Craig Depalma

I'm just curious as to why he attempted suicide in prison. I know he ratted but wasn't he only doing like 7 years? Or was that after he made a deal with the feds? I never read that fat agent Garcia's book so I am really not too familiar with the Depalmas. Thanks.

Craig was the son of Greg DePalma and although he didn't actually testify against anyone he considered it or had a meetig of sone sort, the father then allegedly passéd him a message to the effect that he was extremely disappointed In him

Wow. That's all it took? I bet Greg regretted that message. Sad situation.

And lets just say that's the understatement of the farking century.

Greg wasnt a very understanding guy.

I wonder if Greg said he was going to kill Craig or something. It had to be something off the wall to force Craig to try to hang himself...

You're reading way too much into it. That kid just wanted to please his father from when he was a little boy. That's why he let himself get dragged into a life he wasn't cut out for. Greg used to dismiss the older son Michael as being soft and whatnot. But Michael had a thicker skin. Good for him.

Craig wanted to be the tough, dutiful son and please his father. And again, he just wasn't cut out for the life. When he heard that Greg was "heartbroken" over his proffer session, the poor kid tried to off himself. And I don't believe Greg was heartbroken anyway, he'd need a heart for that.

At any rate, there was no coded message to take his life like Frankie Pentangeli or anything theatrical like that. But there was a message: Testify and you're not my son anymore. How would you feel?

Poor Craig. Poor, poor Craig .

I agree 100%. It was a sad, fucked up ending for Craig. I just can't relate because I think my pops is a loser. It was just really crazy to me that he would do that. I didn't know if he did it because he didn't want to do the time ( which really wasn't that much time in the long run considering he was OC) or because he couldn't live with letting his father down. But thanks for clarifying that for me PB.

It was a proffer session. Nothing more, nothing less. It's a tool. Junior Gotti had them back then too, and no one said fucking boo. And today those sessions are part of the game because plea bargains have become so common with wiseguys. Frankly, the plea bargain is one of the things allowing them to survive. This isn't Sicily.

Now I'm not implying that Craig wasn't ever going to rat, maybe he would have. But back then it was just a proffer session. He couldn't live with the guilt his father dumped on him. In my opinion it's as simple as that.

PB, it wasn't in a proffer session it was in the grand jury.

WISEGUY: WE KEEP IT IN THE ‘FAMILY’
By Carl CampanileDecember 11, 2004 | 5:00am
A mob turncoat said yesterday his old Brooklyn neighborhoods of Bensonhurst and Dyker Heights were above the law because they are filled with “wiseguys” who settle turf disputes by themselves.
The claim was made by former Gambino captain Mike “Mikey Scars” DiLeonardo, during testimony in the trial against Peter Gotti in Manhattan federal court.
“Our neighborhood is all wiseguys,” DiLeonardo said during cross-examination by Gotti lawyer Joseph Bondy.
“What neighborhood is that?” Bondy asked.
“Bensonhurst and Dyker Heights,” DiLeonardo said. “We don’t call the cops. We take care of our own. In our neighborhood if anyone is victimized, wiseguys stand up, champion the cause of others.”
Meanwhile, DiLeonardo said the clan was responsible for “pushing” Gambino soldier Craig DePalma to commit suicide, not him.
DePalma testified in a grand jury proceeding in an Atlanta case against DiLeonardo. But DiLeonardo said DePalma’s statement helped him, and the witness did not testify in the actual trial that resulted in his acquittal.
DiLeonardo said he told the Gambino leadership not to punish DiPalma, who was imprisoned on other charges. But fearing retribution, DePalma grew depressed and hanged himself in a jail cell.
http://nypost.com/2004/12/11/wiseguy-we-keep-it-in-the-family/

It was after the initial proffer session that Greg sent him the message in Atlanta. And it's true that Craig spoke to the grand jury but he eventually changed his testimony, so it wouldn't have been admissible.

He thought about ratting and he changed his mind. His father dumped a shitload of guilt on him and he tried to hang himself. And I already stated that it's possible that he would have eventually flipped anyway. But at the time of his suicide attempt, his grand jury testimony had already been retracted.

I've posted about that kid a hundred times here over the years, and it always comes down to my main point: His prick father pushed him into a life he wasn't cut out for.

