RE-POST: Frank DeCicco as informant

[B.]

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.

[B.]

RESPONSE FROM POGO:

This wouldn't surprise me in the least. As you said we now know that the Feds had several made members informing from the 60s-80s that we previously did not know about. The case for him being an informant as you laid out is also pretty strong.

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RESPONSE FROM B.:

The person who gave the info on the Commission meeting was a known informant and I believe they even had a codename for him. Someone might ask what DeCicco's motivation would have been for calling in about the Commission meeting? Well we know he was looking to take his superiors out of the way, hence the Castellano hit, so it's possible he saw this as a similar opportunity. At that point he may have been trying to use the feds to do the dirty work, while later he let Gotti do it.

Oh yeah, one more thing that could have come from DeCicco:

**** When the feds bugged Paul Castellano's home, they had an informant who told them exactly where Castellano talked business with his capos, so that's how they knew where to put the bug. Not that many people were invited into Paul Castellano's home, let alone for high-level meetings, but who was one of his regular trusted visitors and knew Castellano's routine at home? Frank DeCicco. He even appears in two of the few photos that have surfaced from inside of Castellano's house.

Where there's smoke there's fire, and it is interesting to say the least how the source of the flames always seems to come back to DeCicco.

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RESPONSE FROM JD:

Aside from Gravano talking about him being murdered for the accusation, Gus Sclafani hasn't gotten too much attention. He was considered a dangerous, reliable guy who was carrying out hits back to the 1950s for the Gennaro crew. He and James Episcopia served time together in Maryland in the 1960s, then after they got out Sclafani developed a close relationship with Neil Dellacroce and is supposed to have personally voluntereed for and carried out a murder in NJ for Dellacroce, even though he was an associate in Paul Castellano's regime and technically answerable to Paul at the time. This relationship with Dellacroce might be why DeCicco had to wait awhile to retaliate. I wouldn't be surprised if Sclafani was made in that first wave right alongside DeCicco.

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[Hailbritain]

Is it not possible that the info about the concrete club commission meeting came from fish cafaro , or maybe they got there info from corallo and avellino discussing them on the jaguar bugs ??

[HairyKnuckles]

Is it not possible that the info about the concrete club commission meeting came from fish cafaro

In some cases, Mafia members who flips, have been giving information for some time. Who knows? Cafaro may have been an informant early on. And if this is the case, it could explain why he said Salerno was front boss when he testified, especially if he had (as an informant in the early 1980s) said that Gigante was the boss. I´m just speculating here...brain storming...

[Sam22]

There are two points here Carmine Delacava was present at the meeting and not indicted for it as far as I know. Maybe he was in Salerno case and I'm not aware of it. He was not a gambino member so he would so most likely would not have had a hand in setting up the meeting. Secondly in boss of bosses they say Julie Miron tipped them to where Castellano talked business.We know some of boss of bosses has been proven to be wrong but.... I am not disagreeing with your premise just offing some food for thought on the subject. Before this I always thought the Decicco being an informant was pure bs but after reading what b. and pogo have said I'm not so sure.

[TommyGambino]

B. Do you know What year Sclafani accuse him of being a rat?

[B.]

There are two points here Carmine Delacava was present at the meeting and not indicted for it as far as I know. Maybe he was in Salerno case and I'm not aware of it. He was not a gambino member so he would so most likely would not have had a hand in setting up the meeting. Secondly in boss of bosses they say Julie Miron tipped them to where Castellano talked business.We know some of boss of bosses has been proven to be wrong but.... I am not disagreeing with your premise just offing some food for thought on the subject. Before this I always thought the Decicco being an informant was pure bs but after reading what b. and pogo have said I'm not so sure.

As far as I know, Sclafani and I are the only ones to push the theory that DeCicco is a rat, and Sclafani was killed for it, so it's not exactly a commonly held theory. People like Gravano and of course our "street guys" on the boards have often pushed the idea that DeCicco was a "man's man" and tough gangster, so combined with this sudden death he has achieved this mythical status to a lot of people who are interested in this subject. The reality, as many of us on here know, is that a lot of informants, witnesses, and suspected rats are some of the toughest guys on the streets.

I'm not committed to this theory, by the way, there are just some interesting roads that all lead back to him. Without knowing exactly what it was that Sclafani was told or saw, it's impossible to know why he was sold on the idea. As for the year, I believe it was 1985.

[SonnyBlackstein]

Interesting food for thought.
Good posts B.

[Sam22]

Did an article ever come out about Decicco being an informant after his death ? I may be confusing it with Neil Delacroce ? I agree with you that Gravano in his book really bolstered the idea of Decicco as tough stand up guy.

[TommyGambino]

Did an article ever come out about Decicco being an informant after his death ? I may be confusing it with Neil Delacroce ? I agree with you that Gravano in his book really bolstered the idea of Decicco as tough stand up guy.

That article about Dellacroce being an informant was actually hilarious and truly embarrassing.