Former capo and rat Anthony Rotondo died at 67 years old in Witsec

[furiofromnaples]

https://gangsterreport.com/gr-exclusive ... at-age-67/


Former DeCavalcante captain & cooperator Anthony Rotondo has died at age 67, while living in Charlotte, NC in the WPP under the assumed name ‘Anthony Russo’.

Per SBs reporting, which includes court docs, Rotondo became a formally inducted member of the NJ crime family around 1982, being elevated to captain after the 1988 killing of his father, then-captain Vincent Rotondo. The elder Rotondo was assassinated in Brooklyn’s Bergen Beach region, where he served as the DeCavs liaison to NYC mob clans & oversaw waterfront labor union affairs. Per SB, the younger Rotondo blamed the Gambinos for his dad’s death.

Finally, SB notes that Rotondo pled guilty to 3 murders - the 1989 deaths of associates Freddy Weiss and Joey Garafano & the 1992 death of acting DeCav boss John D’Amato. After being arrested in 12/1999, Rotondo began cooperating, testifying at the trials of DeCav members Girolamo (Jimmy Dumps) Palermo, Stefano (Stevie the Truck Driver) Vitabile, Phil (The Wizard) Abramo & Giuseppe (Pino) Schifilliti. Rotondo also testified at trials of John (Junior) Gotti and Peter Gotti of the Gambinos.

Obituary

https://www.kepnerfh.com/obituaries/anthony-russo

[Nurzhamba]

It would be interesting to read his testimony

[furiofromnaples]

Any idea why his dad was killed?

[Tonyd621]

Obituaries should put like an * and let people know who they were before they changed identities. It lacks transparency. People could put whatever they want in there. Idk if just think it's weird

[B.]

It would be interesting to read his testimony

Here are some excerpts I shared nine years ago:

viewtopic.php?t=1824

[Pmac2]

he was only 42 43 when he flipped. young. he was groomed for the life. made when he was only 24. the Dad was killed on the sneak. I've asked mike scars if the gambinos had done it he said no also sammy clarified they didn't do it. the guy was powerfull to. did Vinny ocean have any info on it? like maybe the decavs did it but didn't want to take credit and deflect it. the guy was powerfull on docks to. maybe john Sr ok it and didn't even let sammy know. keep it top secret sneak like he oked angelo trying to kill gaspipe

[JakeTheSnake630]

Isn't this one of the guys that author Frank Dimatteo said he was associated with?

[7digits]

Just testimony has been posted by lawyers online

[B.]

Isn't this one of the guys that author Frank Dimatteo said he was associated with?

DiMatteo is kind of ridiculous but the DiMatteos were very close to the Rotondos, that's true.

The Jimmy Rotondo hit is still one of the great mysteries. I asked DiLeonardo about it as well and he told me the same, that he didn't think the Gambinos had anything to do with it and thought it could have been the Genovese though he had no idea. Nothing has come out that I'm aware of about it coming from within the DeCavalcantes either as Rudy Farone told Anthony Rotondo he had no clue and thought it was the NYC Families.

[B.]

Also no question the obit is Rotondo. His sister-in-law uploaded a photo where he looks identical to the well-known mugshot. Looks like he was living in a large house in NC and working in bread distribution. Really too bad he never did any interviews as he was a highly intelligent guy with a lot of insight into the DeCavalcantes spanning decades.

[PolackTony]

Also no question the obit is Rotondo. His sister-in-law uploaded a photo where he looks identical to the well-known mugshot. Looks like he was living in a large house in NC and working in bread distribution. Really too bad he never did any interviews as he was a highly intelligent guy with a lot of insight into the DeCavalcantes spanning decades.

It’s definitely him. Also note that the obit gives his parents as “Vincent and Susan Russo”. Obviously, his dad was Vincent James Rotondo (born in BK, family from Cosenza province, Calabria and Matera province, Basilicata) and his mom was Assunta “Susan/Sue” Marchesano (born in BK, family from Caserta and Salerno provinces, Campania; she died in 2011 and of course her obit made no mention that she had a son named Anthony).

His hair was like exactly the same as in his mugshot lol.

[B.]

It's actually a toupee and a pretty good one at that. When he testified he wasn't wearing it in court for whatever reason so he was completely bald on the stand.

I'm wondering what the COD was based on this comment from his daughter on the obituary:

Daddy I can not believe this is happening. I tried my hardest this last year to save you and I hope you knew that. You went along for the ride and showed strength like no other with a smile and larger than life personality.

My mind will forever wonder why. But I just pray that you truly felt the amount of love from all of us. I was obsessed with you and will always be.

