Authorities also arrested three members of a separate crew of the crime family: James Heeney, 35, of Elizabeth, New Jersey, and Rosario Pali, 35, of Linden, New Jersey, were charged with conspiring to distribute more than 500 grams of cocaine. Article content. FAX: 856-968-4917 They were charged with various plots to commit murder, distribute drugs, and run a prostitution business. "They are a very close-knit. 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 . NEWARK, N.J. - Ten members and associates of the DeCavalcante organized crime family of La Cosa Nostra were arrested today and charged with various plots to commit murder, distribute drugs and run a prostitution business, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced. Unrelenting law enforcement pressure was further diminishing the power of the DeCavalcante crime family as well. [18] With the decline of the DeCavalcante family, New York's Five Families have taken over many of the rackets in northern New Jersey. Unlike New York's infamous Five Families, the Chicago mob consists of only one family, often referred to as the "Outfit.". Do not over Speak the Don or Higher Ranks than you. Today Newark FBI arrested 10 members of the DeCavalcante organized crime family, disrupting one of the most notorious crime families, FBI Special Agent in Charge Richard M. Frankel said. The New York Mafia . Joseph Guerriero was a smart and capable soldier in the DeCavalcante Family and a rackets boss of the New Britain section of Connecticut. Apalachin meeting. Law enforcement authorities seized 3,200 pounds of cocaine valued at $77 million at Port Newark in late February, though they havent yet named who they suspect of importing the drugs. By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Nicholas (Nicky Dell) Delmore was one of the original powers in Northern New Jerseys underworld - a very well-respected mafioso who eventually became boss. And Tony Soprano was not a Michael Corleone. Heeney, James & Pali, Rosario Complaint 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. Then he hit him another one. There are also significant fines in Gallis near future.if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[300,600],'aboutthemafia_com-large-mobile-banner-1','ezslot_3',198,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-aboutthemafia_com-large-mobile-banner-1-0'); Many agencies were involved in this case including the FBIs Organized Crime Task Force, the Ocean County Prosecutors, Senior Counsel V. Grady OMalley of the Organized Crime and Gang Unit in Newark. Over the years, the DeCavalcante family earned a reputation for incompetence. 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 FBI, Like his predecessor before him, the law eventually caught up with Johnny the Eagle as well. All Rights Reserved. He is said by law enforcement to remain a boss who may outlast them all in the five families for the same reason that helped make The Sopranos such a hit. After being promoted to capo by former boss Filippo "Phil" Amari, . Their reward was to see their son enter Rutgers. Francisco Frank Guarraci hailed from Simone DeCavalcantes ancestral hometown of Ribera. This, right after the Valachi Hearings in 1963, was during an era of extreme exposure and crackdowns on organized crime figures in this country. As todays complaint shows, members and associates of a long-standing organized crime family continue to ply their illegal trade, selling dangerous drugs and illegal cigarettes, promoting prostitution and threatening to settle internal scores with violence and death.. Guarraci allegedly rose to acting boss as he continued to work as a foreman with a laborers union. DeCavalcante would have loved to be considered their equal. Prosecutors claimed that Stango and his son had plans to open a high-end escort service in Toms River, New Jersey. Sweeping federal indictments in past decades decimated the mob hierarchy as members flipped to help law enforcement or went to prison. After Riggi's conviction for racketeering, he appointed John D'Amato as acting boss of the family in 1990. 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. Around the end of the first season, an actual FBI electronic device carried by an informant recorded members of the DeCavalcante family chatting about the show as they drove to a sit-down. 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. 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. [ Want to keep tabs on crime in New Jersey? Riggis hope to put the DeCavalcante family back on the map with the killing was dashed when it became known that when stealing license plates to put on a getaway car, one of the hit squad had inadvertently chosen the plates of a vehicle belonging to the wife of a well-known mobster. An Amico Nostro is an Amico Nostro.. A locked padlock What characters, Rotondo said. And that will continue as long as there are ships that are coming in from all over the world and the people here who know what the ships are bringing in.. Though its ranks have been thinned by countless convictions and its own internal bloodletting, traditional organized crime remains a real problem, U.S. Attorney Fishman said. Now in the year 2012 DeCavalcante are a strong Organized Loyal Mafia Family With over 7 Bases and 4 wars won. Her husband called the office and DeCavalcante chatted with him while periodically muffling the phone and muttering encouraging endearments to her. Amanda Humphreys, 24, of Seaside Heights and Jason Vella, 37 of Berkeley Township who were also arrested. Virgil Alessi was a very active DeCavalcante mobster who started his mob career as a phone-man for Jiggs Forlano. The indictment reports that Guarraci then fired the general manager. An official website of the United States government. Gambino BossFrancesco "Franky Boy"Cali was gunned down in Staten Island earlier this month. 