Lefty Ruggiero (born Benjamin Ruggiero; April 19, 1926 – November 24, 1994) was an American

mobster A gangster is a criminal who is a member of a gang. Most gangs are considered to be part of organized crime. Gangsters are also called mobsters, a term derived from '' mob'' and the suffix '' -ster''. Gangs provide a level of organization and ...

in the

Bonanno crime family The Bonanno crime family (pronounced ) is an Italian-American Mafia crime family and one of the " Five Families" that dominate organized crime activities in New York City, and in the United States, as part of the criminal phenomenon known as ...

. He is well known for his friendship and mentorship of FBI

undercover agent To go "undercover" (that is, to go on an undercover operation) is to avoid detection by the object of one's observation, and especially to disguise one's own identity (or use an assumed identity) for the purposes of gaining the trust of an indi ...

Joseph D. Pistone. When Pistone's operation was ended on July 26, 1981, the FBI intercepted and arrested Ruggiero on August 29, 1981. In November 1982, Ruggiero was sentenced to 15 years in prison for racketeering conspiracy; he was released in April 1993 before his death from cancer.

Life

Early life

Ruggiero was born on April 19, 1926, in

Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan Hell's Kitchen, also known as Clinton, is a neighborhood on the West Side of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is considered to be bordered by 34th Street (or 41st Street) to the south, 59th Street to the north, Eighth Avenue to the ea ...

, and grew up in the

Knickerbocker Village Knickerbocker Village Limited is a housing development situated between the Manhattan Bridge and Brooklyn Bridge, in the Two Bridges section of the Lower East Side of Manhattan, New York City. Although the location was generally considered to f ...

private housing development in

Little Italy, Manhattan Little Italy (also it, Piccola Italia) is a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan in New York City, known for its large Italian population. It is bounded on the west by Tribeca and Soho, on the south by Chinatown, on the east by the Bowery and Lowe ...

. His father, Fiori Ruggiero worked as a truck driver and his mother, Frances, was a housewife. Ruggiero had two younger siblings named Dominick and Angelina. Ruggiero joined the Bonanno family organization as a young man, serving as a street soldier under

caporegime A caporegime or capodecina, usually shortened to capo or informally referred to as "captain" or "skipper", is a rank used in the Mafia (both the Sicilian Mafia and Italian-American Mafia) for a '' made member'' of an Italian crime family who he ...

Michael Sabella. Ruggiero soon became successful in

bookmaking A bookmaker, bookie, or turf accountant is an organization or a person that accepts and pays off bets on sporting and other events at agreed-upon odds. History The first bookmaker, Ogden, stood at Newmarket in 1795. Range of events Bookm ...

extortion Extortion is the practice of obtaining benefit through coercion. In most jurisdictions it is likely to constitute a criminal offence; the bulk of this article deals with such cases. Robbery is the simplest and most common form of extortion, ...

and

loansharking A loan shark is a person who offers loans at extremely high interest rates, has strict terms of collection upon failure, and generally operates outside the law. Description Because loan sharks operate mostly illegally, they cannot reasonably ...

rackets. He lived in an apartment on Monroe Street in Manhattan in the same building as his friend and Bonanno soldier

Anthony Mirra Anthony "Tony" Mirra (July 18, 1927 – February 18, 1982) was an American mobster, soldier and later caporegime for the Bonanno crime family. He is well known for being the individual who introduced FBI Special Agent Joseph "Donnie Brasco" Pi ...

. Ruggiero reportedly owned a cigarette boat that he kept docked on the

East River The East River is a saltwater tidal estuary in New York City. The waterway, which is actually not a river despite its name, connects Upper New York Bay on its south end to Long Island Sound on its north end. It separates the borough of Quee ...

in New York. Ruggiero became good friends with future family boss

Philip "Rusty" Rastelli Philip "Rusty" Rastelli (January 31, 1918 – June 24, 1991) was an American mobster and former boss of the Bonanno crime family, he spent all but three years of his reign in prison. Biography Rastelli was born and raised in Maspeth, Queens. He ha ...

and Mirra. Ruggiero became the part-owner of a fishery in the

Fulton Fish Market The Fulton Fish Market is a fish market in Hunts Point, a section of the New York City borough of the Bronx, in New York, United States. It was originally a wing of the Fulton Market, established in 1822 to sell a variety of foodstuffs and p ...

in Manhattan. As a part-owner, Ruggiero was able to put himself on the company payroll with a $5,000-a-month "no-show" job. During the 1970s, he purchased a

social club A social club may be a group of people or the place where they meet, generally formed around a common interest, occupation, or activity. Examples include: book discussion clubs, chess clubs, anime clubs, country clubs, charity work, criminal ...

in Little Italy.

