Vincent Palermo: Difference between revisions
Tags: Mobile edit Mobile web edit |
GreenC bot (talk | contribs) Rescued 1 archive link. Wayback Medic 2.5 per WP:URLREQ#timesonline.co.uk |
||
| (40 intermediate revisions by 21 users not shown) | |||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
{{Short description|American mobster}} |
|||
{{Cleanup bare URLs|date=August 2022}} |
|||
{{Infobox criminal |
|||
| ⚫ | '''Vincent''' "'''Vinny Ocean'''" '''Palermo''' (born June 4, 1944) is an [[Italian American]] former mobster who was ''[[de facto]]'' boss of the [[ |
||
| name = Vincent Palermo |
|||
| image = |
|||
| image_size = |
|||
| caption = |
|||
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1944|06|04}} |
|||
| birth_place = [[New York City]], [[New York (state)|New York]], U.S.<!--No boroughs/neighborhoods, just cities per format.--> |
|||
| death_date = |
|||
| death_place = |
|||
| cause = |
|||
| resting_place = |
|||
| other_names = {{hlist|"Vinny Ocean"|"James Cabella"}} |
|||
| allegiance = [[DeCavalcante crime family]] |
|||
| occupation = [[Crime boss]] |
|||
| children = 5 |
|||
| relatives = [[Sam DeCavalcante]] (uncle-in-law) |
|||
}} |
|||
| ⚫ | '''Vincent''' "'''Vinny Ocean'''" '''Palermo''' (born June 4, 1944) is an [[Italian Americans|Italian-American]] former mobster who was the ''[[de facto]]'' boss of the [[DeCavalcante crime family]] of [[North Jersey]] before becoming a government [[witness]] in 1999. Fictional mob boss [[Tony Soprano]], the protagonist of the [[HBO]] series ''[[The Sopranos]]'', is said to be based upon Palermo.<ref>''The Sopranos: A Dramatic History'' documentary</ref> Similar to how Soprano owned the fictional [[Bada Bing!]] [[strip club]] on the show, Palermo owned a [[strip-club]] called Wiggles.<ref>Wild Tales from the Police Blotter, by C. J. Sullivan. 2008.</ref> |
||
==Background== |
==Background== |
||
| ⚫ | Vincent Palermo was born in [[New York City]] on June 4, 1944, and raised in a traditional [[Italian-American]] family in [[Brooklyn]]. He was an in-law by marriage to Nicholas Delmore, the former head of the New Jersey crime family, whose nephew was Simone DeCavalcante, also a New Jersey mob boss whose daughter he married. Palermo has five sisters, including Claire and Nancy, and two brothers. His father was an Italian immigrant who moved to New York when he was a teenager. Palermo came from a close-knit family and was said to have lived a harmonious lifestyle. He was an [[altar boy]] during adolescence. When Palermo was sixteen, his father died, which forced him to leave school and work two jobs to help support his family, as his mother was a bedridden [[asthma]]tic. In his earlier years, Palermo worked at a wholesale fish business in the [[Fulton Fish Market]], where he earned the nickname "Vinny Ocean". |
||
| ⚫ | Palermo was very protective of children; he allegedly once stopped a man from beating his son, and rescued a toddler relative who had accidentally fallen into a pool. Palermo was also reputedly a dedicated family man. He attended Sacred Heart Church in [[Island Park, New York]], drove his daughters to [[Brownie (Girl Guides)|Brownie]] meetings, and reportedly watched ''[[Annie (1982 film)|Annie]]'' with one of his daughters regularly. Palermo also took in a troubled teenager named Richard, becoming his [[godparent|godfather]]. Palermo would allow his godson to stay at his home every weekend for a year, enabling the boy to study the [[Catholic]] sacraments in preparation for eventual [[baptism]], [[First Communion|Communion]] and [[Confirmation in the Catholic Church|Confirmation]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://houston.siegmann.org/swingers-in-houston |title=How To Get The Best Swingers In Houston |access-date=2011-07-07 |archive-date=2012-03-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120326175243/http://houston.siegmann.org/swingers-in-houston |url-status=dead}}</ref> |
||
| ⚫ | Palermo was raised in a traditional [[Italian |
||
| ⚫ | Palermo was divorced once and remarried. In the 1980s, he became indebted to a hospital, local doctors, and the federal government. The [[tax lien]]s against his property were in his second wife's name, an [[Italian-American]] woman named Angela, totaling $68,000. At the time, he was paying a large mortgage on a waterfront mansion with a 100-foot pier located in [[Island Park, New York]]. He had two [[Social Security (United States)|Social Security]] numbers and paid [[alimony]] to his first wife. He also supports his second family, two daughters, Danielle and Tara, and a son Vincent Palermo Jr., with Michael (from his first marriage) and Renee. His son Michael is a graduate of [[Fordham University]] and a licensed New York [[stockbroker]]; he was an investment banker with [[Goldman Sachs]] up until his father's [[indictment]], when Vincent Palermo Jr went into hiding.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2003-05-23/news/18231609_1_mob-turncoat-vincent-palermo-decavalcante | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111006042258/http://articles.nydailynews.com/2003-05-23/news/18231609_1_mob-turncoat-vincent-palermo-decavalcante | url-status=dead | archive-date=October 6, 2011 | work=New York Daily News | title=Mob Canary: I Hurt My Kids| first1=Robert | last1=Gearty | first2=Greg B. | last2=Smith | date=23 May 2003}}</ref> |
