Before Capo, Rotondo and Palermo became informants, anyone know how big the DeCavalcante family was? Over 40 members were arrested, idk if everyone was made but with their 50 members today wouldn't it make them 90-100 members strong? how come they always been pushed around by Philly and the Five families? they seemed to be just as large as any other family at that time.

Did they not make a few new members over the last 10 years?

I think Miranda made about 15 guys before he stepped down.

When Riggi took over he brought the membership up to its highest point at about 60 to 70 made guys, now its estimated at about 40 to 50 members(that includes guys in prison).

I would say they are approx. 25-35 active members but to be honest I hear almost nothing about them, but if you go to Elizabeth you will see several social clubs that are still active .

They have always been smaller than the other 5 families though they were always bigger than north philly faction .

My guess is they went back to their roots of Elizabeth : union county , some Newark bookmaking , shy , some swag and probably some activity in local union. / construction as a lot of those relationships were family based that stretched back many years .

Any update on that family would be interesting but unless you operate on their geography , most probably wouldn't bump into them . Then again it's hard to figure out who the bank is these days with books .

They are Sicilian lead though and their areas are known for some of the best heroin in America , I always wondered who the source is , same with Paterson , their stuff is some real kingpin type quality .

It was some idiot editing Wikipedia that said Miranda inducted 12 new members, Capeci said it was closer to a half dozen.

They've done well to stay under the radar as the FBI are targeting the Genovese, Lucchese and Gambino factions in Jersey but it won't be too long before another indictment comes down on the Decavelcante's you'd think.

Here is a great article from 2006 that breaks down which families control bookmaking in which specific areas of New Jersey:

Mob wins big with gambling activity


By Tom Troncone
The (Hackensack N.J.) Record
Published: Thursday, February 23, 2006 at 12:30 a.m.
Last Modified: Thursday, February 23, 2006 at 12:00 a.m.
HACKENSACK, N.J. - A week or so before the Super Bowl, "Artie" from Wayne, N.J., called an 800 number his friend gave him when the football season started. He provided his user name and password.

The woman who answered the phone spoke with a thick Hispanic accent.

"Give me the Steelers 20 times," he said in the gambler’s parlance for a $100 bet.

On the Thursday after the game, Artie "settled up" with the friend, collecting $90 – his winnings minus a fee – and bought a few rounds of drinks for his buddies.

Artie made money on Pittsburgh’s victory. So did one of the Mafia families operating sports betting rings in New Jersey, authorities believe.

Win or lose, the mob – to no one’s surprise – is one of the biggest winners when it comes to sports wagering in the Garden State.

"It’s the bread and butter of organized crime," said New Jersey State Police Capt. Mark Doyle, who oversees mob investigations for the agency in North Jersey. "They use this money to finance everything else they do, from drug distribution to prostitution to payoffs to unions and elected officials. Bettors have no idea where the money goes."

Scores of people are arrested each year in New Jersey for taking part in million-dollar betting rings connected to the Mafia. Most offenders never see the inside of a prison.

But no sports betting operation has ever received international attention like the one police busted earlier this month.

Authorities say former Philadelphia Flyers star Rick Tocchet and New Jersey State Trooper James Harney ran a sports betting operation that took in more than $1.7 million in bets in a little more than a month leading up to the Super Bowl.

Janet Jones, wife of hockey great Wayne Gretzky, allegedly placed $500,000 in bets with the ring. The names of other famous athletes have popped up as possible bettors as well.

The ring, authorities said, was "affiliated" with the Bruno crime family, which is based in Philadelphia but controls gambling operations throughout South Jersey as well as in parts of Newark. But how would a ring such as the one the ex-hockey player and the trooper supposedly ran be connected to organized crime?

The state police wouldn’t divulge details of the alleged mob ties. A defense lawyer hired by one of those charged in the case insisted the ring had no ties to organized crime. To date, authorities have said only that some mobsters may have been bettors and that Harney associated with others.

