Operation Old Bridge
Encyclopedia
Operation 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. The indictments included: murder, drug trafficking, robbery and extortion.
(FBI) was able to collect the needed information through informant Joseph Vollaro, (owner of truck company on Staten Island) who secretly recorded several conversations with members of the Gambino family. 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 initially assigned to Judge Nicholas Garaufis
, but later reassigned to Judge Jack B. Weinstein
.
Gambino crime family boss Nicholas Corozzo turned fugitive after he was tipped off by his daughter who witnessed her husband and fellow mobster being led away by the US authorities. On May 29, 2008, Corozzo finally couldn't take life on the run anymore and so he turned himself in to authorities with his lawyer by his side. As of May 30, 2008, Corozzo is incarcerated at the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) in Brooklyn, New York. Of the 62 American defendants, 60 pleaded guilty with at least 52 of them facing no more than three years in prison.
The operation broke up a growing alliance between the Gambinos and the Sicilian
Mafia
, who 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.
The name of the police operation, "Old Bridge", refers to the historical ties of an exile group of Sicilian Mafiosi across the Atlantic ocean. After the Second Mafia War
in the beginning of the 1980s the surviving members of the Inzerillo Mafia Family
had been "allowed" to migrate to New York to avoid extermination by the Corleonesi
faction and then victorious Sicilian boss of bosses Salvatore "Toto" Riina
. The Inzerillo’s American relatives and associates of New York's Gambino family intervened on their behalf. They were allowed to settle in the States in exchange for a pledge: neither they nor their offspring would ever again set foot on Sicilian soil. They became known as gli Scappati, the Runaways. Two decades later, the Runaways were returning to Palermo. The exiles had good reasons: Riina and his successor Bernardo Provenzano
, were both arrested and are serving life terms in Italy. The runaway Inzerillo clan was allegedly rebuilding the "Old Bridge" between America and Sicily, reestablishing the business and drug trafficking ties between the Sicilian and American mobs.
.
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
that targeted the Gambino crime family
Gambino crime family
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 . The group is named after Carlo Gambino, boss of the family at the time of the McClellan hearings in 1963...
. Among the indicted were the reputed acting bosses Jackie 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" ...
, 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 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...
Joseph Corozzo
Joseph Corozzo
Joseph "Jo Jo" Corozzo, Sr. , is a New York mobster who is the reputed Consigliere of the Gambino crime family.-Background:...
of the Gambino crime family. The indictments included: murder, drug trafficking, robbery and extortion.
The police operation
The Federal Bureau of InvestigationFederal 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...
(FBI) was able to collect the needed information through informant Joseph Vollaro, (owner of truck company on Staten Island) who secretly recorded several conversations with members of the Gambino family. 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 initially 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...
, but later reassigned to Judge Jack B. Weinstein
Jack B. Weinstein
Jack Bertrand Weinstein is a United States federal judge in the Eastern District of New York. Judge Weinstein was appointed in 1967 by President Lyndon Johnson. From 1980 to 1988, he served as chief judge of the district. On March 1, 1993, he took senior status; however, unlike some senior...
.
Gambino crime family boss Nicholas Corozzo turned fugitive after he was tipped off by his daughter who witnessed her husband and fellow mobster being led away by the US authorities. On May 29, 2008, Corozzo finally couldn't take life on the run anymore and so he turned himself in to authorities with his lawyer by his side. As of May 30, 2008, Corozzo is incarcerated at the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) in Brooklyn, New York. Of the 62 American defendants, 60 pleaded guilty with at least 52 of them facing no more than three years in prison.
The operation broke up a growing alliance between the Gambinos and the Sicilian
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,...
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...
, who 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.
The name of the police operation, "Old Bridge", refers to the historical ties of an exile group of Sicilian Mafiosi across the Atlantic ocean. After the Second Mafia War
Second Mafia War
The Second Mafia War was a conflict within the Sicilian Mafia, mostly taking place in the early 1980s. As with any criminal organization, the history of the Sicilian Mafia is replete with conflicts and power struggles, and the violence that results from them, but these are generally localised and...
in the beginning of the 1980s the surviving members of the Inzerillo Mafia Family
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...
had been "allowed" to migrate to New York to avoid extermination by the Corleonesi
Corleonesi
The Corleonesi is the name given to a faction within the Sicilian Mafia that dominated Cosa Nostra in the 1980s and the 1990s. It was called the Corleonesi because its most important leaders came from the town of Corleone, first Luciano Leggio and later Totò Riina, Bernardo Provenzano and Leoluca...
faction and then victorious Sicilian boss of bosses Salvatore "Toto" Riina
Salvatore Riina
Salvatore "Totò" Riina is a member of the Sicilian Mafia who became the most powerful member of the criminal organization in the early 1980s. Fellow mobsters nicknamed him The Beast due to his violent nature, or sometimes The Short One due to his diminutive stature...