||
| ⚫ | Palermo was very protective of children; he allegedly once stopped a man from beating his son, and rescued a toddler relative who had accidentally fallen into a pool. Palermo was also reputedly a dedicated family man. He attended Sacred Heart Church in [[Island Park, New York]], drove his daughters to [[Brownie (Girl Guides)|Brownie]] meetings, and reportedly watched ''[[Annie (1982 film)|Annie]]'' with one of his daughters regularly. Palermo also took in a troubled teenager named Richard, becoming his [[godparent|godfather]]. Palermo would allow his godson to stay at his home every weekend for a year, enabling the boy to study the [[Catholic]] sacraments in preparation for eventual [[baptism]], [[First Communion|Communion]] and [[Confirmation in the Catholic Church|Confirmation]].<ref>http://houston.siegmann.org/swingers-in-houston |
||
| ⚫ | Palermo was divorced once and remarried. In the 1980s, he became indebted to a hospital, local doctors, and the federal government. The [[tax lien]]s against his property were in his second wife's name, an [[Italian-American]] woman named Angela, totaling $68,000. At the time, he was paying a large mortgage on a waterfront mansion with a 100-foot pier located in Island Park. He had two [[Social Security (United States)|Social Security]] numbers and paid [[alimony]] to his first wife. He also supports his second family, two daughters, Danielle and Tara, and a son Vincent Palermo Jr., with Michael (from his first marriage) and Renee. His son Michael is a graduate of [[Fordham University]] and a licensed New York [[stockbroker]]; he was an investment banker with [[Goldman Sachs]] up until his father's [[indictment]], when Vincent Palermo Jr went into hiding.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2003-05-23/news/18231609_1_mob-turncoat-vincent-palermo-decavalcante | |
||
===DeCavalcante's nephew-in-law=== |
===DeCavalcante's nephew-in-law=== |
||
| Line 14: | Line 30: | ||
==Murder of Fred Weiss== |
==Murder of Fred Weiss== |
||
On September 11, 1989, Palermo, [[Anthony Capo]], and James "Jimmy" Gallo murdered [[Staten Island]] resident Fred Weiss,<ref name="NYDN found 'im"/> on orders from DeCavalcante boss [[Giovanni Riggi|Giovanni "John the Eagle" Riggi]] through capo [[Anthony Rotondo]]. Weiss was a former newspaper reporter for the ''[[Staten Island Advance]]'' and a real |
On September 11, 1989, Palermo, [[Anthony Capo]], and James "Jimmy" Gallo murdered [[Staten Island]] resident Fred Weiss,<ref name="NYDN found 'im"/> on orders from DeCavalcante boss [[Giovanni Riggi|Giovanni "John the Eagle" Riggi]] through capo [[Anthony Rotondo]]. Weiss was a former newspaper reporter for the ''[[Staten Island Advance]]'' and a real-estate developer who had become associated with mobsters from both the DeCavalcante and Gambino families. |
||
Weiss and two mob |
Weiss and two mob-partners had purchased a vacant property in Staten Island and started illegally dumping large amounts of dangerous [[medical waste]] there. Local authorities uncovered the scheme and started investigating Weiss, and the two mob-families became nervous. Gambino boss [[John Gotti]] worried that Weiss might become a government witness in exchange for leniency and requested that the DeCavalcante family murder Weiss to protect them. Palermo, Capo, and Gallo drove to the New York condominium of Weiss's girlfriend. As Weiss left the building and climbed into his car, Palermo and Gallo shot him in the face. |
||
==Family scandal== |
==Family scandal== |
||
Palermo was appointed capo after the Weiss murder and given his own crew of [[soldato|soldiers]]. Riggi was sent to prison in 1989, and appointed [[John D'Amato|John "Johnny Boy" D'Amato]] as his acting boss. In January 1992, [[Anthony Capo]] participated in the murder of acting boss D'Amato. Earlier in 1991, D'Amato's girlfriend, retaliating against D'Amato over an argument, told [[Anthony Rotondo]] that D'Amato was an active [[bisexual]]. She described [[Swinging (sexual practice)|swinging]] encounters that D'Amato had in [[Manhattan]] sex clubs with both women and men. Rotondo shared this information with underboss [[Giacomo Amari]], and [[consigliere]] [[Stefano Vitabile]].<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/21/nyregion/21gaymob.html?scp=2&sq=Anthony%20Capo&st=cse "Telling Court He's Gay, Mob Informer Crosses Line"] |
