Carmine Galante
Encyclopedia
Carmine Galante, also known as "Lilo" and "Cigar" (February 21, 1910 – July 12, 1979) was a mobster and acting boss of the Bonanno crime family
. Galante was rarely seen without a cigar
, leading to the nickname "The Cigar" and "Lilo" (an Italian slang word for cigar).
, Sicily
in 1906. His career in crime started when he was only 11, forming a juvenile street gang on New York's Lower East Side
. He is the father of Bonanno family reputed capo
James Galante
.
As a teenager, Galante became a Mafia associate during the Prohibition
era, becoming a leading enforcer by the end of the decade. In 1930, Galante and other gang members were caught by New York police officer Joseph Meenahan attempting to hijack a truck in Williamsburg
. In the resulting gun battle, Galante wounded Meenahan and a six-year-old girl who happened to be nearby. Both victims survived and Galante was sentenced to 12 and a half years in prison.
In 1939, Galante was released on parole from prison. By 1940, he was carrying out "hits
" for Vito Genovese
, one of the most powerful mobsters in New York. Galante had an underworld reputation for viciousness and was suspected by the NYPD of being a participant or conspirator in over 80 murders. Galante is believed to have murdered the left-wing, anti-Mafia Italian journalist Carlo Tresca
in 1943 on orders from Genovese and as a favor to Benito Mussolini
.
, to caporegime
and then underboss
. He was said to have been loyal to his boss and often spoke of him with great admiration. They also shared a common enemy, Carlo Gambino
. In 1957, Bonanno and Galante made a deal in Palermo
with the Sicilian Mafia to import heroin into America. Galante who was fluent in Italian, French, and Spanish, dealt with Europe
ans for multi-million dollar drug deals.
Galante's rise to power was halted temporarily in 1962 when he was sentenced to 20-years for drug offences in a drug bust engineered by Frank Costello
and other enemies. While he was in prison, psychiatrists diagnosed Galante as having psychopathic personality disorder
. Although Costello had died in 1973 of natural causes, Galante nevertheless ordered the bombing of his hated enemy's tomb, blowing the doors off the mausoleum
. When Bonanno was forced into retirement, Philip "Rusty" Rastelli
took over the Bonanno family. In 1974, Galante was released on parole
at roughly the same time that Rastelli was sent to prison and Galante was able to seize control of the family.
As a former consigliere
and underboss, Galante considered himself the rightful heir to the throne. During the 1970s, Galante allegedly organized the murders of at least eight members of the Gambino family
, with whom he had an intense rivalry, in order to take over a massive drug-trafficking operation. Galante was briefly jailed in 1978 for violating his parole by associating with known criminals, but he was released after being defended by attorney Roy Cohn
.
By this stage, Galante was bald, bespectacled and had a stooped walk. Galante continued his heroin importation business and also imported young Sicilian mobsters
, from his ancestral birthplace of Castellammare del Golfo
, Trapani
, to work directly for him as bodyguard
s, contract killers and drug traffickers. The "Zips
" as they were known, had Galante's total trust and confidence. The New York crime families were alarmed at Galante's brazen attempt at taking over the narcotics market. Galante was also refusing to share any of the profits with the other families. Although Galante was aware that he had many enemies, he said, "No one will ever kill me, they wouldn't dare."
along with Leonard Coppola, a Bonanno capo and restaurant owner/cousin Giuseppe Turano, a family soldier. At 2:45 pm, three ski-masked men came into the restaurant and opened fire with shotguns and handguns. Cigar still clenched in his mouth, Galante was shot dead along with Coppola and Turano.
Galante's bodyguards, Cesare Bonventre
and Baldassare "Baldo" Amato, made no attempt to save their boss, making it clear that they had agreed to betray him. Galante was murdered by Anthony "Bruno" Indelicato, Dominick "Big Trin" Trinchera
, Dominick "Sonny Black" Napolitano and Louis "Louie Gaeta" Giongetti. These men were hired by Alphonse "Sonny Red" Indelicato. Galante was buried at Saint John's Cemetery in Queens.
, Kuklinski claims that he was on the hit team that eliminated Galante. Kuklinski further states that he personally shot Galante with a .357 Magnum. According to the autopsy, Galante was cut down with a shotgun, information that was inconsistent with this claim.
