What soldiers were in Nino Gaggi’s crew...

[Extortion]

Besides Roy DeMeo?

[JeremyTheJew]

There was this exact post a few months ago. Maybe searching it

[Wiseguy]

This is a past post on the forum of crew members in 1979.


Anthony 'Nino' Gaggi (54y)

Soldiers
- Frank Bonino (62y)
- John 'Johnny Pesche' Chiarello (66y)
- Joseph 'Joe Brewster' Delmonico (59y)
- Roy DeMeo (39y)
- Gregory DePalma (47y) (IP)
- James 'Jimmy the Clam' Eppolito (63y) (Murdered 10.1979)
?- James Eppolito Jr. (33y) (Murdered 10.1979)
- Frank 'Butch' Guglielmini (54y)
- Joseph Guglielmini (69y)
- Accursio 'Swifty' Marinelli (68y)
- Victor Masotto (70y)
- Peter 'Petey 17' Piacenti (58y)

[JeremyTheJew]

This is a past post on the forum of crew members in 1979.


Anthony 'Nino' Gaggi (54y)

Soldiers
- Frank Bonino (62y)
- John 'Johnny Pesche' Chiarello (66y)
- Joseph 'Joe Brewster' Delmonico (59y)
- Roy DeMeo (39y)
- Gregory DePalma (47y) (IP)
- James 'Jimmy the Clam' Eppolito (63y) (Murdered 10.1979)
?- James Eppolito Jr. (33y) (Murdered 10.1979)
- Frank 'Butch' Guglielmini (54y)
- Joseph Guglielmini (69y)
- Accursio 'Swifty' Marinelli (68y)
- Victor Masotto (70y)
- Peter 'Petey 17' Piacenti (58y)

DePalma huh?? Makes sense for the Sinatra photo.
Was he a Brooklyn guy?? Or always Bronx?

[JMAN723]

This is a past post on the forum of crew members in 1979.


Anthony 'Nino' Gaggi (54y)

Soldiers
- Frank Bonino (62y)
- John 'Johnny Pesche' Chiarello (66y)
- Joseph 'Joe Brewster' Delmonico (59y)
- Roy DeMeo (39y)
- Gregory DePalma (47y) (IP)
- James 'Jimmy the Clam' Eppolito (63y) (Murdered 10.1979)
?- James Eppolito Jr. (33y) (Murdered 10.1979)
- Frank 'Butch' Guglielmini (54y)
- Joseph Guglielmini (69y)
- Accursio 'Swifty' Marinelli (68y)
- Victor Masotto (70y)
- Peter 'Petey 17' Piacenti (58y)

DePalma huh?? Makes sense for the Sinatra photo.
Was he a Brooklyn guy?? Or always Bronx?

. yeah depalma was made in the same night as Demeo and I think Nino sponsored him as well but not sure

[JeremyTheJew]

This is a past post on the forum of crew members in 1979.


Anthony 'Nino' Gaggi (54y)

Soldiers
- Frank Bonino (62y)
- John 'Johnny Pesche' Chiarello (66y)
- Joseph 'Joe Brewster' Delmonico (59y)
- Roy DeMeo (39y)
- Gregory DePalma (47y) (IP)
- James 'Jimmy the Clam' Eppolito (63y) (Murdered 10.1979)
?- James Eppolito Jr. (33y) (Murdered 10.1979)
- Frank 'Butch' Guglielmini (54y)
- Joseph Guglielmini (69y)
- Accursio 'Swifty' Marinelli (68y)
- Victor Masotto (70y)
- Peter 'Petey 17' Piacenti (58y)

DePalma huh?? Makes sense for the Sinatra photo.
Was he a Brooklyn guy?? Or always Bronx?

. yeah depalma was made in the same night as Demeo and I think Nino sponsored him as well but not sure

That's right he was made same night. He wasn't talked about in Murder Machine was he??

I wonder if he was a Brooklyn guy then..

[JMAN723]

This is a past post on the forum of crew members in 1979.


Anthony 'Nino' Gaggi (54y)

Soldiers
- Frank Bonino (62y)
- John 'Johnny Pesche' Chiarello (66y)
- Joseph 'Joe Brewster' Delmonico (59y)
- Roy DeMeo (39y)
- Gregory DePalma (47y) (IP)
- James 'Jimmy the Clam' Eppolito (63y) (Murdered 10.1979)
?- James Eppolito Jr. (33y) (Murdered 10.1979)
- Frank 'Butch' Guglielmini (54y)
- Joseph Guglielmini (69y)
- Accursio 'Swifty' Marinelli (68y)
- Victor Masotto (70y)
- Peter 'Petey 17' Piacenti (58y)

DePalma huh?? Makes sense for the Sinatra photo.
Was he a Brooklyn guy?? Or always Bronx?

. yeah depalma was made in the same night as Demeo and I think Nino sponsored him as well but not sure

That's right he was made same night. He wasn't talked about in Murder Machine was he??

I wonder if he was a Brooklyn guy then..

Not sure to be honest. Been a longtime since I read it.

[johnny_scootch]

This is a past post on the forum of crew members in 1979.


