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| Benjamin Ruggiero | |
|---|---|
 FBI surveillance photo of Benjamin Ruggiero leaving a local social club, after learning the truth about "Donnie Brasco" aka agent Joseph Pistone c. 1980 |
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| Born | April 19, 1926 Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan, New York, U.S. |
| Died | November 24, 1994 (aged 68) U.S. |
Benjamin Ruggiero, also known as "Lefty," "Lefty Guns," "Lefty Two Guns" (April 19, 1926 - November 24, 1994), was a soldier in the Bonanno crime family best known for his close association and mentorship of Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) undercover agent Joseph D. Pistone, also known as "Donnie Brasco."
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Early life
Born in the "Fourth Ward" neighborhood of Manhattan, Ruggiero grew up in the Knickerbocker Village private housing development in Little Italy, Manhattan. Knickerbocker Village was home to many future members of the Bonanno family. Ruggiero joined the Bonanno family as a young man, serving as a street soldier under Caporegime Michael Sabella. Ruggiero soon became successful in bookmaking, extortion and loansharking rackets. During this period, Ruggiero became good friends with future family boss Philip "Rusty" Rastelli and fellow mobster Anthony Mirra. Ruggiero was also a hitman, allegedly murdering at least 26 people during his criminal career.[citation needed]
Ruggiero became the part owner of a fishery in the Fulton Fish Market in Manhattan. As a part-owner, Ruggiero was able to put himself on the company payroll with a $5,000-a-month "no-show" job. During the 1970s, he purchased a social club in Little Italy.[citation needed]
Ruggiero relished his life as a mobster. He explained it this way to Tony Rossi (who was actually an undercover FBI agent named Ed Robb): "Tony, as a wiseguy you can lie, you can cheat, you can steal, you can kill people - legitimately. You can do any 'goddamn' thing you want, and nobody can say anything about it. Who wouldn't want to be a wiseguy?"[citation needed]
Personal life
Ruggiero was a six-foot tall, lean-bodied man with a narrow face, intense eyes, slightly stooped shoulders and a cigarette-raspy voice. Ruggiero reportedly earned his nickname from tossing dice left-handed while playing craps. He lived in an apartment on Monroe Street in Manhattan in the same building as his friend and fellow Bonanno mobster Anthony Mirra. Ruggiero reportedly owned a cigarette boat that he kept docked on the East River in New York.
Ruggiero had three daughters and one son, Thomas Sbano, with his first wife. In the late 1950s, Ruggiero left his first wife, eventually moving in with his future second wife, Louise. In September 1977, Ruggiero married Louise in a small ceremony at New York City Hall. Ruggiero was reportedly very protective and faithful to Louise, but not especially sensitive.[citation needed]
Ruggiero's son Thomas struggled with a heroin dependency until he checked into a drug rehabilitation center in 1979. After Thomas' release, Ruggiero got him a job at the Fulton Fish Market. Ruggiero's younger daughter worked at a New York hospital and managed a booth at the Feast of San Gennaro, in Little Italy. Two of Ruggiero's daughters reportedly married mobsters. The Bonanno family allegedly discovered that Ruggiero's son-in-law Marco was cheating the family and told Ruggiero to eliminate him. Marco disappeared, and his body was never recovered.
Donnie Brasco
Around the time that Ruggiero became a member of the Bonanno family, he met Donnie Brasco. Fellow mobster Mirra introduced Brasco, a small-time jewelry thief, to Ruggiero in a Manhattan bar. Ruggiero did not realize was that Brasco was actually undercover FBI agent Joseph D. Pistone. Pistone's original mission had been to infiltrate a jewelry fencing ring; an assignment he prepared for by taking FBI gemology classes. However, the friendships Pistone developed (as Brasco) with Mirra, Napolitano, and Ruggiero gave the FBI the chance to infiltrate the Bonanno family.
Brasco soon placed bets with Ruggiero and helped him make collections for the bookmaking operation in Ruggiero's social club. Ruggiero mentored Brasco and eventually sponsored him for membership in the family. Ruggiero's good relationship with Brasco soon caused friction with old friend Mirra, who originally introduced Brasco to Ruggiero. Ruggiero and Brasco became good friends; Brasco served as best man at Ruggiero's 1977 wedding and frequently advised Ruggiero on handling his son's drug dependency.
