The mobsters that have destroyed their families

1)Nicodemo "Little Nicky" Scarfo
2)Carmine " THe Snake" Persico
3)Vic Amuso and Gaspipe Casso
4)Joseph " Joe the Ear" Massino
5)John " The Teflon Don" Gotti

1)Nicodemo "Little Nicky" Scarfo

Between 1980 and 1981 two mafia bosses from philadelphia, were killed but the worst was yet to come.
The Philadelphia Family ruled since 1960 by Angelo Bruno was a small (60 made men) but powerful family that with the legalization of gambling in Atlantic City prospered until became boss Nicodemo Scarfo Sr.

His reign from 1981 to 1991, were whacked or become government witnesses over 30 made men of his own family. Impose a street tax for every crime committed

in Philly. In a mixture of nepotism, greed and jealousy made ??her grandson Phillip Leonetti his underboss, ordered to whack Salvatore Testa, the son of his predecessor Phillip Testa, because he was gaining too much power and Scarfo was afraid of being killed, also entered the methamphetamine traffic bringing
many of his men to get heavy criminal convictions.

His thirst for blood and brutality, brought first Henry Riccobene to rebel and after he was defeated, the young recruits including Salvatore Merlino, rebelled in 1989 and tried to kill Scarfo's son, Nicky Jr. that had to flee in NJ under the protection of the Luccheses, in the end in 1989 after he was betrayed by his nephew that no longer believed in him Nicodemo Scarfo was sentenced to 45 years,his scheduled release date is January, 2033, when it will take 103 years (and it is capable to live so much, only to don't die in prison).
Until Joseph " Uncle Joe" become the boss in 2001,the family was in a state of perpetual war, he resumed ties with the families of NY,made new soldier,and ruled the family in the old school way.

2)Carmine " THe Snake" Persico

The Colombo family is famous for being the smallest, violent and unstable of the five families.
Before Joseph Crazy Joe Gallo and his brothers rebelled because they were not being paid well by their boss Joseph Profaci.In 1963, Magliocco and Bonanno
boss Joseph Bonanno hatched an audacious plan to murder bosses Carlo Gambino, Tommy Lucchese, Stefano Magaddino and Frank DeSimone and take over the Mafia
Commission.Joseph Magliocco gave the murder contact to Joseph Colombo. Colombo sensed an opportunity for advancement, and instead reported the plot to The
Commission. The Commission, realizing that Bonanno was the real mastermind, ordered both Magliocco and Bonanno to appear for a Mob trial. Bonanno went into
hiding, but a badly shaken Magliocco appeared and confessed everything. The Commission rewarded Colombo for his loyalty by awarding him the Profaci family,
which he renamed the Colombo family.
When Gallo was released from prison in 1971, on the orders of Carlo Gambino and the Commission made shoot Colombo, that didn't die but remained in coma.
Was then that took power Carmine Persico, said the snake by his enemies and the immortal by his admirers.
Persico, wanted to create a mafia dynasty, thinking to pass the command to his son Alphonse, but in 1987 he was sentenced to 100 years and being his son in prison, appointed Victor Orena acting boss, who, however, decided to take control of the family , this led to the Third Colombo War, in the end Persico won, but his man Greg Scarpa was a longtime FBI informant, at the end of 1993, the Commission kicked off Colombos , with the help of Massino could have a seat
again in 2002.

Today Carmine Persico, is still the boss, but his sons being sentenced to life imprisonment in 2000, and yet does not want to drop off the power, using as acting bosses his relatives that are still on the streets.
Since taking power in 1973, the Persico actions led to the arrest, death or betrayal of about 70 men of honor of his family.

