The Media lie alot about certain things which aren't even true. The FBI haven't said that Dellacroce was an FBI informant so why would you believe Time Magazine? We may aswell just call William Hedgcock Webster a lier and say that The Newspapers are right on all matters.

+1 Good post TG.

Yeah, because people that have murdered and made tons of money have never been rats/snitches/informants.

Lot of people in this thread really want to not believe it. Keep the myth alive.

Did he? I don't know. But to outright think it's impossible because he was a tough guy, killed people and made tons of money is naive.

What do you mean? FBI have declined on stuff like this before so how on earth would Time Magazine know Neil Dellacroce better than the feds?

I mean that everyone in this thread is dismissing this because Neil was a tough guy, who killed people and he made alot of money. That's it.

They don't know him better than the FEDS but it's not outside the realm of possibility that they could be correct. That he could have been a paid informant.

A response could be "I doubt it. Never heard anything of that sort, but who knows." Not "Neil was rich, he was a tough guy. No way."

No one knows. You could say Carlo Gambino was a dry snitch, Paul Castellano, etc, etc. And it all could be true or none of it could be true. We don't know, but to dismiss it because we have heard stories or read books about Neil is ridiculous.

neil wouldnt call the cops if his house was on fire. hes more 'cosa nostra' than lucky luciano. to say hes a 'voluntary informant' because theres no evidence he isnt,thats the poorest attept at logic i have seen in a while. according to that logic jimmy hoffa is still alive because we have no proof hes dead.lol. and call me naive,but im guessing im probably twice your age.

Since this came back up, I vaguely remember in Gotti: Rise and Fall Paul Castellano insinuating to Sammy Gravano that Neil was a rat. Was Time's source related to this? I got a vibe Paul would be above that sort of stupid intrigue.

Than again, my recollections of R&F were that Tony Roach was an informant.

Let me tell you something, Time Magazine study the movie business on La Cosa Nostra meanwhile the feds are more correct than a bunch of 16 year old newspaper reporters who just wanna make headlines all day.

You're right. There's no way Neil could have been a rat. Because? You say so? Come on.

Gravano hated the cops too. So did all those other guys that flipped. So did Giancana.

My "flawed" logic is the same as yours. You say he couldn't be because "he would never call the cops even if his house was on fire" or because you heard stories about him being a tough guy. That's great evidence.

I have no idea if he was or not. But to outright dismiss it is naive and crazy.

pp,my logic is flawed? im going off the same 'guesses' you are? no offense here, but i could tell you more about neil than you could read in any book. dont get on your computer out in wyoming and tell me you know more than a man whos eaten dinner with my family?ive forgot more about 'oniel' than you will ever know. when i say 'hes not a rat'.i dont mean it,i know it. read my posts here,i know what im talking about. ive lived in the same neighborhood for fifty four years. where the fuck do you live? who did you 'come up' with?you dont know jack shit about this 'thing',and thats fine.you dont want to believe what i say. fine.but to say im 'naive' or an idiot for stating what i know.about a man i know? thats fucking stupid. this is the internet.i realize you can say what you like,but id recomend working on your fucking 'people skills'.

ive said what i have to say. i wont respond anymore in this thread. if you sincerely disagree with me feel free to message me.i wont be a party to some internet-'beef'.

Wyoming!!

I keep thinking of "Dog Day Afternoon." Sonny (Pacino) asks Sal (Cazale) what country he wants to flee to after the robbery. Sal says Wyoming .

Yeah, that exchange reminds me of Lefty Guns Ruggiero insisting to Donnie Brasco that Lake Michigan was the Atlantic Ocean during their visit to Milwaukee.

Lefty went through Yale. He was in a car, of course . . .

I didn't say you were an idiot. You are the one getting upset. I have no internet beef. We just have a difference of opinion. I have never stated that I know Neil or have some great insight into his life. You say you do, great. It seems you have a strong affinity for Neil, great. No need to get so upset.

Any mobster could be an informant for the FBI. Any one. Because you say you knew for so long does nothing do dispute the fact that he could have been.

I'm not saying he was, but because you say you knew him, doesn't make it impossible.

Enjoy Idaho. Heard it's beautiful this time of year.

I highly doubt mr.neil was an informant for the fbi. If he was the feds would have loved to rubbed that in johns face. plus wasnt he carlo's underboss for years. IF he was informing he could have brought the gambinos down alot quicker then gotti did.

