Lucchese crime family
Encyclopedia
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
(or Cosa Nostra). The family originated in the early 1920s with Gaetano "Tommy" Reina
serving as boss up until his murder in 1930. It was taken over by Gaetano "Tommy" Gagliano
during the Castellammarese War
, and led by him until his death in 1951. The family under Gagliano was peaceful and low key, concentrating their criminal actives to the Bronx, Manhattan and New Jersey. The next boss was Gaetano "Tommy" Lucchese
, who turned the family around to became one of the most powerful families to sit on the Commission
. Lucchese teamed up with Gambino family boss Carlo Gambino
to control organized crime in New York City. When Lucchese died of natural causes in 1967, Carmine Tramunti
controlled the family for a brief time; he was arrested in 1973. Anthony "Tony Ducks" Corallo
then gained control of the family. Corallo was very secretive and soon became one of the most powerful members of the Commission. He was arrested and tried in the famous Commission case
of 1986.
Corallo decided to put Vittorio "Vic" Amuso
and Anthony Casso
in charge of the family. Casso was soon promoted to underboss
, and the family barely survived his reign. In the early 1990s, Casso who was fearing arrest kept ordering those he felt unloyal to be murdered. The former street boss for Casso, Alphonse "Little Al" D'Arco
, feared for his own life and turned informant
. This led to the arrest of the entire Lucchese family hierarchy, with Casso also becoming an informant. Today the family is still controlled by Vic Amuso who is serving life in prison.
based in East Harlem
and the Bronx. Gaetano "Tommy" Reina
would leave the Morello's around the time of World War I
and created his own family based in East Harlem and the Bronx. As the family's leader, Reina avoided the Mafia-Cammora War
for control over New York City. He instead focused on controlling the home ice distribution business throughout New York City
. During the early 1920s, Reina became a powerful prohibition era boss and aligned himself with Joseph Masseria, the most powerful Italian-American crime boss in New York. Masseria soon became involved in the Castellammarese War
, a vicious gang war with rival Sicilian boss Salvatore Maranzano
. At this point, Masseria started demanding a share of Reina's criminal profits, prompting Reina to consider changing allegiance to Maranzano. When Masseria learned of Reina's possible betrayal, he plotted with Reina lieutenant Tommy Gagliano
to kill him. On February 26, 1930, gunman Vito Genovese
murdered Reina outside his aunt's apartment. With Reina dead, Masseria bypassed Gagliano, who expected to take control of the Reina gang, and installed his underling Joseph "Fat Joe" Pinzolo
as boss. Furious with this betrayal, Gagliano and Tommy Lucchese
secretly defected to Maranzano. In September 1930, Lucchese lured Pinzolo to a Manhattan office building, where Pinzolo was murdered.
won the Castellammarese War. He then outlined a peace plan to all the Sicilian and Italian Mafia leaders in the United States. There would be 24 organizations (to be known as "families") throughout the country who would elect their own bosses. Maranzano also reorganized all the Italian-American gangs in New York City into five New York families to be headed by Maranzano, Lucky Luciano
, Vincent Mangano
, Tommy Gagliano and Joseph Profaci. Gagliano became the boss of the old Reina gang, to be later known as the Lucchese family, with Lucchese as his underboss and Stefano Rondelli as his consigliere. The final element of Maranzano's peace plan was that he would become the supreme leader of all the families, the Boss of all Bosses
. However, Luciano and other mob members did not want another top leader. When Maranzano learned about Luciano's disaffection, he hired a gunman to kill him. However, in September 1931 Luciano struck first. Several Jewish assassins provided by Luciano associate Meyer Lansky
murdered Maranzano in his office. Luciano now became the most powerful mobster in New York.
Luciano kept the family structure as created by Maranzano, but removed the Boss of Bosses in favor of a ruling body, The Commission
. The Commission's responsibility was to regulate the families' affairs and resolve all differences between the families. The first Commission members included Luciano family
boss Luciano as head of the Commission, Mangano family
boss Vincent Mangano
, Gagliano family boss Tommy Gagliano, Profaci family
boss Joseph Profaci, Chicago Outfit
boss Al "Scarface" Capone
, and Maranzano family
boss Joseph Bonanno
. Although the Commission was technically a democratic institution, it was actually controlled by Luciano and his allies.
During the 1930s and 1940s, Gaetano "Tommy" Gagliano
and Lucchese led their family into profitable areas of the trucking and clothing industries. When Luciano was sent to prison for pandering in 1936, a rival alliance took control of the Commission. The alliance of Mangano, Bonanno, Buffalo crime family boss Stefano Magaddino
, and Profaci used their power to control organized crime in America. Understanding his vulnerability, Gagliano was careful to avoid opposing this new alliance. Gagliano was a quiet man who avoided the media and stayed off the streets. He preferred to pass his orders to the family though Lucchese and a few other close allies. In contrast, Lucchese was the public face of the family who carried out Gagliano's orders. In 1946, Lucchese attended the Cosa Nostra Havana Conference
in Cuba
on behalf of Gagliano. Gagliano remained the hidden boss of the family until his death in 1951 or 1953.
as his Consigliere and Stefano LaSalle as his Underboss. Lucchese continued with Gagliano's policies, making the now Lucchese family one of the most profitable in New York. Lucchese established control over Teamsters
union locals, workers' co-operatives and trade associations, and rackets at the new Idlewild Airport. Lucchese also expanded family rackets in Manhattan's Garment District
and in related trucking industry around New York City. Lucchese built close relations with many powerful New York politicians, including Mayors William O'Dwyer
and Vincent Impellitteri and members of the judiciary, who aided the family on numerous occasions. Throughout his regime, Lucchese kept a low profile for which he became lauded in Mafia circles. Remembering how the Mustache Petes treated their soldati like mere commodities, he saw to it that his men were well taken care of.
When Lucchese became boss, he helped Vito Genovese
and Carlo Gambino
in their fights to take control of their families. By 1962, Lucchese and Gambino controlled the Commission. Together they backed the Gallo crew from the rival Profaci family in its war with their boss Joe Profaci. Gambino and Lucchese saw the war as a way to take over rackets from the distracted Profaci's. After uncovering a plot by Joe Bonanno to assassinate them, Lucchese and Gambino used the Commission to strip Bonanno of his role as boss. This power play started a war within the Bonanno family and served to strengthen both the Lucchese and Gambino families.
Lucchese led a quiet, stable life until his death from a brain tumor on July 13, 1967. At the time of his death, he had not spent a day in jail in 44 years. Lucchese left his family in a very powerful position in New York City. The Lucchese family had a stronghold in East Harlem, the Bronx and consisted of about 200 made members. After Lucchese's death, the Commission made Carmine Tramunti
acting boss until Lucchese's chosen successor, Anthony Corallo
, was released from prison.
was almost 70 years old and in ill health. With boss-in-waiting Anthony "Tony Ducks" Corallo in prison, Tramunti was expected to hold power until Corallo's release. Tramunti faced a number of criminal charges during his time as acting boss and was eventually convicted of financing a large heroin smuggling operation, the infamous French Connection
. This scheme was responsible for distributing millions of dollars in heroin along the East Coast during the early seventies.
Before the French Connection trail, the seized heroin was stored in the NYPD property/evidence storage room pending trial. In a brazen scheme, criminals stole hundreds of kilograms of heroin worth $70 million from the room and replaced them with bags of flour. Officers discovered the theft when they noticed insects eating the so-called heroin. The scope and depth of this scheme is still unknown, but officials suspect the thieves had assistance from corrupt NYPD officers Certain plotters received jail sentences, including Papa (he was later assassinated in the Atlanta Federal Penitentiary in Atlanta, Georgia). In 1974, after Tramunti's incarceration, Corallo finally took charge of the family.
finally took control of the Lucchese family. Corallo came from the Queens
faction of the family. Known as "Tony Ducks" from his ease at 'ducking' criminal convictions, Corallo was a Boss squarely in the Tommy Lucchese mold. Corallo had been heavily involved in labor racketeering and worked closely with Jimmy Hoffa
, the Teamsters president, during the 1940s and 1950s. Corallo also enjoyed close ties to the Painters and Decorators Union', the Conduit Workers Union, and the United Textile Workers Union. Corrallo appointed Salvatore "Tom Mix" Santoro
as the Underboss and supervisor of all labor and construction racketeering operations in New York, and Christopher "Christie Tick" Furnari
as the reputed Consigliere
. The family prospered under Corallo's leadership, particularly in narcotics trafficking, labor racketeering, and major illegal gambling.
Corallo never discussed business during sit-downs, fearing that the FBI was monitoring the conversations. Instead, he used the car phone in the Jaguar
owned by his bodyguard and chauffeur's. Corallo was driven around New York while on the phone discussing business. Salvatore "Sal" Avellino
and Aniello "Neil" Migliore
shifted as Corallo's chauffeurs during the 1970s and 1980s.
Corallo, a huge fan of the New Jersey
faction of the family, reputedly inducted and promoted Anthony "Tumac" Accetturo
and Michael "Mad Dog" Taccetta
into the organization and put them in charge of the Jersey Crew
, which reportedly controlled most of the loansharking and illegal gambling operations in Newark, New Jersey
at the time.
In the early 1980s, the Federal Bureau of Investigation
(FBI) finally managed to plant a bug in the Jaguar. The FBI recorded Corallo speaking at great length about mob affairs, including illegal gambling, labor racketeering, drug trafficking, and murder. Corallo was arrested and put on trial along with all the heads of the Five Families at the time. This trial became legendary as the Mafia Commission Trial
. Corallo was convicted on numerous charges and January 13, 1987 was sentenced to 100 years in prison, where he died in 2000.
To succeed him as boss, Corallo originally chose acting boss Anthony "Buddy" Luongo. However, Luongo disappeared in 1986. Corallo's ultimate choice was Vittorio "Vic" Amuso
. Allegedly both Amuso and Anthony "Gaspipe" Casso
were candidates for the job. Evidence suggests that Corallo wanted Casso, but Casso convinced him to select Amuso instead. After becoming boss, Amuso made Casso his underboss, allowing him to exert great influence over family decisions.
During the late 1980s, the Lucchese family underwent a period of great turmoil. Vittorio "Vic" Amuso
and his fierce underboss, Anthony "Gaspipe" Casso
, instituted one of the most violent reigns in American Mafia history. Both men were heavily involved in labor racketeering, extortion, drug trafficking and committed many murders. Amuso and Casso were strong rivals of Gambino crime family
boss John Gotti
and strong allies of Genovese crime family
boss Vincent "Chin" Gigante
. Angry over Gotti's unauthorized murder of Gambino boss Paul Castellano
, Amuso, Casso, and Gigante conspired to murder Gotti. On April 13, 1986 a car-bombing killed Gambino underboss Frank DeCicco
, but missed Gotti. This assassination attempt sparked a long and confusing 'tension' between these three crime families with many deaths reported on all sides.
During the late 1980s, Amuso began demanding 50% of the profits generated by the Jersey Crew. New Jersey leaders Anthony Accetturo and Michael Taccetta refused Amuso's demand. In retaliation, Amuso ordered the entire Jersey Crew killed—the now-infamous "whack Jersey" order. He summoned them to a meeting in Brooklyn
. Fearful for their lives, all the Jersey crew members skipped the meeting and went into hiding.
Taccetta and Accetturo were later put on trial in 1990, as both Amuso and Casso were implicated in a case involving the fitting of thousands of windows in New York at over-inflated prices, and the pair went into hiding of that same year, naming Alphonse "Little Al" D'Arco
as acting boss. For the next few years, Amuso and Casso ruled the family from afar and ordered the execution of anyone they deemed troublesome, either they were considered rivals or potential informants. All of this convinced many Lucchese wiseguys that Amuso and Casso were no longer acting or thinking rationally.
What followed next was a series of botched hits on family members suspected of being informants. Ironically, these hits caused several family members to actually turn informer. Amuso ordered the slaying of capo Peter "Fat Pete" Chiodo
, who along with Casso was in charge of the Windows Case operation. He was shot 12 times, but still survived. After Amuso ordered hits on Chiodo's wife and sister in violation of longstanding rules against women being harmed, Chiodo turned state's evidence and provided the entire windows operation that eventually controlled $150 million in window replacements, sold in New York City. As Amuso also sanctioned the hit on Anthony Accetturo, who was on trial in 1990, he also cooperated with the government.
The planned executions went as high as acting boss D'Arco. Furious over the failed hit on Chiodo, Amuso set up D'Arco to be killed at a Manhattan hotel. However, this hit also came undone after D'Arco saw a man hide a gun in his shirt, then slip it into the bathroom. Recognizing this as a classic setup for a hit, D'Arco fled for his life and turned himself over to the authorities to spare him and his family from Amuso and Casso and their increasingly erratic demands. He was the first boss of a New York crime family, acting or otherwise, to become an informant
.
Law enforcement eventually caught up with the two fugitives. On July 29, 1991, the FBI captured Amuso in Pennsylvania
, and in 1993 Casso was caught in Greenwood, New York
. Amuso steadfastly refused all offers from the government to make a deal and become a government witness. In contrast, Casso quickly agreed to a deal and started revealing family secrets. One of the biggest secrets was that Casso had been paying two New York Police Department detectives, Louis Eppolito and Stephen Caracappa, to provide Casso with sensitive police information and even perform to contract murders. Casso related how Eppolito and Caracappa, on Christmas Day 1986, murdered an innocent Brooklyn man who had the same name as a suspected government informant. Casso told the government that in 1992 Lucchese hit men tried to kill the sister of another suspected informant, violating the alleged Mafia “rule” barring violence against family members. Unfortunately for Casso, his testimony proved so inconsistent that prosecutors accused him of breaking the terms of his deal with them. As a result, the court ordered no leniency for Casso at his sentencing.
In January 1993, Amuso received a life sentence
. In 1994, Casso also received a life sentence. Casso had reportedly conspired with reputed consigliere Frank Lastorino
and Brooklyn faction leaders George Zappola
, George Conte, Frank "Bones" Papagni and Frank Gioia, Jr. into murdering Steven "Wonderboy" Crea
, Amuso's acting underboss of the Bronx
, as well as Gambino crime family acting boss John "Junior" Gotti, son of the imprisoned John Gotti, along with members of the Genovese crime family once again. But due to massive indictments, none of the plots were committed.
to be his acting boss. Throughout the mid 1990s Amuso continued to control the family from prison. DeFede, who supervised the powerful Garment District
racket, reportedly earned more than $40,000 to $60,000 a month. DeFede placed Steven Crea in charge of the family's labor and construction racketeering operations. Crea increased the Lucchese family earnings from these rackets between $300,000 and $500,000 every year. But as US law enforcement kept pressuring the organized crime activities in New York, DeFede was arrested and indicted on nine counts of racketeering in 1998. DeFede pled guilty to the charges and was sentenced to five years in prison. Angry at DeFede's guilty plea, Amuso promoted Crea as the new acting boss.
Steven Crea
success with the labor and construction rackets convinced Amuso that DeFede had been previously skimming off these profits. In late 1999, Amuso placed a contract on DeFede's life. On September 6, 2000, Crea and seven other Lucchese members were arrested and jailed on extortion charges, mostly to the supervising of the construction sites with various capos Dominic Truscello and Joseph Tangorra.
After Crea's imprisonment, the consigliere Louis "Lou Bagels" Daidone
, took control of the family. However, Daidone's tenure was short lived. After his release from the prison, the scared DeFede became a government witness and helped the government convict Daidone of murder and conspiracy
. Daidone's conviction was also helped by the testimony from Alphonse D'Arco in September 2004.
, who spent much of their combined 44 years with the NYPD committing murders and leaking confidential information to the Lucchese family. Between 1986 and 1990, Eppolito and Caracappa participated in eight murders and received $375,000 from Casso in bribes and payments for murder 'contracts'. Casso used Caracappa and Eppolito to pressure the Gambino crime family by murdering several of their members. This is because Casso, along with the imprisoned Amuso and Genovese crime family boss Vincent Gigante, wanted their rival John Gotti out of the way. Caracappa and Eppolito are now seen as the main source of 'tension' between these three families during the late 1980s and early 1990s.
For one contract, Eppolito and Caracappa kidnapped mobster James Hydell, forced him into their car trunk, and delivered him to Casso for torture and murder. Hydell's body was never found. The two detectives also shot Bruno Facciolo, who was found in Brooklyn in the trunk of a car with a canary in his mouth. After pulling Gambino crime family captain Edward "Eddie" Lino for a routine traffic check, the detectives murdered him on the expressway in his Mercedes-Benz
. In 2006, Eppolito and Caracappa were convicted of murdering Hydell, Nicholas Guido, John "Otto" Heidel, John Doe, Anthony DiLapi
, Facciolo, Lino, and Bartholomew Boriello
on the orders of Casso and the Lucchese family. They were sentenced to life imprisonment.
in 2003 imprisoned boss Vic Amuso created a three-man ruling panel to run the family. The panel consisting of three senior capos Aniello "Neil" Migliore
, Joseph "Joey Dee" DiNapoli
and Matthew Madonna
brought the family power back into the Bronx. According to a February 2004, New York Post
article, the Lucchese family consisted of about 9 capos and 82 soldiers making the family the fourth largest in New York City. In 2006, the former acting boss Steven Crea
was released from prison after serving five years, under restrictive parole
conditions that expired in 2009. The three man panel jointly continued to maintain the power over the family, acting as street bosses.
On December 18, 2007, two members of the ruling panel Joseph DiNapoli and Matthew Madonna were indicted along with top New Jersey faction
capos Ralph V. Perna and Nicodemo Scarfo, Jr.
