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Lucchese Crime Family's Brooklyn Faction
The Lucchese crime family's Brooklyn faction is a group of Italian-American mobsters within the Lucchese crime family that control organized crime activities in the New York metropolitan area but are predominantly based out of Brooklyn and Staten Island. The Brooklyn faction was created after two separate crews in the Lucchese family were merged together. The merger occurred during the early 2000s, when the Lucchese family administration decided that Vario Crew Caporegime Domenico "Danny" Cutaia would also take control of the 19th Hole Crew. The Lucchese family administration saw the 19th Hole crew without leadership because it had been crippled by numerous indictments and informants during 1990s, leaving many members imprisoned. After the merger of the two crews, the Lucchese Borgata referred to this crew as the Brooklyn faction. Before the merger the Vario Crew, sometimes known as the Canarsie Crew, had predominantly been based out of Brooklyn neighborhoods of Canarsie and F ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lucchese Crime Family
The Lucchese crime family (pronounced ) is an Italian Americans, Italian American American Mafia, Mafia crime family and one of the "Five Families" that dominate organized crime activities in New York City and New Jersey, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the American Mafia. Members refer to the organization as the Lucchese borgata; ''borgata'' (or brugard) is Mafia slang for criminal gang, which itself was derived from a Sicilian language, Sicilian word meaning close-knit community. The members of other crime families sometimes refer to Lucchese family members as "Lukes". The family originated in the early 1920s; Gaetano Reina served as its boss until his murder in 1930."The Lucchese Family: Blood and Gravy" by Anthony Bruno TruTV Crime Librar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Domenico Cutaia
Past member(s) Joseph Abate Joseph "Joe" Abate (July 8, 1902 – November 28, 1994) was a capo in the family's New Jersey faction. In the 1920s, Abate served as an enforcer for Al Capone in Chicago before settling in New Jersey.Raab, p.1-3 In June 1976, Abate attended Anthony Accetturo's induction ceremony into the Lucchese family. In 1979, Abate went into semiretirement and Accetturo succeed him as boss of the New Jersey faction.Raab, p. 10-11 He moved to Margate, New Jersey, and served as a liaison between families in New Jersey until 1989 when he retired from Mafia affairs. In 1992, his daughter Catherine Abate was appointed New York City's new Correction Commissioner. She was confronted about her father's past and denied that he was ever involved in organized crime. In 1994, Joseph Abate died of natural causes. In 1998, his daughter Catherine admitted that she could no longer dismiss allegations that her father belonged to the Lucchese crime family. Settimo Accardi Set ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anthony Casso
Anthony Salvatore Casso (May 21, 1942 – December 15, 2020), nicknamed "Gaspipe", was an American mobster and underboss of the Lucchese crime family. During his career in organized crime, he was regarded as a "homicidal maniac" in the Italian-American Mafia. Casso is suspected of having committed dozens of murders, and had confessed to involvement in between 15 and 36 murders. Government witness Anthony Accetturo, the former caporegime of The Jersey Crew, once said of Casso, "all he wanted to do is kill, kill, get what you can, even if you didn't earn it". In interviews, and on the witness stand, Casso confessed involvement in the murders of Frank DeCicco, Roy DeMeo, and Vladimir Reznikov. Casso also admitted to several attempts to murder Gambino family boss John Gotti. Following his arrest in 1993, Casso became one of the highest-ranking members of the Mafia to turn informant. After taking a plea agreement, he was placed in the witness protection program. In 1998, it ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vic Amuso
Vittorio "Little Vic" Amuso (born November 4, 1934) is an American mobster and the boss of the Lucchese crime family. He was described as "The Deadly Don" by Assistant United States Attorney Charles Rose. Amuso's reign is considered one of the bloodiest periods in American Mafia history during the late 1980s and early 1990s, alongside his former underboss and close protégé Anthony Casso, who turned informer against him in 1994. Since the death of Colombo crime family boss Carmine Persico in March 2019, Amuso is currently the longest-serving crime family boss of the Five Families, dating back to 1987. Amuso has been serving a life sentence on murder and racketeering charges since 1992, and is currently incarcerated at the Federal Correctional Complex, Butner in North Carolina. In the early 1960s, the Gallo brothers declared war against longtime crime boss Giuseppe "Joe" Profaci and the old Profaci faction of the family, because Profaci had cut into Gallo's profits. Amuso would a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alphonse D'Arco
Alphonse "Little Al" D'Arco (July 28, 1932 – March 28, 2019) was an American mobster who became the acting boss of the Lucchese crime family in New York City. He was the first boss, acting or otherwise, of a New York crime family to become a government witness. Biography Born in Brooklyn, New York, D'Arco grew up in Williamsburg, Brooklyn near the Brooklyn Navy Yard and attended a Catholic grammar school. At age 15, he dropped out of high school. In 1951, during the Korean War, D'Arco served two years as a volunteer in the U.S. Army. After an honorable discharge from the army, D'Arco returned to Brooklyn and got married. He and his wife had five children. One of his sons, Joseph D'Arco, became a member of the Lucchese family.Raab, p. 494 During the 1950s, D'Arco became an associate in the Vario Crew, a Lucchese crew led by longtime caporegime Paul Vario and based in the Canarsie neighborhood. In 1959, D'Arco met future Lucchese boss Victor Amuso. In the 1960s, D'Arco wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ray Liotta