. The Inzerillo’s American relatives and associates of New York's Gambino family intervened on their behalf. They were allowed to settle in the States in exchange for a pledge: neither they nor their offspring would ever again set foot on Sicilian soil. They became known as gli Scappati, the Runaways. Two decades later, the Runaways were returning to Palermo. The exiles had good reasons: Riina and his successor Bernardo Provenzano
Bernardo Provenzano
Bernardo Provenzano is a member of the Sicilian Mafia and is suspected of having been the head of the Corleonesi, a Mafia faction that originated in the village of Corleone, and de facto capo di tutti capi of the entire Sicilian Mafia until his arrest in 2006.His nickname is Binnu u tratturi...
, were both arrested and are serving life terms in Italy. The runaway Inzerillo clan was allegedly rebuilding the "Old Bridge" between America and Sicily, reestablishing the business and drug trafficking ties between the Sicilian and American mobs.
Convictions
- The following list contains some of the most notable charged and does not include most of those convicted.
Name Charge Verdict Sentence Release date Thomas Cacciopoli Thomas 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 :...Extortion April 4, 2011 Frank Cali Frank 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...Racketeering, extortion, and conspiracy Pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges 16 months June 4, 2009 Charles Carneglia Murder Guilty by jury of four murders Life imprisonment N/A Domenico Cefalu Domenico 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....Racketeering Pleaded guilty to extortion Two years November 3, 2009 Joseph Corozzo Joseph CorozzoJoseph "Jo Jo" Corozzo, Sr. , is a New York mobster who is the reputed Consigliere of the Gambino crime family.-Background:...Racketeering, drug trafficking Pleaded guilty to a racketeering conspiracy charge 46 months June 10, 2011 Nicholas Corozzo Nicholas CorozzoNicholas "Little Nick" Corozzo is a New York mobster who is the reputed acting boss of the Gambino crime family.-Biography:...Enterprise corruption and murder Pleaded guilty to enterprise corruption charge and was found guilty by jury of murder 13½ years March 2, 2020 Jackie D'Amico Jackie 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" ...Racketeering Pleaded guilty to extortion Two years November 3, 2009 Leonard DiMaria Leonard DiMariaLeonard "Lenny" DiMaria , also known as "Fatso" and "the Conductor", is a New York mobster and Caporegime in the Gambino crime family...Pleaded guilty to racketeering, extortion, and conspiracy September 2, 2012 Richard G. Gotti Richard G. GottiRichard G. Gotti is a member of the Gambino crime family. His father is Gambino capo Richard V. Gotti and cousins are capo John A. "Junior" Gotti, former reality television star Victoria Gotti, and Peter Gotti, Jr...Attempted murder Pleaded guilty Eight years February 22, 2015 Vincent Gotti Attempted murder Pleaded guilty Eight years February 22, 2015 Richard Ranieri Extortion March 1, 2010 Vincent Dragonetti Extortion 37 months May 28, 2011
American Mafiosi indicted
Those without a release date listed either weren't sentenced to jail time or weren't imprisoned in a Federal Bureau prisonFederal Bureau of Prisons
The Federal Bureau of Prisons is a federal law enforcement agency subdivision of the United States Department of Justice and is responsible for the administration of the federal prison system. The system also handles prisoners who committed acts considered felonies under the District of Columbia's...
.