Sorry for all these questions. Didn't John Gotti Sr sponsor Craig for membership and wasn't he made and placed in Gotti Jr's crew? Why didn't Greg sponsor him and put him in his crew? Was Craig close with Jr.? Do you know who was made with him? I believe he was made just before Gotti Sr went away in December 1990.

John Sr. made Craig right around that time period. A few Bronx guys got their buttons right around the time Gotti Sr. went away. Craig, Nicky LaSorsa and a couple other guys.

Craig ended up in Junior's crew, but he was around his father all the time. They had the strip joint on Conner Street and Boston Road at that time and I don't think Junior ever stepped foot in that place. If he did, it wasn't often because I would have remembered that. That place was Craig's headquarters for most of his "career" on the street.

Point is, even though Craig was technically in Junior's crew, he was in the Bronx with his father's people ninety percent of the time. When they stick someone's son in another soldier's crew it's usually just for appearances, to avoid accusations of nepotism and whatnot.

Thank you PB!

My pleasure, Buddy .

kinda read a lot about this kid his father was in our most written about threads. he was first with nino gagi and kinda with demeo. there that famous quote he talks his mouth over the parking lot or some shit. he had all them pics of him and the Colombo cosig rich fosco with the rat pack. pizza I'm remember reading his son was made by Joe acuri and jimmy brown rite after gotti got arrested I think he taped them 2 to run the family before he put his son.and the panel. but anyways they asked the kid Craig do you know why your here during his making ceromony and he said yes and the 2 old timers chuckled. his father would tell the story. I think the last guys gotti made was Dom cefulo and others guess the nite Eddie lino got murder by the mafia cops he was in route to a ceremony that got nixed. then gotti went to jail couple weeks later.

its kinda fucked the feds leaked to the press about john jrs proffer session were he would only tell on danny Marino and his guys an Joe watts. the leak was rite in between his Rico trial 8 yrs ago. then in sonny franses trial they brought up the gambinos Howard beach or ozone park crew asked him how he felt if Jr. got hit. sonny got a lot of respect rite till his 90tys bday. you heard how Vinny gorgeous thought the world of him and he must have been a hard guy to impress.

Could be, pmac. But I was just speaking of the Bronx crew. Craig and Nicky LaSorsa were two of the last Bronx guys that got made on Gotti's watch. As far as who presided over the ceremony, it could have been Jimmy Brown and/or Joe Arcuri because those guys were active well into old age and they were both on the street at that time.

PB who's in charge of Greg DePalma's Bronx crew now?

An Asian guy named Wo Fat.

Pizza interesting what you say about depalma's kid not being cut out. What do you think of Jr? Cut out for it or not? I tend to think he was but he had a change of heart. Say what you want about him but he went through 4 trials and got out relatively unscathed. Alot of guys have folded under alot less pressure.

Everybody seems to conveniently forget that Junior did almost ten years. He's another guy who got pushed into the life, although when he was younger he definitely had some thug in him. Craig didn't.

And to be fair to Craig, he did a bit back in the '90s that wasn't highly publicized. About two years if I remember correctly. He came home and got violated for leaving his house to get ice cream at a local Friendly's. He had the electronic tracker on his foot at the time. He was a good kid, but that right there speaks volumes. And when he hung himself, he had been in lockup for a few years already.

My point is, Craig and Junior did more time than most people who post on message boards, so it's really easy to throw stones when you've never heard that iron door slam shut on you. And just for the record, I'm NOT singling anyone out on this board .

Fair enough. Thanks PB. Just curious as to why he did what he did, that's all.

Ha!

Lol, you are most definetly right about that. I only did 7 months of a year in NY upstate and I know I never want to go back to that piss hole again....

I used to drive a guy to work who was sentenced to some kind of 'day release' program where he sleeps in jail but gets released to work during the day. He looked like he wanted to kill himself every morning.

just csn't kill that guy...

And he got out for a few hours a day .

Good point which should be reiterated.

Everybody loves to shit on Jnr. From john Alite to random internet posters who love to label him a pussy and faux tough guy living off his fathers rep. But he stood up through 10yrs behind bars and 4 trials that would've sent him away for LIFE. And never even came close to flipping.

Say what you want about the Gotti's not being the sharpest tools in the shed but that family has done ALOT of time and every one stood up.

