The Mafia family tree: FBI flowchart reveals
127 'mobsters' arrested in biggest ever blitz on New York's crime empires
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 11:21 AM on 21st January 2011
·
Members of New York's
five Mafia families targeted in raids
·
Two former police
officers held and arrest made in Italy
·
No police station big
enough, so suspects held at army base Fort Hamilton
·
Army of 800 officers
take in part in dawn raids
A
remarkable FBI organisation chart which reveals the hierarchy of the main New
York mafia families was revealed yesterday after federal agents made more than
100 arrests in the biggest organised crime crackdown in history.
The
colour-coded chart shows how the syndicates' organisation bears more of a
resemblance to a corporate line-up than that of notorious crime families.
The
red bars highlight the leading figures that were arrested yesterday in New
York, New Jersey and New England.
Scroll
down for video report
Crime families:
This remarkable FBI chart, set up today at Brooklyn's Fort Hamilton in which
the 127 suspected mobsters are being held, names members of the seven families
linked to the Mafia (aka Cosa Nostra)
Who's in charge:
The colour-coded chart shows the hierarchy of some of the most feared Mafia
families in New York - the boss, underboss, captains and soldiers are depicted
on different levels of the chart
Among
them are street boss Andrew Russo and acting underboss Benjamin Castellazzo
from the Colombo family, and Bartolemeo Vernace and Joseph Corozzo from the
Gambino family.
The
'boss' is seen as the undisputed leader of the organisation with the underboss
a powerful second-in-command.
The
green colour-coded panels depict those of the captains in the crime families.
Also known by their Sicilian name of 'capos', captains are similar to a
military captain who commands his soldiers.
The
Mafia are known for using colourful nicknames and among those accused are
monikers such as 'Tony Bagels', 'Johnny Pizza', 'The Bull', 'Meatball', 'Jack
The Whack' 'Junior Lollipops' 'Bobby Glasses', 'Vinny Carwash' and 'Lumpy'.
Angelo Spata,
centre, leaves Brooklyn federal court after being bailed. He was one of the 127
alleged Mafia members arrested yesterday. He is accused of being an associate
of the Colombo crime family
Arrested:
Federal agents question a shackled Mafia suspect in New York yesterday after
the dramatic raids involving up to 800 officers
Seized: Federal
agents process the suspects in at the army base after the raids in New York
City and New Jersey
Shackled: A
suspected member of one of the New York crime families is led away by a female
FBI agent
Along
with high ranking members of the some of the most feared families, union
officials and two former police officers were also arrested.
It
is the FBI's biggest ever raid on New York's organised crime families.
Most
of the 127 arrests were made in New York City, New Jersey and New England on
charges of murder, extortion and drug trafficking. One arrest was made in
Italy.
Powerful
leaders of the Gambino, Genovese, Lucchese, Bonanno and Colombo families, along
with the DeCavalcante of New Jersey, were among those arrested.
They
were being held at Fort Hamilton, an U.S. Army base in Brooklyn because there
was no police station big enough to hold them.
U.S.
Attorney General Eric Holder told a press conference that the charges cover
decades worth of offences, including hits to eliminate rivals, a killing during
a botched robbery and double shooting in a ballroom dispute over a spilled
drink.
MENACE TO THE MAFIOSI: THE CHARGES AGAINST THE GAMBINOS...
Name: BARTOLOMEO VERNACE,
61. Known as 'Bobby Glasses'
Title: Ruling Panel, Gambino Family
Charge: Extortion and racketeering
As a member of the administration
of the Gambino family he was said to be involved at the highest level in
dispersing funds illegally obtained from extortion and racketeering.
Also charged with conspiracy to
murder John D'Agnese and Richard Godkin in 1981, two men who were gunned down
in the Shamrock bar in Queens - allegedly over a spilled drink. Though Vernace
was initially identified as being one of the three who carried out the
killings, he managed to escape prosecution for nearly two decades.
Name: JOSEPH CORROZZO,
Title: Consigliore, Gambino Family
Charge: Racketeering and drug distribution
He was allegedly involved in
distribution of tonnes of marijuana and cocaine throughout the US.
Name: LOUIS MASTRANGETO
Title: Captain , Gambino Family
Charge: Racketeering and drug distribution
Said to be involved in running
illegal gambling dens in New York City and the distribution of drugs.
