Richard Cantarella testimony notes

[B.]

This was posted years ago, buried in a dead thread, but I thought it was worth sharing on its own with some minor edits. Thanks to Stroccos for originally providing the testimony this is taken from.

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- In the 1990s, Richard Cantarella asked Sal Vitale for permission to kill his uncle Al Embarrato because Embarrato had managed to escape jail time despite being one of the key players at the Post, and Cantarella felt this was because his uncle was an informant. Vitale gave him reluctant permission to kill Embarrato and told him he could go ahead but he didn't recommend it given Embarrato's advanced age. Vitale felt it wouldn't look good. Cantarella decided not to go through with it. Side note, but if it hasn't been posted before, Al Walker Embarrato was originally a Genovese associate and seems to have switched over around the Bonanno war or shortly after.

- In October 2002, Massino approached Cantarella in a restaurant and told him he wanted to kill Sal Vitale. Vitale had been arrested for money laundering and other activities on Long Island and Massino felt that Vitale was getting too many privileges from the prosecutor and judge despite the fact that he was fighting the case. Both Massino and Cantarella felt that Sal Vitale had begun cooperating and Cantarella volunteered to kill Vitale. Massino told Cantarella he didn't want his help, as he said that he (Massino) "wanted to pull the trigger" himself. Massino told Cantarella he was waiting for "one more piece of information" before going through with the murder.

- Cantarella said his induction ceremony (July 1990) was "very quick". Cantarella says "we all held hands, and I swore to secrecy, and given some of the rules, and I was appointed to a captain, and that was it." So sounds like some kind of expedited ceremony. I wonder if this was/is typical of the Bonannos? The induction ceremony was attended by Spero, Vitale, Lino, Embarrato, and Bobby Lino. Cantarella wasn't sure what Spero's exact position was at this time, just that Spero was helping run the family and he thought he was acting underboss.

- Cantarella says he was promoted "within a year" of being made and says "Vitale took me along with him and made me part of the administration." He says Sal was running the family and he acted as Vitale's driver and basically assistant. So by "promotion" to "part of the administration" I think he's saying he was assigned directly to Vitale.

- He says he was later promoted to acting captain of Frank Coppa's crew. He says acting captains are sometimes promoted if a captain goes on vacation, to the hospital, etc.

- Shortly after Massino was released from prison, Cantarella was on the phone with Vitale and Massino took the phone from Vitale and told Cantarella to meet him at Gargiulo's restaurant in Coney Island. Both men brought their wives, but Massino took Cantarella aside and began picking Cantarrella about Sal Vitale. Massino had "something on his mind about Sal" and "wanted to know anything that I could tell him". Cantarella had "nothing bad" to say about Vitale and "did nothing but brag about Sal". Any time Cantarella said something good about Sal, Massino took credit for it. For example, Cantarella pointed out that Sal had been running the family for Massino, but Massino said Sal "didn't do nothing" and only was able to run the family because of Massino's popularity. Massino was "down on Sal Vitale".

- Later, Cantarella says Massino started taking Vitale's "duties" away. For example, when Vitale was supposed to attend a meeting, Massino would send someone to go with him because he felt "Sal wasn't bringing back the proper stories". Massino also barred Vitale from Casablanca restaurant.

- Throughout the 90s, Cantarella met with Massino at least once or twice a week. In 1999, Massino promoted Cantarella to official captain and says his crew consisted of the following guys in the order and words he named them: Joe Torre, Perry Criscitelli, Joey Sabella, Joey D'Amico, Joe Indelicato, "Jersey Joe" (Bonanno), and Paul Cantarella.

- Perry Criscitelli was originally a Genovese associate under Albert Gallo and ran into issues with them because they were extorting him every month. Criscitelli was very wealthy from owning restaurants and loansharking and of course was heavily involved with the San Gennaro Feast. Cantarella says Criscitelli was also a relative of Al Embarrato. When Criscitelli ran into issues with the Genovese family, Embarrato had already retired to Virginia, so Cantarella attended a couple of sitdowns with Albert Gallo of the Genovese family on Criscitelli's behalf and eventually won the sitdown and took control of Criscitelli.

- Joe Torre made most of his money via Cantarella loaning him a large amount of money to shylock, which Torre then loaned out. Torre was also involved in "protection rackets". Gino Galestro started out as a foreman at the New York Post (which was controlled by the Bonannos) involved in loansharking. Cantarella later proposed Galestro and he was made.

- A distinction is made between Cantarella's "quick" ceremony and a "formal induction" and Cantarella is asked if he ever participated in a "formal" ceremony. Cantarella says that his son Paul, Joey Sabella, Joe Torre, Criscitelli, and "somebody that Vinny (Basciano) proposed" were made in formal ceremony, but Cantarella believes "that's it". At a "formal ceremony", the boss (Massino) attends and it's a "long, drawn out thing", where they "read the riot act, the rules, what you got to live by and on and on." He says they also lock hands "in secrecy" for this.