Palermo was appointed capo after the Weiss murder and given his own crew of [[soldato|soldiers]]. Riggi was sent to prison in 1989, and appointed [[John D'Amato|John "Johnny Boy" D'Amato]] as his acting boss. In January 1992, [[Anthony Capo]] participated in the murder of acting boss D'Amato. Earlier in 1991, D'Amato's girlfriend, retaliating against D'Amato over an argument, told [[Anthony Rotondo]] that D'Amato was an active [[bisexual]]. She described [[Swinging (sexual practice)|swinging]] encounters that D'Amato had in [[Manhattan]] sex clubs with both women and men. Rotondo shared this information with underboss [[Giacomo Amari]], and [[consigliere]] [[Stefano Vitabile]].<ref>Alan Feuer (October 20, 2009). [https://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/21/nyregion/21gaymob.html?scp=2&sq=Anthony%20Capo&st=cse "Telling Court He's Gay, Mob Informer Crosses Line"]. ''The New York Times''.</ref><ref name="hit">[https://web.archive.org/web/20100628160717/https://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/2002/07/26/2002-07-26_hit_man_s_confessions_mob_tu.html "Hit man's confessions Mob turncoat tells court of his blood-soaked life"] by Greg B. Smith, ''New York Daily News'', July 26, 2002</ref> In 2003, capos [[Philip Abramo|Philip "Phil" Abramo]], [[Giuseppe Schifilliti|Giuseppe "Pino" Schifilliti]] and the reputed consigliere Stefano Vitabile were charged in organizing various crimes, including the murder of D'Amato.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/05/nyregion/05mob.html|title=Racketeering Convictions Rejected for 3 in Mob Case|last=Eligon|first=John|date=2008-09-04|work=The New York Times|access-date=2019-04-18|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Reputed men involved in the murder conspiracy, Palermo, Capo and Rotondo would later testify about this murder against their former associates.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nj.com/sopranos/ledger/index.ssf?/sopranos/ledger/index.ssf?/sopranos/stories/mafiosi_20030509sl_decavalcante00.html|title=Mob Story|work=nj.com|date=May 9, 2003|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605050554/https://www.nj.com/sopranos/ledger/index.ssf?/sopranos/ledger/index.ssf?/sopranos/stories/mafiosi_20030509sl_decavalcante00.html|archive-date=2011-06-05}}</ref> |
||
==Power |
==Power-struggle== |
||
With Amari's death, there was no clear candidate to become the new acting boss. Riggi, still in prison, restructured the family and created a ruling panel to run it in order to avoid a potential [[power struggle]]. Riggi appointed longtime members of the crime family to the panel: Vincent Palermo, [[Girolamo Palermo|Girolamo "Jimmy" Palermo]] (no relation to Vincent), and Charles Majuri. However, Majuri, furious that he wasn't appointed acting boss, decided to murder the two Palermos and take effective control of the DeCavalcante family. He asked Gallo to murder Vincent Palermo, but Gallo alerted Palermo about the plot. |
With Amari's death, there was no clear candidate to become the new acting boss. Riggi, still in prison, restructured the family and created a ruling panel to run it in order to avoid a potential [[power struggle]]. Riggi appointed longtime members of the crime family to the panel: Vincent Palermo, [[Girolamo Palermo|Girolamo "Jimmy" Palermo]] (no relation to Vincent), and Charles Majuri. However, Majuri, furious that he wasn't appointed acting boss, decided to murder the two Palermos and take effective control of the DeCavalcante family. He asked Gallo to murder Vincent Palermo, but Gallo alerted Palermo about the plot. |
||
To protect himself, Palermo decided to murder Majuri instead. Over the years, Majuri had made many enemies by removing fellow mobsters from a [[labor union]] that he controlled and taking their money. Palermo was able to recruit Capo, Gallo, and [[Joseph Masella]] to find and kill Majuri. However, on the one occasion when they were ready to kill Majuri, they became nervous and decided not to do it. When they reported their failure back to Palermo, he decided that Majuri didn't pose a threat after all and cancelled the murder contract. By the mid-90s, Palermo was the ''[[de facto]]'' boss of the DeCavalcante family, with Riggi reigning as boss '' |
To protect himself, Palermo decided to murder Majuri instead. Over the years, Majuri had made many enemies by removing fellow mobsters from a [[labor union]] that he controlled and taking their money. Palermo was able to recruit Capo, Gallo, and [[Joseph Masella]] to find and kill Majuri. However, on the one occasion when they were ready to kill Majuri, they became nervous and decided not to do it. When they reported their failure back to Palermo, he decided that Majuri didn't pose a threat after all and cancelled the murder contract. By the mid-90s, Palermo was the ''[[de facto]]'' boss of the DeCavalcante family, with Riggi reigning as boss ''in absentia'' from jail. |
