- Tommy Neri
Thomas 'Tommy' Neri (1933-1977) ("Tommy Scootch") was a fictional "soldato" in the Corleone family and was a prominent figure in the novels
The Godfather ,The Godfather Returns , andThe Godfather's Revenge .Tommy Neri was born to Rita Neri and an unnamed father in an apartment in the
Bronx . He grew up in the same neighborhood asPeter Clemenza . He was also frequently beat by his uncle,Al Neri . He never accepted that his uncle was a cop, and became a hoodlum just to anger him. He also wanted his 'button' but was told to wait until the right time.In
1955 , he became a 'made man' in the Corleone family underMichael Corleone at a hotel/casino ballroom owned by the family, with others. He was placed in the regime ofRocco Lampone and served him faithfully. At around this time, he also became a well known heroin addict. He was placed inRitchie Nobilio 's regime after Rocco Lampone was killed in1959 .By
1963 , he was placed in charge of findingNick Geraci after the failure of Willie Binaggio and Dino DiMiceli. He made no significant progress with finding Geraci, although he did look inCleveland and got tips from theC.I.A . Around1964 , he and his uncle Al tortured and killed Nick Geraci's father. He died on May 4, 1977 after accidentally shooting himself in the gut after killing Jewish gangster, Ralph Balstein.
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