Vincent Gigante

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Vincent Gigante
Born	March 29, 1928(1928-03-29) Manhattan, New York, U.S.
Died	December 19, 2005 (aged 77) Springfield, Missouri, U.S.

Vincent "The Chin" Gigante (March 29, 1928 – December 19, 2005) was a New York mobster who headed the Genovese crime family. Gigante was one of five brothers: himself, Mario, Pasquale and Ralph all became mobsters in the Genovese family. Only one brother, Louis, stayed out of the crime family, instead becoming a priest.^[1] Dubbed "The Oddfather" by the press, Gigante often wandered the streets of Greenwich Village, Manhattan in his bathrobe and slippers, mumbling incoherently to himself, in what Gigante later admitted was an elaborate act to avoid prosecution.^[2]

Biography

Family life and residences

Vincente Louis Gigante was born in Manhattan to Salvatore, a jewel engraver, and Yolonda Gigante, a seamstress. His parents were first generation immigrants from Naples, Italy and never learned the English language. Vincent and his extended family relatives settled in New York City, and Westchester County. He dropped out of school at the age of 16 to pursue a professional boxing career. He attended a specialized textile high school, but quit to go to work a number of blue collar occupations. His nickname, "The Chin", is derived from his mother's use of the Italian pronunciation of his given name (Vincenzo) as well as his "glass chin", a term for a boxer who easily loses consciousness when struck on the chin. He had two brothers^{[citation needed]}, Mario born on November 4, 1923 and Ralph who followed him into a life of organized crime and Louis who became a Roman Catholic priest. He is the father of Andrew and Salvatore Gigante and uncle of Ralph Gigante Jr., the son and namesake of his brother, Ralph Sr. a recognized mob associate involved in labor racketeering.

As a teenager he became protege of Genovese crime family patriarch Vito Genovese and Philip Lombardo. Between the ages of 17 and 25, he was arrested seven times on charges ranging from receiving stolen goods, possession of an unlicensed handgun and for illegal gambling and bookmaking. Most of the allegations were dismissed and the longest sentence he served was 60 days for the illegal gambling conviction. During this time he stated that he was employed as a tailor.

His brother Louis insisted that Vincent had a tested IQ of 69. His mother Yolanda, when questioned about her son's alleged leadership of the Genovese crime family she stated, "Vincenzo? He's the boss of the toilet!" A psychiatrist retained by his relatives said in an affidavit that Vincent "suffers from auditory and visual hallucinations and delusions of persecution." Gigante had two families and lived in two different places. Psychiatrist Dr. Eugene D'Adamo, who was Gigante's "primary treating psychiatrist" saw him from 1973 to 1989 and stated that, "he has been diagnosed since 1969 as suffering from schizophrenia, paranoid type with acute exacerbation's which result in hospitalization." His list of alleged mental illnesses later included Alzheimer's Disease. He allegedly had to take daily medications for these illnesses, which included prescriptions for Valium and Thorazine. Since 1969, D'Adamo reported that Gigante had been treated on 20 different separate occasions for psychiatric disorders at St. Vincent's Hospital in Harrison, New Jersey. These visitations all subsided with news of criminal indictments being handed down against him.

He maintained a residence in Old Tappan, New Jersey with his wife Olympia Grippa who he married in 1950 and their five children, Andrew Gigante, Salvatore, Yolanda, Roseann and Rita. He maintained his second family in a town house located at 67 East 77th Street, near Park Avenue in the Upper East Side, Manhattan with his long time mistress Olympia Esposito and their one son and two daughters. But he was rarely seen at his Old Tappan residence and instead at his mother's apartment located at 225 Sullivan Street in Greenwich Village. According to Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) surveillance reports, after midnight, he was driven to a townhouse at East 77th Street near Park Avenue where he actually lived.^[3] He grew up on the same streets in Greenwich Village where he spent most of his adult life during the day. His personal chauffeur and bodyguard was Dominick (Baldy Don) Canterino, who was a top Genovese crime family mob captain.

Boxing career

Vincent Gigante was a short lived professional light heavyweight boxer who was known as "The Chin" Gigante. He fought 21 matches and lost four, boxing 121 rounds and ended two matches with technical knockouts. On February 19, 1945, he fought Pete Petrello in Madison Square Garden and was knocked out in the first round. During his successful boxing career he weighed between 126 and 167 pounds. His first professional boxing match was against Vic Chambers on July 18, 1944 in Union City, New Jersey which he lost; he then fought Chambers a second time at the stadium on June 29, 1945 and successfully defeated him. He also fought in the Madison Square Garden against Luther McMillen on March 8, 1946 which he won, and Buster Peppe on July 19, 1946, which he also won. His last match was against Jimmy Slade on May 17, 1947 which he lost in Ridgewood, New York by being knocked out. During this match he suffered a severe cut over his right eye, causing the referee to stop the fight and award it to Slade.

