Lawrence Ricci Murder

[Hailbritain]

Not sure what that actually means or what exactly the feds wanted at accomplish by saying that. Historically speaking, there has never been a Genovese captain who was head of it´s Family´s NJ operations. Since the 1950s, Genovese members based in NJ, has been divided into several crews and under different captains. And to my knowledge, these crews has never had a NJ based captain above them, supervising them. I agree it´s confusing but the statement could mean that Danny Leo, who was the acting boss at the time, named Palumbo to supervise a crew in NJ but not the entire Genovese Family´s NJ operations.

I've said before it could simply mean Leo made Palumbo the go-between for the top leadership in New York and the crews in New Jersey. In other words, keeping oversight of the family's Jersey operations as a whole.

"was allied closely with the powerful “Westside” of the Genovese Crime Family. The Westside crew was the power hub of the Crime Family, and was comprised of captains who were loyal to and reported directly to Vincent “The Chin” Gigante, the then boss of the Genovese family. "

What a bunch of nonsensical waffle.
There is no Westside crew, the term Westside refers to the Genovese family as a whole, not a single crew or faction within it.
The second half of the sentence is even more egregious, there were captains who weren't loyal to the Chin?

Garbage like the above makes me seriously question anything futher listed in the piece. If they can have this level of misunderstanding, are we really expected to take nuance with the balance?

In this case, the West Side Crew is a reference to the old Vinny Gigante crew, based in Greenwich Village, and all the future captains that came out of there. This crew had a lot of members based in East Harlem and the Bronx back in the day. If Palumbo originally was a Bronx guy (see my post above), it´s possible he too originally was under Gigante, or under any of the other Gigante crew members who later became captains.

That's my understanding of the "West Side" reference in the report as well. I've seen it used by both law enforcement and underworld figures elsewhere.

Of course, there is also the more general reference to the "West Side," meaning the Genovese family as a whole. I'm not sure which came first or if the one grew out of the other.

Anyway Sonny, I know you'll be shocked to hear me say this, but don't be so quick to dismiss the feds. These detention and sentencing memos often have some of the best info on the inner workings of the LCN. Sometimes stuff we don't even see laid out in indictments or, if so, with a lot less detail.

Finally, it appears Palumbo was placed in charge of Jimmy Napoli's crew in Brooklyn originally in 1992. Not sure if we should assume a captain rank with that because he was said to be a "long-time soldier and acting captain" in 2006. Acting for who, I'm not sure, but he appears to have been well connected with leaders of the family and had a lot of influence.

Wasn’t Angelo prisco the capo who oversaw the jersey crews for west side also , I think I’ve read he was the liaison to both factions

[SILENT PARTNERZ]

When Palumbo was indicted 2010 he was in charge of overseeing NJ Genovese operations. Not sure what position that would be, I guess he was a capo with more authority than a typical capo

https://nypost.com/2010/06/15/reputed-g ... rder-plot/

"Head of the Genovese family’s New Jersey operations"

Not sure what that actually means or what exactly the feds wanted at accomplish by saying that. Historically speaking, there has never been a Genovese captain who was head of it´s Family´s NJ operations. Since the 1950s, Genovese members based in NJ, has been divided into several crews and under different captains. And to my knowledge, these crews has never had a NJ based captain above them, supervising them. I agree it´s confusing but the statement could mean that Danny Leo, who was the acting boss at the time, named Palumbo to supervise a crew in NJ but not the entire Genovese Family´s NJ operations.

I was always under the impression that there was a Genovese captain that was 'the top NJ capo & had oversight and reported to the admin in NYC:
Willie Moretti > Jerry Catena> Tino Fuimara > ??. There are 5 crews in NJ, so it would make sense to have one capo come into NY and relay orders
and messages back and forth.

I've seen that said now and again on the forums before but not sure where it originated. Perhaps it may have been the case at one time, i.e. maybe with guys like Moretti and Catena. But I'm not sure that was the case with Fiumara. He ran one of the family's biggest and most powerful crews in New Jersey, and appears to have been on the panel prior to his death, but I don't recall seeing anything official saying he was over Jersey operations for the family. That may have just been an assumption that originated on the boards.

It could be a forum trend concerning recent years
We know how powerful Tino was and that he might have been considered for top boss.
That family is so secretive, who knows...

