Mangano was consigliere of the Gambino crime family in New York City from 1931 to 1951 when his brother, Vincent Mangano, was boss....
- 1951–1957 Giuseppe "Joe Bandy" BiondoJoseph BiondoJoseph Biondo , also known as "Joe Bandy", "Joe the Blonde", and "Little Rabbit", was a New York mobster with the Gambino crime family who was heavily involved in gambling activities. Biondo was also the family underboss for approximately eight years.-Career:Born in Barcellona Pozzo di Gotto in...
- 1957–1967 Joseph "Staten Island Joe" Riccobono
- 1967–1987 Joseph "Joe N." GalloJoseph N. GalloGiuseppe “Uno-Punzone” Nicholas Gallo, Jr. also known as Joseph Nicholas Gallo was a New York mobster, who allegedly became consigliere of the Gambino crime family.-Biography:He was born on January 8, 1912...
- 1987–1990 Salvatore "Sammy the Bull" Gravano
- 1990–1992 Joseph "Joe Piney" ArmoneJoseph ArmoneJoseph "Piney" Armone was a gangster in the Gambino crime family from 1986 to 1990.-Biography:Born on the Upper East Side, Manhattan, Armone earned his nickname "Piney" in the 1930s by extorting money from Christmas tree vendors. He was the younger brother of mobster Stephen Armone, a Gambino...
- Acting 1990–1992 Frank "Frankie Loc" LoCascioFrank LocascioFrank "Frankie Loc" LoCascio is a New York mobster who became the Consigliere to the Gambino crime family, under Boss John Gotti. LoCascio is the father of Salvatore LoCascio, a caporegime in the Gambino family....
- Acting 1990–1992 Frank "Frankie Loc" LoCascio
- 1992–1999
- 1999–present Joseph "Jo Jo" CorozzoJoseph CorozzoJoseph "Jo Jo" Corozzo, Sr. , is a New York mobster who is the reputed Consigliere of the Gambino crime family.-Background:...
(jailed since 2008, release date to be determined)
Committee
Several capo committees have periodically replaced the underboss and consigliere positions, allowing an imprisoned boss better control of the family.- 1991–1992 – committee John A. Gotti Jr.Junior GottiJohn Angelo Gotti III or "Junior" Gotti is a former New York City mobster who in the 1990s, according to law enforcement claims, led the Gambino crime family of Cosa Nostra for his imprisoned father John J. Gotti, who died in 2002. Between 2004 and 2009 Gotti has been a defendant in four...
, James "Jimmy Brown" FaillaJames FaillaJames "Jimmy Brown" Failla was a senior caporegime with the Gambino crime family who was a major power in the garbage hauling industry in New York City...
, Nicholas "Little Nick" CorozzoNicholas CorozzoNicholas "Little Nick" Corozzo is a New York mobster who is the reputed acting boss of the Gambino crime family.-Biography:...
, John "Jackie Nose" D'AmicoJackie D'AmicoJohn "Jackie the Nose" D'Amico is a New York mobster that served as street boss of the Gambino crime family 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:D'Amico stands 5'11" ...
, Louis "Big Lou" VallarioLouis VallarioLouis Vallario, also known as "Big Louie" and "Big Lou" , is a member of the Gambino crime family who was a top aide to boss John Gotti and Salvatore "Sammy the Bull" Gravano in the late 1980s.-Criminal history:...
, Peter "Petey Boy" GottiPeter GottiPeter Gotti, also known as "One Eyed Pete", "Petey Boy", "One Eye" , is a New York mobster who is the former boss of the Gambino crime family and the older brother of deceased Gambino boss John Gotti.-Background:... - 1992–1993 – committee John "Junior" Gotti, James Failla, John D'Amico, Louis Vallario, Peter Gotti
- 1993–1994 – committee John "Junior" Gotti, Nicholas Corozzo, John D'Amico, Louis Vallario, Peter Gotti
- 1994–1996 – committee Nicholas Corozzo, John D'Amico, Louis Vallario, Peter Gotti
- 1996–1999 – committee John D'Amico, Louis Vallario, Peter Gotti
Administration
- Boss Domenico CefaluDomenico CefaluDomenico "Italian Dom" Cefalu, also known as Greaseball and Dom from 18th Avenue is the boss of the Gambino crime family and leader of the organization's Sicilian faction....
– A Sicilian-born mobster who started out in the Gambino family as a heroin trafficker.
- Underboss Arnold "Zeke" SquitieriArnold SquitieriArnold "Squiggy" Ezekiel Squitieri of Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey is a convicted drug dealer and former acting boss and current Underboss of the Gambino crime family. He is also known as "Zeke", "Bozey", and "Squitty".-Murder charge:...
– also the leader of the New Jersey faction. As a capo during the 1980s, Squitieri ran drug trafficking operations in New Jersey, Manhattan, Queens and Brooklyn. Might have been the definitive leader of the Gambino crime family for some time. In 2006, Squitieri was convicted of drug trafficking, illegal gambling and tax evasion and was sentenced to seven years in prison. His projected release date is November 30, 2011.
- Consigliere Joseph "Jo Jo" CorozzoJoseph CorozzoJoseph "Jo Jo" Corozzo, Sr. , is a New York mobster who is the reputed Consigliere of the Gambino crime family.-Background:...
– a former capo, Joseph and his brother Nicholas "Little Nick" CorozzoNicholas CorozzoNicholas "Little Nick" Corozzo is a New York mobster who is the reputed acting boss of the Gambino crime family.-Biography:...
control the Queens-based "Corozzo faction". In 1992, Joseph became consigliere after Gotti's imprisonment. On February 8, 2008, Joseph and Nicholas were indicted during Operation Old BridgeOperation Old BridgeOperation Old Bridge is the code name for the February 7, 2008 arrests in Italy and the United States that targeted the Gambino crime family. Among the indicted were the reputed acting bosses Jackie D'Amico, Nicholas Corozzo and Consigliere Joseph Corozzo of the Gambino crime family...
. In June 2008, Joseph pleaded guilty to a racketeering conspiracy charge concerning the extortion of a Staten Island concrete firm and was sentenced to 46 months in prison. His projected release date is June 10, 2011.