. In the New Jersey indictment a total of thirty-two members and associates of the New Jersey faction were arrested. Information obtained from New Jersey law enforcement agencies investigation Operation Heat revealed that the New Jersey faction controlled a $2.2 billion dollar illegal gambling, money laundering and racketeering ring from New Jersey to Costa Rica.
On October 1, 2009, the Lucchese family was hit with two separate indictments charging 49 members and associates with bribery and racketeering. In the first indictment 29, members and associates of the Lucchese family were arrested. The indicted charged Joseph DiNapoli, Matthew Madonna and acting capo Anthony Croce with running operations that nearly grossed $400 million from illegal gambling, loansharking, gun trafficking, bribery and extortion. In the second indictment obtained from investigation "Operation Open House" 12 more Lucchese mobsters were charged with bribery. Acting capo Andrew Disimone and others mobsters were charged with bribing New York Police Department (NYPD) detective and sergeant posing as crooked cops to protect illegal poker parlors.
, Joseph "Joey Dee" DiNapoli
and Matthew Madonna
have been running the family. All three men are long time capos in the family, but Migliore is believed to be the most powerful. Arguably, Migliore, DiNapoli and Madonna brought stability to the Lucchese family during the 2000s. The family's presence remains strong in the Bronx, Manhattan, Queens, and New Jersey.
A March 2009 article in the New York Post
stated that the Lucchese family consists of approximately 100 "made" members, possibly making it the smallest of the Five Families
, although not the weakest. It is probably the third most powerful family (behind the Genovese and Gambino families).
In late 2009 the Lucchese family was handed three federal indictments showing that the family continues to be very active in organized crime, especially in labor racketeering, illegal gambling, and extortion. In one of the indicitments ruling panel members Joseph DiNapoli
and Matthew Madonna
were charged with controlling an ring that extorted and bribed businesses and construction sites in Manhattan and the Bronx. Also 2009, Lucchese family Underboss Steven Crea
parole expired and consigliere Joseph Caridi
was released from prison after serving almost six years for extortion and loansharking.
is the head of the family and the top decision maker. Only the boss, underboss or consigliere can initiate an associate into the family, allowing them to become a made man
. The boss can promote or demote family members at will. The Acting Boss is responsible for running the crime family while the boss is incarcerated or incapacitated. If the boss dies, the acting boss may become the new boss, or be stepped over and lose his position as Acting Boss.
In the early 1990s, Vic Amuso used a Street Boss to distance himself from federal surveillance and enforce his orders to the other members of the administration. The street boss was considered the go-to-guy for the boss, when passing on his orders to lower ranking members.
Ruling panel(s)
In 1991, after boss Vic Amuso was imprisoned a ruling panel (or committee) of capos was assembled to equally control the decision making of the crime family.
is the number two position in the family (after Don, Godfather, Boss). Also known as the "capo bastone" in some criminal organizations, this individual is responsible for ensuring that profits from criminal enterprises flow up to the boss and generally oversees the selection of the caporegime(s) and soldier(s) to carry out murders and other criminal activities. The underboss takes control of the crime family after the boss's death. Keeping this power until a new boss is chosen, which in some cases was the Underboss.
is an advisor to the boss and usually the number three person in a crime family.
(Crew boss/captain/lieutenant/caporegime): a capo is appointed by the family boss to run his own borgata (regime, or crew) of sgarrista (soldiers). Each capo reports directly to the underboss, who gives the capo permission to perform criminal activities. If the family needs to murder someone, the underboss normally asks a capo to carry out the order. The capo runs the day-to-day operations of his crew. The capo's soldiers give part of their earnings to the capo, and the capo gives a share to the underboss. A capo can recommend to the underboss or boss that a recruit be allowed to join his crew as a mob associate.
Manhattan & Long Island
Brooklyn faction
(sgarrista/soldato/wiseguy/button/buttonman/goodfella): a soldier is a made man
who has already proven himself to the family. In order to become a soldier he must pass the voting of the captains vote then a message is passed up to the boss or underboss. The soldier then takes an oath (Omertà
) to honor the family, he is then assigned into a crew and given a captain. A soldier is one of the lowest ranks in the family but still has much power over associates and friends.
Recruitment gangs
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:...
" that dominates organized crime
Organized crime
Organized crime or criminal organizations are transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals for the purpose of engaging in illegal activity, most commonly for monetary profit. Some criminal organizations, such as terrorist organizations, are...
activities in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the Mafia
American Mafia
The American Mafia , is an Italian-American criminal society. Much like the Sicilian Mafia, the American Mafia has no formal name and is a secret criminal society. Its members usually refer to it as Cosa Nostra or by its English translation "our thing"...
(or Cosa Nostra). The family originated in the early 1920s with Gaetano "Tommy" Reina
Gaetano Reina
Gaetano "Tommy" Reina was the first Boss of the Lucchese crime family in New York City.-Early years:Gaetano Reina was born in September 1889 in Corleone, Sicily to Giacomo Reina and Carmela Runmore. In the early 1900s the Reina family moved to New York City and settled on 107th Street in East Harlem...
serving as boss up until his murder in 1930. It was taken over by Gaetano "Tommy" Gagliano
Tommy Gagliano
Gaetano "Tommy" Gagliano was an American gangster who founded the Lucchese crime family, one of the powerful "Five Families" of New York City, and served as its low-profile Boss for over two decades...
during the Castellammarese War
Castellammarese War
The Castellammarese War was a bloody power struggle for control of the Italian-American Mafia between partisans of Joe "The Boss" Masseria and those of Salvatore Maranzano. It was so called because Maranzano was based in Castellammare del Golfo, Sicily...
, and led by him until his death in 1951. The family under Gagliano was peaceful and low key, concentrating their criminal actives to the Bronx, Manhattan and New Jersey. The next boss was Gaetano "Tommy" Lucchese
Tommy Lucchese
Gaetano "Tommy" Lucchese , also known as "Tom Brown" or "Three-Finger Brown", was an American mobster who became the Boss of the Lucchese crime family in New York City...
, who turned the family around to became one of the most powerful families to sit on the Commission
The Commission (mafia)
The Commission is the governing body of the American Mafia. Formed in 1931, the Commission replaced the "Boss of all Bosses" title, with a ruling committee, consisting of the New York Five Families bosses and the boss of the Chicago Outfit...
. Lucchese teamed up with Gambino family boss 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...
to control organized crime in New York City. When Lucchese died of natural causes in 1967, Carmine Tramunti
Carmine Tramunti
Carmine "Mr. Gribbs" Tramunti was a New York mobster who was the boss of the Lucchese crime family. Tramunti helped build the massive French Connection heroin smuggling ring.-Operating in Harlem:...
controlled the family for a brief time; he was arrested in 1973. Anthony "Tony Ducks" Corallo
Anthony Corallo
Anthony "Tony Ducks" Corallo was a New York City mobster and boss of the Lucchese crime family.-Early life:...
then gained control of the family. Corallo was very secretive and soon became one of the most powerful members of the Commission. He was arrested and tried in the famous Commission case
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...
of 1986.
Corallo decided to put Vittorio "Vic" 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....
and Anthony 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...
in charge of the family. Casso was soon promoted to 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 the family barely survived his reign. In the early 1990s, Casso who was fearing arrest kept ordering those he felt unloyal to be murdered. The former street boss for Casso, Alphonse "Little Al" D'Arco
Alphonse D'Arco
Alphonse "Little Al" D'Arco , also known as "The Professor", is a New York mobster who became the acting boss of Lucchese crime family. He was the first boss, acting or otherwise, of a New York crime family to become a government witness....
, feared for his own life and turned informant
Informant
An informant is a person who provides privileged information about a person or organization to an agency. The term is usually used within the law enforcement world, where they are officially known as confidential or criminal informants , and can often refer pejoratively to the supply of information...
. This led to the arrest of the entire Lucchese family hierarchy, with Casso also becoming an informant. Today the family is still controlled by Vic Amuso who is serving life in prison.
The Reina Gang
The early history of the Reina crime family can be traced to members of the Morello gangMorello crime family
The Morello crime family is the direct ancestor of the Genovese crime family, the oldest of New York City's Five Families.-From Corleone to America:...
based in East Harlem
Italian Harlem
Italian Harlem was the name that was given to East Harlem in the New York City borough of Manhattan, when it was largely inhabited by an Italian American population....
and the Bronx. Gaetano "Tommy" Reina
Gaetano Reina
Gaetano "Tommy" Reina was the first Boss of the Lucchese crime family in New York City.-Early years:Gaetano Reina was born in September 1889 in Corleone, Sicily to Giacomo Reina and Carmela Runmore. In the early 1900s the Reina family moved to New York City and settled on 107th Street in East Harlem...
would leave the Morello's around the time of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
and created his own family based in East Harlem and the Bronx. As the family's leader, Reina avoided the Mafia-Cammora War
Mafia-Camorra War
The Mafia-Camorra War was a gang war in New York City during the World War I era. One side was the Sicilian Morello crime family of Manhattan, the other side was Camorra, an ancient Neapolitan gang with a subgroup in the vicinity of Navy Street in Brooklyn, and the Coney Island gang...
for control over New York City. He instead focused on controlling the home ice distribution business throughout New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. During the early 1920s, Reina became a powerful prohibition era boss and aligned himself with Joseph Masseria, the most powerful Italian-American crime boss in New York. Masseria soon became involved in the Castellammarese War
Castellammarese War
The Castellammarese War was a bloody power struggle for control of the Italian-American Mafia between partisans of Joe "The Boss" Masseria and those of Salvatore Maranzano. It was so called because Maranzano was based in Castellammare del Golfo, Sicily...
, a vicious gang war with rival Sicilian boss 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"...
. At this point, Masseria started demanding a share of Reina's criminal profits, prompting Reina to consider changing allegiance to Maranzano. When Masseria learned of Reina's possible betrayal, he plotted with Reina lieutenant Tommy Gagliano
Tommy Gagliano
Gaetano "Tommy" Gagliano was an American gangster who founded the Lucchese crime family, one of the powerful "Five Families" of New York City, and served as its low-profile Boss for over two decades...
to kill him. On February 26, 1930, gunman 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...
murdered Reina outside his aunt's apartment. With Reina dead, Masseria bypassed Gagliano, who expected to take control of the Reina gang, and installed his underling Joseph "Fat Joe" Pinzolo
Joseph Pinzolo
Bonaventura "Joseph/Fat Joe" Pinzolo was the head of the Lucchese crime family in New York City for a brief period during 1930....
as boss. Furious with this betrayal, Gagliano and Tommy Lucchese
Tommy Lucchese
Gaetano "Tommy" Lucchese , also known as "Tom Brown" or "Three-Finger Brown", was an American mobster who became the Boss of the Lucchese crime family in New York City...
secretly defected to Maranzano. In September 1930, Lucchese lured Pinzolo to a Manhattan office building, where Pinzolo was murdered.
The Two Tommies
With Masseria's murder in early 1931, MaranzanoSalvatore 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"...
won the Castellammarese War. He then outlined a peace plan to all the Sicilian and Italian Mafia leaders in the United States. There would be 24 organizations (to be known as "families") throughout the country who would elect their own bosses. Maranzano also reorganized all the Italian-American gangs in New York City into five New York families to be headed by Maranzano, 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...
, Vincent Mangano
Vincent Mangano
Vincent Mangano , born Vincenzo Giovanni Mangano, also known as "The Executioner" as he was named in a Brooklyn newspaper, was the head of the Mangano crime family from 1931 to 1951. His brother Philip Mangano was his right hand man and de facto, or substituto, underboss of the crime family which...
, Tommy Gagliano and Joseph Profaci. Gagliano became the boss of the old Reina gang, to be later known as the Lucchese family, with Lucchese as his underboss and Stefano Rondelli as his consigliere. The final element of Maranzano's peace plan was that he would become the supreme leader of all the families, the Boss of all Bosses
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...
. However, Luciano and other mob members did not want another top leader. When Maranzano learned about Luciano's disaffection, he hired a gunman to kill him. However, in September 1931 Luciano struck first. Several Jewish assassins provided by Luciano associate 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...
murdered Maranzano in his office. Luciano now became the most powerful mobster in New York.
Luciano kept the family structure as created by Maranzano, but removed the Boss of Bosses in favor of a ruling body, The Commission
The Commission (mafia)
The Commission is the governing body of the American Mafia. Formed in 1931, the Commission replaced the "Boss of all Bosses" title, with a ruling committee, consisting of the New York Five Families bosses and the boss of the Chicago Outfit...
. The Commission's responsibility was to regulate the families' affairs and resolve all differences between the families. The first Commission members included Luciano family
Genovese crime family
The Genovese 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 Genovese crime family has been nicknamed the "Ivy League" and "Rolls Royce" of organized crime...
boss Luciano as head of the Commission, Mangano 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...
boss Vincent Mangano
Vincent Mangano
Vincent Mangano , born Vincenzo Giovanni Mangano, also known as "The Executioner" as he was named in a Brooklyn newspaper, was the head of the Mangano crime family from 1931 to 1951. His brother Philip Mangano was his right hand man and de facto, or substituto, underboss of the crime family which...
, Gagliano family boss Tommy Gagliano, Profaci 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 ....
boss Joseph Profaci, Chicago Outfit
Chicago Outfit
The Chicago Outfit, also known as the Chicago Syndicate or Chicago Mob and sometimes shortened to simply the Outfit, is a crime syndicate based in Chicago, Illinois, USA...
boss Al "Scarface" Capone
Al Capone
Alphonse Gabriel "Al" Capone was an American gangster who led a Prohibition-era crime syndicate. The Chicago Outfit, which subsequently became known as the "Capones", was dedicated to smuggling and bootlegging liquor, and other illegal activities such as prostitution, in Chicago from the early...
, and Maranzano 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 ....
boss Joseph Bonanno
Joseph 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:...
. Although the Commission was technically a democratic institution, it was actually controlled by Luciano and his allies.
During the 1930s and 1940s, Gaetano "Tommy" Gagliano
Tommy Gagliano
Gaetano "Tommy" Gagliano was an American gangster who founded the Lucchese crime family, one of the powerful "Five Families" of New York City, and served as its low-profile Boss for over two decades...
and Lucchese led their family into profitable areas of the trucking and clothing industries. When Luciano was sent to prison for pandering in 1936, a rival alliance took control of the Commission. The alliance of Mangano, Bonanno, Buffalo crime family boss Stefano Magaddino
Stefano Magaddino
Stefano Magaddino was an Sicilian mafioso who became the boss of the Buffalo crime family in western New York. His underworld influence stretched from Ohio and Southern Ontario as far north as Montreal, Quebec...
, and Profaci used their power to control organized crime in America. Understanding his vulnerability, Gagliano was careful to avoid opposing this new alliance. Gagliano was a quiet man who avoided the media and stayed off the streets. He preferred to pass his orders to the family though Lucchese and a few other close allies. In contrast, Lucchese was the public face of the family who carried out Gagliano's orders. In 1946, Lucchese attended the Cosa Nostra Havana Conference
Havana Conference
The Havana Conference of 1946 was an historic meeting of United States Mafia and Cosa Nostra leaders in Havana, Cuba. Supposedly arranged by Charles "Lucky" Luciano, the conference was held to discuss important mob policies, rules, and business interests. The Havana Conference was attended by...
in Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
on behalf of Gagliano. Gagliano remained the hidden boss of the family until his death in 1951 or 1953.
The Lucchese era
After Gagliano's death in 1951 or 1953, Lucchese became family boss and appointed Vincenzo RaoVincenzo Rao
Vincenzo John Rao also known as Vincent or Vinny, was a New York City mobster who served as consigliere in the Lucchese crime family.-East Harlem:...
as his Consigliere and Stefano LaSalle as his Underboss. Lucchese continued with Gagliano's policies, making the now Lucchese family one of the most profitable in New York. Lucchese established control over Teamsters
Teamsters
The International Brotherhood of Teamsters is a labor union in the United States and Canada. Formed in 1903 by the merger of several local and regional locals of teamsters, the union now represents a diverse membership of blue-collar and professional workers in both the public and private sectors....
union locals, workers' co-operatives and trade associations, and rackets at the new Idlewild Airport. Lucchese also expanded family rackets in Manhattan's Garment District
Garment District, Manhattan
The Garment District, also known as the Garment Center, the Fashion District, or the Fashion Center, is a neighborhood located in the Manhattan borough of New York City. The dense concentration of fashion-related uses give the neighborhood, which is generally considered to span between Fifth Avenue...
and in related trucking industry around New York City. Lucchese built close relations with many powerful New York politicians, including Mayors William O'Dwyer
William O'Dwyer
William O'Dwyer was the 100th Mayor of New York City, holding that office from 1946 to 1950.-Biography:O'Dwyer was born in County Mayo, Ireland and migrated to the United States in 1910, after abandoning studies for the priesthood...
and Vincent Impellitteri and members of the judiciary, who aided the family on numerous occasions. Throughout his regime, Lucchese kept a low profile for which he became lauded in Mafia circles. Remembering how the Mustache Petes treated their soldati like mere commodities, he saw to it that his men were well taken care of.
When Lucchese became boss, he helped 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 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 their fights to take control of their families. By 1962, Lucchese and Gambino controlled the Commission. Together they backed the Gallo crew from the rival Profaci family in its war with their boss Joe Profaci. Gambino and Lucchese saw the war as a way to take over rackets from the distracted Profaci's. After uncovering a plot by Joe Bonanno to assassinate them, Lucchese and Gambino used the Commission to strip Bonanno of his role as boss. This power play started a war within the Bonanno family and served to strengthen both the Lucchese and Gambino families.
