Alfonso Sgroia, also known as "The Butcher" (19 July 1886 – 10 May 1940) was a New York gang member who became a hitman for the

Neapolitan Neapolitan means of or pertaining to Naples, a city in Italy; or to: Geography and history * Province of Naples, a province in the Campania region of southern Italy that includes the city * Duchy of Naples, in existence during the Early and High ...

Camorra The Camorra (; ) is an Italian Mafia-typeMafia and Mafia-type orga ...

gang A gang is a social group, group or secret society, society of associates, friends or members of a family with a defined leadership and internal organization that identifies with or claims control over Territory (animal), territory in a communi ...

. Born in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, Sgroia immigrated with his family to New York in 1899, aged 13. Sgroia opened a butcher shop and lived with his brother Biagio on 117th Street in

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater Harl ...

. At some point, Sgroia became an enforcer for the Navy Street gang, a street gang in Brooklyn associated with the Camorra criminal organization. On 24 June 1916, members of the rival

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the List of co ...

Sicilian Sicilian refers to the autonomous Italian island of Sicily. Sicilian can also refer to: * Sicilian language, a Romance language spoken on the island of Sicily, its satellite islands, and southern Calabria * Sicilians, people from or with origins ...

Morello Gang met with the Navy gang and its ally, the Coney Island gang, to discuss the division of criminal activities in New York. Unhappy with the meeting outcome, the Navy Gang decided to kill the Morello family gang boss Nicholas Morello (né Nicolò Terranova). On 7 September 1916, Sgroia and other gang members ambushed Morello and his associate,

Charles Ubriaco Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was ...

, who had been lured into a trap after having a few drinks and were on their way to a coffee house. In March 1917, Sgroia participated in the murder of Generoso Nazzaro. In May 1917, a Navy Street gang member became a government witness and implicated Sgroia in the Morello murder. Sgroia was convicted of

manslaughter Manslaughter is a common law legal term for homicide considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is sometimes said to have first been made by the ancient Athenian lawmaker Draco in the 7th ...

and sentenced to 12 years in prison. Sgroia eventually testified against the gang and received a shortened sentence. After his release from prison, Sgroia was deported to Italy. He was convinced to briefly return to New York by the prosecutors at the trial of

Tony Paretti Antonio Paretti (1892 - February 17, 1927), also known as Tony Paretti or Tony the Shoemaker, was a Camorra gangster. He was a member of the Brooklyn-based Coney Island gang in New York City, serving as the right-hand man of Pellegrino Morano.Critc ...

, where Sgroia gave evidence against him, leading to his conviction. After that, he returned once again to Italy, where he lived a normal life with his family, until he died on 10 May 1940, aged 53.

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sgroia, Alphonso 1886 births 1940 deaths Italian gangsters Italian people convicted of manslaughter Italian emigrants to the United States Place of birth missing Place of death missing People deported from the United States