Current family capos
During the 1980s and 90s, the Gambino crime family under boss John Gotti Sr. had 24 active crews operating in New York City, New Jersey, South Florida, and Connecticut. After 2000, the Gambino family had approximately 20 crews. However, according to a 2004 New Jersey Organized Crime Report, the Gambino family had only ten active crews.Brooklyn/Staten Island faction
- George "Butters" DeCiccoGeorge DeCiccoGregory "Big Georgie" DeCicco is a New York mobster and longtime Caporegime in the Gambino crime family. DeCicco is one of the last capos of the old John Gotti regime in the 1980s who haven't been under any indictment until now...
– Capo of a Staten Island and Brooklyn crew since the 1980s. The brother of former underboss Frank DeCicco, George is heavily involved in loansharking.
- Joseph "Sonny" JulianoJoseph JulianoJoseph "Sonny" Juliano is a New York City mobster and a reputed Caporegime in the Gambino crime family.-Biography:...
– Capo of a Brooklyn crew that operates illegal gambling, loansharking, fraud and wire fraud activities. Juliano previously managed a multimillion dollar illegal gambling ring in 30 New York City locations.
- Francesco "Frank" CaliFrank CaliFrancesco Paolo Augusto Calì , known as "Frank" or "Franky Boy", is a reputed acting captain in the Staten Island faction of the Gambino crime family. Law enforcement considers Cali to be the Gambino "ambassador to Sicilian mobsters" and have linked him to the Inzerillo Mafia family from Palermo...
– Capo who operates in Manhattan, Brooklyn and New Jersey. According to the FBI, Cali is the official Gambino "ambassador to the Sicilian Mafia" and a rising star in the crime family. Cali and Leonard DiMaria extorted money from businessman Joseph VolleroJoseph VolleroJoseph Vollaro, also known as "Joey V" and "Joe Andrews" , is a Staten Island-based American trucking executive and Gambino crime family associate who is now a government informant and witness....
's trucking company on Staten Island. A major suspect in the drug trafficking between the Sicilian Mafia and the Gambinos, Cali pleaded guilty to racketeering charges and was sent to prison. He was released on May 30, 2009.
- Pasquale ContePasquale ContePasquale Conte , also known as "Patsy", is a New York mobster who became a caporegime with the Gambino crime family.-Background:Born in Sicily, Conte is a resident of Roslyn, New York. He was at one time a board member of Key Food Cooperative Supermarket Chain, an association of small supermarkets...
– Capo in the Sicilian faction which operates in BrooklynBrooklynBrooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
and Staten IslandStaten IslandStaten Island is a borough of New York City, New York, United States, located in the southwest part of the city. Staten Island is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull, and from the rest of New York by New York Bay...
.
Queens faction
- Thomas "Tommy Sneakers" CacciopoliThomas CacciopoliThomas Cacciopoli , also known as Tommy Sneakers and Cacci, is a high-ranking member of the Gambino crime family, holding the rank of Caporegime in the New Jersey faction of the family.- Days of John Gotti :...
– Capo of a crew in Queens, New Jersey, and Westchester. Recently released on April 4, 2011.
- Michael "Mickey Boy" Paradiso- Capo of a crew in Brooklyn and Queens. Paradiso has been involved in illegal gambling, loansharking, extortion and narcotics activities. Released on May 15, 2011 .
Manhattan faction
- Salvatore "Mr. Sal" Franco- Capo of a Manhattan crew.
- Joseph "Joe the Blond" Giordano – Capo of a Manhattan and Long Island crew.
- Joseph "Joe" Lombardi – Capo of a Manhattan and Staten Island crew.
- Vincent "Vinny Butch" Corrao – Capo of a Little Italy, Manhattan crew. Vincent's grandfather, "Vinny the Shrimp", operated the same crew and passed it to his son Joseph Corrao. Joseph later passed the crew to his son Vincent.
Bronx faction
- Salvatore "Tore" LoCascioSalvatore LoCascioSalvatore LoCascio is a reputed caporegime in the New York Gambino crime family.-Early life:LoCascio grew up in Eastchester, New York when his father, Frank LoCascio, Consigliere to John Gotti, was sentenced to life imprisonment for mafia crimes...
– Capo of a Bronx crew and son of Frank "Frankie Loc" LoCascioFrank LocascioFrank "Frankie Loc" LoCascio is a New York mobster who became the Consigliere to the Gambino crime family, under Boss John Gotti. LoCascio is the father of Salvatore LoCascio, a caporegime in the Gambino family....
. Along with Richard MartinoRichard MartinoRichard Martino is a member of the New York Gambino crime family who was involved in an Internet scam that cost consumers $750 million. It was the largest consumer fraud case in American history....
, Salvatore introduced the Gambinos to online pornographyPornographyPornography or porn is the explicit portrayal of sexual subject matter for the purposes of sexual arousal and erotic satisfaction.Pornography may use any of a variety of media, ranging from books, magazines, postcards, photos, sculpture, drawing, painting, animation, sound recording, film, video,...
operations that earned the family up to $350 million per year. In 2003, Salvatore was convicted and sent to prison. On August 1, 2008, Salvatore was released from prison.
- Louis "Louie Bracciole" RiccoLouis RiccoLouis Ricco , also known as "Louie Bracciole" is a longtime member of the Gambino crime family, holding the rank of caporegime with illegal activities in the Bronx, New York, New Jersey and Brooklyn, New York.- Promoted by Big Paul :...
– Capo of a crew in the Bronx, Brooklyn, and New Jersey. The crew controls half of the illegal gambling, loansharking and racketeering activities in the Bronx.
