He has five sisters, including Claire and Nancy, and one brother. [20], In March 2015, the FBI arrested 10 members and associates of the crime family on charges of conspiracy to commit murder and distribution of drugs, including 71 year-old captain Charles "Beeps" Stango and 72 year-old consigliere Frank Nigro. The mutt a made member of the Mafia family had insulted an acting boss and disputed a mobster staffing decision. Hearing Impaired: 856-968-4983 We got more DeCav's coming too. This, right after the Valachi Hearings in 1963, was during an era of extreme exposure and crackdowns on organized crime figures in this country. He was considered the new head of the New Jersey organization, but his reign proved to be very short, as there were multiple factions operating underneath who all conspired to take over. Carpenito also said that for the gun conviction, U.S. Judge Anne E. Thompson will add a mandatory five years to his sentence at a hearing scheduled for July 7 in Trenton. [18] With the decline of the DeCavalcante family, New York's Five Families have taken over many of the rackets in northern New Jersey. Ten alleged members and associates of the New Jersey mafia also known as the DeCavalcante crime family including capo Charles Stango were busted back in 2015 by the feds for various crimes. Read the room, Get the latest from Brad Hunter straight to your inbox. They dont recognize more than five families, a law-enforcement expert notes. They operate in the realm made mythic by The Godfather and their bosses are figures of legend. 1. Arsenault described mob activity at the port today similar to the problems that prompted the formation of the commission: theft of cargo and containers, extortion of port workers and importationand sale of drugs. Main Office: Andrew Ford: @AndrewFordNews; 732-643-4281; aford3@gannettnj.com. According to the complaint unsealed today: Now in the year 2012 DeCavalcante are a strong Organized Loyal Mafia Family With over 7 Bases and 4 wars won. The plate number was written down by a witness who saw the hitman tossing the guns in a stream. She opened the front door and spoke over the yapping of her schnauzer. The DeCavalcante family is known as the inspiration for the acclaimed HBO series " The Sopranos ." An investigation into Vella and another family associate culminated in the execution of a. In fact, many of the characters and incidents within Sopranos are reported to have been inspired by DeCavalcante exploits. The Sopranos are fictional, the DeCavalcante crime family is not. Charged With Murder Plot, Cocaine Distribution and Prostitution Business. Official websites use .gov He doubled the number of made men within his family during the 60s. The official criminal organization began with Simone DeCavalcante, known as "Sam the Plumber" and "The Count". Madonna, who was the Lucchese family acting boss, and DiNapoli were indicted in 2010 for racketeering, leading an organized New Jersey-based crime ring and other crimes by a state grand jury as . Stango, a captain in the DeCavalcante family, allegedly sought and obtained permission from Nigro, the crime familys consigliore or counsel and other upper-echelon members of the crime family, to kill a rival member living in New Jersey. Most of its leaders are either dead or incarcerated, and other criminal networks have wrestled control of the remaining rackets that once provided serious revenue for the family. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. He was arrested with Amanda Humphreys, 24, of Seaside Heights and Jason Vella, 37 of Berkeley Township. Riggi ran a well-structured borgata until he, too, fell afoul of law enforcement. Riggi was promoted to the position of official boss, and he reaped the enormous benefits of large labor and construction racketeering,[10] loansharking, illegal gambling, and extortion activities. Simone DeCavalcante was the boss of the crime family that bore his name and a FBI bug recorded his every word to his secretary when he arrived at his office one morning in 1964. A lot of what is reported and wrote about is watered down, wrong, or sensationalized. He would quickly utilize his position and popularity to help expand the influence and geographic reach of this borgata. The Family was active in many of the traditional rackets such as gambling, shylocking, labor union racketeering and corruption, extortion, and narcotics. Read more about cookies here. Delmore kept running the organization until he became ill in the early 1960s. If you dont mind, Id rather