Bobby Manna, The Genovese Power Who Once Sought To Behead The Gambinos, Released From Prison
''Gene Gotti's dead." --Bobby Manna (as per FBI transcripts)
''We're gonna be paying for this, you know, for the rest of our lives." -- James (Jimmy Nap) Napoli
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| Manna and his crew were rounded up in June 1988. |
Manna was recorded plotting to kill both John Gotti and his older brother Gene, among others.
Manna, 95, served more than 36 years of an 80-year Federal racketeering sentence. U.S. District Court Judge Robert Kirsch granted the petition for “compassionate release” –which detailed Manna’s deteriorating health – on April 16.
Manna reportedly is bed-ridden and suffers from chronic kidney disease, lung cancer, bacterial infection, and other maladies.
Prosecutors opposed the “early” release (how shocking!) arguing that Manna was undeserving. Granting his freedom “would not reflect the seriousness of his (criminal) conduct, promote respect for the law or provide just punishment.”
Manna, 95, served more than 36 years of an 80-year Federal racketeering sentence. U.S. District Court Judge Robert Kirsch granted the petition for “compassionate release” –which detailed Manna’s deteriorating health – on April 16.
Manna reportedly is bed-ridden and suffers from chronic kidney disease, lung cancer, bacterial infection, and other maladies.
Prosecutors opposed the “early” release (how shocking!) arguing that Manna was undeserving. Granting his freedom “would not reflect the seriousness of his (criminal) conduct, promote respect for the law or provide just punishment.”
Judge Kirsch pushed back, saying that while he “finds Manna’s conduct decades ago to be nothing short of depraved” … “it is reasonable to conclude (that his) multi-decades-long incarceration period …undoubtedly promotes respect for the law and the severe consequences for convictions under the RICO Act.”
Kirsch also detailed in court papers that Manna will be “under 24-hour house arrest (by federal probation officers) with GPS monitoring, the cost of which will be borne by Manna’s custodians” and can only be in contact with people approved by federal probation officers.
In addition to plotting the Gotti murders, Manna was charged with the January 1977 murder of Frank Bok Chung Chin, an electronics expert who had agreed to testify for the government (this blogger found little detail on this killing) and the 1987 execution of Irwin (The Fat Man) Schiff, a 350-pound mobbed-up businessman who was slain while dining with a lady friend at the Upper East Side restaurant Bravo Sergio....
Bravo Sergio one night in August 1987... the small, intimate Italian restaurant on Second Avenue near 75th Street is more of a neighborhood place than, say, the more upscale Sparks Steak House... Schiff—a regular customer who "loved to eat," as the chef would later say—and his date (the New York papers will later dub her the "mysterious blonde") have finished dining (Schiff's last meal was a Caesar salad, double shrimp cocktail, veal rollatini, and rigatoni with bacon, onions, and tomato, followed by bananas and strawberries flambe), and he is paying the $90 bill, plus $30 tip, in cash—and a tall masked man wearing a dark suit and gripping a .38-caliber pistol quietly slips into the restaurant via a side door. He walks up behind Schiff and blasts him twice in the head ....the blonde companion, along with all the other startled patrons and the staff hurried out of the restaurant in the moments after the shooting.... Somewhere on the scene was Manna confidant Bocci DeSciscio, prosecutors later alleged, in case the shooter needed assistance....
Not long after Philadelphia boss Nicodemo (Little Nicky) Scarfo's January 8, 1987, arrest, Gambino boss John Gotti started maneuvering to absorb the North New Jersey rackets that had been part of Scarfo's Garden State empire, putting the Gambino crime family head to head with the Genovese family. This is according to law enforcement sources, including the State of New Jersey Commission of Investigation (SCI), which highlights the Gambino family's efforts in its 1989 report.
As per the SCI report, the Genovese family had been far more influential in New Jersey, with more high-ranking members based there. The Genovese family in fact "was the first of the five New York-based families to expand its rackets to New Jersey decades ago." The Genovese family controlled gambling, labor racketeering, loansharking and narcotics distribution throughout New Jersey. The family also had longtime control of several labor unions, particularly various trucking and garbage hauling locals on the New Jersey waterfront.
