Some DeCavalcante Family Info (1980s-1990s)

[LcnBios]

Here's a few pieces of info on the DeCavs. A very interesting group and still not a whole lot of info available on them.

- DeCavalcante Family limited to 75 members. The guidelines for replacing former members was the same as with the NY groups, ie murdered members could not be replaced.

- Vincent Palermo estimated the DeCavs at 46 members by Fall 1999. This was in response a question phrased 'how many soldiers', so it's not entirely clear if this estimate includes the admin/captains.

- Estimated to be at least a dozen DeCav members who died between 1990 and 1999. One member died in Italy but had a service held for him in NJ. Following each death the members would assemble in the room with the body, walk by one at a time and kiss the forehead of the dead guy before he was buried. All non-members were cleared out of the funeral home while this was going on.

- Guys who have been listed as members but were not actually made: Charles 'Charlie the Hat' Stango (associate of Joseph Ferrara) and Francesco 'Frank the Painter' Paparatto. Frank Paparatto had been promised membership by each successive boss/acting boss since Riggi but remained an associate (he claimed to have been made in Italy at some point previous). If Paparatto was ever inducted it was after the big DeCav indictments.

- Shelved as of 1999: Manny Riggi, John Riggi Jr., Vincent Riggi, Joseph Collina.

- Proposed members as of 1999 included: Peter Colletti, Frank D'Amato, Victor DiChiara, Simone Esposito, Frank LNU (with Joe Merlo Jr.).

- Formerly proposed members: Robert Collina (after his brother was shelved he trashed the coffee shop in Elizabeth), Bernard NiCastro (put up by Farone, knocked down for his behavior during a murder).

- Either a previously unknown member or just a typo: Blackie DiAugusta. Part of NY faction.

- I've seen Virgil Alessi sometimes called Guy Alessi. Virgil and Guy Alessi were two different people, both made members and both now deceased. Guy Alessi ran a catering hall in Bayonne.

- Steve Vitabile was the Consigliere since at least 1976/1977.

- c. December 1989: Anthony Capo and Frank Guarraci inducted. Capo sponsored by Palermo and Guarraci sponsored by Jake Amari. During the ceremony John Riggi reprimanded Guarraci in front of everyone for being a hothead and warned him to behave.

- In Summer 1991 three NJ guys were promoted to captain by John D'Amato: Joseph Ferrara, Louis LaRasso and Charles Majuri. At the time Majuri had been shelved for stealing money from his father. LaRasso had previously been shelved for plotting against the leadership of the Family, and the only reason he wasn't killed then was because Sam DeCavalcante had a soft spot for him (even after the plot).

- Vincent Rotondo was never the Underboss. At the time of the murder John Riggi was planning to promote him to that position to replace Jimmy Palermo, but he died a captain.

- Rudy Farone was an alcoholic and due to his behavior towards his crew John D'Amato took most of his soldiers from him and gave them to other captains. Farone supposedly never forgave D'Amato for it and this is probably a big reason for him pushing to get D'Amato killed before a formal admin meeting could be held to decide.

- After Jake Amari's death Joseph Arcuri met with Steve Vitabile and others to discuss what they were going to do now as far as leadership. Vitabile mentioned several people wanted John Riggi to step down because he wasn't sending orders out. It was decided to wait for him to be released from prison and bring him to a meeting first. Charles Majuri told Vitabile if Riggi doesn't step down he'd kill him.

- Most interesting bit of info, to me at least, is about Anthony Carubia. He was a former captain in the DeCav NY faction, and as far as I can tell hasn't been mentioned much before if at all. The name stood out to me because I had a Marco Carubia (1900-1965) down as a possible member. Even though he was from Ribera, I thought he might have been a Gambino due to being present at Arcuri's social club. Given the Arcuris' role as the DeCav's main Gambino connection that makes sense. Both Carubias were Upper Manhattan guys (as were the Arcuris). So Anthony Carubia was a definite member and captain, and it's possibly Marco was also made with the DeCavs.

