Victor Amuso

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Victor Amuso
Born 1934
Flag of the United States Queens, New York City, New York, U.S.
Penalty Life imprisonment
Status Alive
Occupation Boss of the Lucchese crime family

Vittorio "Little Vic" Amuso (born 1934) is a New York mobster and, as of 2008, the reputed Boss of the Lucchese crime family. Amuso is currently serving life sentence at the United States Penitentiary (USP) Big Sandy in Inez, Kentucky on murder and racketeering charges. [1]

Contents

[edit] Early life

Vittorio Amuso was born in 1934 in Queens, New York, a neighbourhood under the control of Thomas Gagliano and Thomas Lucchese, the bosses of the Lucchese crime family, (back then it was called the Gagliano crime family), and became soon attached to the very same environment. In the late 1940s, he would soon become introduced to Lucchese family caporegime, Anthony "Tony Ducks" Corallo, as the family was taken over by Thomas Lucchese. Amuso, a short and young tough guy, would eventually be known as "Little Vic". Amuso would also be presented to Colombo crime family mobster, Joseph "Crazy Joe" Gallo, from Brooklyn, New York, as Gallo decided to "make" Amuso into the Colombo crime family and his crew, sometime in the 1950s.

[edit] Colombo family soldier

As a soldier for the Gallo brothers, Amuso would be thrown into a family of dissatisfaction and corruption, as Joseph "Crazy Joe" Gallo claimed war against longtime Boss, Giuseppe "Joe" Profaci and the old Profaci faction of the family, because Profaci took huge parts of Gallo's profit. Despite his size, Amuso would allegedly kill several members of the Profaci faction, but sent to prison sometime in the early 1960's, along with Joey Gallo and a dozen others for extortion charges.

[edit] Death of Crazy Joey Gallo

Upon his releasement in 1971, Colombo crime family Underboss Carmine "Junior" Persico had taken over the family, after the shooting of Joseph "Joe" Colombo earlier that year. Amuso was still very much involved in the Gallo crew, but on April 7, 1972, his caporegime Joseph "Crazy Joe" Gallo was shot to death in Little Italy Manhattan, New York, while he was celebrating his 43rd birthday.

[edit] Defecting to the Luccheses

After the assassination of Joe Gallo, many Colombo crime family members, especially those in Gallo's old crew, became frightened and joined other crime families to avoid execution. Albert "Kid Blast" Gallo, one of the notorious Gallo brothers, decided to join the Genovese crime family in early 1972, as Amuso reportedly defected to the Lucchese crime family sometime during that year, who accepted his membership. The new reputed Boss was his old associate, Anthony "Tony Ducks" Corallo. Amuso started out in the crew of reputed Consigliere Christopher "Christie Tick" Furnari, who he had known since childhood, and became one of Furnari's top proteges along with Anthony "Gaspipe" Casso.

[edit] Vic's arrest and prison time

But on December 21, 1972, Amuso was arrested by police outside the "House on Morgan Avenue", a front for the "Bronx Connection" kickback scheme, selling prison paroles for as high as $20,000 to prison inmates. Presumably to meet with the building owner, Richard Curro, a city corrections officer and Lucchese family associate, who acted as liaison between inmates and the Luccheses, Amuso was in possession of a switchblade and a file folder of parole documents at the time of his arrest.

Less than five years later, Amuso was arrested with friend and Lucchese associate Anthony "Gaspipe" Casso, for his involvement in a drug trafficking ring to smuggle heroin from Far East Asia on May 30, 1977. At the time of the Brooklyn mobsters' arrest, he had been found with three pounds of heroin in his possession. Reportedly, the heroin operation was headed by Amuso, his cooperator Casso, and two other associates of the Lucchese crime family. They were all sent to prison.

[edit] Mafia trial and Acting boss

On February 15, 1985, Anthony "Tony Ducks" Corallo along with Lucchese Underboss Salvatore "Tom Mix" Santoro and Consigliere Christopher "Christie Tick" Furnari, were indicted in the Mafia Commission Trial along with the top major heads of the Five Families. To replace him, Corallo put his protegé Anthony "Buddy" Luongo as acting boss sometime in early 1986, but toward December of that same year, Luongo disappeared. Rumor has it that Amuso, then Luongo's driver and bodyguard, killed him to gain the complete power of the Lucchese crime family. Amuso's associate, Anthony "Gaspipe" Casso was also reportedly involved in the Luongo incident. Amuso and Casso had long served Christopher "Christie Tick" Furnari as his proteges, as Furnari advised Corallo to make Amuso and Casso the new acting bosses of the family. To avoid any internal war of the family, Corallo made Amuso the new acting boss of the Lucchese crime family in late 1986, and the new official boss after his conviction on January 13, 1987, where Corallo and others were sentenced to life imprisonment.

