Lindley DeVecchio

Last updated

Lindley DeVecchio
Born
Roy Lindley DeVecchio

(1940-04-18) April 18, 1940 (age 83) [1]
Fresno, California, U.S. [1]
Other namesLin
Years active1962–1996
Known for
  • Former FBI agent who managed organized crime informants
  • Responsible most notably for the surveillance of the Colombo crime family
  • managed case of mobster/informant Gregory Scarpa

    • Roy Lindley DeVecchio (born April 18, 1940) is a former U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agent in charge of managing mob informants. [2] [3] DeVecchio worked for the FBI during the Mafia wars in New York during the 1980s and 1990s, eventually rising to head of the FBI squad responsible for surveillance of the Colombo crime family. He was also responsible for handling Gregory Scarpa, a Colombo capo who had secretly been an FBI informant since the 1960s. [4]

    Contents

    Connection to Gregory Scarpa racketeering trial

    After Scarpa pleaded guilty to racketeering charges in 1993, former Colombo consigliere Carmine Sessa, who had recently turned informer, tipped off prosecutors about Scarpa's unusual relationship with DeVecchio. Eventually, prosecutors uncovered circumstantial evidence that DeVecchio had leaked confidential information to Scarpa on numerous occasions. Reportedly, DeVecchio had told Scarpa about several former Colombo members who had turned informer. He was suspected of alerting Scarpa that he was being bugged, and that his son was about to be arrested for drug trafficking. [3]

    Evidence allegedly surfaced that DeVecchio had given Scarpa tips on how to track down soldiers backing Victor Orena's effort to take over the Colombo family during the Third Colombo War (1991–93); Scarpa sided with longtime boss Carmine Persico. DeVecchio is believed to be the first FBI agent accused of helping a mobster commit crimes and cover them up. [4] The FBI conducted a two-year internal probe, but ultimately decided not to press charges against DeVecchio. Nonetheless, his reputation was affected, and he retired in 1996. [3]

    Although DeVecchio was cleared of wrongdoing by his superiors, 19 soldiers from the Orena faction had their convictions reversed or charges thrown out after their lawyers contended DeVecchio's actions cast doubt on the evidence against them. The lawyers contended that DeVecchio actively helped Scarpa hunt down and kill opponents, thus making many of the deaths caused by their clients acts of self-defense. They contended DeVecchio had manufactured evidence. [4]

    In 2006, Brooklyn district attorney Charles Hynes indicted DeVecchio on charges that he had helped Scarpa kill four people in the 1980s and early 1990s through supplying confidential FBI information about them. [5] The case was based almost entirely on the testimony of Scarpa's longtime girlfriend, Linda Schiro. [6]

    However, the case imploded in the fall of 2007 when Tom Robbins of The Village Voice came forward with an interview he and mob expert Jerry Capeci had conducted with Schiro in 1997, in which Schiro denied that DeVecchio had been involved in most of the murders. Robbins and Capeci had interviewed Schiro for a book they had initially planned to write, and had promised Schiro that her revelations would not appear in a news article or be attributed to her. However, Robbins said, the prospect of DeVecchio facing life in prison trumped any promises they had made to Schiro. [7] [8] This forced prosecutors to move for a dismissal of charges against DeVecchio, which was granted on November 1, 2007. [9] A retired judge was appointed special prosecutor in 2008 to examine whether Scarpa's former girlfriend, Linda Schiro, had committed perjury but his report concluded that her interview tape was insufficient to prove perjury. [10]

    DeVecchio co-authored a book, published in 2011, about his experiences. [11]

    Related Research Articles

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">John Gotti</span> American mobster (1940–2002)

    John Joseph Gotti Jr. 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, becoming boss of what was described as America's most powerful crime syndicate.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Sammy Gravano</span> American mobster

    Salvatore "Sammy the Bull" Gravano is an American former mobster who became underboss of 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 dominated 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.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Joseph Massino</span> American mobster (1940–2023)

    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.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Carmine Persico</span> American mob boss (1933–2019)

    Carmine John Persico Jr., also known as "Junior", "The Snake" and "Immortal", was an American mobster and the longtime boss of the Colombo crime family in New York City from 1973 until his death in 2019. He had been serving 32 years in federal prison from 1987 until his death on March 7, 2019.

    Consigliere is a position within the leadership structure of the Sicilian, Calabrian, and Italian-American Mafia. The word was popularized in English by the novel The Godfather (1969) and its film adaptation. In the novel, a consigliere is an advisor or counselor to the boss, with the additional responsibility of representing the boss in important meetings both within the boss's crime family and with other crime families.

    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.