Sicilian faction
The Sicilian faction of the Gambino crime family is known as the Cherry Hill Gambinos. Gambino Boss Carlo GambinoCarlo Gambino
"Don" Carlo Gambino, was a Sicilian mafioso who became Boss of the Gambino crime family, that still bears his name today. After the 1957 Apalachin Convention he unexpectedly seized control of the Commission of the American Mafia. Gambino was known for being low-key and secretive...
created an alliance between the Gambino family and three Sicilian clans: the Inzerillo's, the Spatola's and the Di Maggio's. Carlo Gambino's relatives controlled the Inzerillo clan under Salvatore Inzerillo
Salvatore Inzerillo
Salvatore Inzerillo was an Italian criminal, a member of the Sicilian Mafia, also known as Totuccio . He rose to be a powerful boss of Palermo's Passo di Rigano family...
in Passo di Ragano, a neighborhood in Palermo, Sicily. Salvatore Inzerillo coordinated the major heroin trafficking from Sicily to the US, bringing his cousins John
John Gambino
John Gambino , is an American mobster. He became a made member of the Gambino crime family in 1975 and a capodecina or captain, and head of the crime family's Sicilian faction, appointed by family boss John Gotti in 1986, according to Mafia turncoat Sammy Gravano.-Transatlantic Mafia clan:Together...
, Giuseppe and Rosario Gambino
Rosario Gambino
Rosario "Sal" Gambino is an Italian mobster in the Gambino crime family. He became nationally known when he and his brothers set up a multimillion dollar heroin cartel during the 1970s and 1980s...
to the US to supervise the operation. The Gambino brothers ran a Cafe on 18th Avenue in Bensonhurst and took their name "Cherry Hill Gambinos" from Cherry Hill, New Jersey
Cherry Hill, New Jersey
Cherry Hill is a township in Camden County, New Jersey, in the United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township had a population of 71,045, representing an increase of 1,080 from the 69,965 residents enumerated during the 2000 Census...
. The Gambino family in America began increasing in size with more Sicilian members.
- Giovanni "John" Gambino – Capo in the Gambino Sicilian or Zip faction. Gambino is an Italian national who belongs to the Inzerillo-Gambino-DiMaggio-Spatola clan of Sicily as well as the Gambino family. Reputedly a prominent drug trafficker, Gambino allegedly participates in the three-man ruling panel/committee that runs the crime family.
New Jersey
In Northern New Jersey, the Gambino family operates crews in Bergen, Passaic, and Essex Counties. In Southern New Jersey, the family operates crews in South Trenton, and Atlantic CityAtlantic City, New Jersey
Atlantic City is a city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States, and a nationally renowned resort city for gambling, shopping and fine dining. The city also served as the inspiration for the American version of the board game Monopoly. Atlantic City is located on Absecon Island on the coast...
. The two Gambino crews operating in New Jersey are the Mitarotonda crew and the Sisca crew. Other capos operating in New Jersey include John D'Amico, Louis Ricco, Francesco Cali, and Thomas Cacciopoli.
- Alphonse "Funzi" Sisca – Capo of a crew in New Jersey. He was a John GottiJohn GottiJohn Joseph Gotti, Jr was an American mobster who became the Boss of the Gambino crime family in New York City. Gotti grew up in poverty. He and his brothers turned to a life of crime at an early age...
Sr. ally and a former drug dealing partner of Angelo RuggieroAngelo RuggieroAngelo Salvatore Ruggiero Sr. pronounced was a caporegime of the Gambino crime family and close friend of John Gotti.-Mob family roots:...
and Arnold SquitieriArnold SquitieriArnold "Squiggy" Ezekiel Squitieri of Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey is a convicted drug dealer and former acting boss and current Underboss of the Gambino crime family. He is also known as "Zeke", "Bozey", and "Squitty".-Murder charge:...
. Prior to being convicted in 2006, Sisca had spent 20 of the past 30 years in prison. He was released from prison on September 27, 2010.
- Nicholas Mitarotonda – capo of a crew in Elizabeth, New JerseyElizabeth, New JerseyElizabeth is a city in Union County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city had a total population of 124,969, retaining its ranking as New Jersey's fourth largest city with an increase of 4,401 residents from its 2000 Census population of 120,568...
. Mitarotonda was released from federal prison on March 1, 2011.
- Nicholas "Looks" DiGiovanni – Former capo of a crew in Bloomfield, NJ. He is the great grandson of Carlo Gambino and currently resides in California where he is said to be responsible for crews in Las Vegas and Los Angeles. He was released from federal prison on August 25, 2008.
Florida
The Gambino family's FloridaFlorida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
faction operates in Tampa
Tampa, Florida
Tampa is a city in the U.S. state of Florida. It serves as the county seat for Hillsborough County. Tampa is located on the west coast of Florida. The population of Tampa in 2010 was 335,709....
and the South Florida counties of Broward
Broward County, Florida
-2000 Census:As of the census of 2000, there were 1,623,018 people, 654,445 households, and 411,645 families residing in the county. The population density was 1,346 people per square mile . There were 741,043 housing units at an average density of 615 per square mile...
, Palm Beach
Palm Beach County, Florida
Palm Beach County is the largest county in the state of Florida in total area, and third in population. As of 2010, the county's estimated population was 1,320,134, making it the twenty-eighth most populous in the United States...
and Dade
Miami-Dade County, Florida
Miami-Dade County is a county located in the southeastern part of the state of Florida. As of 2010 U.S. Census, the county had a population of 2,496,435, making it the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States...
.
- Freddy Massaro – Capo of a South Florida crew. Massaro also Beachside Mario’s, a restaurant in Sunny Isles BeachSunny Isles Beach, FloridaSunny Isles Beach is a city located on a barrier island in northeast Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. The City is bounded by the Atlantic Ocean on the east and the Intracoastal Waterway on the west...
.
- Leonard "Lenny" DiMariaLeonard DiMariaLeonard "Lenny" DiMaria , also known as "Fatso" and "the Conductor", is a New York mobster and Caporegime in the Gambino crime family...
-- Capo of a South Florida crew.
Atlanta, Georgia
- Steven KaplanSteven KaplanSteven Kaplan may refer to:*Steven Kaplan *Steven Kaplan Pennsylvania politician*Steven Kaplan , French historian at Cornell University*Steve Kaplan , star of Hapoel Ramat Gan...
a family associate was the manager of the Gold Club a strip club in Atlanta, he employed women to provide sexual services in his club.
Soldiers
- Blaise Corozzo – Soldier and another of the Corozzo brothers. He is serving a one to three year sentence in state prison for a 2008 illegal gambling operation. His son Nicholas Corozzo, also involved with the Gambino family, was arrested in 2004. In 2009, Blaise Corozzo was released from prison.
