Anthony Trentacosta

Anthony Trentacosta (born 1939) aka. "Tony Pep" is a New York mobster and Caporegime with the Gambino crime family, who's reportedly heading one of their factions in South Florida. [http://ganglandnews.com/column196.htm]

John Gotti and the gasoline racket

Anthony was a Sicilian-American born to first generation immigrants from Marineo in Palermo, Sicily. They moved to the U.S. and settled in Ozone Park, Queens. He is of no relation to the actor Anthony Trentacosta who shares his same name. In the 1980s, Trentacosta became a made man, or a full member, of the Gambino family under the sponsorship of new family boss and longtime friend John Gotti. Working out of Brooklyn and Ozone Park, Queens Trentacosta soon had convictions for armed robbery, bookmaking, burglary, receiving stolen property, trespassing, parole violations and criminal contempt in Brooklyn and Ozone Park, Queens. By the end of the decade, Trentacosta would be considered one of top earners in the family. His primary racket was a gasoline bootlegging that reportedly cost the U.S. government over $1 billion in lost tax revenues. [http://ganglandnews.com/column196.htm]

By the end of the decade, Trentacosta asked permission from the Gambino family to move to Atlanta, Georgia, to escape FBI attention. Trentacosta invested in real estate, a moving and storage company, and a nightclub. He and his second wife bought a luxurious home in Cumming, Georgia.

Moving South

In March, 1999, after the death of longtime caporegime Anthony "Fat Andy" Ruggiano, the Gambino family allegedly transferred Trentacosta to South Florida to lead Ruggiano's crew. Along with representatives of Leonard "Lenny" DiMaria, Trentacosta joined a crew that was conducting loansharking, extortion and bank fraud. The crew operated out of a pizzeria known as "Beachside Mario's" in Sunny Isles Beach, Florida. By 2000, Trentacosta had become the caporegime of the South Florida crew.

In 2001, Trentacosta was indicted on racketeering charges and sentenced to eight years in prison in April, 2002. As part of his plea bargain, Trentacosta admitted that he belonged to the Gambino family. [http://www.geocities.com/OrganizedCrimeSyndicates/GambinoFlorida.html] As of December 2007, Anthony Trentacosta, at age 67, is still in prison

See also

*Leonard "Lenny" DiMaria
*Gambino crime family

External links

*http://www.geocities.com/OrganizedCrimeSyndicates/GambinoFlorida.html
* [http://www.sptimes.com/News/092900/State/March_trial_set_in_te.shtml St. Petersburg Times]
*http://www.majorwager.com/forums/mess-hall/6812-mob-connection-gambling.html
*http://gangstersinc.tripod.com/News.html