Nicholas Santora
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Nicholas Santora | |
|---|---|
| Born | June 21, 1942 |
| Died | October 27, 2018 (aged 76) |
| Occupation | Mobster |
| Allegiance | Bonanno crime family |
| Conviction | Racketeering conspiracy (1982) |
| Criminal penalty | 15 years' imprisonment |
Nicholas Angelo "Nicky Mouth" Santora (June 21, 1942 – October 27, 2018) was the reputed underboss of the Bonanno crime family.[1]
Biography
Early life
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Nicholas Santora was born on June 21, 1942, and became known in his teens as a tough
Santora became involved with the Bonanno family while boss
By 1978, Rastelli had heard rumors of Carmine Galante being the new boss of the Bonannos, but would not tolerate it. Another
On July 12, 1979, Carmine Galante was murdered just as he finished eating lunch at Joe and Mary's Italian-American Restaurant in
After the Galante execution, several Galante supporters, including Michael Sabella, were demoted, as Trinchera, Massino, Napolitano and Bonventre were all promoted to captains of the Bonanno crime family. It is suspected his death was arranged by the heads of the other Five Families in New York, who had decided Galante's greed and ambition over the control of the multimillion-dollar heroin business were a threat to all their interests. Philip "Rusty" Rastelli was also involved and remained boss of the Bonannos.
With Dominick "Sonny Black" Napolitano as capo,
Napolitano, after three years of work in
The three capos murder
| This section needs additional citations for verification. (June 2021) |
Some of the clubs in Florida were eventually shut down due to local police and more pressure on organized crime. Eventually, they got back to New York, where the rival Indelicato faction had grown larger and more powerful.[
According to FBI agent Joseph D. Pistone, the murderers involved in the assassination of Indelicato were Nicholas Santora, "Sonny Black" Napolitano, John Cersani, Joseph Massino, Salvatore Vitale, Joseph DeSimone, Vito Rizzuto, Louis Giongetti, Santo Giordano, and Gerlando Sciascia.[citation needed] Benjamin "Lefty" Ruggiero and John Cersani were lookouts, and sent in after to clean up the massacre and dispose of the bodies along with Santora, Dominick Napolitano, James Episcopia, and Robert Caposio.[citation needed]
Operation Donnie Brasco
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Anthony Indelicato went into hiding after the three capo slayings. Santora took over The Motion Lounge crew, and Napolitano was promoted to "street boss" for Philip Rastelli, who was still incarcerated. Brasco's FBI operation ended when Napolitano ordered the murder of Anthony Indelicato and gave the contract to Donnie Brasco, in order to make him a made man in the Bonanno family.
It was revealed days later that Donnie Brasco was really Joseph D. Pistone, an undercover agent for the FBI. Pistone had spent six years undercover. The order came down shortly after to kill Napolitano for having allowed such a breach in Mafia security. On August 17, 1981, Napolitano was asked to come to the basement of Bonanno associate Ron Filocomo in Flatlands, Brooklyn, where he was ambushed by Filocomo and capo Frank Lino, both of whom shot him to death. The contract came from Santora and Joseph Massino, on behalf of Rastelli.
Family regrouping
Santora became capo of Napolitano's old crew and Rastelli was released from prison, but Santora was soon put under indictment due to the testimony provided by Pistone. A total of 100 Bonanno crime family mobsters would be tried and convicted, including Rastelli and Anthony Indelicato, who were both found guilty of racketeering and the murder of Carmine Galante along with nine other Mafia associates in the infamous Mafia Commission Trial in 1986.
In November 1982, Santora, along with "Lefty" Ruggiero,
Upon Santora's release in 1992, he created a partnership with newly promoted Bonanno acting consigliere, Anthony Rabito, in extortion, loansharking, illegal gambling,
In 2000, longtime Bonanno family consigliere,
The indictments were also released against capos Anthony "Tony Green" Urso and James "Big Lou" Tartaglione, who secretly agreed to wear a wire, and turn government witness. As Santora kept flying under the radar with Anthony Rabito, underboss Salvatore Vitale turned informant as the two capos handed him out in murder and racketeering charges, and with Joseph Massino on trial in March, 2004, the government put capos Michael "Mikey Nose" Mancuso and Vincent "Vinny Gorgeous" Basciano on trial for racketeering charges, which included murder and conspiracy.