Lucchese led a quiet, stable life until his death from a brain tumor on July 13, 1967. At the time of his death, he had not spent a day in jail in 44 years. Lucchese left his family in a very powerful position in New York City. The Lucchese family had a stronghold in East Harlem, the Bronx and consisted of about 200 made members. After Lucchese's death, the Commission made Carmine Tramunti
Carmine Tramunti
Carmine "Mr. Gribbs" Tramunti was a New York mobster who was the boss of the Lucchese crime family. Tramunti helped build the massive French Connection heroin smuggling ring.-Operating in Harlem:...
acting boss until Lucchese's chosen successor, Anthony Corallo
Anthony Corallo
Anthony "Tony Ducks" Corallo was a New York City mobster and boss of the Lucchese crime family.-Early life:...
, was released from prison.
Tramunti and the French Connection
At the time of his appointment as temporary boss, Carmine "Mr. Gribbs" TramuntiCarmine Tramunti
Carmine "Mr. Gribbs" Tramunti was a New York mobster who was the boss of the Lucchese crime family. Tramunti helped build the massive French Connection heroin smuggling ring.-Operating in Harlem:...
was almost 70 years old and in ill health. With boss-in-waiting Anthony "Tony Ducks" Corallo in prison, Tramunti was expected to hold power until Corallo's release. Tramunti faced a number of criminal charges during his time as acting boss and was eventually convicted of financing a large heroin smuggling operation, the infamous French Connection
French Connection
The French Connection was a scheme through which heroin was smuggled from Turkey to France and then to the United States. The operation reached its peak in the late 1960s and early 1970s, when it provided the vast majority of the illicit heroin used in the United States...
. This scheme was responsible for distributing millions of dollars in heroin along the East Coast during the early seventies.
Before the French Connection trail, the seized heroin was stored in the NYPD property/evidence storage room pending trial. In a brazen scheme, criminals stole hundreds of kilograms of heroin worth $70 million from the room and replaced them with bags of flour. Officers discovered the theft when they noticed insects eating the so-called heroin. The scope and depth of this scheme is still unknown, but officials suspect the thieves had assistance from corrupt NYPD officers Certain plotters received jail sentences, including Papa (he was later assassinated in the Atlanta Federal Penitentiary in Atlanta, Georgia). In 1974, after Tramunti's incarceration, Corallo finally took charge of the family.
Corallo and the Jaguar
After Tramunti's incarceration in 1974, Anthony CoralloAnthony Corallo
Anthony "Tony Ducks" Corallo was a New York City mobster and boss of the Lucchese crime family.-Early life:...
finally took control of the Lucchese family. Corallo came from the Queens
Queens
Queens is the easternmost of the five boroughs of New York City. The largest borough in area and the second-largest in population, it is coextensive with Queens County, an administrative division of New York state, in the United States....
faction of the family. Known as "Tony Ducks" from his ease at 'ducking' criminal convictions, Corallo was a Boss squarely in the Tommy Lucchese mold. Corallo had been heavily involved in labor racketeering and worked closely with Jimmy Hoffa
Jimmy Hoffa
James Riddle "Jimmy" Hoffa was an American labor union leader....
, the Teamsters president, during the 1940s and 1950s. Corallo also enjoyed close ties to the Painters and Decorators Union', the Conduit Workers Union, and the United Textile Workers Union. Corrallo appointed Salvatore "Tom Mix" Santoro
Salvatore Santoro
Salvatore T. "Tom Mix" Santoro, Sr. served as Underboss in the Lucchese crime family during the 1980s before being convicted in the Mafia Commission Trial and sentenced to 100 years in federal prison.-Early life:...
as the Underboss and supervisor of all labor and construction racketeering operations in New York, and Christopher "Christie Tick" Furnari
Christopher Furnari
Christopher "Christie Tick" Furnari, Sr. is a Lucchese crime family mobster serving life in prison. During the 1980s, Furnari served as the family consigliere until his 1986 racketeering conviction.-Early years:...
as the reputed Consigliere
Consigliere
Consigliere is a position within the leadership structure of Sicilian and American Mafia crime families. The word was popularized by Mario Puzo's novel The Godfather , and its film adaptation...
. The family prospered under Corallo's leadership, particularly in narcotics trafficking, labor racketeering, and major illegal gambling.
Corallo never discussed business during sit-downs, fearing that the FBI was monitoring the conversations. Instead, he used the car phone in the Jaguar
Jaguar (car)
Jaguar Cars Ltd, known simply as Jaguar , is a British luxury car manufacturer, headquartered in Whitley, Coventry, England. It is part of the Jaguar Land Rover business, a subsidiary of the Indian company Tata Motors....
owned by his bodyguard and chauffeur's. Corallo was driven around New York while on the phone discussing business. Salvatore "Sal" Avellino
Salvatore Avellino
Salvatore "Sal" Avellino is a mobster and caporegime in the Lucchese crime family who was involved in labor racketering in the garbage and waste management industry in Long Island, New York...
and Aniello "Neil" Migliore
Aniello Migliore
Aniello "Neil" Migliore is a New York City mobster, and acting leader of the Lucchese crime family. Migliore was a close associate of family bosses Gaetano "Tommy" Lucchese and Anthony "Tony Ducks" Corallo.-Early years:...
shifted as Corallo's chauffeurs during the 1970s and 1980s.
Corallo, a huge fan of the New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
faction of the family, reputedly inducted and promoted Anthony "Tumac" Accetturo
Anthony Accetturo
Anthony "Tumac" Accetturo is a former caporegime and leader of the New Jersey faction of the Lucchese crime family The Jersey Crew.-Biography:...
and Michael "Mad Dog" Taccetta
Michael Taccetta
Michael Salvatore Taccetta , also known as "Mad Dog", is a high-ranking member of the Lucchese crime family, who wound up controlling the entire New Jersey faction of the family in the 1980s...
into the organization and put them in charge of the Jersey Crew
The Jersey Crew
The Jersey Crew is a powerful faction of the Lucchese crime family, that operates and controls illegal activities like drug trafficking, labor racketeering, loansharking, extortion, illegal gambling, money laundering, and murder, in the Northern New Jersey area....
, which reportedly controlled most of the loansharking and illegal gambling operations in 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...
at the time.
In the early 1980s, 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...
(FBI) finally managed to plant a bug in the Jaguar. The FBI recorded Corallo speaking at great length about mob affairs, including illegal gambling, labor racketeering, drug trafficking, and murder. Corallo was arrested and put on trial along with all the heads of the Five Families at the time. This trial became legendary as 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...
. Corallo was convicted on numerous charges and January 13, 1987 was sentenced to 100 years in prison, where he died in 2000.
To succeed him as boss, Corallo originally chose acting boss Anthony "Buddy" Luongo. However, Luongo disappeared in 1986. Corallo's ultimate choice was Vittorio "Vic" 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....
. Allegedly both Amuso and 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...
were candidates for the job. Evidence suggests that Corallo wanted Casso, but Casso convinced him to select Amuso instead. After becoming boss, Amuso made Casso his underboss, allowing him to exert great influence over family decisions.
The iron fists of Amuso and Casso
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....
and his fierce underboss, 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...
, instituted one of the most violent reigns in American Mafia history. Both men were heavily involved in labor racketeering, extortion, drug trafficking and committed many murders. Amuso and Casso were strong rivals of Gambino crime family
Gambino crime family
The Gambino crime family is one of the "Five Families" that dominates organized crime activities in New York City, United States, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the Mafia . The group is named after Carlo Gambino, boss of the family at the time of the McClellan hearings in 1963...
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...
and strong allies of Genovese crime family
Genovese crime family
The Genovese 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 Genovese crime family has been nicknamed the "Ivy League" and "Rolls Royce" of organized crime...
boss Vincent "Chin" Gigante
Vincent Gigante
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...
. Angry over Gotti's unauthorized murder of Gambino 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...
, Amuso, Casso, and Gigante conspired to murder Gotti. On April 13, 1986 a car-bombing killed Gambino 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...
, but missed Gotti. This assassination attempt sparked a long and confusing 'tension' between these three crime families with many deaths reported on all sides.
During the late 1980s, Amuso began demanding 50% of the profits generated by the Jersey Crew. New Jersey leaders Anthony Accetturo and Michael Taccetta refused Amuso's demand. In retaliation, Amuso ordered the entire Jersey Crew killed—the now-infamous "whack Jersey" order. He summoned them to a meeting in 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...
. Fearful for their lives, all the Jersey crew members skipped the meeting and went into hiding.
Taccetta and Accetturo were later put on trial in 1990, as both Amuso and Casso were implicated in a case involving the fitting of thousands of windows in New York at over-inflated prices, and the pair went into hiding of that same year, naming Alphonse "Little Al" D'Arco
Alphonse D'Arco
Alphonse "Little Al" D'Arco , also known as "The Professor", is a New York mobster who became the acting boss of Lucchese crime family. He was the first boss, acting or otherwise, of a New York crime family to become a government witness....
as acting boss. For the next few years, Amuso and Casso ruled the family from afar and ordered the execution of anyone they deemed troublesome, either they were considered rivals or potential informants. All of this convinced many Lucchese wiseguys that Amuso and Casso were no longer acting or thinking rationally.
Peter Chiodo
Peter "Big Pete" Chiodo was a capo in the Lucchese crime family who later became a government witness. He is the nephew of Lucchese mobster Frank Signorino.-Background:...
, who along with Casso was in charge of the Windows Case operation. He was shot 12 times, but still survived. After Amuso ordered hits on Chiodo's wife and sister in violation of longstanding rules against women being harmed, Chiodo turned state's evidence and provided the entire windows operation that eventually controlled $150 million in window replacements, sold in New York City. As Amuso also sanctioned the hit on Anthony Accetturo, who was on trial in 1990, he also cooperated with the government.
The planned executions went as high as acting boss D'Arco. Furious over the failed hit on Chiodo, Amuso set up D'Arco to be killed at a Manhattan hotel. However, this hit also came undone after D'Arco saw a man hide a gun in his shirt, then slip it into the bathroom. Recognizing this as a classic setup for a hit, D'Arco fled for his life and turned himself over to the authorities to spare him and his family from Amuso and Casso and their increasingly erratic demands. He was the first boss of a New York crime family, acting or otherwise, to become an informant
Informant
An informant is a person who provides privileged information about a person or organization to an agency. The term is usually used within the law enforcement world, where they are officially known as confidential or criminal informants , and can often refer pejoratively to the supply of information...
.
Law enforcement eventually caught up with the two fugitives. On July 29, 1991, the FBI captured Amuso in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
, and in 1993 Casso was caught in Greenwood, New York
Greenwood, New York
Greenwood is a town in Steuben County, New York, United States. The population was 849 at the 2000 census.- History :A pioneer road was cut through the town in the 18th Century, but no settlers remained in the town....
. Amuso steadfastly refused all offers from the government to make a deal and become a government witness. In contrast, Casso quickly agreed to a deal and started revealing family secrets. One of the biggest secrets was that Casso had been paying two New York Police Department detectives, Louis Eppolito and Stephen Caracappa, to provide Casso with sensitive police information and even perform to contract murders. Casso related how Eppolito and Caracappa, on Christmas Day 1986, murdered an innocent Brooklyn man who had the same name as a suspected government informant. Casso told the government that in 1992 Lucchese hit men tried to kill the sister of another suspected informant, violating the alleged Mafia “rule” barring violence against family members. Unfortunately for Casso, his testimony proved so inconsistent that prosecutors accused him of breaking the terms of his deal with them. As a result, the court ordered no leniency for Casso at his sentencing.
In January 1993, Amuso received a life sentence
Life imprisonment
Life imprisonment is a sentence of imprisonment for a serious crime under which the convicted person is to remain in jail for the rest of his or her life...
. In 1994, Casso also received a life sentence. Casso had reportedly conspired with reputed consigliere Frank Lastorino
Frank Lastorino
Frank "Big Frank" Lastorino is a New York City mobster and former Consigliere of the Lucchese crime family.-Lucchese hitman:Raised in Canarsie, Brooklyn, Lastorino soon joined the Lucchese crime family under Anthony "Tony Ducks" Corallo in extortion, loansharking and illegal gambling operations...
and Brooklyn faction leaders George Zappola
George Zappola
George "Georgie Neck" Zappola is a New York mobster and caporegime with the Lucchese crime family who became infamous for smuggling a sperm sample out of prison to impregnate his girlfriend.-Biography:Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York City...
, George Conte, Frank "Bones" Papagni and Frank Gioia, Jr. into murdering Steven "Wonderboy" Crea
Steven Crea
Steven L. Crea , also known as "Wonderboy", or "Herbie", is a New York mobster heavily involved in labor racketeering who eventually became the acting boss of the Lucchese crime family.-Rise to power:...
, Amuso's acting underboss of 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...
, as well as Gambino crime family acting boss John "Junior" Gotti, son of the imprisoned John Gotti, along with members of the Genovese crime family once again. But due to massive indictments, none of the plots were committed.
Acting bosses
When Amuso went to prison, he chose Joseph "Little Joe" DeFedeJoseph DeFede
Joseph "Little Joe" DeFede is a New York City mobster and former acting boss of the Lucchese crime family who eventually turned informant.-Early years:...
to be his acting boss. Throughout the mid 1990s Amuso continued to control the family from prison. DeFede, who supervised the powerful Garment District
Garment District, Manhattan
The Garment District, also known as the Garment Center, the Fashion District, or the Fashion Center, is a neighborhood located in the Manhattan borough of New York City. The dense concentration of fashion-related uses give the neighborhood, which is generally considered to span between Fifth Avenue...
racket, reportedly earned more than $40,000 to $60,000 a month. DeFede placed Steven Crea in charge of the family's labor and construction racketeering operations. Crea increased the Lucchese family earnings from these rackets between $300,000 and $500,000 every year. But as US law enforcement kept pressuring the organized crime activities in New York, DeFede was arrested and indicted on nine counts of racketeering in 1998. DeFede pled guilty to the charges and was sentenced to five years in prison. Angry at DeFede's guilty plea, Amuso promoted Crea as the new acting boss.
Steven Crea
Steven Crea
Steven L. Crea , also known as "Wonderboy", or "Herbie", is a New York mobster heavily involved in labor racketeering who eventually became the acting boss of the Lucchese crime family.-Rise to power:...
success with the labor and construction rackets convinced Amuso that DeFede had been previously skimming off these profits. In late 1999, Amuso placed a contract on DeFede's life. On September 6, 2000, Crea and seven other Lucchese members were arrested and jailed on extortion charges, mostly to the supervising of the construction sites with various capos Dominic Truscello and Joseph Tangorra.
After Crea's imprisonment, the consigliere Louis "Lou Bagels" Daidone
Louis Daidone
Louis "Louie Bagels" Daidone is a New York mobster and former acting boss of the Lucchese crime family.-Sidewalk soldier:...
, took control of the family. However, Daidone's tenure was short lived. After his release from the prison, the scared DeFede became a government witness and helped the government convict Daidone of murder 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...
. Daidone's conviction was also helped by the testimony from Alphonse D'Arco in September 2004.
Mafia cops
In April 2006, Casso revealed that two respected New York City police detectives worked as hitmen and informants for Casso during the 1980s and early 1990s before their retirement. They were Louis Eppolito and Stephen CaracappaLouis Eppolito and Stephen Caracappa
Louis Eppolito and Stephen Caracappa are two former New York Police Department police detectives who worked on behalf of the New York Mafia while they committed various illegal activities...
, who spent much of their combined 44 years with the NYPD committing murders and leaking confidential information to the Lucchese family. Between 1986 and 1990, Eppolito and Caracappa participated in eight murders and received $375,000 from Casso in bribes and payments for murder 'contracts'. Casso used Caracappa and Eppolito to pressure the Gambino crime family by murdering several of their members. This is because Casso, along with the imprisoned Amuso and Genovese crime family boss Vincent Gigante, wanted their rival John Gotti out of the way. Caracappa and Eppolito are now seen as the main source of 'tension' between these three families during the late 1980s and early 1990s.
For one contract, Eppolito and Caracappa kidnapped mobster James Hydell, forced him into their car trunk, and delivered him to Casso for torture and murder. Hydell's body was never found. The two detectives also shot Bruno Facciolo, who was found in Brooklyn in the trunk of a car with a canary in his mouth. After pulling Gambino crime family captain Edward "Eddie" Lino for a routine traffic check, the detectives murdered him on the expressway in his Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz is a German manufacturer of automobiles, buses, coaches, and trucks. Mercedes-Benz is a division of its parent company, Daimler AG...
. In 2006, Eppolito and Caracappa were convicted of murdering Hydell, Nicholas Guido, John "Otto" Heidel, John Doe, Anthony DiLapi
Anthony DiLapi
Anthony DiLapi also known as "Blue Eyes over the Bridges" was a Teamsters union leader in New York City's Garment District and a soldier in the Lucchese crime family.-Garment District Boss:...
, Facciolo, Lino, and Bartholomew Boriello
Bartholomew Boriello
Bartholomew "Bobby" Boriello was a New York mobster who belonged to the Gambino crime family and served as boss John Gotti's favorite bodyguard and chauffeur...
on the orders of Casso and the Lucchese family. They were sentenced to life imprisonment.
Three-man ruling panel
With the arrest of acting boss Louis DaidoneLouis Daidone
Louis "Louie Bagels" Daidone is a New York mobster and former acting boss of the Lucchese crime family.-Sidewalk soldier:...
in 2003 imprisoned boss Vic Amuso created a three-man ruling panel to run the family. The panel consisting of three senior capos Aniello "Neil" Migliore
Aniello Migliore
Aniello "Neil" Migliore is a New York City mobster, and acting leader of the Lucchese crime family. Migliore was a close associate of family bosses Gaetano "Tommy" Lucchese and Anthony "Tony Ducks" Corallo.-Early years:...