Still going through files at the moment, so I'll probably add some more later.

[Snakes]

Very cool, keep it coming!

[Chaps]

Very interesting. I've begun delving into the DeCavalcante's myself although I haven't received any files as of yet. I've made several FOIA requests to the FBI. I am interested in more recent history but am hoping to learn more about their early days, most particularly why they were allowed to remain a free-standing family while Newark was disbanded (according to Tumac Accetturo). Also their ties to Ribera, SIcily.

Great stuff JD!

[Rocco]

Great stuff ! Thanks for posting !

[Pogo The Clown]

Really good stuff. Thanks for taking the time to dig this up and posting it for us JD.


On Paparatto he was evidently made after the indictments because he served briefly as Acting Boss (along with Manny Riggi) in 2001.


Pogo

[B.]

Great stuff. Thank you for sharing.

Guy Alessi is Gaetano Alessi, who was also in attendance at the Pippo Bono wedding and appears in a photograph there (if I remember right, it's the one with Tony Riela and Frank Polizzi). He is also in the photo of Ribera members from the 1980's. His son Vincent is a concrete developer in Bayonne who has been linked to both the DeCavalcante and Gambino families.

Any idea what the relation is between Gaetano and Virgil? From what I've seen, Virgil's father was named Virgilio and from Linguaglossa, about halfway between Catania and Messina. There are other Alessis who are from Agrigento province, which is where a number of DeCavalcante members came from, even aside from Ribera. Virgil Alessi lived and operated in NYC, possibly being in the D'Amato crew (?). He died after having a heart attack while acting as the shooter during a hit. Mainly known as a big time drug dealer involved in the French Connection. He is another one who seemed to have heavy ties to the Gambino family.

That funeral bit about them kissing the deceased member is interesting. Everything I've read about them tells me they were a much more "intimate" family, for lack of a better word. Also surprised to hear that Guarracci was reprimanded at his own making ceremony. That seems like an awkward thing to do. Guarracci apparently killed a man in Sicily who had been involved with his wife, and we know from that pizzeria incident that he may not have listened to Riggi's advice...

Charlie Majuri saying he'd kill Riggi if he doesn't step down after his release could tell us something about the current rumors, with Majuri supposedly taking the top spot. If anyone find any info connecting the Majuris to Ribera, please let me know. I suspect that either Charles' mother or grandmother may have been Riberesi but haven't been able to confirm it.

[Pogo The Clown]

Let me add that the Frank LNU who was proposed as of 1999 is most likely Frank "Frankie the Beast" Scarabino. He was proposed at the time of the big indictments.


Pogo

[Pogo The Clown]

Virgil Alessi lived and operated in NYC, possibly being in the D'Amato crew (?).

He was in Phil Abramo's Crew I believe.


Pogo

[B.]

Virgil Alessi lived and operated in NYC, possibly being in the D'Amato crew (?).

He was in Phil Abramo's Crew I believe.


Pogo

That makes sense, as Abramo was likely a member of D'Amato's crew before that. I believe they (Alessi, D'Amato, Abramo) were all under Frank Cocchiaro originally. I'm not sure if there is a direct succession or if a crew split off, but none of them were capos at the same time to my knowledge.

The other one that I'm curious about is the Joseph LoLordo crew. He and his brother were both in the thick of it in Chicago, but Pasquale LoLordo as killed and Joseph, his wife, and Pasquale's wife all moved out to NY afterward. Flash forward 30+ years and LoLordo is listed as a captain in the DeCavalcante family, which makes sense given his Ribera background. What I don't know is who he associated with and whether he had a proper "New York" crew or simply lived there.

[LcnBios]

No problem on sharing info. Couple things:

Let me add that the Frank LNU who was proposed as of 1999 is most likely Frank "Frankie the Beast" Scarabino. He was proposed at the time of the big indictments.
Pogo

You're right about Frank Scarabino was proposed as well, forgot to mention him. This Frank LNU in my original post is a different guy, probably with Joseph Caruano's regime.

