Tino "T" Fiumara (; August 11, 1941 – September 16, 2010), also known as "The Greek," was a major figure in 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 ...

and was acting boss. Since the 1980s, he had been the leader of the Genovese New Jersey faction in northern

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 ...

. After his final release from prison Fiumara lived on

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

Early criminal career

Tino Fiumara was born in

Livingston, New Jersey Livingston is a township (New Jersey), township in Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 31,330, its highest United States census, decennial co ...

to parents from Ali Superiore,

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. His associates usually called him "T" or "the good-looking guy." Fiumara later earned the nickname "The Greek" from operating a crew in a

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

neighborhood of

Bergen County, New Jersey Bergen County is the List of counties in New Jersey, most populous County (United States), county in the U.S. state of New Jersey."Jersey mob soon to get infusion of old blood"
The Star Ledger April 10, 2002 On another occasion, Fiumara allegedly

garrot A garrote ( ; alternatively spelled as garotte and similar variants)''Concise Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford English Dictionary'', 11th Ed: garrotte is normal British English spelling, with single r alternate. Article title is US English spel ...

ed a mob associate with a string of

piano wire Piano wire, or "music wire", is a specialized type of wire made for use in piano string (music), strings but also in other applications as Spring (device), springs. It is made from tempering (metallurgy), tempered high-carbon steel, also known ...

FBI image of Tino Fiumara and Joe Doto Jr

In the 1960s, Fiumara established himself in the New Jersey faction of the Genovese crime family. He began working in the crew of Genovese family caporegime Peter LaPlaca, who controlled the ILA activities at the local level in New Jersey. By the mid-1970s, the Fiumara crew controlled many of the Genovese union and labor rackets on the New Jersey waterfront. Fiumara's crew also cooperated in

illegal gambling Gambling law is the set of rules and regulations that apply to the gaming or gambling industry. Gaming law is not a branch of law in the traditional sense but rather is a collection of several areas of law that include criminal law, regulatory law ...

loanshark A loan shark is a person who offers loans at extremely high or illegal interest rates, has strict terms of collection, and generally operates outside the law, often using the threat of violence or other illegal, aggressive, and extortionate a ...

ing,

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

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 ...

rackets, with

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 c ...

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 ...

Anthony "Tumac" Accetturo. One of Fiumara's biggest rival was Genovese crime mobster John "Johnny D." DiGilio, a powerful figure on the

Bayonne Bayonne () is a city in southwestern France near the France–Spain border, Spanish border. It is a communes of France, commune and one of two subprefectures in France, subprefectures in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques departments of France, departm ...

waterfront. One of Fiumara's strongest allies in New Jersey was Genovese mobster Lawrence "Larry Fab" Dentico.

First imprisonment

In 1979, Fiumara was convicted of labor

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. ...

and federal extortion in Newark and

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

and sentenced to 15 years in prison. While in prison, Fiumara continued to control the New Jersey crew. Different Fiumara crew members, such as Genovese soldier Michael "Mikey Cigars" Coppola, assisted Fiumara in running the day-to-day operations while Fiumara gave orders through messengers and underlings who frequently visited him in prison. In February 1994, Fiumara was released from prison and quickly assumed control of the New Jersey faction. Fiumara's old rival, John DiGilio, was murdered by the Genovese family in 1988. The previous head of the New Jersey faction, consigliere, Louis "Bobby" Manna was imprisoned in 1989 for conspiracy to murder

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

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 ...

. Another rival,

capo

Anthony Accetturo Anthony "Tumac" Accetturo (born February 14, 1938) is an American former mobster who was ''caporegime'' of the New Jersey faction of the Lucchese crime family, popularly called "The Jersey Crew." Accetturo was demoted as leader of the Jersey Crew ...

, had been demoted by his boss and was in hiding. Fiumara was now completely in charge.

"Powerhouse"

By the mid-1990s Tino Fiumara was recognized as a "Mafia powerhouse" in New Jersey. In 1996, Coppola became a fugitive to avoid prosecution for a 1977 New Jersey murder. Fiumara and Coppola continued to communicate throughout the later part of the 1990s, as Coppola still played an active role in the leadership of the Fiumara crew; Coppola's reputation and close association with Fiumara allowed him to continue making money while in hiding. In April 1999, Fiumara was returned to prison on a

parole Parole, also known as provisional release, supervised release, or being on paper, is a form of early release of a prisoner, prison inmate where the prisoner agrees to abide by behavioral conditions, including checking-in with their designated ...

violation. To meet with Genovese superiors and associates in New York City, Fiumara had been driven to the meetings hiding in car trunks. Fiumara was to be released in 2002, however in 2003, Fiumara received another eight-month parole violation. Fiumara had been in contact with Coppola, still a fugitive, and failed to report the contact to law enforcement."Tino Fiumara"
Gangsters Inc March 25, 2007 On November 30, 2005, the body of Genovese mobster Lawrence Ricci was found in a car trunk in New Jersey. It was rumored that Fiumara approved Ricci's murder because he had refused to plead guilty in an ongoing racketeering trial.For Christie, Family Tie No Candidate Can Relish"
New York Times September 24, 2009 In 2009, the

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

reported that former New Jersey

federal prosecutor An assistant United States attorney (AUSA) is an official career civil service position in the U.S. Department of Justice composed of lawyers working under the U.S. attorney of each U.S. federal judicial district. They represent the federal gov ...

and New Jersey

gubernatorial A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the type of political region or polity, a ''governor'' ma ...

candidate

Chris Christie Christopher James Christie (born September 6, 1962) is an American politician and former United States Attorney, federal prosecutor who served as the 55th governor of New Jersey from 2010 to 2018. A member of the Republican Party (United States) ...

was a step-nephew to Fiumara's older brother. Christie told the Times that he first learned about Fiumara at age 15 from a newspaper article. Christie said he met Fiumara once at a family gathering and another time at a

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 ...

prison, long before becoming a federal prosecutor in 2002. On November 3, 2009, Chris Christie was elected governor. As a known associate and supporter of longtime Genovese crime family boss

Vincent Gigante Vincent Louis Gigante ( , ; March 29, 1928 – December 19, 2005), also known as "Chin", was an American mobster who was boss of the Genovese crime family in New York City from 1981 to 2005. Gigante started out as a professional boxer who fo ...

, Fiumara had played an important role within the Genovese crime family's New Jersey faction for more than 30 years. For 15 years Fiumara had been recognized as the head of the New Jersey rackets for the Genovese crime family and in the last several years he was seen as a future candidate for boss of the Genovese family. Up until his death, Fiumara was involved in New Jersey rackets and was a power within the family."Tino looks for Christmas past"
Jerry Capeci Huffington Post April 12, 2010 Fiumara died on September 16, 2010, of cancer.

Early criminal career

First imprisonment

"Powerhouse"

References

Further reading