3)Vic Amuso and Gaspipe Casso

The Lucchese family was the third most powerful family in New York, after Anthony Corallo gets 100 years in Commission Trial, the family ended up in the
hands of Victor Amuso and Anthony "Gaspipe" Casso.
Though Amuso was the boss, he left all the power to Gaspipe that immediately start to kill anyone he thought was a rat; strong ally of Chin Gigante boss of
the Genovese and enemy of John Gotti, organized an attack to kill both him and his underboss Frank Decicco, but had to settle to kill only DeCicco. Thanks to
the collaboration of corrupt cops Louis Eppolito and Stephen Caracappa, began to pile up the corpses, first Jimmy Hydell who had tried to kill Casso when he
was just a soldier, Hydell was tortured and though he had begged to Casso to let revive his corpse in order to cash out the life insurance to his mother,Casso didn't do it;
Under Corallo, the Jersey Faction of the family gave only $ 50.000 per year to the boss, Anthony Casso ordered "Tumac" Accetturo, the head of the crew to
give 50 per cent of the profits of the crew, when Accetturo refused to attend a meeting with Casso for fear of being killed, Casso gave the order "Whack New
Jersey," increasingly paranoid ordered the death of Anthony Dilapi a biggest earner and most respected racketeer that escaped from New York but was killed
in Los Angeles, February 4, 1990.
Casso even violated the rules of the Cosa Nostra, having lost trust in his killer Peter Chiodo, ordered to whack him. Chiodo was saved by his weight (500
pounds) that let the bullets didn't hit arteries or vital organs, then Casso to scare Chiodo ordered to shoot his sister, and when Chiodo became a witness of
the FBI ordered to kill the Chiodo wife but Chiodo and his family disappeared into the witness protection program.
Forced into hiding along with Amuso, Casso appointed acting boss Alphonse D'arco, however Casso did not comply D'arco and arrived in order to kill D'Arco.
At the end Accetturo,Chiodo, D'Arco for fear of being killed became government witnesses, and were the first of a long list at the end Casso played his last
card informed the Feds to be ready to become a government witness; However, having regard to its bad reputation, was identified by the name of Lucifer by the FBI. After 4 years in WITSEC was sentenced to 13 consecutive terms of life in prison plus 455 years without the Possibility of parole.

People Murdered by Anthony Casso

Anthony Casso was a ruthless gangster who loved killing he ordered murders and commited some of them personally, he killed many people (Mostly members of his

own crime family who he though were rats) to make him and his friend Vittorio Amuso feel more secure. some of the murders he ordered were committed by

Corrupt NYPD Detectives Louis Eppolito and Stephen Caracappa. below is a list of murders he was involved in.

Order: No/Name/Rank/Affiliation/When/Involvement/Reason

1.Anthony Luongo/Capo/Lucchese Crime Family/1986/Personal/ To take control of the Lucchese crime family.

2.Israel Greenwald/none/independent/February 10th 1986/Ordered It/ Greenwald was murdered because he was extorted by the Lucchese crime family and was

reporting them to the FBI.

3.Frank DeCicco/Underboss/Gambino Crime Family/April 13th 1986/At The Scene/ DeCicco was killed by a car bomb in revenge for the unsanctioned murder of Paul

Castellano, the real target was John Gotti but DeCicco was killed by mistake.

4.James Hydell/Associate/Gambino Crime Family/May 1986/Personal/ Hydell had attempted to kill casso, in revenge casso brutally tortured him for 12 hours
shooting him in his limbs and joints, to find out who Hydell was working for.

5.Vladimir Reznikov/Enforcer/Russian Mob/June 13th 1986/Ordered It/ Reznikov was murdered because he had threatened Marat Baluga the leader of the russian
bratva. Marat went to the consigliere of the Lucchese crime family for help and they handled it.

6.Nicholas Guido/none/independent/December 25th 1986/Ordered It/ Nicholas Guido was innocent Telephone Engineer murdered in mistaken identity, he shared the
same name as one of the people who tried to kill Casso.

7.Michael Pappadio/Capo/Lucchese Crime Family/1987/Ordered It/ For refusing to hand over control of his businesses.

8.Thomas Gilmore/Associate/Lucchese Crime Family/February 1989/Ordered It/ For allegedly being an informant.

9.Robert Kubecka/none/independent/August 11th 1989/Ordered It/ Murdered because his waste management business was in competition with the Lucchese waste management business, and for refusing to give in to extortion.

10.Donald Barstow/none/independent/August 11th 1989/Ordered It/ Murdered because his waste management business was in competition with the Lucchese waste management business, and for refusing to give in to extortion.

11.Anthony DiLapi/Soldier/Lucchese Crime Family/Feburary 4th 1990/Ordered It/ For allegeldy being an informant.

