The Vario Crew

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The Vario Crew was a group, operating in several areas on New York, in the Lucchese crime family, run by Caporegime Paul Vario. It was known to be vicious and spanned around 3 decades, operating from the early 1950s through to the early 1980s.

1 The Vario brothers
2 The Day-to-Day Running
3 Organization and Control
4 Drugs and the Downfall
5 Members
6 External Sources

[edit] The Vario brothers

Paul Vario, a large and brutal mafioso, had five brothers, all criminals, and they had risen to power under Gaetano "Tommy" Lucchese during the Prohibition era. Vario was liked by Tommy Lucchese and was as such speedily a made-man, a fully initiated mobster. During the early 1970s it was believed^{[citation needed]} he either stepped down, or was demoted, from the role of Underboss.

At an unknown time during his career Paul Vario became a Capo and as such began to control his own crew, made up of associates: men who weren't actual initiated mafia members like the made-men.

[edit] The Day-to-Day Running

There were several illegal operations which supplied this violent crew with vast sums of money and left them some of the most feared people in New York.

A brutal Irish hoodlum, named Jimmy Burke, was a hijacker of cargo shipments from JFK Airport. His services shared between the Lucchese family and Columbo family, Burke's group of hijackers would pay off a truck driver, usually giving them $50, and steal their trucks. The goods would be unloaded at a warehouse of a union controlled by the Varios where they would be dispatched to street fences, who would in turn sell them. Burke would take some of the proceedes and give a percentage to Vario. Sometimes the loads produced as little as $10,000, other times they netted as much as $100,000.

John Dioguardi, a Capo was an associate of Paul Vario and controlled various unions. Vario had several uses for such unions: If a crew-member was in prison and needed parole then a job would be given to him to show the parole office that he was responsible and had a job, then once he was on parole he would collect his weekly payment but never actually work on the job. Also, if a truck driver had been found accepting bribes from one of Vario's crew and the company was going to take action then Dioguardi could threaten a strike if the corrupt truck driver was harmed.

Vario also ran several loansharking and bookmaking operations from his legal businesses and profited greatly. He also involved himself in extorting local businesses and controlled some chop shops.

[edit] Organization and Control

To avoid constant confrontations with the police and police interest reducing his wealth Paul Vario began bribing almost any official possible. Between him and Jimmy Burke he had the Queens District Attorney on the payroll, many police officers, Senator Alphonse D'Amato and several prominent Long Island politicians.

Paul received money from every member of his crew and forced all local criminals to 'kick up' money from their illegal interests to him. Vario would then take a cut and pass on the rest to the Bosses; considering his relaxed lifestyle he made around $25,000 a day. Very little of this was taxable, as only the proceeds of his legal enterprises could be taxed.

[edit] Drugs and the Downfall

Officially the mafia denounced dealing in drugs. However, most bosses dabbled in drugs because the profits were extremely high. Two Vario Crew members, young mobster Henry Hill and Jimmy Burke, began dealing in heroin, cocaine, marijuana and amphetamines ultimately leading to the downfall of the crew.

After the murderous aftermath of the 1978 Lufthansa Heist, carried out by Jimmy Burke and Vario crew members Jimmy Burke, Tommy DeSimone, until his death in 1979, Angelo John Sepe, stick-up expert and freelance writer, Robert "Bobby" Germaine, Anthony Stabile, Francesco "Frank" Basile, the twenty-year old son of Manhattan disco king Phillip Basile, Robert Ginova, a New York porn film producer who drove a chocolate-colored Rolls Royce, a young Pittsburgh marijuana smuggler Paul Mazzei, John Nalo, and Henry Hill had set up a connection for various drugs with a Pittsburgh dealer, named Paul Mazzei. He also ran his criminal enterprise with William "Bill" Arico, a bank robber from Long Island who Hill met in Fort Lee back in 1972 who sold his merchandise while incarcerated, Henry's wife, Karen Hill, local Boston, Massachusetts bookmakers Anthony and Rocco Perla, Robin Cooperman, a clerical worker at a air freight company who doubled as Henry's mistress, Judy Wicks, a courier who never made a delivery without a special pink-and-blue hat. There was also Melvin Telsey, Steven Fish, Anthony Asta, Robert Albert, Robert Breener, Marvin Koch and individuals reffered to as "Bob", "Linda", "Ann", "Mac" and "Kareem" whose last names remain unknown as well as many others whose identity remains unknown.

Hill had begun making quite a lot of money, but in early 1979 Burke introduced him to heroin.

Heroin was an enormously profitable market for mobsters. In the late 1970s 1 ounce of pure heroin cost $6,000. After it had been mixed with some impurities 25 ounces of the heroin used by addicts could be made, meaning that ultimately $6,000 worth could be sold for $150,000.

When Robert 'Bobby' Germaine Jr., the son of Henry Hill's drug partner, became an informant Henry Hill was monitored and eventually arrested. He faced several life-sentences for drug dealing and around 28 years for his role in the Lufthansa Heist. Hill became an informant and in 1980 the authorities apprehended Jimmy Burke and several other Vario crew members, including Vario himself.

Henry Hill's testimony lead to 50 convictions. Burke was given 20 years for match-fixing and a life sentence when the authorities convicted him for murdering scam-artist Richard Eaton. Burke died of stomach cancer whilst serving his life sentence, on April 13, 1996. He was 64.

Paul Vario was given a 12 and a half year sentence during the KENRAC trial and died, aged 73, on November 22, 1988 whilst in a Texas prison, of a respiratory condition.