Although never mentioned by name, Galante is referenced twice in the movie Donnie Brasco
, the story of an FBI agent's infiltration of the Bonanno crime family. Galante is first shown as cigar-smoking character referred to as "The boss". Later, Galante's murder is shown on the cover of a newspaper while a character points to it and says, "Can you believe it? The f*ckin' boss gets whacked!"
In the HBO show The Sopranos
, Carmine Galante's assassination is referred to in the episode "A Hit Is a Hit". While Tony
is playing golf with his neighbour Dr. Bruce Cusamano and friends, Cusamano and a friend discuss Galante's hit, with Cusamano describing it as a "fuckin' beautiful hit" after being asked if he had seen the picture of the dead mobster with a cigar hanging from his mouth.
Bonanno crime family
The Bonanno crime family is one of the "Five Families" that dominates organized crime activities in New York City, United States, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the Mafia ....
. Galante was rarely seen without a cigar
Cigar
A cigar is a tightly-rolled bundle of dried and fermented tobacco that is ignited so that its smoke may be drawn into the mouth. Cigar tobacco is grown in significant quantities in Brazil, Cameroon, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Honduras, Indonesia, Mexico, Nicaragua, Philippines, and the Eastern...
, leading to the nickname "The Cigar" and "Lilo" (an Italian slang word for cigar).
Biography
The son of a fisherman, Galante, whose actual birth name was Camillo Galante was born in an East Harlem tenement to Vincenzo "James" Galante and Vincenza Russo, who had immigrated from Castellammare del GolfoCastellammare del Golfo
Castellammare del Golfo is a town and comune in the Trapani Province of Sicily. The name is roughly translated "Sea- Fortress of the Gulf", deriving from the medieval fortress in the harbor...
, Sicily
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,...
in 1906. His career in crime started when he was only 11, forming a juvenile street gang on New York's Lower East Side
Lower East Side
The Lower East Side, LES, is a neighborhood in the southeastern part of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is roughly bounded by Allen Street, East Houston Street, Essex Street, Canal Street, Eldridge Street, East Broadway, and Grand Street....
. He is the father of Bonanno family reputed capo
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...
James Galante
James Galante
James Galante is a convicted felon and associate of the Genovese crime family, owner of the defunct Danbury Trashers minor league hockey team, and ex-CEO of Automated Waste Disposal , a company which holds waste disposal contracts for most of western Connecticut and Westchester and Putnam counties...
.
As a teenager, Galante became a Mafia associate during the Prohibition
Prohibition
Prohibition of alcohol, often referred to simply as prohibition, is the practice of prohibiting the manufacture, transportation, import, export, sale, and consumption of alcohol and alcoholic beverages. The term can also apply to the periods in the histories of the countries during which the...
era, becoming a leading enforcer by the end of the decade. In 1930, Galante and other gang members were caught by New York police officer Joseph Meenahan attempting to hijack a truck in Williamsburg
Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Williamsburg is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, bordering Greenpoint to the north, Bedford-Stuyvesant to the south, Bushwick to the east and the East River to the west. The neighborhood is part of Brooklyn Community Board 1. The neighborhood is served by the NYPD's 90th ...
. In the resulting gun battle, Galante wounded Meenahan and a six-year-old girl who happened to be nearby. Both victims survived and Galante was sentenced to 12 and a half years in prison.
In 1939, Galante was released on parole from prison. By 1940, he was carrying out "hits
Contract killing
Contract killing is a form of murder, in which one party hires another party to kill a target individual or group of people. It involves an illegal agreement between two parties in which one party agrees to kill the target in exchange for consideration, monetary, or otherwise. The hiring party may...
" for 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...
, one of the most powerful mobsters in New York. Galante had an underworld reputation for viciousness and was suspected by the NYPD of being a participant or conspirator in over 80 murders. Galante is believed to have murdered the left-wing, anti-Mafia Italian journalist Carlo Tresca
Carlo Tresca
Carlo Tresca was an Italian-born American newspaper editor, orator, and labor organizer who was a leader of the Industrial Workers of the World during the decade of the 1910s. Tresca is remembered as a leading public opponent of fascism, stalinism, and Mafia infiltration of the trade union movement...
in 1943 on orders from Genovese and as a favor to Benito Mussolini
Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism....