[edit] Boss of the Lucchese family

[edit] The Cartel Windows case

After becoming Boss of the Lucchese crime family in 1987, Amuso made Anthony "Gaspipe" Casso his Underboss under his reign, and soon started one of the most bloody leaderships the family had ever seen, starting with the so called "Windows Case" in 1986, when Amuso felt that the Lucchese weren't getting enough profit from the operation, and demanded that Casso was to supervise Lucchese's share in the cartel. The Gambino, Colombo, Genovese and Lucchese families had together created a cartel in 1978, which eventually controlled over $150 million in contracts from the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA). The cartel monopolized the industry through Local 580, a Lucchese family-controlled local of the Iron Workers Union. Through the union, the cartel could solicit bribes, extort payoffs and enforce its monopoly. The cartel worked their controlled industry by charging a tax of approximately $1.00 to $2.00 for almost every window replacement, public and private, sold in New York City. The iron fists of Anthony Casso and captain Peter "Fat Pete" Chiodo raised Amuso's shares in the cartel.

[edit] Murder of Frank DeCicco

On April 13, 1986, the alleged Underboss of the Gambino crime family, Frank DeCicco, was killed when a bomb in his car went off. The target was allegedly Gambino Boss John Gotti, who, with DeCicco, had organized the murder of former Boss Paul Castellano earlier, without the permission of the Commission. Reportedly, Amuso and Casso, along with Genovese crime family Boss Vincent "Chin" Gigante, had planned Gotti's execution, but killed DeCicco by a mistake. Although Casso later testifyed that both him and Amuso had conspired with Gigante, it was never raised at the trial, because Casso was dropped from the Witness Protection Program many years later. DeCicco Bombing

[edit] Arguing with Accetturo

Toward the late 1980s, Amuso and Casso began arguing with the Caporegime of the New Jersey faction of the Lucchese crime family, Anthony "Tumac" Accetturo, about the profit Amuso received. When ordering Accetturo to raise the profit, Accetturo refused. Amuso then gave the order to "whack Jersey", meaning that the entire Jersey faction of the family should be eliminated. In the fall of 1988, the entire New Jersey crew was summoned to meet with Amuso in Brooklyn. Fearful of being massacred, everyone refused to go. Soon the entire New Jersey crew had gone into hiding, decimating the Lucchese interests in New Jersey. Amuso and Casso went on to eliminate anyone with even the merest suspicion that they might be defectors or if they were considered potential rivals. [2] Over the next 12 months, most of the New Jersey crew members came back to the family. Amuso told the returned crew members that Accetturo was an outlaw and needed to be disposed off. Amuso also sent hitmen to Florida, searching for Accetturo, however, what Amuso didn't realized was that Accetturo was jailed in New Jersey, for refusing to testify in front a state panel. Accetturo would later become an informant. Accetturo's former protégé and longtime rival, Michael "Mad Dog" Taccetta, who was also despised by Amuso, reputedly took over Lucchese's Jersey Crew, which is the nickname of their faction in Northern New Jersey, toward his conviction in 1993, before Accetturo eventually agreed to become an informant.

[edit] Fugitives and convictions

During the late 1980s and early 1990s, Amuso and Casso were indicted as part of a racketeering investigation. Acting on prior knowledge, Amuso and his Underboss went into hiding [3]. But the bloodshed of Vic Amuso and Tony Casso wasn't over yet, as Lucchese caporegime Peter "Fat Pete" Chiodo was charged with violations of the RICO act in 1991. At this point, Chiodo decided to plea guilty in return for a lighter sentence. Uncertain of Chiodo's loyalty and angry at his guilty plea, Amuso decided to have Chiodo killed. On May 8, 1991, three shooters shot Chiodo 12 times, but failed to kill him, as he became a government informant days later, and agreed to testify against several major heads of the Five Families, including Amuso, that same year. The testimony provided by Chiodo, was the entire Windows Case operation, several murder and conspiracy charges, loansharking and extortion, as well as money laundering and drug trafficking operations around Queens, Brooklyn, Manhattan and the Bronx. [4]

After the government apprehended Amuso in 1990 and Casso in 1993, Casso decided to turn state's evidence, as Alphonse "Little Al" D'Arco, who was Amuso's acting boss at the time, also decided to cooperate with the authorities after Amuso became suspicious that D'Arco was an informant. According to D'Arco, he had been in a hotel room where a meeting was to take place, and reportedly saw the men were carrying guns under their jackets. Fearing that Amuso had sanctioned his murder, D'Arco turned state's evidence. D'Arco's testimony (and that of many others) proved to be devastating to Amuso's case, as he was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1992. [5]. His Underboss Anthony Casso was also sentenced to life imprisonment, after failing to uphold his end of the witness-deal he struck with the federal government. Amuso is currently serving his life sentence at a high security Federal penitentiary in Inez, Kentucky. [6]

After the incarcerations of both Amuso and Casso, the US government learned that they each had, allegedly, ordered more than 10-12 slayings while they were fugitives and while on trial, using Mafia cops Louis Eppolito and Stephen Caracappa as their personal hit men.

