Dominick Napolitano

Police photo by Dominick Napolitano

Dominick Napolitano (born June 16, 1930 - August 17, 1981 ), aka Sonny Black, was an Italian-American mobster of the La Cosa Nostra in New York City . In the Bonanno family he held the position of a capo regime . His fate was his acquaintance with the undercover FBI agent Joseph Pistone , who, as Donnie Brasco, tried to penetrate the mafia through his " street crew " in order to uncover its structures. The events were portrayed in the 1997 film Donnie Brasco .

Life

Napolitano's grandparents were emigrants from Naples . He was blonde and his hair turned white in his forties. Because he dyed them black, he got the nickname "Sonny Black". He was a close friend of the later Bonanno boss Joseph Massino and the imprisoned boss Philip Rastelli . His cousin Carmine Napolitano (May 20, 1943 - February 15, 1999) was also active in the Mafia.

He had two sons, Peter and Aniello.

Napolitano was active in New York and Florida during his playing days. He once said to FBI agent Pistone:

The whole thing is how strong you are and how much power you got and how fucking mean you are - that's what makes you rise in the mob. Every day's a fucking struggle, because you don't know who's looking to knock you off, especially when you become a captain or boss. Every day, somebody's looking to dispose of you and take your position. You always got to be on your toes. Every fucking day is a scam day to keep your power and position.

“It's all about how strong you are, how much power you have and how damn lousy you are - that helps you rise in the mafia. Every day is a bloody fight because you never know who's going to blow you away, especially if you're a captain (meaning Caporegime ) or a boss. Every day someone wants to get rid of you and take your position. You have to be on your guard every day, every damn day is a challenge "

- Dominic Napolitano

Ascent

1973 Napolitano became "Soldato" with Michael Sabella , who belonged to the Mafia family Bonanno . He served himself up, took part in the murder of the powerful Carmine "The Cigar" Galante and was promoted to capo in gratitude . Sabella became his subordinate. He became a close confidante of Phillip "Rusty" Rastelli, a power struggle broke out within the family between the supporters of Rastellis, who were born in the USA, and the so-called Zips , Sicilian immigrants around Alphonse "Sonny Red" Indelicato .

Napolitano and Joseph Massino were loyal to Rastelli. In 1981 the Capo Joseph Massino had heard from informants that the Capos Alphonse Indelicato, Dominic "Big Trin" Trincera and Philip "Phil Lucky" Giaccone had obtained automatic weapons. This aroused the suspicion that they wanted to eliminate the Rastelli supporters and seize power. Massino turned to the boss of the Colombo family Carmine "Junior" Persico and the boss of the Gambino family Paul Castellano for advice. They asked him to act immediately. Massino and Dominic Napolitano turned to the "Commission", the highest instance of the US Mafia, to obtain approval to murder the conspirators. This was absolutely necessary if one wanted to murder full members of the Mafia. The "Commission" approved the project.

Massino and Napolitano invited the three conspirators to a meeting to discuss the family's future. When this appeared on May 5, 1981 with Frank Lino, Sal Vitale, Vito Rizzuto and Napolitano jumped out of a cupboard with pistols and shotguns and opened fire. Lino escaped. Indelicato's son Anthony "Bruno" Indelicato had also been invited, but he stayed away from the meeting. The assassination attempt was described in the press as the "Three Capos Murder".

Napolitano ran a tennis club, a night club and an illegal casino. Napolitano had to earn money as the head of a crew and regularly committed the following crimes: burglary, robbery, robbery extortion, bank robbery, robbery on trucks, usurious credit business, bookmaking, illegal gambling, drug trafficking. His crew was one of the most successful of the Bonannos. His crew included: Benjamin "Lefty" Ruggiero , Nicholas Santora , Louis Attanasio , John Cersani, Jerome Asaro, Sandro Asaro, John Faraci, Daniel Mangelli, Robert Lino, Frank Lino , Richard Riccardi, Joseph Grimaldi, Nicholas Accardi, Peter Rosa, Patrick DeFillipo , Michael Mancuso, Vito Grimaldi, Anthony Urso , James Tartaglione, Joseph Cammarano , John Zancocchio , Edward Barberra, Frankie Fish, Bobby Badheart, Bobby Smash and the former capo Michael Sabella, Joseph Puma , Steven Maruca, Salvatore Farrugia, Anthony Pesiri , Antonio Tomasulo , Anthony Rabito, Raymond Wean , Frank DiStefano, Salvatore D'Ottavio, James Episcopa and the undercover agent "Donnie Brasco".

reputation

Napolitano was a feared killer who had a good and loyal reputation within his team because he is said to have always stood in front of his "employees". Pistone describes him as a disciplined man who displayed good manners in public and who could occasionally forget that he was a professional criminal .

