Nino Gaggi's crew

Does anyone know what happened to his crew after the Castellano hit?

I read it somewhere he got knocked down to soldier after Johnny Boy took over the Gambino Borgata, since Nino was Big Paul's boy. Also, if my memory serves me right, Gaggi was in prison at the time.

Nino went to jail about the time gotti took over and he died in 88 so he reallydidn't answer to gotti much at all. Nino crew was paul's old crew and many of those guys were older gangsters. the only guys that were young were the demeo crew and by that time roy was dead, the others were in jail and joe and anthony defected to lucchese family

And he also had his nephew Dominick Montiglio, doing alot of the street work he used to do during that time. Colletions and the like, from Roy and those boys. Think Dom flipped eventually.

Hi JCrusher! Are there names to any of those old gangsters?

As for the Demeo crew, I know only Roy was a made guy. Before Joe and Anthony went over to the 19th hole, they had not got their stripes yet.

Yeah, he did. He is featured prominently in a lot of the mob documentaries along with other stool pigeons like Jimmy the Weasal. Dom's story is quite interesting as he offered a great insight into the "Brooklyn Faction" of the Gambino Family (along with Mike Scar's testimony). He has a lot contacts with Gambino wiseguys even though he was not made because of his uncle's closeness to Castellano and Carlo.

Although my question was aimed more towards guys who were made in Gaggi's crew, thank you for the reply nonetheless, AmericanCrime.

Ya i'm not sure of the names of those gangsters. I think the eppolitos were apart of his crew but they were gunned down by roy and nino in 79. Also you are right roy was the only made guy from the demeo crew

Yup, Eppolitos were in Gaggi's crew. (Although, wikipedia, such a "trusted" source, states otherwise). In fact, if I remembered correctly James Eppolito captained Castellano's old crew before Gaggi took it over after the murders of the Eppolitos.

I think Nino was promoted to capo in 1976 when Big Paul became boss. In fact the ceremony where paul was named boss took place in gaggi's home

You are probably right. I just remembered reading somewhere that James Eppolito Sr was a captain of Gaggi. Anyway, Gaggi had Roy and his crews who were massive earners, so it would have beat having ten "Pat Parisi". Haha.

Ya it was a little confusing to me too. There are som many members from that time that we may never know about. despite all the FBI intelligence and informers ther are many members that we dont know of that may have been good earning/tough wiseguys

I think a couple of guys from Gaggi's crew may be mentioned in Murder Machine. I always wondered what Gaggi thought after the hit on Castellano, he was pretty loyal to Paul. Interestingly for such a big figure in the family Gaggi barely gets a mention in Underboss.

True that.

Take for example, guys in the Valachi chart, like Louis "Babe" Milo. He was listed under Vincent Alo's regime in the Genovese Family. Milo were unheard of in the media and only became known because Joey Cago knew there was a wiseguy by that name who was with Jimmy Blue Eyes. I bet it would be quite a story if we just know a little bit about the life story of any one names from that list(excluding the relatively well-known guys like Fat Tony, Gyp Decaro, Mike Miranda...etc). In the movie, Goodfellas, Ray Liotta, who played Henry Hill, described the 50s as the golden age of the mob. It would be fascinating just to know more about the "unknown' of the mob. Part of the drive behind our obsession with this "secret society", eh? Hehe.

I guess Gaggi was kind of out of the picture by the time of Gotti taking the big chair. Firstly, he was in the can. Secondly, he lost his mentor and backer, Big Paul. Lastly, he lost his right hand man and protege, Roy Demeo, who commanded great respect on the street.

I guess if Nino was on the street when Gotti took over, he would either have to chuck a Joe Butch/Dan Marino/Jimmy Brown Fallia and kowtowed to Gotti or ended up dead. It happened before especially with this particular Borgata. Armand Rava and Vincent Squillante comes to mind. Interestingly, Squillante was Gaggi's first.

The way I understood it, when Nino was made Capo he inherited Pauls old crew of cigar chompers (old timers who were happy to run simple numbers and loan rackets).
Paul never had a strong crew - he didnt need to because he was so close to Carlo.
The DeMeo crew were Nino's biggest earner by far and his main piece of artillery.

