Was Nino Gaggi eventually going to be killed?

The more I read about him; He's in the same cloth as an old-school LCN guy who respected the rules; and didn't mind dying in the streets.

My question is; Was Paul Castellano going to have him killed after he shot that cop; and after he got indicted in the car-theft ring? We know what happened to Roy DeMeo; Was Gaggi eventually going to end up the same way?? Paul was close Nino so it's possible he gave him a pass?

Didn't Sammy the Bull Gravano meet with Gaggi; and told him that Paul was not happy with him (Nino); and he's most likely going to end up six feet under... It's obvious that Gravano could have been lying and wanted to cause a rift.

Also; I believe Gaggi was on the streets for 3-4 Months with Gotti as boss; Apperently Nino was missing meetings and decided not to meet with Gotti one time...

What do everyone think?

Paul was could be pretty lenient when it came to hitting his personal guys. Roy was a psychopath that could only be dealt with in that fashion considering his lengthy resume and legal problems. Nino was closer to Castellano and there was plenty of time to dispose of Gaggi, so I don't think so.

To your second point, Gaggi had health and legal issues as his excuse. Even though he was on the outs with Paul at the time, Nino was seen as a Castellano guy and was probably worried about the new regime's stance on him. Gotta probably figured, Gaggi was going to the can anyway or die, so they just let it be. Of course, someone is always there to take over the racket

Paul never liked Roy. But Paul was close to Nino for years. Paul never wanted to induct Roy it was only into Roy killed Mickey Spillane and set up the Westies Alliance that Paul has no choice but to induct Roy

Paul was gonna kill nine rite after the stolen car trial. He shot the cop he knew about to many murders and drugs with demeo. Sammy told nino this when gotti gotti took over. That it was good gotti took over ad boss cause nino was marked

Thing was nino got out on appeal for the cop shooting but was under federal indictment to or was on trial with big paul when he was whacked. Supposedly gotti called nino in and he refused but where did that story ever come from. I'm guessing nino was on house arrest during the cop shooting appeal in 1985 and couldn't meet up with gotti anyway. I'm guessing Gotti respected nino cause he was a stone cold gangster with as many bodies if not more then gotti and was only 10 15yrs older then him

In Sammy's self serving book he takes shots at just about everyone but I dont remember him saying anything bad about nino. I think he called Roy demeo a psycho path or something

DeMeo was Neapolitan, Paul wouldn't trust him but Gaggi was a fellow Palermitani.

Yeah Sammy told a story about him and Roy sitting in a diner with a bunch of senior citizens and Roy said he could clip all of them in a matter of seconds or something like that. No idea if it’s true but I honestly wouldn’t doubt it. When you kill the amount people Roy did and dismember them like it’s nothing it’s clear you are capable of any kind of evil

Nino Definitely has a much bigger body Count than Gotti. I remember a wiretap from 1982 Gene Gotti said that the Gotti crew had killed less than 10 people at that point. Nino killed a lot more. Nino killed The Eppolitos, George Bynum, and even Roy himself just to name a few.

@Pmac.

The story about Gaggi not wanting to meet with Gotti is in the book: Murder Machine. I may have gotten things mixed up; I think Nino Gaggi was a captain; and Gotti was Acting Captain. Not when Gotti was Boss...

@ JCrusher;

Didn't you post this a few years ago? I'm quoting from you.

From Murder Machine:
"...according to Gotti, who was talking on a secret government listening device in his Queens social club. In one conversation, Gotti complained to an underling about the way Nino had told one of his underlings to bring Gotti to him for a meeting - about an unspecified problem with a restaurant that was eventually torched. 'He told you to bring me? He's under me! Yeah, tell him to get his ass up here to see me.'"


I understand what you mean about Gravano and the truth, but he has no reason to lie about it. He recalls the same story to Gotti and Locasio on the Ravenite tapes.


Also I read something earlier; Gravano was called to the ''White House'' and Paul had a newspaper about DeMeo's murder. Paul wanted to know how Gravano felt about DeMeo being whacked; Gravano was ''Ok'' with it. Think Paul was testing him...

paul and nino were very close ,their families were close..only reason paul did not kill nino..along with roy..he broke him instead

decicco and nino hated each other..nino came around pauls old club when decicco had it ..who knows if frank does not get killed if nino don't.

Weren't Jimmy Brown and Daniel Marino involved in the plot to kill Gotti and DeCicco? I read somewhere that Tony Ducks and Chin approached them at some point prior to DeCicco being killed off.

If they managed to kill Gotti in April of 1986, would this have been the new Gambino panel?

Boss: James Failla
Underboss: Daniel Marino
Consigliere: Joseph N. Gallo

The story goes Salvatore Gigante, son of Mario, nephew of Vincent Gigante and Bobby Manna met with Failla in a conspiracy to kill John Gotti and Frank DeCicco.

