Michael "Mikey Scars" DiLeonardo (born June 18, 1955) is a former Italian-American mobster who rose to position of caporegime in the Gambino crime family. In the early 2000s DiLeonardo turned government witness and decided to cooperate with the FBI and managed to convict over 80 mobsters. DiLeonardo testified a record 15 times, more than any other "made" Mafia member to date.
Born in New York City, DiLeonardo grew up in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn. He lived there until 1998, when he moved to Eltingville, Staten Island. At age 10, DiLeonardo was scarred on the face by a dog attack, resulting in the nickname "Mikey Scars". His parents were second-generation immigrants, his father's parents immigrants from Bisacquino, Sicily. His mother was a seamstress and his father was a professional bowler. DiLeonardo had two brothers; Colombo crime family mobster Robert DiLeonardo (who was murdered July 16, 1981 on orders of Cosa Nostra, thus Michael could not retaliate[1]) and James (Giovanni) DiLeonardo. DiLeonardo's grandfather, Vincenzo DiLeonardo, was a captain in the Brooklyn faction run by Salvatore D'Aquila, who was the boss of bosses at that time. As a young boy, DiLeonardo met Gambino boss Carlo Gambino several times at his grandfather's house.[2] DiLeonardo started running with violent street gangs as a teenager.
In 1973, DiLeonardo graduated from New Utrecht High School in Brooklyn. He attended college for eighteen months, but did not graduate. In 1985, at age 29, DiLeonardo married Antoinette "Toni" Marie Fappiano, a cousin of Gambino underbossFrank DeCicco. DiLeonardo had one son with Fappiano, Michael DiLeonardo Jr. After twelve years of marriage, DiLeonardo started an affair with Madeline Fischetti. He kept Madeline in a rented apartment in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn while maintaining a home with his wife and son on Staten Island. DiLeonardo eventually divorced Antoinette and married Madelaine; they have a son, Anthony.[2]
By age 21, DiLeonardo had started working for the Gambino family. Since the 1960s, he had been running errands for tips from several Gambino associates. They would give him money for his pocket, he would do things like vandalize and assaults for them. DiLeonardo frequently visited the Veterans and Friends social club in Brooklyn run by boss Paul Castellano. However, DiLeonardo considered soldiers Paul Zaccaria and Jerry D'aquila to be his mentors in the family.[2]
In 1980, DiLeonardo opened a social club a block away from the Veterans' Club. In early 1981, he moved the club to a different location in Brooklyn. A successful venture, the club's customers included Gambino soldiers Salvatore "Sammy the Bull" Gravano and Frank DeCicco. DiLeonardo also used his club as a headquarters for his bookmaking and loansharking, gambling operations. He was successful and then went into a business venture and became partners in a produce market with Peter Castellano, cousin to Paul Castellano. During the mid 1980s, DiLeonardo became a close friend of John A. Gotti, commonly known as "Junior", who was the son of future boss John J. Gotti. Junior Gotti eventually named DiLeonardo as godfather for his second son.
On July 16, 1981, DiLeonardo's brother Robert was killed in a mob-related shooting. DiLeonardo wanted to kill the shooter, but boss Castellano ordered him to stay out because it was related to internal Colombo business.[2] In the 1980s, DiLeonardo maintained so-called legitimate jobs as a shop foreman for teamsters local 282. DiLeonardo soon opened his own construction company, Metropolitan Stone, with Edward Garofalo, Gravano's brother-in-law.
The Gotti era
On December 16, 1985, Castellano was killed on orders from John J. Gotti, who became the family boss. With Frank DeCicco now becoming underboss, DiLeonardo had Lilo Garafola as his capo. Soon after, DiLeonardo was reporting to Gotti's Ravenite Social Club in Little Italy, Manhattan three to four times per week. After John A Gotti rose to power, DiLeonardo was with capo Jackie D'Amico after Lilo Garafalo died. In April 1986, DiLeonardo was at the Veterans and Friend Club then run by Frank DeCicco on the day Frank was killed by a car bomb. Gravano, Garafalo, and Joe DeCicco went over to try and pull Frank out of the car and help Frank Bellino who survived the blast.