According to old FBI documents, that can be found on the Mary Ferrell Foundation Site, in 1965 Carlo Gambino restructured his crime family a little bit.
Alfred "Big Freddy" Eppolito, who had been a capo and who had been indicted for drugdealing, was demoted to the rank of a soldier. He fell into a deep depression and eventually drunk himself to death. His old crew emerged with Paul Castellano´s.
In 1976, when Castellano took over the Gambino Family, Nino Gaggi inherited this crew.
According to books, FBI documents and sources on the internet these guys were members of the Castellano crew:
"Diamond" Louie Eppolito (died in 1975),
James "Jimmy Clam" Eppolito Sr (murdered in 1979),
Nino Gaggi (became capo in 1976),
Olympio "Lilo" Garafolo (became capo of a seperate crew later on; this crew was eventually led by Jackie "Nose" D´Amico and later by Mickey "Scar" DiLeonardo),
Albert Seru,
Luigi "Lulu" Marciano,
Peter "17" Piacenti (later moved to Ciccone crew),
Gandolfo Sciandra (an uncle of Castellano),
Paulie "Zack" Zaccaria.

In the 70s, these guys were made into Gaggi´s crew:
Greg DePalma (later moved to Zingaro crew),
Roy DeMeo (functiond briefly as an acting capo while Gaggi found himself in troubble with the law),
James "JimJim" Eppolito Jr (murdered in 1979).

Wow...Harry, cheers for the great find!

Now you mentioned it, I did recalled Greg Depalma was under Gaggi. Gaggi complained that Greg wouldn't shut his mouth or something. I guess every crew has a "Quack Quack". Haha.

If that is the case, did Louie Ricco inherited Gaggi's crew after Gotti became the boss? According to Mikey Scar's testimony, Greg was with Louie Ricco in the 90s.

Also, I did not know Paulie Zack, mentor to Michael Dileonardo, was in Castellano's crew. So I guess after Castellano became the boss, the crew got split up between Gaggi and Olympio "Lilo" Garafolo. I assume Jackie Nose would be in Castellano's crew before he was made.

Being somewhat of a memberchart freak, the question of what happened to Gaggi´s crew after his death in 1988, is annoyingly nagging me.
I really don´t know. I wish I did.

Hairy, do you have more information about Olympio Garafolo, Paulie Zack or Jackie Nose in pre-Gotti era?

Very hard to come over any solid info on these guys. Especially Garofalo and Zaccaria who managed to duck the radar. Like real oldtimers!

Olimpio GAROFALO
Birth Date: 13 Jun 1904
Death Date: Nov 1986
Social Security Number: 107-18-6348
State or Territory Where Number Was Issued: New York

Death Residence Localities
ZIP Code: 10003
Localities: Cooper, New York,

He doesn´t seem to have had a major rapsheet, so he was pretty much unkown to the authorities. Pretty much an old timer who made his money by bookmaking. In the 80s, FBI listed his address as 151 2nd Avenue, New York, NY.

Paul Robert ZACCARIA
Birth Date: 5 Jul 1924
Death Date: 10 Feb 2007
Social Security Number: 111-18-9416
State or Territory Where Number Was Issued: New York

Death Residence Localities
ZIP Code: 11224
Localities: Brooklyn, Kings, New York

As you said, Paulie Zack became mentor to Mickey Scars.
His father (Carlo Zaccaria), was also a mafiamember and close to the Castellano/Gambino clan. In the 80s, the FBI listed his address as 2268 National Drive, Brooklyn, NY.

When it comes to D´Amico, I doubt that I have more info on him than what´s already out on the internet.

i noticed something interesting on dominic montiglio..i have seen him give 2 different versions of things that happened on different shows ..On the hit that they killed the guy who broke nino gaggi's nose ..he once claimed that he was at a birthday party and roy demeo came over and said guess who's on the corner at such and such st. and they went out and killed him ..and then in another he claimed that he saw the guy ..still admitted to the crime, but it shows whatever he says should be taken with a grain of salt !!

Peter Piacenti was the guy Gaggi and Demeo used to set up the Eppolito's, Piacenti had no idea they were going to kill them. Diamond Louie Eppolito was Lou Eppolito's grand father, and the the "clam" and "jimjim" were his uncle and cousin. Was Alfred "Big Freddy" Eppolito a relative too? It's amazing how Louie Eppolito was able to become a cop, and later a dective coming from such up a "mobbed" up family, his father was a soldier too. Louie Eppolito must have some great stories, and he fancied himself as a screen writer before he was convicted, so he could probably make a fascianting book on himself, but I think he is too delusional in his "innocent" act to ever be truthful.