Name: ALPHONSE TRUCCHIO, 34
Title: Captain, Gambino Family
Charge: Racketeering
Allegedly the youngest man ever
inducted into the Gambino family as a 'made man'.
He is the son of a former Gambino
captain Ronald Trucchio, known as 'One-Armed Ronnie' after his arm was
partially paralysed in a car accident. Alphonse is believed to have helped run
a $30million-a-year illegal betting operation. Trucchio has already served time
for racketeering after his arrest in 2002.
In addition to the charges
against the senior mafiosos at the head of the Gambino and Colombo families
were charges against a mafioso whose reach extended beyond New York:
Name: LUIGI MANOCCHIO, 83
Title: Former leader of Patricara Family in New England
Charge: Extortion and extortion conspiracy
He was arrested in Florida where he
was allegedly collecting 'protection' money from strip clubs in Fort
Lauderdale.
Usually based in Providence, Rhode,
Island, and is alleged to used intimidation and implied threats to induce
owners and operators of adult bookstores and strip clubs in Providence to
provide 'protection'.
... AND THE ALLEGED CRIMES OF THE COLOMBOS
Name: ANDREW RUSSO, 79.
Known as 'Mush'
Title: Street boss of Colombo Family in New York
Charge: Murder
Russo is alleged to have ordered
the murder of Joseph Scopo in the 1993 during a vicious power struggle for
control of the Colombo family.
Name: BENJAMIN CASTELLAZZO, 73
Title: Acting underboss of the Colombo Family
Charge: Racketeering and racketeering conspiracy
As the No. 2 in the family it
alleged it was his responsibility to collect money from businesses seeking
protection.
Name: RICHARD FUSCO, 74. Known as 'The Claw'
Title: Consigliore of Colombo Family
Charge: Racketeering and racketeering conspiracy
He is alleged to have held one of
the senior positions in the family and ruthlessly carried out the orders of
Russo. He is a former friend of singer Frank Sinatra.
Name: THEODORE PERSICO Jr, 46. Known as 'Teddy'
Title: Former ruling panel, Colombo Family
Charge: Extortion
He is accused of being involved in
an extortion scheme on a trucking company removing debris from the site of the
9/11 terror attacks. He was secretly recorded threatening company employees
after they failed to pay.
Name: JOSEPH CARNA, 47.
Known as 'Junior Lollipop'
Title: Captain, Colombo Family
Charge: Extortion
With other senior members of the
Colombo family he was said to be involved in laundering money from illegal
gambling operations.
Name: DENNIS DELUCIA. Known
as 'Fat Dennis' or 'The Beard'
Title: Captain, Colombo Family
Charge: Extortion and racketeering.
He is accused of being involved
with helping to launder money gained from illegal gambling activities in New
York.
Name: REYNOLD MARAGNI, 54
Title: Captain Colombo Family
Charge: Racketeering and extortion.
Based in Florida he was allegedly
involved in money laundering for the Colombo family.
Name: Anthony Russo, 55.
Known as 'Big Anthony' Title: Acting Captain, Colombo Family
Charge: Conspiracy to commit extortion
He was allegedly involved in money
laundering for the family.
Anatomy of the
mob: This flowchart, published on the FBI website, details the hierarchy of a
New York organised family and the military-style roles of its members
Authorities
say the massive investigation was aided by informants who recorded thousands of
conversations by suspected mobsters.
Federal
agents said those taken into custody ranged from small-time bookmakers and
crime family functionaries to a number of senior mob figures and several
corrupt union officials.
The
murder charges are believed to date back to the 1980s and 1990s.
Many
of the charges are expected to relate the Mafia families' multi-million dollar
incomes from union corruption, loansharking and gambling.
Other
charges include corruption among dockworkers who were forced to kick back a portion
of their holiday bonuses to the crime families.
Holder
called the arrests an 'important step forward in our nation's fight against
organised crime.' He added that it will 'disrupt' the mafia.
One
of the defendants is a former New York City police officer.
A
source told the New York Post that 'basically the whole administration of the
Colombo family' had been targeted. 
Huge
investigation: U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder holds a press conference to
detail the charges against the crime families that span decades and include
murders, robberies and drug offences
Among
those arrested was believed to be Bartolomeo Vernace, a captain in the Gambino
family.
Also
arrested was Luigi Manocchio, the reputed head of New England's Patriarca crime
family.
