N.Y.C. mob bosses all jailed
The Associated Press
New York — And then there were none.
More than 70 years after a bloody mob war ended with a peace producing New York City's five Mafia families, the heads of each crime syndicate are simultaneously behind bars for the first time.
"There was a time when no mob boss was even convicted," said Ronald Goldstock, former head of the state Organized Crime Task Force.
Realistically, the mass jailing — indicative of the mob's dwindling 21st-century fortunes — could also create street-level tensions and problems between the families that would ordinarily be resolved by the five bosses at Mafia "Commission" meetings, experts said.
"If the situation remains the way it is, problems will begin to arise that are not as easily resolved by acting bosses," said author and mob expert Howard Abadinski.
Most recently jailed was Joseph Massino, 60, reputed boss of the Bonnano crime family. Massino was indicted this month in connection with a 1981 murder tied to the FBI's infiltration of his family by undercover agent "Donnie Brasco."
For decades after the mob war, the city's bosses operated with impunity, avoiding draconian jail sentences and directing illegal multimillion-dollar operations.
Happy retirements no longer await:
Vincent "The Chin" Gigante, 74, remains jailed on a racketeering conviction while awaiting trial on charges that he was running the Genovese family from his cell.
Gambino head Peter Gotti, 62, followed a family tradition by getting locked up — just as his late brother John and his nephew John Jr. did. Peter Gotti went on trial this month for racketeering and extortion on the city's waterfront.
Colombo chief Alphonse "Allie Boy" Persico cut a deal with federal prosecutors 13 months ago in which he admitted he was the family boss.
Vittorio "Vic" Amuso, who reportedly runs the Lucheses, is doing life without parole on racketeering and murder charges.
Even worse for the mobs, the bosses are now working for the feds. Former acting Luchese chieftain Joseph "Joe D" DeFede was one of they key witnesses against Peter Gotti, saying they had met at eight "Commission" meetings between 1994 and 1998.
Such a meeting would now be almost impossible given the disarray of mob leadership, experts said. "Once you have these people in jail, the Commission as an entity can't exist," said Goldstock. "It's designed to resolve disputes between families, and now there's no mechanism to do that."
The current incarnations completed a job launched in the mid-1980s, when prosecutors armed with the RICO statute went after the five bosses.