Louis Vallario

Louis "Big Lou" Vallario (b. 1942) is a member of the Gambino crime family, and formerly one of the top aides to John Gotti and Salvatore "Sammy the Bull" Gravano during their heyday in the late 1980s.

[edit] Lou's promotion

During the late 1980s, Vallario had substently been a made member of the Gambino crime family for years. A soldier in Salavtore "Sammy the Bull" Gravano's crew since the 1970s, Vallario was promoted to take over as Gravano was promoted to Consigliere in the late 1980s. A childhood friend of John Gotti, Vallario reportedly became one of Gotti's top aides, as he was recognized as the new Boss of the Gambino crime family in 1987, after the murders of former Boss Paul Castellano and his bodyguard Thomas Bilotti in 1985.

In 1991, dozens of members of the family were indicted and sent to prison on RICO charges, such as racketeering, extortion, loansharking, illegal gambling, conspiracy and murder for hire. Gravano eventually turned state's evidence, as Gotti and Consigliere Frank "Frankie Loc" LoCascio were sentenced to life imprisonment in 1992, same time as Vallario was charged with racketeering. Upon his trial, it became clear that Gravano refused to testify against him and five other of his crew members, perhaps as a final nod of respect to his former friends.

In 1996, Vallario was promoted with Steven "Stevie Coogan" Grammauta and Michael "Mikey Scars" DiLeonardo, to acting bosses alongside capos John "Jackie Nose" D'Amico and Peter Gotti to aide John Gotti's son, John "Junior" Gotti, as the official acting boss, in the Gambino crime family's Ruling Committee/Panel. Vallario sat on the panel from 1996 to 2002, when eventually he was tried with Genovese crime family mobsters in 2002 for his role in a conspiracy in which a building owner hired the mob to kick out the union represantives. His sentence was three years probation and a $500 fine.

As time will have it, Vallario, at age 65, is a reputed Caporegime in the Gambino crime family, who runs the Red Hook faction of Brooklyn and Bensonhurst, known as the old Sammy Gravano Crew. Allegedly, his illegal activities are loansharking, illegal gambling, bookmaking, labor racketeering and extortion, all predicates under the RICO Act.

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