Vincent Gigante
Encyclopedia
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 boxing career he fought in the Light Heavyweight division. His first professional boxing match was against Vic Chambers on July 18, 1944 in Union City, New Jersey
which he lost; he then fought Chambers a second time at the St. Nicholas Arena on June 29, 1945 and successfully defeated him. He defeated him again on June 29, 1945 at Madison Square Garden. He also fought at the Garden against Luther McMillen on March 8, 1946 which he won, and Buster Peppe on July 19, 1946, which he also won. His last match was against Jimmy Slade on May 17, 1947 which he lost at the Ridgewood Grove, Brooklyn, New York. During this match he suffered a severe cut over his right eye, causing the referee to stop the fight and award it to Slade. That was the first and only time Gigante was ever stopped. Slade was top contender, and the fight was a vicious affair until the stoppage. His boxing manager was Thomas Eboli
and he was a sparring partner of Rocky Castellani
and future Genovese crime family acting boss Dominick Cirillo
.
, a group of mobsters in Greenwich Village
that was overseen by Vito Genovese
and later Anthony Strollo
. Gigante was a protege of Genovese. Between age 17 and 25, Gigante was arrested seven times on charges of receiving stolen goods, possession of an unlicensed handgun, auto theft, arson and bookmaking. He only served one jail sentence, 60 days for an illegal gambling conviction. The rest were dismissed or resolved with fines.
ordered Gigante to murder Genovese family Boss Frank Costello
, a close friend of Lucky Luciano
and Meyer Lansky
and one of the best-known underworld figures in the United States. Gigante shot Costello as he entered the lobby at 115 Central Park West, where he had an apartment in The Majestic, on the corner of 72nd Street, Manhattan. Just as Gigante fired his .38-caliber handgun, however, Costello moved, causing the bullet to graze the right side of his head. Because Costello fell down, Gigante thought the mob boss was dead and sped away in a black Cadillac
. Costello refused to identify his attempted assassin, but the doorman at 115 Central Park West did. But when tried for the shooting, his defense team effectively challenged the credibility of the doorman, and Gigante was acquitted
in 1958 on charges of attempted murder.
was based at the Triangle Social Club at 208 Sullivan Street, but also met at the Dante Social Club at 81 McDougal Street, and the Panel Social Club at 208 Thompson Street. Gigante also met with gangsters and business associates at his mother's apartment. He was involved in bookmaking and loansharking, and was immersed in labor racketeering in New York City's construction and haulage industries.
The crew controlled much of organized crime throughout downtown Manhattan
, and Gigante went on to become one of the most powerful caporegimes (captains) in the New York Mafia from the early 1970s until his promotion to boss in 1981. Some of the rackets included labor union control, gambling, loan sharking, hijackings, and extortion of businesses. Through his brother Mario, who later became a capo of his own crew, the Gigantes maintained influence in the Bronx
, Yonkers and upper Westchester
. Gigante's closest associates included his brother Mario Gigante
, sons Andrew Gigante and Vincent Esposito, Dominick Alongi, Venero Mangano
, Frank Condo, Dominick DiQuarto, Thomas D'Antonio, Frank Caggiano, Louis Manna
, Giuseppe Dellacroe, Dominick Canterino
, Dominick Cirillo
, Joseph Denti, and Joseph Sarcinella.
In 1969, Gigante was indicted in New Jersey on a charge of conspiracy to bribe the entire five-member Old Tappan police force to alert him to surveillance operations by law enforcement agencies. The accusation was dropped after Mr. Gigante's lawyers presented reports from psychiatrists that he was mentally unfit to stand trial.
and ultra-secretive boss Philip Lombardo
("Benny Squints"). When Lombardo retired from crime in 1981 due to poor health, he supported Gigante to take over the crime family. As boss of the family, Gigante strengthened the family's stranglehold of some of New York City's most lucrative rackets, including the New York Coliseum
, Jacob K. Javits Center, labor racketeering, the drywall
business, Concrete Club, Fulton Fish Market
, drug trafficking, private waste industry, and gambling. He controlled outright the Housewreckers Union Local 95 of the Laborers Unions. In June 1984, Local 95 union officials President Joseph Sherman, Business Manager Stephen McNair and Secretary-Treasurer John Roshteki were convicted of labor racketeering in connection with extortion from a contractor, Schiavone-Chase Corporation.
Additionally, he made Anthony "Fat Tony" Salerno
the front boss of the Genovese family. This fooled both law enforcement and other crime families, with only Genovese family members knowing who was really running things. In 1986, Salerno was convicted on charges of murder and racketeering and sentenced to 100 years in prison along with top members of the other Five Families
in what was called the Mafia Commission Trial
. However, Genovese family informant Vincent Cafaro
revealed to the FBI during the trial that Salerno was just a figurehead; Gigante had been the real boss of the family since 1981. In response, Gigante abandoned the Front Boss position and added two new positions to the family administrations: Messenger and Street Boss. The job of the messenger, Dominick Cirillo
, was to pass messages from Gigante to other family members and to serve as liaison between crime families. The Street Boss Liborio Bellomo
, was responsible for running the day-to-day operations of the business. Both positions were created to further insulate the boss from the lower workers of the family.