Wow, Guys this is a great post.

Gerry, I believed Louie was in Goodfellas too. He played a wiseguy called Fat Andy when the film introduced wiseguys who hung out at the Bamboo Lounge.

I believe alfred would have been Louie's uncle. Louie's father was Ralph"Fat The Gangster" Eppolito. I think Alfred may hve have been Ralph's brother.

Yeah, he was in Goodfellas, and supposedly had bit parts in a few other movies. He also fancied himself as a screenwriter, and ripped off some old lady of her life savings to write her life story.

That's right, Louie's old man was "fat the gangster," I forgot that for a minute. His cousin, Frank Santora was also a connected guy. Santora is the one who got him connected with Gaspipe, via Burt Kaplan.

I just want to confirm it. Yes, they were all brothers (Alfred, Jimmy Clam and Ralph). I´m kinda sure that Ralph never got made, even though some sources claim he was.

http://www.nysun.com/new-york/remembering-petey-17-gambler-nice-guy/51899/

Background on Piacenti.

DJ, Montiglio didn't lie- there were two different incidents where the victim was located and they then attempted to get him

Yes, obviously the cops were a bit carefree about who they recruited back in the day!

I think I also read that Nino Gaggi's uncle or much older cousin was Frank Scalise. Frank Scalise served as underboss for a couple years under Albert Anastasia, until Scalise was murdered.

Correction - Scratch the names above. These seems to be the guys who were in Nino Gaggi´s crew:

Frank Bonino (1917-1989?)
John Chiarello (1913-1981)
Joe "Brewster" Delmonico Sr (1921-?)
Roy DeMeo (1942-1983)
Greg DePalma (1932-2009)(Later moved to be under Zingaro)
James "Jim-Jim" Eppolito Jr (1945-1979)
Jimmy "Clam" Eppolito Sr (1916-1979)
Frank "Butch" Guglielmini (1925-2010)
Luigi "Lulu" Marciano (?-?) (If made, possibly a member of this crew)
Thomas Masotto (1902-1980)
Victor Masotto (1909-1989)
Peter "17" Piacenti (1921-2007)
Gandolfo Sciandra (1928-1989) (possibly a member of this crew)
Albert Seru (1906-1989) (possibly a member of this crew)

Wasn't joe brewster delmonico in same picture with paul castellano,jimmy brown,frankie dap,joe butch,tommy gambino,tommy bilotti,frank decicco?

I love how in Murder Machine, after Gaggi and De Meo whacked the Eppolito's and split up, it describes Gaggi "circling around Piacenti" ominously before he started exchanging gunfire with the off duty cop who cornered them at a service station.

I'm sorry what do you mean by that?was he hiding behind piacenti?

Presumably he was trying to psyche out the cop.

Great research Hairy... were all of these made men or just some?

All were made yes, but Marciano´s status is unknown.

This Delmonico Sr fella´s last name is a bit of a mystery. In some reports and books his name is given as Delmonico, but elsewhere it says his name was DiDomenico. I don´t know which one is the correct one. He was the father of the guy with the Colombos who was killed in the 1980s. And yes Alex, Delmonico appears in that group photo taken at Castellano´s house. He was the only guy in that photo who never rose through the ranks.

By the looks of it, Gaggi´s crew was disbanded (or merged with another one) either at the time of Gaggi´s conviction in 1986 or two years later when he passed. Btw, credit goes to JD and Pogo, two posters on another forum for providing most of the names on that list.

great info.

Big Paul was COLD .The clam goes back to the 40's with the Gambinos .He supposedly whacked JOHNNY ROBERT'S to clear the way for the family . But I guess Gaggi comes from the SCALISE pedigre . Does that trump the clam ?

Ag

lulu was made died of cancer

brewster was with little toddo

anthony vitta also might have been in that crew

Wasn't he in Armone's crew?

Possibly. Many soldiers were moved and transfered all the time. However, at some point in late 1970s, Brewster was under Gaggi. This is confirmed by informants. He later turns up under Failla and DiLeonardo.



The info I´ve got on Vitta is that he was under Failla. But like I said above, soldiers were constantly being shuffled around.

Accursio "Gus" Marinelli (1911-1983?) should probably also be on the list of Gaggi members.

Why did he go by Joe Brewster? Anyone know the deal with that name?