    The Colombo crime family is an Italian American Mafia crime family and is the youngest of the "Five Families" that dominate organized crime activities in New York City within the criminal organization known as the American Mafia. It was during Lucky Luciano's organization of the American Mafia after the Castellammarese War, following the assassinations of "Joe the Boss" Masseria and Salvatore Maranzano, that the gang run by Joseph Profaci became recognized as the Profaci crime family.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Alphonse D'Arco</span> American mobster (1932–2019)

    Alphonse "Little Al" D'Arco was an American mobster who became the acting boss of the Lucchese crime family in New York City. He was the first boss, acting or otherwise, of a New York crime family to become a government witness.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Anthony Casso</span> American mobster (1942–2020)

    Anthony Salvatore Casso, nicknamed "Gaspipe", was an American mobster and underboss of the Lucchese crime family. During his career in organized crime, he was regarded as a "homicidal maniac" in the Italian-American Mafia. Casso is suspected of having committed dozens of murders, and had confessed to involvement in between 15 and 36 murders.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Joel Cacace</span>

    Joel Cacace Sr., also known as Joe Waverly, is an American mobster and former consigliere of the Colombo crime family in New York City. He was convicted of murder in 2004 and was released from prison in 2020.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">William Cutolo</span> American mobster (1949–1999)

    William Cutolo, also known as "Billy Fingers" and "Wild Bill", was an Italian-American mobster in the Colombo crime family of New York City who rose to the position of underboss and was heavily involved in labor racketeering. Cutolo played a key role in the 1991 to 1993 Colombo war.

    VincenzoAloi is an American mobster involved in stock fraud who briefly served as the acting boss of the Colombo crime family. Vincenzo was also a figure in the Third Colombo War alongside his brother Benny.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Gregory Scarpa</span> American mobster

    Gregory Scarpa, nicknamed the Grim Reaper and also the Mad Hatter, was an American caporegime and hitman for the Colombo crime family, as well as an informant for the FBI. During the 1970s and 80s, Scarpa was the chief enforcer and veteran hitman for Colombo boss Carmine Persico. He was sentenced to life in prison in 1993 for three murders, and died on June 4, 1994.

    Carmine Sessa, alias Carmine Marletta, is an Italian-American mobster and former consigliere of the Brooklyn-based Colombo crime family, and played a key role in the family from 1991 to 1993. He later became a government witness.

    Victor J. Orena, also known as "Little Vic", is a New York City mobster who became the acting boss of the Colombo crime family. A challenge by Orena to boss Carmine Persico triggered one of the bloodiest Mafia wars of the late 20th century, and the last major mob war in New York City to date.

    John J. DeRoss, also known as Jackie or Jackie Zambooka, is a former underboss in the Colombo crime family.

    Thomas Salvatore "Tommy Shots" Gioeli is a high-ranking member of the Colombo crime family.

    Alphonse T. Persico, known as Little Allie Boy or just Allie Boy, was the acting boss of the Colombo crime family between 1996–2019, and son of crime boss Carmine Persico.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Lance</span> American journalist and author (born 1948)

    Peter Lance is an American journalist and author. He is a five-time winner of the News & Documentary Emmy Award, the recipient of a Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award, and other accolades detailed below. In April 2010, Lance was appointed as a one-year visiting scholar at the Orfalea Center for Global & International Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

    References

    1. 1 2 "Birth reference for Roy Lindley DeVecchio". FamilySearch.org. Retrieved July 30, 2017.
    2. ↑ Rich Esposito (March 30, 2006). "Former Fave FBI Stool Pigeon Indicted". ABC News .
    3. 1 2 3 Alan Feuer (April 15, 2006). "For Ex-F.B.I. Agent Accused in Murders, a Case of What Might Have Been". The New York Times .
    4. 1 2 3 Raab, Selwyn. The Five Families: The Rise, Decline & Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empire. New York: St. Martins Press, 2005.
    5. ↑ Holusha, John; Rashbaum, William K. (March 30, 2006). "Ex-F.B.I. Agent Accused of Role in Four Organized Crime Killings". The New York Times . Retrieved May 8, 2020.
    6. ↑ Clancy, Michael (November 2, 2007). "The Schiro Tapes: The Patrick Porco Murder". Village Voice . Retrieved May 8, 2020.
    7. ↑ Robbins, Tom (October 23, 2007). "Tall Tales of a Mafia Mistress". Village Voice . Retrieved May 8, 2020.
    8. ↑ Robbins, Tom (November 1, 2007). "Former G Man walks after Robbins unearthed tapes". Village Voice . Retrieved May 8, 2020.
    9. ↑ Brick, Michael; O'Connor, Anahad (November 1, 2007). "Charges Dropped in F.B.I. Murder Case". The New York Times . Retrieved May 8, 2020.
    10. ↑ "Staten Island mob mistress won't face perjury rap". Staten Island Advance . Associated Press. October 22, 2008. Retrieved May 8, 2020.
    11. ↑ DeVecchio, Lin; Brandt, Charles (2011). We're going to win this thing: The shocking frame-up of a Mafia crime buster . New York: Berkley Books. ISBN   978-0-425-22986-6.

    Sources

    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.