||
==Government |
==Government-witness== |
||
In 1998, DeCavalcante associate [[Ralph Guarino]] was arrested for stealing $1.6 million |
In 1998, DeCavalcante associate [[Ralph Guarino]] was arrested for stealing $1.6 million from a [[Bank of America]] inside the [[World Trade Center (1973-2001)|World Trade Center]]. To avoid 20 years in prison, Guarino agreed to work as an informant for the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]], giving the agency information on the actions of DeCavalcante members. The agency gave him [[cell phone]]s rigged with surveillance equipment to distribute to other family members. In October 1998, Palermo's trusted lieutenant [[Joseph Masella]] was shot to death, leaving an opening in the family. Guarino's status had been rising in the family due to secret assistance from the FBI, and after Masella's murder, Palermo and the rest of the DeCavalcante leadership promoted Guarino to [[made man]]. |
||
In 1999, Palermo faced charges and possible [[capital offense]]s, so he decided to become a government witness. He confessed to killing Weiss and mobster [[Louis LaRasso]], and to planning the murders of the two D'Amatos, Masella, Majuri, and Tom Salvata, the manager at his |
In 1999, Palermo faced charges and possible [[capital offense]]s, so he decided to become a government witness. He confessed to killing Weiss and mobster [[Louis LaRasso]], and to planning the murders of the two D'Amatos, Masella, Majuri, and Tom Salvata, the manager at his strip club.{{citation needed|date=February 2020}} Palermo also implicated other DeCavalcante family-members in various crimes. After testifying for the government, Palermo and his family entered the federal [[Witness Protection Program]]. However, prosecutors later discovered that he allegedly gave his son Michael $1 million in cash, possibly jeopardizing his status as a protected witness. |
||
==New life in Houston, Texas== |
==New life in Houston, Texas== |
||
On September 14, 2009, the ''[[New York Daily News]]'' exposed Palermo's new life in witness |
On September 14, 2009, the ''[[New York Daily News]]'' exposed Palermo's new life in witness-protection as a strip-club-operator in [[Houston]], [[Texas]].<ref name="NYDN found 'im">{{cite news|last=Smith|first=Greg|title=Strip club king and mob rat Vincent Palermo up to his old tricks in Texas|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2009-09-14/news/17932416_1_strip-club-john-gotti-informant|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130130091100/http://articles.nydailynews.com/2009-09-14/news/17932416_1_strip-club-john-gotti-informant|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 30, 2013|access-date=2012-04-16|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=2009-09-14}}</ref> He has been living under the name "James Cabella".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.houstonpress.com/news/lawsuit-claims-houston-attorneys-threatened-to-out-former-mob-boss-living-in-witness-protection-during-strip-club-deal-6722871|title=Lawsuit Claims Houston Attorneys Threatened to Out Former Mob Boss Living in Witness Protection During Strip Club Deal|date=January 8, 2015|website=Houston Press}}</ref> Houston Police alleged that Palermo's strip clubs were a source of [[drug dealing]] and [[prostitution]] in the Houston area. Palermo claimed that many of his Houston friends already knew of his past because of an [[A&E Network|A&E]] television special. He lived in a gated mansion in Houston.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://swamplot.com/former-mob-boss-to-penthouse-club-keep-your-pants-on/2009-09-15/|title=Former Mob Boss to Penthouse Club: Keep Your Pants On | Swamplot|website=swamplot.com|date=15 September 2009 }}</ref><ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=https://www.inforuptcy.com/community/bankruptcy-attorneys-and-news-13-31331-Vincent-Cabella--txsbke_369912|title=Vincent CabellaBankruptcy Case #: 4:13-bk-31331 | Inforuptcy|website=inforuptcy.com|access-date=July 13, 2016|archive-date=August 17, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160817042537/https://www.inforuptcy.com/community/bankruptcy-attorneys-and-news-13-31331-Vincent-Cabella--txsbke_369912|url-status=dead}}</ref> |
||