- Andrew "Andy Campo" Campos – soldier and former acting capo of the Bronx-based LoCascio crew. Campos supervised Tore LoCascio's crew while he was in prison.
- Rosario Spatola – member of the Cherry Hill Gambinos. His cousin is Giovanni "John" GambinoJohn GambinoJohn Gambino , is an American mobster. He became a made member of the Gambino crime family in 1975 and a capodecina or captain, and head of the crime family's Sicilian faction, appointed by family boss John Gotti in 1986, according to Mafia turncoat Sammy Gravano.-Transatlantic Mafia clan:Together...
and his brother-in-law was Salvatore InzerilloSalvatore InzerilloSalvatore Inzerillo was an Italian criminal, a member of the Sicilian Mafia, also known as Totuccio . He rose to be a powerful boss of Palermo's Passo di Rigano family...
.
Imprisoned members
- Michael Murdocco – Soldier in Carmine Sciandra's crew. Currently serving two to six years in prison after pleading guilty in March 2010 to enterprise corruption, grand larceny and receiving bribes. Murdocco and his son-in-law Sanitation Deputy Chief Frederick Grimaldi, rigged bids to help a New Jersey firm win a sanitation contract. In exchange for kickbacks, Grimaldi allegedly leaked bid information to Murdocco in May 2009.
- Andrew Merola – former acting capo of the Mitarotonda crew. Merola is connected to Lucchese crime familyLucchese crime familyThe Lucchese crime family is one of the "Five Families" that dominates organized crime activities in New York City, United States, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the Mafia . The family originated in the early 1920s with Gaetano "Tommy" Reina serving as boss up until his murder...
Jersey factionThe Jersey CrewThe Jersey Crew is a powerful faction of the Lucchese crime family, that operates and controls illegal activities like drug trafficking, labor racketeering, loansharking, extortion, illegal gambling, money laundering, and murder, in the Northern New Jersey area....
leader Martin TaccettaMartin TaccettaMartin "Marty" Taccetta is a New Jersey mobster who is the alleged boss of the Jersey Crew, a powerful faction of the Lucchese crime family.-Early life:...
. Merola's crew operates illegal gambling, loansharking, extortion and labor racketeering. Pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy and was sentenced to 11 years in prison. His projected release date is June 5, 2020.
- Daniel "Danny" Marino – Capo of a Queens crew involved in labor and construction racketeering. A rival of John Gotti Sr., Marino was involved in the 1986 murder conspiracy that accidentally killed Frank DeCiccoFrank DeCiccoFrank DeCicco also known as Frankie D and Frankie Cheech was a New York mobster and labor racketeer for the Gambino crime family...
instead of Gotti.
- Bartolomeo "Bobby" Vernace – Capo of a Queens crew. Vernace allegedly operates out of his Vita Cafe in Flushing, QueensFlushing, QueensFlushing, founded in 1645, is a neighborhood in the north central part of the City of New York borough of Queens, east of Manhattan.Flushing was one of the first Dutch settlements on Long Island. Today, it is one of the largest and most diverse neighborhoods in New York City...
, running illegal gambling activities.
- Vincent "Little Vinny" Artuso – capo of a crew in Broward County, Fort LauderdaleFort Lauderdale, FloridaFort Lauderdale is a city in the U.S. state of Florida, on the Atlantic coast. It is the county seat of Broward County. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 165,521. It is a principal city of the South Florida metropolitan area, which was home to 5,564,635 people at the 2010...
, Palm Beach County, Boca RatonBoca Raton, FloridaBoca Raton is a city in Palm Beach County, Florida, USA, incorporated in May 1925. In the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 74,764; the 2006 population recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau was 86,396. However, the majority of the people under the postal address of Boca Raton, about...
and Palm Beach IslandPalm Beach, FloridaThe Town of Palm Beach is an incorporated town in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. The Intracoastal Waterway separates it from the neighboring cities of West Palm Beach and Lake Worth...
. Artuso lives in South Palm Beach, FloridaSouth Palm Beach, FloridaSouth Palm Beach is a town located in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. The town is situated on a barrier island between the Atlantic Ocean and the Intracoastal Waterway. As of 2004, the population recorded by the U.S...
. On January 22, 2008 in Fort Lauderdale, Artuso was charged with racketeering. In September 2008, Artuso was charged with racketeering, mail and wire fraud, and money laundering. Artuso is currently imprisoned at the Coleman Federal Correctional Complex in Florida; his projected release date is August 28, 2016. His son, John Vincent Artuso, is also imprisoned at Coleman; his release date is July 29, 2016.
- Anthony "Sonny" CicconeAnthony CicconeAnthony "Sonny" Ciccone is a New York mobster and a captain of the Gambino crime family.Anthony was born to Sebastian and Gelsamina Piccolla from Pacentro, Italy. He was one of three brothers including Joseph and Salvatore, and two sisters, Anna and Margaret. He is the brother-in-law of mobster...
– Capo of the Gambino crew on the Brooklyn waterfront. Currently imprisoned on several extortion charges. His projected release date is April 24, 2013.
- Louis "Big Lou" VallarioLouis VallarioLouis Vallario, also known as "Big Louie" and "Big Lou" , is a member of the Gambino crime family who was a top aide to boss John Gotti and Salvatore "Sammy the Bull" Gravano in the late 1980s.-Criminal history:...
– Capo of a crew in Bensonhurst, BrooklynBensonhurst, BrooklynBensonhurst is a neighborhood located in the southwestern part of the New York City borough of Brooklyn.-Geography:Sometimes erroneously thought to include all or parts of such neighborhoods as Bath Beach, Dyker Heights, and Borough Park, or to be defined by the streets where the concentration of...
since the 1980s. From 1996 to 2002, Vallario served as acting boss in the family's 'Ruling Committee/Panel. One of the last aides to John Gotti Sr. His projected release date is October 15, 2013.
- Leonard "Lenny" DiMariaLeonard DiMariaLeonard "Lenny" DiMaria , also known as "Fatso" and "the Conductor", is a New York mobster and Caporegime in the Gambino crime family...
