Did Tommy Bilotti have any real power?

with Paul alive, obviously he had the boss's ear & a lot of say in that regard, especially after Neil died when he was promoted to underboss

But let's just say without Paul in the picture, ie Paul was whacked & Tommy wasn't present. What kind of power did he yield without Paul around. Did he have a big crew? Seems like he spent most of his time with Paul & only met the capos or soldiers to pass on orders. I know him & his brother were both real tough guys but in the mob that doesn't stand for much when your against numbers , guns & money.

Now in comparison, Gotti without Neil had considerable influence & a big crew. Plus he was able to get other crews & important figures within the family to listen to him.

Edit- another example could be Massino & Vitale, without big Joey, Sal had no real power apart from the title of underboss/ whereas Gas Pipe as Vic's underboss was very powerful in his own right

Here's the problem I see with someone like Bilotti:

He was described as Big Paul's body guard and driver.

If you are an Underboss, you need to be out on the street runnin sh--.

Maybe I'm wrong, but I think Bilotti was just as out of touch as Big Paul.

Agree with Alfa Romeo above, plus I have heard Bilotti described as being quite dumb. I think he was probably OK as a driver but not much more than that.

Agree with all above statements. I really don't think you would of heard much of him without big Paul in the picture. Sparks is what really made his name known.

His brother Joe was well-known and feared.

His brother joe was a capo correct?

I believe Joe Bilotti is/was always a soldier, I've read he was under Carmine Sciandria and has a million kids

Think there was a 3rd brother,James Bilotti.Don't know if he was connected.

Joseph died in 2006. James is indeed the third brother.

All Bilotti brothers had 9 children each.

The brothers came up in the crew of Michael D'Alessio.

It's all here.

http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/OBITUARIES/2008-10/1223119580

Lots of interesting info to flesh out the Bilotti back story like the following:

"In one incident, Tommy Bilotti knocked out Colombo associate Robert Pate, whose brother was Colombo solider (and future stoolpigeon) John Pate".

"Thomas had a physically large mouth full of crooked teeth and piggish eyes that were too close together. This suggests that Thomas suffered from Fetal alcohol syndrome which is a disorder or permanent birth defects that occur in women when they consume alcohol during pregnancy. The alcohol can also damage neurons and brain structures, and cause physical, mental and behavioral problems. which is caused from the narrowing of the palpebral fissures. It also creates an array of primary cognitive and functional disabilities including impulsive behavior, attention defecits and poor cause-effect reasoning which Thomas displayed signs of. One of the physical telltale signs of fetal alcohol syndrome is that the eyes may seem visually too close together. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agent Joseph O'Brien would state that Thomas was unfortunate to not "escape the telltale signs of inbreeding- the piggish eyes, the sloping brow, the blotched skin that went with hypertension that made Thomas and other mobsters into caricatures of thuggishness".

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome would explain a few of the the stories about him.

"With his first wife Catherine he fathered a severely autistic son and namesake, Thomas C. Bilotti born on March 30, 1974 who was institutionalized when he reached the age of a toddler. Thomas was said to have loved his son dearly and visited him regularly, though he never spoke of him publicly. His son and namesake Thomas C. Bilotti passed away on September 16, 2003 in Port Jefferson, New York at the age of twenty-nine".

I found that quite sad. Everything about that article was pretty sad actually. A depressing read.

http://www.nytimes.com/1991/09/01/nyregion/prosecutors-tell-of-colombo-family-murder-plot.html

Joe Bilotti was indicted in an early 1990's loansharking case as per this article:

Five others, accused of links to the Gambino crime family, were indicted on separate loansharking charges and were released on $250,000 bail each.

"The other defendants were Joseph Bilotti, 58, of Staten Island; Vincent D'Antoni, 48, of Staten Island; Joseph Seggio, 54, of Brooklyn; Peter Sgarlato, 56, of Edison, N.J., and Michael Murdocco, 48, of Staten Island".

I wouldn't say so. He wasn't respected much at all. Especially when Castellano gave him a crew. I'm willing to bet, that if Castellano got killed somehow and Bilotti didn't die beside him, they still would have went after Bilotti. Even if he would have tried to yield like Tommy Gambino.

Who were those D alessio brothers?Havent found anything on them

No. The Bilotti brothers came up in D'Alessio's crew.

Yeah there were three brothers,i guess they were close with debrizzi or related,i dont know.I thinkThey were from Joe Riccobonos crew or something to do with him.HK will clear it up when he comes online,he probably knows.

IIRC he put a debtors dick in his mouth in order to humiliate him

Not sure who should be more humiliated by that

no homo but in the mafioso underworld thats just cray

Hey Barrett, just wanted to clarify on this story because I honestly have no idea about it: He took the debtors dick and put it in his mouth? Or his and put it in the debtors mouth? If it was the first, I think it backfired on the humiliation part.

Got that quote thing under wraps now man!

Tommy "Ryan" Eboli had said year's ago that the "Gambino " Family is a full of degenerates, inbreeding and cousin's getting married.

The story you refer to is in the link I posted. Read it. It's a good read.

I´m not sure who the Bilottis were under during their early career, but when they were made in the late 1970s, they were under Jimmy Brown. Castellano made Tommy Bilotti a captain of his own crew around 1981 and some Failla soldiers (among them his brother and the DeCiccos) went with him.

