Costabile Farace
Encyclopedia
Costabile "Gus" Farace, Jr. (June 21, 1960 Bushwick, Brooklyn
- November 17, 1989 Bensonhurst, Brooklyn
) was a low-level criminal with the Bonanno crime family
who murdered a teenage male prostitute and a federal Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) agent in New York City.
, and Mary Granato. At the age of five they moved from Bushwick to Tottenville, Staten Island
. He used several dates of birth, August 20, 1959, January 1, 1960, June 20, 1960 and June 21, 1960. He stood at 6'3 and weighed 220 pounds with a tattoo of a girl on his lower calf, another girl tattoo on his right leg and a butterfly on his stomach. His Later that year, Farace's family moved to Prince's Bay, Staten Island
. His father Gus opened a small grocery store, G&S in the island's Great Kills
neighborhood (the store closed in 1983) on Hylan Boulevard in Tottenville, Staten Island
. Constabile Sr. and his brother Frank were fringe members of a Colombo crime family
illegal gambling ring. Farace was a paternal first cousin of Dominick Farace, the son of Frank Farace and maternal cousin of Mark Granato. He also was a cousin to Michael A Farace, and Michael J Farace. He attended Totten Intermediate School 34 in Tottenville where he was considered the class flirt in grade eight. As a child he was considered the class clown, a poor student, popular and gregarious. He played Peewee football in Wolfe's Pond Park. In 1975 he entered Tottenville High School and joined a street gang of adolescent delinquents called 'the Bay Boys' who liked to intimidate, pick fights and break heads. In January 1977 he was pulled over for reckless driving and after being searched by the police they found a gun on his person. Three weeks later, he was arrested for forgery, but he avoided a jail sentence because he was a youth.
section of Manhattan when the two boys allegedly propositioned them. Enraged, Farace and his friends forced the two teenagers into their car and drove them to the beach at Wolfe's Pond Park
in New York. Once there, Farace forced one of the boys to commit an oral sex
act on him. The men beat the boys using driftwood and other objects, then left them for dead. The 17-year-old, Steven Charles of Newark, New Jersey
, died on the beach. The 16-year-old, Thomas Moore of Brooklyn, was critically injured, but dove into the pond and managed to elude his attackers. Moore then walked to a nearby residence for assistance. Later on October 8, the police arrested Farace, DeLicio, and Spoto. Four days later, Moore identified Farace and the other suspects from a police lineup
.
On December 10, 1979, Farace pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter
. The state had accepted his manslaughter plea rather than go through the uncertainty and expense of a capital murder trial. Farace was sentenced to 7 to 21 years in prison.
on June 3, 1988, Farace soon got into trouble again. He began selling small amounts of cocaine
and marijuana
. In late February 1989, Farace set up a cocaine deal with Everett Hatcher, an undercover federal Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) agent.. At approximately 10:00 p.m. on the evening of February 28, 1989, Farace was to meet Hatcher at a remote overpass
on the West Shore Expressway in the Rossville
section of Staten Island
to complete the deal. Hatcher had met Farace in prison and since his release had purchased cocaine from him on several occasions. During the course of the drug transaction, Hatcher got separated from the surveillance team. When the team finally found Hatcher, he had been shot through the head three times in his unmarked Buick Regal
. The window was rolled down and the Regal's engine was on, but Hatcher's foot was on the brake.
Police theorized that Farace shot Hatcher from a van as it passed Hatcher's car. The van was found abandoned three days later on a street about two miles northeast of the murder scene. This location was less than half a mile from the Arthur Kill Correctional Facility
, where Farace had spent the last two years of his manslaughter sentence. It is not known why Farace killed Hatcher; it may have been because Hatcher was African-American and Farace was a racist. Another theory is that Farace had become suspicious of Hatcher from rumors he had heard.
since 1972. He was also believed to have been the first law-enforcement officer killed in the line of duty on Staten Island.
