Can the Decavalcante family Make a Comeback?

I have heard from some on here the family is basically just a crew and almost non-viable. How much truth is there to this and can it be changed? Unlike some other areas of America I thought that the family would have a relatively large recruitment pool with a large Italian-American population.
Can anyone hazard a opinion on current numbers of made guys in the family? Also info on key current players? Thanks.

Yes, they will re-organize like all families/crews do. Hopefully they still have a strangle on the unions.

Current estimates put the total DeCavalante membership at 40-50 made guys. So, they're roughly the same size as the other small families that remain outside of NY - New England, Philadelphia, and Chicago.

That said, I think they will be the next to cross that line from "viable" to "non-viable." In the big case that spanned the late 1990's and early 2000's, the family had it's boss, 3 acting bosses, it's consigliere, 5 captains, and several soldiers and associates indicted. For a small family, that is a devastating blow in so short a time.

Since then, which is over a decade ago now, there has been relatively little discernible activity by the family. I'm not ready to write them off completely but they seem to have been running on fumes for some time now. There's only been a handful of small cases involving a few guys here and there being into sports betting, trafficking in bootleg cigarettes and stolen tax refunds, loansharking, and extortion - the last which included the family's acting boss Frank Guaracci.

Probably most importantly was the family's long time cash cow - Laborers Union Local 394 - being put under oversight in 2006.

The DeCavalcante family has never beem a powerful family really. in fact they were known as the minor league of the mob by other families

Do you think its possible they will be absorbed into a NY family in the future?

No, because there's really no need to. Heck, the NY families (especially the Genovese) control most of the gambling, loansharking in New Jersey anyway. The Genovese also have the waterfront.

The DeCavalcantes main source of power, at least in the past, was their involvement in the construction industry through Local 394. But most of the family was kicked out of the local and, as I mentioned, it was put under oversight 5 years ago.

In my opinion, the family will just be further marginalized to what they have left in Union county. It would be impossible for them to be officially "absorbed" by another family; i.e. become the same family. But I suppose it's possible they could eventually get to the point where they're "with" a certain family, sort of like the Trafficante guys were "with" the Gambinos.

So the Sopranos portrayal is complete nonsense? I mean the power and influence they had. There rackets were mostly unrealistic?

The basic idea of a small family based in Jersey came from the DeCavalcantes. But beyond that, Chase and the other writers used material from the whole NY/NJ underworld for their scripts.

The Soprano's involvement in construction would be accurate. As well as other things like gambling, stock fraud, stolen goods, the strip club, etc. But not their involvement in the garbage business, the waterfront, etc.

And their relationship with NY, where they're dealing almost as equals, was overblown. Especially when they went to war. But you have to allow for some dramatic license, I guess.

They did use certain characters from real guys like jackie aprile for example. However the power that the sopranos depicted is complete nonsense. Let me put it this way one of us could probably get made in jersey that how weak they are/were lol

i still hold my stance in my mind that the sopranos are more related to the lucheesse nj faction! but we have had this argument on this board numerous times on numerous threads.

^^agreed i think they have aspects of both the lucchese jersey crew and the decalvacante's

I've thought that too, but the fact that they have a real boss, Tony, make me think strictly DeCavalcante

well if ya wanna get down to it...michael tacetta was kinda a boss for the luchesse's. (in nj) tony to resembles tacetta more than vinny ocean....wich is who ive heard alot of documentarys compare him too.

Personality wise, I'm sure Tony may have resembled Taccetta more. Though anytime that comes up, Palermo's association with producers is mentioned. Though that rat brags a lot. Speaking of, are Martin and Michael still locked up? I've locked for them using the U.S. BOP's inmate locator, later finding out they're in New Jersey state prison; they still in there?

I think gandolfini became tony soprano because he was the best man for the role, not for who he resembled !!

not talking about his physical apperance...but yes he was the best man for the job...

The Soprano's resemble the Decalvacante's.

In fact they propositioned Ray Liotta (who turned it down for fear of type casting hahahaha). This sort of proves that they were looking for the best actor, not a look alike.

Lol and th Dr tried out to be Carmela, ha Goodfellas all over again, Tony and Henrey shared a mother in law as well.