Additionally, Manna, the reputed Genovese consiglieri, was based in New Jersey. Manna, who used Casella's Restaurant in Hoboken as his base of operations, had built a strong alliance with Nicky Scarfo and had the most to lose in the rivalry with the Gambinos. (Manna met Scarfo back in 1971 when Scarfo was serving his highly consequential year-long bid for an SCI contempt citation at the Yardville Correctional Center. Also there at the time: Philadelphia don Angelo Bruno, Genovese underboss Gerardo (Jerry) Catena, Bonanno capo Joseph (Joe Bayonne) Zicarelli, and Genovese family powerhouse Anthony (Little Pussy) Russo, who was a member of Ruggiero (Richie the Boot) Boiardo's crew.)
Manna was the Genovese family leader who sought to stop the Gambino boss and was recorded plotting to kill both John Gotti and his older brother Gene, among others.
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The new Gambino boss made no bones about wanting every piece of Scarfo's gambling, loan sharking, and labor racketeering enterprises in Hudson, Essex and Passaic Counties. And whatever the Gambinos could grab along with it from Bobby Manna.
Gotti was actually successful very early in the game.
The SCI report noted, "The Gambino family's new-found strength in New Jersey has begun to surface, with its associates taking positions of authority on the waterfront once held by Genovese associates."
''We saw John Gotti try to move in very quickly,'' said Superintendent of the New Jersey State Police, Col. Clinton L. Pagano. ''The Genovese family has been long established in northern New Jersey, and they felt the (Scarfo) business should have gone to them.''
Gotti, a murderous usurper who shot his way to power in December 1985, was an aggressive expansionist on every front imaginable. He even fomented civil war in the Colombo family as part of a larger effort to take control of the Commission and install himself as "boss of bosses," an early, but defunct, role that had once been the most powerful position in the hierarchy of the American Mafia. (See Salvatore Maranzano.)
While Manna—who had four capos under him, even though he was consigliere for the entire family—was the primary player in the plotting against Gotti, investigators had little doubt that reclusive Genovese family boss Vincent (Chin) Gigante, who had existing animosity toward Gotti because of how he came to power (by killing Chin's partner, Paul Castellano, Gotti's predecessor), was directly behind Manna and had authorized the hit on Gotti.
''(Chin) would have to know,'' Superintendent Pagano has said. ''It could not go without his approval.''
That means Chin didn't put all his eggs in one basket when it came to the the Gambino boss. Gigante also allegedly allied with Luchese family leaders to behead the Gambino family. The pact with Anthony (Gaspipe) Casso and Vic Amuso led to the violent murder of Gotti underboss Frank DeCicco in April 1986, when his car was bombed outside the Veterans and Friends Club, a Gambino storefront social club on 86th Street near 14th Avenue in Bensonhurst. DeCicco had been visiting Castellano loyalist James Failla. The bombing was meant for Gotti, who had also planned to visit Failla that day, but canceled. The bomb was only detonated after Luchese soldier Frank (Frankie Heart) Bellino, a DeCicco pal, was mistaken for Gotti. (The Machiavellian Gaspipe had chosen to use a bomb as part of a ruse to confuse potential Gambino investigators into believing that Sicilian Mafiosi, who generally used explosives to kill their enemies, were responsible.)
Seizing Scarfo's rackets was only part of Gotti's focus on expanding into New Jersey. Gotti had close relationships with numerous other wiseguys in the Garden State's only homegrown Mafia family, the DeCavalcante family, including with boss Giovanni (John The Eagle) Riggi, even when many New York Mafiosi had pure contempt for the "sixth family."
Gotti was actually successful very early in the game.
The SCI report noted, "The Gambino family's new-found strength in New Jersey has begun to surface, with its associates taking positions of authority on the waterfront once held by Genovese associates."
''We saw John Gotti try to move in very quickly,'' said Superintendent of the New Jersey State Police, Col. Clinton L. Pagano. ''The Genovese family has been long established in northern New Jersey, and they felt the (Scarfo) business should have gone to them.''
Gotti, a murderous usurper who shot his way to power in December 1985, was an aggressive expansionist on every front imaginable. He even fomented civil war in the Colombo family as part of a larger effort to take control of the Commission and install himself as "boss of bosses," an early, but defunct, role that had once been the most powerful position in the hierarchy of the American Mafia. (See Salvatore Maranzano.)