12.Michael Salerno/Capo/Lucchese Crime Family/June 5th 1990/Ordered It/ Amuso and Casso wanted to murder a potential enemy.

13.Bruno Facciolo/Soldier/Lucchese Crime Family/August 1990/Ordered It/ For allegedly being an informant.

14.Edward Lino/Capo/Gambino Crime Family/November 6th 1990/Ordered It/ To get to John Gotti.

15.Bartholomew Boriello/Capo/Gambino Crime Family/April 13th 1991/Ordered It/ to get to John Gotti.

16.Patrick Testa/Soldier/Lucchese Crime Family/December 2nd 1992/Ordered It/ Casso wanted to murder a potential enemy.

17.Frank Signorino/None/Unknown/Feburary 2nd 1993/Ordered It/ Signorio was Peter Chiodo's uncle, he was murdered to intimidate Chiodo who had become an
informant after a murder attempt on his and his wife's lives.

4)Joseph " Joe the Ear" Massino

Made history as the first boss of the five families to become a rat,wear a wire and testified twice for the government, helping win a murder conviction against his acting boss Vincent Basciano in 2011. Joseph Massino, who became boss of the Bonanno family in 1991, brought back his family to the old glory,he named underboss, his brother in law Salvatore Vitale.
It was until the early 2000s, the only boss of the 5 families to be still free in the streets, and the Bonnano family the one of the 5 families that haven't rats.
Paranoid ordered his soldiers to never mention his name, at the most touching the ear, but he wanted to change the name of the family in Massino family. He
ordered the closure of the social clubs for fear of bugs. At the end his brother in law Sal Vitale that was increasingly pushed aside by Massino, decided that it was not worth to made long years in prison and became a government witness, eventually followed by other: Cantarella,Coppa etc.
Federal prosecutors say said to Massino, that risked the death penalty and not the life imprisonment,frightened by the idea of die, Massino agreed to wear a
wire and record Vincent Basciano, who was later sentenced to life thanks to these tapes.

5)John " The Teflon Don" Gotti

John Gotti not only order to whack his boss, Paul Castellano to take power of the Gambino crime family in 1985, but was also the one that with his love of the
spotlight, his inability to close the mouth, arrogance and nepotism seriously damaged the Gambino.
He believe to be a rock star unlike the bosses who preceded him had preferred to remain in the shadows in order to do their business in peace.
Not only induced in the family all his relatives, in place of associates who deserved to be made, after he was convicted because the FBI convinced, thanks to the words of Gotti, which were recorded on tape, his underboss Salvatore Gravano to flip.
Sentenced to life imprisonment, he appointed his successor before his son Junior and his brother Peter called The Dumbest Don.
Eventually even the Gambinos have had enough of the Gottis and have chosen an old school boss Domenico Cefalù in 2012.

I'm not a mob expert, although i do find this stuff interesting..

It really doesn't seem Massino is a great example in comparison to some of the others on that lsit

if anything he was key to making them arguably the strongest family at their peak in the 2000's

and after all those capo's he made flipped on him? you almost cant blame him for doing it too...

I don't think the Bonannos were ever close to the strongest

Massino defo got them up there , he was the only official boss on the street at the time

I agree. Massino defecting and informing on many members of his family like Vinny Gorgeous was harmful, but nowhere near to the damage that the others on this list did. I also have read that he did bring his family to a situation of great power before he defected. Part of this was because they were ousted from the commission because they didn't have to share in their schemes with the other families.

Among these mentioned I would rank them like this, with number 1 being the boss who most damaged his crime family (left out Scarfo because I don't know as much about the Philly family):

1. Gaspipe/Amuso
2. Gotti
3. Snake
4. Massino

That's exactly right. Pistone did them a favor. If they didn't get booted from the Commission, their entire hierarchy would have been sent up for life in the late '80s just like most of the other families.

The Feds just wanted to flip a boss , the damage was already done after coppa , Lino , vitale , tartaglione and canterella had flipped , they gave the Feds all the info they needed

Another excellent point.

I would go with carmine persico , he has damaged the family beyond repair , even massino wanted to absorb the remaining members into the other 4 families in the early 2000s as for casso/ amuso and gotti . Yeah they did damage but it wasn't irreparable , the gambino's r the strongest they have been for years and also the lucchese under crea r still very powerful

Interesting thought.

