Paul Castellano

Constantino P. Castellano
Paul Castellano on March 30, 1984.
Born	(1915-06-26)June 26, 1915 Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Died	December 16, 1985(1985-12-16) (aged 70) Manhattan, New York, U.S.
Cause of death	Murdered
Resting place	Moravian Cemetery, Staten Island
Other names	"The Howard Hughes of the Mob", "Big Paul", PC, "The Pope", "The Chicken Man"
Occupation(s)	Crime boss, wholesale meat merchant, New York City construction tycoon
Known for	Head of the Gambino crime family
Spouse	Nino Manno
Children	Peter, Philip, Joseph, Constance

Constantino Paul "Big Paul" Castellano (June 26, 1915 – December 16, 1985), also known as "The Howard Hughes of the Mob" and "Big Paulie" (or "PC" to his family), was an American Mafia boss in New York City. He succeeded Carlo Gambino as head of the Gambino crime family, at the time, the nation's largest Mafia family. In 1985, he was one of many Mafia bosses arrested on charges of racketeering, which was to result in the Mafia Commission Trial; in December of that year, while out on bail, Castellano and his bodyguard were shot to death outside Sparks Steak House in Manhattan on the orders of John Gotti.

Early life

Castellano was born Constantino Paul Castellano in Brooklyn in 1915, to Giuseppe Castellano and Concetta (née Casatu). Paul's father was a butcher and an early member of the Mangano crime family, the forerunner of the Gambino family. Paul Castellano was the first cousin to Major General Vito Castellano a commander of the New York National Guard and chief of staff for Governor Mario Cuomo.

In 1934, Castellano was arrested for the first time. The 19-year-old Castellano refused to identify his two accomplices to the police and served a three-month prison sentence. By refusing to cooperate with authorities, Castellano enhanced his reputation for mob loyalty. Castellano often signed his name as "C. Paul Castellano" because he hated his first name, Constantino. Eventually he became known as Paul. Castellano was a big man standing at 6'2" and weighed a hefty 270 pounds; with this stature many other mob guys steered out of his way. In the 1940s, Castellano became a member of the Mangano family and was named a capo under boss Vince Mangano's successor, Albert Anastasia. In 1957, after Anastasia's murder and Carlo Gambino's elevation to boss, Castellano attended the abortive Apalachin Conference in Apalachin, New York.

With his butcher's background, Castellano launched a successful wholesale poultry distribution business that, at its height, supplied 300 butchers in New York. His customers included two of the largest supermarket chains in the city, Key Food and Waldbaum's.

In 1975, Castellano ordered the murder of his daughter's boyfriend, Vito Borelli. Someone had reported to Castellano that Borelli thought he resembled Frank Perdue, the famous owner and commercial spokesman for Perdue Farms. Castellano considered this an insult, due to Perdue's balding, elderly appearance and his comically awkward mannerisms. Ironically, Perdue would later call on Castellano for assistance with union issues at one of his processing plants, a decision Perdue later said that he regretted. In 1980, Castellano allegedly ordered the murder of his son-in-law Frank Amato for abusing his daughter Connie. Amato disappeared and was never seen again. According to FBI documents, Gambino soldier Roy DeMeo murdered Amato, cut up his body, and disposed of the remains at sea.

Rise in the Gambino family

The United States Government listed Paul Castellano as a family capo as early as 1960. In 1966, Castellano, then a powerful family capo based in Brooklyn, was appointed acting boss while Carlo Gambino temporarily re-located to Florida to avoid pressure from law enforcement and immigration officials. At the same time, Joseph N. Gallo and Aniello "Neil" Dellacroce replaced Joseph "Joe Bandy" Biondo and Joseph "Staten Island Joe" Riccobono as the family's consigliere and underboss, respectively. Gambino remained the family's boss while giving day-to-day authority to Castellano. Gambino would return to New York, and resume control of the family, however, relying on Castellano more and more.

