Mob Talk Sitdown 31

[Moscone65]

Would you guys say Philly is the most active family outside of NY? There seems to be constant news on them, or is it just because they are covered a lot more than the others

DeCavalcantes may indeed be able to match Philly in terms of activity, although I’ve got nothing more than speculation to back that up. The Stango Bust of 2015 showed a street-level crew involved in just about every blue collar crime the Mafia is famous for, and you also had Charles Stango on tape claiming that he “planted” the DeCavalcante’s flag in Florida, Nevada and California(?) or something like that.
On the other hand, there was a recent bust from a couple of years back that showed white collar activity from a septuagenarian soldier. The funny thing is, the bust wasn’t even an “Mafia” crime bust, and the soldier’s LCN affiliation wasn’t even mentioned. I can’t remember exactly who was busted, or what for, but I know it was classic labor racketeering-type stuff.

If the DeCavs have at least a handful of crews (let’s say 3-4), and they operate in both blue-collar (like Stango) and white collar (like the other dude) type crimes, then they could easily match Philly in terms of activity. They have the added benefit of not having a designated OC squad against them too, so mob-busters in Jersey also have to detail with the Five Families as well as, to some extent, Philly.

I don’t want to be one of those posters that makes mountains out of molehills for a family that may indeed be on its last legs, but what we know about the DeCavs is that they are at least: continuing to hold induction ceremonies (Luigi Oliveri a couple of years ago, for instance), they are involved in both blue-collar and white-collar crimes (as opposed to Philly, who are “glorified bookmakers as Pogo said), they have a wide recruiting pool (New Jersey), and have the added bonus of seriously reduced law enforcement pressure.

I wouldn’t want anybody to read this and get the impression that the DeCavs are the secret power behind Jersey or are making a huge underworld comeback, but I feel like all of these factors should be taken into account when looking at families outside of NY.

Philly and the DeCavalcantes are comparable in size in terms of made members but Philly has always been much larger when it comes to Associates. In the mid 80s Philly was estimated to have 250 while the DeCavs were estimated to have 80. In 2004 Phily was estimated to have about 100 while the DeCavs were estimated to have about 50. Seems the DeCavs have always been made guy heavy going back to Sam DeCavlcantes days with a very small ratio of associates to made guys compared to other families.


In terms of rackets the DeCavalcantes have also had very minimal involvement in the traditional racket of bookmaking compared to Philly where it is their bread and butter. If you look at the DecAvalcante cases over the last 30 years you almost see no indictments related to sports betting. This is in sharp contrasts to the other families where bookmaking is their lifeblood. What little they did have seems to have been mostly from their NY Crews which were all busted up and destroyed in the 1999-2001 busts. There has been next to nothing in terms of bookmaking since then. I haven't checked recently but I don't think there was even a bookmaking charge in the big 2015 indictment. Contrast that with any big or semi big NY or Philly bust where it is almost always built around their bookmaking rackets.


Pogo

So in 2004 they had what 25-30 made guys and only 50 associates? I wonder what was defined as an associate if that’s the case because thats crazy low

[Pogo The Clown]

They had 40-50 made members in 2004. The DeCavs were always different than NY or Philly in that they were not primarily a street operation. Historically most of the DeCavalcante membership had legit or semi legit jobs through the family's control of the construction unions. A very large portion, if not most, of their members actually went to work everyday at those jobs as opposed to NY or Philly were the vast majority of their members are on the street hustling and engaging in street crime as their way of making a living. That could account for their small ratio of associates as well as the family's historical clannishness.


Pogo

[Wiseguy]

Pogo is correct about the DeCavalcantes. Few gambling cases over the past 20 years. Their niche was always construction in New Jersey. I think most of the gambling and other rackets were run by the NY families.

The family took a huge beating in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Especially for a small family. They had the administration, several captains, as well as a bunch of soldiers and associates indicted. Seems they've been trying to recover ever since.

