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Joseph D'Amico (born 1955 in Little Italy, Manhattan), also known as "Joey The Mook," is an American mobster who was a made man in the Bonanno crime family before he turned government informant. D'Amico was a long-time street soldier who worked under his cousin, Richard Cantarella. He later served as Acting Capo.
D'Amico was born and raised in the Knickerbocker Village public housing tenement building where his uncle Albert Embarrato, Anthony Mirra, cousin Richard Cantarella and fellow mobster Benjamin "Lefty Guns" Ruggiero resided. He was also a cousin of Paul Cantarella and Frank Cantarella. He was a close friend of New York Post Superintendent of Deliveries, Robert Perrino and Anthony Mirra. In the 1970s, he met undercover FBI agent Joseph Pistone, but did not suffer the vicious aftermath as his cousin Mirra did. D'Amico is not to be confused with Gambino crime family acting boss Jackie D'Amico, to whom he is not related.
In mid-1981, when Pistone was revealed as an FBI agent, "Sonny Black" Napolitano, "Lefty" Ruggiero, and Mirra were all on the firing line for initially allowing the infiltration. Mirra went into hiding. Joseph Massino ordered Mirra's two cousins D'Amico and Richard Cantarella, and their uncle Alfred Embarrato, to kill him. On February 18, 1982, D'Amico, lured him to a parking garage in Lower Manhattan. Embarrato and Cantarella were waiting in a getaway car. The pair went to the parking garage, climbed into Mirra's car, and drove up to a locked security gate. D'Amico later described in a testimony, "He took out his key, put it in the box, but he didn’t get a chance to turn the box... I shot him at close range several times on the side of his head." [1] [2]
With Sal Vitale's demotion to Captain, Richard Cantarella became acting underboss in 2002. He appointed D'Amico as his acting captain. It is unknown if he held this position at the time of his conviction and ultimate cooperation.
Zips is a slang term in the United States that was especially in use in the early 20th century. It was often used as a derogatory slur by Italian American and Sicilian American mobsters in reference to newer immigrant Sicilian and Italian mafiosi. The mobsters in the US were said to have difficulty understanding the Sicilian dialects of the new immigrants, in which words appeared to "zip" by. Other theories include pejorative uses, such as Sicilians' preference for homemade zip guns. According to another theory, the term is a contraction of a Sicilian slang term for "hicks" or "primitives". The older Sicilian mafiosi of the pre-Prohibition era, known as "Mustache Petes", were also referred to as "zips". They were deposed by American-born mobsters during the Castellammarese War.
Dominick Napolitano, also known as Sonny Black, was an American Mafia caporegime in the Bonanno crime family. He is known for unwittingly allowing FBI agent Joseph D. Pistone to become an associate in his crew and nearly getting him made.
Joseph Charles Massino was an American mobster. He was a member of the Mafia and boss of the Bonanno crime family from 1991 until 2004, when he became the first boss of one of the Five Families in New York City to turn state's evidence.
Salvatore "Good Looking Sal" Vitale is an American former underboss of the Bonanno crime family before he became a government informant. After his arrest in 2003, Vitale agreed to cooperate with the government and testify against his brother-in-law, boss Joseph Massino, and in July 2004, Massino was convicted in a RICO case. Vitale had admitted to 11 murders, however, in October 2010, was sentenced to time served due to his cooperation, and entered the witness protection program.
Joseph Dominick Pistone is an American former FBI agent who worked undercover as Donnie Brasco between September 1976 and July 1981, as part of an infiltration primarily into the Bonanno crime family, and to a lesser extent the Colombo crime family, two of the Five Families of the Mafia in New York City. Pistone was an FBI agent for 17 years, from 1969 until he resigned in 1986. The evidence collected by Pistone led to over 200 indictments and over 100 convictions of Mafia members, and some responsible for his infiltration were also killed by other mobsters.
Benjamin "Lefty" Ruggiero was an American mobster in the Bonanno crime family. He is well known for his friendship and mentorship of FBI undercover agent Joseph D. Pistone, who Ruggiero knew as Donnie Brasco. When Pistone's operation was ended on July 26, 1981, the FBI intercepted and arrested Ruggiero on August 29, 1981. In November 1982, Ruggiero was sentenced to 15 years in prison for racketeering conspiracy; he was released in April 1993 before his death from cancer.
Donnie Brasco is a 1997 American crime drama film directed by Mike Newell, and starring Al Pacino and Johnny Depp. Michael Madsen, Bruno Kirby, James Russo, and Anne Heche appeared in supporting roles. The film, written by Paul Attanasio, is based on the 1988 nonfiction book Donnie Brasco: My Undercover Life in the Mafia by Joseph D. Pistone and Richard Woodley.
Alfred "Al Walker" Embarrato, also known as "Alfred Scalisi" a.k.a." Aldo Elvorado", was an American mobster who became a caporegime of the Bonanno crime family and a powerful labor figure at The New York Post distribution plant.
Cesare "The Tall Guy" Bonventre was a Sicilian mobster who served as a caporegime in the Bonanno crime family, operating out of Knickerbocker Avenue in Bushwick. Bonventre alongside Salvatore “Toto” Catalano led the Sicilian “Zips” faction of the family and was a key member of the Pizza Connection until his assassination on April 16, 1984 on orders of Joe Massino and Philip “Rusty” Rastelli.
Robert Francis Perrino, also known as "Bobby Perrino" was the superintendent of deliveries at the New York Post from the 1970s until 1992, when he was murdered. He was a Bonanno crime family associate of Italian-American descent. Perrino was the leader of "The Post Circulation Crew" which allegedly existed to control the circulation department of New York Post printing press and distribution center by means of extortion, coercion, the falsification of business records, larceny and bribery. The crew also became involved in loan sharking, drug trafficking and the selling of stolen firearms.
Richard Cantarella, also known as Shellackhead, was an American mobster who became a caporegime for the New York City-based Bonanno crime family and later a government witness.
Anthony "Tony" Mirra was an American mobster, soldier and later caporegime for the Bonanno crime family. He is well known for being the individual who introduced FBI Special Agent Joseph "Donnie Brasco" Pistone into the Bonanno family.
Michael "Mikey Cigars" Sabella (1911–1989) was a caporegime in the Bonanno crime family and a relative of Philadelphia crime family mob boss Salvatore Sabella.
Frank "Curly" Lino was an American former caporegime in the Bonanno crime family who later became an informant.
Antonio Tomasulo, also known as "Bootsie", was an Italian-American mobster who served in the New York Bonanno crime family running a highly lucrative illegal slot machine gambling operation.
Raymond J. Wean a.k.a. "Big Ray" was a Bonanno crime family associate who worked under capo Joe Massino and Dominick Napolitano.
Nicholas Angelo "Nicky Mouth" Santora was the reputed underboss of the Bonanno crime family.
Donnie Brasco: My Undercover Life in the Mafia is a 1988 autobiographical crime book written by Joseph D. Pistone about his story as an FBI agent going undercover and infiltrating the Mafia. In 1997, the book was made into a feature film titled Donnie Brasco, starring Johnny Depp and Al Pacino.
The Bonanno crime family is an Italian-American Mafia crime family and one of the "Five Families" that dominate organized crime activities in New York City as part of the criminal phenomenon known as the American Mafia.
Nicholas Marangello, also known as "Nicky Glasses", "Nicky Cigars", "Nicky the Butler" and "Little Nicky", was the underboss of the Bonanno crime family under Carmine Galante and saw himself demoted after Galantes death. He's the father-in-law of Robert Perrino and grandfather of Nicola Langora.