Castellano's rackets

Castellano was a major earner as a capo in the family. Castellano's interests included Scara-Mix Concrete Corp., which exercised a near monopoly on the pouring of concrete on Staten Island. Castellano also supervised the family's interests in Teamsters Union Local 282, which gave the Gambinos a stranglehold on New York City's construction industry. Both Gambino and Castellano were very close to the Local's President John Cody. Castellano also handled the family's interests in the infamous "Concrete Club," in which the family extorted millions of dollars from New York developers.

In 1975, Castellano became acting boss for the aging Gambino and in 1976, after Gambino's death, assumed the title of official boss. The front runner to replace Gambino had been underboss Aniello "Neil" Dellacroce. However, before his death, Gambino allegedly designated Castellano as his successor. Gambino was married to Castellano's sister and he strongly believed in family ties. Although disappointed, Dellacroce decided to support Castellano's elevation, and Castellano retained him as underboss.

Castellano saw himself more as a businessman rather than a hoodlum; in fact, his longterm goal was legitimacy. Under Castellano, the Gambinos expanded their already strong influence on the building industry. For decades, the Gambinos had controlled Teamsters Local 282, which could literally bring most construction jobs in New York City to a halt. Castellano's connections expanded to places as far away as Kuwait. As part of an effort to lead a more open lifestyle, he purchased a large mansion in the prominent Todt Hill neighborhood of Staten Island. He didn't entirely forsake murder, however. For example, after finding out that Nicholas Scibetta, the brother-in-law of mobster Sammy "the Bull" Gravano, was engaging in behavior embarrassing to the family, Castellano ordered him killed.

Castellano also fostered or developed important alliances with other criminal organizations. He set up agreement with the Westies, an Irish-American gang from Hell's Kitchen, to act as enforcers and hitters. Castellano also created an alliance with the Cherry Hill Gambinos, a group of Sicilians who imported and trafficked large quantities of Sicilian heroin throughout the United States. Through his close connections with the Westies and the Cherry Hill Gambinos, Castellano commanded an army of capable killers that he could use as his personal hit squads.

Some Gambino wiseguys began losing respect for Castellano. These were Dellacroce supporters involved in traditional Cosa Nostra activities like extortion and illegal gambling. They felt that Castellano had lost touch with the essence of the organization and was too distant. However, these dissidents knew that Dellacroce had pledged loyalty to Castellano and would not support an effort to overthrow him.

Later years and assassination

In the early 1980s, Castellano became worried about the ambitions of the ruthless John Gotti, a protègé of Dellacroce. Castellano repeatedly made it clear that he would kill anyone who was dealing in narcotics—knowing that Gotti was doing just that. Meanwhile, Gotti began to turn mobsters against Castellano, aided by the growing discontent in the family. Castellano rarely left his mansion and, although he demanded tribute payments from them, he rarely mixed with the foot-soldiers of the family. Castellano was closest to a four-man-panel, consisting of capos Thomas "Tommy" Gambino, Daniel "Danny" Marino, James "Jimmy Brown" Failla, and Thomas "Tommy" Bilotti. All of these men were Castellano loyalists.

Castellano ordered the murders of James "Jimmy the Clam" Eppolitto and his son, both being former crew members. The hits were carried out by trusted captain Anthony "Nino" Gaggi and Roy DeMeo, an infamous assassin with a prolific hitlist. Yet, after being indicted with Gaggi over a stolen car operation, Castellano ordered DeMeo's slaying as well, out of fear the ruthless killer may cooperate with the authorities. At this time many low-level foot soldiers requested their release from the Gambino family.

In March 1984, Castellano was indicted by Rudolph Giuliani, the chief federal prosecutor for Manhattan, on R.I.C.O. charges. Also indicted was Gambino captain Anthony "Nino" Gaggi, and members of DeMeo's murderous crew. The indictment alleged that the crew committed 25 murders (which included 2 murdered witnesses). The indictment also included the murders of the Eppolittos.

In early 1985, he was one of many Mafia bosses arrested on charges of racketeering, which was to result in the Mafia Commission Trial. Castellano was released on $3 million bail and there were rumors that the 70-year-old might try to cut a deal with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and turn on his criminal associates in order to avoid prison. There were also rumors that he had undergone an operation to cure his impotence in order to help him carry on an affair with his young maid, rumors that Gotti happily spread.