Would the Columbo's actually survive without the Persico's?

Current consensus (rightly so) is that the Persico clan (and its extension) has destroyed the Colombo's in attempting to retain power in the family BUT the extended Persico clan is now so entrenched within the Columbo's that would that family actually survive WITHOUT the Persico's?

Talk about Irony.

U make a good point sonny

1. Nicky Scarfo of Philadelphia for his own paranoia

2. Carmine Persico of the Colombo crime family, that family needs a boss out on the streets not behind bars that could help the family out as a whole, not just those blood relations.

3. Vic Amuso and Anthony Casso of the Lucchese crime family, mostly Casso imo for killing everyone who did not agree with him or he felt was an informant.

4. John Gotti of the Gambino crime family for flipping of LE and making members of his family visit him where LE could take photos

5. Frank DeSimone of the Los Angeles crime family, that family was powerful under Jack Dragna, but was turned into a joke when Frank took over.

6. James Licavoli of the Cleveland crime family, He did not handle Danny Green too well and had over looked him while concentrating on John Nardi instead. He even had to get outside help to solve this war he was having with those two, a sign that the New York families saw as weakness, even though Cleveland dealt with the Genovese crime family only.

Many interesting posts in this thread.

U could even argue phililp rastelli had a hand in ruining the bonnanos , the 3 captains started the rebellion against him because they considered him to be an ineffective boss because the guy could just not stay out of prison

I put Nicky Scarfo Sr. in the first place because in a family that at its peak had 60 made men, the fact that from 1981 to 1989 are dead or have flips 30 men of honor bringing the family almost to extinction, it seems to me a good reason to merit the top spot.

Persico in a family that at its peak had 100-150 men of honor not only took part in the First Colombo War, but it has also caused the third when though sentenced to 100 years old, has not agreed to pass power, and when Vic Orena tried to take his place, the war has begun; and now the Colombo are the weakest of the five families.

Amuso made serious damage not only killing anyone who didn't agree with him, but he made ​​that Acceturo, D'Arco and Chiodo ie an acting boss, the leader of the Jersey Faction and a powerful capo that, under Tony Corallo would made life imprisonment without saying a word, become government witnesses; I put it in third place because the Lucchese family were and are the third in importance in New York, and they have a new boss.

I agree that in the 80s to have been kicked off by the Commission saved the Bonannos, but Massino being the only boss still on the streets gave back power to the family, but I read Family Five of Raab, if Massino hadn't isolated the brother-in-law Sal Vitale, he wouldn't flip, because once he had spoken, all the other Coppa,Cantarella etc have followed him, also wanted to imitate Chin Gigante, ordering to don't use his name his name, but he wanted to change the name to the family ; also a much more serious was the first boss of the five families to become a rat,wear a wire and dommed to life imprisonment his successor Basciano after him for ten years there hasn't been a boss of the family and what is believed to be the new boss is in jail and will be released in 2019.

John Gotti, who said of him, before him the Gambinos contended for the throne with the Genoveses and is still so, only that they have a new old-school boss, and they got rid of the Gottis.

The sixth place I'd give it to James Licavoli and Angelo Lonardo, the first didn't realize that inducting John Nardi would have avoided a war and to appear weak in front of NY, the second because it was the first boss of a prominent family at the time (the first was Frattiano Los Angeles) to flip.

So here is the ranking, give me tips for the last places

1)Nicodemo "Little Nicky" Scarfo
2)Carmine " THe Snake" Persico
3)Vic Amuso and Gaspipe Casso
4)Joseph " Joe the Ear" Massino
5)John " The Teflon Don" Gotti
6) James "Jack White" Licavoli and Angelo "Big Ange" Lonardo

Why is Jack on this list John Scalish did more damage to the family by not naming his successor and making few to no new members.

Interesting point of view. But if we're going to take that approach, you could say the same for Carlo Gambino for not foreseeing the trouble that making Paul boss would eventually create.

But I'm not buying either of those scenarios. Gambino was old and tired at the time of his death. He can't be "blamed." And Scalish died suddenly, so you also have to consider that .