The day after the ''Daily News'' report, Houston [[NBC]] affiliate [[KPRC-TV]] aired an investigative segment on Palermo.<ref name="NYDN found 'im"/> Forty days later, Palermo put his Houston mansion up for sale, first for $4 million but then, over the following two years, he reduced the price to $2.45 million. After the mansion still would not sell, he took it off the market on June 3, 2011. Palermo put his house up for sale again in September 2015; it eventually sold for $2.85 million on 5 August 2016.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/9105-Memorial-Dr-Houston-TX-77024/27807373_zpid/|title |
The day after the ''Daily News'' report, Houston [[NBC]] affiliate [[KPRC-TV]] aired an investigative segment on Palermo.<ref name="NYDN found 'im"/> Forty days later, Palermo put his Houston mansion up for sale, first for $4 million but then, over the following two years, he reduced the price to $2.45 million. After the mansion still would not sell, he took it off the market on June 3, 2011. Palermo put his house up for sale again in September 2015; it eventually sold for $2.85 million on 5 August 2016.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/9105-Memorial-Dr-Houston-TX-77024/27807373_zpid/|title=9105 Memorial Dr, Houston, TX 77024}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://propertylistings.ft.com/homes/748604/houston-property-for-rent/9105-memorial-dr-houston-tx-77024 |title=9105 Memorial Dr Houston, Tx 77024, Houston, Texas, United States for Sale | Financial Times Property Listings |access-date=2016-07-13 |archive-date=2016-08-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160817015424/http://propertylistings.ft.com/homes/748604/houston-property-for-rent/9105-memorial-dr-houston-tx-77024 |url-status=dead}}</ref> In late 2011, the ''[[Houston Chronicle]]'' reported that Palermo was sued by the former owner of one of his strip clubs, claiming that he had only paid $5,000 of the $1.3 million selling price.<ref>{{cite news|last=Tolson|first=Mike|title=Woman claims ex-mobster cheated her in club deal|url=http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Woman-claims-former-mobster-cheater-her-in-club-2200901.php|access-date=2012-04-13|newspaper=Houston Chronicle|date=2011-10-04}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.courthousenews.com/2011/10/03/40233.htm |title=Courthouse News Service |website=courthousenews.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111005160326/http://www.courthousenews.com/2011/10/03/40233.htm |archive-date=2011-10-05}}</ref> |
||
==Bankruptcy== |
==Bankruptcy== |
||
On March 4, 2013, Palermo filed a [[Chapter 11 bankruptcy]] petition in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Southern District of Texas. Under Chapter 11, a person's assets and debts are not liquidated, but the filer is given court |
On March 4, 2013, Palermo filed a [[Chapter 11 bankruptcy]] petition in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Southern District of Texas. Under Chapter 11, a person's assets and debts are not liquidated, but the filer is given court-protection from creditors in order to try to perform a work-out{{huh|date=October 2023}} of the insolvency situation.<ref name="auto"/><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://bankrupt.com/TCR_Public/130314.mbx|title=TCR_Public/130314.mbx|website=bankrupt.com}}</ref> |
||
==References== |
==References== |
||
{{reflist|1}} |
{{reflist|1}} |
||
* {{cite book |last1=Smith |first1=Greg B |title=Made Men: The True Rise-and-Fall Story of a New Jersey Mob Family |year=2003 |publisher=[[Berkley Books]] |location=New York |isbn=0-425-18551-6 |oclc=51523921 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/madementruerisea0000smit |
* {{cite book |last1=Smith |first1=Greg B |title=Made Men: The True Rise-and-Fall Story of a New Jersey Mob Family |year=2003 |publisher=[[Berkley Books]] |location=New York |isbn=0-425-18551-6 |oclc=51523921 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/madementruerisea0000smit}} |
||
<!-- |
<!-- |
||
==Potential Sources== |
==Potential Sources== |
||
<ref name=NYTimes-1999>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/12/03/nyregion/indictments-describe-reach-of-new-jersey-crime-family.html |title=Indictments Describe Reach of New Jersey Crime Family |author=Benjamin Weiser | date=3 December 1999 |access-date=21 March 2009 |work=The New York Times |
<ref name=NYTimes-1999>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/12/03/nyregion/indictments-describe-reach-of-new-jersey-crime-family.html |title=Indictments Describe Reach of New Jersey Crime Family |author=Benjamin Weiser | date=3 December 1999 |access-date=21 March 2009 |work=The New York Times}}</ref> |
||
<ref name=NYDailyNews-2002>{{cite news |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/2002/07/26/2002-07-26_hit_man_s_confessions_mob_tu.html |title=Hit man's confessions Mob turncoat tells court of his blood-soaked life |author=Greg B. Smith |date=26 July 2002 |access-date=21 March 2009 |work=The New York Daily News |
