DeCavalcante Info Thread (Cont'd)

[Frank]

Didn't the Gambino's make Riggi so mad that he wanted to whack Jackie DiAmico and Squinteri around the early 2000s. If true he probably figured that would be a big mistake for his small Family and backed off the idea. Has anyone heard of this or is it not true?

[B.]

JD, according to Rotondo, Dracula's brothers are members of Falcone family in Canada

I've never come across any Falcones in Canada, but the Falcone brothers were powerful members of the Buffalo family in Utica. If he's referring to them, they were from Sciacca so not far from Ribera.

[felice]

Yes B. That's what Rotondo probably mean. It shouldn't be hard to find out dracula's surname then. We just have to find 2 brothers members of Falcone decina there

[Pogo The Clown]

Good idea Felice. Does any one have the link to the MaryFerrel document that list the Buffalo family members during the 60s (forgot to copy it)? Maybe they are on there.


Pogo

[LcnBios]

see next page

[LcnBios]

Emanuel Riggi Crew

On September 9, 1989 DeCav Underboss John D'Amato and DeCav Captains Philip Abramo and Anthony Rotondo attended a barbecue held at residence of DeCav Soldier Vincent Riggi in Middletown, New Jersey. Also present were James Gallo and at least four other made members. At one point D'Amato told those present he wanted to discuss some Family business. The group went into Riggi's kitchen, 'tied it up' and held a meeting that lasted approximately one-half hour. D'Amato stated he wanted to make this a monthly occurence so that Captains and their crew members could regularly discuss things amongst themselves. D'Amato also extended the courtesy of formally requesting Riggi's permission to use James Gallo, a member of Riggi's crew, in the Fred Weiss hit that occurred two days later.

Given the wording re captain/crew, and that none of the Soldiers present were under Abramo/Rotondo, seems like they were all under Manny Riggi at the time and the crew would therefore include the following:

1.) Carl Corsentino (53y)
2.) Anthony 'Soft Shoes' DeMaio (48y)
3.) James 'Jimmy Pitt' Gallo (45y)
4.) John Riggi Jr. (35y)
5.) Vincent Riggi (38y)
6.) Anthony LNU [Could be Falzone or some unknown member]

D'Amato/Alessi/Schiro

- Virgil Alessi and John D'Amato were inducted circa 1976/1977. At the time both were around 'a soldier named Anthony Carubi' [Carubia], who in turn was under Capodecina Larry 'Shorty' Schiro, headquartered in Manhattan's Upper East Side on 76th St, same area as the Gambino Family's Arcuri crew. Alessi, D'Amato and D'Amato's brother Frank were all involved with narcotics.

John D'Amato was promoted to Capodecina circa 1986/1987. Alessi stayed under Schiro. Under D'Amato were Philip Abramo and Abramo's brother-in-law Louis 'Louie Eggs' Consalvo. Following D'Amato's promotion to official Underboss the crew was taken over by Philip Abramo. Shortly thereafter Alessi was taken from Schiro's crew and put under Abramo.

Around September 1991 D'Amato made Virgil Alessi an Acting Captain (not clear if this was Acting for Abramo or of a new regime). This was done without permission from anyone and was just one incident in a pattern of behavior that ultimately led to D'Amato's murder that November. Afterwards Jake Amari was made Acting Boss and the Official Underboss and found out about Alessi's unauthorized promotion. He was initially angry but not long afterwards went ahead and made Alessi an official captain. Alessi 'had no one at first' and the section unfortunately ends there. Still no mention of any made guys who reported to Alessi, or Frank Polizzi for that matter.

The topic of Alessi's promotion is also a good showcase of how differently people can remember things. Another CW claimed Alessi was made a Captain after the September 1989 murder of Joseph Garofano. That doesn't match with other available info. There's also a large discrepancy surrounding the Manny Riggi demotion which will be discussed in a future post.

Blackie DiAugusta (ph)

This guy turns up multiple times, always re the Brooklyn faction. It's possibly just a bad phonetic spelling for Mickey DePietro, but the obituary for Rudy Farone's wife mentions a relative named D'Agosta. The Blackie DiAugusta mentioned as a DeCav member was made after the books opened and reported to Jimmy Rotondo, who in turn was very close to the Farone family [Rudy was Anthony Rotondo's godfather]. There's a few possible matches for him, one of which died the same month Anthony Rotondo was made, a ceremony Blackie attended, so it's not certain.

Francesco Paparatto

Sometime around 1998 Francesco 'Frank the Painter' Paparatto approached the DeCav Acting Admin and complained about his treatment. Paparatto claimed he had already been made in Italy, but that John Riggi continually promised to make him a formally inducted DeCav member and had failed to do so. This continued under Jake Amari, and after Amari's death Vitabile promised the same thing. He felt he was being used by those in power and not being properly rewarded for it. As we know from newer info he was finally made at some point after the big indictment. One of the DeCav surveillance photos available online has Paparatto walking alongside Charles Majuri.

Charles Stango

Resided in New Jersey but originally put in Vincent 'Jimmy' Rotondo's crew following the latter's promotion to Capodecina circa 1977. Remained with this crew until convicted on a murder related charge. Following release he 'floated between' the crews headed by Anthony Rotondo and Joseph Ferrara, and also maintained a close relationship with Jimmy Palermo. Stango was known as 'The Hat' or 'The Mad Hatter' and considered one of the main killers/tough guys in the Family at the time. Like Paparatto he was inducted after the big indictment.

