- 1995 in organized crime
"See also:"
1994 in organized crime ,
other events of 1995,1996 in organized crime and the
list of 'years in Organized Crime'.----
Events
*
March 16 - The New York State Senate began hearings investigating the presence of organized crime at theJacob K. Javits Convention Center in Manhattan. In 1994, former federal judgeKenneth Conboy supervised an investigation of theNew York City District Council of Carpenters that revealed that Local 257 shop stewardAnthony Fiorino was an associate of theGenovese Family and the brother-in-law of acting bossLiborio Bellomo , and that Local 257's former leadersAttilio Bitondo andEugene Hanley were associates of captainVincent DiNapoli .Earlier in the month,
IBT Local 807 , which had jurisdiction over loading and unloading at the center, was placed under federal trusteeship after prosecutors alleged that the Local had been infiltrated by members of the Genovese, Gambino and Bonanno Families, and the Local’s leaders were extorting companies at the Center. The prosecutors pointed out that Local 807 officialMichael Rabbitt had madeBonanno crime family soldierArmando Rea a business agent and threatenedColombo crime family captainSalvatore Miciotta with a work stoppage if he didn't pay bribes. Eventually, newly installed IBT President Ron Carey with the approval ofGeorge Pataki ousted Local 807's bossRobert Rabbit, Sr. , a Genovese associate and convicted murderer, as well as his son Michael. The investigation likely spelled the end for organized crime dominance at the Javits Center.
*March 18 -Lucchese crime family captainJoseph DiNapoli and his brother Louis, aGenovese crime family soldier, were indicted for using phony minority-owned firms to gain control of the city's asbestos-carting industry and win $ 5 million in city contracts.
*April 13 -Gambino crime family associateNorman DuPont , the former manager of theRavenite Social Club , was charged with murdering car service dispatcher Harmon Fuchs, to send a message to a mob rival that owed him a debt. DuPont would be convicted and sentenced to life in prison after former cohortsAnthony "Tony Nose" Persichetti andGuy Zappulla testified against him.
*June 22 -Gambino crime family soldierJoseph Francolino who owned Duffy Carting and controlled theAssociation of Trade Waste Removers of Greater New York in Manhattan and theQueens County Trade Waste Association in Brooklyn, andGenovese crime family captainAlphonse Malangone , who controlled theKings County Trade Waste Association and theGreater New York Waste Paper Association , were indicted for overseeing a mob cartel in the carting business. The two men would later be convicted and sentenced to serve time in the New York State Prison system.
*June 24 - Sicilianmafioso andhitman ,Leoluca Bagarella , is arrested and convicted of multiple murder and subsequently sentenced tolife imprisonment .
*August 3 -Cleveland crime family associateChester "Zip" Liberatore was convicted of labor racketeering as business manager of Laborers Local 310 in violation of theTaft-Hartley Act . Both Liberatore’s father and uncle were made members of the Cleveland LCN family, and his uncle Anthony was sentenced to 10 years in 1993 for labor racketeering involving his control of Laborers Local 860.
*August 16 -Patriarca crime family bossFrancis "Cadillac Frank" Salemme was arrested in a Florida hideout for racketeering, extortion, loansharking, money laundering and gambling. Salemme would eventually turn informant and put many of the Patriarca Family’s most powerful members behind bars.
*September 1 - The wife ofNitto Santapaola ,Carmela Minniti , is killed by a hit team posing as policemen. They called at her house, pushed past her daughter and shot her dead. "She ran his affairs," said Liliana Madeo, author of a book on the Mafia's new women. "If she was just a little woman, she wouldn't have been killed." Santapaola’s rivalGiuseppe Ferone (who had become apentito ) was one of the killers. Nitto Santapaola forgave his wife's killer in a letter he publicly red in court. Ferone’s son and father had been killed on the orders of Santapaola.
*September 9-13 -Gambino crime family soldier/acting captainJoseph Corozzo pleaded guilty to running an illegal gambling operation and defraudingBally Gaming, Inc. of Louisiana, out of money.Joseph Marcello, Jr. , brother of former bossCarlos Marcello , also pleaded guilty. Pleading guilty later on would beMarcello Family bossAnthony Carollo , underbossFrank Gagliano and his son Joseph. The illegal Louisiana operation involved members of the Gambino, Genovese andMarcello crime families.
*September 8 -Colombo crime family captainThomas Petrizzo , soldierJohn Orena and associatesKenneth Paskewicz andJames McNeil , the president of IBT Local 707, were indicted for conspiring to defraud the Long Island union of more than $1.5 million.
*September 11-13 - Three psychiatrists declare thatGenovese Family bossVincent Gigante was unfit to stand trial. Gigante was facing two separate indictments in federal court in Brooklyn, a 1993 indictment charging that he conspired to kill eight mobsters and plotted the murders of two others, includingJohn Gotti , and a 1990 indictment stemming from his involvement in the infamousWindows Scam .
*November 21 -Philadelphia crime family bossJohn Stanfa was convicted of racketeering charges, including conspiring to kill rivalGaeton Lucibello . Stanfa had been the chauffeur of former bossAngelo Bruno , and was slightly injured when gunmen killed Bruno with shotgun blasts while sitting in his car. Stanfa had the backing of the Gambino and Genovese Families in his war against rivalJoseph Merlino . Stanfa’s successor wasRalph Natale and Natale’s underboss would beJoseph Merlino .
*November 22 - Authorities concluded thatColombo crime family associateFrank O'Hehir committed suicide dying from a gun shot wound to the head while sitting atop his mother's grave inSt. John's Cemetery in Queens. O'Hehir had recently pleaded guilty to selling guns for the Colombos.Arts and literature
*"
American Tabloid " (novel) byJames Ellroy
*"Excellent Cadavers " (non-fiction book) byAlexander Stille
*"Casino" (film) [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112641/] starringRobert De Niro ,Joe Pesci andSharon Stone
*"" (autobiography) byEddie Maloney
*"The Usual Suspects " (film) [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114814/] starringStephen Baldwin ,Gabriel Byrne ,Benicio del Toro ,Kevin Pollak ,Kevin Spacey ,Chazz Palminteri andPete Postlethwaite Births
Deaths
*
Joseph Schiro-Scarpa , New York drug dealer affiliated with the Colombo LCN Family and son of mobster ofGregory "The Grim Reaper" Scarpa, Sr.
*Louis Raucci , Pittsburgh mobster involved in drug trafficking
*Joseph Zingaro , Gambino crime family capo
*William Cammisano "Willie The Rat", Kansas City mobster
*Dominic Musitano , Toronto mobster
*Albert "Caesar" Tocco ,Chicago mobster and one time chop shop King of theChicago Outfit
*Louis Grecco , Patriacra crime family associate
*Frank Salemme, Jr. , Patriarca crime family soldier and son of crime boss "Cadillac" Frank Salemme
*September 1 -Joseph N. Gallo ,Gambino crime family consigliere
*November 22 -Frank O'Hehir ,Colombo crime family associate
*November 24 -Benjamin "Lefty Guns" Ruggiero ,Bonanno crime family member
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.