After Hatcher's slaying, a nationwide manhunt
for Farace commenced. The Federal Bureau of Investigation
placed Farace on the Ten Most Wanted
list. Local and federal law enforcement increased their surveillance of Cosa Nostra members, stopping them to take photographs and ask questions. As pressure increased on the Bonanno family, its leadership decided to kill Farace.
Following the Hatcher murder, Gregory Scarpa, Sr. told David Krajcek of the Daily News that the Farace and Scarpa families were no longer close. No one from the Scarpa family had gone to Farace's wedding a few months earlier to Toni Acierno. Scarpa feared that a strong connection would send his convicted drug dealer son, Gregory Jr., to a distant federal prison.
Meanwhile, Farace was hiding with friends and criminal associates around the Greater New York area. He first stayed with Margaret Scarpa, an old girlfriend who was Gerard Chilli's daughter. Soon after Farace had departed, the police raided Scarpa's house and arrested her. At this point, an aggravated Chili wanted Ferace killed. A new mob associate with the Lucchese family, John Petrucelli, was helping Farace find places to hide. Chili met with Petrucelli and Lucchese capo Mike Salerno to discuss the situation. Chili demanded that Petrucelli kill Farace, but Petrucelli refused. Two months later, Petrucelli was found dead.
emergency call about a car parked at 1814 81st Street in the Bensonhurst section of Brooklyn
. The car contained one male occupant, with another male laying face down on the sidewalk, both of whom had just been shot (the call came in as "shots fired", no other specifics).
Police rushed to the scene and found the two men, one dead and the other seriouly wounded. The dead man was identified as Costabile Farace. He had gunshot wounds to the head, neck, back and leg. According to witnesses, a van had driven alongside Farace's car and shot the two men nine times. This was the same method that Farace had used to kill Agent Hatcher. The survivor in the car was identified as Joseph Sclafani, a member of Farace's organization. Sclafani said he fired two shots at the assailants.
In a different version of this story, per the responding officer, Farace was still breathing when police arrived. They placed him in a trauma suite, but he died enroute to the hospital. Sclafani was outside of the vehicle, having been shot out of his shoes. Officers handcuffed him on the scene for weapons possession.
, the same area where Hatcher was murdered.
On September 17, 1999, then-Bonanno mobsters James Galione and Mario Gallo admitted in court to murdering Farace.
as Farace. The movie alleged that the mob was trying to kill Farace before the FBI could apprehend him.
Bushwick, Brooklyn
Bushwick is a neighborhood in the northern part of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood, formerly Brooklyn's 18th Ward, is now part of Brooklyn Community Board 4...
- November 17, 1989 Bensonhurst, Brooklyn
Bensonhurst, Brooklyn
Bensonhurst is a neighborhood located in the southwestern part of the New York City borough of Brooklyn.-Geography:Sometimes erroneously thought to include all or parts of such neighborhoods as Bath Beach, Dyker Heights, and Borough Park, or to be defined by the streets where the concentration of...
) was a low-level criminal with the Bonanno crime family
Bonanno crime family
The Bonanno crime family is one of the "Five Families" that dominates organized crime activities in New York City, United States, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the Mafia ....
who murdered a teenage male prostitute and a federal Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) agent in New York City.
Early years
Farace was born in 1960 in Bushwick to Costabile Farace Sr. a first-generation emigrant from Canastra, ItalyItaly
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 Mary Granato. At the age of five they moved from Bushwick to Tottenville, Staten Island
Tottenville, Staten Island
Tottenville with an area of approx. , is the southernmost neighborhood of Staten Island, New York City and New York State. Originally named Bentley Manor by one of its first settlers, Captain Christopher Billop , after a small ship he owned named the Bentley, the district was renamed Tottenville in...