Gigante's Greenwich Village crew

Gigante earned his Mafia credentials as an enforcer in the 1950s.^[1] He ran a crew from Greenwich Village that was formerly overseen by Vito Genovese and later Anthony Strollo ("Tony Bender"). Gigante's crew was based out of the Triangle Social Club, located at 208 Sullivan Street, but also met with fellow crew members at the Dante Social Club at 81 McDougal Street, and the Panel Social Club at 208 Thompson Street. Besides those locations, Gigante met with gangsters and business associates at his mother's apartment. He was involved in bookmaking and loansharking, and was immersed in labor racketeering involvement with New York City's construction and haulage industries.

Gigante's closest associates included his brother Mario Gigante, sons Andrew Gigante and Vincent Esposito, Dominick Alongi, Venero Mangano ("Benny Eggs"), Frank Condo ("Frankie California"), Dominick DiQuarto, Thomas D'Antonio, Frank Caggiano, Louis Manna ("Bobby"), (Giuseppe Dellacroe), Dominick Cirillo ("Quiet Dom"), Joseph Denti, and Joseph Sarcinella.

The crew controlled many of the organized crime activities throughout downtown Manhattan, and Gigante would go on to become the most powerful boss of the New York Mafia from the early 1980s until his death. Some of the rackets included labor racketeering, gambling, loan sharking, hijackings, and extortion of businesses. Through his brother Mario, who later became a capo of his own crew, the Gigantes maintained influence in the Bronx, Yonkers and upper Westchester.

Costello murder attempt

On May 2, 1957, he was ordered by Vito Genovese to murder Frank Costello, a close friend of Lucky Luciano and Meyer Lansky and one of the best-known underworld figures in the United States. Vincent shot Costello as he entered the lobby at 115 Central Park West, where he had an apartment in The Majestic, on the corner of 72nd Street, Manhattan. Just as Gigante fired his .38-caliber handgun, however, Costello moved, causing the bullet to graze the right side of his head. Because Costello fell down, Gigante thought the mob boss was dead and sped away in a black Cadillac.

Costello refused to identify his attempted assassin, yet the doorman at 115 Central Park West did. But when tried for the shooting, his defense team effectively challenged the credibility of the doorman, and Gigante was acquitted in 1958 on charges of attempted murder.

In 1959, he was convicted with Genovese for heroin trafficking and sentenced to seven years in prison. The sentencing judge was swayed by a flood of letters from residents of Greenwich Village and Little Italy attesting to Gigante's good character and his work on behalf of juveniles. He was paroled after five years. Not long afterward, he was promoted from soldier to the rank of captain, running his own crew in Greenwich Village.^[1]

Genovese crime boss

Vincent Gigante was a protege of both Vito Genovese and ultra-secretive boss Philip Lombardo ("Benny Squints"). As boss of the family, Gigante strengthened the family's stranglehold of some of New York City's most lucrative rackets, including the New York Coliseum, Jacob K. Javits Center, labor racketeering, the drywall business, Concrete Club, Fulton Fish Market, drug trafficking, private waste industry, and gambling. He controlled outright the Housewreckers Union Local 95 of the Laborers Unions. In June 1984, Local 95 union officials President Joseph Sherman, Business Manager Stephen McNair and Secretary-Treasurer John Roshteki were convicted of labor racketeering in connection with extortion from a contractor, Schiavone-Chase Corporation.

Gigante was reclusive, managing to never be picked up on a wiretap by the FBI or other law enforcement agencies and managed to remain on the streets longer than all of his contemporaries. Gigante made Venero "Benny Eggs" Mangano his underboss and sent his orders only through his closest associates, thereby insulating himself from the other family's bosses and lower ranking wiseguys.

While preferring to remain behind the scenes, Gigante would not hesitate to authorize the use of violence and was responsible for ordering the murders of Philadelphia crime family mobsters Anthony Caponigro, Fred Salerno, and Frank Sindone for the unsanctioned 1980 murder of Philadelphia boss Angelo Bruno, and Philadelphia mobsters Frank Narducci and Rocco Marinucci for the unsanctioned murder of Philip Testa, Bruno's successor. Gigante also ordered the murders of Genovese soldier Jerry Papa and many others.

During his tenure as boss of the Genovese borgata after the imprisonment of John Gotti, Gigante would come to be known as the de facto Capo di tutti Capi, the "Boss of all Bosses", even though the offical position had been abolished with the murder of Salvatore Maranzano in 1931.

In 1986, the official Genovese crime family boss, Anthony "Fat Tony" Salerno, was convicted on charges of murder and racketeering and sentenced to 100 years in prison along with the bosses of the other Five Families in what was called the Mafia Commission Trial. However, informant Vincent Cafaro soon revealed that Salerno was just a figurehead; Gigante had been the real boss of the family since 1981.