- He says no "props" were used in induction ceremonies, interestingly. This is because Joe Massino felt that at this point in the existence of Cosa Nostra and with all of the scrutiny on them, it was a concern that LE would "break into the house" and it would be better to simply find a group of guys with "no gun, no knife, no picture of a saint on the table" and no indication a ceremony was happening.

- Paul Cantarella was inducted in 1996 and placed with Frank Coppa. When his father became an official captain in 1999 Paul was placed in that crew.

- Cantarella was promoted to the committee by Massino in 2001. Massino said the reason for the committe was because Vitale was under house arrest and he needed help running the family. The other members of the committee were Joe Cammarano Sr. and Tony Urso, who were both captains. Cantarella had four or five captains reporting to him.

- When names are passed out to other families to be made, Cantarella says that if they don't hear anything back "within a two week period" they know that they can make the proposed members.

- When Cantarella met Basciano he (Basciano) was an associate of Patty DeFilippo and he believes DiFilippo later proposed Basciano. Joey D'Amico told Cantarella that he believed Basciano had previously been on record with Dominick Trinchera. Massino didn't trust Basciano because he didn't know where he earned his money and he was "too quick" and "hardheaded". Basciano came to Casablanca every other Saturday, so Massino planned it so that he and Cantarella wouldn't be there on the days Basciano came. This was before Basciano was promoted to captain.

- When Massino first decided to promote Basciano to captain, he told Cantarella that one person he would assign to him was Bruno Indelicato because he wanted to keep a close eye on them together.

- Massino liked to have "long conversations" after Casablanca closed at night and would have a guy play guitar and sing while Massino and the "fellows" hung out. Cantarella was first introduced to Bruno Indelicato one night when Indelicato and Basciano dropped by to hang out at one of these after hours sessions at Casablanca. On this night Indelicato told Cantarella that his cousin belong to him (Indelicato) and not his uncle, and he wanted Cantarella's help in getting the cousin under Bruno so that the cousin could be made. This is in reference to Allie DiPilato and Indelicato approached Cantarella because DiPilato was on record with his uncle JB Indelicato, a soldier under Cantarella. Indelicato said he was not supposed to be at Casablanca due to parole restrictions; he had been told "not to come around".

- Cantarella says Massino was very angry with Basciano around 2000 or 2001 for committing a murder without permission. Basciano was a soldier at the time.

- After Basciano's promotion to captain, an induction ceremony was held at Cantarella's home where Basciano sponsored Anthony Donato. This ceremony was attended by Massino, Cantarella, Graziano, Basciano, and the proposed Donato. At this induction ceremony, Cantarella had a discussion with Basciano about what a guy should have to do in order to qualify for membership and Basciano was of the opinion that a guy should need to commit a murder to be made. Cantarella and Massino disagreed and this is when Massino said his "it takes all kinds of meat to make a good soup" line that's been mentioned in a few places.

- After the Gerlando Sciascia murder, Basciano approached Massino and volunteered to help find out who killed him and Massino responded by saying "All I said is to keep your ears open, don't ask no questions." Cantarella says that Sciascia had been close friends with Patty DeFilippo and Basciano. It has been mentioned before that Massino wiped out a loan DeFilippo owed as a reward for the Sciascia murder. The language is confusing, but what's clear is there was a loan involving Sciascia, DeFilippo, and Basciano, and after the Sciascia murder Massino said that DeFilippo didn't have to pay back the loan but Basciano did have to pay it. Apparently DeFilippo was broke.

- A bug was placed in Manny Guaragna's car for "a year" according to LE who later approached Guaragna. This created a scare in the family and word passed to Guaragna's capo DeFilippo who informed Massino. Massino told Cantarella about it and said "this" wasn't talked about while making a gun gesture with his hand.

- Massino told Cantarella that DeFilippo was not an earner and he got his money from Basciano and Anthony Nicole (Frascone), described as a bookmaker.

- Later, Massino told Cantarella he had Sciascia murdered because "he spoke about one of his captains", who he identified as Graziano. Sciascia had apparently said, "if I were boss, I wouldn't have Tony Graziano as one of my captains" and Massino took it personally. Massino ordered all members to go to his wake even though there is a "rule that if we kill somebody, we don't go to the wake." This is because Massino wanted it to appear to be an outside murder.

- Someone else named Anthony was on record with the Genovese family and later transferred to be under Graziano and was later made. This could have been Anthony Mannone, though he was a former Lucchese associate.

- Peter Calabrese was originally one of the three men Massino wanted to put on a committee to run the family in case anything happened to him (Massino).

