Aniello Dellacroce

Aniello Dellacroce
Born	March 15, 1914(1914-03-15) New York
Died	December 2, 1985 (aged 71) New York City

Aniello John "Mr. Niel" Dellacroce, also known as "Father O'Neil", "The Tall Guy", (March 15, 1914 - December 2, 1985) was an Italian immigrant gangster, and underboss of the Gambino crime family.

Early years

Much of Dellacroce's early life is a mystery except that he was born to first generation immigrants from Italy in Little Italy, Manhattan. Aniello's father was an Italain Immigrant who was legitimite. Growing up in Little Italy, Dellacroce soon became a butcher's assistant, but work was rare, and he took to crime. He was improsssed for a pety thft as a youngster. He supposedly became a protege of Albert Anastasia, who was Mangano's underboss at the time. Aniello had one sister named Mary born November 7, 1912 who lived in Richmond, New York. She married John Ruggiero Sr. and would later bear him two sons, future Gambino crime family capo Angelo Ruggiero and Gambino crime family associate Salvatore Ruggiero who would later follow their uncle into organized crime. He is the great uncle of John Ruggiero Jr., Angelo Ruggiero Jr. and Salvatore Ruggiero Jr. He owned the now notorious Ravenite Social Club located at 247 Mulberry Street which included eighteen apartments and a two-room storefront. Aniello was a tall, broad-shouldered man who was usually chomping on a cigar, Dellacroce was said to have a menacing stare. . After the disappearance and assumed murder of Mangano, Anastasia became boss of the family and appointed Dellacroce as a caporegime with his own crew. He fathered one son, Gambino crime family associate Armond Dellacroce.

Gambino takeover

On October 25, 1957, Anastasia was murdered in a barbershop in a New York hotel and Carlo Gambino took over the family. Gambino, who supposedly ordered Anastasia's murder, took over Anastasia's crews and formed the Gambino family. To placate Dellacroce, who had been a strong Anastasia supporter, Gambino appointed him as underboss. Like most 'old time' Mafiosi, Dellacroce did not attract attention to himself. He sometimes walked around Manhattan dressed as a priest and calling himself 'Father O'Neil', to confuse both the police and rival mobsters. He allegedly committed a killing dressed as the priest.

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Family

Dellacroce is the uncle of Gambino crime family capos Angelo Ruggiero and Salvatore Ruggiero, great uncle of Salvatore Ruggiero Jr. and John Ruggiero Jr. and father of Gambino crime family mob associate Armond Dellacroce. His son Armond was born on Staten Island in 1951 and died in 1988. Aniello's grandson, Salvatore Ruggiero Jr. was estranged from Dellacroce, and his father, but built a close relationship with John A. Gotti the son of Gambino crime family boss John Gotti, referring to him affectionately as "uncle" acting as a surrogate father figure to the boy. He is also the father of two illegitimate children born to a married Irish woman Rosemary Connelly, a daughter Shannon Connelly and Sean Connelly.

Affair and fallout

In the late 1960s Aniello had an affair with Ernesto Grillo's wife, Rosemary Connelly Grillo, who bore Dellacroce two illegitimate children, Shannon Connelly and Sean Connelly.^{[citation needed]} The biological paternity of the children was never disputed until after Dellacroce and Rosemary Grillo's deaths. Under mob protocol Aniello Dellacroce could have been sentenced to death for having had the affair. But as Dellacroce was respected by his associates, the infuriated Ernesto Grillo, who found out about the affair through fellow mobsters^{[citation needed]}, was persuaded to accept an undisclosed cash settlement and the affair promptly ended. He also has another son Giovanni born in 1978 who presently plays an active role in mob activities

Castellano regime

After Albert Anastasia's gangland slaying Carlo Gambino remembered the affair. This led to Carlo passing over Dellacroce, selecting his cousin and brother-in-law Paul Castellano as his successor.

Gambino avoided a potential inter-family war by getting Castellano to agree to keep Dellacroce as underboss. In addition, Castellano agreed to run white-collar criminal operations like union racketeering and fraud, but leave the more traditional, 'hands-on' Mafia activities, such as robbery, hijacking and extortion, to Dellacroce's supervision.^{[citation needed]}

With Gambino's death, Castellano became boss as planned. Castellano soon banned drug dealing in the family. On December 2, 1985, Aniello "Neil" Dellacroce died of lung cancer, aged 71. He was buried in St. John's Cemetery in the borough of Queens in New York City.

Aftermath

After Dellacroce's death, Gotti no longer felt constrained against attacking Castellano. In addition, Castellano's refusal to visit his dying underboss or attend his funeral reportedly enraged Gotti. On December 16, Castellano and his driver/bodyguard/new underboss Thomas Bilotti were shot down outside Spark's Steak House in Manhattan. Gotti then took over as boss of the Gambino family.

In April 1988, Dellacroce's son, Armond "Buddy" Dellacroce, died of a cerebral hemorrhage while hiding in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania. He had been convicted of racketeering and had failed to appear for sentencing on March 31, 1986. The cause of death was listed as cirrhosis and an overdose of cocaine.

In popular culture

• Dellacroce's death is referenced in the 2007 film, Brooklyn Rules.
• In the 1997 TV movie Gotti, Dellacroce was portrayed by Anthony Quinn.
• In the 2001 TV movie Boss of Bosses, he was portrayed by Dayton Callie.

Further reading

• Capeci, Jerry. The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Mafia. Indianapolis: Alpha Books, 2002. ISBN 0-02-864225-2
• Jacobs, James B., Christopher Panarella and Jay Worthington. Busting the Mob: The United States Vs. Cosa Nostra. New York: NYU Press, 1994. ISBN 0-8147-4230-0
• Maas, Peter. Underboss: Sammy the Bull Gravano's Story of Life in the Mafia. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1997. ISBN 0-06-093096-9
• Raab, Selwyn. Five Families: The Rise, Decline, and Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empires. New York: St. Martin Press, 2005. ISBN 0-312-30094-8
• Rosen, Charley (2003). The Wizard of Odds: How Jack Molinas Almost Destroyed the Game of Basketball. New York: Seven Stories Press. ISBN 1583225625. 
• United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Governmental Affairs. Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. Organized Crime: 25 Years After Valachi: Hearings Before the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations of the Committee on Governmental Affairs. 1988. [1]

External links

• Seize The Night: Aniello Dellacroce
• Neill "The Hat" Dellacroce at Find A Grave
• http://www.irishabroad.com/news/irishinamerica/news/FamilyDeniesGottiLink.asp
• http://www.thechicagosyndicate.com/2006/03/real-dons-steal-sopranos-limelight.html
• http://www.thechicagosyndicate.com/2006/02/gottis-girl.html