Louis Vallario

Louis "Big Lou" Vallario (born 1942) is a member of the Gambino crime family, and formerly one of the top aides to John Gotti and Salvatore "Sammy the Bull" Gravano during their heyday in the late 1980s.

Lou's promotion

During the late 1980s, Vallario had substently been a made member of the Gambino crime family for years. A soldier in Salavtore "Sammy the Bull" Gravano's crew since the 1970s, Vallario was promoted to take over as Gravano was promoted to Consigliere in the late 1980s. A childhood friend of John Gotti, Vallario reportedly became one of Gotti's top aides, as he was recognized as the new Boss of the Gambino crime family in 1986, after the murders of former Boss Paul Castellano and his bodyguard Thomas Bilotti in 1985. Vallario was a promininet figure in construction in the late 1980's and early 1990's and had major influence over the NYC Labor Unions.

Vallario was indicted in April 2003 in a corruption case against officials of Service Employees Int'l Union Local 32B-32J. when federal prosecutors blow the lid off a multimillion-dollar scam in which corrupt members of a powerful mob-tainted N.Y.C. union lined their pockets through no-show jobs.

Gotti's fall

In 1991, dozens of members of the family were indicted and sent to prison on RICO charges, such as racketeering, extortion, loansharking, illegal gambling, conspiracy and murder for hire. Gravano eventually turned state's evidence, as Gotti and Consigliere Frank "Frankie Loc" LoCascio were sentenced to life imprisonment in 1992, same time as Vallario was charged with racketeering. Upon his trial, it became clear that Gravano refused to testify against him and five other of his crew members, perhaps as a final nod of respect to his former friends.

Ruling Panel

In 1996, Vallario was promoted with Steven "Stevie Coogan" Grammauta and Michael "Mikey Scars" DiLeonardo, to "acting bosses" alongside "capos" John "Jackie Nose" D'Amico and Peter Gotti to aide John Gotti's son, John "Junior" Gotti, as the official "acting boss", in the Gambino crime family's "Ruling Committee/Panel". Vallario sat on the panel from 1996 to 2002, when eventually he was tried with Genovese crime family mobsters in 2002 for his role in a conspiracy in which a building owner hired the mob to kick out the union represantives. His sentence was three years probation and a $500 fine.

Family capo

Vallario is a reputed Caporegime in the Gambino crime family, who runs the Bensonhurst and Red Hook factions, known as the old Sammy Gravano Crew. Allegedly, his illegal activities are loansharking, illegal gambling, bookmaking, labor racketeering and extortion, all predicates under the RICO Act. Vallario is one of a select group in individuals that Sammy "The Bull" Gravano has refused to ever testify against.

As of October 2008, Vallario is incarcerated in the Fort Dix Federal Correctional Institution (FCI)in Fort Dix, New Jersey. His projected release date is October 15, 2013.

References

*Capeci, Jerry and Gene Mustain. "Gotti: Rise and Fall". New York: Onyx, 1996. ISBN 0-451-40681-8
*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 0-06-109184-7
*Raab, Selwyn. "Five Families: The Rise, Decline, and Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empires". New York: St. Martin Press, 2005. ISBN 0-312-30094-8

External links

*http://www.geocities.com/OrganizedCrimeSyndicates/GambinoFamily.html