James Donovan-Columbo/lucchese associate + castelle brothers early days

[Makaveli]

Doing some research on the castelle/castellucci brothers I came across these “findings” on the castelle’s early exploits :

https://www.complaintsboard.com/james- ... an-c354368

james donovan was working for the colombo crime family in the 1980s under the wing of alphonse '' funzi '' de'ambrosio a hit man in [protected] colombo mob wars laundering money and cashing in pay checks from the neighborhood working class contractors kicked back collections of cash and checks not paying taxes with the help of a bank employer that james donovan knew james donovan was a up coming enforcer for the colombo crime family and used ice pick, black jacks, ax handle, brass knukles, a gun in his black belt money bag around his waist ..james donovan carry his operations earnings books checks and money in a large black hand bag . then in the 1990s went under the wing of eugene castelle a captain in the lucchese crime family operated in bensonhurst bath ave. james donovan then opened up shop and joined up with the lucchese crime family. james donovan and anthony castelle beat people bloody and killed people for the colombo and lucchese crime familys by pistol whipping ice pick, black jack, ax handle, brass knuckles and with help from danny donovan james donovans brother who is employed by the staten island nyc sanitation ... anthony castelle a soldier in the lucchese crime family owns coney island carting company and steals containers long to small from other private companys and the nyc metro area waste management recyling companys, and chops up and grinds the vin id numbers of the steel in brooklyn ny on west 3rdst gravesend auto body collision shop with the help of chris ''red " gargulio and chris gargulios workers john and joe two brothers and with help of mexican workers and jerry derosa a worker of anthony castelle selling the steel iron to scrap yards ... eugene castelle is in the contracting buildings concrete cement business and muscle local unions leaders by fear and intimidation by force of james donovan and anthony castelle a soldier in the lucchesse crime family. james donovan was a terror in the streets of brooklyn he and mob were into strong arm, loan shark, murder, extortion, stolen cars, gambling, chop shops, drugs, robbery, car auto insurance fraud. chris "red" gargulio does auto insurance fraud with doctors on the pay role from collisions with cars in brooklyn streets with the help of james donovan and connections to doctors and lawyers scaming the insurance companys . chris "red" garjulio wrecks the cars even more then they are in his shop or in a un disclosed area wreacking the customers car before the insurance agent looks at the auto for a report of damage to get paid more for the job by making money and fraud the insurance company with fileing false tax paper work and the help of chase drivers in tow trucks and rental cars and scamming enterprise car rental company and other car rental agencys for the car crash victims . gravesend auto body was and still on the down low a chop shop and vin numbers changed from stolen cars sold to the public with the help of the lucchese crime family eugene castelle and anthony castelle, and big john castellucci.james donovan was partners with anthony castelle on 24th ave stillwell ave lolly tapps beer and heroes cold cuts www.lollytaps.com. the liquor license is under mary castelle anthonys wife.Cart Co. probed for mob ties: City looks into moonlighting ...

And the related wsj article - https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB1000087 ... 4218831592

[gohnjotti]

Interesting. I don't have much information on Funzi but there's probably lots out there. He was driving Carmine Persico in May 1963 when the pair were ambushed by the Gallos and shot, but both survived. That is where Carmine infamously spat out the bullet. In 1972, Funzi was linked to the dodgy Kings Lafayette Bank who were accused of giving preferential treatment to wiseguys for loans, despite poor credit ratings, long criminal records and frequent false information. D'Ambrosio borrowed $15,000 from this bank. The FBI said they believed this money (not specifically Funzi's loan, but the wiseguy loans in general) was being used for loansharking. He was already into his fifties when he was arrested in 1975 for selling $9 million in stolen US Treasury bills, which had been received from a bank robbery two years prior.

In 1991, Greg Scarpa identified him as being in Patty Amato's crew, alongside guys like Bobo Malpeso, Joe Black Gorgone and current captain Joey Amato (Greg didn't name Joey as a crew member at the time but later evidence established he was). During the war, Funzi joined the Orena faction and was one of six representatives who met with the Persico faction in Oct. 1991 to try and make peace (unsuccessfully).

Funzi was caught on surveillance in 1998 inside the Torrese Social Club, as part of the FBI investigation into captain Benjamin Castellazzo's gambling activities. Joe Competiello also testified that Funzi was present at his induction ceremony in 2004, but could not recall if Funzi was a captain or a soldier. It's not unusual for soldiers to be present at induction ceremonies, just like Vincent Febbraro was also at the ceremony, and Dino Saracino and Ralph Scopo Jr. would attend ceremonies as soldiers the following year.

There is a possibility, however, that in 2004 he was an acting captain on behalf of Benjamin Castellazzo, who was likely still on supervised release by that point, having been arrested in 2000 for in the Torrese Social Club bust. Castellazzo was a captain prior to his arrest, and was back in that position by 2007 at the latest. Funzi was getting well into his eighties by this point, and never cropped up in the big Colombo busts of 2008 and 2011. It's also important to note that in 2009, Castellazzo inducted close associate Sal Castagno to serve as his new acting captain, indicating a possible changing of the guard due to Funzi's old age.

[Pogo The Clown]

Do we know if he is still alive? He is closing in on a 100.


Pogo

[gohnjotti]

Do we know if he is still alive? He is closing in on a 100.


Pogo

No clue.

[Nyfalco]

https://www.silive.com/news/2014/08/pai ... ion_w.html

Is this the same James Donovan?

[CornerBoy]

i was thinking the same thing when this was first posted but forgot to respond.

I think both carried money in money belts or fanny packs lol so if the ages line up then probably

[CornerBoy]

Has Junior Pagan beeen released?
he and jimmy calandra can have a podcast = it will be dumb and dumber---take them two hours to say two seconds btwn the two of them.
junior will need his blue 30's to function--typical staten island junk box
he will get violated a la gene borello-he's nuts
he once f0llowed me for half hour aorund the corner on mulberry and hester and around and around. Very weird. i walked toward cafe palermo quick. once he saw where i was going he seemed to disappear.