[Moscone65]

Interesting, thanks for the insight

[NJShore4Life]

DeCavs have never been into bookmaking here in Jersey at all. I’m telling you they’re all construction (almost all of them now own a Contracting company or are GC’s since being kicked out of the local union they basically ran for years) with maybe a little prostitution (massage parlors on Rt 22), shy, stolen goods, and a little dabble in drugs with the younger guys.

The big Bookmaking crews in Jersey are Westside Jersey Crew (Bruschi), Luchesse North Jersey (Perna Book), North Jersey Philly Crew (Fazzini) . Philly North Jersey Crew books are extremely small compared to the size of the top two books. I am not as familiar with South Jersey books but I’m sure it’s Philly Crew (Borgata Bust which was Lancellotti/Nicodemo’s and then Mousie’s Huge book in the South Jersey suburbs of Philly). I am also 90% sure the Westside has extended their large books down into South Jersey as well. I am also hearing that the books so far haven’t been affected that bad with legalized sports betting everywhere here in Jersey.

[NJShore4Life]

Also besides that brokester Stango Crew Down here at the shore the DeCavs are somewhat unique in that the majority of them work legit jobs in either construction or owning a restaurant/ bar. A lot of them buy Real Estate too at the shore in Toms River/ Brick areas.

Example Jimmy Gumps owned Rockafella’s here in Ortley Beach, my buddy worked there as a bus boy when we were growing up when all the DeCav shit was going down bigtime in early 2000s. Jimmy Gumps kids run it now.

[Wiseguy]

DeCavs have never been into bookmaking here in Jersey at all. I’m telling you they’re all construction (almost all of them now own a Contracting company or are GC’s since being kicked out of the local union they basically ran for years) with maybe a little prostitution (massage parlors on Rt 22), shy, stolen goods, and a little dabble in drugs with the younger guys.

The big Bookmaking crews in Jersey are Westside Jersey Crew (Bruschi), Luchesse North Jersey (Perna Book), North Jersey Philly Crew (Fazzini) . Philly North Jersey Crew books are extremely small compared to the size of the top two books. I am not as familiar with South Jersey books but I’m sure it’s Philly Crew (Borgata Bust which was Lancellotti/Nicodemo’s and then Mousie’s Huge book in the South Jersey suburbs of Philly). I am also 90% sure the Westside has extended their large books down into South Jersey as well. I am also hearing that the books so far haven’t been affected that bad with legalized sports betting everywhere here in Jersey.

Regarding the 5 NY families in New Jersey, at this point it seems the Colombos have essentially no presence there. The Gambinos and Bonannos are active there but it doesn't appear they have actual Jersey-based crews at this point. The Luccheses have their crew. That leaves the Genovese. It's hard to tell how many crews they have based in Jersey now and if any have merged.

[Rocco]

Would you guys say Philly is the most active family outside of NY? There seems to be constant news on them, or is it just because they are covered a lot more than the others

I would say that's just because of media like Mobtalk etc. They are relatively small family with limited rackets. Gambling, Loansharking and Drugs etc.

yeah in the last ligambi case they were indicted for making 500 dollar loans ,

Philly has never had a large book for some reason. I know NY dips into South Jersey and the Philly burbs with their book. But Philly has a large coverage area for the taking South Jersey, Philly burbs and even S Fl. I guess its lack of manpower...

[NJShore4Life]

DeCavs have never been into bookmaking here in Jersey at all. I’m telling you they’re all construction (almost all of them now own a Contracting company or are GC’s since being kicked out of the local union they basically ran for years) with maybe a little prostitution (massage parlors on Rt 22), shy, stolen goods, and a little dabble in drugs with the younger guys.