As somebody else mentioned the Decalvacantes was a weak mafia family. now the Sopranos made them out to be as strong as New York which is ridiculos but they were basically the minor league mafia in a sense

They were pretty weak nationally under Sammy DeCavalcante's reign, but I think they were fairly respected when Vinny Palermo was running things. Of course, when he flipped the domino effect did some irreversible damage. That's the way I see it.

depends on what is meant by comeback. compared to the late 90's/early 2000's they seemed to have stabilized a bit, so that could be considered a comeback to a degree. im not sure at what time they were at thier peak, but they werent ever considered the top mob crew even within new jersey, that has always seemed to be the genovese jersey crew. i think they will be around for a while, unless something big happens in the near future.

They were still much weaker than other other new york family. I mean gotti ordered them to do stuff and they did it which shows that they were basically a glorified crew

Haven't the Decavalcante Family made a pseudo comeback? I know they lost control over their local Liuna 394 but haven't they made like 10 guys in the past 10 years?

I'm not sure if it's fair to say they were subservient. I'm not sure its been fully pieced together. In whichever case, Gotti basically destroyed the DeCavalcante family by ordering the Fred Weiss hit. Some friend.

every family outside new york at one time or another followed the orders from ny. after the bruno hit, new york put the pieces in place that they wanted, i would hardly call philly a glorified crew. if you ask me, that term gets thrown around way too often. imo a glorified crew would be families such as LA, tampa, cleveland ect.

when sam the plumber got caught on tape in the 60tys he had a family of 30 guys that was there limit and it only newark and elizabeth. but they had a crew in brooklyn to. when they opened the books i think they went up to 75 guys. i think of course they could get back up there, there a italian stronghold. they still had the philly guys complain to the gambinos recently. there alined with the luchese big crew. sam the plumber was a smart don he had all his guys have jobs but did crime on the side, those guys grandkids run there companies today.that was there thing to be a small new jersey family they got in trouble in the 90tys for making guys from new york. i think it was nick corozzo giving them a lecture. weird thing that guy nicky skins was in nick corozzo's crew, thats not a good thing.

I never said philly was a glorified crew they were the real deal. Just trying to be honest from what FBI agents and ex mobsters have called jersey. Im mean i just try to be honest as possible nothign against the jersey mafia lol

no you didnt say that. the point that i was trying to make was that you implied that the decalvacantes took orders from new york, which relegated them to "glorified crew" status. i was simply trying to point out that other, more powerful families have done the same thing seeing as new york is the epicenter of the mob in north america.

I wouldn't call it a comeback. The lack of cases over the past decade may mean they're laying low and rebuilding. But it also may mean the big busts of the late 1990's and early 2000's left them in bad enough shape that they haven't been able to do much.

True. But lets be honest guys who were made in jersey were the ones who couldnt get made in new york or even philly. Im sorry i cant lie and say that the Decalvacante Family was the Corleones lol. I mean i love the Sopranos but is was a very fictionalized portrayal of the Jersey mob

How many DeCavalcantes tried getting made in Philly

there was a prominent decavalcante guy who got made in that family after spending yrs trying to get made in nyc...the name escapes me now...

Are you from jersey you seem to really like to defend the jersey mafia LOL Just Kidding. In all seriousness im not pulling this stuff from my ass i have heard FBI agents say everything i have said

heres one

Joseph "Joey O" Masella,the FBI stated that he owed $450,000 to many individuals including mobsters in other crime families. Vincent Palermo became enraged at Masella and thought of him as an embarrassment. Vincent Palermo received information that Masella was trying to ingratiate himself with the Scarfo crime family. Vincent wanted Joseph to murder his fellow DeCavalcante capo Frank Majuri who was on the three-man council of the crime family.

Dapper where did that ligmabi quote from in your signature, hes rarely quoted? I mean the guy gave one interview to the media during his regime and wasn't happy about it either.

Did they get him saying that on a wire?

Good Find Dapper

Yep, GA has mentioned it a number of times in his videos that Ligambi told that to Caprio

http://www.philly.com/philly/video/87798357.html

"In addition, Ligambi was recently implicated in the 1999 murder of Ronald Turchi by former Philadelphia hitman Peter "Pete the Crumb" Caprio. In court Caprio has testified that Ligambi told him Turchi was murdered due to his relationship with former boss Ralph Natale. "We dimed Ronnie out to teach Ralph a lesson," Caprio claims Ligambi told him. "

http://www.americanmafia.com/mob_report/12-17-01_mob_report.html

"Turchi was found shot to death, his body stuffed in the trunk of a car parked in South Philadelphia, on Oct. 26, 1999, shortly after Natale's cooperation became public knowledge.Caprio said Ligambi told him, during a meeting at a South Jersey diner early the next year: "We dimed Ronnie out to teach Ralph a lesson."