While Manna—who had four capos under him, even though he was consigliere for the entire family—was the primary player in the plotting against Gotti, investigators had little doubt that reclusive Genovese family boss Vincent (Chin) Gigante, who had existing animosity toward Gotti because of how he came to power (by killing Chin's partner, Paul Castellano, Gotti's predecessor), was directly behind Manna and had authorized the hit on Gotti.
''(Chin) would have to know,'' Superintendent Pagano has said. ''It could not go without his approval.''
That means Chin didn't put all his eggs in one basket when it came to the the Gambino boss. Gigante also allegedly allied with Luchese family leaders to behead the Gambino family. The pact with Anthony (Gaspipe) Casso and Vic Amuso led to the violent murder of Gotti underboss Frank DeCicco in April 1986, when his car was bombed outside the Veterans and Friends Club, a Gambino storefront social club on 86th Street near 14th Avenue in Bensonhurst. DeCicco had been visiting Castellano loyalist James Failla. The bombing was meant for Gotti, who had also planned to visit Failla that day, but canceled. The bomb was only detonated after Luchese soldier Frank (Frankie Heart) Bellino, a DeCicco pal, was mistaken for Gotti. (The Machiavellian Gaspipe had chosen to use a bomb as part of a ruse to confuse potential Gambino investigators into believing that Sicilian Mafiosi, who generally used explosives to kill their enemies, were responsible.)
Seizing Scarfo's rackets was only part of Gotti's focus on expanding into New Jersey. Gotti had close relationships with numerous other wiseguys in the Garden State's only homegrown Mafia family, the DeCavalcante family, including with boss Giovanni (John The Eagle) Riggi, even when many New York Mafiosi had pure contempt for the "sixth family."
TRANSCRIPTS
Transcripts of Manna and others, which were distributed at Manna's 1988 trial, were based on 12 conversations at Casella's Restaurant that occurred between Aug. 5, 1987, and January. 14, 1988. The talks were intercepted by eavesdropping devices hidden in the restaurant.
In an Aug. 5 conversation, Martin (Motts) Casella, who owned the restaurant and was identified as one of the voices on the tape, discussed the impending slaying of Schiff, who Federal officials said had links to both the Genovese and Gambino crime families and was thought to have been skimming money owed the Genovese family.
''You wanna hit him?'' one of the unidentified men said, according to the transcript.
''We'll do him good at night,'' the other man replied. ''Bobby Manna didn't like CC.''
Prosecutors said ''CC'' was a code name for Schiff, based on Construction Coordinators, a New York business in which he held an interest.
''I'll bring it up at a meeting and we'll discuss it,'' Casella responded.
Aug. 8, Schiff was shot in the head twice.
Two days later, Casella talked about the murder with two men identified by Federal authorities as Genovese family associates: Daniello, a retired Hoboken police lieutenant, and James Napoli. (Napoli is actually Brooklyn-based Genovese capo James (Jimmy Nap) Napoli.)
''The place was jammed, all the people ran out,'' Daniello said in an apparent reference to the aftermath of the shooting. ''Bobby picked this kid out,'' he added - a reference, authorities said, to Manna's selecting the gunman in the Schiff slaying.
''The place was jammed, all the people ran out,'' Daniello said in an apparent reference to the aftermath of the shooting. ''Bobby picked this kid out,'' he added - a reference, authorities said, to Manna's selecting the gunman in the Schiff slaying.
Daniello said, ''It takes guts though to do it like that, this kid was a. . . .''
''Stone killer," Casella responded.
The plot against John Gotti first came up on Sept. 21 in a conversation among Manna, Casella and Daniello.
Prosecutors said the plan was to hit Gotti near a club he frequented on Woodhaven Boulevard and 101st Avenue in Ozone Park, Queens.
''Wear a disguise,'' Manna said. ''It's an open place.''
An unidentified man asked: ''Do you know where you'se are going to do this guy?''
''Yeah, on that corner,'' Casella responded.
''You know, this should be good and fast if it's John Gotti up on the Boulevard and, ah, hundred and one,'' the man said.
The F.B.I. subsequently notified Gotti of the reported plot, and, according to an Oct. 9 transcript, the Genovese associates learned of the warning.
