Giacomo Amari
Encyclopedia
Giacomo "Jake" Amari was the powerful Underboss
and later Acting Boss of the DeCavalcante crime family
.
, the later Acting Boss
of the DeCavalcante crime family, Amari was a prominent and ruthless captain
before being promoted to the acting Underboss after the imprisonment of longtime family boss, Giovanni "John the Eagle" Riggi
, who had been put on trial for racketeering and extortion
charges after developing a great influence inside most of the unions in New Jersey
together with Amari. Amari was reportedly a powerful labor racketeer of Newark, New Jersey
during the 1980s, and was almost charged with Riggi in extorting
the unions into ripping of their welfare and pension funds in the early 1990s. http://www.americanmafia.com/Cities/New_Jersey.html
John "Johnny Boy" D'Amato
stepped up as Acting Boss for Riggi in 1991, Amari developed a great partnership with reputed Consigliere
Stefano "Steve the Truck Driver" Vitabile
, who was also one of the most powerful figures in the DeCavalcante crime family at the time. After longtime official Underboss Louis LaRasso
disappeared in the summer of 1991, Amari was reportedly promoted to LaRasso's position and fully in charge of all labor and construction racketeering operations, as well as AMI Construction, from Elizabeth, New Jersey
.
into take over the DeCavalcante crime family, and put Riggi aside, however, after an alleged fight with his girlfriend, rumors started going around that D'Amato was homosexual, and as Anthony Capo
heard this, he shared it with current administration members Amari and Stefano Vitabile, who quickly acted on prior knowledge and decided to have D'Amato murdered while informing the incarcerated Riggi. In 1992, D'Amato was shot to death in his car, as Amari meant it would have been an embarrassment if an homosexual represented their family of Cosa Nostra. His body was never recovered. It was around this time that Amari was promoted within the organization and placed as Acting Boss of the DeCavalcante crime family in 1992.
in New York City
, as the DeCavalcante crime family had been recruiting reputed Mafia
associates Louis "Louie Eggs" Consalvo
and Gregory Rago
, who together operated a social club on Mott Street
and held criminal interests in New York City. The only problem was that, since these two mobsters were based in New York, their profit and activities should have gone to one of the Five Families
, in this instance, either the Gambino crime family or the Colombo crime family. Reputed Gambino family captain
Nicholas "Little Nick" Corozzo
and Colombo family Consigliere Vincenzo "Vinny" Aloi
were present during the sitdown. The conflict was eventually resolved peacefully when it was ruled the DeCavalcante crime family could no longer 'make' members outside of New Jersey and South Philadelphia
, which was another area that the DeCavalcantes had traditionally recruited from.
, and could no longer run the family as much as he could before. It was around this time that prominent family capos Vincent Palermo
, Girolamo "Jimmy" Palermo
(no relation) and Charles "Big Ears" Majuri were promoted into the family Ruling Panel as Street bosses in aide to Amari, who slowly began to die. Jake Amari, the most powerful member of the DeCavalcante crime family at the time, died of stomach cancer in 1997.
of the HBO hit-series The Sopranos
, was loosely based on Amari. Especially when they both become acting boss of the New Jersey crime family, only to die of cancer and spark a massive power vacuum between rival factions within their crime families.
Underboss
Underboss is a position within the leadership structure of Sicilian and American Mafia crime families. The underboss is second in command to the boss...
and later Acting Boss of the DeCavalcante crime family
DeCavalcante crime family
The DeCavalcante crime family is an organized crime family that controls organized crime activities in Elizabeth, New Jersey and surrounding areas in the state, despite operating on the other side of the Hudson River in New York, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the American Mafia...
.
Background
According to the testimony provided by Vincent "Vinny Ocean" PalermoVincent Palermo
Vincent "Vinny Ocean" Palermo is a former de facto boss of the New Jersey DeCavalcante crime family who eventually became a government witness. Fictional mob boss Tony Soprano is said to be loosely based on Palermo.-Background:...
, the later Acting Boss
Crime boss
A crime boss or boss is a person in charge of a criminal organization. A boss typically has absolute or near-absolute control over his subordinates, is greatly feared by his subordinates for his ruthlessness and willingness to take lives in order to exert his influence, and profits come from the...
of the DeCavalcante crime family, Amari was a prominent and ruthless captain
Caporegime
A caporegime or capodecina, usually shortened to just a capo, is a term used in the Mafia for a high ranking made member of a crime family who heads a "crew" of soldiers and has major social status and influence in the organization...
before being promoted to the acting Underboss after the imprisonment of longtime family boss, Giovanni "John the Eagle" Riggi
Giovanni Riggi
Giovanni "John the Eagle" Riggi is a New Jersey mobster and member of the DeCavalcante crime family since the 1940s, before the family had acquired its name. Riggi was the leader of the "Elizabeth crew" in the family when he was a Caporegime. He had been the acting boss during the 1970s and has...
