Alphonse Attardi
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Alphonse "The Peacemaker" Attardi (April 1, 1892 – July 17, 1970) was an American mobster with the
Gambino crime family The Gambino 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, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the American Mafia. ...
involved in
narcotics The term narcotic (, from ancient Greek ναρκῶ ''narkō'', "I make numb") originally referred medically to any psychoactive compound with numbing or paralyzing properties. In the United States, it has since become associated with opiates ...
who later became a government informant. His front was ownership of an
olive oil Olive oil is a vegetable oil obtained by pressing whole olives (the fruit of ''Olea europaea'', a traditional Tree fruit, tree crop of the Mediterranean Basin) and extracting the oil. It is commonly used in cooking for frying foods, as a cond ...
importing business. In the early 1950s, Attardi was arrested for
drug trafficking A drug is any chemical substance other than a nutrient or an essential dietary ingredient, which, when administered to a living organism, produces a biological effect. Consumption of drugs can be via inhalation, injection, smoking, ingestion, ...
in
Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...
,
Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...
. While in prison, his wife died and the bank foreclosed on his front business. Following his release from prison, Attardi moved to a dilapidated apartment on
Delancey Street Delancey Street is one of the main thoroughfares of the Lower East Side in Manhattan, New York City. It runs from the street's western terminus at the Bowery to its eastern end at FDR Drive, connecting to the Williamsburg Bridge and Brookly ...
on New York's
Lower East Side The Lower East Side, sometimes abbreviated as LES, is a historic neighborhood in the southeastern part of Manhattan in New York City. It is located roughly between the Bowery and the East River from Canal to Houston streets. Historically, it w ...
. In 1952, U.S. Treasury Agents asked Attardi to become an informant. Fearing for his life, Attardi initially refused their offer. However, six months later Attardi changed his mind and agreed to assist agents in a
sting operation In law enforcement, a sting operation is a deceptive operation designed to catch a person attempting to commit a crime. A typical sting will have an undercover law enforcement officer, detective, or co-operative member of the public play a rol ...
. The sting began when Attardi introduced undercover agent Joe Tremoglie to several of his associates. Within ten months Tremoglie had become associated with major drug traffickers and organized crime figures such as Benny Bellanca and Pietro Beddia. Attardi's efforts let Tremoglie to infiltrate the New York Mafia's drug trade and, assisting in police surveillance, helped ensure the success of the sting operation. Attardi received $5,000 from the government for his assistance and immediately left the country with his girlfriend. In 1968, Attardi gave an interview to
Parade Magazine ''Parade'' was an American nationwide Sunday newspaper magazine, distributed in more than 700 newspapers nationwide in the United States until 2022. The most widely read magazine in the U.S., ''Parade'' had a circulation of 32 million and a read ...
about his time in the mafia under the alias "Jim Carra". Alphonse Attardi died on July 17, 1970.


References


Further reading

*Whitehead, Donald F. ''Border Guard: The Story of the United States Customs Service'', 1963.


External links


Attardi's interview with Parade Magazine
(under the alias "Jim Carra"). {{DEFAULTSORT:Attardi, Alphonse 1892 births 1970 deaths American gangsters of Italian descent Gangsters from New York City American drug traffickers American people convicted of drug offenses olive oil