Opinion/Discussion: DeCavalcante Present Day

[B.]

Extracts from upcoming book. Looks like it gives 'Milk' a false name, but his description is a spit for the photo B posted of Joe Merlo.

Thanks for sharing. I don't know that Merlo is a massive guy like he describes, but the face def matches. And yeah, "Luca Vitale" sounds like a name someone would come up with in mob fan fiction.

While it would have been nice if he explicitly identified "Horse", Majuri sounds like the best candidate. He says Majuri was attempting to become official boss when Riggi died and it says "Milk" was going to continue on as his street boss if the changes were made. It also says Majuri was aligned with both "Milk" and Nigro, and we know from the Stango case that "Horse" was aligned with both of them.

We also know from the Stango case that "Horse" was part of the faction opposed to the Riggi faction, and this excerpt about Majuri lends itself to that. Either way Majuri seems to have been a top power in the family at the time.

Between this and the Stefanelli tapes, we also know Manny Riggi was taken off the shelf, was helping run the family circa 2010, and held the rank of captain in the mid-2010s. Be interesting to know when he became a captain again.

[Pogo The Clown]

Don't think Majuri was "Horse". He mentions Majuri several times in the book and never uses the 'Horse' nickname to refer to him. Nor does he mention Majuri as the Acting Boss even when 'Milk' is identified as the Street Boss, 'Shipe' the Consigliere and Stango, Manny Riggi and Joe Collina as Capos. Also there is a reference to "Majuri and his crew" which would indicate that he was a Capo.


For Manny Riggi he would have been taken off the shelf earlier since he was a Street Boss for a period after the big indictment in 2000.


Pogo

[B.]

Yeah, it's too bad he doesn't explicitly identify "Horse" but Majuri can't be ruled out from the info the book provides and it places Majuri as one of the top candidates given his relationship to "Milk" and Nigro, plus his plans to become official boss after Riggi's death. He could well have been both a captain and acting boss, as is typical of acting positions.

Should be remided too that Charles Majuri and Joe Merlo Jr. are cousins and have closely associated for decades, so if "Milk" is Merlo as we believe it, lends itself to Majuri being "Horse" given their close relationship.

Good reminder, re: Riggi. So he was helping run the family in both 2000 and 2010.

[Pogo The Clown]

It looks like "Horse" is most likely Frank Guarraci. I see that Guarraci was still the Acting Boss in 2013 and this investigation was of course in 2014 and early 2015. If his health was already in decline by this time it would explain Milk being named the Street Boss (it doesn't appear that the family used this position before). He mentions meeting the Street Boss (Milk) and the Consigliere (Shipe) but makes no mention at all of "Horse" or the Acting Boss so he probably never met him. It would fit if Guarraci was sick and taking a step back by the this time, hence the need for a Street Boss.


Pogo

[B.]

He's certainly a candidate along with Majuri.

Interestingly the investigation into the DeCavalcantes in which the author went undercover was called "Operation Charlie Horse." Not sure if that was a coincidence or if they were hinting at anything. Probably a reference to Stango, but kind of strange they mentioned "Horse" in the operation name.

[joerock]

Wonder if there is an “acting” capo of Stangos crew currently.

[TallGuy19]

Wonder if there is an “acting” capo of Stangos crew currently.

I don't know if he even had a real crew or if he was a captain with a group of associates under him. He had his son running the day-to-day operations of the crew, and he wasn't even made.

[NJShore4Life]

Stango’s son Whitey is a jerkoff , only thing he ever “ran” was to the ice cream truck.....

-Dante

[joerock]

Stango’s son Whitey is a jerkoff , only thing he ever “ran” was to the ice cream truck.....

-Dante

Ha! Good one

[Pogo The Clown]

It doesn't look like the DeCavalcantes use Acting Capos the way NY does. Seems when their Capos get locked up for any considerable length they just get replaced. Soon after the big indictment came down in 2000 Riggi demoted all the Capos who were indicted. Wouldn't surprise me if Stango lost his rank soon after he was locked up.


Pogo

[B.]

Pogo -- I contacted the co-author of the book Doug Schofield (not the agent) and asked if he thought Majuri was the acting boss. He said no, but gave no other info. I would have preferred to ask the undercover agent directly but couldn't find a contact.

I don't know whether Schofield thought I was asking about the "street boss" or "acting boss", and it's not clear how knowledgeable he is on those kinds of details as he doesn't seem like a mafia expert and may have had little role in the book aside from writing/editing, but it at least lends itself to your belief that the acting boss is Guarraci or someone else.

Let's hope more info comes out from inside sources.

[Pogo The Clown]

Thanks for reaching out to him. It is what I figured. It would be a pretty big oversight for them not to mention that Majuri was the Acting Boss given how many times he is mentioned in the book or neglect to mention that he met the Acting Boss when he states that he met the Consigliere and the Street Boss. Add in the reference to "Majuri and his crew" which would indicate that he was a Capo.

Interestingly the investigation into the DeCavalcantes in which the author went undercover was called "Operation Charlie Horse." Not sure if that was a coincidence or if they were hinting at anything. Probably a reference to Stango, but kind of strange they mentioned "Horse" in the operation name.

He talks s out this in the chapter Operation Charlie Horse. Originally the DeCavlcantes weren't the focus. It was some small drug crew and it turned out one of the guys in it was Stango's nephew (who shot his mouth off about his uncle being a made member who was going to be promoted to Capo when he got out of prison). Once that connection was made Stango became the main target and the investigation shifted to the DeCavalcantes.


Pogo

[joerock]

It doesn't look like the DeCavalcantes use Acting Capos the way NY does. Seems when their Capos get locked up for any considerable length they just get replaced. Soon after the big indictment came down in 2000 Riggi demoted all the Capos who were indicted. Wouldn't surprise me if Stango lost his rank soon after he was locked up.


Pogo

Thank you sir

[NJShore4Life]

For all the undercover work and wiretaps they had, they really didn't hit the DeCavs hard at all.

Stango the Capo and Luigi Olivieri were the only ones of significance who got any time in that case jamming up those two crews.

Can anyone find out if they mention in the book which bar they were meeting at in Toms River to discuss the brothel plans with the undercover FBI agent?

I would love to know.....

-Dante

[Pogo The Clown]

Can anyone find out if they mention in the book which bar they were meeting at in Toms River to discuss the brothel plans with the undercover FBI agent?

I would love to know.....

-Dante

I checked and Toms River, brothel and related words like prostitution and prostitutes are not contained in the book. All in all this book is pretty disappointing.


Pogo