, who had been put on trial for racketeering and 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...
charges after developing a great influence inside most of the unions in New Jersey
New 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...
together with Amari. Amari was reportedly a powerful labor racketeer of Newark, New Jersey
Newark, New Jersey
Newark is the largest city in the American state of New Jersey, and the seat of Essex County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Newark had a population of 277,140, maintaining its status as the largest municipality in New Jersey. It is the 68th largest city in the U.S...
during the 1980s, and was almost charged with Riggi in extorting
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...
the unions into ripping of their welfare and pension funds in the early 1990s. http://www.americanmafia.com/Cities/New_Jersey.html
Family Underboss
After reputed captainCaporegime
A caporegime or capodecina, usually shortened to just a capo, is a term used in the Mafia for a high ranking made member of a crime family who heads a "crew" of soldiers and has major social status and influence in the organization...
John "Johnny Boy" D'Amato
John D'Amato
John "Johnny Boy" D'Amato was a New Jersey mobster and former Acting boss of the DeCavalcante crime family. After being recruited by Gambino crime family Boss John Gotti to take over the family, and amidst rumors that he was homosexual, D'Amato was murdered in January 1992.- Captain :After being...
stepped up as Acting Boss for Riggi in 1991, Amari developed a great partnership with reputed Consigliere
Consigliere
Consigliere is a position within the leadership structure of Sicilian and American Mafia crime families. The word was popularized by Mario Puzo's novel The Godfather , and its film adaptation...
Stefano "Steve the Truck Driver" Vitabile
Stefano Vitabile
Stefano "Steve the Truck Driver" Vitabile, , is a New Jersey mobster and former consigliere of the DeCavalcante crime family.-Early years:...
, who was also one of the most powerful figures in the DeCavalcante crime family at the time. After longtime official Underboss Louis LaRasso
Louis LaRasso
Louis "Fat Lou" LaRasso was a New Jersey mobster and the longtime official Underboss of the DeCavalcante crime family.- Apalachin meeting :...
disappeared in the summer of 1991, Amari was reportedly promoted to LaRasso's position and fully in charge of all labor and construction racketeering operations, as well as AMI Construction, from Elizabeth, New Jersey
Elizabeth, New Jersey
Elizabeth 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...
.
Promotion
While serving as a "consultant" for Local 394 in the "International Association of Laborers and Hod Carriers", Amari would soon be promoted again, as then-current Acting boss John D'Amato was recruited by Gambino crime family boss John GottiJohn 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...
into take over the DeCavalcante crime family, and put Riggi aside, however, after an alleged fight with his girlfriend, rumors started going around that D'Amato was homosexual, and as Anthony Capo
Anthony Capo
Anthony "Tony" Capo is a hitman in the DeCavalcante crime family who became a government witness.- Made Man :A resident of South Beach, Staten Island, Capo became an associate of the DeCavalcante crime family during the early 1980s under powerful Elizabeth, New Jersey faction leader Giovanni...
heard this, he shared it with current administration members Amari and Stefano Vitabile, who quickly acted on prior knowledge and decided to have D'Amato murdered while informing the incarcerated Riggi. In 1992, D'Amato was shot to death in his car, as Amari meant it would have been an embarrassment if an homosexual represented their family of Cosa Nostra. His body was never recovered. It was around this time that Amari was promoted within the organization and placed as Acting Boss of the DeCavalcante crime family in 1992.
Sitdown with New York
During the mid 1990s, Amari and Vitabile, now the most powerful members of the family, were present in a sitdown with representatives of the Gambino and Colombo crime familiesColombo 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 ....
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...
, as the DeCavalcante crime family had been recruiting reputed Mafia
Mafia
The Mafia is a criminal syndicate that emerged in the mid-nineteenth century in Sicily, Italy. It is a loose association of criminal groups that share a common organizational structure and code of conduct, and whose common enterprise is protection racketeering...
associates Louis "Louie Eggs" Consalvo
Louis Consalvo
Louis "Louie Eggs" Consalvo is a New Jersey mobster and reputed "soldier" in the DeCavalcante crime family.A lifelong resident in Old Bridge Township, New Jersey, Consalvo reportedly joined the North Jersey based DeCavalcante crime family during the disappearance in October 1991 of underboss Louis...
and Gregory Rago
Gregory Rago
Gregory "Georgie" Rago is a New Jersey mobster and "soldier" in the DeCavalcante crime family.A resident in Bayonne, New Jersey prior to his conviction in 2002, Rago was reportedly inducted into the North Jersey-based DeCavalcante crime family after he, along with fellow soldiers Anthony Capo and...
, who together operated a social club on Mott Street
Mott Street
Mott Street is a narrow but busy thoroughfare that runs in a north-south direction in the borough of Manhattan in New York City in the United States. It is best known as Chinatown's unofficial "Main Street". Mott Street runs from Chatham Square in the south to Bleecker Street in the north...
and held criminal interests in New York City. The only problem was that, since these two mobsters were based in New York, their profit and activities should have gone to one 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:...