, Joseph "Joey Dee" DiNapoli
Joseph DiNapoli
Joseph "Joey Dee" DiNapoli , is a high-ranking member of the Lucchese crime family, holding the rank of caporegime or captain, in the family's Ruling Committee/Panel, controlling the day-to-day operations since 2003, along with Aniello "Neil" Migliore and Matthew Madonna...
and Matthew Madonna
Matthew Madonna
Matthew Madonna is a caporegime with the Lucchese crime family who was heavily involved in narcotics trafficking and bribery of government officials.-Narcotics trafficking:...
brought the family power back into the Bronx. According to a February 2004, New York Post
New York Post
The New York Post is the 13th-oldest newspaper published in the United States and is generally acknowledged as the oldest to have been published continuously as a daily, although – as is the case with most other papers – its publication has been periodically interrupted by labor actions...
article, the Lucchese family consisted of about 9 capos and 82 soldiers making the family the fourth largest in New York City. In 2006, the former acting boss Steven Crea
Steven Crea
Steven L. Crea , also known as "Wonderboy", or "Herbie", is a New York mobster heavily involved in labor racketeering who eventually became the acting boss of the Lucchese crime family.-Rise to power:...
was released from prison after serving five years, under restrictive 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...
conditions that expired in 2009. The three man panel jointly continued to maintain the power over the family, acting as street bosses.
On December 18, 2007, two members of the ruling panel Joseph DiNapoli and Matthew Madonna were indicted along with top New Jersey faction
The Jersey Crew
The Jersey Crew is a powerful faction of the Lucchese crime family, that operates and controls illegal activities like drug trafficking, labor racketeering, loansharking, extortion, illegal gambling, money laundering, and murder, in the Northern New Jersey area....
capos Ralph V. Perna and Nicodemo Scarfo, Jr.
Nicodemo Scarfo, Jr.
Nicodemo Salvatore "Nicky" Scarfo Jr. is the second son of convicted Philadelphia crime family boss Nicodemo "Little Nicky" Scarfo, Sr. In his 20s, he was allegedly inducted into the Lucchese crime family sometime in the early 1990s....
. In the New Jersey indictment a total of thirty-two members and associates of the New Jersey faction were arrested. Information obtained from New Jersey law enforcement agencies investigation Operation Heat revealed that the New Jersey faction controlled a $2.2 billion dollar illegal gambling, money laundering and racketeering ring from New Jersey to Costa Rica.
On October 1, 2009, the Lucchese family was hit with two separate indictments charging 49 members and associates with bribery and racketeering. In the first indictment 29, members and associates of the Lucchese family were arrested. The indicted charged Joseph DiNapoli, Matthew Madonna and acting capo Anthony Croce with running operations that nearly grossed $400 million from illegal gambling, loansharking, gun trafficking, bribery and extortion. In the second indictment obtained from investigation "Operation Open House" 12 more Lucchese mobsters were charged with bribery. Acting capo Andrew Disimone and others mobsters were charged with bribing New York Police Department (NYPD) detective and sergeant posing as crooked cops to protect illegal poker parlors.
Current position and leadership
Although in prison for life, Victor Amuso remains the official boss of the Lucchese crime family. Amuso has been boss for almost a quarter-century but it is unclear how much influence, if any, he has over the crime family's day-to-day affairs. In the last few years, a three-man ruling panel consisting of Aniello "Neil" MiglioreAniello Migliore
Aniello "Neil" Migliore is a New York City mobster, and acting leader of the Lucchese crime family. Migliore was a close associate of family bosses Gaetano "Tommy" Lucchese and Anthony "Tony Ducks" Corallo.-Early years:...
, Joseph "Joey Dee" DiNapoli
Joseph DiNapoli
Joseph "Joey Dee" DiNapoli , is a high-ranking member of the Lucchese crime family, holding the rank of caporegime or captain, in the family's Ruling Committee/Panel, controlling the day-to-day operations since 2003, along with Aniello "Neil" Migliore and Matthew Madonna...
and Matthew Madonna
Matthew Madonna
Matthew Madonna is a caporegime with the Lucchese crime family who was heavily involved in narcotics trafficking and bribery of government officials.-Narcotics trafficking:...
have been running the family. All three men are long time capos in the family, but Migliore is believed to be the most powerful. Arguably, Migliore, DiNapoli and Madonna brought stability to the Lucchese family during the 2000s. The family's presence remains strong in the Bronx, Manhattan, Queens, and New Jersey.
A March 2009 article in the New York Post
New York Post
The New York Post is the 13th-oldest newspaper published in the United States and is generally acknowledged as the oldest to have been published continuously as a daily, although – as is the case with most other papers – its publication has been periodically interrupted by labor actions...
stated that the Lucchese family consists of approximately 100 "made" members, possibly making it the smallest of the Five Families
Five Families
The Five Families are the five original Italian-American Mafia crime families which have dominated organized crime in America since 1931. The Five Families in New York remain as the powerhouse of the Italian Mafia in the United States.-History:...
, although not the weakest. It is probably the third most powerful family (behind the Genovese and Gambino families).
In late 2009 the Lucchese family was handed three federal indictments showing that the family continues to be very active in organized crime, especially in labor racketeering, illegal gambling, and extortion. In one of the indicitments ruling panel members Joseph DiNapoli
Joseph DiNapoli
Joseph "Joey Dee" DiNapoli , is a high-ranking member of the Lucchese crime family, holding the rank of caporegime or captain, in the family's Ruling Committee/Panel, controlling the day-to-day operations since 2003, along with Aniello "Neil" Migliore and Matthew Madonna...
and Matthew Madonna
Matthew Madonna
Matthew Madonna is a caporegime with the Lucchese crime family who was heavily involved in narcotics trafficking and bribery of government officials.-Narcotics trafficking:...
were charged with controlling an ring that extorted and bribed businesses and construction sites in Manhattan and the Bronx. Also 2009, Lucchese family Underboss Steven Crea
Steven Crea
Steven L. Crea , also known as "Wonderboy", or "Herbie", is a New York mobster heavily involved in labor racketeering who eventually became the acting boss of the Lucchese crime family.-Rise to power:...
parole expired and consigliere Joseph Caridi
Joseph Caridi
Joseph "Joe C." Caridi a New York mobster and current Consigliere of the Lucchese crime family.-Lucchese family:In the mid 1980s, Caridi was reportedly inducted into the Lucchese crime family, then under the leadership of boss Victor Amuso...
was released from prison after serving almost six years for extortion and loansharking.
Boss (official and acting)
The bossCrime boss
A crime boss or boss is a person in charge of a criminal organization. A boss typically has absolute or near-absolute control over his subordinates, is greatly feared by his subordinates for his ruthlessness and willingness to take lives in order to exert his influence, and profits come from the...
is the head of the family and the top decision maker. Only the boss, underboss or consigliere can initiate an associate into the family, allowing them to become a made man
Made man
A made man, also known as a Mafioso , made guy, man of honor, or uomo d'onore , is someone who has been officially inducted into the Sicilian or American Mafia . They may also be referred to by some as a goodfella or wiseguy...
. The boss can promote or demote family members at will. The Acting Boss is responsible for running the crime family while the boss is incarcerated or incapacitated. If the boss dies, the acting boss may become the new boss, or be stepped over and lose his position as Acting Boss.
- 1922–1930 — Gaetano "Tommy" ReinaGaetano ReinaGaetano "Tommy" Reina was the first Boss of the Lucchese crime family in New York City.-Early years:Gaetano Reina was born in September 1889 in Corleone, Sicily to Giacomo Reina and Carmela Runmore. In the early 1900s the Reina family moved to New York City and settled on 107th Street in East Harlem...
— murdered on February 26, 1930 - 1930 — Bonaventura "Joseph/Fat Joe" PinzoloJoseph PinzoloBonaventura "Joseph/Fat Joe" Pinzolo was the head of the Lucchese crime family in New York City for a brief period during 1930....
— murdered on September 5, 1930 - 1930–1951 — Gaetano "Tommy" GaglianoTommy GaglianoGaetano "Tommy" Gagliano was an American gangster who founded the Lucchese crime family, one of the powerful "Five Families" of New York City, and served as its low-profile Boss for over two decades...
— retired in 1951; died on February 16, 1953 - 1951–1967 — Gaetano "Tommy Brown" LuccheseTommy LuccheseGaetano "Tommy" Lucchese , also known as "Tom Brown" or "Three-Finger Brown", was an American mobster who became the Boss of the Lucchese crime family in New York City...
— became sick in 1966, died on July 13, 1967 from a brain tumorBrain tumorA brain tumor is an intracranial solid neoplasm, a tumor within the brain or the central spinal canal.Brain tumors include all tumors inside the cranium or in the central spinal canal...
.- Acting 1966–1967 — Carmine TramuntiCarmine TramuntiCarmine "Mr. Gribbs" Tramunti was a New York mobster who was the boss of the Lucchese crime family. Tramunti helped build the massive French Connection heroin smuggling ring.-Operating in Harlem:...
— stepped down - Acting 1967 — Ettore "Eddie" CocoEttore CocoEttore "Eddie" Coco was a New York City mobster who served as acting boss of the Lucchese crime family in 1967.-Boxing promoter:...
— stepped down
- Acting 1966–1967 — Carmine Tramunti
- 1967–1973 — Carmine "Mr. Gribbs" TramuntiCarmine TramuntiCarmine "Mr. Gribbs" Tramunti was a New York mobster who was the boss of the Lucchese crime family. Tramunti helped build the massive French Connection heroin smuggling ring.-Operating in Harlem:...
— imprisoned in October 1973 - 1973–1986 — Anthony "Tony Ducks" CoralloAnthony CoralloAnthony "Tony Ducks" Corallo was a New York City mobster and boss of the Lucchese crime family.-Early life:...
— on February 15, 1985, Corallo was indicted in the Mafia Commission caseMafia Commission TrialThe 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...
, he was convicted on November 19, 1986 and on January 13, 1987 was sentenced to 100 years in prison. - 1986–present — Vittorio "Vic" AmusoVictor AmusoVittorio "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....
— arrested in 1991, received a life sentenceLife imprisonmentLife imprisonment is a sentence of imprisonment for a serious crime under which the convicted person is to remain in jail for the rest of his or her life...
in January 1993- Acting 1990–1991 — Alphonse "Little Al" D'ArcoAlphonse D'ArcoAlphonse "Little Al" D'Arco , also known as "The Professor", is a New York mobster who became the acting boss of Lucchese crime family. He was the first boss, acting or otherwise, of a New York crime family to become a government witness....
— demoted, became a member of a ruling panel - Acting 1994–1998 — Joseph "Little Joe" DeFedeJoseph DeFedeJoseph "Little Joe" DeFede is a New York City mobster and former acting boss of the Lucchese crime family who eventually turned informant.-Early years:...
— imprisoned in 1998 - Acting 1998–2001 — Steven "Wonderboy" CreaSteven CreaSteven L. Crea , also known as "Wonderboy", or "Herbie", is a New York mobster heavily involved in labor racketeering who eventually became the acting boss of the Lucchese crime family.-Rise to power:...
— indicted and imprisoned on September 6, 2000 - Acting 2001–2003 — Louis "Louie Bagels" DaidoneLouis DaidoneLouis "Louie Bagels" Daidone is a New York mobster and former acting boss of the Lucchese crime family.-Sidewalk soldier:...
— imprisoned March 2003, received life sentence in January 2004
- Acting 1990–1991 — Alphonse "Little Al" D'Arco
Street Boss and Ruling panel(s)
Street BossIn the early 1990s, Vic Amuso used a Street Boss to distance himself from federal surveillance and enforce his orders to the other members of the administration. The street boss was considered the go-to-guy for the boss, when passing on his orders to lower ranking members.
- 1990–1991 — Alphonse "Little Al" D'ArcoAlphonse D'ArcoAlphonse "Little Al" D'Arco , also known as "The Professor", is a New York mobster who became the acting boss of Lucchese crime family. He was the first boss, acting or otherwise, of a New York crime family to become a government witness....
– promoted to Acting Boss
Ruling panel(s)
In 1991, after boss Vic Amuso was imprisoned a ruling panel (or committee) of capos was assembled to equally control the decision making of the crime family.
- 1991 — Anthony BarattaAnthony BarattaAnthony "Bowat" Baratta is a New York City mobster and former capo in the Lucchese crime family.-Capo of the "Harlem Crew":In 1978, Baratta became a made man in the Lucchese crime family operating under the family's Bronx faction...
, Salvatore AvellinoSalvatore AvellinoSalvatore "Sal" Avellino is a mobster and caporegime in the Lucchese crime family who was involved in labor racketering in the garbage and waste management industry in Long Island, New York...
, Frank LastorinoFrank LastorinoFrank "Big Frank" Lastorino is a New York City mobster and former Consigliere of the Lucchese crime family.-Lucchese hitman:Raised in Canarsie, Brooklyn, Lastorino soon joined the Lucchese crime family under Anthony "Tony Ducks" Corallo in extortion, loansharking and illegal gambling operations...
and Alphonse D'ArcoAlphonse D'ArcoAlphonse "Little Al" D'Arco , also known as "The Professor", is a New York mobster who became the acting boss of Lucchese crime family. He was the first boss, acting or otherwise, of a New York crime family to become a government witness....
– on September 21, 1991, D'Arco became a government witness. - 1991–1993 — Anthony BarattaAnthony BarattaAnthony "Bowat" Baratta is a New York City mobster and former capo in the Lucchese crime family.-Capo of the "Harlem Crew":In 1978, Baratta became a made man in the Lucchese crime family operating under the family's Bronx faction...
, Salvatore AvellinoSalvatore AvellinoSalvatore "Sal" Avellino is a mobster and caporegime in the Lucchese crime family who was involved in labor racketering in the garbage and waste management industry in Long Island, New York...
, Steven CreaSteven CreaSteven L. Crea , also known as "Wonderboy", or "Herbie", is a New York mobster heavily involved in labor racketeering who eventually became the acting boss of the Lucchese crime family.-Rise to power:...
and Domenico CutaiaDomenico CutaiaDomenico "Danny" Cutaia is a Brooklyn mafioso and a caporegime in the Lucchese crime family.-Background:... - 2003–present — Aniello MiglioreAniello MiglioreAniello "Neil" Migliore is a New York City mobster, and acting leader of the Lucchese crime family. Migliore was a close associate of family bosses Gaetano "Tommy" Lucchese and Anthony "Tony Ducks" Corallo.-Early years:...
, Joseph DiNapoliJoseph DiNapoliJoseph "Joey Dee" DiNapoli , is a high-ranking member of the Lucchese crime family, holding the rank of caporegime or captain, in the family's Ruling Committee/Panel, controlling the day-to-day operations since 2003, along with Aniello "Neil" Migliore and Matthew Madonna...
and Matthew MadonnaMatthew MadonnaMatthew Madonna is a caporegime with the Lucchese crime family who was heavily involved in narcotics trafficking and bribery of government officials.-Narcotics trafficking:...
Underboss (official and acting)
The underbossUnderboss
Underboss is a position within the leadership structure of Sicilian and American Mafia crime families. The underboss is second in command to the boss...
is the number two position in the family (after Don, Godfather, Boss). Also known as the "capo bastone" in some criminal organizations, this individual is responsible for ensuring that profits from criminal enterprises flow up to the boss and generally oversees the selection of the caporegime(s) and soldier(s) to carry out murders and other criminal activities. The underboss takes control of the crime family after the boss's death. Keeping this power until a new boss is chosen, which in some cases was the Underboss.
- 1920–1930 — Gaetano "Tommy" GaglianoTommy GaglianoGaetano "Tommy" Gagliano was an American gangster who founded the Lucchese crime family, one of the powerful "Five Families" of New York City, and served as its low-profile Boss for over two decades...
– promoted to boss - 1930–1951 — Gaetano "Tommy" Lucchese – promoted to acting boss
- 1951–1972 — Stefano "Steve" LaSalle – retired
- 1973–1978 — Aniello "Neil" MiglioreAniello MiglioreAniello "Neil" Migliore is a New York City mobster, and acting leader of the Lucchese crime family. Migliore was a close associate of family bosses Gaetano "Tommy" Lucchese and Anthony "Tony Ducks" Corallo.-Early years:...
– resigned - 1978–1986 — Salvatore "Tom Mix" Santoro Sr.Salvatore SantoroSalvatore T. "Tom Mix" Santoro, Sr. served as Underboss in the Lucchese crime family during the 1980s before being convicted in the Mafia Commission Trial and sentenced to 100 years in federal prison.-Early life:...
– imprisoned in the Commission Case - 1986–1989 — Mariano "Mac" Macaluso – retired in 1989
- 1989–1993 — Anthony "Gaspipe" CassoAnthony CassoAnthony "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...
– imprisoned, became government witness in 1993- Acting 1990–1992 — Anthony "Bowat" BarattaAnthony BarattaAnthony "Bowat" Baratta is a New York City mobster and former capo in the Lucchese crime family.-Capo of the "Harlem Crew":In 1978, Baratta became a made man in the Lucchese crime family operating under the family's Bronx faction...
– imprisoned in June 1992
- Acting 1990–1992 — Anthony "Bowat" Baratta
- 1993–present — Steven "Wonderboy" CreaSteven CreaSteven L. Crea , also known as "Wonderboy", or "Herbie", is a New York mobster heavily involved in labor racketeering who eventually became the acting boss of the Lucchese crime family.-Rise to power:...
– promoted to acting boss in 1998- Acting 1998–2001 — Eugene "Boopsie" Castelle – imprisoned in November 2000
- Acting 2001–2003 — Joseph "Joe C. CaridiJoseph CaridiJoseph "Joe C." Caridi a New York mobster and current Consigliere of the Lucchese crime family.-Lucchese family:In the mid 1980s, Caridi was reportedly inducted into the Lucchese crime family, then under the leadership of boss Victor Amuso...
