Liborio Bellomo

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Liborio "Barney" Bellomo (b. January 8, 1957) is a member and acting boss of the Genovese crime family of New York, originally from Corleone, Sicily and is one of the fastest rising mafia members in the U.S today, becoming a Capo in his early twenties.

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[edit] Made Man and 116th Street Crew

Bellomo spent a year studying at Monsignor Scanlon's Business School in the Bronx, and then a year studying mortuary science. However, in 1977, at the age of 20 Bellomo was inducted into the powerful "West Side Mob"/Genovese crime family. The induction ceremony took place above an East Harlem pizzeria. Bellomo's father was a powerful Sicilian heroin trafficker that was connected with the Genoveses of East Harlem.

Vincent Cafaro sponsored Bellomo into the Genovese family, and Bellomo became a made member of Saverio Santora's East Harlem 116th Street Crew. The crew was involved in gambing and labor racketeering, specifically in the NYC District Council of Carpenters.

In 1992, before he turned 30, Bellomo took over the Santora 116th Street Crew, and with fellow Harlem captain Vincent DiNapoli became the pre-eminent racketeer in the NYC District Council of Carpenters and extremely influential in the NYC construction industry. During the late 1980s, Bellomo moved the crew's center base to the Bronx, where it has always maintained important rackets up until Bellomo's most recent indictment.

Bellomo was the exact opposite of the flashy John Gotti of the Gambino crime family. He dressed in jeans and sweatshirts, and would only meet fellow wiseguys late at night in odd places, avoiding the Manhattan limelight, but steadily building his power and helping to maintain the Genovese family's dominance over New York's La Cosa Nostra.

[edit] "Legitimate" Business

Bellomo owned several Bronx-based businesses, including a waste hauling company.

[edit] Carpenters Union Racketeer and the Jacob K. Javits Center

In or about 1993, Bellomo won a jurisdictional dispute against Genovese Little Italy captain Peter DeFeo, in which consigliere Louis Manna awarded Bellomo exclusive control over Bronx Carpenters Local 17, removing all of Cipollo's influence. Furthermore, Bellomo became dominant in the rackets at the Jacob K. Javits Center on the West Side of Manhattan by installing crew members in important union positions at the center, including soldier Ralph Coppola and his Genovese associate brother-in-law and Carpenters Local 257 shop steward Anthony Fiorino. Bellomo was also close to Genovese associate Attilio Bitondo who was Local 257's Vice-President, and involved in kickbacks from NYC contractors and businesses operating at the Javits Center. around this time Genovese boss Vincent Gigante began mentoring Liborio Bellomo to take over as boss of the Genovese Crime Family.

A report by the New York State Organized Crime Task Force indicated that an alarmingly high number of the 100 carpenters that worked at the Javits Center had ties to organized crime, some of whom were made members of one of the Five Families. These carpenters made $100,000 salaries, and 60 of the 100 had criminal records. One of whom, Vincent Gigante, was the nephew of the Genovese family's Godfather. The Javits was controlled through affiliations with labor bosses Frederick Devine, Martin Forde, Attilio Bitondo, Eugene Hanley, Anthony Fiorino, Leonard Simon, Fabian Palomino, Carmine Fiore, and Ralph Coppola.

To maintain control, Anthony Fiorino, the Local 257 steward in charge of the Javits, once threatening a man's life at a Local 257 meeting in 1984, telling him his kids could be hurt if he "steps on people's toes." Fiorino was also responsible for funneling tribute payments the Genovese and the Irish Westies Mob received from contractors operating in the Javits to the labor bosses and Barney Bellomo.

[edit] Acting Boss and indictment

In 1990, after Vincent Gigante's indictment in the Windows Scam, Bellomo was appointed acting boss of the Genovese family. In 1996, after serving effectively as Gigante's acting boss while Gigante was dodging indictments by faking mental illness, Bellomo was indicted on RICO charges, including the murder of Ralph DeSimone, cousin of Thomas DeSimone who was portrayed by Joe Pesci in the film Goodfellas, extortion and labor racketeering. He took and passed three lie detector tests about a murder he has steadfastly denied, had his head shaved by FBI agents looking to find evidence that Bellomo had used drugs to beat the polygraph machines, and was left sitting in prison even though no evidence of drugs was found in his system. In late 1997, Bellomo pleaded guilty to lesser charges and accepted a 10-year prison sentence.

[edit] Imprisoned and 2nd Inditment

In 2001, while Bellomo was due out of prison in 2004, he was indicted on money laundering charges related to the Genovese family's involvement in the waterfront rackets and control of the ILA. Bellomo was accused of hiding money stolen from the ILA's members pension fund account. Bellomo pleaded guilty to lesser charges once again pushing back his scheduled release date. While in prison, on February 23, 2006, Bellomo and over 30 other Genovese crime family members and associates, including nearly 90-year old Bronx captain John Ardito and Bellomo's attorney Peter Peluso who decided to cooperate with federal investigators, were indicted. Bellomo is charged with ordering the 1998 murder of Ralph Coppola, the acting captain that ran Bellomo's crew in his absence. Peluso pleaded guilty to his role in the murder, specifically, he admitted to passing the murder decree from Bellomo the Genovese mobsters who actually carried out the hit. He maintains a residence in Pelham Manor, New York [1].

[edit] Current imprisonment

Bellomo is due for parole on December 1st, 2008, by which time he will be aged 52. Still being a relatively young age, Bellomo's position in the family is open to speculation, however considering he was Gigante's acting boss at one point he is a possible candidate for boss, especially with current acting boss Daniel Leo's recent imprisonment.

[edit] Further reading

  • Butler, Gregory A. Disunited Brotherhoods: Race, Racketeering and the Fall of the New York Construction Unions. Lincoln: iUniverse, 2006. ISBN 0-595-39143-5
  • 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, 1999. ISBN 0-8147-4247-5
  • Milhorn, H. Thomas. Crime: Computer Viruses to Twin Towers. Boca Raton, Florida: Universal Publishers, 2005. ISBN 1-58112-489-9
  • 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
  • Theoharis, Athan G. (ed.) The FBI: A Comprehensive Reference Guide. Phoenix: Oryx Press, 1999. ISBN 0-89774-991-X
  • United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Governmental Affairs. Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. Organized Crime: 25 Years After Valachi: Hearings Before the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. 1988. [2]

[edit] External links