Dons (Bosses) |
 Ruggiero "Richie The Boot" Boiardo (1940s-1984) |
A powerful and feared Genovese capo in Newark, New Jersey. Boiardo was born in Italy in the late nineteenth century and came to Chicago when he was nine. In 1910 he was working as a mason in Newark. The advent of prohibition established Boiardo as a bootlegger, his first arrest was in 1925 for carrying a concealed weapon that earned him six months. After a violent period establishing power in Newark a truce was announced in 1930 betwen Boiardo and Abner 'Longy' Zwillman a powerful Jewish gangster. A party was thrown that lasted two days which resulted in a photograph of Boiardo with Paul Moore, a democrat running for Congress. Moore's rival distributed the photograph in ther Eighth Congressional District. Moore was defeated in the polls, blaming this incident. Soon after the truce Boiardo was shot in a volley of bullets, allegdly his diamond belt buckle deflected the fatal bullet, this attack caused him to carry shotgun pellets that lodged in his chest all his life along with with a two and a half year sentence for carrying a concealed weapon. After he served sixteen months Boiardo and Zwillman split Newark up between them. In 1939 the State Alcoholic Beverage Control Board felt that Boiardo had no business operating a tavern called 'Vittoria Castle' a hearing was called in which Boiardo received a glowing character reference from Acting Captain Joseph Cocozza of the Essex County Prosecutor's staff who testified that he and his wife had dinner with Boiardo and claimed that Boiardo was only "trying to earn an honest living". In 1941 it was alleged that Boiardo retired from his interests to live in his estate in Livingston, which one magazine described as being "Transylvanian Traditional" in style. It featured lifesize statues of Boiardo and his family. Allegdly it had an incinerator at the rear of the estate the purpose of which was explained during a recorded conversation between Genovese members Ray DeCarlo and Anthony 'Little Pussy' Russo "He used to put them on there and burn them. You know how many guys we hit up there." Russo explained, he then warned DeCarlo never to go there if Boiardo tried to lure him there, he also claimed that Luchese boss Thomas Lucchese supplied Boiardo with victims to burn. In June 1969 Boiardo was sentenced to two and a half to three years on a gambling charge in an eight week trial with eighteen others which the Justice Department Authorities described as the biggest blow to the mob in decades. Waiting to be sentenced, Boiardo admitted "I was not born with a silver spoon in my mouth, I was born with a wooden spoon and I worked hard." At the age of eighty nine Boiardo was indicted on charges ranging from extortion, racketeering and murder conspiracy. Due to his age and health it was decided that Boiardo would not serve any sentence, he told the court he wanted "St Peter to bring me to heaven". Boiardo died in November 1984 ninety three years old. |
 Anthony "Tony Pro" Provenzano (1950s-1988) |
Anthony "Tony Pro" Provenzano was a top Genovese capo in the Garden State. Provenzano, along with Tony Salerno, the Dioguardi brothers, Antonio "Tony Ducks" Corallo and Russel Bufalino, would ensure the election of Teamsters boss Jimmy Hoffa to the role of International President. Besides the guarantee of controlling Local 560 of Newark, he along with his brothers would pilfer the treasury and engage in the heaviest of labor racketeering. The Provenzanos would serve many roles over Local 560, but ultimately would have the final word on everything. In 1963 Provenzano was sentenced to seven years following a conviction for extortion. In June 1975 Provenzano became a chief suspect and conspirator over the dissapearance and presumed murder of Teamsters boss Jimmy Hoffa. In 1978 Provenzano was convicted of embezzling over a kickback scam involving a union pension fund. Also that year he was convicted of having local union rival Anthony Castellito murdered in 1961. He was sentenced to twenty-five years. In 1988 he died while in prison. While in prison he was suspected of still influencing organized labor in New Jersey. |
 Tino "The Greek" "George Grecco" Fiumara (1994-Present) |
Tino "The Greek" Fiumara has had one extraordinary rise to power. An up and coming Genovese ganster, his name was well known to New Jersey state police by the early 1970s, he was a close associate of Philadelphia members Tony Caponigro and Dominick "Lolly" Luciano. Later, with the murder of the well liked Luciano, Caponigro and Fiumara became bitter enemies. Fiumara's predictable rise as the Genovese New Jersey overseer was cut short after he was convicted of extortion and subsequently served 15 years in prison. With his release in 1994, Fiumara was bound by heavy parole restrictions and used to be shuttled into Manhattan in trunk of a car. This act would result in being convicted of a violation. He served a brief strecth and recently worked out a plea agreement in connection with his communicating with fugitive mob soldier Mikey Coppola. |
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Louis "Streaky" Gatto (1970s-1991) |
From the crew of Genovese mobster Peter LaPlaca emerged several future stand outs in the crime family's New Jersey operations. Tino Fiumara was one of them along with Larry Ricci and Mike Coppola. Another one was Louis 'Streaky' Gatto. Beginning in the mid 1970s Gatto was seen as running part of the crew's operations. LaPlaca had been in ill health and would die in 1979. Gatto took over the crew's gambling operations. Gatto had an interesting niche in his management style. Authorities believed Gatto moved the wagering to New York because if an arrest would be made that the state's lenient illegal gambling laws would call for little if any jail time. However to see his plans materialize the Gatto crew took the use of violent means in order to ensure compliance from bookmakers and vice peddlers. Gatto's run as a boss of Northern New Jersey would come to an end in 1989 following a racketeering indictment that included two murder charges. One murder was for the 1979 rubout of Vincent Mistretta that involved an icepick to the neck. Ten years later Gatto and his son in law Alan Grecco were answering this charge. In 1990 Gatto would plea to a single county and received a maximum sentence of 65 years in 1991. His son Joey would be given 30 months. In 2001 Gatto was denied an early release to die at home. He died the following year from cancer. |