– Capo of a crew in Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Florida. A close ally of Nicholas Corozzo since the early 1970s, DiMaria allegedly operates racketeering and loansharking activities. His projected release date from prison is September 2, 2012.
- Anthony "Tony Genius" MegaleAnthony MegaleAnthony Megale , also known as "The Genius", "Tony Connecticut", "Machiavelli", "Mac", "The Brain", "Mr. T", and "Gas Man" is a Connecticut mobster who became the acting underboss of the Gambino crime family.-Criminal history:...
– Capo of the Connecticut faction and co-leader with Domenico CefaluDomenico CefaluDomenico "Italian Dom" Cefalu, also known as Greaseball and Dom from 18th Avenue is the boss of the Gambino crime family and leader of the organization's Sicilian faction....
of the Sicilian faction. In 2002, Megale was named acting underboss after Peter Gotti went to prison. His projected release date is July 18, 2014.
- Augustus "Gus Boy" Sclafani – former acting capo of the Corrao crew. Sclafani was the overseer of the crew while Corrao was imprisoned, but Sclafani came under indictment in 2008 Operation Old BridgeOperation Old BridgeOperation Old Bridge is the code name for the February 7, 2008 arrests in Italy and the United States that targeted the Gambino crime family. Among the indicted were the reputed acting bosses Jackie D'Amico, Nicholas Corozzo and Consigliere Joseph Corozzo of the Gambino crime family...
and is currently in prison.
- Nicholas "Little Nick" CorozzoNicholas CorozzoNicholas "Little Nick" Corozzo is a New York mobster who is the reputed acting boss of the Gambino crime family.-Biography:...
– Capo. Brother of Consigliere Joseph Corozzo, uncle of Joseph Jr. and currently the most influential caporegime in the crime family. Became a fugitive for almost four months, currently incarcerated on a 13 year sentence. His projected release date is March 2, 2020.
- Dominick "Skinny Dom" PizzoniaDominick PizzoniaDominick "Skinny Dom" Pizzonia is a New York mobster and captain with the Gambino crime family who was a hitman and loanshark.-Early life and rise:...
– Capo of a crew in Queens. An enforcer and hitman with John GottiJohn GottiJohn Joseph Gotti, Jr was an American mobster who became the Boss of the Gambino crime family in New York City. Gotti grew up in poverty. He and his brothers turned to a life of crime at an early age...
, Pizzonia is currently serving a 15-year-sentence for gambling and loansharking conspiracy. His projected release date is on February 28, 2020.
- Carmine SciandraCarmine SciandraCarmine Sciandra is accused of being a gangster who serves as a Caporegime in the Gambino crime family and is a co-owner of the Top Tomato grocery chain.-References:...
– Capo of a crew in Staten Island who also co-owns three "Top Tomato" vegetable and fruit markets. In December 2005, Sciandra was shot and wounded by a retired policeman while working at his Staten Island market. On March 25, 2010, Sciandra plead guilty to enterprise corruption and grand larceny for running a massive sports betting and loan shark operation and was sentenced to serve between 1½ to 4½ years in prison.
Crews
- The Ozone Park BoysThe Ozone Park BoysThe Ozone Park Boys, also known as "Liberty Posse" and "The Young Guns" are a Gambino crime family Mafia crew based in Ozone Park, Queens. They are infamous for their massive number of crimes, including an illegal $30 million-a-year sports gambling enterprise....
- DeMeo CrewRoy DeMeoRoy Albert DeMeo was a soldier in the Gambino crime family. He is infamous for heading the DeMeo crew, a gang suspected by the FBI of murdering at least 70 people between 1973 and 1983. The vast majority were disposed of so thoroughly that they were never found...
- Cherry Hill Gambinos (headed by Giovanni "John" GambinoJohn GambinoJohn Gambino , is an American mobster. He became a made member of the Gambino crime family in 1975 and a capodecina or captain, and head of the crime family's Sicilian faction, appointed by family boss John Gotti in 1986, according to Mafia turncoat Sammy Gravano.-Transatlantic Mafia clan:Together...
) - Howard Beach crew
Alliances with other criminal groups
- The Gambino-Lucchese-Genovese alliance (1953–1985) between Carlo Gambino, Tommy Lucchese, and Vito Genovese began with a plot to take over the Mafia Commission by murdering family bosses Frank Costello and Albert AnastasiaAlbert AnastasiaAlbert Anastasia was boss of what is now called the Gambino crime family, one of New York City's Five Families, from 1951-1957. He also ran a gang of contract killers called Murder Inc. which enforced the decisions of the Commission, the ruling council of the American Mafia...
. At that time, Gambino was Anastasia's new underboss and Vito Genovese was the underboss for Costello. Their first target was Costello on May 2, 1957. Costello survived the assassination attempt, but immediately decided to retire as boss in favor of Genovese. Their second target was Anastasia on October 25, 1957. The Gallo brothers (from the Colombo family) murdered Anastasia in a Manhattan barber shop, opening the was for Gambino to become the new boss of the now-Gambino crime family. After assuming power, Gambino started conspiring with Lucchese to remove their former ally Genovese. In 1959, with the assistance of Luciano, Costello, and Meyer Lansky, Genovese was arrested and Gambino assumed full control with Lucchese of the Mafia Commission. Under Gambino and Lucchese, the Commission pushed Bonanno boss Joseph Bonanno out of power, triggering an internal war in that family. In the 1960s, the Commission backed the Gallo brothers in their rebellion against Profaci family boss Joe Profaci. In 1962, Gambino's oldest son Thomas married Lucchese's daughter, strengthening the Gambino and Lucchese family alliance. Lucchese gave Gambino access into the New York airports rackets he controlled, and Gambino allowed Lucchese into some of their rackets. After Lucchese death in July 1967, Gambino used his power over the Commission to appoint Carmine TramuntiCarmine TramuntiCarmine "Mr. Gribbs" Tramunti was a New York mobster who was the boss of the Lucchese crime family. Tramunti helped build the massive French Connection heroin smuggling ring.-Operating in Harlem:...
as the new Lucchese family leader. Gambino later continued the alliance with Tramunti's successor, Anthony CoralloAnthony CoralloAnthony "Tony Ducks" Corallo was a New York City mobster and boss of the Lucchese crime family.-Early life:...