– promoted to Consigliere
Consigliere (official and acting)
ConsigliereConsigliere
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...
is an advisor to the boss and usually the number three person in a crime family.
- 1931–1953 — Stefano "Steve" Rondelli – retired
- 1953–1973 — Vincenzo "Vinny" RaoVincenzo RaoVincenzo John Rao also known as Vincent or Vinny, was a New York City mobster who served as consigliere in the Lucchese crime family.-East Harlem:...
– imprisoned from 1965 to 1970, retired- Acting 1965–1967 — Mariano "Mac" Macaluso
- Acting 1967–1973 — Paul "Paulie" VarioPaul VarioPaul Vario was a caporegime of a crew in the Lucchese crime family. In the 1970s Vario held the position of consigliere in the family but later resigned. In 1980, longtime associate Henry Hill became a government witness and testified against Vario and members of his crew...
– imprisoned 1974 to 1976
- 1973–1981 — Vincent "Vinnie Beans" Foceri – retired
- 1981–1986 — Christopher "Christie Trick" FurnariChristopher FurnariChristopher "Christie Tick" Furnari, Sr. is a Lucchese crime family mobster serving life in prison. During the 1980s, Furnari served as the family consigliere until his 1986 racketeering conviction.-Early years:...
– imprisoned in 1986 - 1986–1987 — Ettore "Eddie" CocoEttore CocoEttore "Eddie" Coco was a New York City mobster who served as acting boss of the Lucchese crime family in 1967.-Boxing promoter:...
– retired - 1987–1989 — Anthony "Gaspipe" CassoAnthony CassoAnthony "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...
– promoted to underboss - 1989–1993 — Frank "Big Frank" LastorinoFrank LastorinoFrank "Big Frank" Lastorino is a New York City mobster and former Consigliere of the Lucchese crime family.-Lucchese hitman:Raised in Canarsie, Brooklyn, Lastorino soon joined the Lucchese crime family under Anthony "Tony Ducks" Corallo in extortion, loansharking and illegal gambling operations...
– imprisoned in April 1993 - 1993–1996 — Frank Papagni – imprisoned in September 1996
- 1996–2003 — Louis "Louie Bagels" DaidoneLouis DaidoneLouis "Louie Bagels" Daidone is a New York mobster and former acting boss of the Lucchese crime family.-Sidewalk soldier:...
– promoted to Acting Boss in 2001 - 2003–present — Joseph "Joe C." CaridiJoseph CaridiJoseph "Joe C." Caridi a New York mobster and current Consigliere of the Lucchese crime family.-Lucchese family:In the mid 1980s, Caridi was reportedly inducted into the Lucchese crime family, then under the leadership of boss Victor Amuso...
– imprisoned 2003 to 2009
Administration
- Boss Vittorio "Vic" AmusoVictor AmusoVittorio "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....
– boss since the 1987 conviction of Anthony CoralloAnthony CoralloAnthony "Tony Ducks" Corallo was a New York City mobster and boss of the Lucchese crime family.-Early life:...
. One of the most feared mobsters from the old Brooklyn faction of the family. Jailed in 1992, Amuso is currently serving a life sentence - Ruling Panel Aniello MiglioreAniello MiglioreAniello "Neil" Migliore is a New York City mobster, and acting leader of the Lucchese crime family. Migliore was a close associate of family bosses Gaetano "Tommy" Lucchese and Anthony "Tony Ducks" Corallo.-Early years:...
, Joseph DiNapoliJoseph DiNapoliJoseph "Joey Dee" DiNapoli , is a high-ranking member of the Lucchese crime family, holding the rank of caporegime or captain, in the family's Ruling Committee/Panel, controlling the day-to-day operations since 2003, along with Aniello "Neil" Migliore and Matthew Madonna...
and Matthew MadonnaMatthew MadonnaMatthew Madonna is a caporegime with the Lucchese crime family who was heavily involved in narcotics trafficking and bribery of government officials.-Narcotics trafficking:...
– all three men are running the day-to-day activities of the family. Migliore is the most powerful member of the three man panel and has the final say in all decisions. - Underboss Steven "Wonderboy" CreaSteven CreaSteven L. Crea , also known as "Wonderboy", or "Herbie", is a New York mobster heavily involved in labor racketeering who eventually became the acting boss of the Lucchese crime family.-Rise to power:...
– became Underboss in 1993 then acting boss in 1998. On September 6, 2000, Crea along with Lucchese members were indicted and charged with extortion and supervising various construction sites in New York City. In January 2004, Crea was sentenced to 34 months in prison. Crea was released from prison on August 24, 2006.
- Consigliere Joseph "Joe C." CaridiJoseph CaridiJoseph "Joe C." Caridi a New York mobster and current Consigliere of the Lucchese crime family.-Lucchese family:In the mid 1980s, Caridi was reportedly inducted into the Lucchese crime family, then under the leadership of boss Victor Amuso...
– operating from Long IslandLong IslandLong Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
and Queens. Caridi was imprisoned on extortion and loansharking charges and was released on November 27, 2009.
Capos
CapoCaporegime
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...
(Crew boss/captain/lieutenant/caporegime): a capo is appointed by the family boss to run his own borgata (regime, or crew) of sgarrista (soldiers). Each capo reports directly to the underboss, who gives the capo permission to perform criminal activities. If the family needs to murder someone, the underboss normally asks a capo to carry out the order. The capo runs the day-to-day operations of his crew. The capo's soldiers give part of their earnings to the capo, and the capo gives a share to the underboss. A capo can recommend to the underboss or boss that a recruit be allowed to join his crew as a mob associate.
New York
Bronx faction- Joseph "Joey Dee" DiNapoliJoseph DiNapoliJoseph "Joey Dee" DiNapoli , is a high-ranking member of the Lucchese crime family, holding the rank of caporegime or captain, in the family's Ruling Committee/Panel, controlling the day-to-day operations since 2003, along with Aniello "Neil" Migliore and Matthew Madonna...
– capo operating in the Bronx. DiNapoli was released from prison on September 17, 1999. He has two younger brothers in the Genovese crime familyGenovese crime familyThe Genovese 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 Genovese crime family has been nicknamed the "Ivy League" and "Rolls Royce" of organized crime...
, VincentVincent DiNapoliVincent DiNapoli is a New York mobster and captain in the Genovese crime family, involved in labor racketeering. DiNapoli is best known for creating a cartel in the 1970s that controlled the price of drywall in New York City.-Early years:...
and LouisLouis DiNapoliLouis DiNapoli is a New York City mobster and soldier in the Genovese crime family. DiNapoli grew up in the East Harlem section of Manhattan and became a made member of the Genovese family in the early 1980s, joining the 116th Street Crew, which was headed by his older brother Vincent DiNapoli. ...
. In 2003, DiNapoli along with Migliore and Madonna became members of a ruling panel that is running the family.On October 1, 2009 DiNapoli was indicted in a racketeering scheme that made approximately $400 million from gambling, loansharking, gun trafficking and extortion. He is free on bail.
- Matthew "Matt" MadonnaMatthew MadonnaMatthew Madonna is a caporegime with the Lucchese crime family who was heavily involved in narcotics trafficking and bribery of government officials.-Narcotics trafficking:...
– capo operating in the Bronx. Madonna served 20 years in prison for narcotics trafficking. He was released from prison on September 22, 2003. In 2003, Madonna along with Migliore and DiNapoli became members of a ruling panel that is running the family. As of September 2011, Madonna is on trial for two racketeering indictments. He is free on bail.
- John "Johnny Hooks" Capra – capo operating in the Bronx, Westchester and Manhattan. In 2005, Capra was indicted and charged with extortion along with members of the Gambino crime family. Capra received an eighteen-month sentence and was released from federal prison on September 10, 2008.
- Anthony "Blue Eyes" Santorelli – capo operating in the Bronx and Westchester. In the 1990s, Santorelli led The Tanglewood Boys, a recruitment gang for the Lucchese family.
- (In prison) Joseph "Big Joe" Lubrano – capo active on Arthur Avenue in the Bronx, Manhattan and Staten Island. Lubrano is 40-years-old and is considered a rising member in the family. In 1994, he was wrongfully sent to prison for beating a police officer and was released four years later. In May 2010, Lubrano was listed on the FBI Most Wanted List for several armed robberies, he was arrested on September 11, 2010.
Manhattan & Long Island
- Aniello "Neil" MiglioreAniello MiglioreAniello "Neil" Migliore is a New York City mobster, and acting leader of the Lucchese crime family. Migliore was a close associate of family bosses Gaetano "Tommy" Lucchese and Anthony "Tony Ducks" Corallo.-Early years:...
– capo operating in Manhattan, Long Island and Florida. In 1992, Migliore was shot on orders from Amuso who saw him as a rival. He was released from prison on May 14, 1997. In 2003, Migliore along with Madonna and DiNapoli became members of a ruling panel that is running the family.
- Dominic "Crazy Dom" Truscello – capo of the Prince Street Crew, members are active in Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn and Long Island. In the 1990s, Truscello along with Steven Crea and Joseph Tangorra formed the Lucchese Construction Group, supervising all the Lucchese family's construction related rackets. On September 6, 2000, Truscello, Crea and Tangorra were charged with bid rigging, corrupting construction labor officials among other crimes. In 2003, Truscello plead guilty to extortion, on January 9, 2006, he was released from federal prison.
- (Acting) Anthony Croce – an acting capo active in Manhattan, Bronx and Staten Island. Croce was arrested in November 2008 for running a sport gambling ring operating in the Bronx and Upper Manhattan. He was charged in two separate indictments in 2009; the first was in October for bribery, loansharking, gun trafficking, extortion, gambling and racketeering and the second in November for running a sports betting ring from his bar "Night Gallery" in New Dorp, Staten Island.
Brooklyn faction
- Eugene "Bubsie" Castelle – capo operating from Bath BeachBath Beach, BrooklynBath Beach is a neighborhood in the New York City Borough of Brooklyn in the United States. It is located at the southwestern edge of the borough on Gravesend Bay.-Geography:...
and Bensonhurst, BrooklynBensonhurst, BrooklynBensonhurst 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...
. In 1997, Castelle was charged with bribing guards to smuggle food and steroids into the Brookyln Metropolitan Detention CenterMetropolitan Detention Center"Metropolitan Detention Centers" are federal detention facilities operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons and located throughout the United States...
. On November 12, 2000, Caselle and other Lucchese members were charged drug trafficking, extortion and loansharking. He was released from prison on August 28, 2008.
- (In prison) Domenico "Danny" CutaiaDomenico CutaiaDomenico "Danny" Cutaia is a Brooklyn mafioso and a caporegime in the Lucchese crime family.-Background:...
– capo of the Brownsville CrewThe Vario CrewThe Vario Crew is a group operating within the Lucchese crime family. It was once controlled by powerful Capo Paul Vario from the early 1950s into the early 1980s, when Vario and Jimmy Burke were betrayed by Henry Hill. Hill betrayed the crew by testifying against many members and his life-story...
. Cutaia is a former messenger between the imprisoned Amuso and the crime family. On October 25, 2009, he was sentenced to three years in prison for bank fraud. His projected release date November 21, 2012.
- (In prison) Carlo Profeta – acting capo of the Brownsville CrewThe Vario CrewThe Vario Crew is a group operating within the Lucchese crime family. It was once controlled by powerful Capo Paul Vario from the early 1950s into the early 1980s, when Vario and Jimmy Burke were betrayed by Henry Hill. Hill betrayed the crew by testifying against many members and his life-story...
. On February 24, 2010, Profeta was indicted along with Lucchese soldier Salvatore Cutaia, associates Joseph Cutaia and Eric Maione, Bonanno capo Anthony Mannone and associate Jerome Carameilli on racketeering and extortion charges. In February 2011, Profeta and associate Eric Maione pleaded guilty to extortion charges. As of September 2011, Profetta is being held at the Brooklyn Metropolitan Detention CenterMetropolitan Detention Center"Metropolitan Detention Centers" are federal detention facilities operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons and located throughout the United States...
(MDC)
New Jersey
- (In prison) Michael "Mad Dog" TaccettaMichael TaccettaMichael Salvatore Taccetta , also known as "Mad Dog", is a high-ranking member of the Lucchese crime family, who wound up controlling the entire New Jersey faction of the family in the 1980s...
– capo of the Jersey CrewThe Jersey CrewThe Jersey Crew is a powerful faction of the Lucchese crime family, that operates and controls illegal activities like drug trafficking, labor racketeering, loansharking, extortion, illegal gambling, money laundering, and murder, in the Northern New Jersey area....
and boss of the entire Lucchese's New Jersey faction. Taccetta is currently serving life in prison for conspiracy and drug trafficking convictions.
- Ralph Vito Perna – capo in the Jersey crew. Was arrested in December 2007 with Joseph DiNapoliJoseph DiNapoliJoseph "Joey Dee" DiNapoli , is a high-ranking member of the Lucchese crime family, holding the rank of caporegime or captain, in the family's Ruling Committee/Panel, controlling the day-to-day operations since 2003, along with Aniello "Neil" Migliore and Matthew Madonna...
and Matthew MadonnaMatthew MadonnaMatthew Madonna is a caporegime with the Lucchese crime family who was heavily involved in narcotics trafficking and bribery of government officials.-Narcotics trafficking:...
. The Jersey crew ran an illegal gambling operation that earned approximately $2.2 billion overa 15-month period. The crew also worked with New Jersey correction officers and members of Nine Trey Gangster, a setSetA set is a collection of well defined and distinct objects, considered as an object in its own right. Sets are one of the most fundamental concepts in mathematics. Developed at the end of the 19th century, set theory is now a ubiquitous part of mathematics, and can be used as a foundation from...
, or subgroup, of the BloodsBloodsThe Bloods are a street gang founded in Los Angeles, California. The gang is widely known for its rivalry with the Crips. They are identified by the red color worn by their members and by particular gang symbols, including distinctive hand signs...
street gang. The Jersey crew used Bloods members to smuggle illegal drugs and prepaid cell phones into the New Jersey state prisons.
- Joseph "Joey" Giampa – capo operating in New Jersey. Giampa has a stepson named Gennaro Vittorio, a.k.a. Gerry Giampa who is also involved in organized crime.
Soldiers
SoldierSoldato
A Soldato is the lowest level of the formal Mafia hierarchy, both in America and in Sicily. However, a soldier is much greater in rank and prestige than any ordinary associate of the crime family. In order to become a soldier, the primary requisite for an associate is to become a made man...
(sgarrista/soldato/wiseguy/button/buttonman/goodfella): a soldier is a made man
Made man
A made man, also known as a Mafioso , made guy, man of honor, or uomo d'onore , is someone who has been officially inducted into the Sicilian or American Mafia . They may also be referred to by some as a goodfella or wiseguy...
who has already proven himself to the family. In order to become a soldier he must pass the voting of the captains vote then a message is passed up to the boss or underboss. The soldier then takes an oath (Omertà
Omertà
Omertà is a popular attitude and code of honour and a common definition is the "code of silence". It is common in areas of southern Italy, such as Sicily, Apulia, Calabria, and Campania, where criminal organizations defined as Mafia such as the Cosa Nostra, 'Ndrangheta, Sacra Corona Unita, and...
) to honor the family, he is then assigned into a crew and given a captain. A soldier is one of the lowest ranks in the family but still has much power over associates and friends.
- Thomas "Tommy Red" Anzellotto – soldier, in 1998 he replaced Lucchese soldier soldier Samuel Cavalieri.
- Salvatore "Sal" AvellinoSalvatore AvellinoSalvatore "Sal" Avellino is a mobster and caporegime in the Lucchese crime family who was involved in labor racketering in the garbage and waste management industry in Long Island, New York...
– soldier and former capo. In the 1980s, Avellino was the boss Anthony Corallo's bodyguard and chauffeur. In the early 1990s, Avellino was a member of a ruling panel that controlled the family. He was released from prison on October 13, 2006.
- Carmine Avellino – soldier involved in extorting carting companies. In 1984, Carmine and his brother Salvatore had a sit-down with Bonanno family members Joe Massino, Salvatore Vitale and "Stevie Beefs" Cannone over controlling King Caterers. In 1988, Carmine was banned from New Jersey casinos. In January 1995, Carmine was indicted along with Anthony Baratta, Frank Federico and Rocco Vitulli for the August 1989, murders of Robert Kubecka and Donald Barstow. On February 25, 2004, he was released from prison.
- Robert "Bucky the Boss" Caravaggio – soldier in the Jersey crew. Caravaggio is operating Morris County and Northern New Jersey.
- Alfonso T. "Tic" Cataldo – soldier running illegal gambling operations in Northern New Jersey and working with Eurasian organized crime groups. Cataldo was arrested in December 2007 on charges of promoting gambling, money laundering and racketeering charges along with two members of the Lucchese ruling panel Joseph DiNapoli and Matthew Madonna.
- John "Sideburns" Cerrella – soldier, former acting capo in the 1990s. Formerly a Genovese family associate operating in Broward CountyBroward County, Florida-2000 Census:As of the census of 2000, there were 1,623,018 people, 654,445 households, and 411,645 families residing in the county. The population density was 1,346 people per square mile . There were 741,043 housing units at an average density of 615 per square mile...
, Cerrella later became a made man in the Lucchese family. He is a Long Island faction leader who conducts racketeering, fraud, stocks and wire fraud in Queens and Long Island. He was released from prison on November 27, 2009.
- Joseph "Joey Blue Eyes" Cosentino – soldier. In 1997, Cosention and Anthony Mangano murdered Bonanno family drug dealer Constable Farace.
