- Ralph Scopo
Ralph "Little Ralphie" Scopo (1932 - 1993) was a New York mobster and a member of the
Colombo crime family who ran a powerful New York union local for the mob.As president of the
Concrete Workers District Council , a part of theLaborers' International Union of North America , Scopo was involved inextortion and laborracketeering . Later, Scopo was the subject of surveillance by undercover federal agents. Eventually, Scopo becameconsigliere for the Colombo family. Scopo regularly met with the leaders of the Colombo family and with the heads of the three other families who were involved in a club that took a percentage of all Manhattan construction jobs over $2 million. As such, even while only a soldier he wielded more influence than the capos within his own family.However despite his close working relationships with mafia bosses, Ralph Scopo was well aware of the fragility of Mafia life. In April,1984, Scopo was overheard explaining to an associate that Gambino soldier
Roy DeMeo had been killed by his own family because they merely suspected that he would not be able to stand up to legal charges that resulted from his stolen car ring.He was the father of
Colombo crime family mobsterJoseph Scopo . After his father Ralph was incarcerated in 1986 for racketeering he was promoted to the rank of capo and leader of his father's old Brooklyn crew. Joseph was later recognized by authorities as the acting underboss of the Colombo crime famly serving under Gennaro "Gerry Lang" Langella. Joseph was murdered in 1992 by rival loyalists led byColombo crime family capo Victor Orena. Several young, low-level associates of the Colombo crime family affiliated with Orena were later convicted for Joseph's murder. [http://www.crimelibrary.com/gangsters_outlaws/family_epics/lucchese2/6.html] . In 1986, Scopo was convicted during theMafia Commission Trial . Ralph received a $240,000 fine and 100 years in prison.In 1993, Ralph Scopo died of natural causes while in a
federal penitentiary .Further reading
*Capeci, Jerry. "The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Mafia". Indianapolis: Alpha Books, 2002. ISBN 0-02-864225-2
*Davis, John H. "Mafia Dynasty: The Rise and Fall of the Gambino Crime Family". New York: HarperCollins, 1993. ISBN 0-06-016357-7
*Goldstock, Ronald. "Corruption and Racketeering in the New York City Construction Industry: Final Report of the New York State Organized Crime Task Force". New York: NYU Press, 1990. ISBN 0-8147-3034-5
*Jacobs, James B., Christopher Panarella and Jay Worthington. "Busting the Mob: The United States Vs. Cosa Nostra". New York: NYU Press, 1994. ISBN 0-8147-4230-0
*Jacobs, James B., Coleen Friel and Robert Radick. "Gotham Unbound: How New York City Was Liberated from the Grip of Organized Crime". New York: NYU Press, 1999. ISBN 0-8147-4247-5
*Raab, Selwyn. The Five Families: The Rise, Decline & Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empire. New York: St. Martins Press, 2005. ISBN 0-312-30094-8External links
* [http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F50712F83C580C768DDDA80894DE484D81&n=Top%2fReference%2fTimes%20Topics%2fSubjects%2fC%2fConcrete New York Times: Jury Is Told Crime Families Control Concrete Business] by Ronald Smothers
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