. After Gambino's death, new Gambino boss Paul Castellano continued the Lucchese alliance. In 1985, the original Gambino-Lucchese alliance dissolved when John Gotti ordered Castellano's assassination and took power in the Gambino family without Commission approval.
- The Gambino-Lucchese alliance (1999–present) was initiated by acting Lucchese boss Steven CreaSteven CreaSteven L. Crea , also known as "Wonderboy", or "Herbie", is a New York mobster heavily involved in labor racketeering who eventually became the acting boss of the Lucchese crime family.-Rise to power:...
in 1999. The two families extorted the construction industry and made millions of dollars in bid-rigging. In early 2002, Lucchese Capo John Capra worked with Gambino acting Boss Arnold Squitieri, acting underboss Anthony Megale, and Bronx-based acting Capo Gregory DePalma. The group was involved in illegal gambling and extortion activities in Westchester County, New YorkWestchester County, New YorkWestchester County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. Westchester covers an area of and has a population of 949,113 according to the 2010 Census, residing in 45 municipalities...
. The members were arrested in 2005 leaving to reveal that Gambino acting Capo DePalma had allowed an FBI agent Joaquin Garcia (known as Jack Falcone) work undercover with his crew since 2002. In late 2008, Gambino family acting Capo Andrew Merola teamed with Lucchese Jersey faction acting Boss Martin Taccetta in an illegal gambling ring, shaking down unions, and extorting car dealerships. Merola was indicted in 2008 and Taccetta was returned to prison in 2009.
- The Gambino-Genovese alliance (1962–1972) was between Carlo Gambino and Genovese family acting boss/front boss Tomas Eboli. The alliance was short-lived because Eboli was unable or unwilling to repay Gambino money from a bad narcotics deal. The alliance ended when Gambino ordered Eboli's murder on July 16, 1972.
- The Gambino-Bonanno alliance (1991–2004) started with John Gotti and new Bonanno boss Joseph Massino. As a member of the Mafia Commission, Gotti helped Massino regain the Bonanno commission seat that was lost in the early 1970s. The Gambino family influenced the Bonanno family to give up narcotics trafficking and return to more traditional Cosa Nostra crimes (loan sharking, gambling, stock fraud, etc.) By the late 1990s, the Bonannos had become almost as strong as the Gambinos.
- The Gambino-Westies alliance (1970s-present) This alliance resulted from an ongoing war between the Genovese family and the Westside Gang, an Irish-American street gang in the Hell's KitchenHell's Kitchen, ManhattanHell's Kitchen, also known as Clinton and Midtown West, is a neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City between 34th Street and 59th Street, from 8th Avenue to the Hudson River....
section of Manhattan. Genovese front boss Anthony "Fat Tony" Salerno wanted to seized control of lucrative construction rackets at the new Jacob Javits Convention Center from the WestiesWestiesThe Westies are a predominantly Irish American organized crime association operating from the Hell's Kitchen area of Manhattan's West Side in New York City. According to crime author T. J...
. When the Westies balked, Salerno ordered the murder of the top gang leaders. Eventually, the Genovese family invited the Gambinos to broker a peace agreement with the Westside Gang. As part of this agreement, the WestiesWestiesThe Westies are a predominantly Irish American organized crime association operating from the Hell's Kitchen area of Manhattan's West Side in New York City. According to crime author T. J...
formed an alliance with Gambino capo Roy DeMeoRoy DeMeoRoy Albert DeMeo was a soldier in the Gambino crime family. He is infamous for heading the DeMeo crew, a gang suspected by the FBI of murdering at least 70 people between 1973 and 1983. The vast majority were disposed of so thoroughly that they were never found...
.
Government informants and witnesses
- Salvatore "Sammy the Bull" Gravano, Underboss
- Michael "Mikey Scars" DiLeonardoMichael DiLeonardoMichael "Mikey Scars" DiLeonardo is an Italian-American New York mobster who formerly belonged to the Gambino crime family and is now a government informant.-Background:...
, Caporegime - Dominic "Fat Dom" Borghese, Soldier
- John Morella, Soldier
- Frank "Frankie Fap" Fappiano, Soldier
- Willie Boy JohnsonWilfred JohnsonWilfred "Willie Boy" Johnson was a United States Federal Bureau of Investigation informant from 1969 to 1985. He provided the FBI with information relating to John Gotti and other members of the Gambino family...
, Associate - Dominick "Big Dom" LoFaroDominick LoFaroDominick "Big Dom" LoFaro was a soldier in the New York Gambino crime family who later became an important government undercover informant...
, Associate - Frank "Red" Scollo, Associate
- Lewis N. Wilson, Providence drug kingpin
- Andrew DiDonato Associate
- Robert Mormando, Soldier (later stated in court that he is gayGayGay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
) - Lewis Kasman, associate, and self-described "adopted son" of John Gotti who first became an informant in 1996. Was dropped from testifying against John Gotti Jr. for unreliability, but nevertheless received only probation for his offenses at sentencing.
Gambino family mobsters
- Anthony "Tough Tony" AnastasioAnthony AnastasioAnthony "Tough Tony" Anastasio was a New York City mobster and labor racketeer for the Gambino crime family who controlled the Brooklyn dockyards for over thirty years...
- Carmine AgnelloCarmine AgnelloCarmine Agnello is a New York mobster from the Gambino crime family who was in scrap metal. In 1984, he married Victoria Gotti, daughter of mob boss John Gotti and had three sons, Carmine Agnello, John Agnello, and Frank Agnello, and also a stillborn daughter, Justine.In 2000, Agnello was arrested...
- Robert "Cabert" Bisaccia
- Joseph Sclafani
- Volkan Mergen
- Benny Geritano
- Nicola Melia
- Bartholomew "Bobby" BorielloBartholomew BorielloBartholomew "Bobby" Boriello was a New York mobster who belonged to the Gambino crime family and served as boss John Gotti's favorite bodyguard and chauffeur...