- Ralph Cuomo – soldier and owner of Ray's PizzaRay's PizzaRay's Pizza, and its many variations such as "Ray's Original Pizza", "Famous Ray's Pizza", "World-Famous Original Ray's Pizza", etc, are the names of dozens of pizzerias in the New York City area that are generally completely independent but that may have similar menus, signs and...
in Little Italy. In 1969, Cuomo was convicted of narcotics trafficking after being found with 50 pounds of heroin. In 1998, Cuomo discussed heroin drug sales with Lucchese soldier Frank Gioia, Jr.
- Salavatore Cutaia – soldier whose father, Domenico Cutaia, is a high-ranking Lucchese capo. Salavtore's son Joseph Cutaia is considered to be an associate in the family. His son Joseph was charged on December 24, 2009 for an attempted robbery and stick up of a Bensonhurst, Brooklyn couple along with Nicholas Bernardo.
- Santo Giampapa – soldier, he and his brother Joseph were acquitted in the 1992 killing of Lucchese capo Michael Salerno.
- Frank "Big Frank" LastorinoFrank LastorinoFrank "Big Frank" Lastorino is a New York City mobster and former Consigliere of the Lucchese crime family.-Lucchese hitman:Raised in Canarsie, Brooklyn, Lastorino soon joined the Lucchese crime family under Anthony "Tony Ducks" Corallo in extortion, loansharking and illegal gambling operations...
– soldier in the Bensonhurst crew. He is a former capo and Consigliere. In the early 1990s, Lasterino hatched the plot to kill both John A. Gotti and Lucchese capo Steven Crea to take over the family. He was released from federal prison on December 23, 2008 after serving 14 years on racketeering, extortion and conspiracy to commit murder.
- Vincent "Vinny Casablanca" Mancione – soldier and former acting capo. On December 12, 2002, Macione along with Consigliere Joseph Caridi, capo John Cerrella and soldier Carmelo Profeta were arrested for extorting restaurants on Long Island. He was released from prison in August 2006.
- Anthony Mangano – soldier. In 1997, Mangano and Joseph Cosentino murdered Bonanno family drug dealer Constable Farace.
- Frank Manzo – soldier with the Vario crew.
- Anthony Pezzullo – soldier, former member of the Lucchese Construction Group involved in bid rigging, extorting construction companies, and corrupting union locals. The group consisted of acting boss Steven Crea, capos Dominic Truscello and Joseph Tangorra, soldiers Phillip Desimone, Joseph Datello (Truscello crew member), Joseph Zambardi and associate Andrew Reynolds.
- Nicodemo Scarfo, Jr.Nicodemo Scarfo, Jr.Nicodemo Salvatore "Nicky" Scarfo Jr. is the second son of convicted Philadelphia crime family boss Nicodemo "Little Nicky" Scarfo, Sr. In his 20s, he was allegedly inducted into the Lucchese crime family sometime in the early 1990s....
– soldier, he is the son of former Philadelphia crime familyPhiladelphia crime familyThe 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...
boss Nicodemo ScarfoNicodemo ScarfoNicodemo "Little Nicky" Domenico Scarfo is a member of the American Mafia who eventually became the Boss of the Philadelphia crime family after the death of Angelo Bruno and Phil Testa...
. With help from his father he joined the Lucchese family. Scarfo Jr. is a member of the Lucchese family's New Jersey faction.
- Rocco Vitulli – soldier, he was a member of Anthony Baratta's crew. On August 10, 1989, Vitulli along with Frank Federico murdered Robert M. Kubecka and Donald Barstow, two executives of a trash-collection company in East Northport, New YorkEast Northport, New YorkEast Northport is a hamlet and census-designated place in the Town of Huntington in Suffolk County, New York, United States. The population was 20,845 at the 2000 census.-Founding:...
. In January 1995, Vitulli was charged along with Carmine Avellino, Anthony Baratta and Frank Federico for the murders of Kubecka and Barstow. He was released from prison on September 7, 2000.
Imprisoned soldiers
- Ray Argentina – soldier in the Lucchese family. In 2001 Argentina was charged along with Louis Gampero for illegal mortgage fraud activities in Brooklyn, up state New York and Long Island. He was also running an illegal cocaine ring in Long Island with Ken Cardona. Argentina is currently incarcerated and projected release date is October 4, 2024.
- Anthony "Bowat" BarattaAnthony BarattaAnthony "Bowat" Baratta is a New York City mobster and former capo in the Lucchese crime family.-Capo of the "Harlem Crew":In 1978, Baratta became a made man in the Lucchese crime family operating under the family's Bronx faction...
– soldier and former capo in the Bronx. Ran large drug trafficking operations in the 1990s and sat on the family's Ruling Panel. He is currently imprisoned with a projected release-date of September 25, 2012.
- John Baudanza – a soldier, operating in his father-in-law Domenico CutaiaDomenico CutaiaDomenico "Danny" Cutaia is a Brooklyn mafioso and a caporegime in the Lucchese crime family.-Background:...
's crewThe Vario CrewThe Vario Crew is a group operating within the Lucchese crime family. It was once controlled by powerful Capo Paul Vario from the early 1950s into the early 1980s, when Vario and Jimmy Burke were betrayed by Henry Hill. Hill betrayed the crew by testifying against many members and his life-story...
. His father Carmine and uncle Joseph are both members of the Colombo crime familyColombo crime familyThe Colombo crime family is the youngest of the "Five Families" that dominates organized crime activities in New York City, United States, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the Mafia ....
. In 1997, John and his cousin Joseph M. Baudanza were involved in stock crimes. On April 17, 2007, John, along with his father and uncle pleaded guilty to racketeering charges related to operating a "pump and dumpPump and dump"Pump and dump" is a form of microcap stock fraud that involves artificially inflating the price of an owned stock through false and misleading positive statements, in order to sell the cheaply purchased stock at a higher price....
" stock scam. He is currently serving his sentence in the Allenwood prisonFederal Correctional Institute, AllenwoodAllenwood Federal Correctional Complex is a United States Federal Bureau of Prisons facility located on U.S. Route 15 in Gregg Township, Union County, Pennsylvania. The prison, at the foothills of the Allegheny Mountains, is on U.S. Route 15, north of Allenwood, south of Williamsport, and north...
with a projected release date of August 2, 2015.
- Michael "Mikey Bones" Carcione – soldier and former acting capo for Domenico Cutaia's crewThe Vario CrewThe Vario Crew is a group operating within the Lucchese crime family. It was once controlled by powerful Capo Paul Vario from the early 1950s into the early 1980s, when Vario and Jimmy Burke were betrayed by Henry Hill. Hill betrayed the crew by testifying against many members and his life-story...
. In 2008, Carcione was arrested along with capo Domenico Cutaia, soldiers John Baudanza, Salvatore Cutaia, associates Steven Lapella, Victor Sperber, Louis Colello, and John Rodopolous for loansharking, illegal gambling among other illegal criminal activities. Carcione is currently imprisoned with a projected release date of July 3, 2012.
- George "Goggles" Conte – a soldier, and former capo. In 1991, Conte along with other capos inducted five new members into the crime family. In January 1995, Conte and George Zappola were indicted and convicted of murder and racketeering. Conte is currently imprisoned, with a projected release date of March 10, 2014.
- Louis "Louie Bagels" DaidoneLouis DaidoneLouis "Louie Bagels" Daidone is a New York mobster and former acting boss of the Lucchese crime family.-Sidewalk soldier:...
– soldier a former acting boss, Consigliere and capo. He was convicted to life in prison in 2003.
- Andrew DiSimone – a former acting capo operating in the Bronx, Westchester and Manhattan. DiSimone was arrested on October 1, 2009 for bribery and illegal gambling operations. He was convinced that he was paying off corrupt NYPD officers for protection on loansharking, sports bookmaking and illegal gambling activities. The two officers were actually undercover agents for two years the officers in a sting named Operation Open House receiving $222,000 in bribes. He is currently imprisoned, with a projected release date of August 7, 2013.
- Christopher "Christie Trick" Furnari Sr.Christopher FurnariChristopher "Christie Tick" Furnari, Sr. is a Lucchese crime family mobster serving life in prison. During the 1980s, Furnari served as the family consigliere until his 1986 racketeering conviction.-Early years:...
– soldier a former Consigliere in the Lucchese family, convicted in the 1980s Mafia Commission case. He is currently imprisoned with a projected release date is November 24, 2044.
- James "Jimmy Frogs" Galione – a soldier replaced late Lucchese soldier Pete DePalermo position. In 1997 he and Mario Gallo plead guilty to the murder of an associate to the Bonanno/Colombo families Constable "Gus" Farace in 1989. Farace was a drug dealer responsible for killing an undercover federal agent. He was also charged with running a crack ring that operated in Bay Ridge and Bensonhurst, Brooklyn since 1992. He is currently imprisoned due out on December 24, 2015.
- Joseph "Joey Bang Bang" Massaro – a soldier in the Harlem Crew reported to Capo Anthony BarattaAnthony BarattaAnthony "Bowat" Baratta is a New York City mobster and former capo in the Lucchese crime family.-Capo of the "Harlem Crew":In 1978, Baratta became a made man in the Lucchese crime family operating under the family's Bronx faction...
. He was operating in Long Island forcing topless bar owners to book his strippers from Entertainment Plus Agency. Massaro would use threats of intimidations and arson to get his way. In summer of 1989 helped cover up a murder of Joseph Fiorito with Patrick Esposito he was arrested in 1993. At his trail FBI agent Joe PistoneJoseph D. PistoneJoseph Dominick Pistone, alias Donnie Brasco, , is a former FBI agent who worked undercover for six years infiltrating the Bonanno crime family and to a lesser extent the Colombo crime family, two of the Five Families of the Mafia in New York City...
discussed what he learned about a Bonanno-Lucchese family sit-down over the topless bars in Long Island. Former Lucchese family acting boss Alphonse D'ArcoAlphonse D'ArcoAlphonse "Little Al" D'Arco , also known as "The Professor", is a New York mobster who became the acting boss of Lucchese crime family. He was the first boss, acting or otherwise, of a New York crime family to become a government witness....
also testified against him, Massaro received a life sentenced.
- Frank "Bones" Papagni – soldier and former capo in the early 1990s, with racketeering, illegal gambling and loansharking operations in the Brooklyn section. He is serving 20 years for the attempted murder conspiracy on John A. Gotti in 1993. Papagni's projected release-date is November 24, 2015.
- Michael J. Perna – soldier and former Capo in the Jersey factionThe Jersey CrewThe Jersey Crew is a powerful faction of the Lucchese crime family, that operates and controls illegal activities like drug trafficking, labor racketeering, loansharking, extortion, illegal gambling, money laundering, and murder, in the Northern New Jersey area....
; he began working for the Lucchese families Jersey faction sometime in 1976; by the 1980s was serving as the Underboss of the Jersey Faction for Michael Taccetta; acquitted in the 21 month trail along with other Jersey faction members on August 26, 1988; in 1993 was convicted of gambling and extortion along with Michael and Martin Taccetta with the testimony of Thomas Ricciardi and Anthony AccetturoAnthony AccetturoAnthony "Tumac" Accetturo is a former caporegime and leader of the New Jersey faction of the Lucchese crime family The Jersey Crew.-Biography:...
; relatives include his father Joseph Perna, younger brother Ralph; The 67 year-old is currently imprisoned at the Federal Correction Institution at Fairton, New Jersey his projected release date is August 2, 2015.
- Martin TaccettaMartin TaccettaMartin "Marty" Taccetta is a New Jersey mobster who is the alleged boss of the Jersey Crew, a powerful faction of the Lucchese crime family.-Early life:...
– soldier and former Capo in the Jersey CrewThe Jersey CrewThe Jersey Crew is a powerful faction of the Lucchese crime family, that operates and controls illegal activities like drug trafficking, labor racketeering, loansharking, extortion, illegal gambling, money laundering, and murder, in the Northern New Jersey area....
was released from prison in 2005 due to lack of evidence in his trial, and wrongfully being accused of murder charges in his older brother Michael Taccetta's trial in 1993. On July 30, 2009 the New Jersey Supreme Court reversed lower court decision that granted Taccetta release and reinstated Martin life sentence for racketeering and extortion.
- Joseph "Joey Flowers" Tangorra – soldier and former capo whose crew was based in BensonhurstBensonhurst, BrooklynBensonhurst 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...
Brooklyn and was involved in extortion and racketeering activities. Tangorra is currently incarcerated and reportedly suffers from mental illness. His projected release date is December 9, 2014.
- George "Georgie Neck" ZappolaGeorge ZappolaGeorge "Georgie Neck" Zappola is a New York mobster and caporegime with the Lucchese crime family who became infamous for smuggling a sperm sample out of prison to impregnate his girlfriend.-Biography:Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York City...
– soldier and former capo under the regime of Amuso and Casso in the 1980s. He operated out of the Brooklyn wing with racketeering, extortion activities. Zappola is currently imprisoned on murder-conspiracy charges in aid of racketeering with Frank Papagni. His projected release date is March 3, 2014
Family crews
A crew is a group of soldiers and associates who operate in a specific area. The capo runs the crew and reports to the underboss. The soldiers run illegal activities such as illegal gambling, loansharking, bookmaking, extortion, and fencing of stolen goods. The soldiers pay tribute to the capo and the capo sends a portion of this tribute money to the boss and underboss. The soldiers are "made men", or full family members, and have associates (who are not made men) working for them. An associate works for a crew in hopes of proving his worth to the family and becoming a made man. To be eligible to become a made man, an associate must be of Italian ancestry on both sides of his family.- The Vario CrewThe Vario CrewThe Vario Crew is a group operating within the Lucchese crime family. It was once controlled by powerful Capo Paul Vario from the early 1950s into the early 1980s, when Vario and Jimmy Burke were betrayed by Henry Hill. Hill betrayed the crew by testifying against many members and his life-story...
– active in Brooklyn and Queens - The Jersey crewThe Jersey CrewThe Jersey Crew is a powerful faction of the Lucchese crime family, that operates and controls illegal activities like drug trafficking, labor racketeering, loansharking, extortion, illegal gambling, money laundering, and murder, in the Northern New Jersey area....
– a faction in the Lucchese crime family. The leader of the Jersey crew/faction is imprisoned Michael TaccettaMichael TaccettaMichael Salvatore Taccetta , also known as "Mad Dog", is a high-ranking member of the Lucchese crime family, who wound up controlling the entire New Jersey faction of the family in the 1980s...
, the acting boss/capo is Ralph Perna.
Recruitment gangs
- The Tanglewood Boys – were an Italian-American gang from Yonkers, New YorkYonkers, New YorkYonkers is the fourth most populous city in the state of New York , and the most populous city in Westchester County, with a population of 195,976...
. They were named after the Tanglewood Shopping Center located on a busy shopping strip on Central Avenue in Yonkers. Members of the gang frequently operated within and around the shopping mall. They began in the 1990s as a "farm teamFarm teamIn sports, a farm team, farm system, feeder team or nursery club, is generally a team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any successful players can move on to a higher level at a given point...
" or recruitment gang for the MafiaAmerican MafiaThe American Mafia , is an Italian-American criminal society. Much like the Sicilian Mafia, the American Mafia has no formal name and is a secret criminal society. Its members usually refer to it as Cosa Nostra or by its English translation "our thing"...
, specifically the Lucchese crime family. Several members went on to other crime families as well, and they were usually the sons of made membersMade manA made man, also known as a Mafioso , made guy, man of honor, or uomo d'onore , is someone who has been officially inducted into the Sicilian or American Mafia . They may also be referred to by some as a goodfella or wiseguy...
. In 1994, members of the gang were arrested for murdering a college student Louis Balancio at a Yonkers sports bar. After the arrests, one member, Darin Mazzarella, became an informantInformantAn informant is a person who provides privileged information about a person or organization to an agency. The term is usually used within the law enforcement world, where they are officially known as confidential or criminal informants , and can often refer pejoratively to the supply of information...
, leading to the convictions of other members of the gang.
- East Harlem Purple GangEast Harlem Purple GangThe East Harlem Purple Gang was a semi-independent group of Italian American hit-men and heroin dealers who according to Federal prosecutors dominated heroin distribution in East Harlem and the Bronx during the late 1970s in New York City...
– were a group of Italian AmericanItalian AmericanAn Italian American , is an American of Italian ancestry. The designation may also refer to someone possessing Italian and American dual citizenship...
hit-men and heroin dealers. The group was considered a semi-independent gang operating in East Harlem and the BronxThe BronxThe 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...
during the late 1970s. Members would join the Lucchese and Genovese families.
Controlled unions
The Lucchese family has taken over unions across United States. The crime family has extorted money from the unions in blackmail, strong-arming, violence and other matters to keep their control over the market. Similar to the other four crime families of New York City they worked on controlling entire unions. With the mob having control over the union they control the entire market. Bid-rigging allows the mob to get a percentage of the income on the construction deal only allowing certain companies to bid on jobs who pay them first. The mob also allows companies to use non-union workers to work on jobs the companies must give a kickback to the mob. Unions give mob members jobs on the books to show a legitimate source of income. The Mafia members get into high union position and began embezzling money from the job and workers.- Clothes manufacturing - In the Garment DistrictGarment District, ManhattanThe Garment District, also known as the Garment Center, the Fashion District, or the Fashion Center, is a neighborhood located in the Manhattan borough of New York City. The dense concentration of fashion-related uses give the neighborhood, which is generally considered to span between Fifth Avenue...
of Manhattan, the Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees Locals 10, 23, 24, and 25 were controlled by members of the Lucchese family. Lucchese Associates would extort the businesses and organize strikes. Today some unions still are working for the family. - Kosher meat companies - In the early 1960s Giovanni "Johnny Dio" Dioguardi merged Consumer Kosher Provisions Company and American Kosher Provisions Inc. together. Dio was able to control a large portion of the Kosher food market, forcing supermarkets to buy from his companies at his prices.
