Al Indelicato: Difference between revisions
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Born in New York City, Indelicato was a stocky man with broad shoulders, a sculptured torso and dark hair. On his left arm he had one tattoo of two hearts and a dagger and a second tattoo that said "[[Holland]] 1945." The meaning of the second tattoo is unclear, as Indelicato was too young to have fought in World War II. |
Born in New York City, Indelicato was a stocky man with broad shoulders, a sculptured torso and dark hair. On his left arm he had one tattoo of two hearts and a dagger and a second tattoo that said "[[Holland]] 1945." The meaning of the second tattoo is unclear, as Indelicato was too young to have fought in World War II. |
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Indelicato |
Indelicato wore large tinted sunglasses which may have been adopted from Bonanno capo [[Cesare Bonventre]]. He preferred bright, garish casual clothing; orange t-shirts, bright red shorts, baseball jackets, striped track suits, multicolored socks and blue jeans. Indelicato was particularly fond of a pair of custom-made red leather [[cowboy boot]]s, which may have been the source of his nickname "Sonny Red". Other mobsters described Indelicato as being opinionated, charismatic and swaggering. Indelicato was a violent man; he once drove an ice pick through a victim's chest into the floor below, requiring a tire iron to pry the body loose. |
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Indelicato's family came from [[Siculiana]], in [[Agrigento]], [[Sicily]]. He had one older brother Joseph Indelicato and a sister. Indelicato was the great uncle of [[Los Angeles crime family]] mobster Danyael Shovera Caliberi (Sho Caliberi), the father-in-law of Bonanno associate Salvatore Valenti and ex-son-in-law of Bonanno capo Charles (Charlie Prunes) Ruvolo. Indelicato was also related to Gerald Thomas Indelicato, an education adviser to [[Governor of Massachusetts]] [[Michael Dukakis]], and Giuseppe Indelicato, a prolific heroin trafficker. |
Indelicato's family came from [[Siculiana]], in [[Agrigento]], [[Sicily]]. He had one older brother Joseph Indelicato and a sister. Indelicato was the great uncle of [[Los Angeles crime family]] mobster Danyael Shovera Caliberi (Sho Caliberi), the father-in-law of Bonanno associate Salvatore Valenti and ex-son-in-law of Bonanno capo Charles (Charlie Prunes) Ruvolo. Indelicato was also related to Gerald Thomas Indelicato, an education adviser to [[Governor of Massachusetts]] [[Michael Dukakis]], and Giuseppe Indelicato, a prolific heroin trafficker. |
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Revision as of 21:47, 2 July 2010
Alphonse Indelicato | |
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| File:Alphonseindelicato1.JPG | |
| Born | February 25, 1931 Little Italy, Manhattan |
| Died | May 5, 1981 (aged 50) Dyker Heights, Brooklyn |
Alphonse "Sonny Red" Indelicato (February 25, 1931 - May 5, 1981) was a powerful caporegime in New York City's Bonanno crime family who was murdered with two other capos in a famous gangland murder.
Biography
Born in New York City, Indelicato was a stocky man with broad shoulders, a sculptured torso and dark hair. On his left arm he had one tattoo of two hearts and a dagger and a second tattoo that said "Holland 1945." The meaning of the second tattoo is unclear, as Indelicato was too young to have fought in World War II.
Indelicato wore large tinted sunglasses which may have been adopted from Bonanno capo Cesare Bonventre. He preferred bright, garish casual clothing; orange t-shirts, bright red shorts, baseball jackets, striped track suits, multicolored socks and blue jeans. Indelicato was particularly fond of a pair of custom-made red leather cowboy boots, which may have been the source of his nickname "Sonny Red". Other mobsters described Indelicato as being opinionated, charismatic and swaggering. Indelicato was a violent man; he once drove an ice pick through a victim's chest into the floor below, requiring a tire iron to pry the body loose.
Indelicato's family came from Siculiana, in Agrigento, Sicily. He had one older brother Joseph Indelicato and a sister. Indelicato was the great uncle of Los Angeles crime family mobster Danyael Shovera Caliberi (Sho Caliberi), the father-in-law of Bonanno associate Salvatore Valenti and ex-son-in-law of Bonanno capo Charles (Charlie Prunes) Ruvolo. Indelicato was also related to Gerald Thomas Indelicato, an education adviser to Governor of Massachusetts Michael Dukakis, and Giuseppe Indelicato, a prolific heroin trafficker.
Indelicato was married first to Ruvolo's daughter, with whom he fathered his son Anthony "Bruno" Indelicato. Indelicato later married Margaret Elizabeth McFhadden, but the two later became estranged. Indelicato would introduce his son to organized crime at an early age. Father and son socialized and conducted extortion and loan sharking together.
Criminal career
In 1950, Indelicato was convicted in New York of possession of heroin and served six months in jail. On December 26, 1951 Indelicato participated in a shooting at a social club that left one man dead and another wounded. The wounded victime later identified Indelicato as the shooter. Indelicato was convicted of murder and attempted murder and sentenced to 12 years at Sing Sing State Penitentiary in Ossining, New York. In 1966, Indelicato was released from prison and placed on lifetime parole due to his major involvement with organized crime narcotics distribution. These parole restrictions would keep Indelicato from attending the wedding of Sicilian mob boss Guiseppe Bono.