On December 24, 1988, DiLeonardo and Junior Gotti were inducted into the Gambino family in a Manhattan ceremony conducted by Gravano, now consigliere.[4] In 1989, DiLeonardo helped arrange the murder of publisher and sanitation business owner Fred Weiss. Boss John J. Gotti had ordered Weiss' death because he believed Weiss was planning to testify against Gambino soldier Angelo Paccione and Jimmy Brown Fialla. Gunmen from the DeCavalcante crime family in New Jersey shot and killed Weiss outside his apartment building in Staten Island, New York.
During the mid-1990s, DiLeonardo supervised loan sharking and other illegal activities from the Royal Crown Bakery in Grasmere, Staten Island. DiLeonardo owned several tattoo parlors in Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island. In addition, DiLeonardo claimed Staten Island mobster turned Miami club owner Chris Paciello as a Gambino mob associate. However, Colombo crime family capo "Wild Bill" Cutolo claimed Paciello as a Colombo associate. In 1996, DiLeonardo met with Colombo acting boss Alphonse "Allie Boy" Persico to settle the dispute. As a result, Paciello was allowed to choose which family to be associated with, and he chose the Colombos.
DiLeonardo's rise and fall
In late 1992, boss John J. Gotti was convicted of murder and racketeering based on Gravano's testimony. In the shakeup that followed, DiLeonardo was promoted to captain. DiLeonardo's crew was given control of the family's construction and trucking rackets, and also control of the 18th ave crew. This included receiving monthly payments from Scara-Mix Concrete Company on Staten Island, which was owned by Philip; the son of Paul Castellano. DiLeonardo also moved his crew into Wall Street, using pump-and-dump stock scams to earn the Gambinos money. DiLeonardo became a close associate of Junior Gotti and assisted him when he was promoted to acting boss. On one occasion, a member of DiLeonardo's crew, Tommy Cherubino, hid some submachine guns for Gotti Jr.
In 1997, DiLeonardo and Garafola sold Metropolitan Stone because the City of New York had revoked Metropolitan's operating permit due to organized crime affiliations. By that time, he was also in control of captain Danny Marino's crew when Marino went to prison.
Defection and government informant
In September 2000, DiLeonardo was indicted in Atlanta, Georgia, on racketeering, extortion and money laundering charges. He was specifically charged with extorting cash payments from Scores, a high-end strip club in Manhattan, and The Gold Club in Atlanta. On August 30, 2001, after a four-month trial, DiLeonardo was acquitted on all charges.[2][3][5]
In late 2001, Peter Gotti was made boss of the Gambinos. In June 2002, DiLeonardo was indicted for labor racketeering, extortion, loan sharking, witness tampering, and the murder of Fred Weiss. While awaiting trial, the Gambino family administration stopped all money going to him. When DiLeonardo asked why this was happening, they said he was robbing the family. DiLeonardo claimed that he was not robbing anyone in the family, and that the accusation was untrue. DiLeonardo sent a message back saying "I don't remember dying or getting life in prison. I may come home one day." The Gambino family then shelved him. That was the turning point for DiLeonardo, and he testified how it was a betrayal on their part and how it crushed him. Finally, DiLeonardo decided to cooperate with the federal government. DiLeonardo later said that in 2002, the thought of having to testify against his friend Junior Gotti and others that were close to him led him to a suicide attempt.[4] Other source say that his son's anger at him for becoming a government witness prompted the attempt.[3]
He provided damaging testimony against Peter Gotti, Louis "Big Lou" Vallario, Frank Fappiano, Richard V. Gotti, Richard G. Gotti, and Michael Yanotti. DiLeonardo also testified at the four mistrials in which Junior Gotti was charged with ordering the 1992 abduction and assault of radio commentator Curtis Sliwa.[4] Finally, in October 2006, DiLeonardo testified against former Colombo crime family acting boss Alphonse Persico, and underboss John "Jackie" DeRoss in their trial for the 1999 murder of former underboss William Cutolo. That case ended in a mistrial. In their second trial, they both would be convicted. DiLeonardo testified a record 15 times, more than any other "made" Mafia member to date.