<ref name=NYDailyNews-2002>{{cite news |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/2002/07/26/2002-07-26_hit_man_s_confessions_mob_tu.html |title=Hit man's confessions Mob turncoat tells court of his blood-soaked life |author=Greg B. Smith |date=26 July 2002 |access-date=21 March 2009 |work=The New York Daily News}}</ref> |
||
<ref name=NYDailyNews-2003a>{{cite news |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/2003/05/23/2003-05-23_mob_canary__i_hurt_my_kids.html |title=Mob Canary: I Hurt my Kids |author |
<ref name=NYDailyNews-2003a>{{cite news |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/2003/05/23/2003-05-23_mob_canary__i_hurt_my_kids.html |title=Mob Canary: I Hurt my Kids |author=Robert Gearty and Gread B Smith |date=23 May 2003 |access-date=21 March 2009 |work=The New York Daily News}}</ref> |
||
<ref name=NYDailyNews-2003b>{{cite news |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/2003/05/12/2003-05-12_mob_turncoat_spilling_to_fbi.html |title=Mob Turncoat Spilling to FBI: Vinnie Ocean set to scuttle 5 families |author=Greg B. Smith |date=12 May 2003 |access-date=21 March 2009 |work=The New York Daily News |
<ref name=NYDailyNews-2003b>{{cite news |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/2003/05/12/2003-05-12_mob_turncoat_spilling_to_fbi.html |title=Mob Turncoat Spilling to FBI: Vinnie Ocean set to scuttle 5 families |author=Greg B. Smith |date=12 May 2003 |access-date=21 March 2009 |work=The New York Daily News}}</ref> |
||
<ref name=NYDailyNews-2003c>{{cite news |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/2003/06/05/2003-06-05_canary_helps_convict_3_n_j__.html |title=Canary Helps Convict 3 N.J. Mobsters |author=Robert Gearty |date= |
<ref name=NYDailyNews-2003c>{{cite news |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/2003/06/05/2003-06-05_canary_helps_convict_3_n_j__.html |title=Canary Helps Convict 3 N.J. Mobsters |author=Robert Gearty |date=5 June 2003 |access-date=21 March 2009 |work=The New York Daily News}}</ref> |
||
<ref name=SundayTimes-2003>{{cite news |url=http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/article1133202.ece?token=null&offset=0&page=1 |title=Focus: The Mafia on Wall Street |date=18 May 2003 |access-date=21 March 2009 |work=The Sunday Times | location=London |first=Charles |last=Bremner}}</ref> |
<ref name=SundayTimes-2003>{{cite news |url=http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/article1133202.ece?token=null&offset=0&page=1 |title=Focus: The Mafia on Wall Street |date=18 May 2003 |access-date=21 March 2009 |work=The Sunday Times | location=London |first=Charles |last=Bremner}}{{dead link|date=September 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> |
||
--> |
--> |
||
| Line 61: | Line 77: | ||
[[Category:1944 births]] |
[[Category:1944 births]] |
||
[[Category:Living people]] |
[[Category:Living people]] |
||
[[Category:American Mafia cooperating witnesses]] |
|||
[[Category:American gangsters of Italian descent]] |
[[Category:American gangsters of Italian descent]] |
||
[[Category:DeCavalcante crime family]] |
[[Category:DeCavalcante crime family]] |
||
Latest revision as of 04:36, 27 September 2024
Vincent Palermo | |
|---|---|
| Born | June 4, 1944 New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Other names |
|
| Occupation | Crime boss |
| Children | 5 |
| Relatives | Sam DeCavalcante (uncle-in-law) |
| Allegiance | DeCavalcante crime family |
Vincent "Vinny Ocean" Palermo (born June 4, 1944) is an Italian-American former mobster who was the de facto boss of the DeCavalcante crime family of North Jersey before becoming a government witness in 1999. Fictional mob boss Tony Soprano, the protagonist of the HBO series The Sopranos, is said to be based upon Palermo.[1] Similar to how Soprano owned the fictional Bada Bing! strip club on the show, Palermo owned a strip-club called Wiggles.[2]
Background
[edit]Vincent Palermo was born in New York City on June 4, 1944, and raised in a traditional Italian-American family in Brooklyn. He was an in-law by marriage to Nicholas Delmore, the former head of the New Jersey crime family, whose nephew was Simone DeCavalcante, also a New Jersey mob boss whose daughter he married. Palermo has five sisters, including Claire and Nancy, and two brothers. His father was an Italian immigrant who moved to New York when he was a teenager. Palermo came from a close-knit family and was said to have lived a harmonious lifestyle. He was an altar boy during adolescence. When Palermo was sixteen, his father died, which forced him to leave school and work two jobs to help support his family, as his mother was a bedridden asthmatic. In his earlier years, Palermo worked at a wholesale fish business in the Fulton Fish Market, where he earned the nickname "Vinny Ocean".