Almost reads like he committed suicide based on the parts I italicized but I've got no idea.

He does strike me as a guy, like DiLeonardo, who fully repented and successfully started a new life. The types of guys who would have been successful no matter what they did but they were born into the mob. I know Rotondo had graduated college not that long before getting made.

[PolackTony]

It's actually a toupee and a pretty good one at that. When he testified he wasn't wearing it in court for whatever reason so he was completely bald on the stand.

I'm wondering what the COD was based on this comment from his daughter on the obituary:

Daddy I can not believe this is happening. I tried my hardest this last year to save you and I hope you knew that. You went along for the ride and showed strength like no other with a smile and larger than life personality.

My mind will forever wonder why. But I just pray that you truly felt the amount of love from all of us. I was obsessed with you and will always be.

Almost reads like he committed suicide based on the parts I italicized but I've got no idea.

He does strike me as a guy, like DiLeonardo, who fully repented and successfully started a new life. The types of guys who would have been successful no matter what they did but they were born into the mob. I know Rotondo had graduated college not that long before getting made.

I didn’t know about the toupee lol. No wonder as it looks like, *exactly* like it did in that one mugshot photo of him.

And I agree about the message from his daughter. Who knows what he might’ve been dealing with, but one has to imagine that — unless he was a total psychopath — he would’ve been haunted by his past, successful in his new life or not.

I also agree that he came off on the witness stand like a really sharp guy and was probably the kind of person who would have been successful in any other walk of life. If I’m not mistaken, he wanted to be a lawyer when he was young. He more than held his own against Jr Gotti’s counsel under cross, IMO, so he probably would have been well-suited.

Obviously, his life in the mob was also full of some really nasty, scheming stuff, even compared to many other guys. I do wonder how much of this boiled down to psychopathy, or if he sort of snapped after his father was killed. One could totally see a guy like this rationalizing the sort of cut throat, Machiavellian treachery he was engaged in as justified in that he was doing it to guys who would have gladly turned and done it to him if he hadn’t gotten to them first (I don’t think he would have been wrong in that assumption either). My read is that he was almost paranoid in his concern that guys would take over the Family and put him in a vulnerable position. And again, after what happened to his dad — or at least, what Anthony thought really happened to him — that state of mind would make total sense. Goes without saying, but that BK DeCav faction was very rough and if Rotondo hadn’t been as cut throat as he was, he might well have wound up as one of the murders that some other guy lived to testify about.

[B.]

I see the induction of the Brooklyn guys in the 1970s and 80s similar to early American Families inducting Camorristi.

You look at the New Jersey and Manhattan-Queens factions and they're heavily Sicilian, mostly interrelated clans of compaesani who operated very quietly, their main "racket" being labor extortion with some local gambling as well, but a significant number of the members were legitimately employed or ran their own small businesses with an "alta mafia" element like Carlo Corsentino who in addition to running his funeral parlor was Vice-President of the Elizabeth Board of Education (member Gerry Guarraggi also sat on the board). Many of the Elizabeth guys were celebrated local figures, John Riggi being the best example given he was high school class president, a three letter athlete, WWII veteran, co-founder of the local Pop Warner league, friends with the mayor, had enough influence to move the Christopher Columbus statue to Peterstown, etc. JoJo Ferrara I believe was even a youth counselor for a time. If you isolate the DeCavalcantes to Elizabeth they are basically identical with a Sicilian cosca.

Then Cocchiaro recruits these tough Brooklyn kids, most if not all of which had mainland heritage, were involved in any/every street crime, had violent reputations, presented as "gangsters", and actually came from neighborhoods in Brooklyn that once produced early NYC Camorristi. Sharp contrast with the Elizabeth and Manhattan-Queens guys. But Sam DeCavalcante and John Riggi obviously saw the value in recruiting them, guys like Farone, Jimmy Rotondo, and the Gallo brothers all proposed for membership already by the mid-1960s and others like Telese and DePietro also getting made in the 1970s when the books reopened. Rotondo and Farone were quickly elevated, too, and these crews and their offshoots end up immensely powerful. As Rotondo's testimony shows, the Brooklyn faction were basically doing whatever they pleased and the New Jersey leadership just nodded along, the Brooklyn guys even committing murders before getting "official" approval. Of course they were the undoing of the Family too, as along with their treachery and violence all of the members who cooperated were from this faction. The Elizabeth leadership encouraged and facilitated this, though -- it's not like the Brooklyn guys forced their way in.

[Pmac2]

Wonder of scars had interactions with him almost same age bk guy.i know he knew him. hmmm