[Wiseguy]

Wasn’t Angelo prisco the capo who oversaw the jersey crews for west side also , I think I’ve read he was the liaison to both factions

If I recall, Prisco was Bronx based (where a lot of the family's top guys were) and assumed control of one of the Jersey crews (later run by Joseph LaScala) but I don't remember seeing anything about him having oversight of all Jersey.

[Wiseguy]

Since we are on the subject of Genovese crews in Jersey, I stumbled across this December 2004 article that came out following the Operation Jersey Boyz gambling bust. The part in question is below -

Gatto's rank in the Genovese crime family was not clear Wednesday night.

In May, the State Commission of Investigation claimed he filled the captain's role vacated by his deceased father, who had been in prison, and reported directly to family leaders in New York. The FBI also named him a captain in a 1998 federal racketeering indictment.

But law enforcement officials on Wednesday said Gatto controls much of his father's old numbers rackets but isn't one of the Genovese family's three New Jersey captains. Gatto, released from federal prison last year after serving a 61-month term, remains a soldier, said state police Detective Mark Doyle.

In any case, "Joe Gatto is one of the higher operatives for the Genovese crime family," Doyle said.

State authorities said three captains control New Jersey for the Genovese family: Angelo M. Prisco runs the Jersey City and Bayonne waterfront; Ocean County resident Ludwig "Ninny" Bruschi, who awaits trial on a 2003 racketeering charge, controls Northern New Jersey and Silvio DeVita controls the Newark area.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.northj ... p/95019340

Two things that conflict with the May 2004 report are Gatto being a captain and the family having three crews in New Jersey, not five (Fiumara, Bruschi, Gatto, DeVita, and Prisco). Larry Dentico was also said to be a captain around this time but I've never been sure where he fit in.

Anyway, as the article says, the Genovese operation, which controlled two offshore wirerooms, accepted bets from the Lucchese, Bonanno, and Gambino families. On the chart below you can see Lucchese members like Frank Lagano and Joseph Perna on the left and Bonanno associate Paul Mancuso on the right.

636270108127735587-2426188A-00001-9257020.jpeg

[sdeitche]

"The Huck Finn Diner sits on the north side of Morris Avenue in the township of Union. Like so many other roadside diners that dot the State, the Huck Finn is open from sun-up to late in the evening, almost 24 hours on the weekend. The standard diner fare is served along with an impressive list of burgers and chicken sandwiches. The back of the parking lot abuts the baseball field for Union Senior High School. Starting in late October 2005, a Silver Acura sat parked in the last row of the back lot. The owner of the diner thought he knew who the car belonged to, so it didn’t arouse too much suspicion as it sat undisturbed until November 30th. That day a patron walking by the car noticed flies gathering around the trunk, and a stench emanating from the car and alerted the manager. The manager found the car opened and retrieved the registration.

When the police were called, they ran the registration and immediately contacted the FBI. The feds were on the lookout for the car and its driver, the cousin of the car’s real owner. And when they popped open the trunk, they found the driver face down shot dead. Thought they sent the body to the coroner for an autopsy and official identification, they knew right away they found Genovese capo Lawrence Ricci, who was last seen leaving his girlfriend’s on October 5th.

Earlier that year, in February 2005, Ricci was indicted, along with Genovese soldier George Barone, ILA president John Bowers, and vice president Arthur Coffey. They were indicted on extortion and mail fraud in a scheme to keep the top leadership of the union in the hands of the mob, specifically the Genovese and Gambino families. “Over time, the Mafia developed a stranglehold over the ILA and used that control to select ILA officers and used its influence over the officers to steer lucrative contracts to companies controlled by the mob and paying money to the mob.” Ricci’s part was to steer a lucrative contract to a mob-run pharmaceutical company."

[Wiseguy]

Like father, like son in slay: feds
By JOHN MARZULLI
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
MAR 29, 2007


The feds have identified father-and-son suspects in the 2005 gangland murder of Genovese capo Lawrence Ricci, according to court papers unsealed yesterday.

Louis Rizzo and his dad, Genovese capo Michael (Mikey Cigars) Coppola have not been charged in the rubout, but the feds appear to be closing in. Coppola's son Vincent may also have played a role in the killing, which occurred while Ricci was on trial for extortion in Brooklyn, according to court papers.

Sources said Ricci was whacked because Genovese higher-ups had ordered him to plead guilty in the case, and he went to trial instead.

The elder Coppola was nabbed earlier this month on the upper West Side after 10 years on the lam from murder charges in New Jersey.