Gigante was reclusive, managing to never be picked up on a wiretap by the FBI or other law enforcement agencies and managed to remain on the streets longer than all of his contemporaries. He almost never left his home unoccupied because he knew FBI agents would sneak in and plant a bug. His discipline and care differed sharply from that of many other mob figures, most notably his rival, John Gotti, the boss of the Gambino crime family. Gigante made Venero "Benny Eggs" Mangano
his underboss
and sent his orders only through his closest associates, thereby insulating himself from the other family's bosses and lower ranking wiseguys. When necessary to speak to fellow mobsters, he only whispered so he couldn't be picked up by wiretap and never discusses criminal business on the phone. Family members were also forbidden from speaking his name. When references to him had to be made, his men would simply point to their chins.
While preferring to remain behind the scenes, Gigante would not hesitate to authorize the use of violence and was responsible for ordering the murders of Philadelphia crime family
mobsters Antonio Caponigro
, Fred Salerno, and Frank Sindone for the unsanctioned 1980 murder of Philadelphia boss Angelo Bruno
, and Philadelphia mobsters Frank Narducci and Rocco Marinucci for the unsanctioned murder of Philip Testa
, Bruno's successor. Gigante also ordered the murders of Genovese soldier Gerald Pappa and many others.
During his tenure as boss of the Genovese family after the imprisonment of John Gotti
, Gigante would come to be known as the figurehead capo di tutti capi
, the "Boss of All Bosses", even though the position had been abolished with the murder of Salvatore Maranzano
in 1931. In one instance during the wake of a Genovese member, Gigante pulled aside Victor Amuso
, the acting boss of the Lucchese crime family
, to discuss the Lucchese's families encroachment on his families "Windows Racket". Gigante told him he'd be "lucky to leave this wake alive" and the Lucchese family subsequently gave in to Gigante's demand to back off.
In 1969, Gigante started feigning mental illness
to escape criminal prosecution. He escaped conviction on bribery
charges by producing a number of prominent psychiatrist
s who testified that he was legally insane. The doctors said Gigante suffered from schizophrenia
, dementia
, psychosis
, and other disorders. Gigante allegedly enlisted his mother and wife to help him in these deceptions. The government had many psychiatrists and doctors examine Vincent including Thomas Gutheil from Harvard University
, Donald Klein from Columbia University
, William Reid from University of Texas, Wilford Van Gorp from Cornell University
, Stanley Portnow from New York University
, and Abraham Halpern from New York Medical College
. These psychiatrists said that Gigante was neither competent to stand trial nor to be sentenced.
Even when not under indictment, he prepared for inevitable charges (knowing the FBI was watching him). Almost every day he would return from his residence to his mother's apartment at 225 Sullivan Street in Greenwich Village and emerge dressed in a bathrobe and pajamas or a windbreaker and shabby trousers. Accompanied by one or two bodyguards, he crossed the street to the Triangle Civic Improvement Association — a dingy storefront club that served as his headquarters — where he played pinochle
and held whispered conversations with his associates. Regular visitors to the Triangle included senior Genovese caporegimes Liborio Bellomo
, John Ardito
, Tino Fiumara
, Ernest Muscarella and Daniel Leo
. From Gigante's 1990 indictment and after his incarceration (in La Tuna, Texas) these men ran the crime family, although all major choices would be authorized by Gigante from his prison cell.
In 1990, Gigante was arrested and charged with racketeering and murder; however, it wasn't until 1997 that he was brought to trial. During that time period, Gigante's lawyers produced witness after witness who testified that Gigante was mentally ill and unfit to stand trial. However, all this changed when a number of prominent Mafia members from various families began to cooperate with the government in the early 1990s.
Foremost among the cooperating witnesses was Salvatore "Sammy the Bull" Gravano
, former underboss of the Gambino crime family, who became a cooperating witness in 1991. Gravano testified that on the two occasions he met Gigante, the mob boss was perfectly lucid and clear in his thinking. Other turncoat witnesses such as Phil Leonetti
of the Philadelphia crime family
implicated Gigante in ordering the murder of several Bruno family members in the early 1980s. In 1994, Anthony "Gaspipe" Casso
, former underboss of the Lucchese crime family
, implicated Gigante in a 1986 plan to have Casso kill new Gambino boss John Gotti
, underboss Frank DeCicco
and Gotti's brother Gene Gotti
, due to the unsanctioned 1985 murder of John Gotti's former boss, Paul Castellano
.
In 1997, Gigante was convicted on several racketeering and conspiracy
charges and sentenced to 12 years in a federal prison by judge I. Leo Glasser
. Despite his lawyers' and psychiatrists' claims that he had been legally insane for more than 30 years, the jury convicted him on all but the murder charges, which would have mandated a life sentence without parole
. While in prison, he was still in firm control of the Genovese family. While other mobsters were entrusted to run the day-to-day activities of the family, Gigante relayed orders to the crime family through his son, Andrew, who would visit him in prison.
On April 7, 2003, he pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice
in Federal District Court
, acknowledging that his "insanity" was a pretense in order to delay his racketeering trial. This was part of a deal to avoid another set of charges that would have brought on a lengthy trial (he was 75 at the time). Instead, he had another three years added to his sentence. This plea deal was only agreed upon to get a lesser sentence for himself and his son Andrew.
to Springfield Missouri. In November 2005, Flora Edwards, his lawyer, sued officials at the Medical Center for Federal Prisoners
in Springfield, Missouri
to transfer Gigante to an acute care
hospital. Transferred to a private medical facility, Gigante rallied physically. In early December, he was transferred back to Springfield, where he died 10 days later on December 19, 2005.