Raymond Allen Liotta (; December 18, 1954 – May 26, 2022) was an American actor. He first gained attention for his role in the film '' Something Wild'' (1986), which earned him a Golden Globe Award nomination. He was best known for his portrayals of Shoeless Joe Jackson in the film '' Field of Dreams'' (1989) and Henry Hill in the film '' Goodfellas'' (1990). Liotta appeared in numerous other films, including ''Unlawful Entry'' (1992), '' Cop Land'' (1997), ''Hannibal'' (2001), '' John Q.,'' '' Narc'' (both 2002), '' Identity'' (2003), ''Killing Them Softly'', ''The Place Beyond the Pines'' (both 2012), and '' Marriage Story'' (2019). Liotta won a Primetime Emmy Award for his guest role in the television series '' ER'' in 2005. He starred as Frank Sinatra in the television film '' The Rat Pack'' (1998) and Lorca in the miniseries '' Texas Rising'' (2015), both of which earned him Screen Actors Guild Award nominations, and starred in the series '' Shades of Blue'' (2016–2018) ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Martin Scorsese
Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November17, 1942) is an American filmmaker. One of the major figures of the New Hollywood era, he has received List of awards and nominations received by Martin Scorsese, many accolades, including an Academy Award, four British Academy Film Awards, BAFTA Awards, three Primetime Emmy Awards, Emmy Awards, a Grammy Award, and three Golden Globe Awards. Four of his films have been inducted into the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant". Scorsese received a Master of Arts degree from New York University's Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development in 1968. His directorial debut, ''Who's That Knocking at My Door'' (1967), was accepted into the Chicago Film Festival. In the 1970s and 1980s, Martin Scorsese filmography, Scorsese's films, much influenced by his Italian Americans, Italian-American background and upbringing in New York City, centered on macho-pos ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wiseguy (book)
''Wiseguy: Life in a Mafia Family'' is a 1985 non-fiction book by crime reporter Nicholas Pileggi that chronicles the life of Henry Hill, a Mafia associate turned informant. The book is the basis for the 1990 Oscar–winning film '' Goodfellas'' directed by Martin Scorsese. Summary Henry Hill began his life of crime at age 11 in 1955, by working as a go-fer for Paul Vario, the local boss of Hill's working-class Irish/Italian neighborhood. Vario quickly "promoted" Hill to selling loose cigarettes and other stolen goods on his behalf. In 1959, Hill was arrested for the first time for using stolen credit cards. Hill refused to cooperate with the police, earning the respect of Vario and Vario's close associate, hijacker and fence Jimmy Burke. In 1960, when Hill was 17, he enlisted in the United States Army, to the surprise of his peers. When questioned about his decision by Vario, Hill explained that he wanted to please his father, who disapproved of his son's association with the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nicholas Pileggi
Nicholas Pileggi (, ; born February 22, 1933) is an American author and screenwriter. He wrote the 1985 non-fiction book ''Wiseguy (book), Wiseguy'' and co-wrote the screenplay for ''Goodfellas'', its 1990 film adaptation, for which he received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. Early life Pileggi was born and raised in Brooklyn, the elder son of an Italian immigrant father, Nicola ("Nick") Pileggi from Calabria, a musician who played slide trombone in a cinema orchestra for silent films and subsequently also owned shoe stores, and an American-born mother, Susie. In the 1950s, he worked as a journalist for Associated Press and ''New York (magazine), New York'' magazine, specializing in crime reporting for more than three decades. Career Pileggi began his career as a journalist and had a profound interest in Italian-American Mafia, the Mafia. He is best known for writing ''Wiseguy (book), Wiseguy: Life in a Mafia Family'' (1985), which he adapted in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Henry Hill
Henry Hill Jr. (June 11, 1943 – June 12, 2012) was an American mobster who was associated with the Lucchese crime family of New York City from 1955 until 1980, when he was arrested on narcotics charges and became an FBI informant. Hill testified against his former Mafia associates, resulting in fifty convictions, including those of ''caporegime'' (captain) Paul Vario and fellow associate James Burke on multiple charges. Hill subsequently entered the Witness Protection Program but was removed from the program in 1987. Hill's life story was documented in the true crime book '' Wiseguy: Life in a Mafia Family'' by Nicholas Pileggi, which was subsequently adapted by Martin Scorsese into the critically acclaimed 1990 film '' Goodfellas'', in which Hill was portrayed by Ray Liotta. The crime comedy film '' My Blue Heaven'' is a heavily fictionalized version of Hill’s life story, its screenplay written by Pileggi’s wife Nora Ephron based on joint researched sessions with her ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
James Burke (gangster)
James Burke (July 5, 1931 – April 13, 1996), also known as "Jimmy the Gent", was an American gangster and Lucchese crime family associate who is believed to have organized the 1978 Lufthansa heist, the largest cash robbery in American history at the time. He was believed to be responsible for the deaths of those involved in the months after the robbery. Following the testimony of Henry Hill, Burke was convicted in 1982, of conspiracy charges related to his involvement in the 1978–79 Boston College basketball point-shaving scandal, and sentenced to 12 years in prison. While in prison, he was convicted of murder and sentenced to another 20 years to life. He died of cancer at the Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, New York, twelve years before he would have been eligible for parole. Burke inspired the character Jimmy "The Gent" Conway, one of the main characters of the 1990 film '' Goodfellas'', played by Robert De Niro. Early life At the age of two, Burke was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