http://articles.philly.com/2001-06-08/ne...-joey-merlino/2

Joseph Miranda apparently raised membership to 56 before stepping down

the problem with the decalvacante family is that after a big bust like the one they suffered years ago, its hard for them to regain control of the rackets they had. the reason is that the other five families will quickley move in and, like hyenas, pick up the pieces. even if the family is able to stabilize, its not like they really have enough clout with NY to get back what was once thiers. this is a unique situation in todays mafia, as attrition seems to be the death bell for most families but i believe competition could be the reason the decalvacante family makes the transition from viable to non-viable.

Could they not make deals with the New York Families? Divide the rackets. I will be the first to admit the New Jersey Family is weak but they'rs still somewhat viable.
And also whats up with Frank Guarraci? Is he still on the street despite being indicted?

negotiations are always possible, and probably ongoing. the thing is that when push comes to shove the bigger guy(in this case any of the 5 families) will almost always get the better of the deal. kinda like how america is when dictating foreign policy. we will listen to the other guys, but at the end of the day its's what we want.

Seems to me there was one aspect of the Sopranos that was true: joint operations. They were always partnered with the Lupertazzi's in various scams. I wouldn't be surprised if that's how Jersey made a good majority of it's money right now. But from what I hear they do have a fair amount of guys on the street.

56? Can you please name at least 20 made Decav guys out on the street who are active? Thanks.

I dont think that is to far off... definitely in the 40 to 60 range

It's funny isn't it, I mean I thought they were all one big Cosa Nostra. But the reality is that they don't really want to help each other at all, not unless they personally gain something from it.

I remember that big Gambino bust due to the undercover FBI agent Jack Falcone, Sonny Franzese who was appointed Underboss was picked up on a wiretap by his druggie son that "they(Colombos) had to pay close attention to this bust" so they can try and "take over the action (rackets) after the fall out".

Yeah everyone's in it for themselves. With the New Jersey Family, they can't match New York in terms of power or money. They'd get wiped out in a second. But I would still consider them going. Guarraci and Miranda seem to be running things quietly. But then again I agree with Five Felonies, it's hard to regain what you lost, espeically in the world of the mafia.

Didn't David Proval get offered the Tony Soprano character also ?

What do you guys think will happen to the NJ Family when Riggi gets out?

Nothing much tbh he's got to be 85+ now i see him retiring if he doesn't i'll be really surprised .

I thought that Riggi was already retired and that Guarraci now runs the show from the Ribera social club.

Stupid freaking dinosaurs. When are they going to realize owning a Social Club screams "Come indict me!!!!!"

NJ DeCavalcante's operations are run by the rest of the NYC families. What's there to be taken is all Albanian.

Not quite the DeCavalcantes operate in certain areas and the New York families have crews in others.

I'm sure they have a few things involving gambling, loansharking, construction and a small bit of extortion. But you're right, the Five Families control a good majority of the operations in Jersey, some of which the DeCavalcante's are somewhat involved. But they are small potatoes compared to NYC now

i see riggi getting out settling his affairs and leaving things to someone like Guarraci

I reckon by the end of Sopranos though they resembled their real life counterpart 3 Capo's one involved in construction and a messed up hierarchy weakened by faults and kicked from the garbage business

Also if they do make negotiations with other families in Jersey for joint operations most likely they will be considered a multi family crew XD

In the 40-50 range according to the most recent estimates.

I thought they where doing ok , longtime consigliere stefano vitabile has been released , Phil abramo is out in the next few years , guarraci and Miranda seem to be in firm control , Miranda was reported to have made some guys aswel ??

I actually heard that The Sopranos are more based on the Boiardo crew, as well as the DeCavalacante's.

Anyone know how many guys Joseph Miranda made? I keep seeing claims but cant find some underlying source for the claim.

I've heard people say that he's made around 12 guys in the last couple years

Yeah ive seen people say that to, but the only source i can find for that is wikipedia so....

Frank "Big Frank" Cocchiaro | New Jersey | DeCavalante Crime Family | (1972)

Not necessary. Before 1999 the DeCavalcantes was a viable family and have more unions control.
In the TV series Tony have a strong relation with Johnny Sack and this is his force while Carmine sr call the DeMeo a "glorified crew" . With the friendship of the underboss of the second strongest family in NY,Tony can assault Phil Leotardo a veteran that made 20 years for the Lupertazzis without serious conseguences.
The war with NY is unrealistic,in real life Tony would be killed by his men.
You must divide the Sopranos from the DeCavalcantes.