.
Underboss
Galante went from being chauffeur of Bonanno family boss, Joseph BonannoJoseph Bonanno
Joseph Charles Bonanno, Sr. was a Sicilian-born American mafioso who became the boss of the Bonanno crime family. He was nicknamed "Joe Bananas," a name he despised.-Early life:...
, to caporegime
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...
and then 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...
. He was said to have been loyal to his boss and often spoke of him with great admiration. They also shared a common enemy, Carlo Gambino
Carlo Gambino
"Don" Carlo Gambino, was a Sicilian mafioso who became Boss of the Gambino crime family, that still bears his name today. After the 1957 Apalachin Convention he unexpectedly seized control of the Commission of the American Mafia. Gambino was known for being low-key and secretive...
. In 1957, Bonanno and Galante made a deal in Palermo
Palermo
Palermo is a city in Southern Italy, the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Province of Palermo. The city is noted for its history, culture, architecture and gastronomy, playing an important role throughout much of its existence; it is over 2,700 years old...
with the Sicilian Mafia to import heroin into America. Galante who was fluent in Italian, French, and Spanish, dealt with Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
ans for multi-million dollar drug deals.
Galante's rise to power was halted temporarily in 1962 when he was sentenced to 20-years for drug offences in a drug bust engineered by 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...
and other enemies. While he was in prison, psychiatrists diagnosed Galante as having psychopathic personality disorder
Psychopathy
Psychopathy is a mental disorder characterized primarily by a lack of empathy and remorse, shallow emotions, egocentricity, and deceptiveness. Psychopaths are highly prone to antisocial behavior and abusive treatment of others, and are very disproportionately responsible for violent crime...
. Although Costello had died in 1973 of natural causes, Galante nevertheless ordered the bombing of his hated enemy's tomb, blowing the doors off the mausoleum
Mausoleum
A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the interment space or burial chamber of a deceased person or persons. A monument without the interment is a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be considered a type of tomb or the tomb may be considered to be within the...
. When Bonanno was forced into retirement, Philip "Rusty" Rastelli
Philip Rastelli
Phillip "Rusty" Rastelli was a New York mobster and former boss of the Bonanno crime family.-Biography:...
took over the Bonanno family. In 1974, Galante was released on 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...
at roughly the same time that Rastelli was sent to prison and Galante was able to seize control of the family.
As a former 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...
and underboss, Galante considered himself the rightful heir to the throne. During the 1970s, Galante allegedly organized the murders of at least eight members of the Gambino 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...
, with whom he had an intense rivalry, in order to take over a massive drug-trafficking operation. Galante was briefly jailed in 1978 for violating his parole by associating with known criminals, but he was released after being defended by attorney Roy Cohn
Roy Cohn
Roy Marcus Cohn was an American attorney who became famous during Senator Joseph McCarthy's investigations into Communist activity in the United States during the Second Red Scare. Cohn gained special prominence during the Army–McCarthy hearings. He was also an important member of the U.S...
.
By this stage, Galante was bald, bespectacled and had a stooped walk. Galante continued his heroin importation business and also imported young Sicilian mobsters
Zips
Zips is a slang term often used as a derogatory slur by Italian American and Sicilian American mobsters in reference to newer immigrant Sicilian and Italian mafiosi...
, from his ancestral birthplace of Castellammare del Golfo
Castellammare del Golfo
Castellammare del Golfo is a town and comune in the Trapani Province of Sicily. The name is roughly translated "Sea- Fortress of the Gulf", deriving from the medieval fortress in the harbor...
, Trapani
Trapani
Trapani is a city and comune on the west coast of Sicily in Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Trapani. Founded by Elymians, the city is still an important fishing port and the main gateway to the nearby Egadi Islands.-History:...
, to work directly for him as bodyguard
Bodyguard
A bodyguard is a type of security operative or government agent who protects a person—usually a famous, wealthy, or politically important figure—from assault, kidnapping, assassination, stalking, loss of confidential information, terrorist attack or other threats.Most important public figures such...
s, contract killers and drug traffickers. The "Zips
Zips
Zips is a slang term often used as a derogatory slur by Italian American and Sicilian American mobsters in reference to newer immigrant Sicilian and Italian mafiosi...