Paul Castellano didn't mind being tagged as a murderer. However, according to the book "Murder Machine" by Gene Mustain and Jerry Capeci, Castellano got offended when he thought that a police officer had implied that he was less than a gentleman. When Detective Kenneth McCabe placed him under arrest, he did not protest. But when McCabe mentioned to Castellano that his late cousin, Carlo Gambino had been a "real gentleman", Castellano looked hurt and then responded, "What? I'm not a gentleman?"

On December 2, 1985, Dellacroce died of lung cancer. Castellano then made two major mistakes. First, he did not attend Dellacroce's funeral - which was viewed as highly disrespectful by the Dellacroce/Gotti loyalists. Second, Castellano then named his bodyguard, Tommy Bilotti, as the new underboss. Although Bilotti was a loyal mobster, he was also a brutish loanshark with little of the diplomatic skill required to hold such a high rank within the organization.

Within two weeks of Dellacroce's death, on December 16, Castellano and Bilotti were shot to death outside Sparks Steak House in Manhattan on the orders of John Gotti. They had been lured there supposedly to a meeting with Gotti in order to iron out their differences. The hit team included Vincent Artuso,Joseph Watts, Salvatore "Fat Sally" Scala, Edward Lino, and John Carneglia, with backup shooters positioned down the street including Dominick Pizzonia, Angelo Ruggiero and Anthony Rampino, Dominick "The Mind" LaForgia (who is largely credited with masterminding the logistics and participants of the Castellano assassination) The first half Italian/Puerto Rican to become a "made man" and known to be residing in San Diego,Ca. Gotti and Gravano observed from a car across the street.

Legacy

Controversy dogged Castellano even in death, as the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York refused to grant him the last rites of the church, citing the notorious circumstances surrounding both his life and death, leading many Italian-Americans, including New York State Governor Mario Cuomo, to accuse the predominantly Irish-American archdiocesan hierarchy of applying a double standard, citing the case of Brian O'Regan. O'Regan, an allegedly corrupt New York City police officer fearing impending arrest, committed suicide in a Long Island motel room the same year as Castellano's death; O'Regan received a Mass of Christian Burial despite his suicide note's authenticity being established beyond doubt. Castellano was buried in the Moravian Cemetery, a non-sectarian cemetery located in the New Dorp section of Staten Island.

During his life, Castellano was able to set up his sons in successful businesses that made them legitimate multimillionaires. Although their companies benefitted from their father commanding a network of over 350 "made" members and hundreds of more associates. One such business, Scara-Mix concrete, based in Staten Island, dominates the borough's concrete pouring industry. In 2006, during the racketeering trial of Gotti's son John A. Gotti, former captain Michael DiLeonardo testified that he was the bagman for the family and collected thousands of dollars per year from the brothers Peter and Philip who operated Scara-Mix.

The elder Gotti succeeded Castellano as head of the Gambino family, which was confirmed by Sammy "The Bull" Gravano, Gotti's underboss, when he entered into a plea bargain with the government in 1991. Gotti was later convicted of ordering Castellano's murder, along with many other crimes.

Popular culture

Castellano has been portrayed in several movies and lyrics, including:

• by Chazz Palminteri in Boss of Bosses, a 2001 film on the TNT network.
• by Richard C. Sarafian in the 1996 HBO network original film Gotti, a story of the life of John Gotti.
• by Abe Vigoda in the NBC network TV movie Witness to the Mob.
• by P.Diddy in the remix of Waka Flocka Flame's O Let's Do It.

Further reading

• O'Brien, Joseph F. and Kurins, Andris. Boss of Bosses: The Fall of the Godfather: The FBI and Paul Castellano. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1991.ISBN 0-671-71541-0

External links

• Paul Castellano's Death Certificate
• Paul Castellano's entry at mugshots.com
• Paul Castellano's entry at biography.com
• Paul Castellano at Find a Grave