. He used several dates of birth, August 20, 1959, January 1, 1960, June 20, 1960 and June 21, 1960. He stood at 6'3 and weighed 220 pounds with a tattoo of a girl on his lower calf, another girl tattoo on his right leg and a butterfly on his stomach. His Later that year, Farace's family moved to Prince's Bay, Staten Island
Prince's Bay, Staten Island
Prince's Bay is the name of a neighborhood located on the South Shore of New York City's borough of Staten Island and of an arm of Raritan Bay , on which the eastern shoreline of the community is situated...
. His father Gus opened a small grocery store, G&S in the island's Great Kills
Great Kills, Staten Island
Great Kills is a neighborhood within New York City's borough of Staten Island. It is located on the island's South Shore, and according to many local geographers, it is the South Shore's northernmost community...
neighborhood (the store closed in 1983) on Hylan Boulevard in Tottenville, Staten Island
Tottenville, Staten Island
Tottenville with an area of approx. , is the southernmost neighborhood of Staten Island, New York City and New York State. Originally named Bentley Manor by one of its first settlers, Captain Christopher Billop , after a small ship he owned named the Bentley, the district was renamed Tottenville in...
. Constabile Sr. and his brother Frank were fringe members of a Colombo crime family
Colombo crime family
The Colombo crime family is the youngest of the "Five Families" that dominates organized crime activities in New York City, United States, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the Mafia ....
illegal gambling ring. Farace was a paternal first cousin of Dominick Farace, the son of Frank Farace and maternal cousin of Mark Granato. He also was a cousin to Michael A Farace, and Michael J Farace. He attended Totten Intermediate School 34 in Tottenville where he was considered the class flirt in grade eight. As a child he was considered the class clown, a poor student, popular and gregarious. He played Peewee football in Wolfe's Pond Park. In 1975 he entered Tottenville High School and joined a street gang of adolescent delinquents called 'the Bay Boys' who liked to intimidate, pick fights and break heads. In January 1977 he was pulled over for reckless driving and after being searched by the police they found a gun on his person. Three weeks later, he was arrested for forgery, but he avoided a jail sentence because he was a youth.
Hate crime in Greenwich Village
On October 8, 1979, Farace murdered a 17 year-old boy and brutally beat his 16 year-old companion. Farace and some friends were on a street in the Greenwich VillageGreenwich 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...
section of Manhattan when the two boys allegedly propositioned them. Enraged, Farace and his friends forced the two teenagers into their car and drove them to the beach at Wolfe's Pond Park
Wolfe's Pond Park
Wolfe's Pond Park is a large public park located on the South Shore of Staten Island. It is bounded on the north by the Staten Island Railway, on the west by Holten Avenue, on the south by Raritan Bay, and on the east by Chisolm Street, Luten Avenue, and Cornelia Avenue, which is also the main...
in New York. Once there, Farace forced one of the boys to commit an oral sex
Oral sex
Oral sex is sexual activity involving the stimulation of the genitalia of a sex partner by the use of the mouth, tongue, teeth or throat. Cunnilingus refers to oral sex performed on females while fellatio refer to oral sex performed on males. Anilingus refers to oral stimulation of a person's anus...
act on him. The men beat the boys using driftwood and other objects, then left them for dead. The 17-year-old, Steven Charles of Newark, New Jersey
Newark, New Jersey
Newark is the largest city in the American state of New Jersey, and the seat of Essex County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Newark had a population of 277,140, maintaining its status as the largest municipality in New Jersey. It is the 68th largest city in the U.S...
, died on the beach. The 16-year-old, Thomas Moore of Brooklyn, was critically injured, but dove into the pond and managed to elude his attackers. Moore then walked to a nearby residence for assistance. Later on October 8, the police arrested Farace, DeLicio, and Spoto. Four days later, Moore identified Farace and the other suspects from a police lineup
Police lineup
A police lineup or identity parade is a process by which a crime victim or witness's putative identification of a suspect is confirmed to a level that can count as evidence at trial....
.