Operation Donnie Brasco

Around the time Ruggiero became a made member in the Bonanno family, Anthony Mirra introduced him to Joseph Pistone. Pistone was an undercover FBI agent posing as an expert jewel thief named Donnie Brasco. Pistone's original mission had been to infiltrate truck hijacking and

fencing Fencing is a group of three related combat sports. The three disciplines in modern fencing are the foil, the épée, and the sabre (also ''saber''); winning points are made through the weapon's contact with an opponent. A fourth discipline, ...

rings. However, the friendships Pistone developed with Mirra and Ruggiero gave the FBI the chance to infiltrate the Mafia. Brasco started working for Ruggiero, placing bets and helping him make collections for the bookmaking operation in Ruggiero's social club. Ruggiero mentored Brasco and eventually promised to sponsor him for membership in the family. Ruggiero developed a close friendship with Brasco, which caused friction with his old friend Mirra, who had originally introduced Brasco to Ruggiero. Brasco served as best man at Ruggiero's 1977 wedding and frequently advised Ruggiero on handling his son Tommy's

heroin addiction Opioid use disorder (OUD) is a substance use disorder characterized by cravings for opioids, continued use despite physical and/or psychological deterioration, increased tolerance with use, and withdrawal symptoms after discontinuing opioids. Op ...

. Ruggiero once nearly discovered Brasco's true identity. Ruggiero and Brasco were in a

Miami Beach, Florida Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida. It was incorporated on March 26, 1915. The municipality is located on natural and man-made barrier islands between the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay, the latter of which ...

restaurant as Ruggiero read a ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and event (philosophy), events that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various me ...

'' magazine containing an article about the infamous

Abscam Abscam (sometimes written ABSCAM) was an FBI sting operation in the late 1970s and early 1980s that led to the convictions of seven members of the United States Congress, among others, for bribery and corruption. The two-year investigation init ...

scandal and detailing how FBI agents posed as rich

Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...

businessmen to catch U.S. Congressmen taking bribes. What caught Ruggiero's eye was a picture of a white yacht that the FBI used to entertain the congressmen. Ruggiero recognized the boat, the ''Left Hand'', as the same boat Brasco provided several months before for a party. Brasco was able to convince Ruggiero that he did not know the boat's owner was related to the FBI. During an earlier criminal enterprise, Ruggiero met Frank Balistrieri, the Mafia boss of

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee i ...

. Ruggiero admitted to Pistone that he felt threatened while in the presence of Balistrieri. In 1979, Ruggiero converted his social club into a candy store and gave it to one of his daughters to manage. At the same time, Ruggiero and Brasco started a bookmaking operation out of the store. However, Ruggiero was soon dropped from the partnership because he was unable to provide the initial required investment of $25,000.

The three capos murder

In 1979, Bonanno boss

Carmine Galante Carmine Galante (; February 21, 1910 – July 12, 1979) was an American mobster. Galante was rarely seen without a cigar hanging from is mouth, leading to the nickname "The Cigar" and "Lilo" (a Sicilian term for cigar). Galante had a long caree ...

was murdered, creating a power vacuum in the family. After Galante's murder, Philip Rastelli took over, running the organization from prison. However, one faction, led by

Alphonse "Sonny Red" Indelicato Alphonse "Al" Indelicato (February 25, 1931 – May 5, 1981), also known as Sonny Red, was a powerful American caporegime in New York City's Bonanno crime family who was murdered with Dominick Trinchera and Philip Giaccone for planning to overth ...

, rebelled at Rastelli's leadership. At this time, Ruggiero joined the crew of Dominick "Sonny Black" Napolitano, a strong Rastelli supporter. On May 5, 1981, Indelicato and two other rebel capos, Philip Giaccone and Dominick Trinchera, were lured to a meeting and murdered. After the deaths of the three capos, the rebellion against Rastelli was quashed. According to Pistone, the murderers were Napolitano, John Cersani, Joe Massino,

Sal Vitale Salvatore "Good Looking Sal" Vitale (born September 22, 1947) is an American former underboss of the Bonanno crime family before he became a government informant. After his arrest in 2003, Vitale agreed to cooperate with the government and testif ...

, Joseph DeSimone, Gerlando Sciascia, Nicholas Santora,

Vito Rizzuto Vito Rizzuto (; February 21, 1946 – December 23, 2013), also known as "Montreal's Teflon Don", was an Italian-Canadian crime boss alleged to be the leader of the Sicilian Mafia in Canada. He headed the notorious Rizzuto crime family based ...

, Louis Giongetti, and Santo Giordano. Ruggiero and Cersani were lookouts and were sent in after to clean up the massacre and dispose of the bodies, along with Napolitano, James Episcopia and Robert Caposio.

Reputation

Ruggiero relished life as a mobster. In front of Pistone, he once explained: "As a wiseguy you can lie, you can cheat, you can steal, you can finagle, you can cause a ruckus...you can do anything and nobody can say a word about it. Who wouldn't want to be a wiseguy?" Ruggiero was the epitome of a wiseguy and had the respect of other mobsters. He had a reputation as a killer but on a daily basis was not prone to violence. Ruggiero had never served time in prison; he had been arrested many times, but never jailed. Ruggiero earned his nickname "Lefty" from tossing dice left-handed while playing

craps Craps is a dice game in which players bet on the outcomes of the roll of a pair of dice. Players can wager money against each other (playing "street craps") or against a bank ("casino craps"). Because it requires little equipment, "street ...