Palermo was very protective of children; he allegedly once stopped a man from beating his son, and rescued a toddler relative who had accidentally fallen into a pool. Palermo was also reputedly a dedicated family man. He attended Sacred Heart Church in Island Park, New York, drove his daughters to Brownie meetings, and reportedly watched Annie with one of his daughters regularly. Palermo also took in a troubled teenager named Richard, becoming his godfather. Palermo would allow his godson to stay at his home every weekend for a year, enabling the boy to study the Catholic sacraments in preparation for eventual baptism, Communion and Confirmation.[3]
Palermo was divorced once and remarried. In the 1980s, he became indebted to a hospital, local doctors, and the federal government. The tax liens against his property were in his second wife's name, an Italian-American woman named Angela, totaling $68,000. At the time, he was paying a large mortgage on a waterfront mansion with a 100-foot pier located in Island Park, New York. He had two Social Security numbers and paid alimony to his first wife. He also supports his second family, two daughters, Danielle and Tara, and a son Vincent Palermo Jr., with Michael (from his first marriage) and Renee. His son Michael is a graduate of Fordham University and a licensed New York stockbroker; he was an investment banker with Goldman Sachs up until his father's indictment, when Vincent Palermo Jr went into hiding.[4]
DeCavalcante's nephew-in-law
[edit]In the early 1960s, Palermo met and married the niece of crime boss Sam DeCavalcante of the DeCavalcante crime family. DeCavalcante took a liking to his nephew-in-law and began inviting him to visit his social club in Kenilworth, New Jersey. He worked at the fish markets in the early morning hours and hung out with mobsters on Sunday afternoons. Palermo cultivated relationships with other crime families—a lucrative loansharking operation with one Gambino family caporegime and bookmaking with another. He was also a close associate of the Genovese family. Palermo was known to say very little, speaking to only a very few close associates, and stayed away from mob-run social clubs. Until his racketeering indictment, he had only been arrested for the misdemeanor of stealing shrimp at the Fulton Fish Market.
Murder of Fred Weiss
[edit]On September 11, 1989, Palermo, Anthony Capo, and James "Jimmy" Gallo murdered Staten Island resident Fred Weiss,[5] on orders from DeCavalcante boss Giovanni "John the Eagle" Riggi through capo Anthony Rotondo. Weiss was a former newspaper reporter for the Staten Island Advance and a real-estate developer who had become associated with mobsters from both the DeCavalcante and Gambino families.
Weiss and two mob-partners had purchased a vacant property in Staten Island and started illegally dumping large amounts of dangerous medical waste there. Local authorities uncovered the scheme and started investigating Weiss, and the two mob-families became nervous. Gambino boss John Gotti worried that Weiss might become a government witness in exchange for leniency and requested that the DeCavalcante family murder Weiss to protect them. Palermo, Capo, and Gallo drove to the New York condominium of Weiss's girlfriend. As Weiss left the building and climbed into his car, Palermo and Gallo shot him in the face.
Family scandal
[edit]Palermo was appointed capo after the Weiss murder and given his own crew of soldiers. Riggi was sent to prison in 1989, and appointed John "Johnny Boy" D'Amato as his acting boss. In January 1992, Anthony Capo participated in the murder of acting boss D'Amato. Earlier in 1991, D'Amato's girlfriend, retaliating against D'Amato over an argument, told Anthony Rotondo that D'Amato was an active bisexual. She described swinging encounters that D'Amato had in Manhattan sex clubs with both women and men. Rotondo shared this information with underboss Giacomo Amari, and consigliere Stefano Vitabile.[6][7] In 2003, capos Philip "Phil" Abramo, Giuseppe "Pino" Schifilliti and the reputed consigliere Stefano Vitabile were charged in organizing various crimes, including the murder of D'Amato.[8] Reputed men involved in the murder conspiracy, Palermo, Capo and Rotondo would later testify about this murder against their former associates.[9]
Power-struggle
[edit]With Amari's death, there was no clear candidate to become the new acting boss. Riggi, still in prison, restructured the family and created a ruling panel to run it in order to avoid a potential power struggle. Riggi appointed longtime members of the crime family to the panel: Vincent Palermo, Girolamo "Jimmy" Palermo (no relation to Vincent), and Charles Majuri. However, Majuri, furious that he wasn't appointed acting boss, decided to murder the two Palermos and take effective control of the DeCavalcante family. He asked Gallo to murder Vincent Palermo, but Gallo alerted Palermo about the plot.
To protect himself, Palermo decided to murder Majuri instead. Over the years, Majuri had made many enemies by removing fellow mobsters from a labor union that he controlled and taking their money. Palermo was able to recruit Capo, Gallo, and Joseph Masella to find and kill Majuri. However, on the one occasion when they were ready to kill Majuri, they became nervous and decided not to do it. When they reported their failure back to Palermo, he decided that Majuri didn't pose a threat after all and cancelled the murder contract. By the mid-90s, Palermo was the de facto boss of the DeCavalcante family, with Riggi reigning as boss in absentia from jail.
Government-witness
[edit]In 1998, DeCavalcante associate Ralph Guarino was arrested for stealing $1.6 million from a Bank of America inside the World Trade Center. To avoid 20 years in prison, Guarino agreed to work as an informant for the FBI, giving the agency information on the actions of DeCavalcante members. The agency gave him cell phones rigged with surveillance equipment to distribute to other family members. In October 1998, Palermo's trusted lieutenant Joseph Masella was shot to death, leaving an opening in the family. Guarino's status had been rising in the family due to secret assistance from the FBI, and after Masella's murder, Palermo and the rest of the DeCavalcante leadership promoted Guarino to made man.
