- Arrests since 1947 included gambling, assault and income tax evasion. According to informant, Piccolo started out in the narcotics rackets in NY being a partner of known East Harlem narcotics violators Anthony Castaldi and Rocco Mazzie.
- Although active in Connecticut, Piccolo reported to NY captain Arthur "Chink" Leo and later to Tony "The Baker" Napolitano.
- Piccolo was seen as an enormous earner but early on found himself in trouble when he started to cheat several people in his Family by skimming profits that were supposed to go to his bosses back in NY. He was also alleged to have taken over territories by pushing out members of other Families. At some point, Piccolo was marked for death but Agresta intervened and succesfully managed to cancel the contract. When Gambino was made boss, he consistently supported Piccolo because Piccolo turned over 25,000 dollars to Gambino to use as he wished and offered more money if needed. Although an enormous earner, Piccolo was never liked by his peers. In the 1960s he constantly came to the attention of LE, creating problems for others. He also had a habit of not paying back his gambling debts.
- Another thing that made Piccolo extremely disliked, especially by the Genovese people, was the fact that the Connecticut Genovese soldiers were forced to pay 16 percent of their illegal earnings to him in order to operate in the area.
- For reasons unkown, in the late 1960s, Carlo Gambino decided to create a caporegime for the Connecticut members. He settled on the older guy Nicholas Patti, another NY transplant, to lead the crew. It appears that all Connecticut Gambino members where now under Patti.
- Frank Piccolo attained his captain´s rank in late 1974. This according to law enforcement in NY, who had pictures and reports on Piccolo, with Nicholas Patti who had a wish to step down, driving to the Brooklyn home of Carlo Gambino on December 10, 1974. LE concluded that this was the meeting where Piccolo was made captain of the Connecticut crew.
- In or around 1979, LE placed electronic wiretaps at two restaurants located in Bridgeport which was used by Piccolo for business. The wiretaps led to Piccolo´s arrest in May of 1981 on obstruction of justice charges and in June, Piccolo and his cousin Guido "The Bull" Penosi (another Gambino member) were arrested on charges on extorting money and other valuable rights from entertainers Wayne Newton and Lola Falana. Also Piccolo´s phone at his house had been wiretapped. In front of a special grand jury, Newton explained that he had known Penosi for many years and had sought out his assistance in order to stop threats against him which occured in connection with his purchase of a Las Vegas casino, the Aladdin Hotel. In May of 1980, LE who had Club Arthur on Arthur Avenue in the Bronx under surveillance, picked up a meeting between Frank Piccolo and representatives of the the Genovese Family among them Rudy Santobello, Daniel Cilenti and Sonny Guippone (an associate). After the meeting, the threats against Newton were halted. On wiretap, Piccolo was heard saying that he now had a piece of the Las Vegas casino, partially owned by Newton.
- The wiretaps also led to the arrests of five Stamford residents, among them Anthony Megale, in June 1981, on cocain trafficking charges.
- On September 19th 1981, Frank Piccolo was gunned down on the corner of Main Street and Jewett Avenue in Bridgeport and hit once in the wrist and twice in the torso. According to witnesses, a red or maroon van had pulled up beside him when he was standing in a phone boot. Masked men then jumped out of the van and shot Piccolo to death. A week after the killing, Gustave Curcio Jr, brother of Francis Curcio (a suspected member of the Genovese Family) was picked up and charged for the murder. In February of 1982, a state grand jury decided not to indict Curcio. However, Curcio was (with his brother) convicted on unrelated charges in 1983 and sentenced to eight years in prison for his role in an extortion and loansharking ring.
In this post´s attachment, you´ll find a good chart on Piccolo´s associates.