Rizzo was intercepted on a wiretap talking to his father in February about the gun used to kill Ricci, and also mentioned that Vincent (Sonny) Coppola knew where the murder weapon was located.

A transcript of the conversation was made public yesterday after the arrests of Coppola's wife, Linda, and Rizzo on charges of harboring a fugitive.

The conversation "is consistent with confidential source information that Rizzo and Coppola participated in Ricci's murder," prosecutor John Buretta wrote.

https://www.google.com/amp/www.nydailyn ... utType=amp

[SonnyBlackstein]

Brilliant thread and posts all.

Great article WG, had no idea Coppola himself was directly suspected.

One of the best educating threads on the board so far imo.

[HairyKnuckles]

"State authorities said three captains control New Jersey for the Genovese family: Angelo M. Prisco runs the Jersey City and Bayonne waterfront; Ocean County resident Ludwig "Ninny" Bruschi, who awaits trial on a 2003 racketeering charge, controls Northern New Jersey and Silvio DeVita controls the Newark area.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.northj ... p/95019340

Two things that conflict with the May 2004 report are Gatto being a captain and the family having three crews in New Jersey, not five (Fiumara, Bruschi, Gatto, DeVita, and Prisco). Larry Dentico was also said to be a captain around this time but I've never been sure where he fit in."

Since the early 1950s, until sometime in the very late 1980s or early 1990s (roughly speaking), the Genovese Family had three NJ based crews; Gene Catena, Boiardo and DeCarlo were the leaders. DeCarlo´s crew was merged with Tommy Lombardi´s (Tieris former crew) in the early 1970s, so Lombardi had control over Brooklyn based members and the ones who had previously been under DeCarlo. We don´t know what happened to this crew after Lombardi died in 1987 but my guess is that it was split and that the NJ based members formed their own, new crew. As its leader, we can rule out Fiumara who had taken over from Gatto Sr (so Fiumara and Gatto was the same crew) and since DeVita most probably took over the Boiardo/Gerardo crew, I think we can rule him out too. That leaves us with Prisco and Dentico. Both of them were originally Bronx made members but had come up with Gigante´s crew. Being close to Gigante, my guess is that he made them captains with parts of NJ put under their control. Perhaps one of them were given control of the NJ based members who had previously been under Lombardi, unless of course Bruschi was the one?

Anyway, we lack more information on this and how Palumbo exactly fits in is still a mystery to me.

[eboli]

When Palumbo was indicted 2010 he was in charge of overseeing NJ Genovese operations. Not sure what position that would be, I guess he was a capo with more authority than a typical capo

https://nypost.com/2010/06/15/reputed-g ... rder-plot/

"Head of the Genovese family’s New Jersey operations"

Not sure what that actually means or what exactly the feds wanted at accomplish by saying that. Historically speaking, there has never been a Genovese captain who was head of it´s Family´s NJ operations. Since the 1950s, Genovese members based in NJ, has been divided into several crews and under different captains. And to my knowledge, these crews has never had a NJ based captain above them, supervising them. I agree it´s confusing but the statement could mean that Danny Leo, who was the acting boss at the time, named Palumbo to supervise a crew in NJ but not the entire Genovese Family´s NJ operations.

I was always under the impression that there was a Genovese captain that was 'the top NJ capo & had oversight and reported to the admin in NYC:
Willie Moretti > Jerry Catena> Tino Fuimara > ??. There are 5 crews in NJ, so it would make sense to have one capo come into NY and relay orders
and messages back and forth.

I've seen that said now and again on the forums before but not sure where it originated. Perhaps it may have been the case at one time, i.e. maybe with guys like Moretti and Catena. But I'm not sure that was the case with Fiumara. He ran one of the family's biggest and most powerful crews in New Jersey, and appears to have been on the panel prior to his death, but I don't recall seeing anything official saying he was over Jersey operations for the family. That may have just been an assumption that originated on the boards.

It was definitely the case with Fiumara. Westside have had New Jersey boss since Moretti. It goes Moretti -> Catena(Boiardo/Decarlo) -> Tony Pro -> Bobby Manna -> Fiumara. FBI reported numerous times he's nj boss, Capeci had an article about it in the early 00's. In the status report on OC by the state of NJ commision of investigation from 2004 is said the following:

During his time on the street, Fiumara served as head of the New Jersey faction of the Genovese organization.