He
was arrested in Fort Lauderdale and is accused of collecting money from owners
of strip clubs.
Also
arrested was Thomas LaFrate, who worked as a bookkeeper for strip clubs and set
aside money for Manocchio, prosecutors said..
In a
statement, Diego Rodriguez, Special Agent in Charge with the FBI in New York,
said: 'Early this morning FBI agents, along with our law enforcement partners,
began arresting over 100 organised crime members for various criminal charges.'
Described
as the biggest Mafia crackdown in New York history, the simultaneous raids
represent a massive blow to the five organised crime families who have
controlled many parts of the city for decades.
Arrested: Among
those seized in the raids was alleged mobster Luigi 'Baby Shanks' Manocchio
The
mafia empires have been decimated by federal probes in recent years and have
seen many of their leaders jailed for lengthy prison sentences after informants
testified against them.
Last
week 93-year-old Colombo boss John 'Sonny' Fanzese was jailed for eight years
for racketeering charges.
Federal
prosecutors were seeking a jail term of at least 12 years for the underboss of
the Colombo crime family.
An
FBI agent testifed that Franzese had bragged about killing 60 people over the
years and once thought about putting a hit on his own son for co-operating with
the government.
Mafia
turncoat Salvatore Vitale was sentenced to time served in October after
prosecutors praised his co-operation with authorities and his betrayal of his
criminal group.
Assistant
U.S. attorney Greg Andres said that Vitale's evident helped to crush the
Bonanno crime family after providing useful information upon his arrest in
2003.
'The
mafia today is weaker because of his co-operation', Mr Andres said. 'Mr Vitale
provided lead after lead. The results speak for themselves.'
There
had been concerns of a possible resurgence or organised crime in the city
leading up to the arrests.
Acting
Lucchese family boss Alphonse D'Arco admitted to 'co-operating with the federal
government from 1991.
Gambino
family leader Salvatore 'Sammy The Bull' Gravano also became an informant that
year and provided information in return for a reduced sentence.
This
testimony led to notorious kingpin John Gotti finally being convicted. He had
been known as Teflon Don for his ability to not have charges against him stick
using loopholes in the law.
In
2008, more than 80 suspected members of organised crime gangs were charged.
Among
those targeted was John 'Jackie the Nose' D'Amico and other alleged leaders of
the Gambino crime family after a series of raids in the U.S. and Italy.
Today's
takedown has eclipsed that of the highly publicised assault on the Gambino
crime family in 2008 when 62 suspects were arrested.
Temporary: The
alleged mobsters are being held at Fort Hamilton army base in Brooklyn until
they appear at a hearing
Mob movie: The
1997 film Donnie Brasco starring Johnny Depp and Al Pacino is said to have been
inspired by the Mafia's Bonanno family detailing how an FBI agent was able to
work undercover with the mob and almost became a 'made' man
The
FBI has aggressively pursued and convicted leaders of New York's five main
Italian mob families in the past.
But
ambitious underlings have gone on to fill the vacancies, said Janice Fedarcyck,
head of FBI's New York office.
'We
deal in reality, and the reality is that the mob, like nature, abhors a
vacuum', Ms Fedarcyck said.
But
federal agents have recently managed to better infiltrate the Mafia by grooming
a crop of mafiosos who were willing to wear wires and record their fellow
gangsters.
The
turncoats' testimony was then used against mob figures in return for a more
lenient sentence in their own cases.
Thousands
of conversations were recorded and investigators also tapped several mobsters'
phones.
REAL-LIFE SOPRANOS: LUCCHESE FAMILY'S REIGN OF TERROR
The Lucchese crime family was
originally put together by Gaetano 'Tommy' Reina in the early 1920s until his
murder in 1930.
Gaetano 'Tommy Brown' Lucchese took
control in the 1950s and teamed with Carlo Gambino to control crime in New York
City together.
The family profited from labour and
construction racketeering, illegal gambling, loansharking and murder for hire.
The Lucchese family is deemed the
smallest of the five crime families with 100 members but is not the weakest.
The New Jersey faction of the Lucchese
family was the main inspiration for HBO show The Sopranos' DiMeo crime family.
Victor Amuso, 76, (pictured)
remains the official boss of the Lucchese family despite serving life in
prison.
Acting Lucchese boss Alphonse
D'Arco admitted to 'co-operating with the federal government' from 1991.