That's saying a lot in this day and age and considering some of their sentences.

What exactly is a proffer session? I've heard a lot of big time guys have had them... Just curious to know exactly what it entails and am too lazy to google it...

Pizzaboy! Check your email.. Maybe you didn't respond cause you were busy playing bingo at the old folks home! Just fucking with you..

How old was depalmas son when he was made?

Craig was closer to my brother's age than mine. They played football together up in Eastchester in a private league back in the early '80s. I'm four years older than my brother, and I think my brother was three or four years older than Craig. So Craig was probably born in 1966, maybe even 1967.

He got made in late '90 or early '91, so figure he was right around 24 years old when he got straightened out. And that's young for a guy who's cut out for the life, let alone a kid like that who grew up in Scarsdale. He really was a great kid. It's such a shame.

PB, let's not forget that Craig was part of the Tangelwood Boys, who were in their own right a bunch of troublemakers and criminals.
http://nymag.com/nymetro/news/crimelaw/features/2527/

I could be wrong but I don't think Craig was entrenched with them

Craig was NEVER a part of that group. Ever. He grew up in the Northeast Yonkers/Scarsdale area and went to high school with some of those kids. He was friendly with them. But he was never one of them.

That NY Magazine article is one of the biggest piles of horseshit I've ever read. I rarely go this in depth on the boards, but the Mazzarellas sold them that bullshit hook, line and sinker. Half the guys mentioned in that article were put there for shock value. Patsy Parrello Jr. was never a part of them either. He was another nice kid. Grew up in Bronxville. His father would have strangled him if he was involved with those cowboys.

I hate the fucking expression "trust me on this." But you're going to have to. I was older than most of those guys, but I knew a few of them quite well. And half the kids mentioned in that article were put there because they shared their fathers' last names .

Calm down PB! I believe you. LOL How about Willie Marshall? Was he part of the Tangelwood Boys? I know he was one tough guy and then cooperated.

No, Willie wasn't one of them either.

And I'm calm. That article isn't your fault .

Even though Craig wasn't part of tanglewood boys he did hang out with them when they were terrorizing bars in the Bronx, I'm pretty sure that lead to an incident on Morris Park at a restaurant which lead to Craig getting shot, if i remember correctly in the hand

Craig got shot in '88 or '89, long before the Tanglewood guys began getting any press. And it had nothing to do with those kids. It was a personal matter between Craig and another kid. As it turned out the other kid's father was "important," too. So there was nothing they could do about it .

And I already stated that Craig grew up with them, hung out at Roosevelt with them in high school, and stayed friends with a couple of them. But he was never involved in any of their bullshit.

And I'm not sticking up for him because he's dead. He was a big boy and made his choices in life. I just hate to see misinformation get spread about anybody.

And welcome to the boards, pal .

Thank you for the welcome I have been reading for years, i figured first time posting might as well be about something i know, and i agree he really wasnt part of them and alot of their bullshit but he also hungout with them and had his own punk friends so he was def no angel

Yeah Craig and some of his friends came in the bar where he got shot busted it up, because they wouldn't buy is friend a drink for his birthday. Which lead to the bartender, the owner of the restaurants brother shooting him.

I know, and it's not something I've posted here before, but that's when Greg started pushing for Craig to get his button. Because his ego couldn't handle the fact that his son got shot and he was told, in no uncertain terms, to drop it. In his sick mind, he figured that if Craig had his button when he got shot, then he would have been able to do something about it. And that's when Greg started nagging the other guy to propose him.

Like you said, he was no Angel. But deep down he was a good kid, and he didn't belong in that life. And if not for his father's tremendous ego, and insistence that he get made, he might still be here today .

I would also assume it must have lead to tension between Greg and Louie Braciole, since he was the wiseguy who owned the restaurants cousin.

off topic.. PB, have you ever been to the restaurant where all that went down?

They got over it. Louie had a nephew (he's dead and I'd rather not post his name, and if you know it, I hope you won't either) who was pretty close to Greg, and they smoothed it over.

That's what people have to understand about that life. This isn't Sicily, it's not the movies, and you can't avenge everything. Sometimes you just have to work things out and let go, even if it means making nice with people who have tried to hurt you in the past.


Yes, but that's something else I'd rather not discuss here .