According to mob and sports betting experts, the answer could lie in the unseen world of big-money gaming. Peel back the veneer of any large betting ring and a world of "hedging," "vigs," "tributes," "protection" and "wire rooms" emerges.

It’s a world where tens of millions of dollars are pumped into the coffers of the five mob families that control sports betting in New Jersey: the Genovese crime family in Bergen, Passaic, Hudson, Morris and Somerset counties; the Lucchese family in Essex, Morris and Union counties; the DeCavalcante family in Union and Monmouth counties; the Bonanno family in Union, Monmouth, Middlesex and Essex counties; and the Bruno/Scarfo family in South Jersey and the Silver Lake section of Newark.

Here’s how it works:

A bookmaker and several associates grow a stable of regular bettors. They can choose to open their own office – known as a "wire room" – and receive incoming bets via an 800 number or through a password-protected Web site.

Such an operation is extremely risky and involves a large, detectable organization, mob investigators say.

In late January, the last of 19 people charged with operating a Genovese sports betting ring from a bar in Garwood pleaded guilty to gambling charges in Monmouth County. They included the street boss of one of the six Genovese crews that operate in the state, Ludwig "Ninny" Bruschi.

Not sure where you got that 40 number from. 21 people were involved in the big indictment in the late 1990's and early 2000's. Even if it was 40, that would include members and associates. And we don't stop counting them just because they are in prison or inactive. Anyway, the most recent figure is 40-50 total members.

The DeCalvacante's are about as significant as sour kraut on a cracker.

The Philly family is in Silver Lake, Newark? Really?

I've been up that way a few times. There isn't anything Italian left there. Plus, wouldn't that be the same exact area that the Andy Gerardo westside crew ran? Further up Bloomfield avenue maybe.

The Belmont Tavern (Located in Silver Lake Section of Belleville on Bloomfield Ave) has an amazing entree entitled "Shrimp Beeps" on the menu allegedly named after the made Philly LCN soldier in the Newark Crew Vincent "Beeps" Centorino.

The meeting Joseph Scoops Licata and Lou Fazzini brokered with Gambino hierarchy and Philly Boss Uncle Joe was through Nicky Skins who was ALWAYS on Bloomfield Ave in Silver Lake Section of Belleville.....

Silver Lake is actually a section of Belleville on the Newark/Belleville border. Lots of gangsters and wannabees in that area of Belleville as well as throughout the entire town of Nutley. Nutley has a lot of gangsters, wannabees, and connected guys.

Florham Park/ East Hanover area has its fair share of the gangsters who are the more established soldiers and capos living out there too as well.

There's my quick little run down on the scene here in Jersey for some of the people who aren't familiar with the area.

Philadelphia has been in Down neck for a long time. Tony Bananas Caponigro was there, so was Joe Sodano, Pete the crumb Caprio and Scoops Licata runs it today. They co exixt with the Gambinos, The Westside, the Elizabeth crew and have a tense relations with the Lucchese.

The Decavalcantes are concentrated in (3) following areas- mainly in Elizabeth (majority of family), then Newark area (Mimmo Marzullo who is a solder operates out of Montclair), and then there was a faction out of the Toms River area at the shore when Girolamo Palermo(captain, ruling panel member) was still alive (RIP) and out of jail with Joseph Collina (soldier) as well both operating out of Toms River area of the Jersey Shore.

lol, db, sounds like you know how good the dope is first hand

Silver lake seems to have become more and more like Newark these days , it's gotten rougher from when I grew up .

I always considered that area more Luchesse and west side actually . The Taverns pork chop is no joke tho , good old school food there , good value too

I was wondering about the administration does anyone know if it's still riggi boss frank guaracci acting boss , underboss Joseph Miranda and consigliere stefano vitabile ??

Thanks Dante, DB and Beanshooter for that great info.