The DeCavalcantes had rebuilt its ranks but is a small family that must fight for made money against the 5 families and the Philly family.
They have to be satisfied with the remains, that is, those too stupid to get involved with the other families.

They were always smaller than the NYC families, it doesn't mean they're not serious. And they seem like they are low profile, under the radar guys.

The Sopranos was based on a combination of The Genovese Jersey Crew and the Decavalcante so wasn’t to far off when you consider that. As far as them not being around in the future, I’d say it’s possible because they are in competition with NYs Jersey Crews and Philly and they are last in the pecking order. If you were a street guy coming up in North Jersey it would benefit you to align yourself with one of NY families or Philly based on the rackets they hold have no clue how that many guys are eating based on what they control because like it was said construction unions was what kept them making money but I don’t think they even have much control on that anymore. All that being said they have their lane and they are keeping quiet so who knows maybe they are rebuilding and will be ok but they still are a family you go to when you can’t get made anywhere else.

I don't think any family is ever gonna make a comeback to the golden days of the Mob.

https://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/15/nyregion/15mbrfs-brief-007.html


From 2006, Laborers Local 394 and the Jersey Mob

And this is true but a family can rebuilt and turn to be a viable family.Guarraci had ties to Ribera and the sicilian mafia now whos the boss family maybe can use this link to get some zips.

Considering what they’ve gone through, the fact that they’re still a viable crew could be seen as a “comeback”.

As for the zip-import theory: keep in mind that post-9/11 immigration is a pain in the butt for a regular, law-abiding individual, so to import career criminals from across an ocean is not an easy feat.

Cartels get away with it because they can literally walk into the US.

Not to mention that life as a mobster in America is much harder than overseas. So I don’t know why would anyone come here to join the LCN. He’d be better off moving to Germany, Canada, Australia where racketeering laws are not as harsh as here (or Italy).

I don't think any family will ever return to their golden years.

Maybe if the day comes where the FBI were to say LCN, is no longer on their radar and they will no longer prosucute them.

That LCN should be handled on a local level.

That gambling and loan sharking aren't worth pursing.

What kind of threat does LCN pose today compared to say cyber crime, or terrorism etc.


You never know what tommorow brings.

I don't think most millennials even know what LCN is or is about.

If you consider that plenty in law enforcement have made their careers in fighting and prosecuting LCN, I.E. Giulliani, Sliwa, Judges Weinstien and a few top defense attorneys just to name a few.

If the next generation has no interest then there isnt really an opportunity for advancement.

It already started happening in Buffalo they were totally written off.

There were a sqaud per family, now there is I believe two squads for all the families.

And who is assigned to remnants of the other remaining 26 families.

Why don't you ever see any gambling and loan sharking cases against the Chinese or against Hascidic Jews? Or any other nationality?

They don't gamble? Or loan out money to their own?

Don't think so.

Just nobody cares is the answer.

Just my opinion

What's the age of those 40-50 guys?

Give a look here.

http://mafiamembershipcharts.blogspot.com/search/label/Elizabeth

This shit is getting old, I come here thinking there's some explosive news on the DeCavalcantes only to see this shit.

DD, instead of complaining all the time, why don't you go and search out some new and unique information about the mob that most of us have either rarely seen or have never scene; news articles, films, exposes, stories, etc.

Or better yet, go write your own "unique and refreshing" story about a mob subject for the forum to read.

In other words bring something creation to the forum that will enhance it. Instead of just asking questions all the time. Or complaining about something someone else has posted.

Wouldn't that be better?

Ya know DD could either stand for "Disappointed Dunsky" or "Dangerously Daring" .....I'm sure you'd rather be known as the latter, no?

Okay, but I ask questions so that perhaps we can engage in meaningful conversation about the topic. I actually thought my comment was funny, sorry you didn't see the humor.

All kidding aside. I would welcome you writing some pieces, or digging up some interesting old stories that we have never read before. I agree that the same old regurgitated subjects and names get extremely boring after awhile.

What I meant was that, judging by the title of this thread, I thought the update was going to be some breaking news on the DeCavalcante clan. Anyway it's all gravy, he posts some good videos too.