New crop of mobsters soon to be leaving jail
Vacancies at the top of the five main families of the New York mafia
Everyone
knows that TV holds a mirror up to life, but writers on The Sopranos seem to have predicted the future when they had Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) worrying about how the release of jailed family members would affect his business.
This week it emerged the Federal Bureau of Investigation has much the same problem as it prepares for the release over the next year of up to 80 mob bosses and their associates.
The agency fears this could herald a Mafia resurgence, rolling back the gains from crackdowns in the 1980s and the 1990s. There are vacancies at the top of the five New York-based families that traditionally dominate the U.S. Mafia, in part because of current prosecutions.
Recent trials have also seen prosecutors rely on the evidence of Mafia turncoats to try to secure convictions, something that will enhance the reputation of the mafiosi emerging from prison.
“ They will come out as heroes after doing their time and not snitching on anyone,” said one Mafia expert. “ They could easily go straight to the top of the families.”
The effects would be felt across North America as they step up the usual Mafia activities of drug trafficking, extortion and racketeering. An FBI report on Italian organized crime says there are more than 3,000 mafiosi in New York, southern New Jersey, and Philadelphia. “ Their criminal activities are international with members and affiliates in Canada, South America, Australia, and parts of Europe,” it adds.
The alarm was first sounded by the U.S. Bureau of Prisons after it added up the numbers of those due for release. Many are completing relatively short sentences though their names are associated with sensational stories over the past few decades.
Indeed, despite the violence that pervades the Mafia world, prosecutors have long found it difficult to pin murder or other violent crime charges on its chiefs. For example, Al Capone was convicted of tax evasion, not murder.
The first big boss due for release is Steve “Stevie Wonder” Crea, 58, the alleged acting boss of the Lucchese family. He will walk free on Aug. 24 next year after serving three years on charges of being the ringleader in one of New York’s biggest-ever schemes of labour racketeering.
In the late 1990s, police spent more than three years spying on him through wiretaps and other surveillance as he managed an extensive network of Mafia members and corrupt union officials.
Crea admitted to price fixing and bid rigging on three large construction projects. He also admitted he had used Lucchese family muscle to extort a 5% “mob tax” on jobs.
The next major figure to emerge will be former Lucchese underboss Sal Avellino, 69, who will complete his 11-year sentence on Oct. 10, 2006. He was convicted of racketeering in the waste carting industry, overseeing activities that included the murder of two workers cooperating with federal officials.
He had risen in the ranks after serving as chauffeur for its former “Godfather,” Anthony Corallo, also known as Tony Ducks for his ability to avoid subpoenas and convictions.
A Nov. 2 release date is set for Genovese underboss Venero “Benny Eggs” Mangano, who served under Vincent “Chin” Gigante. He got 15 years for his role in fixing window-installation contracts.
Mangano, whose nickname is derived from an egg store his mother owned, buttressed his “no snitching” credentials in 1997 when he refused to testify under a grant of immunity against Gigante.
“What do you want to do, shoot me?” he asked prosecutors.
Among smaller fry who will walk free in 2006 is Richard G. Gotti, whose uncle was the late John “Dapper Don” Gotti, head of the Gambino crime family.
At 37 and the youngest of the bigname Mafia members completing sentences, he will have served three years after being convicted with his father, Richard V. Gotti, and uncle Peter Gotti, for racketeering.
Another Gambino family release will be Joe “ Joe the German” Watts, 63, John Gotti’s chauffeur, who was sentenced to 11 years for mob-related crimes, including murder conspiracy.
From the Genovese family comes Sal “Sammy Meatballs” Aparo, 75, who held the rank of capo ( captain).
A formerly powerful Colombo capo set for release is Andrew “ Andy Mush” Russo. The 71-year-old, who drew nine years for racketeering, is a cousin of the former family chief Carmine “The Snake” Persico, who remains incarcerated.
By the time 2006 is over, there could be enough new real-life material for several new Sopranos seasons.