So there are a many as five families operating in Newark: Decavs, Philly, Luchesse, Gambino and ofcourse westside. I would have thought only the westside and the lukes were in Newark.

I am almost 99.1% sure that when people say this person, that crew, and that family operate out of Newark, when they say Newark they mean the "Newark Area" (This comes from living in the Newark area and from what I have personally seen and heard) so then yes, all 5 families, Philly, and the Decavalcantes operate out of the Newark Area (Newark Area AKA Bloomfield, Nutley, Belleville, Caldwells, Montclair, ETC) The Newark Suburbs are HEAVILY Italian and have the heaviest amount of LCN day to day activity in the entire state of Jersey, with Bloomfield, Nutley, Belleville, and to a lesser extent Caldwells being the towns in the Newark area suburbs with the heaviest amount of daily and consistent LCN activity.

However, I have not heard, seen, or read about much Colombo or Bonnano activity in the Newark area but can 100% tell you the Decavalcantes, Philly, Luchesse, Geneovese, and Gambinos have a presence in the Newark Area. I say that all 5 families are in Newark area because if 3 families are there, you can bet that the other two have at least someone in the area. Maybe someone else can help me clarify what Colombo and Bonanno activity is in the Newark area because like I said if there's without a doubt 3 families there, I can almost guarantee you that all 5 are there with at least minimally a little shy or sportsbook...

DB- Yeah the Belmont Tavern is a great old, school joint. I have had everything on the menu, everything is great!

On a funny note-That's where we should send some of these Europeans who come from across the pond as mob tourists who want to dine at "NYC Mob Restaurants" and the people who come from places in the middle of nowhere like Utah and Kansas to see "NYC Mob Restaurants" to.

LOL, Could you imagine someone from England walking down Bloomfield Ave into that joint???!!!! People who are from Wyckoff even look out of place in there and get the stares from everyone, LMFAO. I have a messed up sense of humor, I know

Dante is 100% right

Newark port is still a racket but Newark doesn't really have rackets anymore unless it's drugs or loans for drugs, I'm sure there are a few connected contractors and local unions as that city is the definition of corruption and kick backs . It's rather the Newark area with Belleville and Bloomfield probably the strongest along with Nutley , North Arlington , Lyndhurst , Rutherford Carldstat etc.

I also don't know of any Bonnano or Columbo activity but I'm sure they have book and shy customers in the area . I've always considered the area Luchesse and Genovese and some north philly with book but I'm sure others have something going on but I really don't know .

You can't forget about JC..

Yeah JC seems to be big- legit and illegit , under the radar and all Genovese . Throw Bayonne in there too which has huge sports books . Up north a little is Lodi

Yeah the tavern is def a neighborhood place , tough crowd if your not from around there. Ironically it's been somebody's home base at one time or another for 30+ years and nobody outside the area has even heard of the place . Place has great prices tho

Bonnanos also have a crew based out of Bayonne/JC headed by Hudson Bonnanos skipper Sammy Sammartino

Article about last big, major Genovese bust in Hoboken/Jersey City

My favorites over there are the Shrimp Beeps, Chicken Savoy, and the Cavatelli Pot Cheese...Sometimes you see some athletes in there from time to time...Clint Eastwood was there back in November when he was shooting the movie Jersey Boys....

Little mobster's wire has big fish on a hook
Monday, March 06, 2006
BY JOHN P. MARTIN
Star-Ledger Staff
With white hair, an easygoing manner and a well-known name throughout North Jersey, Peter Caporino didn't fit the Hollywood stereotype of an FBI informant.

"Petey Cap," as he is known, had a house in Hasbrouck Heights, a social club in Hoboken and lifetime ties to the Genovese crime family.

So when word spread last fall that Caporino had secretly snitched on his mob associates, some figured his defection was the desperate act of an aging wiseguy hoping to save his wife, his disabled daughter and himself.

They would be wrong.

