Matthew Madonna

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Matthew Madonna (b. 1935) is a New York City mafioso and former heroin trafficker who supplied druglord Leroy "Nicky" Barnes with narcotics. Madonna met Barnes in 1959, while the two were serving time in Green Haven Correctional Facility in upstate New York. At the time, Madonna was a Lucchese crime family associate.

Madonna supplied Barnes with heroin (about 20 to 30 kilograms per month) for over five years, until Madonna was arrested in 1975 [1]. As reported by Jerry Capeci on www.ganglandnews.com, Madonna once delivered 20-kilograms of pure Asian heroin to Barnes by dropping a car with its trunk packed with the product off in a Manhattan parking lot. A few days later, Madonna returned to pick up the car, but this time loaded with cash in the trunk. The delivery system fooled the police, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) until Barnes began testifying for the government. In 1975, Madonna was arrested for trafficking heroin and sentenced to 30 years.

In 1995, Madonna was released from Lewisburg Federal Penitentiary after completing the mandatory 20 years of his sentence. In or about 1998, Madonna was inducted into the Lucchese crime family, a reward for his silence and his return to earning money for the battered crime family. Shortly thereafter, Madonna became a caporegime in the family. Madonna was sent to prison again, but released in September 2003.

After the convictions of family leaders Steven Crea, Louis Daidone, Dominic Truscello and the cooperation of former acting boss Joseph DeFede, the Luccheses established a three-man ruling panel to govern the family. Madonna, along with Aniello Migliore and Joseph DiNapoli head the panel. Many investigators believe that with the release of Crea from prison, the panel may soon be disbanded so that Crea can take over the family.

In 2007, Madonna was connected to large illegal gambling ring in New York City. The scheme involved agents who collected bets from thousands of gamblers on basketball, football, greyhound races and the lottery. Bets were collected over the Internet and by phone in a location in Costa Rica.

[edit] References

United States. Congress. House. Select Committee on Narcotics Abuse and Control. Summary of Testimony and Findings and Conclusions Resulting from Hearings in New York on Drug Law Enforcement. 1977. [2]
United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Government Operations. Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. Illicit Traffic in Weapons and Drugs Across the United States-Mexican Border: Hearing Before the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations of the Committee on Government Operations. 1977. [3]
Justice, Commerce, the Judiciary, and Related Agencies Appropriations United States. Congress. House. Committee on appropriations. Subcommittee on Departments of State. Departments of State, Justice, and Commerce, the Judiciary, and Related Agencies Appropriations For Fiscal Year. 1979. [4]