On December 23, 2005, after a service at Saint Anthony of Padua Church in Greenwich Village
, Gigante's body was cremated at the historic Green-Wood Cemetery
in Brooklyn, New York. He is survived by eight children (five from his wife and three from his mistress). He also has prominent cousins from Boston. (The cousins spell their name both Gigante and Giganti.) Gigante's lawyer has said that the family intends to sue the federal government over Gigante's health care treatment while in prison. Since Gigante's death, his family continues to live well off. Today, Gigante’s relatives earn nearly $2 million a year as gainful employees of companies on the New Jersey waterfront, according to a report by Jerry Capeci
.
, paranoid type with acute exacerbation's which result in hospitalization." His list of alleged mental illness
es later included Dementia pugilistica
and Alzheimer's Disease
. He allegedly had to take daily medications for these illnesses, which included prescriptions for Valium and Thorazine. Since 1969, D'Adamo reported that Gigante had been treated on 20 different separate occasions for psychiatric disorders at St. Vincent's Hospital in Harrison, New York
. These visitations all coincided with news of criminal indictment
s being handed down against him. Psychologist and mental health workers said at his trial that from 1969 to 1995 he had been confirmed 28 times in hospitals for treatment of hallucinations that he suffered from "dementia rooted in organic brain damage." He had open heart surgery in 1998 and another cardiac operation in 1996 before his racketeering trial. He allegedly was prescribed to take on a day-to-day basis, 5 mg of Valium, 100 mg of Thorazine and 30 mg of Dalmane.
He is the father of Andrew born September 30, 1956 in New York City, Salvatore, Yolanda, Roseanne and Rita and two daughters, Lucia and Carmella by his mistress. He is the uncle of Ralph Gigante Jr., the son and namesake of his brother, Ralph Sr. a recognized mob associate involved in labor racketeering. He is also the uncle of Carmine Esposito, the son of Genovese crime family mobster Salvatore "Zooki" Esposito, who along with his brother Carmine "Nini" Esposito are the owners of "Il Cortile" restaurant in the "Little Italy" section of Manhanttan. Carmine (Zooki's son) was the subject of a documentary titled "Capturing Carmine." He was featured on America's Most Wanted
after allegedly shooting a restaurant patron in New York City. Subsequently, Carmine was found not guilty of all charges related to the incident.
He maintained a residence in Old Tappan, New Jersey
with his wife Olympia Grippa who he married in 1950 and their five children, Andrew Gigante, Salvatore, Yolanda, Roseann and Rita. He maintained his second family in a town house located at 67 East 77th Street, near Park Avenue in the Upper East Side, Manhattan with his long time mistress Olympia Esposito and their one son and two daughters. But he was rarely seen at his Old Tappan residence and instead at his mother's apartment located at 225 Sullivan Street in Greenwich Village
. According to Federal Bureau of Investigation
(FBI) surveillance reports, after midnight, he was driven to a townhouse at East 77th Street near Park Avenue where he actually lived. He grew up on the same streets in Greenwich Village where he spent most of his adult life during the day.
Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden, often abbreviated as MSG and known colloquially as The Garden, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the New York City borough of Manhattan and located at 8th Avenue, between 31st and 33rd Streets, situated on top of Pennsylvania Station.Opened on February 11, 1968, it is the...
and won by a knock out in the second round. During his successful boxing career he fought in the Light Heavyweight division. His first professional boxing match was against Vic Chambers on July 18, 1944 in Union City, New Jersey
Union City, New Jersey
Union City is a city in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. According to the 2010 United States Census the city had a total population of 66,455. All of the city is on land, an area of...
which he lost; he then fought Chambers a second time at the St. Nicholas Arena on June 29, 1945 and successfully defeated him. He defeated him again on June 29, 1945 at Madison Square Garden. He also fought at the Garden against Luther McMillen on March 8, 1946 which he won, and Buster Peppe on July 19, 1946, which he also won. His last match was against Jimmy Slade on May 17, 1947 which he lost at the Ridgewood Grove, Brooklyn, New York. During this match he suffered a severe cut over his right eye, causing the referee to stop the fight and award it to Slade. That was the first and only time Gigante was ever stopped. Slade was top contender, and the fight was a vicious affair until the stoppage. His boxing manager was 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:...
and he was a sparring partner of Rocky Castellani
Rocky Castellani
Attilio N. "Rocky" Castellani was an American boxer. He was born in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, to Attilio Castellani and Rose Isopi Castellani , who later moved to Margate City, formerly South Atlantic City, in Atlantic County in eastern New Jersey...
and future Genovese crime family acting boss Dominick Cirillo
Dominick Cirillo
Dominick V. "Quiet Dom" Cirillo is a high-ranking member of the Genovese crime family, who briefly served as acting boss for the imprisoned Boss Vincent "Chin" Gigante.- Early life:...
.
Criminal career
Gigante earned his Mafia credentials as an enforcer in the 1950s. He worked in the Greenwich Village CrewGreenwich Village Crew
The Greenwich Village Crew is a crew within the Genovese crime family, active in the Greenwich Village area of Manhattan. Original controlled by Don Vito Genovese from the early 1920s up until his arrest in the late 1950s. In the early 1980s Capo Vincent Gigante, was made the new boss of the...
, a group of mobsters in Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village, , , , .in New York often simply called "the Village", is a largely residential neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City. A large majority of the district is home to upper middle class families...
that was overseen by 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...
and later Anthony Strollo
Anthony Strollo
Anthony C. Strollo , aka "Tony Bender", was a New York mobster who served as a high ranking member of the Genovese crime family.-Early years:...