- Food distribution - At the Hunts Point Cooperative MarketHunts Point Cooperative MarketThe Hunts Point Cooperative Market, a wholesale food market located on 60 acres in New York City's South Bronx district, is the largest food distribution center in the world...
in the Hunts PointHunts Point, BronxHunts Point is a low-income neighborhood located on a peninsula in the South Bronx in New York City. It is the location of one of the largest food distribution facilities in the world. The neighborhood is part of Bronx Community Board 2. Its boundaries are the Bruckner Expressway to the west and...
section of the Bronx, the Lucchese family controlled unions involved in the food distribution industry. - Airport services and freight handling - At John F. Kennedy International AirportJohn F. Kennedy International AirportJohn F. Kennedy International Airport is an international airport located in the borough of Queens in New York City, about southeast of Lower Manhattan. It is the busiest international air passenger gateway to the United States, handling more international traffic than any other airport in North...
, LaGuardiaLaGuardia AirportLaGuardia Airport is an airport located in the northern part of Queens County on Long Island in the City of New York. The airport is located on the waterfront of Flushing Bay and Bowery Bay, and borders the neighborhoods of Astoria, Jackson Heights and East Elmhurst. The airport was originally...
and Newark LibertyNewark Liberty International AirportNewark Liberty International Airport , first named Newark Metropolitan Airport and later Newark International Airport, is an international airport within the city limits of both Newark and Elizabeth, New Jersey, United States...
, the unions were controlled by the Lucchese family. - Construction - TeamstersTeamstersThe International Brotherhood of Teamsters is a labor union in the United States and Canada. Formed in 1903 by the merger of several local and regional locals of teamsters, the union now represents a diverse membership of blue-collar and professional workers in both the public and private sectors....
unions in New York City and New Jersey have been under Lucchese control; Mason Tenders Locals 46, 48, and 66 were controlled by the old Vario CrewThe Vario CrewThe Vario Crew is a group operating within the Lucchese crime family. It was once controlled by powerful Capo Paul Vario from the early 1950s into the early 1980s, when Vario and Jimmy Burke were betrayed by Henry Hill. Hill betrayed the crew by testifying against many members and his life-story...
. - Newspaper production and delivery - In November 2009, Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau sent search warrants to investigate the Newspaper Mail Deliverers Union. This union controlled circulation, production and delivery offices at The New York TimesThe New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, The New York PostNew York PostThe New York Post is the 13th-oldest newspaper published in the United States and is generally acknowledged as the oldest to have been published continuously as a daily, although – as is the case with most other papers – its publication has been periodically interrupted by labor actions...
, The New York Daily NewsNew York Daily NewsThe Daily News of New York City is the fourth most widely circulated daily newspaper in the United States with a daily circulation of 605,677, as of November 1, 2011....
and El Diario La PrensaEl Diario La PrensaEl Diario la Prensa is the largest and oldest Spanish-language daily newspaper in New York City, and the oldest Spanish-language daily in the United States. Published by ImpreMedia, the paper covers local, national and international news with an emphasis on Latin America, as well as human-interest...
. When the Cosa Nostra took control over the union, the price and costs for newspapers increased. Charges were put against many union members as well as the former union President Douglas LaChance. LaChance is accused as being Lucchese crime family associate. In the 1980s LaChance was convicted on labor racketeering charges and served five years in prison. He was also involved in the Manhattan 1990s case were New York Post was being strong-armed in to switching their delivery companies, but was acquitted in the case.
Former members
- Stefano "Steve" LaSalle (spelled LaSala) was an early member of the Morello family. In 1915, East Harlem's Italian lottery "king" Giosue Gallucci was murdered, allowing LaSalle and Tommaso Lomonte to take over the lottery. He later became a member of Reina family. LaSalle served as underboss to Tom Lucchese and later Carmine Tramunti, he retired in the 1970s.
- Anthony "Buddy" Luongo – a capo who tried to take over the family after boss Anthony Corallo was imprisoned in the Commission case. In December 1986, Luongo met Vic Amuso, Anthony Casso, Bobby Amuso and Dom Carbucci in Brooklyn when Bobby Amuso shot Luongo dead.
- Mariano "Mac" Macaluso – served as consigliere in the 1960s. In 1986, after the Mafia Commission TrialMafia Commission TrialThe 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...
, Macaluso became the new underboss. In 1989, boss Vittorio AmusoVictor AmusoVittorio "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....
forced Macaluso into retirement. He died in 1992 from natural causes. - Richard "Toupe" Pagliarulo – in 1991 he took over Peter ChiodoPeter ChiodoPeter "Big Pete" Chiodo was a capo in the Lucchese crime family who later became a government witness. He is the nephew of Lucchese mobster Frank Signorino.-Background:...
's Bensonhurst crew. He later died of natural causes in prison. - Guido "the Bull" Penosi – was an associate in the Lucchese and Gambino crime family's. Penosi lived in Beverly Hills, and he was a narcotics dealer active in Los Angeles and the West Coast. In the 1980s Penosi along with his cousin Frank PiccoloFrank PiccoloFrank Louis Piccolo was a caporegime in the Gambino crime family in Bridgeport, Connecticut who became involved in a famous extortion case with singer Wayne Newton....
stopped Genovese family mobster from extorting his friend Wayne NewtonWayne NewtonWayne Newton is an American singer and entertainer based in Las Vegas, Nevada. He performed over 30,000 solo shows in Las Vegas over a period of over 40 years, earning him the nicknames The Midnight Idol, Mr. Las Vegas and Mr. Entertainment...
(Wayne Newton v. NBC). - Patrick "Patty" Testa – was the younger brother to Joseph Testa. In 1984, he was indicted on fraud and theft charges along with members of the Gambino family's DeMeo crew. Testa was sentenced to two years in prison and after his release joined the Lucchese crime family. On December 2, 1992 Testa was murdered, he was shot in the back of the head nine times. It was later revealed that Anthony Casso had ordered Frank Lastorino to murder Testa.
Government informants and witnesses
- Alphonse "Little Al" D'ArcoAlphonse D'ArcoAlphonse "Little Al" D'Arco , also known as "The Professor", is a New York mobster who became the acting boss of Lucchese crime family. He was the first boss, acting or otherwise, of a New York crime family to become a government witness....
– former acting boss from 1990 to 1991. Became government witness on September 21, 1991. - Joseph "Little Joe" DeFedeJoseph DeFedeJoseph "Little Joe" DeFede is a New York City mobster and former acting boss of the Lucchese crime family who eventually turned informant.-Early years:...
– former acting boss from 1993 to 1998, then demoted to capo when imprisoned. Became government witness in early 2002 after his release. - Anthony CassoAnthony CassoAnthony "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 from 1986 to 1993. Became government witness in 1992. - Anthony "Tumac" AccetturoAnthony AccetturoAnthony "Tumac" Accetturo is a former caporegime and leader of the New Jersey faction of the Lucchese crime family The Jersey Crew.-Biography:...
– capo of the Jersey crewThe Jersey CrewThe Jersey Crew is a powerful faction of the Lucchese crime family, that operates and controls illegal activities like drug trafficking, labor racketeering, loansharking, extortion, illegal gambling, money laundering, and murder, in the Northern New Jersey area....
from 1970s to 1988. Became government witness in 1993. - Peter ChiodoPeter ChiodoPeter "Big Pete" Chiodo was a capo in the Lucchese crime family who later became a government witness. He is the nephew of Lucchese mobster Frank Signorino.-Background:...
– former capo. Became a government witness after being shot 12 times on May 8, 1991. - Frank "Spaghetti Man" Gioia, Jr. – former soldier. In 1991, he became a made man. In 1993, he was arrested for trafficking heroin from Manhattan to Boston. In 1994, Gioia found out that Frank Papagni planned to murder his father and he decided to become an government witness. Since becoming a government witness Gioia has testified against 60 defendants.
- Frank Gioia, Sr. – former soldier. Did not testify against the family but entered Witness ProtectionUnited States Federal Witness Protection ProgramThe United States Federal Witness Protection Program is a witness protection program administered by the United States Department of Justice and operated by the United States Marshals Service that is designed to protect threatened witnesses before, during, and after a trial.A few states, including...
with son Frank Jr. in 1994. - Vincent Salanardi – former soldier. In 2002, Salanardi was indicted on racketeering charges and became a government witness, and later dropped from the program. In March 2006, he was sentenced to 11 years and three months in prison. Salanardi's projected release date is October 29, 2012.
- Frank Suppa – former soldier. Member of the Jersey faction seen as a Capo in Florida; became informant in late 1997.
- Henry Hill – former associate. His life was the basis for the book Wiseguy and the film GoodfellasGoodfellasGoodfellas is a 1990 American crime film directed by Martin Scorsese. It is a film adaptation of the 1986 non-fiction book Wiseguy by Nicholas Pileggi, who co-wrote the screenplay with Scorsese...
. He and his wife Karen, became government witnesses.
Mafia allies
- The Lucchese-Gambino-Genovese alliance (1953–1985) between Tommy LuccheseTommy LuccheseGaetano "Tommy" Lucchese , also known as "Tom Brown" or "Three-Finger Brown", was an American mobster who became the Boss of the Lucchese crime family in New York City...
, Carlo GambinoCarlo 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...
and Vito GenoveseVito GenoveseVito "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...
began with a plot to take over the Mafia CommissionThe Commission (mafia)The Commission is the governing body of the American Mafia. Formed in 1931, the Commission replaced the "Boss of all Bosses" title, with a ruling committee, consisting of the New York Five Families bosses and the boss of the Chicago Outfit...
by murdering family bosses Frank CostelloFrank CostelloFrank 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 Albert AnastasiaAlbert AnastasiaAlbert Anastasia was boss of what is now called the Gambino crime family, one of New York City's Five Families, from 1951-1957. He also ran a gang of contract killers called Murder Inc. which enforced the decisions of the Commission, the ruling council of the American Mafia...
. At that time, Gambino was Anastasia's new underboss and Genovese was the underboss for Costello. The first target of the conspiracy was Costello. On May 2, 1957 gunmen attempted to kill Costello on a New York street. Costello survived the assassination attempt, but immediately decided to retire as boss in favor of Genovese. The conspirators' second target was Anastasia. On October 25, 1957, the Gallo brothers (from the Colombo family) murdered Anastasia in a Manhattan barber shop, allowing Gambino to become boss of Anastasia's family. After he assumed power, Gambino started conspiring with Lucchese to remove their former ally Genovese. After the disastrous 1957 Apalachin meetingApalachin MeetingThe Apalachin Meeting was a historic summit of the American Mafia held on November 14, 1957, at the home of mobster Joseph "Joe the Barber" Barbara in Apalachin, New York. The meeting was attended by roughly 100 Mafiosi from the United States, Canada, and Italy...
of mob leaders in Upstate New YorkUpstate New YorkUpstate New York is the region of the U.S. state of New York that is located north of the core of the New York metropolitan area.-Definition:There is no clear or official boundary between Upstate New York and Downstate New York...
, Genovese lost a great deal of respect in the Commission. In 1959, with the assistance of Luciano, Costello, and Meyer LanskyMeyer LanskyMeyer 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...
, Genovese was arrested. Gambino and Lucchese assumed full control of the Mafia Commission. Under Gambino and Lucchese, the Commission pushed rival Bonanno boss Joseph BonannoJoseph BonannoJoseph 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:...
out of power, triggering an internal war in that family. In the 1960s, the Commission backed the Gallo brothers in their rebellion against Profaci family boss Joe Profaci. In 1962, Gambino's oldest son Thomas married Lucchese's daughter Frances, strengthening the Gambino-Lucchese alliance. Lucchese gave Gambino access into the rackets at the New York airports rackets he controlled and Garment District rackets, Gambino allowed Lucchese into some of their rackets. After Lucchese death in July 1967, Gambino used his power over the Commission to make Carmine TramuntiCarmine TramuntiCarmine "Mr. Gribbs" Tramunti was a New York mobster who was the boss of the Lucchese crime family. Tramunti helped build the massive French Connection heroin smuggling ring.-Operating in Harlem:...
the boss of the Lucchese family. Gambino continued the alliance with Tramunti's successor, Anthony CoralloAnthony CoralloAnthony "Tony Ducks" Corallo was a New York City mobster and boss of the Lucchese crime family.-Early life:...
. After Gambino's death, the new Gambino boss Paul CastellanoPaul CastellanoConstantino 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...
continued the alliance with Corallo. In 1985, the Gambino-Lucchese alliance finally dissolved after Gambino capo John GottiJohn GottiJohn 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...
ordered Gambino boss Paul CastellanoPaul CastellanoConstantino 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...
's assassination without Commission approval.
- The Lucchese-Genovese alliance (1986–present) The new alliance started in 1986 with Amuso and Genovese boss Vincent GiganteVincent GiganteVincent 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...
teaming up against Gambino boss John Gotti. Gotti had ordered the murder of Gambino boss Paul Castellano who also led the Mafia Commission. The Castellano murder started between the Gambino family and the Genovese and Lucchese families. To avenge Castellano, the alliance ordered the killing of Gambino underboss Frank DeCiccoFrank DeCiccoFrank DeCicco also known as Frankie D and Frankie Cheech was a New York mobster and labor racketeer for the Gambino crime family...
. However, the alliance failed its attempts to kill Gotti. The Lucchese-Genovese alliance is still strong today, with the two families cooperating on deals around New York City. Joseph DiNapoliJoseph DiNapoliJoseph "Joey Dee" DiNapoli , is a high-ranking member of the Lucchese crime family, holding the rank of caporegime or captain, in the family's Ruling Committee/Panel, controlling the day-to-day operations since 2003, along with Aniello "Neil" Migliore and Matthew Madonna...
a member of the family's three man ruling panel has two brothers in the Genovese crime familyGenovese crime familyThe Genovese 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 Genovese crime family has been nicknamed the "Ivy League" and "Rolls Royce" of organized crime...
; Vincent "Vinny" DiNapoliVincent DiNapoliVincent DiNapoli is a New York mobster and captain in the Genovese crime family, involved in labor racketeering. DiNapoli is best known for creating a cartel in the 1970s that controlled the price of drywall in New York City.-Early years:...
, a captain, and Louis DiNapoliLouis DiNapoliLouis DiNapoli is a New York City mobster and soldier in the Genovese crime family. DiNapoli grew up in the East Harlem section of Manhattan and became a made member of the Genovese family in the early 1980s, joining the 116th Street Crew, which was headed by his older brother Vincent DiNapoli. ...
, a soldier in Vincent's crew.
- The Lucchese-Gambino alliance (1999–present) The new alliance between the families started in 1999 when acting boss Steven Crea teamed up with several Gambino capos. The mobsters extorted millions of dollars from the construction industry in bid-rigging scams. In early 2002 Lucchese capo John Capra worked with Gambino acting boss Arnold SquitieriArnold SquitieriArnold "Squiggy" Ezekiel Squitieri of Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey is a convicted drug dealer and former acting boss and current Underboss of the Gambino crime family. He is also known as "Zeke", "Bozey", and "Squitty".-Murder charge:...
, acting underboss Anthony MegaleAnthony MegaleAnthony Megale , also known as "The Genius", "Tony Connecticut", "Machiavelli", "Mac", "The Brain", "Mr. T", and "Gas Man" is a Connecticut mobster who became the acting underboss of the Gambino crime family.-Criminal history:...
and acting Capo Gregory DePalmaGregory DePalmaGregory J. DePalma was an acting capo in the Gambino crime family who was responsible for introducing an undercover Federal Bureau of Investigation agent in his crew.-Celebrity life:...
. The group was involved in illegal gambling and extortion activities in Westchester County, New YorkWestchester County, New YorkWestchester County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. Westchester covers an area of and has a population of 949,113 according to the 2010 Census, residing in 45 municipalities...
. The members were arrested in 2005 leaving to reveal that DePalma had allowed FBI agent Joaquin Garcia (known as Jack Falcone) to work undercover with his crew since 2002. In late 2008 Gambino capo Andrew Merola teamed with Lucchese’s Jersey faction acting Boss Martin Taccetta in an illegal gambling ring, extorting money from labor unions and car dealerships. In 2008, Merola was indicted and Taccetta was sent back to prison in 2009.
- The Lucchese-Bonanno sitdown (2010) Lucchese acting capo Carlo Profeta and Bonanno capo Anthony Mannone had a sitdown over a Lucchese soldier who owed $213,000 to Mannone. On February 24, 2010, Profeta, soldier Salvatore Cutaia and associates Joseph Cutaia and Eric Maione, along with Mannone and Bonanno associate Jerome Carameilli were indicted on racketeering and extortion charges.
Other allies
- The Lucchese-Lepke alliance (1920s-1944) started with Tommy Lucchese and Louis "Lepke" BuchalterLouis BuchalterLouis "Lepke" Buchalter was a Jewish American mobster and head of the Mafia hit squad Murder, Inc. during the 1930s. After Dutch Schultz' request of the Mafia Commission for permission to kill his enemy, U.S. Attorney Thomas Dewey, the Commission decided to kill Schultz in order to prevent the hit...
extorting payments from garment makers in New York's Garment DistrictGarment District, ManhattanThe Garment District, also known as the Garment Center, the Fashion District, or the Fashion Center, is a neighborhood located in the Manhattan borough of New York City. The dense concentration of fashion-related uses give the neighborhood, which is generally considered to span between Fifth Avenue...
. During the 1930s, Lepke was one of the most powerful Jewish gangsters in New York City. With his allies Meyer Lansky and Bugsy Siegel, Lepke fought for control over Jewish neighborhoods throughout Brooklyn and together formed Murder, Inc.Murder, Inc.Murder, Inc. was the name given by the press to organized crime groups in the 1920s through the 1940s that resulted in hundreds of murders on behalf of the American Mafia and Jewish Mafia groups who together formed the early organized crime groups in New York and...
