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Gaetano "Corky" Vastola (born May 20, 1928) is a New Jersey mobster who became a captain in the DeCavalcante crime family in New Jersey. [1]
In 1946, Vastola was arrested for burglary in New York City. He was convicted and received a suspended sentence and probation because he was a youthful offender.
In his early years, Vastola was a concert promoter for singers Ray Charles and Aretha Franklin, and a golf partner with actor/singer Sammy Davis Jr. A part owner of Roulette Records, Vastola was the listed songwriter on several doo-wop hits from the 1950s and 1960s, including The Valentines song "Lily Maebelle", The Cleftones song "You Baby You", and The Wrens song "Hey Girl". During this period, Vastola also engaged in the counterfeiting of music records, netting him a $500,000 profit. In 1960, Vastola was convicted of trademark offenses and received a one-year suspended sentence. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) also fined Vastola $215 for not reporting his illegal income.
In 1965 Vastola was arrested for a burglary and larceny. In 1969, Vastola and mobster Daniel "Danny" Annunziata had demanded a $20,000 extortion payment from the operators of an illegal dice game in Trevose, Pennsylvania. The operators appealed the demand to DeCavalcante boss Sam DeCavalcante, who allegedly reduced the demand to $12,000 plus a negotiating fee of $3,800. In March 1972, Vastola was convicted of extorting the dice game operators and was sentenced to 30 months in prison. Vastola's conviction was later overturned. By 1980, Vastola had become a captain for the family, leading a crew of mobsters in Union County, New Jersey. Vastola had a close working relationship with Jimmy Rotondo, head of the New York Wing of the family, based predominantly in Brooklyn (until the latter's death).
In 1987, Vastola was sent to jail for assaulting a record company executive who balked at his extortion demands. While housed at the Metropolitan Correction Facility in Manhattan. Vastola shared a cell with Gambino crime family boss John Gotti. After spending time with Vastola, Gotti became convinced that Vastola would become a government witness rather than spend time in prison. When Gotti was released, he pressured current DeCavalcante boss John Riggi to agree to Vastola's murder. In 1992, federal prosecutors charged Gotti, in this new racketeering case, with five murders, including conspiracy to murder Vastola, loansharking, illegal gambling, obstruction of justice, bribery and tax evasion. [2] [3]
On May 3, 1988, Vastola was convicted of extortion and two counts of racketeering conspiracies and was sentenced to 20 years in prison. In late 1990, Vastola lost his final appeal and was sent to prison. [4] In May 1998, Vastola was released from prison.
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, 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.
The Genovese crime family, also sometimes referred to as the Westside, is an Italian-American Mafia crime family and one of the "Five Families" that dominate organized crime activities in New York City and New Jersey as part of the American Mafia. They have generally maintained a varying degree of influence over many of the smaller mob families outside New York, including ties with the Philadelphia, Patriarca, and Buffalo crime families.
The DeCavalcante crime family, also known as the North Jersey Mafia or North Jersey crime family, is an Italian-American Mafia organized crime family that operates mainly in northern New Jersey, particularly in Elizabeth, Newark, West New York, and various other North Jersey cities and the surrounding areas in North Jersey. It is part of the nationwide criminal network known as the American Mafia. It operates on the opposite side of the Hudson River from the Five Families of New York. It maintains strong relations with many of them, as well as with the Philadelphia crime family and the Patriarca crime family of New England. The Decavalcantes are considered by some to be the "Sixth Family".
Simone Paul Rizzo DeCavalcante, known as "Sam the Plumber", was an Italian-American mobster who was boss of the DeCavalcante crime family of New Jersey. Claiming descent from the Italian royal family, DeCavalcante was nicknamed "The Count". The McClellan hearings later named the New Jersey Mafia the DeCavalcante crime family since he was the boss of the family at the time of those hearings.