. He got the nickname "Two Guns" because when he went out on a

hit Hit means to strike someone or something. Hit or HIT may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Hit, a fictional character from '' Dragon Ball Super'' * Homicide International Trust, or HIT, a fictional organization ...

, he liked to use two guns. By the 1970s, Ruggiero had acquired a gambling dependency. He was betting and losing heavily on horse races. Soon he was borrowing money from

Nicholas Marangello Nicholas Marangello (died December 30, 1999), also known as "Nicky Glasses", "Nicky Cigars", "Nicky the Butler" and "Little Nicky", was the underboss of the Bonanno crime family under Carmine Galante and saw himself demoted after Galantes death. ...

to cover losing bets. By 1977, Ruggiero owed Marangello $160,000. The Bonanno family told Ruggiero that he would have to repay Marangello before he could become a

made man In the American and Sicilian Mafia, a made man is a fully initiated member of the Mafia. To become "made", an associate first must be Italian or of Italian descent and sponsored by another made man. An inductee will be required to take the oa ...

. By 1977, Ruggiero had paid most of his debt to Marangello and the family accepted his membership. However, by 1978, Ruggiero was back in debt again to Marangello. To settle the debt this time, the family arranged to transfer the revenues from part of Ruggiero's criminal operations directly to Marangello. Due to his gambling problem, Ruggiero was always trying to hide his few assets from his creditors Marangello and Sabella.

Aftermath and death

On July 26, 1981, the Donnie Brasco operation came to an end. FBI agents visited Napolitano's apartment on top of the Motion Lounge and informed him of Brasco's true identity. After the Bonanno leadership learned the truth, they immediately went after the men who brought Brasco into their midst. Mirra and Napolitano were murdered shortly afterwards.Raab, pp. 617–620 On August 29, 1981, the FBI intercepted and arrested Ruggiero. In November 1982, Ruggiero, along with Santora,

Antonio Tomasulo Antonio Tomasulo, also known as "Bootsie" (1917 – June 23, 2003), was an Italian-American mobster who served in the New York Bonanno crime family running a highly lucrative illegal slot machine gambling operation. Biography Little is known ...

, and Anthony "Fat Tony" Rabito, was convicted in a six-week jury trial for racketeering conspiracy, and received a 15-year prison sentence. Ruggiero refused to believe that Donnie Brasco was a special agent in the FBI and not his associate. Ruggiero told his lawyer "He'll never go against us." However, after Pistone testified against him, he later said, "I'll get that motherfucker Donnie if it's the last thing I do." In April 1993, suffering from

lung The lungs are the primary organs of the respiratory system in humans and most other animals, including some snails and a small number of fish. In mammals and most other vertebrates, two lungs are located near the backbone on either side of ...

and

testicular cancer Testicular cancer is cancer that develops in the testicles, a part of the male reproductive system. Symptoms may include a lump in the testicle, or swelling or pain in the scrotum. Treatment may result in infertility. Risk factors include a ...

, Ruggiero was released from prison after serving almost 11 years. He died on November 24, 1994. In the 1997 film ''

Donnie Brasco Joseph Dominick Pistone (born September 17, 1939), is an American former FBI agent who worked undercover as Donnie Brasco between September 1976 and July 1981, as part of an infiltration primarily into the Bonanno crime family, and to a lesser ...

'', Benjamin Ruggiero was portrayed by

Al Pacino Alfredo James Pacino (; ; born April 25, 1940) is an American actor. Considered one of the most influential actors of the 20th century, he has received numerous accolades: including an Academy Award, two Tony Awards, and two Primetime Emmy ...

. Ruggiero's granddaughter Ramona Rizzo appeared on the TV show ''

Mob Wives ''Mob Wives'' is an American reality television series that premiered on VH1 on April 17, 2011. The show focuses on the lives of several women residing in the New York City borough of Staten Island, whose family members and husbands have been arre ...

'' on

VH-1 VH1 (originally an initialism of Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network based in New York City and owned by Paramount Global. It was created by Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment, at the time a division of Warner Communi ...

Notes

References

External links

* Flood, John J
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v. BENJAMIN RUGGIERO
. Combined Counties Police Association. Las Vegas.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v. BENJAMIN RUGGIERO

Justia Justia is an American website specializing in legal information retrieval. It was founded in 2003 by Tim Stanley, formerly of FindLaw, and is one of the largest online databases of legal cases. The company is headquartered in Mountain View, Cali ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Ruggiero, Benjamin 1926 births 1994 deaths Bonanno crime family Burials at Calvary Cemetery (Queens) American gangsters of Italian descent People convicted of racketeering Deaths from lung cancer in New York (state) Criminals from New York City