Massino turns informant
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In October 2004, the FBI began to dig up bodies at an infamous mob graveyard in Queens, known as "The Hole". They were looking for the bodies of three capos killed in the Bonanno family war in 1981. They found the bodies of Philip Giaccone and Dominick Trinchera. On February 4, 2005, the name of an informant was released to the press; Joseph Massino, who hoped to save his life and his assets, as he began to cooperate sometime in late September 2004, recording conversations with acting boss, Vincent Basciano, who was also convicted and jailed in July 2007.
Despite the testimony of Joseph Massino in 2005, Santora managed not to be noticed by the government until he was indicted along with Anthony Rabito, and 17 other members of the Bonanno family, in a loansharking and illegal gambling operation that was stretching from Brooklyn to Queens, Manhattan and Staten Island, which earned $210,000 a week from January 2003 to July 2004. This was mostly because of the death of Bonanno family capo Louis Mele, who died of natural causes in a room where an illegal gambling operation was based.
Underboss
From 2004 to February 13, 2007, Santora was the reputed underboss of the Bonanno crime family. Vincent Basciano remains the reputed boss of the Bonannos, with Anthony Rabito as consigliere and Salvatore "Sal the Iron Worker" Montagna as acting boss, reporting to Basciano in prison. Nicholas Santora was released from the Loretto Federal Correctional Institute in southwest Pennsylvania on September 16, 2009. Since Santora's mistrial in 2016, he had been living with his daughter in Franklin Square, New York. Nicholas Santora died on October 27, 2018, at the age of 76, while awaiting a new trial.[1]
In popular culture
Nicholas Santora is portrayed as "Nicky", by Bruno Kirby in the 1997 film Donnie Brasco, which follows the life of undercover agent Joseph D. Pistone, from 1978 to 1981. The character "Nicky" was shot and killed in the movie, whereas Santora in reality was not.
Nicholas Santora's younger brother "Tommy Santora" played the "Attacker" in the 1979 film The Driller Killer, directed by Abel Ferrara.
References
- ^ a b Batesville, Inc. "Obituary for Nicholas A. Santora at Franklin Funeral Home, Inc". www.franklinfuneralhome.net.
{{cite web}}:|first=has generic name (help) - ^ "CNN.com - Remains of Mafia captains identified - Dec 21, 2004". edition.cnn.com.
- ^ "6 GET JAIL TERMS IN RACKETS CASE TIED TO MOBSTERS". The New York Times. November 16, 1982.
- ISBN 9781101154069. Retrieved 2018-05-16.
Further reading
- DeStefano, Anthony. The Last Godfather: Joey Massino & the Fall of the Bonanno Crime Family. California: Citadel, 2006.
- Raab, Selwyn. The Five Families: The Rise, Decline & Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empire. New York: St. Martins Press, 2005.
- Diehl, Christine S. "WP Has a Sit-Down With Joe Pistone/Donnie Brasco", WP, The Magazine of William Paterson University, Vol. 7, No. 1, Winter 2006.
- Pistone, Joseph D.; & Woodley, Richard (1999) ISBN 0-340-66637-4.
- Pistone, Joseph D. (2004). The Way of the Wiseguy, Running Press. ISBN 0-7624-1839-7.
- Pistone, Joseph D.; & ISBN 0-7624-2707-8.
- Testimony before Senate Sub Committee on Organized Crime Rick Porrello's AmericanMafia.com - Testimony of Joseph D. Pistone
External links
- DOJ Press Release PRESS RELEASE BONANNO FAMILY ACTING UNDERBOSS, ACTING CONSIGLIERE AND 17 CAPOS, SOLDIERS, AND ASSOCIATES INDICTED FOR RACKETEERING, RACKETEERING CONSPIRACY, AND OTHER CHARGES
- Slate: Dispatches From a Mob Trial - Where the bodies are hidden by Dan Ackman
- UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v. JOSEPH MASSINO and SALVATORE VITALE Archived 2007-11-30 at the Wayback Machine
- New York Post: Mobster Cashes in his Chips by STEFANIE COHEN
- New York Times, May 23 2004 An Archetypal Mob Trial: It's Just Like in the Movies
- CBSNews.com, July 30 2004 New York's 'Last Don' Convicted
- New York Times October 13 2004 Skeletal Remains Are Believed to Be Those of Mob Captains by WILLIAM K. RASHBAUM