On December 10, 1979, Farace pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter
Manslaughter
Manslaughter is a legal term for the killing of a human being, in a manner considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is said to have first been made by the Ancient Athenian lawmaker Dracon in the 7th century BC.The law generally differentiates...
. The state had accepted his manslaughter plea rather than go through the uncertainty and expense of a capital murder trial. Farace was sentenced to 7 to 21 years in prison.
Relationship with organized crime
It was in prison that Farace first met Gerald Chilli Sr. Chilli had unofficially "adopted" Farace who at that point was in his late twenties as a protegé and stayed in contact when they got out of prison. Farace used his contacts with old friends, and new ones he met in prison, to start a Marijuana selling business, which soon expanded into other drugs. In June 1985, Farace was released from prison. By June 3, 1988, Farace had become partners with his friend Gregory Scarpa Jr. who worked out of his criminal headquarters at Wimpy Boys Athletic Club. His father Gregory Scarpa, Sr. was a secret FBI informer. Farace married Antoinette Acierno, a sister of a criminal associate.Murder of DEA Agent Hatcher
After being released on paroleParole
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...
on June 3, 1988, Farace soon got into trouble again. He began selling small amounts of cocaine
Cocaine
Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...
and marijuana
Cannabis (drug)
Cannabis, also known as marijuana among many other names, refers to any number of preparations of the Cannabis plant intended for use as a psychoactive drug or for medicinal purposes. The English term marijuana comes from the Mexican Spanish word marihuana...
. In late February 1989, Farace set up a cocaine deal with Everett Hatcher, an undercover federal Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) agent.. At approximately 10:00 p.m. on the evening of February 28, 1989, Farace was to meet Hatcher at a remote overpass
Overpass
An overpass is a bridge, road, railway or similar structure that crosses over another road or railway...
on the West Shore Expressway in the Rossville
Rossville, Staten Island
Rossville is the name of a neighborhood of Staten Island, New York, located to the west of Prince's Bay, on the island's South Shore.-Early History of the Area:...
section of Staten Island
Staten Island
Staten Island is a borough of New York City, New York, United States, located in the southwest part of the city. Staten Island is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull, and from the rest of New York by New York Bay...
to complete the deal. Hatcher had met Farace in prison and since his release had purchased cocaine from him on several occasions. During the course of the drug transaction, Hatcher got separated from the surveillance team. When the team finally found Hatcher, he had been shot through the head three times in his unmarked Buick Regal
Buick Regal
The Buick Regal is a mid-size car introduced by General Motors for the 1973 model year. North American production ended in 2004 and began again in 2011. For the 2011 model year, Buick re-introduced the Regal to the North American market, positioned as an upscale sport sedan...
. The window was rolled down and the Regal's engine was on, but Hatcher's foot was on the brake.
Police theorized that Farace shot Hatcher from a van as it passed Hatcher's car. The van was found abandoned three days later on a street about two miles northeast of the murder scene. This location was less than half a mile from the Arthur Kill Correctional Facility
Arthur Kill Correctional Facility
Arthur Kill Correctional Facility is a medium security correctional facility opened in 1976 operated by the New York State Department of Correctional Services. Arthur Kill is located in New York City in the Borough of Staten Island...
, where Farace had spent the last two years of his manslaughter sentence. It is not known why Farace killed Hatcher; it may have been because Hatcher was African-American and Farace was a racist. Another theory is that Farace had become suspicious of Hatcher from rumors he had heard.
Manhunt
Hatcher's death was the first murder of a DEA agent in New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
since 1972. He was also believed to have been the first law-enforcement officer killed in the line of duty on Staten Island.