GENOVESE CLAN KNOWN AS ROLLS ROYCE OF ORGANISED CRIME
The Genovese crime family has been
nicknamed the Ivy League and the Rolls Royce of organised crime.
They found new ways to make money
in the past few years by using the housing spike to conduct a number of
mortgage frauds.
The group was founded by Lucky
Luciano but in 1957 it was renamed after Vito Genovese - he was extradited from
Italy to New York and acquitted of the 1936 murder that drove him into exile.
The family was run for years by the
'Oddfather' Vincent 'the Chin' Gigante (pictured) who pretended he was insane
and walked dishevelled around Greenwich Village wearing a bathrobe and talking
to himself.
When Gigante died in 2005, power
went to Daniel 'Danny The Lion' Leo.
The FBI convinced Genovese mobsters
Anthony Arillotta and Felix Tranghese to become government witnesses.
DeCAVALCANTE FAMILY BUILT ITS REPUTATION ON MURDER FOR HIRE
The DeCavalcante crime family is
the leading mafia clan in New Jersey despite operating in New York City.
It maintain a strong relationship
with many of the Five Families in New York plus crime families in Philadelphia,
Providence and most of New England.
They have profited from labour
racketeering, hijacking and murder for hire.
The clan has its origin in the
Prohibition era with a variety of members taking the leading role as head of
the family. In 1964, Simone DeCavalcante became it's head. DeCavalcante was
seen as an 'old school' and calculated Don whose character resembled the Don
Corleone character in the Godfather trilogy.
A heating and air conditioning
company was used as a legal front for the illegal dealings and he was nicknamed
'Sam the Plumber'.
Acting boss Francesco 'Frank'
Guarraci was promoted in 2006 after Stefano 'Steve the Truck Driver' Vitabile
was sentenced to life imprisonment.
COLOMBO EMPIRE TORN APART BY THREE BLOODY FAMILY WARS
The Colombo crime family is the
youngest of the 'Five Families', originally formed in 1928 by Joseph 'The Olive
Oil King' Profaci.
The family has endured three family
wars over the years - the second of which brought the family under the power of
Joseph 'Joe C' Colombo.
The third war erupted in 1991 when
member Joseph Orena undermined Carmine Persico who was in prison - the family
split into two separate factions.
Twelve family members were killed
in the in-fighting and the family never fully came back to prominence.
The family recently turned to Ralph
DeLeo to run the family for imprisoned Persico.
Two years ago several members of
the Colombo family were indicted on multiple racketeering charges and
three murders dating back to the family wars.
Capo Dino Calabro (pictured) became
a government informant last year after facing trial for murdering a New York
police officer.
HOW THE GAMBINO FAMILY BECAME AMERICA'S MOST NOTORIOUS CLAN
The Gambino crime family prides
itself on being one of America's most notorious criminal empires.
The family's rein can be traced
back to the Italian mafioso in the early 20th century.
Its main criminal activities
include racketeering, extortion, money laundering and prostitution.
The family's rise to power in
America started in 1957 when Albert Anastasia was assassinated while sitting in
a barber chair in Manhattan.
Carlo Gambino is believed to have
helped organise the hit to take over the family.
Infamous John Gotti (pictured)
proclaimed himself the leader of the Gambino family in 1985.
Gotti was nicknamed Teflon Don
because charges against him did not stick for years but he was finally
sentenced to life in prison in 1992 and died in 2002.
The movie Goodfellas based some of
its characters on members of the Gambino family.
BONANNO FAMILY'S REIGN OF TERROR INSPIRED DONNIE BRASCO
The classic Mafia movie Donnie
Brasco tooks its inspiration from the reign of terror imposed by the Bonanno
crime family.
The New York criminal empire was
named after Joseph Bonanno (pictured) and was the first family to be expelled
from The Commission for actively dealing in heroin.
The Commission is the council of
the crime bosses brought together to maintain order in the Mafia.
Bonanno boss Joseph 'Big Joe'
Massino was boss from early 1990s to 2004 - he then became the first official
boss from New York to become an informant.
Massino turned against members of
his own family to avoid the death penalty.
Donnie Brasco is the story of how
an FBI agent was able to work undercover with the Bonanno crime family and
almost became a 'made' man.
The family became the top New York
crime family but defections have left it less powerful.