The big Bookmaking crews in Jersey are Westside Jersey Crew (Bruschi), Luchesse North Jersey (Perna Book), North Jersey Philly Crew (Fazzini) . Philly North Jersey Crew books are extremely small compared to the size of the top two books. I am not as familiar with South Jersey books but I’m sure it’s Philly Crew (Borgata Bust which was Lancellotti/Nicodemo’s and then Mousie’s Huge book in the South Jersey suburbs of Philly). I am also 90% sure the Westside has extended their large books down into South Jersey as well. I am also hearing that the books so far haven’t been affected that bad with legalized sports betting everywhere here in Jersey.

Regarding the 5 NY families in New Jersey, at this point it seems the Colombos have essentially no presence there. The Gambinos and Bonannos are active there but it doesn't appear they have actual Jersey-based crews at this point. The Luccheses have their crew. That leaves the Genovese. It's hard to tell how many crews they have based in Jersey now and if any have merged.

I didn’t say anything about the Bonannos or Colombo’s bro? There’s guys from all 5 families , the DeCavs, and Philly here in Jersey. Bonannos have a small crew in Jersey City/Bayonne area run by Sammy Sammartino. The Colombos have guys that have moved to Jersey from Brooklyn. Randazzo was hit by the Colombos here at the Jersey Shore in Tinton Falls by Cagno. Colombos have the least amount of presence here yes. However, there’s guys from 7 different families here in Jersey, trust me.

[NJShore4Life]

2004 NJ State Organized Crime report listed “more than 40 members and Associates are active in New Jersey” in regards to the Colombos. I know how rock hard guys like Wiseguy Confederate and Pogo get over government reports they read, so there u guys go

[Wiseguy]

My post wasn't a correction of anything, just going over the state of things. Though, I do think it's telling one has to go back about 20 years to find the last Colombo case in Jersey.

[Stroccos]

DeCavs have never been into bookmaking here in Jersey at all. I’m telling you they’re all construction (almost all of them now own a Contracting company or are GC’s since being kicked out of the local union they basically ran for years) with maybe a little prostitution (massage parlors on Rt 22), shy, stolen goods, and a little dabble in drugs with the younger guys.

The big Bookmaking crews in Jersey are Westside Jersey Crew (Bruschi), Luchesse North Jersey (Perna Book), North Jersey Philly Crew (Fazzini) . Philly North Jersey Crew books are extremely small compared to the size of the top two books. I am not as familiar with South Jersey books but I’m sure it’s Philly Crew (Borgata Bust which was Lancellotti/Nicodemo’s and then Mousie’s Huge book in the South Jersey suburbs of Philly). I am also 90% sure the Westside has extended their large books down into South Jersey as well. I am also hearing that the books so far haven’t been affected that bad with legalized sports betting everywhere here in Jersey.

Didn’t The decavs have momouth county as far as bookmaking went ?

[NJShore4Life]

DeCavs have never been into bookmaking here in Jersey at all. I’m telling you they’re all construction (almost all of them now own a Contracting company or are GC’s since being kicked out of the local union they basically ran for years) with maybe a little prostitution (massage parlors on Rt 22), shy, stolen goods, and a little dabble in drugs with the younger guys.

The big Bookmaking crews in Jersey are Westside Jersey Crew (Bruschi), Luchesse North Jersey (Perna Book), North Jersey Philly Crew (Fazzini) . Philly North Jersey Crew books are extremely small compared to the size of the top two books. I am not as familiar with South Jersey books but I’m sure it’s Philly Crew (Borgata Bust which was Lancellotti/Nicodemo’s and then Mousie’s Huge book in the South Jersey suburbs of Philly). I am also 90% sure the Westside has extended their large books down into South Jersey as well. I am also hearing that the books so far haven’t been affected that bad with legalized sports betting everywhere here in Jersey.

Didn’t The decavs have momouth county as far as bookmaking went ?

Monmouth is all Westside from my understanding. Ludwig’s Crew

[eboli]

When Bruschi was busted he was overseeing the books from Passaic down to Ocean county. There was some sharing with Perna in the north.

[Mikeymike12]

Since Staino took that plea deal ,who took over his South Jersey crew.
When he gets out of the halfway house who will he fit in with .?