- A member whose name Cantarella can't remember, only that he went by "initials" (PJ Pisciotti), proposed Mikey Box DiMaria for membership. Massino asked Cantarella for his opinion on Mikey Box and Cantarella said he had a problem with him years earlier and they initially nixed his name for membership. There were a number of "big sitdowns" involving "quite a few people", including Vitale, Graziano, Frank Coppa, Paul Cantarella, Joe Torre, and the other guys. Mikey Box was eventually inducted as a member.

- He identifies a photo of someone named "John Michael" or "Michael John" who he says is a soldier under Patty DeFilippo. Could be Johnny Joe Spirito.

- Cantarella claimed he made "half a million dollars" in organized crime over 30 years. Curious if he's including his legit/semi-legit interests like the parking lots.

- Cantarella met with his uncle Embarrato after a meeting Embarrato had with his captain, where he was told that Tony Mirra was to be killed because Massino believed he was a rat. While Cantarella knew in advance that there was a contract on Mirra, he did not know when the hit was taking place and was randomly asked to drive a car by his uncle and when he saw Joe D'Amico leave the building only then did he know he was participating in the Mirra hit.

- As mentioned earlier, Massino was concerned about where Basciano was getting his money and told Cantarella he wanted to get Basciano involved with other sources of income. He apparently worked with Basciano on some construction projects the government referred to as ""residential development".

[chin_gigante]

Great stuff here, never seen it before. Pretty crazy about a boss wanting to personally be the triggerman in a murder

[Cheech]

Vinny Pills...

[outfit guy]

Great Post

[chubby]

There’s no fucking way he only made half a million in 30 years. That’s literally a joke , that comes out to like 16k a year... and Cantarella was a known earner and was a Captain... there was probably single years towards the end before he flipped where he probably made several hundred thousand in 1 year alone...
if that’s all you’ve made in 30 years being a member of the Bonanno family, then you would be better off working a legit construction job. Even if you’re making 150 a day that’s over 50k a year... did he lie about his earnings to try and hide money from the feds??? Cause I don’t see how they could have believed that number . I mean this thug owned several Parking lots alone that must have generated huge income, let alone his soldiers and associates kicking up to him, and whatever else he has going on, shy, spots, scores, ect,,

[chubby]

Also it’s weird seeing the boss and administration so weary of basciano and Indelicato, it’s almost like they were too street and too gangster for Massino... shit basciano in my eyes was street to the core, and a monster earner... and was capable of doing work.. sounds like the perfect person you would want in your family..

[chubby]

Sorry to ramble.. but I’ve heard rumors that patty was a brokester, but this confirmed it fully... how the hell was he a skipper when he basically had his soldiers supporting him??? What the fuck did he do all day then?? Obviously not hustle or scheme daily like most guys.. especially now where being a money maker seems to be the most important attribute families look for... wonder how he was a captain for so long when Vinny was obviously out earning him tenfold, it seems like he seriously had nothing of his own going on..

[Ozgoz]

So we’re Cantarella and Mirra blood related then I wonder? Or just through marriage via uncle Al..

[RONALD]

Realy good reading, love to see the original testimony, dos someone has it saved?

[Clackclack]

Great insight!

[newera_212]

There’s no fucking way he only made half a million in 30 years. That’s literally a joke , that comes out to like 16k a year... and Cantarella was a known earner and was a Captain... there was probably single years towards the end before he flipped where he probably made several hundred thousand in 1 year alone...
if that’s all you’ve made in 30 years being a member of the Bonanno family, then you would be better off working a legit construction job. Even if you’re making 150 a day that’s over 50k a year... did he lie about his earnings to try and hide money from the feds??? Cause I don’t see how they could have believed that number . I mean this thug owned several Parking lots alone that must have generated huge income, let alone his soldiers and associates kicking up to him, and whatever else he has going on, shy, spots, scores, ect,,

it was either a typo, misunderstanding, or a miscommunication. i would assume he meant he made around 500k a YEAR for the 30 years he was in the life

[CTamg65]

Weren't Johnny Joe and Patty very close? I know someone who's done time with Johnny Joe and he is widely respected by everyone , I always thought that Patty was the same way, maybe not an earner(at least that's what is said)but he probably had a bunch of guys willing to put in work for him and must have been respected enough to become Capo I guess as long as the guys under you are earning enough and everything is getting kicked up then there's no issues that Bronx crew has had some serious guys Vinny,Patty,Mike M.,Spirito,etc. ..........Why exactly did Vinny and Patty hate each other? Was it because both wanted the top spot in that crew ,and that's why it eventually got made Into two crews? I always had the impression they were close early on at one time? Correct me if I'm wrong , I never knew why Vinny wanted to have him clipped? I can see why Vinny made the outburst at trial,that would have been a major move had it went down. Also wasn't Vinny a in heroin guy,heard heard he had a connection with the Dominicans and wondered if that was something he kept on the low...Always wanted to read the book about him haven't gotten a chance yet though.

