Posted By: eddietheplumber
Adolfo"AL"Bruno - 11/26/03 03:31 PM
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. -- Adolfo "Al" Bruno, reputed to be one of Springfield's top organized crime figures, died in a hail of bullets hours before a chief rival was ordered jailed, leaving open who is in control of the local faction of the New York City-based Genovese crime family.
"In organized crime in Springfield, Mass., this is just one group connected to the Genovese family," said Michael O'Reilly, supervisory agent for the FBI. "There are others."
O'Reilly declined to speculate on who may seek to take over the underworld operation that traditionally has forged links both with New York and New England mob factions. He also declined to comment on Bruno's killing, saying the investigation was being handled by Springfield Police.
Springfield Detective Capt. William Noonan would not speculate about possible motives for the slaying. He said authorities did not know whether it was related to a power play for mob control or a personal grudge.
Bruno, 58, was fatally shot in the chin, neck, elbow, cheek and groin about 9:15 p.m. Sunday in the parking lot of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Society, where he often went on Sunday evenings to play cards, Noonan said.
He was getting into a sports utility vehicle with a male friend when another man called Bruno's name, Noonan said. As Bruno turned to answer, shots broke out and he fell, still clutching his cigar. He was pronounced dead at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield. No one else was injured.
Police were searching for the assailant.
Bruno rose to prominence after serving for decades as the quiet second-in-command to the late Francesco "Skyball" Scibelli, who died in 2000 at the age of 87. Along the way he amassed a long record of federal gambling-related charges, convictions and incarcerations.
In one of the few times Bruno faced state charges, he was acquitted of attempted murder and conspiracy in what prosecutors called a botched 1981 hit on a wayward associate of an upstate New York crime family. The man escaped after being shot five times at Bruno's brother's farm in Agawam.
An affable, bespectacled man, who frequented local health clubs and restaurants, Bruno raised eyebrows in the 1980s by sometimes playing racquetball against former Hampden County District Attorney Matthew Ryan.
But he was no stranger to gunfire.
In 1993, Bruno survived an assassination attempt at the Mount Carmel Society where two bullets were fired at him by a barber who told police that Bruno had punched him in a dispute over a debt. That time, Bruno was said to have been wearing a bulletproof vest. No charges ever were filed.
In court Monday, one of Bruno's chief rivals in Western Massachusetts, Anthony J. Delevo, 63, was ordered to serve three years in federal prison followed by five and one-half years probation. He was also fined $100,000.
Delevo was among 15 people who pleaded guilty in June to illegal gambling and loansharking operations blamed on organized crime. He admitted to one count each of racketeering conspiracy and money laundering for operating a street lottery and violating the terms of his probation on a prior racketeering conviction.
"In organized crime in Springfield, Mass., this is just one group connected to the Genovese family," said Michael O'Reilly, supervisory agent for the FBI. "There are others."
O'Reilly declined to speculate on who may seek to take over the underworld operation that traditionally has forged links both with New York and New England mob factions. He also declined to comment on Bruno's killing, saying the investigation was being handled by Springfield Police.
Springfield Detective Capt. William Noonan would not speculate about possible motives for the slaying. He said authorities did not know whether it was related to a power play for mob control or a personal grudge.
Bruno, 58, was fatally shot in the chin, neck, elbow, cheek and groin about 9:15 p.m. Sunday in the parking lot of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Society, where he often went on Sunday evenings to play cards, Noonan said.
He was getting into a sports utility vehicle with a male friend when another man called Bruno's name, Noonan said. As Bruno turned to answer, shots broke out and he fell, still clutching his cigar. He was pronounced dead at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield. No one else was injured.
Police were searching for the assailant.
Bruno rose to prominence after serving for decades as the quiet second-in-command to the late Francesco "Skyball" Scibelli, who died in 2000 at the age of 87. Along the way he amassed a long record of federal gambling-related charges, convictions and incarcerations.
In one of the few times Bruno faced state charges, he was acquitted of attempted murder and conspiracy in what prosecutors called a botched 1981 hit on a wayward associate of an upstate New York crime family. The man escaped after being shot five times at Bruno's brother's farm in Agawam.
An affable, bespectacled man, who frequented local health clubs and restaurants, Bruno raised eyebrows in the 1980s by sometimes playing racquetball against former Hampden County District Attorney Matthew Ryan.
But he was no stranger to gunfire.
In 1993, Bruno survived an assassination attempt at the Mount Carmel Society where two bullets were fired at him by a barber who told police that Bruno had punched him in a dispute over a debt. That time, Bruno was said to have been wearing a bulletproof vest. No charges ever were filed.
In court Monday, one of Bruno's chief rivals in Western Massachusetts, Anthony J. Delevo, 63, was ordered to serve three years in federal prison followed by five and one-half years probation. He was also fined $100,000.
Delevo was among 15 people who pleaded guilty in June to illegal gambling and loansharking operations blamed on organized crime. He admitted to one count each of racketeering conspiracy and money laundering for operating a street lottery and violating the terms of his probation on a prior racketeering conviction.