An FBI agent's affidavit shows that Caporino, 69, has been a government informant for more than a decade, that he helped identify more than 50 mobsters and that his tips also federal, state and local investigations.

Filed in federal court in Newark, the statement elevates Caporino to new heights among mob cooperators. It also dispels any notion that the Mafia in New Jersey, though clearly weakened, is dead.

If anything, Caporino's recorded conversations with reputed crew boss Joseph Scarbrough suggest business as usual for the state's dominant crime family.

There's talk of buried weapons, hidden records, hijacked goods, lucrative loansharking and regular payments to the wife of an imprisoned underboss. There's the four-figure "tributes" that Caporino pays Scarbrough each month to ensure his own gambling ring continues under the umbrella of mob protection.

CUTTING THEIR LOSSESThere's also the backbiting of "family" politics and the discussion of less delicate topics, such as whether to lend more money to a Jersey City man who already owes $50,000 -- or to cut him off forever.

"If we have to kill him, I'd much rather do it for 50 than 150," Scarbrough allegedly told Caporino during one January 2003 conversation, "because that's out of our pocket."

Scarbrough, a 66-year-old West Orange resident known as "Big Joe," is among a dozen alleged crime family associates facing trial later this month on federal racketeering, extortion or gambling charges. Prosecutors contend the group ran a sophisticated numbers, sports betting and loan-sharking operation from Jersey City and Hoboken, and used threats of violence to squeeze money from Greek business owners.

Caporino, according to court papers filed by the government, spent more than two years building the key evidence in the case: Recording roughly 800 hours of conversations with fellow mobsters and others, including unidentified public employees.

In return, Caporino, whose criminal record spans four decades, spared himself another trip to jail. Last fall, a Superior Court judge in Hudson County, citing Caporino's remarkable assistance, gave him a five-year suspended prison term for running a gambling operation in 2001 and 2002. Caporino didn't even attend the sentencing.

The affidavit by FBI Special Agent Jason Brown suggests the cooperation was even more extensive than previously disclosed. Prosecutors submitted it under seal to a federal judge in July 2004 to support their bid for a search warrant on Scarbrough's home and car.

Scarbrough's attorney, Michael Koribanics, included the affidavit in a motion he filed to dismiss the federal indictment or force the government to disclose more about their cooperator. He did not indicate how he got the document and has declined to comment.

The document never names Caporino, but attorneys familiar with the case say the conversations it describes between the defendants and the informant identified as "Cooperating Witness-1" leave no doubt that he is Caporino. And the U.S. Attorney's Office doesn't dispute it.

Prosecutors have described Scarbrough as a high-ranking associate of the family who oversaw bookmaking and loan-sharking operations from his own Hoboken club. His criminal record dates to 1958 and he allegedly reported directly to Lawrence "Little Larry" Dentico, the reputed captain and family consigliere.

The agent's sworn statement ticks off at least 18 recorded conversations between Caporino and Scarbrough between July 2002 and June 2004. The talks seem to be a mix of business and pleasure, with Scarbrough bouncing from salesman, to boss, to friend.

In one, he boasts of his role in a burglary that netted $300,000. In another, he describes a murder he participated in, according to the affidavit. He also tells Caporino he ran with the "Hole in the Wall Gang," an infamous and violent Las Vegas-based burglary crew whose exploits were featured in the movie "Casino."


LOTS OF SWAG

The agent's statement painted Scarbrough's house as a way-station for hijacked electronics, jewelry and other "swag" -- slang for items stolen without a gun.

Scarbrough allegedly told Caporino about a fence named Barry who for decades had trafficked stolen jewelry and designer suits. He said he bought his wife a $20,000 sapphire-and-diamond ring from Barry for only $4,000, and that the ring had been stolen in a Connecticut burglary.

In August 2002, Scarbrough sold the informant a $3,000 Dell laptop for half its retail price, the court filing says. Agents later traced the serial number and confirmed that the computer had been shipped from New Jersey but never reached its destination, instead written off as "missing in transit."