. Gigante was a protege of Genovese. Between age 17 and 25, Gigante was arrested seven times on charges of receiving stolen goods, possession of an unlicensed handgun, auto theft, arson and bookmaking. He only served one jail sentence, 60 days for an illegal gambling conviction. The rest were dismissed or resolved with fines.
Costello murder attempt
On May 2, 1957, Vito GenoveseVito 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...
ordered Gigante to murder Genovese family Boss 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...
, a close friend of Lucky Luciano
Lucky Luciano
Charlie "Lucky" Luciano was an Italian mobster born in Sicily. Luciano is considered the father of modern organized crime in the United States for splitting New York City into five different Mafia crime families and the establishment of the first commission...
and 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...
and one of the best-known underworld figures in the United States. Gigante shot Costello as he entered the lobby at 115 Central Park West, where he had an apartment in The Majestic, on the corner of 72nd Street, Manhattan. Just as Gigante fired his .38-caliber handgun, however, Costello moved, causing the bullet to graze the right side of his head. Because Costello fell down, Gigante thought the mob boss was dead and sped away in a black Cadillac
Cadillac
Cadillac is an American luxury vehicle marque owned by General Motors . Cadillac vehicles are sold in over 50 countries and territories, but mostly in North America. Cadillac is currently the second oldest American automobile manufacturer behind fellow GM marque Buick and is among the oldest...
. Costello refused to identify his attempted assassin, but the doorman at 115 Central Park West did. But when tried for the shooting, his defense team effectively challenged the credibility of the doorman, and Gigante was acquitted
Acquittal
In the common law tradition, an acquittal formally certifies the accused is free from the charge of an offense, as far as the criminal law is concerned. This is so even where the prosecution is abandoned nolle prosequi...
in 1958 on charges of attempted murder.
Caporegime
In 1959, Gigante was convicted, with Vito Genovese, of heroin trafficking and sentenced to seven years in prison. The sentencing judge was swayed by a flood of letters from residents of Greenwich Village and Little Italy attesting to Gigante's good character and his work on behalf of juveniles. He was paroled after five years. Not long afterward, he was promoted from soldier to captain, running the Greenwich Crew. Gigante's crewGreenwich Village Crew
The Greenwich Village Crew is a crew within the Genovese crime family, active in the Greenwich Village area of Manhattan. Original controlled by Don Vito Genovese from the early 1920s up until his arrest in the late 1950s. In the early 1980s Capo Vincent Gigante, was made the new boss of the...
was based at the Triangle Social Club at 208 Sullivan Street, but also met at the Dante Social Club at 81 McDougal Street, and the Panel Social Club at 208 Thompson Street. Gigante also met with gangsters and business associates at his mother's apartment. He was involved in bookmaking and loansharking, and was immersed in labor racketeering in New York City's construction and haulage industries.
The crew controlled much of organized crime throughout downtown 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 Gigante went on to become one of the most powerful caporegimes (captains) in the New York Mafia from the early 1970s until his promotion to boss in 1981. Some of the rackets included labor union control, gambling, loan sharking, hijackings, and extortion of businesses. Through his brother Mario, who later became a capo of his own crew, the Gigantes maintained influence in the Bronx
The Bronx
The Bronx is the northernmost of the five boroughs of New York City. It is also known as Bronx County, the last of the 62 counties of New York State to be incorporated...
, Yonkers and upper Westchester
Westchester
Westchester may refer to:*Westchester, Connecticut*Westchester, Florida*Westchester, Illinois*Westchester, Indiana*Westchester, Los Angeles, California*Westchester County, New York*The Westchester, a shopping mall in White Plains, New York...
. Gigante's closest associates included his brother Mario Gigante
Mario Gigante
Mario Gigante is a New York City mobster who served as caporegime for the Genovese crime family...
, sons Andrew Gigante and Vincent Esposito, Dominick Alongi, Venero Mangano
Venero Mangano
Venero Frank "Benny Eggs" Mangano is the Underboss of the Genovese crime family. Since boss Daniel "Danny the Lion" Leo was imprisoned in 2007, Mangano has been the family's senior leader outside prison. The nickname "Benny Eggs" came from his mother running an egg farm...
, Frank Condo, Dominick DiQuarto, Thomas D'Antonio, Frank Caggiano, Louis Manna
Louis Manna
Louis Anthony "Bobby" Manna , is a New Jersey mobster and former consigliere of the Genovese crime family.-Genovese family:...
, Giuseppe Dellacroe, Dominick Canterino
Dominick Canterino
Dominick "Baldy Dom" Canterino was a Caporegime in the Genovese crime family.A Genovese captain from Bensonhurst who ran the family's Greenwich Village Crew, Canterino was a regular at Sullivan Street's Triangle Social Club, the defacto headquarters of the Genovese family...
, Dominick Cirillo
Dominick Cirillo
Dominick V. "Quiet Dom" Cirillo is a high-ranking member of the Genovese crime family, who briefly served as acting boss for the imprisoned Boss Vincent "Chin" Gigante.- Early life:...
, Joseph Denti, and Joseph Sarcinella.
In 1969, Gigante was indicted in New Jersey on a charge of conspiracy to bribe the entire five-member Old Tappan police force to alert him to surveillance operations by law enforcement agencies. The accusation was dropped after Mr. Gigante's lawyers presented reports from psychiatrists that he was mentally unfit to stand trial.
