Anthony Ciccone

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Anthony "Sonny" Ciccone (b. July 19, 1934) is a New York mobster and a high ranking member within the Gambino crime family.

Ciccone is the son of legendary Brooklyn waterfront wiseguy Pasquale "Patsy" Ciccone. 'Young Sonny', as he was called, became a made member of the Gambino family during the late 60s in the Brooklyn crew of caporegime Anthony Scotto, a high ranking official in the International Longshoremen Association. His nickname was given to him in honor of long time Brooklyn water front racketeer Santo "Sonny Boy" Ricchiettore who groomed Ciccone and proposed him for membership. Ciccone also served as an official in the ILA until he was removed for his involvement in organized crime. In 1979, after Scotto was convicted of labor racketeering, Ciccone become the de facto boss of the Brooklyn and Staten Island waterfronts. In 1986, Gambino crime family boss John Gotti made Ciccone a captain, demoting Scotto to soldier. Soon after promoting Ciccone, Gotti was overheard on a federal wiretap discussing how Ciccone's average Christmas tribute to the Gambino boss was $22,000.

In July 1997, Ciccone was convicted of criminal contempt for talking to wiseguys and union officials in violation of a court order. In 2002, Ciccone would be indicted with Gambino crime family boss Peter Gotti for exerting illegal control over the New York City waterfront, and extorting from both water terminal businesses and actor Steven Seagal. The indictment demonstrated the control the New York mafia still maintained over the historically mobbed up waterfronts, and provided details of a working partnership between the upper most levels of the Genovese and Gambino crime families.

One extortion incident took place in Toronto in December 2000. Steven Seagal was shooting the film Exit Wounds but was unexpectedly confronted by Ciccone, 350 pound 'soldier' Richard Bondi, Julius Nasso, and Primo Cassarino. The Gambino family wanted him to keep making action films, and they also wanted him to pay them $150,000 for each of his future projects. But Julius Nasso on a previous occasion had warned Ciccone that Seagal wouldn't scare easily. At a meeting at the famous steakhouse, Gage and Tollner's, Ciccone said to Seagal, "Look at me when I talk to you. We're proud people ... Work with Jules and we'll split the pie." Primo Cassarino later took Seagal aside and told him, "If you would have said the wrong thing, they would have killed you."

While indicted, Ciccone sent a message to L.A. Times Reporter Anita Busch who was writing a story about Seagal's mafia connections and Ciccone's racketeering trial. On June 20, 2002, Busch's car windows where smashed in, and a note was left on one of the shattered windows that said "STOP". There was also a suspicious package in her car, and LAPD Detectives arrived on the scene to find a dead fish and a rose inside. In one recorded conversation at the Staten Island eatery Brioso Ristorante, Ciccone and 'soldier' Primo Cassarino were overhead by a wiretap laughing about scaring the 'shit' out of Seagal.

Ciccone's chief enforcer, 'soldier' Primo Cassarino would evenutally cooperate with the Federal authorities, and former Gambino captain Michael DiLeonardo and ILA Local 1814 boss Frank "Red" Scollo would testify against Ciccone and Gotti, resulting in convictions. Ciccone is scheduled to be released on June 28, 2015.

Ciccone 'soldier' Salvatore "Vinny Papa" Ricchiettore, Son to the late Brooklyn waterfront legend "Sonny Boy" Ricchiettore currently holds the position of acting capo and may continue to keep the title even after Ciccone's released from prison.

[edit] Further reading

• Jacobs, James B., Christopher Panarella and Jay Worthington. Busting the Mob: The United States Vs. Cosa Nostra. New York: NYU Press, 1994. ISBN 978-0-8147-4230-3
• Saggio, Frankie and Fred Rosen. Born to the Mob: The True-Life Story of the Only Man to Work for All Five of New York's Mafia Families. New York: Thunder Mouth Press, 2004. ISBN 978-1-56025-559-8