Virgil Alessi lived and operated in NYC, possibly being in the D'Amato crew (?). He died after having a heart attack while acting as the shooter during a hit. Mainly known as a big time drug dealer involved in the French Connection. He is another one who seemed to have heavy ties to the Gambino family.

Alessi had a heart attack after shooting Joseph Garofano to death in September 1989 but he didn't die from it. This is the same hit where Bernard NiCastro ran out of the room when the shooting started and led to guys complaining that he shouldn't be made. His crew leader was Larry 'Shorty' Schiro but he was close to Abramo, D'Amato and those guys. Abramo was the main one pushing for Alessi to be made a captain in the 1990s, he died in 1998.

Edit:

That makes sense, as Abramo was likely a member of D'Amato's crew before that.

You're right he was. D'Amato brought him into the life and Abramo took over for him.

[Rocco]

Very interesting. I've begun delving into the DeCavalcante's myself although I haven't received any files as of yet. I've made several FOIA requests to the FBI. I am interested in more recent history but am hoping to learn more about their early days, most particularly why they were allowed to remain a free-standing family while Newark was disbanded (according to Tumac Accetturo). Also their ties to Ribera, SIcily.

Great stuff JD!

From what I remember the Decavalcantes didn't have a huge presence in Newark. Just a few guys and Majuri sr came from there. The rest were in the small enclave of Peterstown Elizabeth. The Majuris were close to several Newark guys like Tumac. I believe Majuri was either best man to Tumac or Godfather to his kid! I forget which. Wether the Majuris were from Ribera and that was their ties to Peterstown and the Decavs..I don't know.

[B.]

Ah, thanks for clearing that up about Alessi. I think he died of heart complications and I associated it with the heart attack story. So he was a Schiro guy then. Any idea if Schiro was under D'Amato and/or Cocchiaro at some point?

[B.]

Very interesting. I've begun delving into the DeCavalcante's myself although I haven't received any files as of yet. I've made several FOIA requests to the FBI. I am interested in more recent history but am hoping to learn more about their early days, most particularly why they were allowed to remain a free-standing family while Newark was disbanded (according to Tumac Accetturo). Also their ties to Ribera, SIcily.

Great stuff JD!

From what I remember the Decavalcantes didn't have a huge presence in Newark. Just a few guys and Majuri sr came from there. The rest were in the small enclave of Peterstown Elizabeth. The Majuris were close to several Newark guys like Tumac. I believe Majuri was either best man to Tumac or Godfather to his kid! I forget which. Wether the Majuris were from Ribera and that was their ties to Peterstown and the Decavs..I don't know.

The Majuris paternal side is from Corleone, but I found something a while back suggesting possible Ribera heritage as well, just can't verify it.

As for the Majuris being from Newark proper, you've said that a number of times over the years but it's not the case. Where does that info come from? They lived in Elizabeth going back to at least the 1930. I'm not sure when they left NYC, but they were in Union county from the time Frank was old enough to associate with the DeCavalcantes, if not earlier.

The Majuris likely knew other Corleonesi in NYC and Calogero "Charles" may have been a mafioso, who knows, but something brought them to Elizabeth. Was his wife from Ribera and had relatives/friends in Elizabeth? Did Frank marry a girl with Ribera heritage given that he grew up in Elizabeth and associated with the DeCavalcante family? Those are just some things I've considered.

[Angelo Santino]

Ah, thanks for clearing that up about Alessi. I think he died of heart complications and I associated it with the heart attack story. So he was a Schiro guy then. Any idea if Schiro was under D'Amato and/or Cocchiaro at some point?

Any idea where Schiro was from? When Nicola Schiro fled NY, he went to Jersey.

[Pogo The Clown]

Good stuff JD.


Funny you mention Joseph Garofano as he was another one who was proposed to be made but got whacked for acting flaky after the Weiss hit. Frank Guarraci took his place in the ceremony.


It also interesting a lot of the proposed members like Scarabino, Nicastro DiChiara flipped.


Pogo