Genovese crime boss
Vincent Gigante was a protege of both Vito GenoveseVito 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...
and ultra-secretive boss Philip Lombardo
Philip Lombardo
Philip Lombardo also known as "Benny Squint" and "Cockeyed Phil", was the boss of the Genovese crime family from the late 1960s until the beginning of the 1980s....
("Benny Squints"). When Lombardo retired from crime in 1981 due to poor health, he supported Gigante to take over the crime family. As boss of the family, Gigante strengthened the family's stranglehold of some of New York City's most lucrative rackets, including the New York Coliseum
New York Coliseum
The New York Coliseum was a convention center that stood on Columbus Circle in New York City from 1956 to 2000. It was designed by architects Leon and Lionel Levy in a modified international style, and included both a low building with exhibition space and a 26-story office block.-History:The...
, Jacob K. Javits Center, labor racketeering, the drywall
Drywall
Drywall, also known as plasterboard, wallboard or gypsum board is a panel made of gypsum plaster pressed between two thick sheets of paper...
business, Concrete Club, Fulton Fish Market
Fulton Fish Market
The Fulton Fish Market is a fish market in The Bronx, New York, United States. It was originally a wing of the Fulton Market, established in 1822 to sell a variety of foodstuffs and produce...
, drug trafficking, private waste industry, and gambling. He controlled outright the Housewreckers Union Local 95 of the Laborers Unions. In June 1984, Local 95 union officials President Joseph Sherman, Business Manager Stephen McNair and Secretary-Treasurer John Roshteki were convicted of labor racketeering in connection with extortion from a contractor, Schiavone-Chase Corporation.
Additionally, he made Anthony "Fat Tony" Salerno
Anthony Salerno
Anthony "Fat Tony" Salerno was a New York mobster who served as front boss of the Genovese crime family to family boss Vincent "The Chin" Gigante from the 1970s until his conviction in 1986...
the front boss of the Genovese family. This fooled both law enforcement and other crime families, with only Genovese family members knowing who was really running things. In 1986, Salerno was convicted on charges of murder and racketeering and sentenced to 100 years in prison along with top members of the other 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 what was called the Mafia Commission Trial
Mafia Commission Trial
The Mafia Commission Trial was a criminal trial in New York City, USA. Using evidence obtained by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, eleven organized crime figures, including the heads of New York's so-called "Five Families," were indicted by United States Attorney Rudolph Giuliani under the...
. However, Genovese family informant Vincent Cafaro
Vincent Cafaro
Vincent "Fish" Cafaro was a mobster and protegee of Anthony "Fat Tony" Salerno, a top lieutenant in the Genovese crime family until becoming a government informant and witness.-Labor racketeer:...
revealed to the FBI during the trial that Salerno was just a figurehead; Gigante had been the real boss of the family since 1981. In response, Gigante abandoned the Front Boss position and added two new positions to the family administrations: Messenger and Street Boss. The job of the messenger, Dominick Cirillo
Dominick Cirillo
Dominick V. "Quiet Dom" Cirillo is a high-ranking member of the Genovese crime family, who briefly served as acting boss for the imprisoned Boss Vincent "Chin" Gigante.- Early life:...
, was to pass messages from Gigante to other family members and to serve as liaison between crime families. The Street Boss Liborio Bellomo
Liborio Bellomo
Liborio Salvatore Bellomo , known as Barney and Big Barney, is a high ranking caporegime and street boss of the Genovese crime family in New York City. Bellomo is one of the fastest rising Mafia members in the United States today, becoming a capo in his mid-twenties...
, was responsible for running the day-to-day operations of the business. Both positions were created to further insulate the boss from the lower workers of the family.
Gigante was reclusive, managing to never be picked up on a wiretap by the FBI or other law enforcement agencies and managed to remain on the streets longer than all of his contemporaries. He almost never left his home unoccupied because he knew FBI agents would sneak in and plant a bug. His discipline and care differed sharply from that of many other mob figures, most notably his rival, John Gotti, the boss of the Gambino crime family. Gigante made Venero "Benny Eggs" Mangano
Venero Mangano
Venero Frank "Benny Eggs" Mangano is the Underboss of the Genovese crime family. Since boss Daniel "Danny the Lion" Leo was imprisoned in 2007, Mangano has been the family's senior leader outside prison. The nickname "Benny Eggs" came from his mother running an egg farm...
his underboss
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 sent his orders only through his closest associates, thereby insulating himself from the other family's bosses and lower ranking wiseguys. When necessary to speak to fellow mobsters, he only whispered so he couldn't be picked up by wiretap and never discusses criminal business on the phone. Family members were also forbidden from speaking his name. When references to him had to be made, his men would simply point to their chins.
While preferring to remain behind the scenes, Gigante would not hesitate to authorize the use of violence and was responsible for ordering the murders of Philadelphia crime family
Philadelphia crime family
The Philadelphia crime family, also known as the Scarfo crime family, Bruno crime family, Philadelphia Mafia, or Philly Mob, is an Italian American criminal organization based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is one of the most active American Mafia families outside of the Five Families of New York...
mobsters Antonio Caponigro
Antonio Caponigro
Antonio Rocco Caponigro , also known as Tony Bananas, was the consigliere of Angelo Bruno in the Bruno crime family. He is known for ending the peaceful Bruno regime by ordering his murder over a dispute concerning the methamphetamine trade.-Early life:Caponigro was born in Chicago, Illinois on...
