by B. » Wed Oct 29, 2014 10:58 am
This topic still interests me and I can't remember the last time I brought it up, so I'll bring it up again.
Gus Sclafani, whose mother-in-law was able to get secret information from her job at the federal court, claimed to have info that Frank DeCicco was an informant. He made this claim before Paul Castellano died, I believe, and then Gotti/DeCicco had him killed shortly after the family takeover for spreading this rumor.
Now, Sclafani must have known how dangerous this information was. Even before Castellano died, DeCicco was one of the top rising stars in the family and was among the most popular members even in the opposing factions of the family. Sclafani knew that spreading a rumor like this could have some severely negative consequences for himself, but apparently the other information he provided to people like Corrao, etc. was very much correct. He must have strongly believed this was true before he opened his mouth about it.
When this comes up, I'm pretty sure the jerkoffs start saying "DeCicco was a stand-up guy! No way!" and even other mobsters apparently felt that way, enough to kill Sclafani over the rumor.
But here are a couple of things to consider:
**** An existing informant tipped off LE about the Staten Island Commission meeting. Aside from those who attended the meeting, all of whom ended up charged in the Commission Case, DeCicco is the only person we positively know of who knew about the time and location of the meeting. The meeting was facilitated by the Gambino family, and DeCicco, who had the run of Staten Island, served as a chauffeur and point of contact for those who attended. It is highly unlikely any of the men at the actual meeting tipped off LE considering they all got sentenced to 100 years in prison as a result. We also don't know of anyone else aside from DeCicco in the Gambino family who knew that the meeting was happening, let alone the specifics of the time/date/location, all of which DeCicco had to know considering his support role at the meeting. Of course it is possible that other people knew, but my point is he is the only person that we positively know of who knew these details.
**** As I said before, Sclafani's other information was correct. He had an inside connection that gave him secret information known to the feds, and his other info prior to the DeCicco rumor was apparently legitimate and helped NY mobsters stay one step ahead of the government. Why would this be wrong? And why would he spread a rumor that could get him killed if it was based on flimsy facts?
**** We know DeCicco was a rulebreaker. He was one of the principal conspirators in the Paul Castellano hit and without him it's possible John Gotti may not have even had the balls to do it, not to mention the fact that it was DeCicco who set Castellano up at Sparks Steakhouse. DeCicco was the reason Gravano and possibly others went along with the plan as well. Someone who is willing to break the cardinal rule of killing a boss might also break other cardinal rules, don't you think? Like say, informing on the bosses of the five families when they have a Commission meeting? Gravano certainly fell into the same category and look what he ended up doing.
We'll never know the answer to this, but as we find out more and more people were CIs, it looks more and more like DeCicco was a rat who informed on the Commission meeting and who knows what else.
This topic still interests me and I can't remember the last time I brought it up, so I'll bring it up again.
Gus Sclafani, whose mother-in-law was able to get secret information from her job at the federal court, claimed to have info that Frank DeCicco was an informant. He made this claim before Paul Castellano died, I believe, and then Gotti/DeCicco had him killed shortly after the family takeover for spreading this rumor.
Now, Sclafani must have known how dangerous this information was. Even before Castellano died, DeCicco was one of the top rising stars in the family and was among the most popular members even in the opposing factions of the family. Sclafani knew that spreading a rumor like this could have some severely negative consequences for himself, but apparently the other information he provided to people like Corrao, etc. was very much correct. He must have strongly believed this was true before he opened his mouth about it.
When this comes up, I'm pretty sure the jerkoffs start saying "DeCicco was a stand-up guy! No way!" and even other mobsters apparently felt that way, enough to kill Sclafani over the rumor.
But here are a couple of things to consider:
**** An existing informant tipped off LE about the Staten Island Commission meeting. Aside from those who attended the meeting, all of whom ended up charged in the Commission Case, DeCicco is the only person we positively know of who knew about the time and location of the meeting. The meeting was facilitated by the Gambino family, and DeCicco, who had the run of Staten Island, served as a chauffeur and point of contact for those who attended. It is highly unlikely any of the men at the actual meeting tipped off LE considering they all got sentenced to 100 years in prison as a result. We also don't know of anyone else aside from DeCicco in the Gambino family who knew that the meeting was happening, let alone the specifics of the time/date/location, all of which DeCicco had to know considering his support role at the meeting. Of course it is possible that other people knew, but my point is he is the only person that we positively know of who knew these details.
**** As I said before, Sclafani's other information was correct. He had an inside connection that gave him secret information known to the feds, and his other info prior to the DeCicco rumor was apparently legitimate and helped NY mobsters stay one step ahead of the government. Why would this be wrong? And why would he spread a rumor that could get him killed if it was based on flimsy facts?
**** We know DeCicco was a rulebreaker. He was one of the principal conspirators in the Paul Castellano hit and without him it's possible John Gotti may not have even had the balls to do it, not to mention the fact that it was DeCicco who set Castellano up at Sparks Steakhouse. DeCicco was the reason Gravano and possibly others went along with the plan as well. Someone who is willing to break the cardinal rule of killing a boss might also break other cardinal rules, don't you think? Like say, informing on the bosses of the five families when they have a Commission meeting? Gravano certainly fell into the same category and look what he ended up doing.
We'll never know the answer to this, but as we find out more and more people were CIs, it looks more and more like DeCicco was a rat who informed on the Commission meeting and who knows what else.