Frank DiStefano
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Francesco DeStefano aka The Hat and Frankie the Hat, is an Italian-American Gambino crime family mobster who was the personal bodyguard and chauffeur for former Gambino crime family consigliere Joseph N. Gallo.
[edit] Biography
DeStefano started his criminal career as a hijacker and burglar for the Bonanno crime family, working in the Greenpoint, Brooklyn crew of the powerful caporegime Dominick Napolitano. DeStefano is not related to Chicago Outfit mobster Sam DeStefano.
DeStefano was a short, thin balding man who earned a reputation as an effective loanshark and bookmaker enforcer. Instead of buying a hairpiece like other mobsters, DeStefano kept a fedora on his head at all times. His hat pieces were sometimes very flamboyant and DeStefano took great pride in them, earning him the nickname "The Hat". A skilled fighter with a violent temper, DeStefano often carried a Little League-issue baseball bat up his jacket sleeve as a hidden weapon.
While working with Napolitano, Frank met undercover Federal Bureau of Investigation(FBI) agent Joseph D. Pistone, but did not suffer any retribution from boss Joe Massino for his association with Pistone. After joining the Gambino crime family, DeStefano worked as a personal bodyguard and chauffeur for Gambino consigliere Joseph N. Gallo. DeStefano became a regular visitor at the Staten Island, New York home of Gambino family boss Paul Castellano and was recorded there on Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) wire taps discussing mob matters with Castellano and Gallo.
[edit] References
- Pistone, Joseph D. and Woodley, Richard, Donnie Brasco: My Undercover Life in the Mafia Random House 1990 ISBN 5552531299
- O'Brien, Joseph F., and Kurins, Andris, Boss of Bosses The Fall of the Godfather: The FBI and Paul Castellano Pocket Books (1993) ISBN 0671715410