not talk about it, she said. SNP treasurer Colin Beattie has been arrested in connection with the ongoing investigation into the funding and finances of the Scottish National Party.. Police Scotland revealed this morning that . He owned Kenilworth Heating and Air Conditioning in Kenilworth, New Jersey as a legal front and source of taxable income, for which he gained the nickname "Sam the Plumber". And they were now finding themselves overshadowed by a TV show about a New Jersey crime family modeled after the DeCavalcante family. [31], In July 2022, capo Charlie Stango was released from federal prison and went into a New York halfway house. He retired to a high-rise condo in Florida when he was released and largely stayed out of Mafia business, although the FBI believed that he was still advising the family into the early 1990s. He died in 1964, and his nephew Simone DeCavalcante was installed as new boss of the officially recognized "DeCavalcante crime family" of North Jersey. Like his predecessor before him, the law eventually caught up with Johnny the Eagle as well. District of New Jersey TRENTON - An associate of the DeCavalcante crime family Monday pleaded guilty to possessing cocaine with the intent to . has fought against New Jersey withdrawing from the commission, Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. . He rose to power in 1964, and he was incarcerated in 1969. Its illicit activities include bookmaking, cement and construction violations, bootlegging, corruption, drug trafficking, extortion, fencing, fraud, hijacking, illegal gambling, loan-sharking, money laundering, murder, pier thefts, pornography, prostitution, racketeering, and waste management violations. At least one customer called 911 seeking police assistance.. At the height of his power, DeCavalcantes crime family was reported to oversee illicit activities worth over $20 million a year. Mob Fireside Chat BGs Official YouTube Channel, The DeCavalcante Crime Family of New Jersey, Nicolas (Nicky Dell) Delmore An Early DeCavalcante Family Boss, Simone Rizzo DeCavalcante The Count Of New Jersey, John (John the Eagle) Riggi DeCalvacante Family Acting Boss, Francesco (Big Frank) Majuri The Underboss, Joseph (Joe Buff) La Selva Nutmeg Mafioso, Antonio (Tony the Fox) Caruso The Hidden Fox, Carmelo (Melio) Cocchiaro DeCavalcante Family Soldier, Frank (Big Frankie) Cocchiaro DeCavalcante Caporegime, Rudolph (Rudy) Farone This Tootsie Dont Roll, Pietro (Pete) Galletta This Zip Liked To Sleep, Umberto (Vadoo) Gallo The Longshore Loaner, Joseph Guerriero Pippy of Connecticut, Joe Lolordo Machine-Gun Killer and DeCavalcante Capo, Joseph (The Old Man) Miranda The Mob Turtle. ) or https:// means youve safely connected to the .gov website. [15] In retaliation, Vincent Palermo decided to have Majuri murdered. He preferred The Count. (He told people his father had been an Italian marquis.). Stango, Charles et al. Heeney and Pali were recorded on various occasions between Aug. 29, 2012, and March 14, 2013, providing undercover officers with quantities of cocaine in exchange for cash and counterfeit goods. He was recorded telling Majuri of going with fellow mobster Gaetano Corky Vastola to visit someone who had failed to come in for a chat when summoned. Riggi used his power and influence to place subcontractors and workers at various construction projects around the state, and the DeCavalcantes were able to steal from union welfare and pension funds. Sam was recorded talking about The Commission, his efforts as a Commission rep to help quell the Banana War and the Gallo-Profaci conflicts, casino operations in Vegas, and other very sensitive underworld secrets. The members include Vito Spatafore, who is killed after it becomes known he is gay, just as John DAmato was killed. Apalachin meeting. Yet old school mobstersstill wreak havoc on the shreds ofturf they control, with federal prosecutions in recent years uncovering mob activity at the Port of New York and New Jersey and in somesuburbs across the state. 