[CTamg65]

And by the way B ....Great Post I enjoyed the read

[newera_212]

Weren't Johnny Joe and Patty very close? I know someone who's done time with Johnny Joe and he is widely respected by everyone , I always thought that Patty was the same way, maybe not an earner(at least that's what is said)but he probably had a bunch of guys willing to put in work for him and must have been respected enough to become Capo I guess as long as the guys under you are earning enough and everything is getting kicked up then there's no issues that Bronx crew has had some serious guys Vinny,Patty,Mike M.,Spirito,etc. ..........Why exactly did Vinny and Patty hate each other? Was it because both wanted the top spot in that crew ,and that's why it eventually got made Into two crews? I always had the impression they were close early on at one time? Correct me if I'm wrong , I never knew why Vinny wanted to have him clipped? I can see why Vinny made the outburst at trial,that would have been a major move had it went down. Also wasn't Vinny a in heroin guy,heard heard he had a connection with the Dominicans and wondered if that was something he kept on the low...Always wanted to read the book about him haven't gotten a chance yet though.

The book goes into decent detail with his Heroin case and the Heroin ring which supposedly was pretty big and supplied spots in the Bronx all the way down to the Lower East Side (which used to be a huge heroin neighborhood). Vinny was connected to it through a guy named Al Bottone and his son. Not sure if Vinny was involved with heroin after that, but from Cicale and Canterella testimony he was involved with other drugs, financing bud and ecstacy weight via connections in Canada. That heroin ring more or less ceased to exist as it was, after the case. im sure some mid level guys just found other suppliers, but outside of that the other players snitched, got locked up, or in Vinnys case, got acquitted. IIRC vinny was looking at life, but he beat it. the book has details on the trial, but after the acquittal, Vinny appeared to start making a run at going almost fully legit (even though he got inducted into the Bonnanos at that same time...lol)

Per the book, he was great at making money. from managing numbers stores as a kid to the heroin ring, he had a house in Scarsdale and was supporting a family by the time he was 29 years old. its crazy all his kids got jammed up selling bud, all the money they must have had at one point. lawyers and business ventures probably took everything he had

[sharpieone]

Weren't Johnny Joe and Patty very close? I know someone who's done time with Johnny Joe and he is widely respected by everyone , I always thought that Patty was the same way, maybe not an earner(at least that's what is said)but he probably had a bunch of guys willing to put in work for him and must have been respected enough to become Capo I guess as long as the guys under you are earning enough and everything is getting kicked up then there's no issues that Bronx crew has had some serious guys Vinny,Patty,Mike M.,Spirito,etc. ..........Why exactly did Vinny and Patty hate each other? Was it because both wanted the top spot in that crew ,and that's why it eventually got made Into two crews? I always had the impression they were close early on at one time? Correct me if I'm wrong , I never knew why Vinny wanted to have him clipped? I can see why Vinny made the outburst at trial,that would have been a major move had it went down. Also wasn't Vinny a in heroin guy,heard heard he had a connection with the Dominicans and wondered if that was something he kept on the low...Always wanted to read the book about him haven't gotten a chance yet though.

The book goes into decent detail with his Heroin case and the Heroin ring which supposedly was pretty big and supplied spots in the Bronx all the way down to the Lower East Side (which used to be a huge heroin neighborhood). Vinny was connected to it through a guy named Al Bottone and his son. Not sure if Vinny was involved with heroin after that, but from Cicale and Canterella testimony he was involved with other drugs, financing bud and ecstacy weight via connections in Canada. That heroin ring more or less ceased to exist as it was, after the case. im sure some mid level guys just found other suppliers, but outside of that the other players snitched, got locked up, or in Vinnys case, got acquitted. IIRC vinny was looking at life, but he beat it. the book has details on the trial, but after the acquittal, Vinny appeared to start making a run at going almost fully legit (even though he got inducted into the Bonnanos at that same time...lol)

Per the book, he was great at making money. from managing numbers stores as a kid to the heroin ring, he had a house in Scarsdale and was supporting a family by the time he was 29 years old. its crazy all his kids got jammed up selling bud, all the money they must have had at one point. lawyers and business ventures probably took everything he had

The government also went hard after all his assets, some of which must not have been hidden well. Blimpie sub shops, construction, beauty salon, real estate. I know his wife and kids moved into a smaller house in BX after his conviction. His sons also owned at least one bar -- not sure if that was taken. He was also a heavy gambler. Made a ton of money, but didn't seem to set everyone up in the event he was ripped from the streets, which he was.