''Hey, John Gotti knows,'' Casella said on Oct. 9.
An unidentified man responded, ''John Gotti knows we. . . .''
''That we ordered it?'' another man said.
But the plotting continued, the authorities said.
On Jan. 10, Manna was overheard saying, ''a big hit, John Gotti,'' and then apparently discussing with DeSciscio and others the selection of a gunman.
Two days later, in a conversation between Manna and James Napoli, Manna said: ''Gene Gotti's dead.''
''When are you gonna hit him?'' Napoli asked.
''Gene Gotti's dead," Manna repeated.
''We're gonna be paying for this, you know, for the rest of our lives,'' Napoli said.
The Genovese family at the time was beset with internal turmoil. Vincent (Fish) Cafaro had flipped and key Genovese powers had been sent to prison.
"All of these problems drove Manna to plot the murders of John and Gene Gotti in an attempt to restore lost areas of control and to prevent more losses," the Commission Report noted.
Despite his long-simmering hatred of Gotti for killing Big Paul, Gigante supposedly was slow to take on the Gambinos as they moved in on Genovese family turf in the Garden State. As per the NJ Commission report, Gigante almost seemed to allow the Gambinos to become firmly entrenched in bars, construction projects, restaurants, gambling and other Genovese enterprises in New Jersey. Chin's indifference deeply angered Manna.
Manna was among the members and associates of the Genovese family who were nabbed in a June 1988 roundup by the FBI and New Jersey State Police. Manna and his co-defendants were slammed with a 42-count indictment that also charged them with extortion, loan sharking, labor racketeering, and gambling.
He was later convicted and sentenced to 80 years in prison. At Manna’s sentencing, US District Judge Maryanne Trump Barry (the sister of the President) noted that the jury foreman at Manna's trial—the first anonymous jury in New Jersey history—was so nervous "after hearing evidence of cold-blooded murder and conspiracies to murder" that two of his fellow jurors held his hands to support him as he delivered the verdict.
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| Chart of Genovese family's New Jersey faction. |
Whatever power and spoils John Gotti accrued from his New Jersey moves, by December 1990, when the FBI nailed him and his administration at his Little Italy Ravenite headquarters, it—along with much of everything else—was mooted. Gotti most definitely would have had much different priorities.
Gotti and his consiglieri Frank Locascio were tried and convicted in 1992 and given life sentences (the Ravenite tapes and the former underboss's testimony did the duo in). In 2002, Gotti died of head and neck cancer at the Federal prison hospital in Springfield, Missouri, at age 61.
As for Genovese family operations in the Garden State post-Manna, we can consider longtime Genovese associate-turned-turncoat Peter (Petey Cap) Caporino, who had been in Manna’s crew. After Manna went away, Petey Cap paid tribute to Manna's wife for the next 10 years, then started kicking up to Joseph (Big Joe) Scarbrough, an up-and-coming Genovese associate who oversaw a Hoboken crew. Big Joe reported directly to Lawrence (Little Larry) Dentico, aka Larry Fab, who had been one of Manna's top aides. Dentico and Frank (Punchy) Illiano together were overseeing the Genovese family. Gigante was behind bars.
The wily-as-a-fox Chin died in December 2005 at 77 from heart problems at a Federal prison medical center in Springfield, Mo.
Gotti and his consiglieri Frank Locascio were tried and convicted in 1992 and given life sentences (the Ravenite tapes and the former underboss's testimony did the duo in). In 2002, Gotti died of head and neck cancer at the Federal prison hospital in Springfield, Missouri, at age 61.
As for Genovese family operations in the Garden State post-Manna, we can consider longtime Genovese associate-turned-turncoat Peter (Petey Cap) Caporino, who had been in Manna’s crew. After Manna went away, Petey Cap paid tribute to Manna's wife for the next 10 years, then started kicking up to Joseph (Big Joe) Scarbrough, an up-and-coming Genovese associate who oversaw a Hoboken crew. Big Joe reported directly to Lawrence (Little Larry) Dentico, aka Larry Fab, who had been one of Manna's top aides. Dentico and Frank (Punchy) Illiano together were overseeing the Genovese family. Gigante was behind bars.
The wily-as-a-fox Chin died in December 2005 at 77 from heart problems at a Federal prison medical center in Springfield, Mo.
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