Philip Abramo, also known as "The King of Wall Street" and "Lou Metzer", is a caporegime in the New Jersey DeCavalcante crime family who was allegedly involved in security fraud and murder. He is the capo of the DeCavalcante family's crew in Miami, Florida, United States.
Louis Vallario, also known as "Big Louie" and "Big Lou", is a member of the Gambino crime family who was a top aide to boss John Gotti and Salvatore "Sammy the Bull" Gravano in the late 1980s.
Girolamo "Jimmy" Palermo was an Italian-born American mobster and longtime underboss of the DeCavalcante crime family in Elizabeth, New Jersey, under the imprisoned boss Giovanni "John the Eagle" Riggi.
Giuseppe "Pino" Schifilliti is a former prominent member of the DeCavalcante crime family since the 1980s, heavily involved in labor racketeering and extortion activities.
George "Big Georgie" DeCicco was a New York mobster and longtime captain in the Gambino crime family. DeCicco is one of the last captains of the old John Gotti administration in the 1980s who have not been under any indictment until now. DeCicco is the brother of former Gambino underboss Frank DeCicco, who was killed in a car-bomb meant for his boss John Gotti, ordered by then boss of the Genovese crime family who is now deceased, Vincent "Chin" Gigante, and Lucchese crime family leaders Vittorio "Vic" Amuso and Anthony "Gaspipe" Casso as revenge for the murder of former Gambino crime family boss, Paul Castellano, a strong ally of both the Genovese and Lucchese crime families.
John "Johnny Boy" D'Amato was an American mobster and former acting boss of the DeCavalcante crime family in New Jersey from 1990 to 1992. D'Amato was a prominent made man of the DeCavalcante family and appointed head by Giovanni Riggi under the influence of Gambino crime family boss John Gotti. D'Amato was suspected of engaging in homosexual activity and assassinated in Brooklyn in January 1992.
Anthony "Tony" Capo was an American hitman in the DeCavalcante crime family who later became a government witness and entered the Witness Protection Program. His aliases included Marshall Beach, Mathew Beach and Wade Beach.
Francesco "Frank" Polizzi was a New Jersey mobster and captain in the DeCavalcante crime family.
Martin "Marty" Taccetta is an imprisoned New Jersey mobster who was the alleged boss of the Jersey Crew, a powerful faction of the Lucchese crime family.
Frank "Franky the Beast" Scarabino is a New York City mobster and former soldier in the North Jersey based DeCavalcante crime family,
The Lucchese crime family is an Italian-American Mafia crime family and one of the "Five Families" that dominate organized crime activities in New York City in the United States, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the American Mafia. Members refer to the organization as the Lucchese borgata; borgata is Mafia slang for criminal gang, which itself was derived from a Sicilian word meaning close-knit community. The members of other crime families sometimes refer to Lucchese family members as "Lukes".
The Genovese crime family's New Jersey faction is a group of Italian-American mobsters within the Genovese crime family who control organized crime activities within the state of New Jersey. The New Jersey faction is divided into multiple crews each led by a different caporegimes who oversees illegal criminal activities in labor racketeering, illegal gambling, loansharking and extortion. Since the prohibition era the Genovese family's New Jersey faction has maintained a strong presence in the Northern Jersey area. A number of members within the New Jersey faction like Guarino "Willie" Moretti, Gerardo "Jerry" Catena and Louis "Bobby" Manna held positions within the administration of the Genovese family. From the 1990s until his death in 2010, Tino "the Greek" Fiumara was one of the most powerful caporegimes in the New Jersey faction.
Giovanni "John the Eagle" Riggi was a New Jersey mobster and member of the DeCavalcante crime family since the 1940s, before the family had acquired its name. Riggi was the leader of the "Elizabeth crew" in the family when he was a Caporegime. He had been the acting boss during the 1970s and became the official boss around 1982. Riggi was incarcerated at the Federal Medical Center (FMC) Devens, Massachusetts, on extortion and labor racketeering convictions. He was released on November 27, 2012.
