Paul Castellano

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Police photo by Paul Castellano

Constantino Paul Castellano (born June 20, 1915 in Brooklyn , † December 16, 1985 in Manhattan ) was a high-ranking mobster in New York City and head of the Gambino family .

Life

Early years

Castellano was born in Brooklyn in 1915 to Giuseppe Castellano and Concetta (née Casatu). Giuseppe was a butcher and a member of the "Mangano family" gang, the forerunners of the Gambino family.

Castellano's sister Kathryn was married to Carlo Gambino . His criminal career began in Brooklyn . In 1934 he was imprisoned for the first time for an armed robbery. He did not betray his two accomplices and served a 3 month prison sentence on his own, which significantly increased his reputation in his criminal environment.

In the 1970s, Carlo Gambino's health deteriorated and he built up his brother-in-law and cousin Paul Castellano as his successor, against the more senior and - from the point of view of the traditionalists of the family - more suitable Aniello Dellacroce . This split the clan and a Brooklyn and a Manhattan faction faced each other. While the Brooklyn faction leaned towards Castellano, the Manhattan faction drew Dellacroce. Both parts also followed a different strategy. While the Brooklyn faction was more prone to white-collar crime , which was highly profitable but less under pressure from the state, Dellacroc's faction engaged in the usual criminal activities such as drug trafficking, illegal prostitution, and gambling. Castellano's strategy ultimately reflected the method already practiced by Gambino of investing illegal money in apparently legal businesses. In this way, his family particularly dominated the meat trade in the city.

After the death of Carlo Gambino on October 18, 1976, Castellano became the new head of the Gambino clan. Dellacroce and his henchman John Gotti reluctantly agreed.

The split in the family

The Cosa Nostra in New York was never on moral grounds against the trafficking of heroin or cocaine before but many old Mafiosi of the caliber Castellanos feared the rising pressure of persecution by the authorities and the impact within the organization itself. In addition, Mafia bosses had the stamp Castellanos their business and social activities partially legalized and turned into criminal businessmen. The local streetcrews did not benefit from these deals, and discontent spread among the ordinary members; especially since bosses like Castellano in return did not waive their share of the profits on the part of the members, but prohibited them from the lucrative drug business and left them to the Sicilian Cosa Nostra - against profit sharing ( Pizza Connection ).

In the early 1980s, therefore, especially with John Gotti, who belonged to the faction of the underboss Dellacroce, tensions increased. Gotti and those around him rated Castellano's behavior as greedy and selfish. In addition, several members of the Dellacroce group had entered the drug trade despite the ban. Among these people, in addition to Angelo Ruggiero , was Gotti's brother Gene Gotti . Castellano's authority was thus called into question. But his support in the Manhattan faction also waned more and more, since its simple members had also long since entered the drug trade. Castellano was able to hold out, however, because the heads of the other four New York families also did excellent business because of him; Dellacroce also held back his people because he did not want a gang war.

When FBI wiretaps in 1983 linked thirteen members of the Gambino family to drug deals, the problem came to a head. The FBI had intercepted phone calls from Angelo Ruggiero, which also incriminated John Gotti and his brother Gene Gotti . Castellano pressed for access to the recordings in order to enforce his ban on drug trafficking, if necessary, and to enforce his authority. Attempts Ruggieros and John Gottis to dissuade Castellano from this with Dellacroce succeeded in 1984 and 1985, but ultimately failed because of Dellacroce's advanced cancer. In 1985 it became known that Castellano had been bugged for a long time by the FBI; He was now seen by many Mafiosi themselves as a risk factor, as it was feared that he could negotiate a deal with the public prosecutor under Rudolph Giuliani . In February 1985, Castellano was one of the defendants in the Mafia Commission Trial .

The point that escalated the conflict was the death of Deputy Dellacroce, who succumbed to cancer on December 2, 1985 and until then had had a moderating effect on Gotti, as he kept reminding Gotti of his obligation to be the head Subordinate to Castellano.