, Fred Salerno, and Frank Sindone for the unsanctioned 1980 murder of Philadelphia boss Angelo Bruno
Angelo Bruno
Angelo "The Gentle Don" Bruno was a Sicilian-American mobster who ran the Philadelphia crime family for two decades. Bruno gained his nickname and reputation due to his preference for conciliation over violence.-Early years:Born in Villalba, Sicily, Bruno emigrated to the United States in his...
, and Philadelphia mobsters Frank Narducci and Rocco Marinucci for the unsanctioned murder of Philip Testa
Philip Testa
Philip Carlo Testa , also known as "The Chicken Man" or "The Julius Cesar of the Philadelphia Mob" or "Philly", was a Sicilian-born American Mafia figure known for his brief leadership of the Scarfo crime family...
, Bruno's successor. Gigante also ordered the murders of Genovese soldier Gerald Pappa and many others.
During his tenure as boss of the Genovese family after the imprisonment of 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...
, Gigante would come to be known as the figurehead capo di tutti capi
Capo di tutti capi
Capo di tutti capi or capo dei capi is Italian for "boss of all bosses" or "boss of bosses". It is a phrase used mainly by the media, public and the law enforcement community to indicate a supremely powerful crime boss in the Sicilian or American Mafia who holds great influence over the whole...
, the "Boss of All Bosses", even though the position had been abolished with the murder of 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"...
in 1931. In one instance during the wake of a Genovese member, Gigante pulled aside Victor 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....
, the acting boss 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...
, to discuss the Lucchese's families encroachment on his families "Windows Racket". Gigante told him he'd be "lucky to leave this wake alive" and the Lucchese family subsequently gave in to Gigante's demand to back off.
Feigning legal insanity
Feigned madness
Feigned madness a term used in popular culture to describe the assumption of a mental disorder for purposes of evasion or deceit, or to divert suspicion, perhaps in advance of an act of revenge.-To avoid responsibility:...
to escape criminal prosecution. He escaped conviction on bribery
Bribery
Bribery, a form of corruption, is an act implying money or gift giving that alters the behavior of the recipient. Bribery constitutes a crime and is defined by Black's Law Dictionary as the offering, giving, receiving, or soliciting of any item of value to influence the actions of an official or...
charges by producing a number of prominent psychiatrist
Psychiatrist
A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders. All psychiatrists are trained in diagnostic evaluation and in psychotherapy...
s who testified that he was legally insane. The doctors said Gigante suffered from schizophrenia
Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by a disintegration of thought processes and of emotional responsiveness. It most commonly manifests itself as auditory hallucinations, paranoid or bizarre delusions, or disorganized speech and thinking, and it is accompanied by significant social...
, dementia
Dementia
Dementia is a serious loss of cognitive ability in a previously unimpaired person, beyond what might be expected from normal aging...
, psychosis
Psychosis
Psychosis means abnormal condition of the mind, and is a generic psychiatric term for a mental state often described as involving a "loss of contact with reality"...
, and other disorders. Gigante allegedly enlisted his mother and wife to help him in these deceptions. The government had many psychiatrists and doctors examine Vincent including Thomas Gutheil from Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
, Donald Klein from Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
, William Reid from University of Texas, Wilford Van Gorp from Cornell University
Cornell University
Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
, Stanley Portnow from New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
, and Abraham Halpern from New York Medical College
New York Medical College
New York Medical College, aka New York Med or NYMC, is a private graduate health sciences university based in Westchester County, New York, a suburb of New York City and a part of the New York Metropolitan Area...
. These psychiatrists said that Gigante was neither competent to stand trial nor to be sentenced.
Even when not under indictment, he prepared for inevitable charges (knowing the FBI was watching him). Almost every day he would return from his residence to his mother's apartment at 225 Sullivan Street in Greenwich Village and emerge dressed in a bathrobe and pajamas or a windbreaker and shabby trousers. Accompanied by one or two bodyguards, he crossed the street to the Triangle Civic Improvement Association — a dingy storefront club that served as his headquarters — where he played pinochle
Pinochle
Pinochle or Binocle is a trick-taking game typically for two to four players and played with a 48 card deck. Derived from the card game bezique, players score points by trick-taking and also by forming combinations of cards into melds. It is thus considered part of a "trick-and-meld" category...
and held whispered conversations with his associates. Regular visitors to the Triangle included senior Genovese caporegimes Liborio Bellomo
Liborio Bellomo
Liborio Salvatore Bellomo , known as Barney and Big Barney, is a high ranking caporegime and street boss of the Genovese crime family in New York City. Bellomo is one of the fastest rising Mafia members in the United States today, becoming a capo in his mid-twenties...
, John Ardito
John Ardito
John Gregory "Buster" Ardito was a caporegime in the Genovese crime family who worked in the Bronx borough of New York....
, Tino Fiumara
Tino Fiumara
Tino "T" Fiumara , also known as "The Greek", was a major figure in the Genovese crime family. Since the 1980s, he had been the leader of the Genovese New Jersey faction in northern New Jersey...
, Ernest Muscarella and Daniel Leo
Daniel Leo (mobster)
Daniel "Danny the Lion" Leo is the currently imprisoned acting boss of the Genovese crime family, the biggest of New York's Five Families.-Early life and career:...
. From Gigante's 1990 indictment and after his incarceration (in La Tuna, Texas) these men ran the crime family, although all major choices would be authorized by Gigante from his prison cell.
Trial and conviction
Foremost among the cooperating witnesses was Salvatore "Sammy the Bull" 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...