Operation Donnie Brasco

Joseph Pistone managed to become an associate with Napolitano's crew and he developed a close friendship with him and Ruggiero. Napolitano respected him so much that he wanted to make him a full member ( Made Man ) of the Mafia. That would have made Pistone the first undercover agent to break into the mafia hierarchy that far.

However - besides the purely Italian descent the Pistone had - the commission of contract killing was also one of the conditions of admission. As an FBI agent, such an act was of course impossible for Brasco.

Napolitano initially asked Pistone to murder the gangster Phillip Giaccone during his stay in Florida . This job was canceled and Pistone was supposed to kill Indelicato's son Bruno instead .

Pistone could not refuse the murder order and the FBI feared for the life of Pistone himself, broke off the operation and Pistone (alias Brasco) went into hiding on July 26, 1981. FBI agents then informed Napolitano of Pistone's real identity two days later.

The circumstances were portrayed in the 1997 film Donnie Brasco .

death

Bringing in an FBI agent ultimately meant the death sentence for Napolitano. His alleged ignorance did not play a role either. He was summoned to a meeting of Bonanno Associate Ron Filocomo in the Brooklyn Flatlands . He must have suspected that he would be killed and gave a friend of his bartenders his jewelry and the key to his apartment with the request that he take care of his pigeons.

The Bonanno Capo Frank Lino and Steven Cannone drove Napolitano to the Filocomos house. There he was pushed down the stairs to the basement and shot twice. After the first shot, he is said to have said, "Shoot me again and do it well this time". He is said to have told his girlfriend Judy before he was murdered that he was not angry with Pistone, he had "only done his job".

On August 12, 1982, police found a decomposed body with its hands chopped off. The identity of Napolitano was established on the basis of dental examinations. However, doubts about the investigation later arose.

In 2003 Joseph Massino was arrested and charged with murder in the Napolitanos case. In 2006, Frank Lino and Frank Coppa testified in detail about the Napolitanos murder.

Dominic "Sonny Black" Napolitano was buried in Calvary Cemetery (Queens) .

Representation in art

In the film Donnie Brasco , "Sonny Black" is portrayed by Michael Madsen . The film sticks closely to the reports of the real "Donnie Brasco". However, he takes some artistic liberties: The film suggests that Lefty will be murdered and leave his jewelry behind, in reality "Lefty" survived and Napolitano was murdered.

The German rapper Bushido used "Sonny Black" as a pseudonym and named his twelfth album after it.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Anthony M. DeStefano: King of the Godfathers . Up on the Roof, p. 106 .
2. ↑ James Bone: Mafia film sequel is played out in court . In: The Times . London May 29, 2004 ( timesonline.co.uk ).
3. ↑ Anthony M. DeStefano: King of the Godfathers. Kensington Publishing, 2008, ISBN 978-0-8065-3309-4 , p. 247 ( limited preview in Google Book Search).

bibliography

• Simon Crittle: The Last Godfather: The Rise and Fall of Joey Massino. Berkley 2006, ISBN 0-425-20939-3 .
• Anthony DeStefano: The Last Godfather: Joey Massino & the Fall of the Bonanno Crime Family. Citadel, California 2006.
• James Morton: East End Gangland & Gangland International Omnibus. Chapter: "Florida"
• Joseph Pistone: Donnie Brasco: My Undercover Life in the Mafia . Random House Value Publishing, 1990, ISBN 5-552-53129-9 .
• Joseph D. Pistone, Charles Brandt: Donnie Brasco: Unfinished Business. Running Press 2007, ISBN 978-0-7624-2707-9 .
• Selwyn Raab: Five Families: The Rise, Decline, and Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empires. St. Martin Press, New York 2005, ISBN 0-312-30094-8 .

Web links

• An Archetypal Mob Trial: It's Just Like in the Movies . In: The New York Times . May 23, 2004.
• Dominic (Sonny Black) Napolitano at Find A Grave