Caporino also paid Scarbrough monthly commissions -- typically about $4,000 -- that he earned from his own gambling racket. Scarbrough allegedly said he needed the money to make his own tribute payments to Dentico and to Ida Manna, the wife of jailed reputed Genovese captain Anthony "Bobby" Manna.

It was loan-sharking that Scarbrough found most lucrative, according to the affidavit. In one March 2003 conversation, he told Caporino that he had extended more than $100,000 in loans -- earning 2 or 3 percent interest a week. Another defendant, Billy Napolitano, explained that he and Scarbrough used an unidentified attorney to make their loansharking income look legitimate, the statement said.


BURIED EVIDENCE

For much of the time, however, the men were wary of being caught, the agent reported. By spring 2004, Scarbrough was sure his phones were tapped and his house bugged. He told the informant in one conversation that he kept his records and guns "buried in plastic bags in several locations," including a neighbor's yard and a nearby park, according to the affidavit.

He also allegedly told Caporino to store his own records on compact discs, and to place the discs inside music CD cases because agents were unlikely to pore through a suspect's music collection.

The encroaching federal investigation was also hurting business.

Early in 2004, Scarbrough allegedly complained that he needed to "straighten out" a Bloomfield debtor who was slow to make payments on a $100,000 loan, but that he couldn't because the feds were watching. He also railed about Michael Crincoli, another reputed Genovese soldier, who had vouched for the borrower.

"Crincoli has been setting Scarbrough up to look bad in front of Larry Dentico," the affidavit states. "Scarbrough said the next time Crincoli says anything negative about the way he's handling the loanshark operation, Scarbrough will 'knock him on his ass.'"

Caporino's tapes are expected to be the centerpiece of the trial scheduled to begin on March 20 before U.S. District Judge William Martini. If Caporino takes the stand, defense attorneys are hoping to pounce.

In pretrial motions, Michael Koribanics, Scarbrough's attorney, argued that the long-term use of Caporino by the government amounts to outrageous prosecutorial misconduct. He asked the judge to dismiss the charges or hold an evidentiary hearing before the trial on the use of Caporino.


PLAYING BOTH SIDES?

He said Caporino had the best of both worlds -- the ability for years to openly profit from a gambling racket because he was working with the FBI.

"The only one who gained was Mr. Caporino. He gained by continuing his widespread bookmaking, extortion, extensions of credit and running a lottery. All done with the government's approval and help," Koribanics wrote.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Leslie Faye Schwartz, in her reply, countered that Scarbrough's claims are "devoid of legal and factual merit" and don't come close to meeting the threshold to throw out the charges.

Brown's affidavit said his investigation of Dentico began in October 1999. By 2002, the information from the man described as "Cooperating Witness-1" had helped investigators get two federal wiretaps and "numerous" search warrants.

The agent wrote that he also relied on two other two confidential sources -- one who had been feeding the FBI for more than a decade. The other had been cooperating for less than a year, but claimed to have more than 20 years in the crime family.

Unlike Caporino, neither is in a position to testify, the agent said.

Four other defendants already have pleaded guilty to charges in the case. Among them was Dentico, an 82-year-old with a house in Seaside Heights, whose plea deal mirrors one he struck in an unrelated case in Brooklyn. Under the terms of each, Dentico faces up to 63 months in prison.

Like the rest of the defendants, he has refused to cooperate with investigators.



John P. Martin covers federal courts and law enforcement. He can be reached at (973) 622-3405 or at jmartin@starledger.com.


http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/index.ssf?/base/news-5/1141627311111890.xml&coll=1

so they don't have captains operationg outta nearby towns?

just soldiers?

I'm sure there's a captain for each area cook, however I don't know who exactly for each particular area, I can only speculate. I only post what I know as the truth to the best of my knowledge......