What's interesting is he was far more powerful at the time than a lot of people realise. He didn't just oversee his crew and the other four nj based genovese crews, but also ny based genovese crews with partial interests and operations in jersey. So, around the Ricci murder Fiumara supposedly had under him:

- fiumara/coppola crew at the time with acting capos Borelli & Ricci
- angelo prisco's crew / he was also the liason between ny an nj / acting capo LaScala
- Joseph Gatto's crew
- Ninny Brusci's crew
- DeVita's crew - there's a chance he was probably only "acting" at the time since that was Angelo Gerardo's crew and was reported despite being retired forever to still receive envelopes from his old crew and make key decisions when needed

On top of that you had members of Matty Horse's crew, Rosario Gangi's crew, Malangone's crew and Vinny DiNapoli's crew who all had to report their activities to Fiumara.

[HairyKnuckles]

During his time on the street, Fiumara served as head of the New Jersey faction of the Genovese organization.

I think you guys read too much into theses kind of statements and make it bigger than what it actually means. If a mob guy is under scrutiny, about to be indicted, or indicted, LE very often embellish the so called facts and truth. Now, what we have seen in the past, when a Family is temporarily run by a ruling panel, it´s very often the case that the captains, instead of reporting to one boss, reports to any of the ruling panel members, Fiumara was part of a ruling panel in the 00s, it´s possible that the NJ based captains reported to him while on ruling panel, just like a number of other captains reported to a second member of the ruling panel and the rest of the captains reported to the third ruling panel. That was the case with the Genovese Family in the early 1980s and could have been the case in the 00s too.

It goes Moretti -> Catena(Boiardo/Decarlo) -> Tony Pro -> Bobby Manna -> Fiumara.

Willie Moretti was the only Genovese captain back in the 1930s and 1940s, so naturally he was the head of the Genovese NJ faction. It wasn´t untill later in the late 1940s and early 1950s, when Catena and DeCarlo was brought in, the Genovese Family had multiple crews based in NJ. No evidence of Willy Moretti, being the supervisor of these crews unless they reported directly to him, when he was given an administration post.

Tony Pro was never a captain. It was reported in the 1960s that he was under Anthony Carillo (captain) and later on under Matty Ianniello. Bobby Manna came up under Gigante and was made consigliere in or around 1981. As such and as a member of the administration, he was the highest ranking Genovese member in NJ and that gave the illusion that he controlled the NJ crews. And when they indicted Fiumara, just to demonstate what a big fish they had caught, they made him bigger than what he actually was by saying he was boss over Genovese operations in NJ.

On top of that you had members of Matty Horse's crew, Rosario Gangi's crew, Malangone's crew and Vinny DiNapoli's crew who all had to report their activities to Fiumara

No crew members has to report anything to another crew leader than their own. No need for that, unless they are in some kind of partnership and has to split some revenues. The NJ based members who are in crews that are headed by NY captains, naturally reports to those captains.

Rankwise, there has never been a level above captains, but below the members of the administration. It has always been boss - underboss - consigliere - captains - soldiers. If a captain is more powerful than the otrhers, it doesn´t make him a "head captain".

We have derailed this thread a little bit. Let´s go back on discussing the Ricci murder.

[Cheech]

When Palumbo was indicted 2010 he was in charge of overseeing NJ Genovese operations. Not sure what position that would be, I guess he was a capo with more authority than a typical capo

https://nypost.com/2010/06/15/reputed-g ... rder-plot/

"Head of the Genovese family’s New Jersey operations"

Not sure what that actually means or what exactly the feds wanted at accomplish by saying that. Historically speaking, there has never been a Genovese captain who was head of it´s Family´s NJ operations. Since the 1950s, Genovese members based in NJ, has been divided into several crews and under different captains. And to my knowledge, these crews has never had a NJ based captain above them, supervising them. I agree it´s confusing but the statement could mean that Danny Leo, who was the acting boss at the time, named Palumbo to supervise a crew in NJ but not the entire Genovese Family´s NJ operations.

is that Espositos role now?