1. Under his guidance, the DeCavalcante Family added dozens of made men to their ranks, and, Unfortunately for Sam the Plumber, his rise to power coincided with another development: more aggressive and sophisticated law enforcement efforts to take down organized crime. He was convicted on a variety of extortion and labor charges in 1992, and sentenced to twelve years in prison. I run the show, the ensuing indictment quotes Guarraci screaming when the general manager balked at turning over the receipts. The DeCavalcante crime family, also known as the North Jersey Mafia, is an Italian-American Mafia organized crime family that operates mainly in northern New Jersey, particularly in Elizabeth,[2] Newark, West New York,[3] and various other North Jersey cities and the surrounding areas in North Jersey. Hell do anything Carl wants him to do., DeCavalcante went on to say, Sometimes, Frank, the more things you see, the more disillusioned you become. However, one gangster caught on tape noted: The acting is really terrific.. Although a highly secretive Family even among Cosa Nostra itself, in the early 1960s, the FBI was able to install a hidden bug or listening device in Sam DeCavalcantes plumbing contracting office. Theyre now a low-grade fever, Seglem said. Oliveri, Luigi Complaint. Help, Help. I told him, Now do you understand what I mean when I say I want to see you? [He replied] Yes, Ill do anything you say., DeCavalcante added to Majuri, You know, I work one way, and thats the right one. The nightmares and panic attacks suffered by Tony Soprano as played by James Gandolfini seemed authentic enough to anybody who had listened to the FBI recordings of a real-life New Jersey mob boss in the 1960s. Lock Gregory "Georgie" Rago (born 1959) is a New Jersey mobster and "soldier" in the DeCavalcante crime family. At the same time, a New York State report indicated that he and another Mafia family controlled 90-percent of the pornography stores in New York City. The bug also recorded the then-52-year-old DeCavalcante being robustly intimate with the secretary. But despite Jersey playing little brother to the Big Apple, the DeCavalcante crime family's tentacles have a stranglehold on unions and construction in the New York area. Under his guidance, the DeCavalcante Family added dozens of made men to their ranks, and even gained a seat on the infamous Commission. Her husband called the office and DeCavalcante chatted with him while periodically muffling the phone and muttering encouraging endearments to her. By the late 1990s, high turnover rates in the familys leadership due to arrests, deaths, or disappearances was beginning to take its toll on the crime networks fortunes. . The killing was one of a litany of murders and other crimes listed in a racketeering indictment made possible by an informant who had been assisting the FBI for a decade. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. After DeCavalcante left prison in the mid-1970s, he appointed Giovanni "John the Eagle" Riggi as acting boss of the family while he stayed semi-retired in Florida. New Jersey Mafia Road rage incident sends DeCavalcante mobster Jerry Balzano back to prison By DiMaiolo Santolo March 15, 2017 54 Comments Jerry Balzano a reputed soldier in the New Jersey mafia is back in prison after confronting a driver in a road rage incident according to a NY Daily News report. His low-key persona and legitimate cover was destroyed and before long he, himself, was indicted along with 54 mob minions for heading a $20,000,000-a-year gambling ring. [26], In March 2017, Stango was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for conspiracy to commit murder. James Gandolfinis parents came emigrated from Italy to New Jersey. We have enabled email notificationsyou will now receive an email if you receive a reply to your comment, there is an update to a comment thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. Giacomo Jake Amari became the acting boss and thumbed his nose at the five families by recruiting new members in New York and operating a social club in Little Italy. Gay mobster Vito Spatafore clips a guy who knew too much in The Sopranos. Colellas role was to speak on behalf of Charles Stango to ensure the killing would be approved by other ranking members. You just gotta put him in a wheelchair for the rest of his life or somebody's gotta get a f----- jar of acid and throw it in his f----- face… Charles Beeps Stango said, according to a March 2015 federal court document alleging crimes by him and other accused members of the DeCavalcante crime family, the New Jersey mob outfit known as an inspiration for "The Sopranos" series on HBO. Like Sam the Plumber, Riggi also had strong connections to the Five Families in New York as well; he had a particularly close relationship with John Gotti, boss of the Gambino Family. The FBI surveilled DeCavalcante and several of his associates, built an effective case against him, and in 1969 he was convicted on a variety of racketeering charges. Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. In his absence, a little known but extremely well-liked and capable caporegime stepped up, first as underboss, then acting boss, and ultimately to formally head the Family, John (The Eagle) Riggi, Sr., the well-groomed son of a veteran member named Emmanuel Riggi, had served the Family for decades as business agent of Local #394 Laborers & Hod Carriers Union (AFL-CIO) and several other labor unions. In one recent example, a Bonanno crime family captain was connected to a scheme in which a dirt broker trucked in demolition waste, including dirt tainted with a cancer-causing substance, to fill in backyards eroded by superstorm Sandy along the edge of Raritan Bay in the Cliffwood Beach section of Old Bridge, according to a 2017 report by the State Commission of Investigation. Corky hit him, DeCavalcante said. The indictment reports that Guarraci then fired the general manager. The Mafia once infiltrated New Jerseys political system and some elements of law enforcement, according to Lee Seglem, executive director of the New Jersey State Commission of Investigation, a 51-year-old arm of state government dedicated to rooting out organized crime and corruption. Through deep-dive biographies and snapshots of mobsters to in-depth stories about mafia regimes and crews, youll uncover an underworld you might never have known existed maybe even in your own hometown! He is believed by law enforcement to remain the boss, even though Riggi was released in November 2012, after 22 years in prison. Critics have praised the hit series, about a mob boss and his family, for its writing, cast, style and themes.. Violence, sex, drugs and money all feature heavily in the six-season American crime drama, which ran from 1999 to 2007. See more ideas about crime family, crime, mobster. A resident in Bayonne, New Jersey prior to his conviction in 2002, Rago was reportedly inducted into the North Jersey-based DeCavalcante crime family after he, along with fellow soldiers Anthony Capo and Louis Consalvo . Organized crime is not dead, unfortunately, Seglem said. After Riggi's conviction for racketeering, he appointed John D'Amato as acting boss of the family in 1990. Heeney, James & Pali, Rosario Complaint The Mafia"capo"had an employeeproblem. DeGidio was sentenced to 1 years in prison, and Pali was sentenced to over 6 years. Today, the DeCavalcante Crime family is a shadow of its former self. He declared that This Thing of Ours and Our Friends were the same, whether it be among the five families of New York or his family in New Jersey. Unsurprisingly, the DeCavalcante Family were fans of the show. One of them decided to cooperate and a dozen more were grabbed. John Capozzi, 34, of Union, New Jersey; Mario Galli, 23, of Toms River, New Jersey; and Nicholas Degidio, 37, of Union, New Jersey, were also charged with cocaine distribution. The longtime New Jersey mob godfather took over officially as boss in the early 1980's controlling the family for decades. DeCavalcante will soon be moving to Los Santos Either in October 2012 or Sometime in 2013. U.S. Attorney Fishman credited the members of the FBIs Organized Crime Task Force under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Richard M. Frankel in Newark; the Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor, under the direction of Executive Director Walter Arsenault; the Bayonne Police Department, under the direction of Chief Drew Niekrasz; and the N.J. State Commission of Investigation, under the direction of Chairman Joseph F. Scancarella, with the investigation leading to todays charges. He was a knockaround Jersey guy rising to power in the fictional DiMeo family, founded by Ercole DiMeo, who had been sent to prison just like Simone DeCavalcante. The Commission remains committed to working with all its law enforcement partners to eliminate organized crime in and around the port district, Walter Arsenault, Executive Director of the Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor, said. John Riggi helmed the DeCavalcante ship with a steely resolve for nearly 35 years even while Gambino boss John Gotti sought to sink it. US law enforcement even put Giovanni Riggi on trial, who was hoping to be released in 2003, and he was sentenced to 10 additional years in prison. Most of its leaders are either dead or incarcerated, and other criminal networks have wrestled control of the remaining rackets that once provided serious revenue for the family. 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