In 1999, Palermo faced charges and possible capital offenses, so he decided to become a government witness. He confessed to killing Weiss and mobster Louis LaRasso, and to planning the murders of the two D'Amatos, Masella, Majuri, and Tom Salvata, the manager at his strip club.[citation needed] Palermo also implicated other DeCavalcante family-members in various crimes. After testifying for the government, Palermo and his family entered the federal Witness Protection Program. However, prosecutors later discovered that he allegedly gave his son Michael $1 million in cash, possibly jeopardizing his status as a protected witness.
New life in Houston, Texas
[edit]On September 14, 2009, the New York Daily News exposed Palermo's new life in witness-protection as a strip-club-operator in Houston, Texas.[5] He has been living under the name "James Cabella".[10] Houston Police alleged that Palermo's strip clubs were a source of drug dealing and prostitution in the Houston area. Palermo claimed that many of his Houston friends already knew of his past because of an A&E television special. He lived in a gated mansion in Houston.[11][12]
The day after the Daily News report, Houston NBC affiliate KPRC-TV aired an investigative segment on Palermo.[5] Forty days later, Palermo put his Houston mansion up for sale, first for $4 million but then, over the following two years, he reduced the price to $2.45 million. After the mansion still would not sell, he took it off the market on June 3, 2011. Palermo put his house up for sale again in September 2015; it eventually sold for $2.85 million on 5 August 2016.[13][14] In late 2011, the Houston Chronicle reported that Palermo was sued by the former owner of one of his strip clubs, claiming that he had only paid $5,000 of the $1.3 million selling price.[15][16]
Bankruptcy
[edit]On March 4, 2013, Palermo filed a Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Southern District of Texas. Under Chapter 11, a person's assets and debts are not liquidated, but the filer is given court-protection from creditors in order to try to perform a work-out[clarification needed] of the insolvency situation.[12][17]
References
[edit]- ^ The Sopranos: A Dramatic History documentary
- ^ Wild Tales from the Police Blotter, by C. J. Sullivan. 2008.
- ^ "How To Get The Best Swingers In Houston". Archived from the original on 2012-03-26. Retrieved 2011-07-07.
- ^ Gearty, Robert; Smith, Greg B. (23 May 2003). "Mob Canary: I Hurt My Kids". New York Daily News. Archived from the original on October 6, 2011.
- ^ a b c Smith, Greg (2009-09-14). "Strip club king and mob rat Vincent Palermo up to his old tricks in Texas". New York Daily News. Archived from the original on January 30, 2013. Retrieved 2012-04-16.
- ^ Alan Feuer (October 20, 2009). "Telling Court He's Gay, Mob Informer Crosses Line". The New York Times.
- ^ "Hit man's confessions Mob turncoat tells court of his blood-soaked life" by Greg B. Smith, New York Daily News, July 26, 2002
- ^ Eligon, John (2008-09-04). "Racketeering Convictions Rejected for 3 in Mob Case". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-04-18.
- ^ "Mob Story". nj.com. May 9, 2003. Archived from the original on 2011-06-05.
- ^ "Lawsuit Claims Houston Attorneys Threatened to Out Former Mob Boss Living in Witness Protection During Strip Club Deal". Houston Press. January 8, 2015.
- ^ "Former Mob Boss to Penthouse Club: Keep Your Pants On | Swamplot". swamplot.com. 15 September 2009.
- ^ a b "Vincent CabellaBankruptcy Case #: 4:13-bk-31331 | Inforuptcy". inforuptcy.com. Archived from the original on August 17, 2016. Retrieved July 13, 2016.
- ^ "9105 Memorial Dr, Houston, TX 77024".
- ^ "9105 Memorial Dr Houston, Tx 77024, Houston, Texas, United States for Sale | Financial Times Property Listings". Archived from the original on 2016-08-17. Retrieved 2016-07-13.
- ^ Tolson, Mike (2011-10-04). "Woman claims ex-mobster cheated her in club deal". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 2012-04-13.
- ^ "Courthouse News Service". courthousenews.com. Archived from the original on 2011-10-05.
- ^ "TCR_Public/130314.mbx". bankrupt.com.
- Smith, Greg B (2003). Made Men: The True Rise-and-Fall Story of a New Jersey Mob Family. New York: Berkley Books. ISBN 0-425-18551-6. OCLC 51523921.
External links
[edit]- American Mafia.com The 'Sopranos' Trial Part Three: Reversal of Fortune for Mob Canary by James Ridgway de Szigethy
- American Mafia.com: New Jersey by Devin McDonald