I read somewhere that the rampers were stealing cars for nino at one time.could that be true?the gang where gravano,papa and others were.It could be true nino lived in bath beach.I don't get how did pappa go along with the genovese's after that.In the carlo book about casso,it says that Pappa was made in '74.Don't know if that can be true

yes he was..gus. with nino, aka swifty, brewster was taken by paul to run his club veterans and friends when carlo died..when paul was killed he went to fialla

swifty was very close to carmine lombardozzi

after jimmy emma gets killed , he goes there..got himself killed for sneaking guys

Was jimmy older than gerrard?who is this swifty your talking about?

gus marinelli. is swifty .pretty sure those guys were the same age.

How did DePalma come into this crew?Thought he was a bronx guy.

DePalma was originally a Brooklyn guy, but moved to Westchester (I think it was) sometime after being made.

greg in the mid 80's was in tony bakers crew from harlem,,tony dies and louie gets the crew from gotti

Louis Ricco?Why was greg moved from nino?

greg was probably making nino itchy...

Yeah. Louie's crew was Harlem based back then. A lot of people don't know that for some reason. But he had a club on 115th opposite the back end of Mount Carmel.

He moved to Scarsdale after he got married, HK. Long before he was made. Michael and Craig both grew up in Scarsdale/North East Yonkers. Poor Craig.

was that on second or third ave,,i to knock the rust off, greg would call tony uncle tony..kissing ass maybe to get the spot when tony died..tony was a great old timer

craig should never have been made..craig was put in jr gottis crew another huge mistake by baby huey..

I'm always helping you knock the rust off lol.

But Louie's club? 115th between Pleasant and First. Opposite the 115th side of the Church. The building with the good sized parking lot on the side. I think there's a florist there now, but I haven't been over there in a little while. Not since my old man got layed up with the hernia. The old coot is still on the Giglio, so we still get down there every so often.

Thats what Falcone said in his book. He also said that gregs wife blamed him for making him. Falcone also said he felt bad fo Craig and how much he was suffering.

did louie move the club, ? i remember it between 116 and 115 on an ave ?get your hammer hit the rust off me one more time.. i think I'm getting sometimers..

He wasn't cut out for the life, plain and simple. And if they were gonna stick him in a young guy's crew they should have given him to Tore.

Craig got his button right after the last pinch. Tore was already acting for Frank. Tore would have looked out for him a little more. But it probably wouldn't have made a difference. I've said it a hundred times. You can't develop a true gangster mentality when you grow up wanting for nothing in suburbia.

Tore grew up in Eastchester, too. But he was an exception to the rule. Smart guy. Tough guy. Stand up guy.

he was also half jewish..if you hear the tapes of him speaking to his dad and the jews from scores..you will see he is just a kid .

You're thinking of Tony Baker's club on First. Right by Andy's Colonial Tavern.

correct! putting a few pieces together.lol

greg and craig undermined tore..but screwed everything thing up doing so and sent everyone to prison.......

Of course. I wasn't going to post that but in hindsight I'm glad you did. If they gave Craig to Tore from the jump that never would have happened. But then again, it was probably all done by design anyway. Divide and conquer and all that paranoid bullshit. Yeah, that worked out well for everyone .

before he wanted to kill him lol..all nicks $ he still needed to deal H..fool

And I mean this respectfully because I love the Jews. But Terry DePalma is as Jewish as a bagel on the lower east side. I mean, like, overtly, over-the-top Jewish.

Craig had the spot on Boston and Conner first. Years ago it was the Pine Tree (not to be confused with the Pine Tavern on Bronxdale). Greg bled the owner there for years. He eventually grabbed it for Craig and his friends and converted it into a topless joint. First it was Pretty Woman, then I think Mirage or something like that. But Greg was in there all day long. This was when he was still on good terms with Nicky Buick from Gun Hill. He was in there quite a bit, too.

I think I double posted. Oh well.

greg and craig had jr bullshitted, which wasn't hard. lol.. greed took over and changed everyone of them's world..

hey sometimes we need to hear things twice..

You're right. And let's be honest, Nicky never even needed his button. Car lots. Property. The whole nine yards. But that's a whole other story. The guy was well off long before he hooked up with Greg.

right...they almost made fusaro..what a disaster that would have been that crew would have made him and falcone or jack garcia.... how did anyone talk to guys in that crew..poor judgement is an understatement

Did Athur Leo have a club or something in EH?

That nicky prison contract sting by the feds was a classic. Greg came out unscathed on that. Classic.