- Louis CaponeLouis CaponeLouis Capone was a New York organized crime figure who became a supervisor for the notorious Murder Inc. Louis Capone was not related to the boss of the Chicago Outfit, Al Capone.-Murder, Inc.:...
- may have been an associate under Albert AnastasiaAlbert AnastasiaAlbert Anastasia was boss of what is now called the Gambino crime family, one of New York City's Five Families, from 1951-1957. He also ran a gang of contract killers called Murder Inc. which enforced the decisions of the Commission, the ruling council of the American Mafia... - Roy DeMeoRoy DeMeoRoy Albert DeMeo was a soldier in the Gambino crime family. He is infamous for heading the DeMeo crew, a gang suspected by the FBI of murdering at least 70 people between 1973 and 1983. The vast majority were disposed of so thoroughly that they were never found...
- Thomas "Spade" Muschio
- William "Billy Batts" DevinoWilliam DevinoWilliam "Billy Batts" Devino was a New York mobster with the Gambino crime family who was a longtime friend of John Gotti in the 1960s...
- Bartolemeo Vernace
- Todd LaBarca
- Carmine "Charley Wagons" FaticoCarmine FaticoCarmine "Charley Wagons" Fatico was a Caporegime in the New York Gambino crime family. Fatico is best known as an early mentor to Gambino boss John Gotti.-Biography:...
- John "Jackie" Cavallo
- Carmine "Doctor" LombardozziCarmine LombardozziCarmine "The Doctor" Lombardozzi was a high ranking member of the Gambino crime family in New York. He was also known as the "King of Wall Street" and "The Italian Meyer Lansky"....
- Ralph "Ralphie Bones" MoscaRalph MoscaRalph "Ralphie Bones" Mosca, also known as Funzie, was a Queens/Bronx-based Gambino crime family caporegime. Mosca's crew was involved in labor racketeering, specifically through the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, loan...
- Frank PiccoloFrank PiccoloFrank Louis Piccolo was a caporegime in the Gambino crime family in Bridgeport, Connecticut who became involved in a famous extortion case with singer Wayne Newton....
- James "Jimmy Higgins" Palmieri
- Vincent "Juicy" Dimodica
- Angelo "Quack Quack" RuggieroAngelo RuggieroAngelo Salvatore Ruggiero Sr. pronounced was a caporegime of the Gambino crime family and close friend of John Gotti.-Mob family roots:...
- Anthony ScottoAnthony ScottoAnthony M. Scotto is a New York mobster and labor union racketeer in the Gambino crime family who eventually became the head of the Brooklyn waterfront.-Early life:...
- Charles "Buddy Musk" Muccigrasso
In popular culture
- Witness to the MobWitness to the MobWitness to the Mob is a made for TV film which premiered on May 10, 1998.-Plot:Film follows the rise of Sammy Gravano in ranks of NY Cosa Nostra, his turning to government witness in legal trials of John Gotti and his life in Witness protection program....
– A made-for-television movie about the life of Gambino underboss turned FBI informant Sammy GravanoSammy GravanoSalvatore "Sammy the Bull" Gravano is a former underboss of the Gambino crime family. He is known as the man who helped bring down John Gotti, the family's boss, by agreeing to become a Federal Bureau of Investigation informant and turn state's evidence.Originally a mobster for the Colombo crime...
. - In the 2001 TV movie, Boss of BossesBoss of BossesBoss of Bosses is a 2001 made for TV movie about the life of former Gambino Family boss Paul Castellano. It stars Chazz Palminteri as Paul Castellano, Patricia Mauceri as his wife Nina, Mark Margolis as Joseph Armone, and Angela Alvarado as his mistress Gloria Olarte.This film focuses on Paul...
, actor Chazz PalminteriChazz PalminteriCalogero Lorenzo "Chazz" Palminteri is an American actor and writer, best known for his performances in The Usual Suspects, A Bronx Tale, and his Academy Award nominated role for Best Supporting Actor in Bullets Over Broadway....
portrays Gambino boss Paul CastellanoPaul CastellanoConstantino Paul "Big Paul" Castellano , also known as "The Howard Hughes of the Mob" and "Big Paulie" , was an American Mafia boss in New York City. He succeeded Carlo Gambino as head of the Gambino crime family, at the time, the nation's largest Mafia family...
. - In the 1996 TV movie Gotti, actor Armand AssanteArmand Assante-Personal life:Assante was born in New York City and raised in Cornwall, New York, the son of Katherine , a music teacher and poet, and Armand Anthony Assante, Sr., a painter and artist. His father was Italian and his mother was Irish, and was raised in a devoutly Roman Catholic family...
portrays Gambino boss John GottiJohn GottiJohn Joseph Gotti, Jr was an American mobster who became the Boss of the Gambino crime family in New York City. Gotti grew up in poverty. He and his brothers turned to a life of crime at an early age...
. - In the movie GoodfellasGoodfellasGoodfellas is a 1990 American crime film directed by Martin Scorsese. It is a film adaptation of the 1986 non-fiction book Wiseguy by Nicholas Pileggi, who co-wrote the screenplay with Scorsese...
, Gambino family made member William "Billy Batts" DeVinoWilliam DevinoWilliam "Billy Batts" Devino was a New York mobster with the Gambino crime family who was a longtime friend of John Gotti in the 1960s...
(played by Frank VincentFrank VincentFrank Vincent is an American actor, musician, author and entrepreneur. He is a favorite performer of director Martin Scorsese, having played important roles in three of Scorsese's most acclaimed films: Raging Bull , Goodfellas and Casino . He often plays a gangster and works both in features and...
) is killed in a fight with Thomas DeSimoneThomas DeSimoneThomas "Two-Gun Tommy" Anthony DeSimone was an Italian-American gangster and associate of the Lucchese crime family in New York. Also known as "Tommy D" or "Tommy Two-Guns", he was a grandson and nephew of Los Angeles mob bosses Rosario DeSimone and Frank DeSimone...
(portrayed as "Tommy DeVito" by Joe PesciJoe PesciJoseph Frank "Joe" Pesci is an American actor, comedian, and musician.He is known for playing a variety of different roles, from violent mobsters to comedic leads to quirky sidekicks...
