TIME: Almanac 1993/TIME Almanac 1993.iso/time/112591/1125201.000

Text File | 1992-08-28 | 5.8 KB | 117 lines

                                                                                BUSINESS, Page 66

ORGANIZED CRIME

An Offer They Can't Refuse


Weakened by turncoats and convictions, Mob families are
considering a strategic solution: the merger

By RICHARD BEHAR


    Omerta. The code of silence for a sacred brotherhood.
Well, fuhgedaboudit. Every time you turn around lately, a member
of the Mafia is turning around: testifying at a trial, wearing a
bug, writing a book. Whatever life omerta had left in its
blood-drained body ebbed away last week with the stunning
disclosure that Salvatore (Sammy Bull) Gravano, the most trusted
adviser to reputed Gambino boss John Gotti, has become the
Federal Government's latest protected flipster. If juries find
him believable, Gravano could obliterate the entire hierarchy
of the Gambinos, New York City's largest crime family with more
than 400 members and thousands of associates. "I think that in
all likelihood it's over for Gotti," exclaims Robert Morgenthau,
Manhattan's district attorney.

    For La Cosa Nostra as a whole, Gravano's decision is the
latest blow in a decade's worth of prosecutions and internal
backstabbings. While some experts foresee the Mob's impending
collapse, the situation may be more akin to the wave of
turbulence and consolidation facing the legitimate side of U.S.
industry. Four of the five New York families that dominate the
national network are in such disarray that "there is talk of
mergers and acquisitions," says William Doran, who runs the
FBI's criminal division in New York. The fireworks may produce
unusual new alliances, but Doran declares that the Mafia in
America is "not even close to dying."

    Even so, Mob leaders will have to contend with an
increasingly disloyal work force. Gravano, 46, had been
scheduled to go on trial in January, along with Gotti, on 11
counts of murder and racketeering. Instead the brash and
big-necked underboss is expected to provide a wealth of secrets
about the Gambino family's businesses. Gravano was the Dapper
Don's "ambassador" to New York City's $10 billion-a-year
construction industry and was in a position to know about the
group's ties to food distribution, the garment trade and waste
hauling. "Never in a million years did I dream that Sammy would
turn," says ex-hit man Nicholas (the Crow) Caramandi, who is now
a protected federal witness. "He and Gotti rose up together.
They were very close. This is a shock to me."

    Caramandi can take some of the credit for Gravano's
turning canary. Caramandi's defection in 1987 helped lead in
turn to the flipping of Philadelphia underboss Philip (Crazy
Phil) Leonetti, who was scheduled to testify in the January
trial against Gotti and Gravano. According to a five-page
debriefing obtained by TIME, Leonetti told federal agents in
late 1989 about the 1981 Valentine's Day murder of gangster
Frank Stillitano, whose body had been found in the trunk of a
rental car. Leonetti said members of the Philadelphia crime
family had met with Gravano and other Gambino mobsters at
Bally's Park Place Casino in Atlantic City, where they reached
an agreement that the Philadelphia group would kill Stillitano
as a favor to the New York faction. After the rubout, Leonetti
and his pals visited Gravano at his home on Staten Island, where
Gravano thanked them for a job well done, according to the
debriefing. While Gravano hasn't been charged in that case,
Leonetti's promised testimony, along with wiretap evidence of
other crimes, may have been what sent Sammy Bull running for
protection.

    The Mafia groups that have been hurt the most by turncoats
and prosecutions are the Colombo and Bonanno families, each
with about 100 members. These groups have historically been
"the weakest, most violent, most reckless and easiest to
catch," and they may be looking to merge, says Joseph Coffey,
a top investigator with the New York State organized crime task
force. The combination would probably amount to a hostile
takeover, since two Colombo factions are said to be on the brink
of a major gangland war. When the Colombos aren't bickering,
they're active in businesses ranging from loan-sharking to air
freight and liquor distribution. Meanwhile in the Bo nanno clan,
reputed boss Joseph Massina, 48, is serving a 10-year sentence
for racketeering. His brother-in-law is reportedly trying to
keep alive the gang's main trade, nationwide drug trafficking,
despite a supposed Mafia narcotics ban.

    The Lucchese family (members: 125) suffered three
leadership changes this year alone. One boss was jailed, while
another, Alphonse D'Arco, fearing an internal assassination, has
been singing to the feds. An underboss is on the lam, and a
450-lb. caporegime who survived 12 bullet wounds in a rubout
attempt last summer has become a government witness. Like the
Colombos, the family is now split into two factions. Before
Gravano's defection last week, the Gambinos were rumored to be
considering a takeover of the floundering Luccheses, whose
talents include garbage hauling and stolen-car rings.

    The 300-member Genovese family remains the richest, most
powerful and least damaged crime group. Experts believe Vincent
(Chin) Gigante is still the boss, even though last March a court
found him mentally unfit to stand trial. Gigante suffered a blow
in October when his talented underboss, Venero (Benny Eggs)
Mangano, was convicted of extortion in the window-replacement
industry. And federal racket busters have weakened the family's
hold on such labor unions as the Teamsters and Longshoremen. But
the Genovese gang remains a sturdy symbol of the Mafia's grip
on society. As investigator Coffey puts it, "The Mob will never
be finished as long as there's a dollar to be made." They'll
just be talking about it more.