Anthony 'Nino' Gaggi (54y)

Soldiers
- Frank Bonino (62y)
- John 'Johnny Pesche' Chiarello (66y)
- Joseph 'Joe Brewster' Delmonico (59y)
- Roy DeMeo (39y)
- Gregory DePalma (47y) (IP)
- James 'Jimmy the Clam' Eppolito (63y) (Murdered 10.1979)
?- James Eppolito Jr. (33y) (Murdered 10.1979)
- Frank 'Butch' Guglielmini (54y)
- Joseph Guglielmini (69y)
- Accursio 'Swifty' Marinelli (68y)
- Victor Masotto (70y)
- Peter 'Petey 17' Piacenti (58y)

DePalma huh?? Makes sense for the Sinatra photo.
Was he a Brooklyn guy?? Or always Bronx?

. yeah depalma was made in the same night as Demeo and I think Nino sponsored him as well but not sure

That's right he was made same night. He wasn't talked about in Murder Machine was he??

I wonder if he was a Brooklyn guy then..

DePalma was not a Brooklyn guy.

[AlexfromSouth]

I think DePalma was a Bath beach guy but moved to the Bronx before gettin' made. Peter Castellana was in that crew also.

[B.]

There are a lot of historic ties between Brooklyn and the Bronx, especially with the Palermitani faction where Gaggi traces his roots.

- Nino Gaggi grew up in Manhattan where he allegedly got his start in organized crime according to Montiglio.
- Dominick Montiglio lied or exaggerated about himself, but I'm not so sure he lied about Gaggi's background. He claimed Gaggi's father was first cousins with Frank Scalise and records show that Gaggi's paternal grandmother was a Scalise from Palermo, which matches that relation.
- Montiglio implies that Gaggi reported to Scalise prior to his murder, so Gaggi may have been a member of the Scalise crew, which was based in the Bronx but included members in different areas, including New Jersey (where Gaggi also lived for a time) and Connecticut.
- Jack Scarpulla operated as a butcher in Brooklyn and appears to have been part of his relative Frank Scalise's crew.

- Carlo and Paolo Gambino also had an early presence in the Bronx, likely under Giuseppe Castellano, Paul's father.
- Paolo Gambino's operations were partially based in the Bronx as late as the 1960s in addition to Brooklyn.
- I suspect Giuseppe "Joe from the Bronx" Gambino took over some of these Bronx interests.
- Later Tommy Gambino would inherit some of these Bronx interests in addition to Connecticut which traces back to Scalise. So other crews in this circle had that Brooklyn/Bronx connection and intersect with Scalise.

- You also have early Palermo-born family leaders Lupo, D'Aquila, and Ferrigno living in both the Bronx and Brooklyn at different times.

--

Long story short, even though by the 1970s/80s the Gaggi crew was affiliated with the "Brooklyn faction", Brooklyn and the Bronx were closely intertwined going back to the earliest days of the family. I don't know how DePalma became associated with Gaggi, but it's not a surprise Gaggi would have a Bronx member under him based on all of the above.

[Ed]

I think DePalma was a Bath beach guy but moved to the Bronx before gettin' made. Peter Castellana was in that crew also.

In the early 60s, DePalma lived in Sheepshead Bay and worked for a freight company in Manhattan. He was friendly with "Sally D" D'Ambrosia from the Colombo Crime Family. During the war against the Gallos, D'Ambrosia used to hide guns in DePalma's apartment. The cops found three rifles and ammunition in his apartment when they raided it.

[Extortion]

I think DePalma was a Bath beach guy but moved to the Bronx before gettin' made. Peter Castellana was in that crew also.

In the early 60s, DePalma lived in Sheepshead Bay and worked for a freight company in Manhattan. He was friendly with "Sally D" D'Ambrosia from the Colombo Crime Family. During the war against the Gallos, D'Ambrosia used to hide guns in DePalma's apartment. The cops found three rifles and ammunition in his apartment when they raided it.

Just curious, where did you find that out?

[Ed]

Revolt in the Mafia by Raymond Martin.

Martin was the Brooklyn detective who led the investigation into the Profaci-Gallo War.

[johnny_scootch]

I think DePalma was a Bath beach guy but moved to the Bronx before gettin' made. Peter Castellana was in that crew also.

In the early 60s, DePalma lived in Sheepshead Bay and worked for a freight company in Manhattan. He was friendly with "Sally D" D'Ambrosia from the Colombo Crime Family. During the war against the Gallos, D'Ambrosia used to hide guns in DePalma's apartment. The cops found three rifles and ammunition in his apartment when they raided it.

That's good info. I didn't think he was a Brooklyn guy because after his induction ceremony on his way home he stopped at the Westchester Premier Theatre and got picked up on wiretap bragging to people about being inducted. The theater was in Tarrytown which is nowhere near Brooklyn.

[NYNighthawk]

That info about DePalma's Sheepheads Bay apt. being raided was in the Valachi Papers. Depalma was caught on that wiretap calling Tommy Marston in California about being "measured" for his suit and that it fit! He also bragged in that phone call about being the first of eight (8) being "measured" and that says something about how he is viewed. The feds were actually bugging Marston's Palm Springs phone by the LA office when they started getting intrigued by who this DePalma guy was. Marston's hook was the LA Family led by Jimmy "The Weasel" Frattiano who was temporarily filling in for Brooklier.