His father Angelo emigrated from Palermo do you know if he was made?

His father's cousin was Frank Scalise.

scratch Gallo,

"My question is; Was Paul Castellano going to have him killed after he shot that cop; and after he got indicted in the car-theft ring? We know what happened to Roy DeMeo; Was Gaggi eventually going to end up the same way?? Paul was close Nino so it's possible he gave him a pass?"

I don't think so. Nino was part of Castellano's inner circle, his right hand man seated next to him when he was made boss at Montiglio's house. Remember how the Eppolitos tried to convince Castellano that Nino was dealing drugs, and it got them killed instead. No, Castellano would not allow rules to eliminate his most trusted and closest.

"Also; I believe Gaggi was on the streets for 3-4 Months with Gotti as boss; Apperently Nino was missing meetings and decided not to meet with Gotti one time...

What do everyone think?"

Nino couldn't accept Gotti as the rightful Gambino boss if for no other reason than he was not Sicilian. If we believe what we read, Nino saw the Gambino family upper echelons as strictly Sicilian property and territory. When you weight in how close he was to Castellano, his motive for hating Gotti becomes obvious. I truly believe that when he summoned Gotti, that he was "calling him in" and calling him to account. I truly believe Nino had backing from other capos and that Gotti might have been whacked if he "came in" to see Nino. I also think Gotti knew this. I believe had Nino not gone to jail and survived health wise, he would have in fact taken over the Gambinos. He hinted to Montiglio in Murder Machine that he was next in line. Had Nino survived, the Gambinos might have even had their own "banana war".

Not even remotely true..everyone is forgetting the fact the ninos reputation in the family was in the toilet ..between all of the indictments and the kiddie porn..no one was back him for boss

Nino never had any shot at being boss. I think that was just wishful thinking on his part. I think Tommy Gambino was always going to be a candidate for Paul because of their family ties. In retrospect the best candidate to be boss was Frankie Decicco because he had total respect by everyone in the family and knew what he was doing

Could Tommy Gambino have been a decent Boss? And who would have supported him?

I don’t think so. In fact that was the main reason why Frank and Sammy decide to help. They thought Tommy was a “sissy dressmaker” and Tommy Bilotti was a “abusive gorilla”. So they felt taking orders from them would be impossible

Ironically, when Gotti became Boss, he made sure to strengthen Tommy Gambino's crew by transfering a few soldiers into his regime.

I think Gotti knew Gambino wasn't a threat to his leadership and although he wasn't a big street guy, he was well liked within the family and got some respect because of his father. Not to forget his big money operation in the Garment district. So Gotti was smart enough to keep him around.

Putting it that way, sounds like a raw deal .... So I am assuming Bilotti was made once the books opened in 77/78, was he always an associate of Castellano's crew and who brought him in? Also did he clip anybody of note?

I got the sense that Tommy was never really into Cosa Nostra. There is a quote he made on a wiretaps where he says “I never did what I wanted to do it was always for my father, for my family, etc”

Best estimate is the Fall of 77.
Heard he came in through the D'Allesio brothers of S.I.

Bilotti was made in October 1977 with John Gotti, Peter Mosca, Charles LiConti, and Tony Megale, four other unidentified initiates were also made.

Does anyone know how and why Billotti became close to Big Paul?

Do we know exactly which made guys were in Gaggi's crew ?

I only can think of two : Roy De Meo and Greg DePalma

Only ones I can think of at the moment;

James Eppolito SR - He was murdered in 1979 over a dispute with Roy DeMeo; Castellano ordered his murder.
James Eppolito JR - Same reason as his father - Murdered
Peter Piacenti - I belive he was part of the Gaggi crew.


I may be wrong;

Did Gaggi have the ''DeMeo crew'' and his own ''Personal crew'' Gaggi's crew had consisted of bookies; and old-timers I believe? That would mean that he was captain of two crews?

Yes the Demeo crew was part of his crew. Only Roy was a made guy in that crew. But yes The Eppolitos, Piacenti, and Depalma were other members of the crew

that’s a good guess. Also Angelo was probably made in that same batch since he got paroled around the same time as a Gotti. Also Robert Bisaccia was probably also made in October 77

Castellano was a Capo in the late 50s. By the timeframe you're speaking his crew had multiple captains. The Gaggi crew was just one of the Capos that were part of his regimw back in the day. More of an enforcement wing. Made decent money. By the time DeMeo entered the fray it became a huge moneymaker via Roy's Proxy Nino. Rest of the crew was the "Cigar Chomping" older guys they talked above in Murder Machine. Peter piacente aka Petey 17 used to work at the club at 1717 86th Street