, former underboss of the Gambino crime family, who became a cooperating witness in 1991. Gravano testified that on the two occasions he met Gigante, the mob boss was perfectly lucid and clear in his thinking. Other turncoat witnesses such as Phil Leonetti
Phil Leonetti
Philip "Crazy Phil" Leonetti is a Philadelphia gangster who became the underboss of the Scarfo crime family under his uncle, Nicodemo "Little Nicky" Scarfo before becoming a government informant. At the time, he was the highest-ranking member of the American Mafia to break his blood oath and turn...
of the Philadelphia crime family
Philadelphia crime family
The Philadelphia crime family, also known as the Scarfo crime family, Bruno crime family, Philadelphia Mafia, or Philly Mob, is an Italian American criminal organization based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is one of the most active American Mafia families outside of the Five Families of New York...
implicated Gigante in ordering the murder of several Bruno family members in the early 1980s. In 1994, 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...
, former underboss 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...
, implicated Gigante in a 1986 plan to have Casso kill new Gambino boss 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...
, underboss 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...
and Gotti's brother Gene Gotti
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...
, due to the unsanctioned 1985 murder of John Gotti's former boss, 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...
.
In 1997, Gigante was convicted on several racketeering and conspiracy
Conspiracy (crime)
In the criminal law, a conspiracy is an agreement between two or more persons to break the law at some time in the future, and, in some cases, with at least one overt act in furtherance of that agreement...
charges and sentenced to 12 years in a federal prison by judge I. Leo Glasser
I. Leo Glasser
Israel Leo Glasser, also known as I. Leo Glasser or Leo Glasser, is a United States District Judge for the Eastern District of New York.-Biography:...
. Despite his lawyers' and psychiatrists' claims that he had been legally insane for more than 30 years, the jury convicted him on all but the murder charges, which would have mandated a life sentence without parole
Parole
Parole may have different meanings depending on the field and judiciary system. All of the meanings originated from the French parole . Following its use in late-resurrected Anglo-French chivalric practice, the term became associated with the release of prisoners based on prisoners giving their...
. While in prison, he was still in firm control of the Genovese family. While other mobsters were entrusted to run the day-to-day activities of the family, Gigante relayed orders to the crime family through his son, Andrew, who would visit him in prison.
On April 7, 2003, he pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice
Obstruction of justice
The crime of obstruction of justice, in United States jurisdictions, refers to the crime of interfering with the work of police, investigators, regulatory agencies, prosecutors, or other officials...
in Federal District Court
United States district court
The United States district courts are the general trial courts of the United States federal court system. Both civil and criminal cases are filed in the district court, which is a court of law, equity, and admiralty. There is a United States bankruptcy court associated with each United States...
, acknowledging that his "insanity" was a pretense in order to delay his racketeering trial. This was part of a deal to avoid another set of charges that would have brought on a lengthy trial (he was 75 at the time). Instead, he had another three years added to his sentence. This plea deal was only agreed upon to get a lesser sentence for himself and his son Andrew.
Death
In 2005, Gigante's health started to decline. He started suffering labored breathing, oxygen deprivation, swelling in the lower body, and bouts of unconsciousness. Gigante was moved from the Federal Correctional Institution, Fort WorthFederal Correctional Institution, Fort Worth
Federal Correctional Institution Fort Worth, is a low security institution in Fort Worth, Texas housing male offenders.FCI Fort Worth is located in the southeastern corner of Fort Worth...
to Springfield Missouri. In November 2005, Flora Edwards, his lawyer, sued officials at the Medical Center for Federal Prisoners
Medical Center for Federal Prisoners, Springfield
The United States Medical Center for Federal Prisoners is a hospital for male federal prison inmates in southwestern Springfield, Missouri at the corner of West Sunshine Street and Kansas Expressway...
in Springfield, Missouri
Springfield, Missouri
Springfield is the third largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and the county seat of Greene County. According to the 2010 census data, the population was 159,498, an increase of 5.2% since the 2000 census. The Springfield Metropolitan Area, population 436,712, includes the counties of...
to transfer Gigante to an acute care
Acute care
Acute care is a branch of secondary health care where a patient receives active but short-term treatment for a severe injury or episode of illness, an urgent medical condition, or during recovery from surgery...
hospital. Transferred to a private medical facility, Gigante rallied physically. In early December, he was transferred back to Springfield, where he died 10 days later on December 19, 2005.
On December 23, 2005, after a service at Saint Anthony of Padua Church in Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village, , , , .in New York often simply called "the Village", is a largely residential neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City. A large majority of the district is home to upper middle class families...
, Gigante's body was cremated at the historic Green-Wood Cemetery
Green-Wood Cemetery
Green-Wood Cemetery was founded in 1838 as a rural cemetery in Brooklyn, Kings County , New York. It was granted National Historic Landmark status in 2006 by the U.S. Department of the Interior.-History:...
in Brooklyn, New York. He is survived by eight children (five from his wife and three from his mistress). He also has prominent cousins from Boston. (The cousins spell their name both Gigante and Giganti.) Gigante's lawyer has said that the family intends to sue the federal government over Gigante's health care treatment while in prison. Since Gigante's death, his family continues to live well off. Today, Gigante’s relatives earn nearly $2 million a year as gainful employees of companies on the New Jersey waterfront, according to a report by Jerry Capeci
Jerry Capeci
Gerald "Jerry" Capeci is an American journalist and author who specializes in coverage of the Five Mafia crime families of New York City. Capeci has been described by news organizations, such as CNN and BBC, as an expert on the American Mafia.-Gang Land:Capeci writes a column called Gang Land...