Feigning legal insanity

FBI surveillance photograph of Gigante (right) strolling the streets of Greenwich village, and being led by the hand of his close associate and bodyguard Dominick (Baldy Don) Canterino

In 1969, Gigante started feigning mental illness to escape criminal prosecution. He escaped conviction on bribery charges by producing a number of prominent psychiatrists who testified that he was legally insane. The doctors said Gigante suffered from schizophrenia, dementia, psychosis, and other disorders. Gigante allegedly enlisted his mother and wife to help him in these deceptions.

Gigante could pull off many miracles, though his favorite ploy was the "bug act", pretending to be punch-drunk from his boxing days. Even when not under indictment, he prepared for inevitable charges (knowing the police watched him) by picking up cigarette butts off the street and smoking them, gesturing wildly in the air, having long, loud arguments with himself, or dropping his pants to urinate in the street.

Almost every day he would return from his residence to his mother's apartment in Greenwich Village and emerge dressed in a bathrobe and pajamas or a windbreaker and shabby trousers. Accompanied by one or two bodyguards, he crossed the street to the Triangle Civic Improvement Association — a dingy storefront club that served as his headquarters — where he played pinochle and held whispered conversations with his associates.^[1] Regular visitors to the Triangle included senior Genovese caporegimes Liborio Bellomo, John Ardito, Tino Fiumara, Ernest Muscarella and Daniel Leo. From Gigante's 1990 indictment and after his incarceration (in La Tuna, Texas) these men ran the crime family, although all major choices would be authorized by Gigante from his prison cell.

Arrest

In 1990, Gigante was arrested and charged with racketeering and murder; however, it wasn't until 1997 that he was brought to trial. During that time period, Gigante's lawyers produced witness after witness who testified that Gigante was mentally ill and unfit to stand trial. However, all this changed when a number of prominent Mafia members from various families began to cooperate with the government in the early 1990s.

Foremost among the cooperating witnesses was Salvatore "Sammy the Bull" Gravano, former underboss of the Gambino crime family, who became a cooperating witness in 1991. Gravano testified that on the two occasions he met Gigante, the mob boss was perfectly lucid and clear in his thinking. Other turncoat witnesses such as Phil Leonetti of the Bruno crime family of Philadelphia implicated Gigante in ordering the murder of several Bruno family members in the early 1980s. In 1994, Anthony "Gaspipe" Casso, former underboss of the Lucchese crime family, implicated Gigante in a 1986 plan to have Casso kill new Gambino boss John Gotti, Gotti associate Frank DeCicco and Gotti's brother Gene Gotti, due to the unsanctioned 1985 murder of John Gotti's former boss, Paul Castellano.

Conviction and imprisonment

FBI mugshot of Gigante.

In 1997, Gigante was convicted on several racketeering and conspiracy charges and sentenced to 12 years in a federal prison. Despite his lawyers' and psychiatrists' claims that he had been legally insane for more than 30 years, the jury convicted him on all but the murder charges, which would have mandated a life sentence without parole.

On April 7, 2003, he pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice in Federal District Court, acknowledging that his "insanity" was a pretense in order to delay his racketeering trial. This was part of a deal to avoid another set of charges that would have brought on a lengthy trial (he was 75 at the time). Instead, he had another three years added to his sentence. This plea deal was only agreed upon to get a lesser sentence for himself and his son Andrew.^[1]

Death and popular culture

In 2005, Gigante's health started to decline. He started suffering labored breathing, oxygen deprivation, swelling in the lower body, and bouts of unconsciousness. In November 2005, Flora Edwards, his lawyer, sued officials at the Medical Center for Federal Prisoners in Springfield, Missouri to transfer Gigante to an acute care hospital. Transferred to a private medical facility, Gigante rallied physically. In early December, he was transferred back to Springfield, where he died 10 days later on December 19, 2005.

On December 23, 2005, after a service at Saint Anthony of Padua Church in Greenwich Village, Gigante's body was cremated at the historic Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York. He is survived by eight children (five from his wife and three from his mistress) and his prominent cousins from Boston. (The cousins spell their name both Gigante and Giganti.) Gigante's lawyer has said that the family intends to sue the federal government over Gigante's health care treatment while in prison.

David Chase, creator of The Sopranos, has said Gigante is the basis for Junior Soprano.

Further reading

• Capeci, Jerry. The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Mafia. Indianapolis: Alpha Books, 2002. ISBN 0-02-864225-2
• Jacobs, James B., Coleen Friel and Robert Radick. Gotham Unbound: How New York City Was Liberated from the Grip of Organized Crime. New York: NYU Press, 2001. ISBN 0-8147-4247-5
• 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

References

External links

• Professional boxing record for Vincent Gigante from Boxrec