More Than You Ever Knew About Bonanno Boss Philip Rusty Rastelli

Philip (Rusty) Rastelli had been Bonanno underboss to Natale (Joe Diamond) Evola; he rose to the top when a group of capos elected him after Evola died in late August 1973. Rastelli Rastelli, who listed his occupation as a radio dispatcher for a taxi company, spent half his life in prison. During his 18-year reign as boss (from 1973 to 1991) he was a free man for only about three years. Then, thanks to two lengthy prison sentences—10 years for antitrust violations, and 12 years for directing a huge labor racketeering conspiracy—after 1976, he mostly ran the Bonanno family’s operations from behind bars. He was an unpopular boss, and he presided over the disintegration of the family. Described once as a tall, good-looking man, Rastelli was a fitness fanatic who did 1,500 sit-ups a day. He maintained a modest home in Brooklyn that cost $185 a month. At his trial in 1986, he had his attorney bring a large box of English toffee to court to offer to FBI agents who showed u