When I clicked on this topic I thought it was going to be about their biological families. I didn't know you meant their business families.

Nicky Scarfo Sr. had three sons, one is now a businessman that preferred to change the name, another tried to commit suicide in 1988 and died recently, I think his name was Mark, the other Nicky Jr in 1989 had tried to kill him and had to flee from Philly. Induced in the life, his nephew,Phil Leonetti,that according to his book Mafia Prince, idolized his uncle, but then got disgusted when discovered that the uncle was very vile.

Persico trying to create a mafia dinasty, introduced in the life his whole family. His son is serving a life sentence, his brother Alphone Allie Boy died in prison in 1989.

The Gotti saga is known, John Gotti died in prison of cancer in 2002, his brother Gene was convicted of drug trafficking and will be released in 2015 when will be 75 years old, his brother Peter serving a life sentence. The son Junior has preferred to retire from the mob, after he had covered with ridicule the Gambinos.

On Massino and Casso I have no information, but I don't think that they brought good luck to their biological family.

Some Photos

Good stuff, Furio. You're on a roll lately .

Daidone did a great job with the lucchese family after the amuso / casso regime , he seemed to steady the ship

Massino only had daughters did he not ??

Is there any chance that Gene Gotti could become a power in the Gambino's when he gets released?

Putting another Gotti in charge of a criminal organization is like putting a silk hat on a pig

It's possible. He and Carnegs still have A LOT of loyalists .

But it depends on whether or not two old men want the aggravation. Time will tell.

When is Gene expected to be released?

September 2018. A long four years at his age. So time will tell.

Gene Gotti

Release Date: 09/14/2018

What he said.

If he has kept himself in good shape, he could have a decent run yet.

Scarfo and Amuso are already in their 80's. Madonna and a couple of other power players on the street are about that age already.

The Italians are firmly entrenched at the top there.

The guard has changed and changed for good in that family. He might get his stripes if he wants them but I cant see him or his brother getting any more than that.

Nicodemo Scarfo and John Gotti tarnished their organizations. They assumed being feared was almost as important as being respected. A lot of "mobsters" have made the same mistake; using their media spotlight to confirm their idea of success and worth.

It's strange somehow that Anastasia didn't have the same effect on his family as Scarfo had on his. He was no less violent, diplomacy meant nothing to him. If I was a member of the commission, I would have let him fry on the chair, paying the police to throw Abe Reles out of the window to prevent him from testifying wasn't worth it in my opinion, even from the mafia point of view.

Scarfo baceme boss in the 80s and Anastasia in the 50s before Apalachin,Valachi ecc nobody real knew LCN then,the police were more corrupt, and the media didn't give importance to the Mafia.

That's it in a nutshell. Different time. Different media. Different law enforcement. If Anastasia was a contemporary of Gotti's and Scarfo's, he would have suffered the same fate.

People I met in jail who where in the feds with gene gotti said he walked around with a big crew through the jail lol.

It wasn't really hard runnin a mob family in the 50s and 60s . The Feds didn't even pursue the mob like they do today or from the 80s on . There was no Rico , wiretaps and stiff sentences for drug dealing so that meant fewer rats . To me it's 50 times harder running a mob family from the 80s to the present , u can't possibly compare gambino and accardo to bosses like massino , gotti and gigante , they had it a lot tougher. Wen the Feds made a concerted effort to target the mob they were successful . Guys like persico, rastelli, corallo and Salerno were sent to prison straight away . No doubt if the Feds made the same effort in the 50s bonanno , lucchese gambino and accardo would have gone the same way

And someone would have ratted. Not necessarily one of those guys, mind you. But somebody would have ratted if there was modern day surveillance, and RICO was in effect, and life without parole was the norm back then.

And I agree that those guys in general were tougher and stronger willed. But one of them would have flipped. Maybe not a boss, but a couple of soldiers at the very least. And anyone who thinks differently is just being a romantic.

Also the saftey net of the witness protection and keeping your assets instead of 23 hours a day lockdown in some shithole a million miles from your kids is quite an allure

Of course, Dom .

Ricca** not Accardo

I do not believe that Ricca or Accardo ruiened their faimiltes, they may have been pricks to some of the other families, notable those that were west of them. But they did not ruiened Chicago.