Frankie Decicco went under Tommy Bilotti in 81??Paul must of been out of his mind,putting a guy like Decicco under Bilotti.He should have put Tommy bilotti and HIS brothers under Frank in 81.He deserved it and he had the age,46 years old was ideal to become a capo.Who were the other guys under bilotti?

My understanding is that during the later years of Castellano's reign, most family business was run by a 4-man panel of Thomas Gambino, Daniel Marino, Jmmy Brown Failla, and Thomas Bilotti.

Bilotti may not have been particularly clever, but the other three were

Moreover, Castellano supposedly made it known that he wanted Tommy Gambino to be his successor

Therefore, even though Bilotti was promoted to Underboss, it was never the plan to make him boss

A few questions spring to mind:

(1) If the rank-and-file thought that Castellano had gotten his position only through nepotism, would not the same resentment have existed against Tommy Gambino? And yet Tommy Gambino seems to have been a very popular and therefore powerful figure

(2) Even if Castellano were out-of-touch with the street, and supposedly unaware of Gotti's machinations against him, would not such street-savvy figures as Marino and Failla have known the danger?

(3) The hypocrisy of the Gotti accusing the Castellano faction of nepotism, and then making and promoting John Jr at such a young age, and seeing to it that John Jr and Peter Gotti ruled the family after his imprisonment . . . .

I think DeCicco was a capo. Castellano thought highly of him

Forget about Gotti's and Sammy's justifications and excuses for whacking Paul. Paul was greedy, John was ambitious. He was put in a kill or be killed position. That's it.

There have been much worse bosses than Paul who haven't been shot like dogs on the street.

http://www.gangsterbb.net/threads/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=818079&page=1

mal, you're absolutely right! with gotti it was kill, or be killed, it was him or paul castellano.

Very good point I agree as well.. No chance Gotti was gonna sit back and let Castellano take him and his crew out.. Fuck the rules, anyone in that life with brains and balls (which I do think Gotti had) would have done the same thing.

yup, well said!

Moe, great read thanks.. One thing, Bilotti having the bartender perform oral sex on him in front of the patrons? That sounds a little off Mafia protocol ya think?

What would be interesting IMO is if Paul made Gambino as his underboss would Gotti of whacked Tommy Gambino too

Gotti was forced to kill Paul otherwise him , Gene and Ang would have been whacked so regardless of who was underboss Paul was going .

However as dumb as Gotti could of been ( I consider it more of his proud/ stubbornness to be a gangster persona than being dumb ) I doubt Gambino would have been touched . Gotti was smart enough to know killing a Gambino was probably a death wish whether it be by his own family or the Chin .

I also wonder if Paul made Gotti his underboss , would it have save his life ? Or rather save the life of living behind bars the rest of his life .

Regardless Paul did right by his sons I believe , putting them in critical a industry to NYC where they could receive help from CN while keeping them on the outside to prevent the constant watch by LE. My guess is his sons are millionaires today , but probably still kick up

mal, you're absolutely right! with gotti it was kill, or be killed, it was him or paul castellano. [/quote

My feeling is this; if there is a power struggle within my own "family" I do not see why I would have to go to the commission in order to get permission to take out my leader. Secondly I would be crazy to tip them off that me, a soldier was looking to take out my boss. From what I have always read and understood about the formation of the commission, Luciano put it together, sought of like a board of directors, so that there would not be ONE boss over ALL of the families, but instead the families would work together dividing up territories and resolving differences that may arise between different families. However it has always been my understanding that when this commission was agreed upon by the heads of these families, the Boss of A family retained the right to govern his own family and resolve disputes that would arise "within" his own family. Therfore I strongly feel that if I was a member of a family, a Button man per say, and I started a revolt within the familiy itself and decided to take out my boss, I should NOT have to go to any commission to do so. If my family had a problem with another boss, and we wanted to take him out, THEN we must go to the commission to get approval. Sort of like the Bonnano / Gambino situation. These are my feelings and not anything that has been written in stone, but this is how I would interpret the "commission rules." Heck, maybe because of my interpretation they would have taken me out! DonCardi

That's an interesting speculation. My opinion, no way Tommy would have been touched. He wouldn't be with Paul in his car when going to Sparks 'cause he wasn't Paul's driver. Still, IF Tommy had been with Paul and Bilotti and the hit would have to go down, would they spare Gambino or not? What do you guys think?

no way tommy gets killed

I agree!! Out of respect for his father, and the fact that he was known as a true gentleman with respect from all the families, Gotti would never or he would be DONE before he started

Why were Carlo & Tommy Gambino so beloved? Granted, I find myself feeling a curious affection for them from a great distance, but why should they be anymore beloved than other mob bosses? It is not as though Carlo created the American mafia or even his own family. He was preceded by Anastasia, Mangano, and others. And certainly Bonanno had no love for Carlo. But by and large, this crafty & ruthless Carlo, and his son Thomas, appear to have been beloved by the troops. Why?

Tommy bilotti had 12 to 13 hits under his belt so he was a Killer a guy to be feared got that hit info from the book big boss paul castellano the rise and fall good book