1985 in organized crime

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Castellano</span> American crime boss (1915–1985)

Constantino Paul Castellano, was an American crime boss who succeeded Carlo Gambino as head of the Gambino crime family. Castellano was killed in an unsanctioned hit on December 16, 1985.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carlo Gambino</span> American mobster

Carlo Gambino was an Italian-American crime boss of the Gambino crime family. After the Apalachin Meeting in 1957, and the imprisonment of Vito Genovese in 1959, Gambino took over the Commission of the American Mafia until his death from a heart attack on October 15, 1976. During more than 50 years in organized crime, he served only 22 months in prison for a tax evasion charge in 1937.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gambino crime family</span> New York-based organized crime group

The Gambino crime family is an Italian-American Mafia crime family and one of the "Five Families" that dominate organized crime activities in New York City, United States, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the American Mafia. The group, which went through five bosses between 1910 and 1957, is named after Carlo Gambino, boss of the family at the time of the McClellan hearings in 1963, when the structure of organized crime first gained public attention. The group's operations extend from New York and the eastern seaboard to California. Its illicit activities include labor and construction racketeering, gambling, loansharking, extortion, money laundering, prostitution, fraud, hijacking, and fencing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aniello Dellacroce</span> American mobster

Aniello John "Neil" Dellacroce was an American mobster and underboss of the Gambino crime family. He rose to the position of underboss when Carlo Gambino moved Joseph Biondo aside. Dellacroce was a mentor to future Gambino boss John Gotti.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Bilotti</span> American criminal (1940–1985)

Thomas "Tommy" Bilotti was an American mobster who served as underboss of the Gambino crime family in New York City for two weeks. It was this promotion that helped trigger the 1985 assassination of Gambino boss Paul Castellano; Bilotti would end up killed as well as part of the assassination.

The Mafia Commission Trial was a criminal trial before the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York in New York City, United States, that lasted from February 25, 1985, until November 19, 1986. Using evidence obtained by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, 11 organized crime figures, including the heads of New York City's "Five Families", were indicted by United States Attorney Rudolph Giuliani under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) on charges including extortion, labor racketeering, and murder. Eight of them were convicted under RICO, and most were sentenced to 100 years in prison on January 13, 1987, the maximum possible sentence under that law.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Underboss</span> Second-in-command in Mafia crime families

Underboss is a position within the leadership structure of certain organized crime groups, particularly in Sicilian, Greek, and Italian-American Mafia crime families. The underboss is second in command to the boss. The underboss is sometimes a family member, such as a son, who will take over the family if the boss is sick, killed, or imprisoned. However the position of street boss has somewhat challenged the rank of underboss in the modern era. The position was installed within the Genovese crime family since at least the mid-1960s. It has also been used in the Detroit crime family and the Chicago Outfit.

This article is about events in organized crime in 1984.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Commission (American Mafia)</span> Governing body of the American Mafia

The Commission is the governing body of the Italian-American Mafia, formed in 1931 by Charles "Lucky" Luciano following the Castellammarese War. The Commission replaced the title of capo di tutti i capi, held by Salvatore Maranzano before his murder, with a ruling committee that consists of the bosses of the Five Families of New York City, as well as the bosses of the Chicago Outfit and, at various times, the leaders of smaller families, such as Buffalo, Philadelphia, Detroit, and others. The purpose of the Commission was to oversee all Mafia activities in the United States and serve to mediate conflicts among families.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frank DeCicco</span> American mobster

Frank DeCicco, also known as Frankie D and Frankie Cheech, was an American mobster consigliere and eventual underboss for the Gambino crime family in New York City.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Angelo Ruggiero</span> American mobster

Angelo "Quack Quack" Ruggiero Sr. was a member of the Gambino crime family and a friend of John Gotti's. Once Gotti became leader of the family he made Ruggiero a caporegime. Although he showed little organizing or money making ability, anyone questioning Ruggiero's suitability for a top position in the hierarchy did so at their peril; the FBI regarded Ruggiero as an unpredictable psychopath not amenable to confrontational tactics. While Gotti was held in pretrial detention for a state case that he eventually beat, Ruggiero served as his contact with the crime family, until the impulsive capo got himself thrown in jail beside Gotti by cursing and arguing with the judge during a hearing. This blunder lost Ruggiero any chance he had of becoming Gotti's underboss.

Thomas Francis Gambino is an Italian-American New York City mobster and a longtime caporegime of the Gambino crime family who successfully controlled lucrative trucking rackets in the New York City Garment District. He is the son of Carlo Gambino and nephew of Paul Castellano.

<i>Boss of Bosses</i> 2001 television film directed by Dwight H. Little

Boss of Bosses is a 2001 American made-for-TV movie about the life of former Gambino crime family boss Paul Castellano directed by Dwight H. Little. It stars Chazz Palminteri as Paul Castellano, Patricia Mauceri as his wife Nina, Mark Margolis as Joseph Armone, and Angela Alvarado as his mistress Gloria Olarte.