) a Lucchese crime familyLucchese crime familyThe Lucchese crime family is one of the "Five Families" that dominates organized crime activities in New York City, United States, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the Mafia . The family originated in the early 1920s with Gaetano "Tommy" Reina serving as boss up until his murder...
associate. - In the video game GTA IV, in which the setting is based on New York and New Jersey, the Gambetti family is a reference to the Gambinos. Also during the mission "Waste Not Want Knots" on route to a Mafia controlled waste management plant Michael Keane (a character) mentions the Gambinos while reciting numerous fictional and real Mafia families.
- Law & OrderLaw & OrderLaw & Order is an American police procedural and legal drama television series, created by Dick Wolf and part of the Law & Order franchise. It aired on NBC, and in syndication on various cable networks. Law & Order premiered on September 13, 1990, and completed its 20th and final season on May 24,...
commonly references the Gambinos as a literary flourish but does not involve actual persons except to allude to them by the court cases that were inspired by actual events, commonly 'Ripped from the headlines'. The character of Frank Machuchi and the Machuchi crime family were based on John GottiJohn GottiJohn Joseph Gotti, Jr was an American mobster who became the Boss of the Gambino crime family in New York City. Gotti grew up in poverty. He and his brothers turned to a life of crime at an early age...
and the Gambino crime family. - "Mr. Moran" is a song about Sammy Gravano on the album A Jackknife to a SwanA Jackknife to a SwanA Jackknife to a Swan is an album by The Mighty Mighty Bosstones. It was released on July 9, 2002 by SideOneDummy Records. This album marked the return of the Bosstones to an indie label, and was the last album released by the group before their four-year hiatus between 2003 and 2007...
by the ska-core group The Mighty Mighty BosstonesThe Mighty Mighty BosstonesThe Mighty Mighty Bosstones are an American ska punk band from Boston, Massachusetts, formed in 1983. Since the band's inception, lead vocalist Dicky Barrett, bassist Joe Gittleman, tenor saxophonist Tim "Johnny Vegas" Burton and dancer Ben Carr have remained constant members...
. - Rapper RaekwonRaekwonCorey Woods , better known by the stage name Raekwon, is an American rapper and a member of the Wu-Tang Clan. He released his solo debut, Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... in 1995, and has since recorded four solo albums, as well as work with Wu-Tang and an extensive amount of guest contributions with...
recasts the Wu-Tang ClanWu-Tang ClanThe Wu-Tang Clan is a hip-hop group from Staten Island that consists of RZA, GZA, Method Man, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck, U-God, Masta Killa, and the late Ol' Dirty Bastard. They are frequently joined by fellow childhood friend Cappadonna, a quasi member of the group...
as an Italian mafioso family dubbed the "Wu-Gambinos" on his debut album Only Built 4 Cuban Linx...Only Built 4 Cuban Linx...Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... is the solo debut album of American rapper and Wu-Tang Clan member Raekwon, released August 1, 1995, on Loud Records in the United States... - In his song "Last Real Nigga Alive," NasNasNasir bin Olu Dara Jones, who performs under the name Nas , formerly Nasty Nas, is an American rapper and actor. He is regarded as one of the most important figures in hip hop and one of the most skilled and influential rappers of all-time...
raps about his infamous feud with Jay-ZJay-ZShawn Corey Carter , better known by his stage name Jay-Z, is an American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur, and occasional actor. He is one of the most financially successful hip hop artists and entrepreneurs in America, having a net worth of over $450 million as of 2010...
. In one line he says "...'Cause in order for him to be the don/ Nas had to go/ the Gam-b-i-n-o rules, I understood..." - In FrasierFrasierFrasier is an American sitcom that was broadcast on NBC for eleven seasons, from September 16, 1993, to May 13, 2004. The program was created and produced by David Angell, Peter Casey, and David Lee in association with Grammnet and Paramount Network Television.A spin-off of Cheers, Frasier stars...
season 4 episode 23, Frasier tells Daphne and Martin "It's like Christmas morning in the Gambino's household", at the end of their argument regarding their exchange of gifts. - The song "Shiksa Goddess" from the musical The Last Five YearsThe Last Five YearsThe Last Five Years is a one-act musical written by Jason Robert Brown. It premiered in Chicago in 2001 and was then produced off-Broadway in March 2002. Since then it has had numerous productions both in the United States and internationally....
contains a line about the "Gotti clan," another name for the Gambino crime family. - In the anime Phantom ~requiem for the phantom, Azuma Reiji kills a member of the Gambino crime family while working under Inferno.
- A hip hop group formed in 1998 called Gambino Family (group)Gambino Family (group)The Gambino Family was an American hip hop group briefly signed to Master P's popular No Limit Records in 1997. Named after the Gambino crime family, the four members were Gotti , Melchior, P'heno and Regginelli...
, had a few songs but the group has not been around since. - On the social networking site, Gaia OnlineGaia OnlineGaia Online is an English-language, anime-themed social networking and forums-based website. Gaiaonline was founded in 2003. but the name was changed to GaiaOnline.com in 2003 from go-gaia by its owner, Gaia Interactive...
, the most powerful and richest NPCNon-player characterA non-player character , sometimes known as a non-person character or non-playable character, in a game is any fictional character not controlled by a player. In electronic games, this usually means a character controlled by the computer through artificial intelligence...
family in the site are the Gambinos.
Further reading
- Capeci, Jerry. The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Mafia. Indianapolis: Alpha Books, 2002. ISBN 978-0-02-864225-3
- Davis, John H. Mafia Dynasty: The Rise and Fall of the Gambino Crime Family. New York: HarperCollins, 1993. ISBN 978-0-06-016357-0
- Jacobs, James B., Christopher Panarella and Jay Worthington. Busting the Mob: The United States Vs. Cosa Nostra. New York: NYU Press, 1994. ISBN 978-0-8147-4230-3
- Maas, Peter. Underboss: Sammy the Bull Gravano's Story of Life in the Mafia. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1997. ISBN 978-0-06-093096-7
- Raab, Selwyn. Five Families: The Rise, Decline, and Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empires. New York: St. Martin Press, 2005. ISBN 978-0-312-30094-4