Over the next 15 years, Indelicato built a strong power base in the Bonanno family among those who were unhappy with boss Phillip Rastelli's leadership. Cultivating close friendships and family ties, Indelicato could count on the support of at least four Bonanno capos. With each of his loyal capos controlling an estimated half-dozen to a dozen other made men, Indelicato's faction was a tight-knit, significant force. He was cocky towards Rastelli and disrespectful to both Joseph Massino and Dominick Napolitano, but dismissive toward the Bonanno family's Sicilian faction. Many mobsters assumed that Indelicato was in a solid position to seize control of the family from Rastelli. Indelicato had strong connections to the other Five Families of New York City, including senior members of the Colombo crime family.
Indelicato and his Bonanno rivals had been profiting from the distribution of the Sicilian faction's heroin from Montreal. In late 1980 or 1981, Indelicato allegedly received a heroin shipment worth $1.5 million worth on consignment from Gerlando Sciascia and Joseph LoPresti, but then later refused to pay for it. Vincent Gigante was backing Indelicato at the time. At the time of his murder, Indelicato was being investigated for his suspected role in the 1979 slaying of Colombo capo Crazy Joe Gallo.
Planning a coup
In 1974, Rastelli was sent to prison and his capo Carmine Galante became acting boss. However, within a short time, Galante made it clear that he wanted to assume total control of the family from Rastelli. However, Indelicato and other capos sided with Rastelli. In 1979, Indelicato, Dominick Trinchera and Philip Giaccone murdered Galante in a New York restaurant. At this point, Indelicato attempted to take over as boss, but was thwarted by Napolitano and other Rastelli loyalists.
Indelicato and Napolitano were soon on a collision course. The Indelicato faction included Giaccone, Trinchera, son Anthony Indelicato, Indelicato's brother Joseph Indelicato, Michael Sabella, Frank Lino, Nicholas Marangello, Steven Maruca and Bonventre. As the feud progressed, Sabella, Maruca and Marangello switched sides to Rastelli. Indelicato was very reluctant to start a civil war inside the Bonanno family and therefore met with Rastelli loyalists to discuss a compromise. However, the meeting was unsuccessful and Indelicato prepared for a struggle. However, Indelicato then agreed to a second meeting to try again for an agreement.
Death
The second meeting was scheduled on May 5, 1981, at Brooklyn's Embassy Terrace. According to FBI agent Joe Pistone, the murderers were Napolitano, John Cersani, Joe Massino, Indelicato's brother-in-law Vitale, Joseph DeSimone, Nicholas Santora, Vito Rizzuto, Louis Giongetti, Santo Giordano, Gerlando Sciasca, and future informant Lino. Benjamin Ruggiero and Cersani were lookouts, and were sent in after to clean up the massacre and dispose of the bodies along with Napolitano, James Episcopia and Robert Capazzio.
That morning, Indelicato ordered the men not attending the meeting to disperse themselves around the city If the meeting went badly, they would be safe from retaliation. Some men stayed in Indelicato's Staten Island territory while others went to Thomas Pitera's home in Brooklyn. Before heading to the meeting, Indelicato told Lino, Giaconne and Trinchera, "If there is shooting, everybody is on their own, try to get out." At the meeting Indelicato, Giaccone, and Trinchera, Massino escorted the three capos into a storeroom in the restaurant. Salvatore Vitale and two Bonanno gunmen from Montreal stepped out of a closet, said it was a "stickup", started shooting. Indelicato, Giaccone, and Trichera were shot to death. The Bonanno mobsters delivered the bodies to a vacant lot in Ozone Park, Queens used by the Gambino family as a graveyard. Several Gambino mobsters then buried the bodies.
After his father's murder, Indelicato's son Anthony went into hiding in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Massino wanted to kill him also, but Anthony had missed the meeting. His father brought Lino instead, who was the sole survivor of the massacre. The Rastelli faction tasked Pistone with finding and killing Anthony, which quickened Pistone's removal from the operation.
Aftermath of shooting
On May 24, 1981, nineteen days after the murders, children playing in the lot were drawn by an odd smell to a section of rough dirt and garbage. Kicking the loosened soil, a boy discovered a hand. The boy ran for his parents who called police. New York City police officer Andrew Cilienti arrived at the lot to find a body wrapped in a dirty bedsheet. Technicians successfully retrieved fingerprints from the body and later identified the victim as Indelicato. Four days later, Alphonse's son-in-law Salvatore Valenti identified the body. Police did not discover the remains of Giaccone and Trinchera until 2004.[1]
After Rastelli's 1991 death in prison, Massino became the official boss of the Bonanno family. However, in 2004, with the help of now government witness Vitale, Massino was convicted of ordering seven murders, including those of Indelicato, Giaccone and Trinchera.
Popular culture
Indelicato was portrayed as "Sonny Red" in the 1997 film Donnie Brasco by Robert Miano. Unlike the film, Pistone was not involved with the Indelicato murder. In addition, Indelicato was ambushed and killed in a restaurant storeroom, not in his home basement.
References
- Pistone, Joseph, Donnie Brasco: My Undercover Life in the Mafia. Random House Value Publishing (February 1990) ISBN 5-552-53129-9
- Crittle, Simon, The Last Godfather: The Rise and Fall of Joey Massino Berkley (March 7, 2006) ISBN 0-425-20939-3
- Pistone, Joseph D.; & Brandt, Charles (2007). Donnie Brasco: Unfinished Business, Running Press. ISBN 0-7624-2707-8.