After Hatcher's slaying, a nationwide manhunt
Manhunt (law enforcement)
In law enforcement, a manhunt is a search for a dangerous fugitive involving the use of all available police units and technology and sometimes help from the public....
for Farace commenced. The Federal Bureau of Investigation
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
placed Farace on the Ten Most Wanted
FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives
The FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list arose from a conversation held in late 1949 between J. Edgar Hoover, Director of the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation, and William Kinsey Hutchinson, International News Service Editor-in-Chief, who were discussing ways to promote capture of the...
list. Local and federal law enforcement increased their surveillance of Cosa Nostra members, stopping them to take photographs and ask questions. As pressure increased on the Bonanno family, its leadership decided to kill Farace.
Following the Hatcher murder, Gregory Scarpa, Sr. told David Krajcek of the Daily News that the Farace and Scarpa families were no longer close. No one from the Scarpa family had gone to Farace's wedding a few months earlier to Toni Acierno. Scarpa feared that a strong connection would send his convicted drug dealer son, Gregory Jr., to a distant federal prison.
Meanwhile, Farace was hiding with friends and criminal associates around the Greater New York area. He first stayed with Margaret Scarpa, an old girlfriend who was Gerard Chilli's daughter. Soon after Farace had departed, the police raided Scarpa's house and arrested her. At this point, an aggravated Chili wanted Ferace killed. A new mob associate with the Lucchese family, John Petrucelli, was helping Farace find places to hide. Chili met with Petrucelli and Lucchese capo Mike Salerno to discuss the situation. Chili demanded that Petrucelli kill Farace, but Petrucelli refused. Two months later, Petrucelli was found dead.
Shooting and death
A few months after the Hatcher murder, the manhunt for Farace would be over. At 11:08 p.m. on November 17, 1989, police dispatchers received a 9-1-19-1-1
9-1-1 is the emergency telephone number for the North American Numbering Plan .It is one of eight N11 codes.The use of this number is for emergency circumstances only, and to use it for any other purpose can be a crime.-History:In the earliest days of telephone technology, prior to the...
emergency call about a car parked at 1814 81st Street in the Bensonhurst section of Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
. The car contained one male occupant, with another male laying face down on the sidewalk, both of whom had just been shot (the call came in as "shots fired", no other specifics).
Police rushed to the scene and found the two men, one dead and the other seriouly wounded. The dead man was identified as Costabile Farace. He had gunshot wounds to the head, neck, back and leg. According to witnesses, a van had driven alongside Farace's car and shot the two men nine times. This was the same method that Farace had used to kill Agent Hatcher. The survivor in the car was identified as Joseph Sclafani, a member of Farace's organization. Sclafani said he fired two shots at the assailants.
In a different version of this story, per the responding officer, Farace was still breathing when police arrived. They placed him in a trauma suite, but he died enroute to the hospital. Sclafani was outside of the vehicle, having been shot out of his shoes. Officers handcuffed him on the scene for weapons possession.
Aftermath
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York refused to grant Farace a public funeral mass, citing his notorious life and death. However, the Archdiocese did permit his remains to be buried in the church-owned Cemetery of the Resurrection in Pleasant Plains, Staten IslandPleasant Plains, Staten Island
Pleasant Plains is a neighborhood located on Staten Island, one of the five boroughs of New York City, New York, the most populous city in the United States....
, the same area where Hatcher was murdered.
On September 17, 1999, then-Bonanno mobsters James Galione and Mario Gallo admitted in court to murdering Farace.
In popular culture
A 1991 made-for-TV movie, "Dead or Alive: The Race for Gus Farace" starred Tony DanzaTony Danza
Tony Danza is an American actor best known for starring on the TV series Taxi and Who's the Boss?, for which he was nominated for an Emmy Award and four Golden Globe Awards...
as Farace. The movie alleged that the mob was trying to kill Farace before the FBI could apprehend him.
Further reading
- Raab, Selwyn. Five Families: The Rise, Decline, and Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empires. New York: St. Martin's Press, 2005. ISBN 0-312-30094-8
- Robert M. Stutman, Richard Esposito. Dead on Delivery: Inside the Drug Wars, Straight from the Street. Grand Central Publishing, May 1992. ISBN 9780446515580