, in this instance, either the Gambino crime family or the Colombo crime family. Reputed Gambino family captain
Caporegime
A caporegime or capodecina, usually shortened to just a capo, is a term used in the Mafia for a high ranking made member of a crime family who heads a "crew" of soldiers and has major social status and influence in the organization...
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:...
and Colombo family Consigliere Vincenzo "Vinny" Aloi
Vincenzo Aloi
Vincenzo "Vinny" Aloi is a New York City mobster involved in stock fraud who briefly served as the acting boss of the Colombo crime family.-Made man to acting boss:...
were present during the sitdown. The conflict was eventually resolved peacefully when it was ruled the DeCavalcante crime family could no longer 'make' members outside of New Jersey and South Philadelphia
South Philadelphia
South Philadelphia, nicknamed South Philly, is the section of Philadelphia bounded by South Street to the north, the Delaware River to the east and south, and the Schuylkill River to the west.-History:...
, which was another area that the DeCavalcantes had traditionally recruited from.
Death
In 1995, it was reported that Amari was diagnosed with stomach cancerStomach cancer
Gastric cancer, commonly referred to as stomach cancer, can develop in any part of the stomach and may spread throughout the stomach and to other organs; particularly the esophagus, lungs, lymph nodes, and the liver...
, and could no longer run the family as much as he could before. It was around this time that prominent family capos Vincent Palermo
Vincent Palermo
Vincent "Vinny Ocean" Palermo is a former de facto boss of the New Jersey DeCavalcante crime family who eventually became a government witness. Fictional mob boss Tony Soprano is said to be loosely based on Palermo.-Background:...
, Girolamo "Jimmy" Palermo
Girolamo Palermo
Girolamo "Jimmy Dumps" Palermo is the longtime underboss of the DeCavalcante crime family in Elizabeth, New Jersey, under the imprisoned boss Giovanni "John the Eagle" Riggi.-Murdering Al Colicchio:...
(no relation) and Charles "Big Ears" Majuri were promoted into the family Ruling Panel as Street bosses in aide to Amari, who slowly began to die. Jake Amari, the most powerful member of the DeCavalcante crime family at the time, died of stomach cancer in 1997.
Aftermath
However, after Amari's sudden death, there were three faction leaders who were eager to gain control of the DeCavalcante crime family, as a massive power vacuum was being developed into the crime family. Two attempts on the lives of both Vince Palermo and Charles Majuri were conspired and hatched by the one and another, but none of the assassination plots succeeded, and the Ruling Panel kept controlling the family throughout the 1990s, as massive indictments were put up against the DeCavalcante crime family in 2000, and eventually led to Vince Palermo and captain Anthony Rotondo becoming state's evidence.Popular culture
Strong assemblement shows that the fictional character Giacomo "Jackie" Aprile, Sr.Jackie Aprile, Sr
Giacomo Michael "Jackie" Aprile, Sr., played by Michael Rispoli, was a fictional character on the HBO original series The Sopranos. He was the first Acting Boss of the DiMeo Crime Family, after longtime reputed Boss Ercole 'Eckley' DiMeo was sent to prison in 1995...
of the HBO hit-series The Sopranos
The Sopranos
The Sopranos is an American television drama series created by David Chase that revolves around the New Jersey-based Italian-American mobster Tony Soprano and the difficulties he faces as he tries to balance the often conflicting requirements of his home life and the criminal organization he heads...
, was loosely based on Amari. Especially when they both become acting boss of the New Jersey crime family, only to die of cancer and spark a massive power vacuum between rival factions within their crime families.
Further reading
- Smith, Greg B. Made Men: The True Rise-and-Fall Story of a New Jersey Mob Family. Berkley Books, 2003. ISBN 0-425-18551-6
- Jacobs, James B. Busting the Mob: The United States Vs. Cosa Nostra. New York: NYU Press, 1994. ISBN 0-8147-4230-0
- Jacobs, James B., Coleen Friel and Robert Radick. Gotham Unbound: How New York City Was Liberated from the Grip of Organized Crime. New York: NYU Press, 1999. ISBN 0-8147-4247-5
- Goldstock, Ronald, Martin Marcus and II Thacher. Corruption and Racketeering in the New York City Construction Industry: Final Report of the New York State Organized Crime Task Force. New York: NYU Press, 1990. ISBN 0-8147-3034-5
- United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on the Judiciary. Organized Crime in America: Hearings Before the Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate. Washington, D.C.: U.S. G.P.O., 1983.
External links
- "The Mafia in New Jersey" - State of New Jersey Commission of Investigation 1989
- "Crime Family Dealt a Blow, Police Say" by William K. Rashbaum New York Times October 20, 2000
- UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v. RIGGI, John M UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT December 12, 1991, Filed