[edit] Imprisoned Lucchese Boss

[edit] New Lucchese Acting boss

After Amuso's indictment in 1991 with the testimony provided by former acting boss Alphonse "Little Al" D'Arco, Amuso promoted his caporegime Joseph "Little Joe" DeFede, to acting boss, with the help of the Ruling Panel members, Steven "Wonderboy" Crea, Anthony "Bowat" Baratta, Salvatore "Sal" Avellino and Consigliere Frank "Big Frank" Lastorino in 1991. It was around this time that Lastorino used the indictments of Amuso and Anthony "Gaspipe" Casso to take advantage of the situation and gained much of the authority in the family when he aligned himself with Brooklyn faction leaders George "Georgie Neck" Zappola, Frank "Bones" Papagni, George Conte and Frank Gioia, Jr..

[edit] Fearing rivalry from Bronx

In early 1992, Amuso feared that rivalry was being developed in the Lucchese crime family, as some mobsters thought, with Amuso out of the way, that they could take over. The rivals were the old Bronx faction of the family, and Amuso felt he had to prove that he was still in charge. On April 3, 1992, Aniello "Neil" Migliore, one of the most powerful capos of the family, was celebrating the birthday of a friend's granddaughter in a Westbury, New York restaurant on Long Island. During the party, a gunman in a passing car fired one or two shotgun blasts through the restaurant window, hitting Migliore in the head and chest. Despite his wounds, Migliore survived. The attempt on his life did not sway Migliore away from the crime family though, as he kept operating throughout the 1990s. [7]

[edit] Bronx & Brooklyn rivalry

As Amuso allegedly attempted to kill Aniello "Neil" Migliore from the Bronx faction in 1992, he chose another Bronx faction-leader named Steven "Wonderboy" Crea as the new and powerful Underboss of the Lucchese crime family to keep rivals from the Bronx in line. However, this decision almost triggered a new war within several families, as Crea, along with Joseph "Little Joe" DeFede decided to turn the family's power center away from Brooklyn, New York and back to the Bronx faction where it had been for decades. This, however, didn't pleased the Brooklyn faction, as Frank "Big Frank" Lastorino, who was recognized as the family Consigliere, saw to organize the murder of Steven Crea, using capos George Zappola, Frank Papagni and Frank Gioia, Jr., in an attempt to gain the complete control of the Lucchese crime family. US law enforcement also recognized these members as the actual leaders of the family at the time, and even picked up wire sounds, saying they were going to kill Gambino crime family boss John "Junior" Gotti, son of John Gotti, and his rival Nicholas "Little Nick" Corozzo to split up the Gambinos. This conspiracy also included Genovese crime family boss Vincent "Chin" Gigante and the exiled Anthony "Gaspipe" Casso before he was apprehended. But due to massive indictments of the time, slashing all members of the three families involved in the conspiracy, the plot never succeeded, and Amuso kept running the family from prison. Most of the conspirators were sent to prison.

[edit] Restructure of the family

During the mid 1990s, the powerful majority of the Brooklyn faction-leaders and Amuso's rivals were sent to prison on various charges. To keep some stability in the Lucchese crime family, Amuso promoted his fierce and powerful capo and friend of the Brooklyn, New York to the family Consigliere, replacing Frank Lastorino. Amuso also kept Joseph "Little Joe" DeFede as the family Acting Boss, who was put in charge of the Garment District racket that made more than $40,000 to $60,000 a month. Amuso also kept Stephen "Wonderboy" Crea of the Bronx, New York as the powerful Underboss, overseeing the construction and union racketeering operations that made them something between $300,000 and $500,000 every year. Daidone, however, kept to the strong side of the family, controlling all muscle and basic loansharking and extortion operations, including murder for hire. After Daidone was promoted, Joseph "Joe C." Caridi of Long Island, New York stepped up as captain for Daidone's old crew between the mid and late 1990s.

