Anthony DiLapi

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Anthony DiLapi

Anthony DiLapi c. 1980s

Anthony DiLapi (February 9, 1936-February 4, 1990) was a Teamsters union leader in New York City's Garment District and a soldier in the Lucchese crime family.

[edit] Garment District Boss

DiLapi was an instrumental cog in family boss Anthony Corallo's illegal control of the garment district. DiLapi worked with Thomas Gambino, the son of Carlo Gambino and son-in-law of Thomas Lucchese. DiLapi was one of organized crime's biggest earners and most respected racketeers on Seventh Avenue in Manhattan. In May 1980, DiLapi was convicted of conspiracy and obstruction of justice for squelching a union's organizing drive at a garment district trucking company. DiLapi received two consecutive sentences of five years each for the conspiracy count and the obstruction count.

[edit] Exile and Murder

Upon DiLapi's release from prison, he was summoned to meet with new underboss Anthony Casso. DiLapi was afraid to attend this meeting; he knew that Casso and boss Vittorio Amuso distrusted anyone from the family's more powerful Bronx wing. Afraid for his life, DiLapi fled to Los Angeles and a life outside organized crime.

In response, Casso used two New York Police Department (NYPD) detectives on his payroll, Louis Eppolito and Stephen Caracappa, to track down DiLapi in California. The two detectives called police stations and law enforcement agencies throughout the state and finally located DiLapi in Los Angeles. Casso and Lucchese captain Alphonse D'Arco organized a hit team to whack DiLapi. D'Arco offered the murder contract to his son, Joseph D'Arco, so that he could "make his bones" and become a made man in the Lucchese family.

On February 4th, 1990, Joseph D'Arco and a crew of hitmen shot Anthony DiLapi to death in Los Angeles.

[edit] Further reading

  • Raab, Selwyn. Five Families: The Rise, Decline, and Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empires. New York: St. Martin Press, 2005. ISBN 0-312-30094-8
  • United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Labor and Human Resources. Subcommittee on Labor. Labor Management Racketeering Act of 1983: Hearing Before the Subcommittee on Labor of the Committee on Labor and Human Resources. 1983. [1]