[HairyKnuckles]

When Palumbo was indicted 2010 he was in charge of overseeing NJ Genovese operations. Not sure what position that would be, I guess he was a capo with more authority than a typical capo

https://nypost.com/2010/06/15/reputed-g ... rder-plot/

"Head of the Genovese family’s New Jersey operations"

Not sure what that actually means or what exactly the feds wanted at accomplish by saying that. Historically speaking, there has never been a Genovese captain who was head of it´s Family´s NJ operations. Since the 1950s, Genovese members based in NJ, has been divided into several crews and under different captains. And to my knowledge, these crews has never had a NJ based captain above them, supervising them. I agree it´s confusing but the statement could mean that Danny Leo, who was the acting boss at the time, named Palumbo to supervise a crew in NJ but not the entire Genovese Family´s NJ operations.

is that Espositos role now?

Head of the Genovese NJ operations? No, unless he´s the only Genovese crew leader based in NJ. Which I sincerely doubt.

[Cheech]

During his time on the street, Fiumara served as head of the New Jersey faction of the Genovese organization.

I think you guys read too much into theses kind of statements and make it bigger than what it actually means. If a mob guy is under scrutiny, about to be indicted, or indicted, LE very often embellish the so called facts and truth. Now, what we have seen in the past, when a Family is temporarily run by a ruling panel, it´s very often the case that the captains, instead of reporting to one boss, reports to any of the ruling panel members, Fiumara was part of a ruling panel in the 00s, it´s possible that the NJ based captains reported to him while on ruling panel, just like a number of other captains reported to a second member of the ruling panel and the rest of the captains reported to the third ruling panel. That was the case with the Genovese Family in the early 1980s and could have been the case in the 00s too.

It goes Moretti -> Catena(Boiardo/Decarlo) -> Tony Pro -> Bobby Manna -> Fiumara.

Willie Moretti was the only Genovese captain back in the 1930s and 1940s, so naturally he was the head of the Genovese NJ faction. It wasn´t untill later in the late 1940s and early 1950s, when Catena and DeCarlo was brought in, the Genovese Family had multiple crews based in NJ. No evidence of Willy Moretti, being the supervisor of these crews unless they reported directly to him, when he was given an administration post.

Tony Pro was never a captain. It was reported in the 1960s that he was under Anthony Carillo (captain) and later on under Matty Ianniello. Bobby Manna came up under Gigante and was made consigliere in or around 1981. As such and as a member of the administration, he was the highest ranking Genovese member in NJ and that gave the illusion that he controlled the NJ crews. And when they indicted Fiumara, just to demonstate what a big fish they had caught, they made him bigger than what he actually was by saying he was boss over Genovese operations in NJ.

On top of that you had members of Matty Horse's crew, Rosario Gangi's crew, Malangone's crew and Vinny DiNapoli's crew who all had to report their activities to Fiumara

No crew members has to report anything to another crew leader than their own. No need for that, unless they are in some kind of partnership and has to split some revenues. The NJ based members who are in crews that are headed by NY captains, naturally reports to those captains.

Rankwise, there has never been a level above captains, but below the members of the administration. It has always been boss - underboss - consigliere - captains - soldiers. If a captain is more powerful than the otrhers, it doesn´t make him a "head captain".

We have derailed this thread a little bit. Let´s go back on discussing the Ricci murder.

I don;t think its been derailed. one of the better threads going. I think the west side as a whole has always operated in there own manner. i do not think having one NJ liaison is a reach. Esposito seems to play that role now

[Cheech]

When Palumbo was indicted 2010 he was in charge of overseeing NJ Genovese operations. Not sure what position that would be, I guess he was a capo with more authority than a typical capo

https://nypost.com/2010/06/15/reputed-g ... rder-plot/

"Head of the Genovese family’s New Jersey operations"

Not sure what that actually means or what exactly the feds wanted at accomplish by saying that. Historically speaking, there has never been a Genovese captain who was head of it´s Family´s NJ operations. Since the 1950s, Genovese members based in NJ, has been divided into several crews and under different captains. And to my knowledge, these crews has never had a NJ based captain above them, supervising them. I agree it´s confusing but the statement could mean that Danny Leo, who was the acting boss at the time, named Palumbo to supervise a crew in NJ but not the entire Genovese Family´s NJ operations.

is that Espositos role now?

Head of the Genovese NJ operations? No, unless he´s the only Genovese crew leader based in NJ. Which I sincerely doubt.

Ok but its what the feds are surmising it seems. see the snippet above

[SILENT PARTNERZ]

Brilliant thread and posts all.

Great article WG, had no idea Coppola himself was directly suspected.

One of the best educating threads on the board so far imo.

+1 ; 1000%