Greg DePalma
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Gregory J. DePalma (April 24, 1932 – November 18, 2009) was an American mobster who became a
Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...
in 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. ...
. He became notorious as the person responsible for introducing and allowing "Jack Falcone" who in actuality was
Joaquín "Jack" García Joaquín "Jack" García (born 1952) is a Cuban-American retired FBI agent, best known for his undercover work infiltrating the Gambino crime family in New York City. García is regarded as one of the most successful and prolific undercover agents ...
an undercover
Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...
(FBI) agent in his crew.


Celebrity life

In the 1970s, DePalma became friends with numerous celebrities after he built the Westchester Premiere Theatre in
Tarrytown, New York Tarrytown is a administrative divisions of New York#Village, village in the administrative divisions of New York#Town, town of Greenburgh, New York, Greenburgh in Westchester County, New York, Westchester County, New York (state), New York, Unit ...
. These friends included singers
Liza Minnelli Liza May Minnelli ( ; born March 12, 1946) is an American actress, singer, and dancer. Known for her commanding stage presence and powerful alto singing voice, Minnelli has received numerous accolades including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, ...
and
Dean Martin Dean Martin (born Dino Paul Crocetti; June 7, 1917 – December 25, 1995) was an American singer, actor, and comedian. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Cool", he is regarded as one of the most popular entertainers of ...
, and baseball player
Willie Mays Willie Howard Mays Jr. (May 6, 1931 – June 18, 2024), nicknamed "the Say Hey Kid", was an American professional baseball center fielder who played 23 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of ...
, with whom DePalma frequently played golf. However, DePalma's most prestigious friend was singer
Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Honorific nicknames in popular music, Nicknamed the "Chairman of the Board" and "Ol' Blue Eyes", he is regarded as one of the Time 100: The Most I ...
. In 1976, DePalma appeared in a famous group picture at the Theatre with Sinatra, then Gambino boss
Carlo Gambino Carlo Gambino (; August 24, 1902 – October 15, 1976) was a Sicilian crime boss who was the leader and namesake of the Gambino crime family of New York City. Following the Apalachin Meeting in 1957, and the imprisonment of Vito Genovese i ...
, future boss
Paul Castellano Constantino Paul Castellano (; June 26, 1915 – December 16, 1985) was an American crime boss who succeeded Carlo Gambino as head of the Gambino crime family of New York City. Castellano ran the organization from 1976 until his murder on Decem ...
, other Gambino mobsters, and L.A. acting mob boss
Jimmy Fratianno Aladena James Fratianno (born Aladena Fratianno; November 14, 1913 – June 29, 1993), also known as "Jimmy the Weasel", was an Italian-born American mobster who was acting boss of the Los Angeles crime family. After his arrest in 1977, Fratian ...
. As soon as the theatre opened, DePalma and other mobsters started looting its cash and other assets. In 1977, DePalma became a
made man In the Sicilian and American Mafia, a made man is a fully initiated member of the Mafia. In order to become eligible to be "made", an associate must fulfill several requirements, such as being Italian or of Italian descent and sponsored by ...
in the Gambino crime family. On June 6, 1978, DePalma was indicted on state charges regarding the theatre's financial collapse. However, the first trial ended in a
hung jury A hung jury, also called a deadlocked jury, is a judicial jury that cannot agree upon a verdict after extended deliberation and is unable to reach the required unanimity or supermajority. A hung jury may result in the case being tried again. Thi ...
. Later in 1979, before the second trial, DePalma pleaded guilty to
bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the deb ...
fraud; one piece of evidence that helped the prosecution case was the picture with Sinatra."Gregory DePalma Revisited - Part 1"
Rick Pourelle's American Mafia.com August 12, 2002

by Jerry Capeci The Huffington Post November 30, 2009
DePalma was sentenced to four years in prison. In the 1990s, DePalma was named a ''
caporegime A ''caporegime'' or ''capodecina'', usually shortened to ''capo'' or informally referred to as "captain", "skipper" or "lieutenant", is a leadership position in the Mafia (both the Sicilian Mafia and Italian-American Mafia). A ''capo'' is a "made m ...
'' (captain). According to the FBI, he also visited imprisoned boss
John Gotti John Joseph Gotti Jr.Capeci, Mustain (1996), pp. 25–26 ( , ; October 27, 1940 – June 10, 2002) was an American '' mafioso'' and boss of the Gambino crime family in New York City. He ordered and helped to orchestrate the murder of Gambin ...
while Gotti was incarcerated in 2001.