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, Newark, West New York, and various other North Jersey cities and the surrounding areas in North Jersey. Is this supposed to be us?. By 1964, with the death of Delmore, his nephew Simone (Sam the Plumber) DeCavalcante would be selected as the new boss of this Family. For the next several years, every single word spoken by Sam and his Mafia associates was recorded for posterity by the agents. The mob still exists, said Grady OMalley, senior litigation counsel in the U.S. Attorneys Office inNew Jersey, who has sentMafia members to trial and prison since the late 1970s. All five of the New York City crime families, plus the New Jersey DeCavalcantes and the Philadelphia mob have people placed in the port, according to Walter Arsenault, executive director of the. 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. [27][28] Stango reportedly wanted Nigro and associate Paul Colella to get permission from the New Jersey hierarchy to kill Luigi Oliveri, but the murder was not committed because Stango did not get an answer. 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 . His mother, Santa, worked as a high school cafeteria chef. On several occasions between Dec. 12, 2014, and March 9, 2015, Stango and various conspirators were audio or video recorded conducting drug transactions with an undercover law enforcement officer. Carmelo (Melio) Cocchiaro was a soldier in the DeCavalcante Family who once made a youthful blunder after a string of supermarket robberies. The official criminal organization began with Simone DeCavalcante, known as "Sam the Plumber" and "The Count". Like his predecessor before him, the law eventually caught up with Johnny the Eagle as well. He appointed Gaetano Vastola to oversee. All was seemingly settled until Amari became ill and died slowly of stomach cancer in 1997. And they were now finding themselves overshadowed by a TV show about a New Jersey crime family modeled after the DeCavalcante family. 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. He was an in-law by marriage to Nicholas Delmore, the former head of the New Jersey, crime family whose nephew was Simone DeCavalcante, also a New Jersey mob family leader whose daughter he married. With the release of the Sopranos prequel, The Many Saints of Newark, its time to take a closer look at the DeCavalcante family. D'Amato was later revealed to have participated in homosexual acts and was murdered in 1992. The opening sequence of the first episode in 1999 made clear that this was New Jersey. NEWARK, N.J. Ten members and associates of the DeCavalcante organized crime family of La Cosa Nostra were arrested today and charged with various plots to commit murder, distribute drugs and run a prostitution business, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced. After nearly two and a half years of undercover investigation, Giovanni Rocco sat in the spacious home of his mentor, Charlie Stango, eating sauteed shrimp made by one of the most powerful people in the DeCavalcante mafia family. That all changed in the 1960s, when Simone Rizzo DeCavalcante came on the scene. [16] This was the fourth indictment of the family since 1999. [31], In July 2022, capo Charlie Stango was released from federal prison and went into a New York halfway house. [15] In retaliation, Vincent Palermo decided to have Majuri murdered. One snitch quoted the doomed hitman just before he was whacked:Im sorry, I hope everybody doesnt blame me. They did. He declined to commenton a rumored romantic motive, except to saywere investigating everything thats been reported.". Stango, Charles et al. Sam The Plumber, who pulled fighting factions together and made the Jersey family rich, often made that complaint. During prohibition and afterwards, several New Jersey families controlled their own city-wide networks, and crews associated with the Five Families in New York staked out a claim on rackets in Jersey as well. Joseph Miranda became an alleged acting underboss/acting boss -- at the age of 83 -- after the mass 2003 arrests of the Family. In fact, many of the characters and incidents within Sopranos are reported to have been inspired by DeCavalcante exploits. A welcome email is on its way. [32], A "street boss" will sometimes run several crews at once. If youre a real honest guy, you wind up [a] hunchback with headaches., A feeling that he had not received his due respect may have added to DeCavalcantes dislike for the nicknames Sam the Plumber (he owned a heating and plumbing company) and the Claw (he made sure to collect every usurious penny in loan sharking). 