.
Personal life
Psychiatrist Dr. Eugene D'Adamo, who was Gigante's "primary treating psychiatrist" saw him from 1973 to 1989 and stated that, "he has been diagnosed since 1969 as suffering from schizophreniaSchizophrenia
Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by a disintegration of thought processes and of emotional responsiveness. It most commonly manifests itself as auditory hallucinations, paranoid or bizarre delusions, or disorganized speech and thinking, and it is accompanied by significant social...
, paranoid type with acute exacerbation's which result in hospitalization." His list of alleged mental illness
Mental illness
A mental disorder or mental illness is a psychological or behavioral pattern generally associated with subjective distress or disability that occurs in an individual, and which is not a part of normal development or culture. Such a disorder may consist of a combination of affective, behavioural,...
es later included Dementia pugilistica
Dementia pugilistica
Dementia pugilistica is a type of neurodegenerative disease or dementia, which may affect amateur or professional boxers as well as athletes in other sports who suffer concussions...
and Alzheimer's Disease
Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease also known in medical literature as Alzheimer disease is the most common form of dementia. There is no cure for the disease, which worsens as it progresses, and eventually leads to death...
. He allegedly had to take daily medications for these illnesses, which included prescriptions for Valium and Thorazine. Since 1969, D'Adamo reported that Gigante had been treated on 20 different separate occasions for psychiatric disorders at St. Vincent's Hospital in Harrison, New York
Harrison, New York
Harrison is a village and town in Westchester County, New York, United States, located approximately northeast of Manhattan. The population was 27,472 at the 2010 census.-Establishment:...
. These visitations all coincided with news of criminal indictment
Indictment
An indictment , in the common-law legal system, is a formal accusation that a person has committed a crime. In jurisdictions that maintain the concept of felonies, the serious criminal offence is a felony; jurisdictions that lack the concept of felonies often use that of an indictable offence—an...
s being handed down against him. Psychologist and mental health workers said at his trial that from 1969 to 1995 he had been confirmed 28 times in hospitals for treatment of hallucinations that he suffered from "dementia rooted in organic brain damage." He had open heart surgery in 1998 and another cardiac operation in 1996 before his racketeering trial. He allegedly was prescribed to take on a day-to-day basis, 5 mg of Valium, 100 mg of Thorazine and 30 mg of Dalmane.
He is the father of Andrew born September 30, 1956 in New York City, Salvatore, Yolanda, Roseanne and Rita and two daughters, Lucia and Carmella by his mistress. He is the uncle of Ralph Gigante Jr., the son and namesake of his brother, Ralph Sr. a recognized mob associate involved in labor racketeering. He is also the uncle of Carmine Esposito, the son of Genovese crime family mobster Salvatore "Zooki" Esposito, who along with his brother Carmine "Nini" Esposito are the owners of "Il Cortile" restaurant in the "Little Italy" section of Manhanttan. Carmine (Zooki's son) was the subject of a documentary titled "Capturing Carmine." He was featured on America's Most Wanted
America's Most Wanted
America's Most Wanted is an American television program produced by 20th Television, and was the longest-running program of any kind in the history of the Fox Television Network until it was announced on May 16, 2011 that the series was canceled after twenty-three years, with the final episode...
after allegedly shooting a restaurant patron in New York City. Subsequently, Carmine was found not guilty of all charges related to the incident.
He maintained a residence in Old Tappan, New Jersey
Old Tappan, New Jersey
As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 5,750 people. The population density was 1,725.7 people per square mile. The racial makeup of the borough was 74.8% Caucasian, 22.2% Asian, 0.7% African American, 0.1% Native American, 0.6% from other races, and 1.5% from two or more races. Hispanics...
with his wife Olympia Grippa who he married in 1950 and their five children, Andrew Gigante, Salvatore, Yolanda, Roseann and Rita. He maintained his second family in a town house located at 67 East 77th Street, near Park Avenue in the Upper East Side, Manhattan with his long time mistress Olympia Esposito and their one son and two daughters. But he was rarely seen at his Old Tappan residence and instead at his mother's apartment located at 225 Sullivan Street in Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village, , , , .in New York often simply called "the Village", is a largely residential neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City. A large majority of the district is home to upper middle class families...
. According to 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...
(FBI) surveillance reports, after midnight, he was driven to a townhouse at East 77th Street near Park Avenue where he actually lived. He grew up on the same streets in Greenwich Village where he spent most of his adult life during the day.
In popular culture
- He is portrayed by Nicholas Kepros in 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....
. Kepros's scenes involve Gigante's desire to kill John Gotti. - Two episodes of 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,...
have featured Gigante-like characters
Further reading
- Capeci, Jerry. The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Mafia. Indianapolis: Alpha Books, 2002. ISBN 0-02-864225-2
- 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, 2001. ISBN 0-8147-4247-5
- Maas, Peter. Underboss: Sammy the Bull Gravano's Story of Life in the Mafia. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1997. ISBN 0-06-093096-9
- Raab, Selwyn. Five Families: The Rise, Decline, and Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empires. New York: St. Martin Press, 2005. ISBN 0-312-30094-8
External links
- http://www.nytimes.com/1997/05/10/classified/paid-notice-deaths-gigante-yolanda.html?pagewanted=1
- http://ssdi.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/ssdi.cgi