Unidentified DeCav Members

- Carmen (ph), old timer who died early 1980s. Could be referring to Carlo Cimo who died 1983.

- Local 394 employee referred to as 'Maddiani' (ph) was a DeCav member. This came up near the end of a long list of photo identifications so we can eliminate the majority of the established DeCav members when considering mis-ID, but it could still be a poorly spelled reference to one of the lesser mentioned, but already known, members.

[Pogo The Clown]

Great stuff JD. So Louie Consalvo was already a member by the mid 80s? Do we know who was made in the early 1990s ceremony? The one that got them in trouble with NY because they inducted guy's who had been turned down for membership in NY.


Pogo

[LcnBios]

Yes, Consalvo was definitely made by then. He was among the members who had to be re-made in 1988. More on that later.

No idea on the second question, all it says is by the mid-to-late 1990s there was some kind of rule in place forbidding the DeCavs from making Brooklyn-New York guys. Doesn't specify the cause or whether the rule was temporary or not. Very little on DeCav inductions post-1980s.

[B.]

Thanks for keeping going on this. This DeCav info is about 100 times better than a book like "Made Men".

When is the earliest Schiro shows up as a captain? He's identified as a member by the 1960s, but not sure who he was under. Have you found anything else on other early NY crews aside from Cocchiaro and LoLordo? I remember you mentioned a name a while back.

There is a Joseph Moretti ID'd as a member by the 1960s and the other names on the list are confirmed members. Have you ever come across this name in connection with the DeCavs?

[Pogo The Clown]

Have you found anything else on other early NY crews aside from Cocchiaro and LoLordo? I remember you mentioned a name a while back.

That was Anthony Carubia. If I remember right JD mentioned he might have been the NY Capo before Cocchiaro. He died in 1981.


Pogo

[LcnBios]

There is a Joseph Moretti ID'd as a member by the 1960s and the other names on the list are confirmed members. Have you ever come across this name in connection with the DeCavs?

There's still a few names on those lists with almost nothing available, Moretti is one of them for now.



DeCavs Admin Early 2001

After the acting panel was indicted in 1999/2000, Riggi promoted Joseph Miranda direct from Soldier to Underboss. Frank D'Amato, who had been recently made, replaced Joseph Giacobbe as captain of the Manhattan crew. It doesn't specify whether the rank was official or still acting for Schiro. It's possible Schiro had been taken down by then.

By April 2001 D'Amato had been made Consigliere. Again it doesn't specificy acting/official, but there's also mention of Francesco Guarraci being an acting Consigliere. There's not an exact time frame for Guarraci's role, so it could have been after D'Amato was himself indicted.

Historical

- Louis LaRasso and Rudy Farone were involved in the strangling murder of 'Frank Failla' in the 1960s. This is probably a typo for Joseph Feola who disappeared 1965. Through the DeCav wiretaps we know LaRasso and others were involved in that murder, and the victim was killed using the same method.

- Rotondo described instances in the DeCavalcante Family where a Boss has authorized the murder of his own Underboss. He gave the following two examples:

1.) Louis LaRasso was targeted by Nick Delmore and only saved because Frank Cocchiaro and others in the New York faction pleaded for his life.

2.) "(During) prohibition, one of the original bosses, Steve Padomi, had given permission to kill his underboss, Sam Monocco."

Had to go back and re-read the file to confirm the second, and he was specifically asked about cases in the DeCavalcante Family when mentioning Badami/Monaco. Both are usually considered Newark Family members. It's possible he read about them in a book or another source and just assumed that being New Jersey based they would fall under the DeCavs. Also possible he heard it from his father or someone else in the know. Vincent Rotondo was one of Nick Delmore's drivers when the latter visited NYC, so he might have been schooled in the history and passed some of it on to his son. Would be interested to know what others who research the early days think of this.

[Chaps]

Thanks again JD! Always top notch.

Regarding Badami/Monaco, anything in that time period is always up to debate. It's obvious he got alot of his info from his father such as the murder of Zeeney Collicchio.

Interesting point regarding LaRasso being targeted by Delmore. While I don't remember reading anything regarding this in LaRasso's FBI file, I can tell you that Lou was never highly regarded and, in fact, was downright despised by many in that Family. He was viewed as a shifty weasel and even Gyp DeCarlo was overheard on a wiretap telling Sam that Lou should be knocked down a peg due to the way he walked all over Sam.

Miranda being made Underboss after the big indictment is interesting as previous information has Manny Riggi and Francesco Paparato being on a panel running the family.

[Frank]

Maybe the panel was just temporary for a few days or weeks till Riggi named Miranda

[Pogo The Clown]

The two are not exclusive. Paparatto and Manny Riggi could been on the panel running the family while Miranda was the UnderBoss. In any event the panel didn't last long before Miranda became Acting Boss.


Great info JD. It fills in some blanks. Let me add tht Frank D'amato was listed as the Acting Consigliere in 2003.


Pogo

[Pogo The Clown]

Also do we know when Larry Schiro died? I think Joe Giacobbe is dead as well but I'm not sure. Thanks.


Pogo