It doesn't make sense at all. If he was an informant, he did a lousy job considering the FBI couldn't touch Carlo before he died, and they struggled immensely to pin anything on Gotti.

Dellacroce being an informant? Absolute rubbish. He was as hard as they come and his loyalty to Cosa Nostra should never be questioned.

Why? Because the books said so?

No one is suggesting he was a rat and telling the FBI everything he knew. The suggestion was that he was an informant. Perhaps telling the FBI, IMO, info about other families or other crews he didn't like.

I don't think anyone is suggesting he was a rat for his entire life.

there only 2 dead guys i read of, that it came out that they were fbi informant after they died. jimmy the bear flemmi cause of the massive scandal in boston, it had to come out since his murders were pinned on everyone else but the real weird one was frank lefty rosenthal(deniro).what the hell was the purpose of america findind out in the press that his was a top e-infornmant since the 60tys and if i remember the article it kinda said alot of people in chicago were awhare, but kinda let him go. it came out he was long time rat like 2 weeks after he died what 2yrs ago. scarpa they let people know before he died flemmi, bulger,even that blue eyes guy in brooklny killing people well informing and rosetti up in boston. i cant picture any of the old bosses being rats, but maybe sam giacanna and roselli.they talked to openly with the cia i guess. and neil being paid informant you think that guy ever needed a few bucks he got tax evasion for blowing like 100k on a craps table at some casino in one night in the early 70tys. thats a million today. i see a guy put a hundred in chips on the rouleete table at foxwoods i got to watch you always loose.

No offense Sit, but PP is not stating YOU are naive. He is stating that dismissing the thought of Dellacroce been informant, COULD be naive.



Well, Scarpa was tough as nails too. Who would have thought him being an informant before it was revealed?

Don´t get me wrong. I´m not saying Neil was an informant, neither should my reply to these two posts be considered leaning towards this an inch. But to dismiss somebody being/been an informant because the dude was tough and hard, is naive.

First off i agree with you as per Hairy. Sit - i disagree with how you responded to pp (good guy). But just like PB you know what you're talking about. So i hope you continue to contribute your knowledge to this site

Dellacroce or Tony Accardo being rats is just not even realistic. Dellacroce,a true Sicilian lived and breathed mafia. Accardo,a boss's boss,say no more.

Neil's parents were from Veneto, in the North of Italy.

I don't believe for a second that he was a rat, I'm just letting you know for the sake of clarity.

Fair point, Hairy. I just don't believe it. Not just because he was a tough guy and well respected and was the underboss, but because Neill already showed how loyal he was to Cosa Nostra when he refused to make a move on Paul. It showed how loyal he was to the rules of Cosa Nostra. Hard to imagine a guy like that flipping, but who knows. I think it's bullshit.

PP, Firstly I love the way you keep calling people naive for thinking Dellacroce was definitely a stand up guy..

Are we really naive to believe a man who is the number two man of arguably the biggest crime family in the country was a voulantry FBI informant?

Neil had been a made guy for 30 years, had multiple hits under his belt.. you keep saying 'because the books say Neil was a loyal guy' It's pretty much fact that Cosa Nostra was Aniello's life, he was arguably the top caporegime in the family under Anastatia, Genovese/Gambino eliminated Anastasia and Neil soon pledged alleigance to Don Carlo, that's how old school LCN guys work.

So after all the murders and years of loyal service to his crime family, he decides one day he's going to become a volountary FBI informant for a measly 1,000 a month, why would he do it? Guilty conciense? You must be crazy to even think it.

The story of the FBI agent walking into the Ravenite social club and syaing 'who's in charge here' is laughable, firstly the FBI don't work like that and after a short conversation he managed to sway an old timer out of 'the life' it makes good headlines, but makes no sense.

So who's really naive in this debate? You are.

I completely agree Neil wasn't a rat but to be fair to pp he only said it once and he was talking about outright dismissing the possibillity.

I've heard rumors about this on forums before,no way he was rat!

Excatly. That smells of yellow journalism. Sounds like something straight out of a movie. Journalists tend to write like that. It sells.

Neil being a rat isn't even a possibility.

NO WAy neil was a rat!

Oh,well i guess i was wrong about the sicilian part lol. But the man was solid as a rock til his last breath I'd be willing to bet that.

Agreed. No doubt in my mind.