[edit] Joe DeFede's imprisonment

On April 28, 1998, DeFede was indicted on nine counts of racketeering stemming from his supervision of the family rackets in New York's Garment District from 1992 to 1997. The prosecution reported that the Lucchese crime family had been grossing something between $40,000 and $60,000 per month from Garment District businesses since the mid 1980s. In December 1998, DeFede pleaded guilty to the charges and received five years in prison. Angry at his guilty plea, Amuso became uncertain of DeFede's loyalty to the family.

[edit] Wonderboy's enormous profit

After the imprisonment of Joe DeFede in 1998, Amuso handpicked Steven "Wonderboy" Crea, the new head of the powerful Bronx faction of the Lucchese crime family, as the new acting boss of the family in 1998. Crea, a loyal Amuso Underboss, raised the family's profits enormously, which convinced Amuso that DeFede had been skimming of the profit, and decided to put out a contract on his life in late 1999, but on on September 6, 2000, Crea and seven other Lucchese members were arrested and jailed on extortion charges. Crea was eventually convicted in 2001 and sentenced to 5 years in prison. Steven Crea released from prison in 2006.

[edit] Daidone, DeFede and D'Arco

Following the imprisonment of Crea in 2001, the powerful Consigliere, Louis "Louie Bagels" Daidone was promoted to run the family's day-to-day operations. Daidone, one of the strongest and most dangerous mobsters ever in the family, would follow up Amuso's hit-contract on Joseph "Little Joe" DeFede in January of 2002, but upon DeFede's releasement on February 5, 2002, it was reported that DeFede had immediately turned an informant. DeFede and star-witness Alphonse "Little Al" D'Arco handed the US government information of racketeering and loansharking operations around New York City, which proved to destroy the old Amuso-faction of the Lucchese crime family. Both D'Arco and DeFede also provided information about murders, which led to the indictments of Mafia cops, Louis Eppolito and Stephen Caracappa, who were reportedly bribed by Anthony "Gaspipe" Casso and Lucchese family since the 1980s, to kill rivals and possible government informants during the early days of Amuso and Casso as acting bosses. Daidone received a life sentence in 2003 on racketeering and murder charges, as more than a dozen other prominent Lucchese crime family mobsters were sent to prison during that same year on various charges.

[edit] The Committee/Ruling Panel

In 2003, Amuso decided that a new Committee/Ruling Panel was to run the family's day-to-day activities, as prominent Lucchese senior capos Aniello "Neil" Migliore, Matthew "Matt" Madonna and Joseph "Joey Dee" DiNapoli were handpicked by Amuso once again. These senior capos were chosen as street bosses instead of the official Underboss position, after the conviction of Lou Daidone in late 2003. Migliore, a former Amuso rival, is now said to be one of the most powerful mobsters in the Lucchese crime family.

[edit] Wonderboy's release

Upon the release of Stephen "Wonderboy" Crea in 2006, Amuso decided that the Ruling Panel was to aide Crea in any way to make sure that the Lucchese crime family stayed in line of the New York Loop. Amuso has also allegedly ordered Crea to supervise the entire construction business with the other families, just to avoid any rivalry whether it is outside or within the Lucchese crime family.

[edit] Current Lucchese Boss

Although Vic Amuso, at age 73, is spending the rest of his life in prison, he is still reputed Boss of the Lucchese crime family as of 2008. The current Acting boss is still, as of 2008, Stephen "Wonderboy" Crea. At the moment, Crea is out of jail and taking control of the family, allegedly on the orders of Amuso. Even though Amuso has kept his power of the Lucchese crime family for 20 years, Mafia expert Jerry Capeci describes his succession as Boss as one of the biggest mistakes in the crime family's history. [8]

[edit] Further reading

  • Capeci, Jerry. The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Mafia. Indianapolis: Alpha Books, 2002. ISBN 0-02-864225-2
  • Davis, John H. Mafia Dynasty: The Rise and Fall of the Gambino Crime Family. New York: Harper Torch, 1994. ISBN 0061091847
  • Raab, Selwyn. The Five Families: The Rise, Decline & Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empire. New York: St. Martins Press, 2005. ISBN 0-312-36181-5
  • 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. [9]

[edit] References

  • Devito, Carlo. Encyclopedia of International Organized Crime. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2005. ISBN 0-8160-4848-7
  • Sifakis, Carl. The Mafia Encyclopedia. New York: Da Capo Press, 2005. ISBN 0-8160-5694-3
  • Kelly, Robert J. Encyclopedia of Organized Crime in the United States. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 2000. ISBN 0-313-30653-2
  • 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

[edit] External links

Preceded by
Anthony Corallo		 Lucchese Crime Family Boss
1987-current		 Succeeded by
N/A