- Joseph Agate
- Vincent "Elmo" Amarante
- Jerome "Jerry" Brancato (released September 3, 2010)
- Nicholas Calvo (released January 12, 2010)
- Joseph "Joe Rackets" Casiere
- Mario "Lanza" Cassarino (released September 15, 2010)
- John Cavallo
- Gino Cracolici
- Sarah Dauria
- Vincent "Vinny Hot" Decongilio (released January 22, 2010)
- Salvatore DeGrazia
- Vincent Donnis
- Robert Francis "Bobby the Jew" Epifania (released June 6, 2010)
- Cody Farrell
- Louis Faustino
- Russell "One Eye" Ferrisi (released December 5, 2008)
- Louis Filippelli (released December 9, 2008)
- Ronald Flam
- Joseph "Joe Gag" Gaggi
- Abid "Han" Ghani (released February 14, 2008)
- Anthony "Buckwheat" Giammarino
- Ernest "Ernie" Grillo (released April 13, 2010)
- Christopher Howard
- Steven Francis "Stevie I" Iaria (released March 31, 2009)
- Eddie James
- John Kasgorgis (released April 4, 2008)
- William Kilgannon
- Michael King
- Anthony Licata (released February 1, 2011)
- Joseph Marsilio
- Defacto Morganelli
- Anthony O'Donnell
- James Outerie (released June 25, 2010)
- Vincent "Vinny Basile" Pacelli (released May 5, 2010)
- John "Johnny Red Rose" Pisano (released September 30, 2008)
- Todd Polakoff
- Giulio "Gino" Pomponio
- John "Reeg" Regis (released October 3, 2008)
- Jerry Romano
- Angelo "Little Ang" Ruggiero, Jr. (release date: May 2, 2013)
- Steven Sabella
- Jimmy Scalzo
- Anthony John Scibelli (released January 26, 2011)
- Augustus "Gus" Sclafani
- Joseph Scopo (released July 27, 2010)
- William "Billy" Scotto
- Edward "Eddie" Sobol
- Joseph Spinnato (released January 30, 2009)
- Michael "Mike the Electrician" Urciuoli (released June 24, 2008)
- Frank "Frankie" Vassallo
- Tara "Big Tara" Vega
- Arthur Zagari
Sicilian mafiosi indicted
- Francesco Adelfio (66)
- Salvatore Adelfio (42)
- Giuseppe Brunettini (37)
- Filippo Casamento (82) (Bocadifalco clan member, Bonanno family associate, former Catalano-Ganci Consortium member and Pizza Connection defendant) (released May 7, 2010)
- Antonino Chiappara (42)
- Sergio Corallo (42)
- Giovanni De Simone (46)
- Maurizio Di Fede (40)
- Salvatore Emanuele Di Maggio (59) (TorrettaTorrettaTorretta is a comune in the province of Palermo located on the Mediterranean island of Sicily.This town is situated on a mountainous area overlooking Palermo....
clan member) - Nicola Di Salvo (70)
- Melchiorre Guglielmini (49)
- Giovanni InzerilloGiovanni InzerilloGiovanni Inzerillo , is a construction entrepreneur and son of Salvatore Inzerillo, a notorious Sicilian Mafia boss who was killed in May 1981 on the orders of Mafia boss Salvatore "Totò" Riina during the Second Mafia War.After the Corleonesi killed his father, they also murdered his...
(36) (son of 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...
) - Tommaso Lo Presti (33)
- Giovanni Lo Verde (69)
- Stefano Marino (36)
- Giovanni NicchiGianni NicchiGiovanni "Gianni" Nicchi is a member of the Sicilian Mafia. Despite his young age – his nickname is U picciutteddu – he is considered to be one of the leading mafiosi of Cosa Nostra in Palermo...
(27) (Pagliarelli capo-mafia, successor to Rotolo, Sicilian emissary to New York) - Pietro Pipitone (54)
- Gaetano Savoca (41) (Brancaccio)
- Vincenzo Savoca (77) (Brancaccio)
Sicilian mafiosi already in prison who were indicted
- Andrea Adamo (46) (Brancaccio capo-mafia, ally of Salvatore Lo PiccoloSalvatore Lo PiccoloSalvatore Lo Piccolo , also known as the Baron , is a Sicilian mafioso and one of the most powerful bosses of Palermo, Sicily. Lo Piccolo rose through the ranks of the Palermo mafia throughout the 1980s and he became the capo-mandamento of the San Lorenzo district in the early 1990s, replacing...
) - Calogero Di Gioia (60)
- Lorenzo Di Fede (83)
- Benedetto Graviano (50)
- Tommaso Inzerillo (59)
- Cesare Carmelo Lupo (47)
- Antonino "Nino" RotoloAntonio RotoloAntonio "Nino" Rotolo is an Italian Mafia boss from the Pagliarelli area in Palermo that traditionally was under the control of the Motisi Mafia family. Rotolo was the underboss of Matteo Motisi, but according to some pentiti he was the de facto leader representing the mandamento on the Sicilian...
(62) (Pagliarelli capo-mafia, Palermo Federation leader, rival of Salvatore Lo PiccoloSalvatore Lo PiccoloSalvatore Lo Piccolo , also known as the Baron , is a Sicilian mafioso and one of the most powerful bosses of Palermo, Sicily. Lo Piccolo rose through the ranks of the Palermo mafia throughout the 1980s and he became the capo-mandamento of the San Lorenzo district in the early 1990s, replacing...
) - Giuseppe "Pino" Savoca (74) (Brancaccio capo-mafia)
- Salvatore Sorrentino (43)