Castellano made the first serious mistake when he stayed away from the funeral of his deputy Dellacroce, probably out of fear of an assassination attempt. But this was seen as a lack of respect not only by many members of the Gambino family, but also by various high-ranking people from other New York families . John Gotti realized that now nobody would stand in front of Castellano anymore. In view of the alleged imminent danger that Castellano would now proceed against the remains of the Dellacroce Gotti crew - his absence was an indication of this - Gotti now decided to take the initiative himself and planned to get rid of his boss.

attack

On December 16, Castellano and his new underboss Thomas Bilotti were shot by four men in front of the Sparks Steak House in Manhattan , where he presumably wanted to meet John Gotti that day for a discussion. Frank DeCicco and James Failla were already in the restaurant ; they may not have been privy to the murder plot. Armond Dellacroce , brother of the late Aniello Dellacroce, may also have been present in the restaurant.

The entire team that was involved in this attack probably consisted of eleven men (including the main client John Gotti), with Gravano and Gotti watching the crime from a car. The actual four-man hit team probably consisted of Vincent Artuso , Salvatore "Fat Sally" Scala , Edward Lino and John Carneglia . Dominick Pizzonia , Angelo Ruggiero , Joseph Watts , Richard “The Iceman” Kuklinski and Anthony “Tony Roach” Rampino were probably ready to support any problems . Police sources suspect Carneglia fired the fatal shots at Castellano while Rampino murdered Thomas Bilotti. Both victims were hit by six bullets each. The murder went down in criminal history as the “steakhouse massacre”.

In the case of James Failla in particular, his level of involvement is controversial, as his presence in the restaurant is seen by some as active involvement while others assume he was unwittingly served as a decoy. Witnesses testified that DeCicco and Failla ran out of the restaurant after the shots and Failla even tried to feel Castellano's pulse .

As a member of the Brooklyn faction, at least Failla was not a member of the discontented Manhattan faction; The thesis that he was rather involved with Daniel “Danny” Marino in the later assassinations of Gotti and DeCicco - in collaboration with the Genovese family - seems more credible , since neither of them had agreed to the murder of Castellano. The murder of Gotti would have made Failla the new boss of the Gambino family at this point.

estate

John Gotti, who had the backing of influential family capos like Salvatore Gravano , has now been unanimously chosen as Castellano's successor. The old Consigliere Castellanos, Joseph N. Gallo , was deposed because he himself had had ambitions for the post of head. Gotti had dismissed this request succinctly:

“Joe, you ain't no Pauli. (Paul Castellano) ”

"Joe, you are not a Pauli."

- John Gotti

Gotti made DeCicco his underboss and Gravano his consigliere, since both were involved in the assassination; he promoted his brother Gene to " Capo decina ".

On June 24, 1992 Gotti was sentenced to life imprisonment with no possibility of pardon in a federal prison, among other things for the murder of Paul Castellano. Gotti could be convicted because his consigliere Gravano had made a comprehensive confession.

Movies and movie quotes

The following actors portrayed Castellano in the films mentioned:

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Maas, Peter . Underboss: Sammy the Bull Gravano's Story of Life in the Mafia. New York City : HarperCollins , 1996. ISBN 978-0-06-093096-7 .
  2. ↑ a b Gambino family on www.oocities.org (English)

Web links

literature

  • O'Brien, Joseph F. and Kurins, Andris: Boss of Bosses: The Fall of the Godfather: The FBI and Paul Castellano. Simon & Schuster, New York 1991, ISBN 0-671-71541-0 , German: Honorable Men, 1992
predecessor Office successor
Carlo Gambino Head of the
" Gambino family " of the American Cosa Nostra
1976 - 1985 		John Gotti
personal data
SURNAME Castellano, Paul
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Castellano, Constantino Paul (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American criminal and mafioso
DATE OF BIRTH June 20, 1915
PLACE OF BIRTH Brooklyn
DATE OF DEATH December 16, 1985
Place of death Manhattan