I was with Jilly’s crew around 1976 or so when Jilly got made. In 1980, a year before I came out, Jilly Greca got whacked. High among the host of risk factors for getting whacked was getting indicted. A man under indictment is a man under pressure. The fear is that the man may fold under pressure. When a wiseguy rolls over he is said to have gone bad. The idea is to get rid of him before he goes bad.
If the man is only a so-so earner to begin with, his loss is no great loss. Jilly Greca’s scores were never very big ones when I was with him. Jilly got indicted and Jilly got whacked. The evidence for the indictment against him was based on intelligence I had gathered and supplied to my handlers. Looking back I can see that Jilly Greca’s death was the first one the Donnie Brasco operation had caused.