Ruggiero once nearly discovered Brasco's true identity. Ruggiero and Brasco were in a Miami Beach, Florida restaurant as Ruggiero read a Time magazine containing an article about the infamous Abscam scandal and detailing how FBI agents posed as rich Arab businessmen to catch U.S. Congressmen taking bribes. What caught Ruggiero's eye was a picture of a white yacht that the FBI used to entertain the congressmen. Ruggiero recognized the boat, the "Left Hand," as the same boat Brasco provided several months before for a party with Ruggiero and other Bonanno mobsters. Fortunately for Brasco, he convinced Ruggiero that he did not know the boat's owner was related to the FBI.
Gambling addiction and financial instability
By the 1970s, Ruggiero had acquired a gambling dependency; he was betting and losing heavily on horse races at Aqueduct Racetrack, in Queens. Soon he was borrowing money from mobster Nicholas Marangello to cover loosing bets. By 1977, Ruggiero owed Marangello $160,000. The Bonanno family finally told Ruggiero that he would have to repay Marangello before he could become a made man, or full family member. By the summer of 1977, Ruggiero had paid most of his debt to Marangello and the family accepted his membership. However, by 1978, Ruggiero was back in debt again to Marangello. To settle the debt this time, the family arranged to transfer the revenues from part of Ruggiero's criminal operations directly to Marangello. Due to his gambling problem, Ruggiero was always trying to hide his few assets from his creditors Marangello and Sabella and was always scheming on how to make money.
During a later criminal enterprise, Ruggiero met the mafia boss of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. During the process of collaborating a scam in Milwaukee, Ruggiero openly admitted to Pistone that he felt threatened while in the presence of Milwaukee mob boss Frank Balistrieri. In 1979, Ruggiero converted his social club into a candy store and gave it to one of his daughters to manage. At the same time, Ruggiero and Brasco started a bookmaking operation out of the store. However, Ruggiero was soon dropped from the partnership because he was unable to provide the initial required investment of $2,500.
Family turmoil
In 1979, Bonanno boss Carmine Galante was murdered, creating a power vacuum in the family. After Galante's murder, Philip Rastelli took over, running things from prison. However, one faction in the family rebelled at Rastelli's assumption of leadership. At this time, Ruggiero joined the crew of Dominic "Sonny Black" Napolitano, a strong Rastelli supporter. On May 5, 1981, three rebel capos were lured to a meeting and murdered. Alphonse Indelicato's body was discovered in a vacant lot in Queens, but the bodies of Philip Giaccone and Dominick Trinchera were not found until 2004. Ruggiero and Napolitano were prime suspects in these murders. After the deaths of the three capos, the rebellion against Rastelli was squashed.
Incarceration and death
In 1981, the FBI decided to end the Brasco investigation and terminate Pistone's assignment. FBI agents soon visited both Ruggiero and Napolitano at a social club and informed them of Brasco's true identity. After the Bonanno leadership learned the truth about Brasco, they immediately went after the men who brought Brasco into their midst. Mirra and Napolitano were murdered, and a contract was put out on Ruggiero. On August 30, 1981, the FBI intercepted Ruggiero as he was going to a meeting at Marangello's social club and placed Ruggiero under protective custody.
After the FBI put Ruggiero in protective custody, they tried several times to persuade him to become a government witness and join the Witness Protection Program. However, Ruggiero refused to cooperate with the FBI and even tried to bail himself out of jail. The mafia in turn canceled the contract on his life and gave him a "pass." In 1982, Ruggiero was charged with violations of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO Act) in both New York and Florida. The specific charges included conspiring to murder the three capos in New York, distributing methaqualone in New York, and committing extortion, the planning of a bank robbery, and the running of illegal gambling operations in Florida.
Ruggiero was convicted in both New York and Florida and sentenced to 20 years in prison. In 1992, Ruggiero was released from prison after serving 11 years, sick with lung and testicular cancer.On November 24, 1994, Benjamin Ruggiero died of lung cancer at age 68. Ruggiero is said to have asked for a contract to be put out on Pistone's life but was turned down by the mafia leadership.[citation needed]
In popular culture
Ruggiero was portrayed by Al Pacino in the 1997 film Donnie Brasco. In the film, it is implied that Lefty was killed by fellow Family members for allowing Pistone to infiltrate the Family. Dominick "Sonny Black" Napolitano, Lefty's boss, was the one murdered for having allowed Pistone's infiltration, allegedly on the orders of then-current imprisoned boss Philip Rastelli, whose nickname "Rusty" is mentioned several times by Michael Madsen in the film.
References
- Pistone, Joseph D.; & Woodley, Richard (1999) Donnie Brasco: My Undercover Life in the Mafia, p. 402, Hodder & Stoughton. ISBN 0-340-66637-4.
External links
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