You know he had half of Stamford bullshitted into believing that he was made. And that's a no-no. Bald headed rat fuck. But he was very close to Nicky. The used to eat together every Saturday night at the Iranian's up in Greenwich.

The Feds actually listed him as a made guy by accident and he ran with it. It's one of the few times they corrected themselves. Because when he flipped he couldn't very well testify that he was a soldier when he wasn't. He got away with that line of bullshit because people up there are a little more naive and because Tony Megale was away at the time.

The gullibility of some people never ceases to amaze me, though .

beat it at trial..

true..are you talking about val bella ?

I thought Val Bellas was Albanian no?

Yeah. When they first opened it was Ciao Bella. But Dave got sued and had to change the name.


No, you're thinking of their chef who got whacked and cut up. He was Albanian. But Dave's an Iranian Jew. He started out with Edmondo's and Ciao off Route 22 in Eastchester.

that is correct!.and the man wins a cigar, LOL..dave also had a restaurant i think in eastchester? he had great food , hang out for regis, nicole sheridan and that ponytail voice.. fireplaces, he then built that great wine room downstairs..

Eh, I get lucky sometimes.


Yeah, I just mentioned that, Bronx. He had Edmondo's first, which is another Italian place now. He has nothing to do with it. But Ciao is still there. Pizza and pasta. Right behind Pinocchio's (which recently closed up after years and years). He also opened another steak house by Lord and Taylor fairly recently.

Dave's a born charmer, though. Especially with the women. He can take the fattest and ugliest broad and make her feel like she's the most beautiful woman in the place. That's half the battle in a high end joint. And Dave's ugly as sin himself, but that's neither here nor there .

lol

Michael Bolton. There's a story there, but I'm getting tired of typing lol. Short version: I heard he literally begged to get that table named after him.

Sorry guys for interapting but Arthur leo club east harlem?

union guys hung out at pinocchio's i think that was the place it has been awhile//. at dave;syou must remember tony the head waiter or what ever title he had? huge coke head.but when ever i called he got me the fireplace table..he made a ton of money also.. pony tail got a little jealous one night, his bride kept her attention on us..i sent over bottle champagne, they had a glass each and bolted with her..did i just make a joke?

Yeah, Vinny D was in there all the time. And he had his hands in so many construction locals that, well, you know.


Huge coke head, weasel and rat. His last name begins with a C. I won't post it even though he's a piece of garbage. But that's the guy you mean, right?

correct, your good.. you been around a little bit huh? lol.. ah maybe we bump a few times in the past.

You mean I've posted a few things that can't be found on Google? That's not what my critics tell me .


I'd be shocked if we haven't .

you were reading my thoughts on the non google ..

In his own way Greg was almost as ambitious as Gotti. He figured if he could get Tore knocked down then he and Craig would have the Bronx to themselves. And I've posted it a hundred times, but Craig wasn't cut out for one stripe let alone two. And even if Greg was successful, he never could have jumped over Louie anyway.

He wasn't very smart. Never made any real money. If it wasn't for that disaster up in Tarrytown and that RIDICULOUS Sinatra picture, he would have ended up just another brokester. A dangerous brokester, but a brokester nonetheless.

Did Frankie Loc's name still hold weight at that time? Did Greg and him ever get along?

Frankie's name STILL carries weight.


They were night and day. Frankie and his brother Joe were gamblers and very much into gambling and shy. Greg ended up a shylock but he was a thief at heart.

PB check your PM

Done and done, kid .

Who was Little Toddo?Salvatore Toddo Aurello?

yes

Its in Cassos book that Anthony was real tight with Lulu Marciano and his brother.In fact it is stated that Casso owned a after hours club with Lulus brother on 7th ave somewhere in Park slope.We know Lulu was with Big Paul,was he?Was he a force in South Brooklyn,or what?

LULU died of cancer,very nice guy with NINO, LULU's brother a.k.a blackout was a shylock..very quiet guy.

Yes blackout thats what carlo said,What year Lulu died,do you remmember?He was older than Nino i think,10 years or so..

I would find that interesting also, i think they had a car service co. and a body shop over there as well.

Would like to know more about Gaggi/Castellano crew other than Roy Demeo.That crew goes far in the 1930s,and the Castelanos were a power in the mob from the early 1900s.Paul's father and his brother were in the mob.Somebody will tell us i'm sure.