Frank "Bones" Papagni (born July 18, 1957) is a New York City mobster and a reputed captain in the Lucchese crime family.
Induction and rise to Capo
Reportedly a lower Mafia associate during the 1980s, Papagni is believed to have been inducted into the Lucchese crime family officially in 1989 [http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/1998/05/04/1998-05-04_dumb_fellas_grads__dream_of_.html] during the violent regime of notorious leaders Vittorio "Vic" Amuso and Anthony "Gaspipe" Casso. [http://www.americanmafia.com/mob_report/11-18-02_Mob_Report.html] At the time, Papagni's criminal activities included extortion, dealing narcotics and even murder. [http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/1998/05/04/1998-05-04_dumb_fellas_grads__dream_of_.html]
Within the next to years, Papagni would consume a top position in the Lucchese crime family, as he was promoted to caporegime or captain in late 1990 on the orders of Amuso and Casso, whom both had turned federal fugitives to avoid prosecution for counts of racketeering and murder. This led to an apparent power-vaccum in the Lucchese family, between the Brooklyn faction, where Papagni was operating, and the greatly rival Bronx faction where the family's powerhouse had previesly been for decades.
Lucchese family struggle
In 1991, with both Amuso and Casso controlling the family from afar, a Ruling Panel/Committee consisting of Consigliere Frank Lastorino and captains Steven "Wonderboy" Crea, Anthony "Bowat" Baratta and Salvatore "Sal" Avellino was taking care of the day-to-day activities. [http://www.ipsn.org/characters/patriarca/Lucchese%20Class%20of%20'91.htm] However, in an attempt to make sure Crea and the Bronx faction never seized control of the family, Consigliere Frank Lastorino reportedly hatched a plot to kill Crea by luring him to a sitdown with Brooklyn faction leaders Papagni, George "Georgie Neck" Zappola and Frank Gioia, Jr., a mobster recently inducted into the Lucchese family. [http://www.ipsn.org/characters/crea/Steven%20Crea.htm] In that way, the family's powerhouse would stay in Brooklyn, where Papagni and the others were operating. Reportedly, the trio also conspired to kill Gambino crime family acting boss John "Junior" Gotti and Gambino captain Nicholas "Little Nick" Corozzo, of which none were carried out due to the arrest of Amuso that same year, who began controlling the family from his prison cell after he was sentenced to life imprisonment. [http://www.americanmafia.com/mob_report/11-18-02_Mob_Report.html]
Arrest, trial and prison term
In 1994, Anthony Casso was also apprehended, leading to another power-vaccum between the Brooklyn and Bronx factions, however, that same year a massive indictment slashing Papagni resulted in the Brooklyn faction being completely broken down, mostly due to Frank Gioia, Jr., who worked under Papagni as a hitman, turning a government informant. [http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/1998/11/29/1998-11-29_canary_to_sing_on_gotti_info.html] Gioia gave up a massive drug trafficking pipeline Papagni managed that was stretching from New York to Boston, and further admitted to have shot and killed Frank "Frankie the Blond" Mariconda, because Mariconda had made sexual advances at Papagni's girlfriend. Gioia also revealed that the reason he became an informant was because he had learned that Papagni was planning to kill his father over a payment dispute. [http://www.ipsn.org/characters/patriarca/Lucchese%20Class%20of%20'91.htm]
Papagni was charged with federal racketeering, extortion, drug trafficking, murder and conspiracy, which eventually led him to plead guilty and be sentenced to 22 years in prison along with Frank Lastorino and captains George Zappola and George Conte. [http://www.americanmafia.com/Feature_Articles_230.html]