" as they were known, had Galante's total trust and confidence. The New York crime families were alarmed at Galante's brazen attempt at taking over the narcotics market. Galante was also refusing to share any of the profits with the other families. Although Galante was aware that he had many enemies, he said, "No one will ever kill me, they wouldn't dare."
Death
On July 12, 1979, Carmine Galante was assassinated just as he finished eating lunch at Joe and Mary's Italian-American Restaurant in Bushwick, BrooklynBrooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
along with Leonard Coppola, a Bonanno capo and restaurant owner/cousin Giuseppe Turano, a family soldier. At 2:45 pm, three ski-masked men came into the restaurant and opened fire with shotguns and handguns. Cigar still clenched in his mouth, Galante was shot dead along with Coppola and Turano.
Galante's bodyguards, Cesare Bonventre
Cesare Bonventre
Cesare "The Tall Guy" Bonventre was a Sicilian mobster and caporegime for the New York Bonanno crime family.-Early life:...
and Baldassare "Baldo" Amato, made no attempt to save their boss, making it clear that they had agreed to betray him. Galante was murdered by Anthony "Bruno" Indelicato, Dominick "Big Trin" Trinchera
Dominick Trinchera
Dominick "Big Trin" Trinchera was a Bonanno crime family capo who was murdered with Alphonse Indelicato and Phillip Giaccone for planning the overthrow of aspiring Bonanno boss Phillip Rastelli.-Biography:Born in Rockland, New York, Trinchera was the son of an immigrant from Rome, Italy and an...
, Dominick "Sonny Black" Napolitano and Louis "Louie Gaeta" Giongetti. These men were hired by Alphonse "Sonny Red" Indelicato. Galante was buried at Saint John's Cemetery in Queens.
Popular culture
In Philip Carlo's book Iceman, which tells the story of contract killer Richard KuklinskiRichard Kuklinski
Richard Leonard "The Iceman" Kuklinski was an American contract killer. The 6'5" , 300 pound Kuklinski worked for Newark's DeCavalcante crime family and New York City's Five Families. He claimed to have murdered over 250 men between 1948 and 1986...
, Kuklinski claims that he was on the hit team that eliminated Galante. Kuklinski further states that he personally shot Galante with a .357 Magnum. According to the autopsy, Galante was cut down with a shotgun, information that was inconsistent with this claim.
Although never mentioned by name, Galante is referenced twice in the movie Donnie Brasco
Donnie Brasco (film)
Donnie Brasco is a 1997 crime drama film directed by Mike Newell, starring Al Pacino, Johnny Depp and Michael Madsen. It is loosely based on the real-life events of Joseph D. Pistone, an FBI agent who infiltrated the Bonanno crime family, one of the Mafia's Five Families based in New York City...
, the story of an FBI agent's infiltration of the Bonanno crime family. Galante is first shown as cigar-smoking character referred to as "The boss". Later, Galante's murder is shown on the cover of a newspaper while a character points to it and says, "Can you believe it? The f*ckin' boss gets whacked!"
In the HBO show 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...
, Carmine Galante's assassination is referred to in the episode "A Hit Is a Hit". While Tony
Tony Soprano
Anthony John "Tony" Soprano, Sr. is an Italian-American fictional character and the protagonist on the HBO television drama series The Sopranos, on which he is portrayed by James Gandolfini. The character was conceived by The Sopranos creator and show runner David Chase, who was also largely...
is playing golf with his neighbour Dr. Bruce Cusamano and friends, Cusamano and a friend discuss Galante's hit, with Cusamano describing it as a "fuckin' beautiful hit" after being asked if he had seen the picture of the dead mobster with a cigar hanging from his mouth.
External links
- FBI files on Galante
- Seize the Night: Carmine Galante
- Carmine "Lilo" Galante at Find A GraveFind A GraveFind a Grave is a commercial website providing free access and input to an online database of cemetery records. It was founded in 1998 as a DBA and incorporated in 2000.-History:...