Venero Mangano

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Mugshot of Genovese crime family underboss Venero Mangano taken on February 26, 1990.
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Mugshot of Genovese crime family underboss Venero Mangano taken on February 26, 1990.

Venero Frank Mangano (September 7, 1921-) is a high ranking member of the Genovese crime family. He is a relative of Vincent Mangano (1888-1951) who was the leader of what would become the Gambino crime family, Phillip Mangano and Lawrence "The Dago" Mangano. Venero was listed as a caporegime twice by the New Jersey Attorney General's Division of Gaming Enforcement Exclusion List on his 1987 exclusion order. However, he is said to be the underboss by GangLandNews.com see: [1] He was released on November 2, 2006 after serving a 15 year sentence for extortion. [2]

Contents

[edit] Business Interests

Venero Mangano, nicknamed "Benny Eggs", was for several years an independent wholesaler and the head of a surplus stock distribution company that worked lucrative contracts for the likes of Calvin Klein. During this time he even became friends with Klein's longtime business partner, Barry K. Schwartz. Mangano was a member of the crew in Greenwich Village that Vincent Gigante would later head. He oversaw business, out of a social club at 101 Thompson Street, including an immensely profitable monopoly on window replacement in the New York City metropolitan area. It was this business, later dubbed the "Windows Case", that saw Mangano jailed with fellow mobster, Colombo crime family consigliere Benedetto Aloi in 1991 to 15 years imprisonment. (see "1991 Windows Case" for more details)

[edit] Convictions prior to 1991

[edit] 1991 Windows Case

From 1978 to 1990, four of the five crime families of New York (the Colombos, Gambinos, Genoveses and Luccheses) formed a cartel of window replacement companies. Each of the families involved assigned one or more of their men to operate that family's share in the cartel. (…as shown below)

The cartel came to hold over $150 million in contracts from the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) and monopolize the industry through a Lucchese crime family controlled Architectural and Ornamental Ironworkers Union Local who used the control of their local (Local 580) to solicit bribes, extort payoffs and enforce the cartel. The cartel worked their controlled industry by charging a tax of around $1.00 to $2.00 for almost every window replacement, public and private, in New York City.

In 1990 nearly all of the members of the Local 580 were indicted on charges ranging from bid rigging to extortion. It was the testimony of Savino, who began co-operating with the authorities, by wearing a wire in 1988 and 1989, that saw the operation crushed. Genovese crime family boss Vincent Gigante was indicted but found mentally unfit to stand trial, only to be convicted in 1997. Amuso and Casso went into hiding; appointing Alphonse D'Arco as acting boss of the Lucchese crime family on January 9, 1991. Amuso was captured in 1992 and later convicted in a superseding indictment that included the "Windows Case" charges. Casso was captured in 1993 and later pleaded guilty after deciding to co-operate for a reduced sentence, in 1994. Chiodo pleaded guilty after an assassination attempt and admitted to the murder of a potential witness, a business agent of the Local 580 by the name of John Morrissey. In 1990, Peter Gotti was tried and acquitted; Mangano and Aloi convicted, along with Colombo crime family soldier Dennis DeLucia. Sentencing guidelines should have seen Mangano and Aloi get a 3 year sentence but they were both sentenced to more than 180 months (15 years) each (Mangano - 188 months, Aloi - 200 months).

[edit] After the Windows Case

Mangano was released on November 2, 2006. He was called to testify against boss Vincent Gigante in 1997 but refused, saying "What do you want to do, shoot me?" Mangano tried a number of times to get a new sentencing or hearing but to no avail. He was, it seems, steadfastly ignored by the federal courts; left to deteriorate in prison. The future was uncertain for Mangano and he was fortunate to have lived out his sentence. Upon Mr. Mangano's release, it was speculated that due to his high rank within the Genovese Crime Family that he would take over the leadership and become the official boss. Gangland News' Jerry Capeci says that Mangano is going blind, has suffered 2 heart attacks and has undergone three heart operations since 1993. History of the secretive crime family tells us that Mangano's ill health, whilst documented as serious, is likely being exagerated by Mangano as a way to deter further government interest and downplay his involvement in the family.

[edit] Further reading

  • Jacobs, James B., Coleen Friel and Robert Radick. Gotham Unbound: How New York City Was Liberated from the Grip of Organized Crime. New York: NYU Press, 2001. ISBN 0-8147-4247-5
  • Raab, Selwyn. Five Families: The Rise, Decline, and Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empires. New York: St. Martin's Press, 2005. ISBN 0-312-30094-8

[edit] External links

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