 Joseph "Joey Eagle" Gatto (1991-Present) |
Joseph 'Joey Eagle' Gatto went down with his father following their 1990 conviction and spent 30 months behind bars. Undeterred by prison Joey Gatto returned to Bergen County and began to run his father's old crew. The Gatto crew would continue on dabbling narcotics, loansharking and illegal gambling. American Justice took their second bite on Gatto when he was arrested in 1999 for illegal gambling. Copping a plea to bookmaking Gatto received a four year sentence and admitted he was a capo in the Genovese crime family. Following his return to the street Gatto gravitated towards using electronics and the internet to further his gambling operations. Remarkably only a year out of the can Gatto was arrested for running a sports betting business in Costa Rica known as 'Catalina Sports'. Other crime families involved in the offshore operation were the Lucchese and Bonannos. Like his father, Gatto preferred moving the actual betting to New York and operated out of the upscale eatery on Park Avenue known as Caffe Roma. In order to use the offshore wired facilities gamblers would pay a weekly fee of $25-$30. This alone, according to authorities, brought in $300,000 per week. Gamblers logged into the site, known as DataWager.com, placing their bets with the mobbed up links. Gamblers poured in from the east and west coast as well as from overseas. Indebted gamblers found themselves running to the Gatto crew and this is where the loansharking angle came into play. One such incident involved a debtor having his car torched, which really isn't a shock. While he awaits his trial or plea the press and cops have been on high alert as of recent. In May 2008 the dead body of William Marcucci turned up in the front seat of his Cadillac. Marucci, from the Bronx, was a carpenter by trade and he and his car were discovered in a New Jersey parking lot. Marucci was alleged to have been a loanshark for Gatto. This isn't the first murder linked to Gatto. In April of 2007 Lucchese crime family soldier Frank Langano was found stabbed to death in the parking lot of a Middlesex County diner. |
Others |
 John "Johnny Dee" Digilio (1975-1988) |
The mysterious disappearance of Johnnie Dee on May 9, 1988 remains one of the great mob mysteries of this generation. A growing power within the Jersey faction of the Genovese with a history of loansharking dating back to the mid 70s, Johnny Dee was known to keep a high profile much like that of John Gotti of the Gambino family. In fact it was rumored that Digilio may have tipped members of Gotti's crew off to a plot to kill him by Chin Gigante. Johnny Dee may have also been working on a deal which would have cut a potential 25 year sentence for loansharking by 75%. Scheduled for sentencing on May 19th, Johnny Dee disappeared forever. He was listed among the nations richest mafia members by Forbes magazine in 1986. |
 Angelo Prisco (1988-present) |
Considered to be a capo in the New Jersey faction of the Genovese Crime Family. Prisco rose to power in 1988 after John DiGilio was shot to death. He is reputed to have directed all New Jersey Genovese operations since then. Prisco was named in a 1994 indictment which included 56 counts against thirteen defandants, the charges included the murder of John DiGilio, extortion, arson and the illegal sale of assault weapons. Prisco pleaded guilty to arson and conspiracy to commit racketeering. The arson charge involved a fire in 1990 at a Garfield bar called Mugshots Pub. The fire was set at the direction of fellow defandant and Genovese associate Vincent Ravo to John Purtell. Purtell turned state's evidence and implicated Prisco in the arson by recording a conversation with him in which Purtell asked for help collecting money from Ravo "I'll see what I can do" Prisco answered. Prisco admitted this in his plea bargain "He (Purtell) told me he didn't get paid and I told him I'd see what I could do". When asked if his action was helping further organized crime activity Prisco answered "I guess so". Prisco was sentenced to twelve years and was paroled August 2002. |
 Ludwig "Ninni" Bruschi (Acting Boss) (Late 1990s-Present) |
>New Jersey state officials identified Ludwig ' Ninni' Bruschi as a caporegime in the New Jersey faction of The Genovese Crime Family. "Everyone in the State answered to Bruschi and the only people he answered to were the New York bosses." claimed John Pizzuro a detective in the State Police's Narcotics and Organized Crime bureau. Originally from Hudson County, Bruschi moved to the Shore Area and quietly rose through the Genovese ranks. He was first arrested in the early seventies on bookmaking charges. He took over South Jersey Genovese operations when former reputed boss Curtis Verra died. He eventually took control of all Genovese New Jersey operations after the conviction of Genovese caporegime Angelo Prisco. Legitamately he was principal in Strawberry Fields Inc the company that developed Cobblestone Township. Bruschi was cautious enough to place his condo in Asbury Park and the family home in Jackson in the name of a female relative, Toni Miller. >Bruschi's status within the Genovese Crime Family became public knowledge in June 2003 when he and nineteen others were arrested and charged with operating a criminal racketeering enterprise engaged in loansharking, illegal gambling, sports betting, theft and drug distribution. Bruschi was charged with being a leader of organized crime and that he supervised and approved loans at an interest rate of 156% and that repayment was enforced with the threat of violence. The operation was run in the Blue Collar Inn in Garwood and was overseen by alleged Genovese soldiers Frank Vasfailo (who operated the Inn) and Anthony Cerruto (Bruschi's driver). The operation allegedly took $100,000 per month in illegal gambling and had $600,000 loans out on the street, it also reached into Essex, Passaic, Hudson, Middlesex, Monmouth and Ocean counties. The operation also showed cooperation with the Genovese and Luchese Crime Families in New Jersey. Bruschi's arrest has caused a major setback for Genovese operations within New Jersey. |
