Frank Alphonse "Funzi" Tieri (; born Francesco Tieri,
; February 22, 1904 – March 29, 1981) was an Italian-American
mobster
A gangster (informally gangsta) 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 ...
who eventually became the front boss of the
Genovese crime family
The Genovese crime family (), also sometimes referred to as the Westside, 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 Ne ...
of
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
.
Early life
Tieri was born on February 22, 1904, in
Castel Gandolfo,
Lazio
Lazio ( , ; ) or Latium ( , ; from Latium, the original Latin name, ) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy, administrative regions of Italy. Situated in the Central Italy, central peninsular section of the country, it has 5,714,882 inhabitants an ...
, Italy,
to Carmela Tofano and Augustino Tieri, and had two sisters, Assunta and Antonietta.
He immigrated from
Naples
Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...
to New York City with his family in 1911.
Tieri was denied US citizenship twice living as a
resident alien
In law, an alien is generally any person (including an organization) who is not a citizen or a national of a specific country, although definitions and terminology differ across legal systems.
Lexicology
The term "alien" is derived from the L ...
in
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...
.
Tieri lived in a modest home in the
Bath Beach section of Brooklyn with his wife and two granddaughters.
His mistress, a former opera singer from Italy, lived in a house a few blocks away. Tieri claimed to be an employee of a sportswear manufacturer.
Boss
In 1972, after the murder of
Genovese acting boss
Thomas Eboli, Tieri became the boss of the Genovese family. At that time, it was speculated that
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. ...
boss
Carlo Gambino had ordered Eboli's murder because Eboli owed him $4 million. According to this theory, Gambino wanted Tieri to be the boss of the Genovese family. However, most experts now believe that Tieri was merely a front for the Genoveses' actual boss,
Philip "Benny Squint" Lombardo. Luigi Angelo Martino, "the architect" for money laundering for the Genovese family, served directly under him.
Tieri was considered a low-profile and diplomatic mobster, a good earner for the family who believed in sharing wealth with his
capos and
soldiers
A soldier is a person who is a member of an army. A soldier can be a conscripted or volunteer enlisted person, a non-commissioned officer, a warrant officer, or an officer.
Etymology
The word ''soldier'' derives from the Middle English word ...
. He was convicted of
armed robbery
Robbery is the crime of taking or attempting to take anything of value by force, threat of force, or use of fear. According to common law, robbery is defined as taking the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the person o ...
when he was aged twenty but avoided further indictments until the end of his life. Given that Tieri was a front boss, it is unknown how much power Lombardo allowed him. However, Tieri did have a reputation as an orderly and smart manager who used violence only as a last resort.
Bruno assassination
In 1980, Tieri played a key role in the assassination of
boss
Angelo Bruno and the opening of
Atlantic City, New Jersey
Atlantic City, sometimes referred to by its initials A.C., is a Jersey Shore seaside resort city (New Jersey), city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, Atlantic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.
Atlantic City comprises the second half of ...
to the New York crime families. The State of
New Jersey
New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...
had announced the introduction of
legal casino gambling in Atlantic City, and the New York families wanted to open operations there. However, Atlantic City belonged to the Philadelphia family, and Bruno wasn't willing to share it. In March 1980, Tieri sent a message to Philadelphia's consigliere,
Antonio Caponigro, that the
Mafia Commission would support him as boss if he assassinated Bruno. What Caponigro didn't know was that the Commission had no intention of sanctioning Bruno's murder. On March 21, 1980, Bruno was murdered in his car on a Philadelphia street. The Commission immediately summoned Caponigro to New York for a meeting; two weeks later, his body was discovered in New York with $20 bills stuffed in his orifices. However, the New York families did achieve access to Atlantic City.
Conviction and death
Federal prosecutors eventually charged Tieri with being the head of a crime family that was involved in
racketeering
Racketeering is a type of organized crime in which the perpetrators set up a coercion, coercive, fraud, fraudulent, extortionary, or otherwise illegal coordinated scheme or operation (a "racket") to repeatedly or consistently collect a profit. ...
,
extortion
Extortion is the practice of obtaining benefit (e.g., money or goods) through coercion. In most jurisdictions it is likely to constitute a criminal offence. Robbery is the simplest and most common form of extortion, although making unfounded ...
and
illegal gambling.
On January 23, 1981, the ailing Tieri, using a wheelchair and an oxygen tank, was convicted of violating the
RICO Act
The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act is a United States federal law that provides for extended criminal penalties and a civil cause of action for acts performed as part of an ongoing criminal organization.
RICO was e ...
. At the sentencing, Tieri's lawyers argued for leniency, saying that he was dying. Prosecutors told the judge it was an act, and the judge sent Tieri to prison for ten years.
Two months later, on March 29, 1981, Tieri died of natural causes at
Mount Sinai Hospital in New York.
He is buried in
Saint John's Cemetery, Queens, New York.
References
Further reading
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External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tieri, Frank
1904 births
1981 deaths
20th-century American criminals
20th-century Italian criminals
American gangsters of Italian descent
American male criminals
American prisoners and detainees
Bosses of the Genovese crime family
Burials at St. John's Cemetery (Queens)
Criminals from Brooklyn
Gangsters from New York City
Italian crime bosses
Italian emigrants to the United States
Italian male criminals
Italian prisoners and detainees
People convicted of racketeering
People from Bath Beach, Brooklyn
People from Castel Gandolfo
People of Lazian descent
Prisoners and detainees of the United States federal government
American gangsters of the interwar period