Lepke would fall when his trusted Brownsville crew leader, Abe "Kid Twist" RelesAbe RelesAbe "Kid Twist" Reles was a New York mobster who was widely considered the most feared hit man for Murder, Inc., the enforcement contractor for the National Crime Syndicate. Reles later turned government witness and sent several members of Murder, Inc...
, became a government witness and testified against Lepke in a murder trial. On March 4, 1944, Lepke was executed by electrocutionElectrocutionElectrocution is a type of electric shock that, as determined by a stopped heart, can end life. Electrocution is frequently used to refer to any electric shock received but is technically incorrect; the choice of definition varies from dictionary to dictionary...
. After Lepke's execution, Tommy Lucchese took over Lepke's rackets in the Garment District and Brownsville.
- The Lucchese-Greek Mafia alliance (1980s-present) started in the early 1980s. The Velentzas FamilyVelentzas FamilyThe Velentzas crime family is a Greek-American criminal organization operating in the New York City area. Mostly active in the 1980s and 1990s with illegal gambling...
, a Greek-American criminal organization led by Spiros Velentzas, operated in Astoria, Queens and other Greek communities in the city. The Lucchese family offered Velentzas protection in return for a percentage of his family's illegal gambling profits.
- The Lucchese-Russian Mafia alliance took place in the late 1980s. Marat BalagulaMarat BalagulaMarat Balagula is a Russian - Ukrainian Jewish immigrant, former mob boss, and associate of the Lucchese crime family. He has often been referred to as "the Russian Tony Soprano."-Early life:...
was a Russian criminal boss whose organization controlled Brighton BeachBrighton BeachBrighton Beach is an oceanside neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. As of 2000, it has a population of 75,692 with a total of 31,228 households.-Location:...
and other Russian-American communities in New York. When the Colombo family tried to extort payments from Balagula's lucrative gasoline business, he met with Lucchese consigliere Christopher FurnariChristopher FurnariChristopher "Christie Tick" Furnari, Sr. is a Lucchese crime family mobster serving life in prison. During the 1980s, Furnari served as the family consigliere until his 1986 racketeering conviction.-Early years:...
. Funari offered Balaqula an alliance to protect him from the Colombos and other Cosa Nostra families
- The Lucchese-Nicky Barnes alliance lasted from the early 1970s into the 1980s. Leroy "Nicky" BarnesLeroy BarnesLeroy Nicholas "Nicky" Barnes is a government informant, former drug lord and crime boss, who led the notorious African-American criminal organization known as The Council, which controlled the heroin trade in Harlem, New York during the 1970s. In 2007 he released a book, “Mr...
was an African-American drug dealer in Harlem who was supplied with heroin by Lucchese associate Matthew MadonnaMatthew MadonnaMatthew Madonna is a caporegime with the Lucchese crime family who was heavily involved in narcotics trafficking and bribery of government officials.-Narcotics trafficking:...
and Colombo capo "Crazy Joe" GalloJoe GalloJoseph Gallo , also known as "Crazy Joey" and "Joe the Blond", was a celebrated New York City gangster for the Profaci crime family, later known as the Colombo crime family...
. Barnes created a criminal organization known as The CouncilThe Council (drug syndicate)The Council was a drug and crime syndicate in New York City created by Harlem gangster Nicky Barnes in the 1970s. The seven man organization was modeled after the Italian mob families. The Council settled disputes, handled distribution problems and other drug related issues...
that dealt large amounts of heroin in HarlemHarlemHarlem is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, which since the 1920s has been a major African-American residential, cultural and business center. Originally a Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands...
.
Rivals
- The Cuban Mafia, called La Coporacion (the Corporation), was led by Jose Miguel Battle, Sr. a native Cuban who set up the organization in Miami, Florida and Union City, New Jersey. Up into the 1980s, Battle worked in Union City with Bonanno capo Joseph Zicarelli. Battle then swapped connections to Genovese Capo James NapoliJames NapoliJames "Jimmy Nap" Napoli was a New York mobster who was a Caporegime in the Genovese crime family. From the 1950s to the 1980s, he controlled one of the largest illegal gambling operations in the United States....
. In 1985, La Coporacion battled with the Lucchese family for control over numbers rackets.
- The Albanian Mafia, called the Rudaj OrganizationRudaj OrganizationThe Rudaj Organization was the name given the Albanian mafia in the New York City metro area, so named for the man accused of being its kingpin, Alex Rudaj of Yorktown, New York. The Rudaj Organization, called "The Corporation" by its members, was started in 1993 in Westchester and spread to the...
, was led by boss Alex Rudaj, Nikolla Dedaj and Italian Nardino Colotti and operated in Yorktown, New YorkYorktown, New YorkYorktown is a town in Westchester County, New York, in the suburbs of New York about north of midtown Manhattan. The town lies on the north border of Westchester County...
, the Bronx, and Queens. The Rudaj started in 1993 and lasted to 2004, when it was decimated by the Cosa Nostra and criminal prosecution. The Rudaj briefly fought the Lucchese family for control of gambling rackets in Astoria, Queens. The Rudaj attacked two Greek associates of the Lucchese family on August 3, 2001.
Family events
| Boss | Tommy Lucchese Tommy Lucchese Gaetano "Tommy" Lucchese , also known as "Tom Brown" or "Three-Finger Brown", was an American mobster who became the Boss of the Lucchese crime family in New York City... |
| Underboss | Stefano LaSalle |
| Consigliere | Vincenzo Rao Vincenzo Rao Vincenzo John Rao also known as Vincent or Vinny, was a New York City mobster who served as consigliere in the Lucchese crime family.-East Harlem:... |
| Caporegimes: | Ettore Coco Ettore Coco Ettore "Eddie" Coco was a New York City mobster who served as acting boss of the Lucchese crime family in 1967.-Boxing promoter:... Joseph LaRatro Giovanni Ormento Joseph Rosato Carmine Tramunti Carmine Tramunti Carmine "Mr. Gribbs" Tramunti was a New York mobster who was the boss of the Lucchese crime family. Tramunti helped build the massive French Connection heroin smuggling ring.-Operating in Harlem:... Anthony Corallo Anthony Corallo Anthony "Tony Ducks" Corallo was a New York City mobster and boss of the Lucchese crime family.-Early life:... Joseph Lucchese James Plumeri Salvatore Santoro Salvatore Santoro Salvatore T. "Tom Mix" Santoro, Sr. served as Underboss in the Lucchese crime family during the 1980s before being convicted in the Mafia Commission Trial and sentenced to 100 years in federal prison.-Early life:... Natale Evola Natale Evola Natale "Joe Diamond" Evola was a New York mobster who briefly became boss of the Bonanno crime family.Born in the Bay Ridge section of Brooklyn to parents Filippo and Francesca, who was natives of Castellammare del Golfo, Sicily. He was the brother of Paul, Joseph and Anna... |
| Soldiers: | Frank Arra Joseph Bendenelli Nicholas Bonina Frank Callace Frank Campanello Frankie Carbo Frankie Carbo Paul John Carbo better known as "Frankie Carbo" was a New York City Mafia soldier in the Lucchese crime family, who operated as a boxing promoter and a gunman with Murder, Inc.... Frank Cintrano Sam Cavalieri Paul Correale Dominick Bianco Donato Laietta Edward D'Argenio John DiCarlo Thomas Dioguardi Johnny Dioguardi Charles DiPalermo, Vincent Corrao Joseph DiPalermo Salvatore Granello Joe Emanuel Anthony Lisi Salvatore LoProfo Salvatore Maneri Aniello Migliore Aniello Migliore Aniello "Neil" Migliore is a New York City mobster, and acting leader of the Lucchese crime family. Migliore was a close associate of family bosses Gaetano "Tommy" Lucchese and Anthony "Tony Ducks" Corallo.-Early years:... Vic Panica Andinno Pappadia Dominick Petrilli Dominick Petrilli Dominick "The Gap" Petrilli was a New York mobster in the Lucchese crime family. He was an early associate of mobster/government witness Joe Valachi.... Anthony LoPinto Vincent Potenza Calogero Rao Charles Sooperto Salvatore Shillitani Joseph Silesi Nicholas Tocentino Angelo Tuminaro Joseph Vento Anthony Vadala Sam Valente Tom Valente James Vintaloro |
- Window Case - 1978 to 1990 - four of the five New York City crime families (Lucchese, Genovese, Gambino and Colombo) formed a cartel that controlled the sale and installation of thousands of energy-efficient windows in New York City housing projects.
In popular culture
- The 1981 film Gangster WarsGangster Wars-Synopsis:The film tells the story of three teenagers, based on real life gangsters Charles "Lucky" Luciano , Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel and Michael Lasker , growing up in New York's ghettos during the early 1900s to their rise though organized crime.-Adaptation:This movie is based on...
Lucchese family's future boss Gaetano "Tommy Brown" LuccheseTommy LuccheseGaetano "Tommy" Lucchese , also known as "Tom Brown" or "Three-Finger Brown", was an American mobster who became the Boss of the Lucchese crime family in New York City...
was played by actor Jon PolitoJon PolitoJon Polito is an American actor and voice artist, who is known for working with the Coen Brothers, most notably in the major supporting role of Italian gangster Johnny Caspar in Miller's Crossing. He also appeared in the first two seasons of Homicide: Life on the Street and on the first season of...
. - The 1990 film GoodfellasGoodfellasGoodfellas is a 1990 American crime film directed by Martin Scorsese. It is a film adaptation of the 1986 non-fiction book Wiseguy by Nicholas Pileggi, who co-wrote the screenplay with Scorsese...
was based on Lucchese mob associate Henry Hill and The Vario CrewThe Vario CrewThe Vario Crew is a group operating within the Lucchese crime family. It was once controlled by powerful Capo Paul Vario from the early 1950s into the early 1980s, when Vario and Jimmy Burke were betrayed by Henry Hill. Hill betrayed the crew by testifying against many members and his life-story...
of the Lucchese family. - The 1991 film MobstersMobstersMobsters is a 1991 crime-drama film detailing the creation of the The Commission. Set in New York City, taking place from 1917 to 1931, it is a semi-fictitious account of the rise of Charles "Lucky" Luciano, Meyer Lansky, Frank Costello, and Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel.-Plot:This highly dramatized...
Lucchese family boss Gaetano "Tommy" ReinaGaetano ReinaGaetano "Tommy" Reina was the first Boss of the Lucchese crime family in New York City.-Early years:Gaetano Reina was born in September 1889 in Corleone, Sicily to Giacomo Reina and Carmela Runmore. In the early 1900s the Reina family moved to New York City and settled on 107th Street in East Harlem...
was played by actor Christopher PennChris PennChristopher Shannon "Chris" Penn was an American film and television actor known for his roles in such films as The Wild Life, Reservoir Dogs, Footloose, Rush Hour, True Romance, All the Right Moves and Pale Rider.-Early life:Penn was born in Los Angeles, California, the youngest son of Leo Penn,...
. - In the 1991 film Out for JusticeOut for JusticeOut for Justice is a 1991 action film directed by John Flynn and starring Steven Seagal.- Plot :Gino Felino is an NYPD detective from Brooklyn who has strong ties within his neighborhood...
, the William ForsytheWilliam Forsythe (actor)William Forsythe is an American actor, known for playing "tough guy" roles. He is also a writer, and has several short stories that are set to be published.-Early life:...
character "Richard Madano" was based on Lucchese mobster Matthew MadonnaMatthew MadonnaMatthew Madonna is a caporegime with the Lucchese crime family who was heavily involved in narcotics trafficking and bribery of government officials.-Narcotics trafficking:...
. - The 1999-2007 HBO TV-show The SopranosThe SopranosThe 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...
, the Lucchese family's New Jersey factionThe Jersey CrewThe Jersey Crew is a powerful faction of the Lucchese crime family, that operates and controls illegal activities like drug trafficking, labor racketeering, loansharking, extortion, illegal gambling, money laundering, and murder, in the Northern New Jersey area....
was the main inspiration for the DiMeo crime family according Crime Library. Main character Anthony "Tony" SopranoTony SopranoAnthony 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...
was based on Lucchese mobster Michael TaccettaMichael TaccettaMichael Salvatore Taccetta , also known as "Mad Dog", is a high-ranking member of the Lucchese crime family, who wound up controlling the entire New Jersey faction of the family in the 1980s...
. - In 2005 and 2006 a fictionalized version of The Tanglewood Boys was featured on CSI: NYCSI: NYCSI: NY is an American police procedural television series that premiered on September 22, 2004, on CBS. The show follows the investigations of a team of NYPD forensic scientists and police officers as they unveil the circumstances behind mysterious and unusual deaths as well as other crimes...
, in episode 1.13 "Tanglewood" and in episode 2.20 "Run Silent, Run Deep". - The 2006 film Find Me GuiltyFind Me GuiltyFind Me Guilty is a 2006 legal drama crime film based on the true story about the longest Mafia trial in American history. Mobster Giacomo "Jackie" DiNorscio faces a series of charges even though he has a prior 30 year conviction, but he decides to stand trial instead of ratting out his family and...
was based on the 1980s trial of 20 members of the Lucchese Jersey Crew. - The 2006 Electronic ArtsElectronic ArtsElectronic Arts, Inc. is a major American developer, marketer, publisher and distributor of video games. Founded and incorporated on May 28, 1982 by Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer games industry and was notable for promoting the designers and programmers...
video game The Godfather: The GameThe Godfather: The GameThe Godfather: The Game is an action-adventure video game developed and published by Electronic Arts. It is the second video game in the Godfather series and based upon the 1972 film of the same name. Originally released in March 2006 for the PlayStation 2, Xbox and Microsoft Windows, The Godfather...
, the Stracci FamilyStracci familyThe Stracci Family is one of the Five New York Families in Mario Puzo's novel The Godfather and the movie of the same name.-Role in the Story:...
could be based on the Lucchese crime family. In the game, the family is based in New Jersey; the Lucchese family has a large power base in New Jersey. - In the 2007 film American Gangster, the Armand AssanteArmand Assante-Personal life:Assante was born in New York City and raised in Cornwall, New York, the son of Katherine , a music teacher and poet, and Armand Anthony Assante, Sr., a painter and artist. His father was Italian and his mother was Irish, and was raised in a devoutly Roman Catholic family...
character Dominic Cattano was based on Lucchese mobster Carmine TramuntiCarmine TramuntiCarmine "Mr. Gribbs" Tramunti was a New York mobster who was the boss of the Lucchese crime family. Tramunti helped build the massive French Connection heroin smuggling ring.-Operating in Harlem:...
. - In the 2008 Rockstar North'sRockstar NorthRockstar North is a British video game developer based in Edinburgh, Scotland, best known for creating the Grand Theft Auto and Lemmings franchises in its earlier guise as DMA....
video game GTA IV, the fictional Lupisella family could loosely be based on the Lucchese family. The Lupisella family is mainly based in Bohan, the GTA 4 version of the Bronx, and is operating in Liberty CityLiberty City (Grand Theft Auto)Liberty City is a fictional city in Rockstar Games' video games series Grand Theft Auto, based primarily on several major cities including New York City...
, the game's version of New York CityNew York CityNew 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...
.
Sources
- 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
- DeStefano, Anthony. The Last Godfather: Joey Massino & the Fall of the Bonanno Crime Family. California: Citadel, 2006.
- Jacobs, James B., Coleen Friel and Robert Radick. Gotham Unbound: How New York City Was Liberated from the Grip of Organized Crime. New York: NYU Press, 1999. ISBN 0-8147-4247-5
- Critchley, David. The Origin of Organized Crime in America: The New York City Mafia, 1891-1931
Further reading
- DeVico, Peter J. The Mafia Made Easy: The Anatomy and Culture of La Cosa Nostra. Tate PublishingTate Publishing & EnterprisesTate Publishing & Enterprises, LLC is a Christian publisher that prints books of all types. In general, it operates on the vanity press model in which most authors pay for the publication of their books...
, 2007. ISBN 1-60247-254-8 - Rudolph, Robert C. The Boys from New Jersey: How the Mob Beat the Feds. New York: William Morrow and Company Inc., 1992. ISBN 0-8135-2154-8
- Capeci, Jerry. The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Mafia. Indianapolis: Alpha Books, 2002. ISBN 0-02-864225-2
- Davis, John H. Mafia Dynasty: The Rise and Fall of the Gambino Crime Family. New York: HarperCollins, 1993. ISBN 0-06-016357-7
- Jacobs, James B., Christopher Panarella and Jay Worthington. Busting the Mob: The United States Vs. Cosa Nostra. New York: NYU Press, 1994. ISBN 0-8147-4230-0
- Maas, Peter. Underboss: Sammy the Bull Gravano's Story of Life in the Mafia. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1997. ISBN 0-06-093096-9
- Volkman, Ernest. Gangbusters: The Destruction of America's Last Great Mafia Dynasty New York, Avon Books, 1998 ISBN 0-380-73235-1
- Eppolito, Louis. Mafia Cop: The Story of an Honest Cop whose Family Was the Mob. ISBN 1-4165-2399-5
- Lawson, Guy and Oldham, William. The Brotherhoods: The True Story of Two Cops Who Murdered for the Mafia. ISBN 978-0-7432-8944-3
- Jacobs, James B., Coleen Friel and Robert Radick. Gotham Unbound: How New York City Was Liberated from the Grip of Organized Crime. New York: NYU Press, 1999. ISBN 0-8147-4247-5
External links
- Lucchese Crime Family News - The New York Times
- Lucchese Crime Family Epic: Descent into Darkness Part I by Thomas L. Jones
- American Gangland: Lucchese Crime Family
- Dieland: Mob: The Lucchese Family
- Dieland: Mob: The New Jersey Crew