On September 9, 2011, a judge sentenced DiLeonardo to time already served in prison – 36 months, and released him from confinement. He and his second family are now in the federal Witness Protection Program.[6]
DiLeonardo now has a YouTube channel called 'No Excuses'.
Related Research Articles
John Gotti was an American mafioso and boss of the Gambino crime family in New York City. He ordered and helped to orchestrate the murder of Gambino boss Paul Castellano in December 1985 and took over the family shortly thereafter, leading what was described as America's most powerful crime syndicate.
Constantino Paul Castellano was an American crime boss who succeeded Carlo Gambino as head of the Gambino crime family of New York City. Castellano ran the organization from 1976 until his murder on December 16, 1985.
Salvatore "Sammy the Bull" Gravano is an American former mobster who rose to the position of underboss in the Gambino crime family. As the underboss, Gravano played a major role in prosecuting John Gotti, the crime family's boss, by agreeing to testify as a government witness against him and other mobsters in a deal in which he confessed to involvement in 19 murders.
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.
Thomas "Tommy" Bilotti was an American mobster who briefly served as underboss of the Gambino crime family in New York City. It was his promotion that helped trigger the 1985 assassination of Gambino boss Paul Castellano; Bilotti would end up killed as well as part of the assassination.
John "Jackie" D'Amico was an American mobster and caporegime in New York City who served as street boss of the Gambino crime family from 2005 to 2011. "Street boss" had been the family's number one position ever since official Boss Peter Gotti started serving a life sentence in prison.
Bartholomew "Bobby" Boriello was an American mobster who belonged to the Gambino crime family and served as boss John Gotti's favorite bodyguard and chauffeur. A prominent hitman during the 1980s, Boriello participated in the 1990 murder of Gambino soldier Louis DiBono.
Frank DeCicco, also known as "Frankie D" and "Frankie Cheech", was an American mobster and eventual underboss for the Gambino crime family in New York City.
Angelo Salvatore Ruggiero Sr., also known as "Quack Quack", was an American gangster. He was a member of the Gambino crime family and a friend of John Gotti's. After Gotti became leader of the family he made Ruggiero a caporegime.
Thomas Francis Gambino was 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 was the son of Carlo Gambino nephew of Paul Castellano and son-in-law of Tommy Lucchese.
Joseph Armone, also known as "Joe Piney" and "Shorty", was an American mobster in the Gambino crime family of New York City who served as underboss between 1986 and 1990, and consigliere from 1990 until his death in 1992.
James "Jimmy Brown" Failla was an American mobster who was a high ranking caporegime with the Gambino crime family and a major power in the garbage-hauling industry in New York City. Failla's crew was based in Brooklyn, with operations stretching into Staten Island, Manhattan, and New Jersey.
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.
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.
Joseph Paruta, also known as "Old Man", was a respected soldier in the Gambino crime family and considered a "key member" of Sammy Gravano's Bensonhurst, Brooklyn crew. He is the only known mobster who asked for a mercy killing after becoming terminally ill with lung cancer. The proposition was not agreed upon by John Gotti but Paruta died before the mercy killing was performed.
Nicholas Scibetta, also known as "Little Nicky", was a Sicilian American mobster who was the nephew of Joseph and John Zicarelli, the brother-in-law of mobster Sammy Gravano and uncle of Gerard Gravano, who was a Gambino crime family mob associate who was later marked as an informant by fellow crime family members.
Augustus Sclafani, d. 1986, also known as "Big Gus", was a New York mobster who was a mob associate with the Gambino crime family. Sclafani is not to be confused with the younger Augustus "Gus Boy" Sclafani, another Gambino family member.
Salvatore "Sal the Pizza Guy" Romano is a former member of the Gambino crime family and their operative on Wall Street, making millions of dollars for the Gambinos by way of stock fraud, first serving under John "Johnny G" Gammarano and later becoming a top earner for Michael "Mikey Scars" DiLeonardo, a capo in the Gambino crime family who was at one time considered a possible successor to John Gotti as boss of the family.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