19311955 Filippo "Phil" Amari promoted to boss, 19551956 Nicholas "Nick" Delmore promoted to boss, 19561957 Francesco "Fat Frank" Majuri stepped down and became consigliere, 19571983 Francesco "Fat Frank" Majuri died in 1983, 19832006 Stefano "Steve the Truck Driver" Vitabile sentenced to life in 2006, overturned in 2008, released in 2013, 2006present Frank "Goombah Frankie" Nigro arrested 2015, This page was last edited on 3 April 2023, at 04:19. Charles and Anthony Stango also allegedly planned to operate a high-end escort service targeting white collar businessmen and professionals in the Toms River area. His father, James, Sr., received a Purple Heart during World War II and worked as a mason and then as a high-school custodian. "The DeCavalcante Crime family is one of the oldest Italian American Crime families in the United States based out of the NY/NJ areas," Mr. Rocco explained. The DeCavalcante family isnt the powerhouse it once was, and some in law enforcement argue the organizations criminal tool box hasnt kept pace with Asian, Russian, and African mobsters. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. The Jersey civil war only ended when boss Stefano Steve Badami was stabbed to death on March 31, 1955, at Vitos Clam Bar in Newark. October 2020) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) Louis "Fat Lou" LaRasso (1926-November 11th, 1991) was an American mobster and the . His other advantage over the more high-profile families in New York was that law enforcement in New Jersey is more fragmented and less zealous. Guarraci and a man who would be arrested with him became more insistent and threatening. NEWARK, N.J. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit today ruled that a former U.S. Army major and his wife, convicted for having endangered the welfare of CAMDEN, N.J. A Pennsylvania man today admitted robbing two banks in Camden County. Nicknamed Sam the Plumber because of the plumbing supply store he operated as a business front, DeCavalcante was an ambitious Mafioso who managed to organize New Jerseys rackets like never before, and make them profitable. 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. My pop was good friends with a lot of guys and ran cigarettes for the DeCalvacantes. Stango's case stands among the latest federal prosecutions of New Jersey Mafia figures, showing that despite the rise of other gangs, the old mob is still active in the Garden State. Oliveri, Luigi Complaint. He sounded like any worried father when he fretted aloud about his three sons. Mario Galli III, 28, from Toms River New Jersey and an associate of the DeCavalcante crime family has been sentenced, Jerry Balzano an alleged soldier in the New Jersey mafia has pleaded guilty to violating the terms of his, Ten alleged members and associates of the New Jersey mafia also known as the DeCavalcante crime family including capo, Jerry Balzano a reputed soldier in the New Jersey mafia is back in prison after confronting a driver in, Charles Stango, an alleged DeCavalcante crime family captain has made good on his plea agreement with the feds admitting, According to reports Charles Stango, an alleged captain in the New Jersey mafia has agreed to plead guilty to, Ten members and associates of the New Jersey mafia also known as the DeCavalcante crime family were busted last, Francesco Guarraci the alleged boss of the DeCavalcante crime family has passed away reportedly from cancer at the age, Anthony Whitey Stango a reputed member of the New Jersey mafia family known as the DeCavalcante crime family was, It has once again been a very interesting year for the mafia also known as Cosa Nostra across the, An undercover operation into the New Jersey mafia back in March led to the arrest of capo Charles Stango, An era has come to the end for the New Jersey mafia and the DeCavalcante crime family with the, John The Eagle Riggi the longtime reputed boss of the New Jersey mafia family known as the DeCavalcante Crime, Charles Charlie the Hat Stango a captain in the DeCavalcante crime family snared by feds three months ago as, DeCavalcante crime family in New Jersey was hit by a massive FBI bust which led to the arrest of, Mafia Bosses and Hierarchies Heading into 2021, Mafia Bosses and Hierarchies Heading into 2020, DeCavalcante Crime Family Associate Sentenced, New Jersey mafia soldier Jerry Balzano pleads guilty, Charles Stango sentenced to 10 years in prison, Road rage incident sends DeCavalcante mobster Jerry Balzano back to prison, DeCavalcante family capo Charles Stango facing 10 years prison sentence after guilty plea, New Jersey mafia capo Charles Stango to plead guilty, DeCavalcante family mobster gets 30 months behind bars, New Jersey mafia boss Francesco Guarraci dead at age 61, DeCavalcante family mobster Anthony Stango gets 6 year sentence, New Jersey mafia crew continues to cop plea deals, Longtime New Jersey Mafia Boss John Riggi has passed away, New Jersey mafia capo Charles Stango hanging tough while other prepare to cop plea deals, Mafia News: New Jersey Mafia family busted in undercover FBI investigation, Scott Deitche - Author of Cigar City Mafia and other great mob books. 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