Read Mafia Men - Hoodwinkers, suckers and scams (True Crime) for Free Online Page A

mansion, the White House. Castellano used his influence to help a plumbing and drywall company Sammy started with his brother-in-law, Edward Garafola, and Sammy became part of Castellano’s inner circle. By now, he also owned a disco in Brooklyn from which he was making $4,000 a week, alone. The money was finally starting to roll in and he used it to splash out on a thirty-acre farm in New Jersey.
    In 1980, a power struggle in Philadelphia resulted in ‘Little Nicky’ Scarfo becoming top dog while ‘Johnny Keys’ Simone lost out. Castellano sent Gravano to eradicate Simone on Scarfo’s behalf. When he trapped Simone and drove him in a van to a wooded area, Simone showed tremendous dignity which impressed Gravano, insisting that, as he had promised his wife, he would die with his shoes off and that he also wanted to be killed by a made man. Sammy obliged with a bullet in the back of Simone’s head.
    The year 1982 saw a man called Frank Fiala offer Sammy $1 million for his club, a deal that Sammy eagerly accepted, given that he figured it was only worth $200,000. However, Fiala made the huge mistake of acting as if he owned the place even before the deal went through. One night Sammy and Garafola walked into Sammy’s office to find Fiala sitting behind Sammy’s desk. He had already begun construction work to rearrange the office. When Sammy protested, Fiala pulled a Uzi from under the desk and pointed it at the two men, calling them ‘greaseballs’ and telling them he could do what he wanted.
    The following night, as Fiala left the club, Gravano and his team were waiting for him. Garafalo shouted out to him and Sammy said: ‘Hey Frank, how ya doing?’ At that moment, Louis Milito ran up behind Fiala and shot him in the head. As Milito stood over Fiala’s body and shot him once in each eye, Gravano strolled over and spat on him.
    In September 1985, Gravano was approached to take part in the killing of Paul Castellano. Castellano was unpopular. He was never the street boss that the Colombo soldiers yearned for. He ran his Family like a business and did not care if the people below him starved. John Gotti hankered after the top slot and sought support from the main men in the Family as well as from the other families.
    Gravano made sure that his close ally, Frank DeCicco supported Gotti’s action before going along with it. That night, at Sparks Steak House, he was not in the team that killed Castellano, but was involved in the meticulous planning and drove past the scene with Gotti immediately afterwards, confirming that Castellano was, indeed, dead. In the aftermath, he was promoted to capo .
    When Frank DeCicco was blown up by a car bomb a short while later, Gotti promoted Gravano again, to joint underboss with Angelo Ruggiero. Gotti was now in prison, but still running things. He ordered Gravano to hit Robert DiBernardo a mobster who ran a pornography operation and dabbled in the labour unions. When Gravano hesitated because he did not fully understand why Gotti wanted rid of DiBernardo, Gotti became angry. However, Gravano soon obliged, calling a meeting with DiBernardo and having one of his men put a couple of bullets in the back of his head. It transpired that Ruggiero owed DiBernardo $250,000 and this had seemed like a good way of getting rid of such an irksome debt.
    But Gravano did well out of that killing, assuming control of DiBernardo’s management of the local branch of the Teamsters’ Union.
    By now, Sammy was a big player in the legitimate construction business, kicking back some $2 million a year to John Gotti, but Gotti was still suspicious of him. Nonetheless, Sammy became consigliere of the Family around 1987. He had worked for it. Prior to Gotti becoming head of the Family, he had been involved in eight murders in fourteen years. Since Gotti’s arrival, he was involved in eleven in six years.
    For example, Mike DeBatt, a member of Gravano’s crew, who had been close to him, became addicted to