Scores conviction

In January 1999, both DePalma and son Craig pleaded guilty to racketeering charges. The charges were based on the Gambino takeover and extortion of Scores, a famous
strip club A strip club (also known as a strip joint, striptease bar, peeler bar, gentlemen's club, among others) is a venue where strippers provide adult entertainment, predominantly in the form of striptease and other erotic dances including lap dances. St ...
in Manhattan. As with the Westchester Theatre, the Gambino plan was to drain the cash from Scores and then get out. On June 13, 1999, a federal judge sentenced DePalma to 70 months in federal prison, a light sentence due to DePalma's claims of poor health. The sentencing took place in DePalma's hospital room at
Westchester Medical Center Westchester Medical Center University Hospital (WMC), formerly Grasslands Hospital, is an 895-bed Regional Trauma Center providing health services to residents of the Hudson Valley, northern New Jersey, and southern Connecticut. It is known for h ...
in
Valhalla, New York Valhalla ( ) is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) within the town of Mount Pleasant, in Westchester County, New York, United States, in the New York City metropolitan area. Its population was 3,162 at the 2010 U.S. Census. The name wa ...
. Later that day, the same judge sentenced Craig in court to 87 months in federal prison. In 2002, while still in prison, Craig attempted to hang himself and was left in a
persistent vegetative state A vegetative state (VS) or post-coma unresponsiveness (PCU) is a disorder of consciousness in which patients with severe brain damage are in a state of partial arousal rather than true awareness. After four weeks in a vegetative state, the patie ...
. He died in December 2010.


Jack Falcone

In 2003, a new mob associate, Jack Falcone (FBI special agent Joaquín García), got close to DePalma. Over the next year, Falcone provided DePalma with a steady stream of excellent quality stolen goods. By August 2004, García claims DePalma considered nominating him for induction into the Gambino family. DePalma did not realize that Falcone was actually
Joaquín "Jack" García Joaquín "Jack" García (born 1952) is a Cuban-American retired FBI agent, best known for his undercover work infiltrating the Gambino crime family in New York City. García is regarded as one of the most successful and prolific undercover agents ...
, and the FBI was providing the goods. For two years, García listened in (wearing a recording device) on conversations DePalma had with many mobsters in the Gambino family. On February 21, 2005, DePalma, García, and another mobster Robert Vaccaro were meeting with Peter "Petey Chops" Vicini in the
housewares Household goods are goods and products used within households. They are the tangible and movable personal property placed in the rooms of a house, such as a bed or refrigerator. Economic role Businesses that produce household goods are categoriz ...
section of a
Bloomingdales Bloomingdale's Inc. is an American luxury department store chain founded in 1861 by Joseph Bloomingdale and Lyman Bloomingdale. It was acquired by Federated Department Stores in 1930, which purchased the Macy's department store chain in 1994, ...
department store in
Westchester County Westchester County is a county located in the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of New York, bordering the Long Island Sound and the Byram River to its east and the Hudson River on its west. The county is the seventh most populous cou ...
. When Vicini failed to show them proper respect, Vaccaro grabbed a solid crystal candle holder and began beating him on the head. García convinced Vaccaro to stop beating Vicini and leave Bloomingdale's.


Prison

On March 9, 2005, Garcia's undercover assignment ended as FBI agents arrested DePalma and 32 other Gambino mobsters on racketeering charges. By May 2006, DePalma's health was again in decline. He had spent most of the past year in the hospital, had a cancerous lung removed, and had suffered a
heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...
. DePalma was
morbidly obese Obesity is a risk factor for many chronic physical and mental illnesses. The health effects of being overweight but not obese are controversial, with some studies showing that the mortality rate for individuals who are classified as overweight ( ...
and taking 20 medications a day. However, the judge ruled that he was healthy enough to stand trial. On November 18, 2009, DePalma died at age 77 in the Federal Medical Center in
Butner, North Carolina Butner is a town in Granville County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 8,397 as of the 2020 census. Butner was managed by the state of North Carolina from 1947 through 2007. History The area eventually comprising the town of ...
."Gambino capo Gregory DePalma dies in prison"
Mafia Today website
Jerry Capeci

Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (''The Huffington Post'' until 2017, itself often abbreviated as ''HPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and covers ...
November 30, 2009


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Depalma, Gregory 1932 births 2009 deaths People from Granville County, North Carolina Gambino crime family American gangsters of Italian descent