Lucchese crime family's Brooklyn faction

The Vario Crew was a group, operating in several areas of New York, in the Lucchese crime family, run by Caporegime Paul Vario. It was known to be vicious and spanned around three decades, operating from the early 1950s through to the early 1980s.

The Vario brothers

Paul Vario, a large and brutal mafioso, had five brothers, all criminals, and they had risen to power under Gaetano "Tommy" Lucchese during the Prohibition era. Vario was liked by Tommy Lucchese and was as such speedily a made man, a fully initiated mobster. During the early 1970s it was believed he either stepped down, or was demoted, from the role of Underboss.

At an unknown time during his career Paul Vario became a Capo and as such began to control his own crew, made of mafia members, and also had a strong set of associates: men who weren't actual initiated mafia members like the made men. Some of those associates became famous like Henry Hill and Jimmy Burke, who have been iconized in the film Goodfellas.

Headquarters

In 1957, Paul Vario's crew operated out of the Euclid Taxi Cab Company in Brownsville, Brooklyn and the Bargain Auto Junkyard in Starrett City, Brooklyn, before moving to Jimmy Burke's saloon, Robert's Lounge in South Ozone Park, Queens, the The Kew Motor Inn located in Kew Gardens Hills, Queens, and Henry Hill's night club The Suit in Forest Hills, New York.

Day-to-day running

According to a 1960's Joint New York State Legislative Committee on Crime study, at least 99.5% of hijacking arrests resulted either in charges being dismissed or in the defendants receiving small fines or probation. During one year covered by the report the committee traced 6,400 arrests for criminal possession of stolen property and found there were only 904 indictments, 225 convictions, and as few as thirty state prison commitments. A committee case study of eight defendants arrested at the time for the possession of more than $100,000 worth of stolen women's clothing noted that each defendant was fined $2,500 and placed on probation by New York Supreme Court Judge Albert H. Bosch. The men were all habituates of Robert's Lounge. But even then, and despite the fact that probation officers recommended that hearings for violation of probation be initiated, Judge Bosch continued the men on probation. Bosch later stated that he could not make a final decision concerning the violation of probation until the guilt or innocence of the defendants had been proven. There were several illegal operations which supplied this violent crew with vast sums of money and made them some of the most feared people in New York.

A brutal Irish hoodlum, named Jimmy Burke, was a hijacker of cargo shipments from JFK Airport. His services shared between the Lucchese family and Columbo family, Burke's group of hijackers would pay off a truck driver, usually giving them $50, and steal their trucks. The goods would be unloaded at a warehouse of a union controlled by the Varios where they would be dispatched to street fences, who would in turn sell them. Burke would take some of the proceeds and give a percentage to Vario. Sometimes the loads produced as little as $10,000, other times they netted as much as $100,000.

John Dioguardi, a Capo was an associate of Paul Vario and controlled various unions. Vario had several uses for such unions: If a crew-member was in prison and needed parole then a job would be given to him to show the parole office that he was responsible and had a job, then once he was on parole he would collect his weekly payment but never actually work on the job. Also, if a truck driver had been found accepting bribes from one of Vario's crew and the company was going to take action then Dioguardi could threaten a strike if the corrupt truck driver was harmed.

Once Paul Vario and Jimmy Burke were sent to prison in 1972, the Vario crew fell apart in the minds of former associate Henry Hill and the FBI. By 1972 the Vario Crew was nothing but a shadow of itself, but the mafia likewise wasn't what it had been. Over the years, Paul Vario had eliminated any Italians who had passed a threat to him, much as Burke and Hill had in their own spheres of influence. Now Vario too was also having to cope with a severe shortage of talent. His bookmaking and hijacking operations which were the cornerstone of his personal criminal enterprise were falling apart. He would later give a majority of his bookmaking operation to his Russian low level mob associate Martin Krugman. Henry Hill, in his book Gangsters and Goodfellas would later bemoan his crew's dire situation, specifically the death or long term incarceration of "intelligent tough guys." The despair of the crew is shown in 1978 when they worked with Louis Cafora and Angelo Sepe, two suspects who would later help Burke pull of the 1978 Lufthansa heist.

Vario also ran several loansharking and bookmaking operations from his legal businesses and profited greatly. He also involved himself in extorting local businesses and controlled some chop shops.

Organization and control

To avoid constant confrontations with the police and police interest reducing his wealth Paul Vario began bribing almost any official possible. Between him and Jimmy Burke, it is alleged he had the Queens District Attorney on the payroll, many police officers, Senator Alphonse D'Amato and several prominent Long Island politicians.

Paul received money from every member of his crew and forced all local criminals to "kick up" money from their illegal interests to him. Vario would then take a cut and pass on the rest to the Bosses. Considering his relaxed lifestyle he made around $25,000 a day.

Henry Hill's drug organization (1975-1982)

Officially the Mafia denounced dealing in drugs. However, most bosses dabbled in drugs because the profits were extremely high. Two Vario Crew members, young mobster Henry Hill and Jimmy Burke, began dealing in heroin, cocaine, marijuana and amphetamines ultimately leading to the downfall of the crew.

He also ran his criminal enterprise with William Arico, Henry's wife, Karen Hill, local Boston, Massachusetts bookmakers Anthony and Rocco Perla, Robin Cooperman, a clerical worker at an air freight company who doubled as Henry's mistress, Judith Wicks, a courier who never made a delivery without a special pink-and-blue hat. There was also Melvin Telsey, Steven Fish, Anthony Asta, Robert Albert, Robert Breener, Marvin Koch and individuals referred to as Colombian "Mono the Monkey", "Bob", "Linda", "Ann", "Mac" and "Kareem" whose last names remain unknown as well as many others whose identity remains unknown.

Hill had begun making quite a lot of money, but in early 1979 Burke introduced him to heroin.

Heroin was an enormously profitable market for mobsters. In the late 1970s 1 ounce of pure heroin cost $6,000. After it had been mixed with some impurities 25 ounces of the heroin used by addicts could be made, meaning that ultimately $6,000 worth could be sold for $150,000.

When Robert "Bobby" Germaine Jr., the son of Henry Hill's drug partner, became an informant Henry Hill was monitored and eventually arrested. He faced several life-sentences for drug dealing and around 28 years for his role in the Lufthansa Heist. Hill became an informant and in 1980 the authorities apprehended Jimmy Burke and several other Vario crew members, including Vario himself.

Henry Hill's testimony lead to 50 convictions. Burke was given 20 years for match-fixing and a life sentence when the authorities convicted him for murdering scam-artist Richard Eaton. Burke died of stomach cancer whilst serving his life sentence, on April 13, 1996. He was 64.

Paul Vario was given a 12 and a half year sentence during the KENRAC trial and died, aged 73, on November 22, 1988, while in a Texas prison, of a respiratory condition.

Some Robert's Lounge crew members

Almost every crew member is either deceased, missing or imprisoned at present.

• Paul Vario in the early 1980s
  Paul Vario in the early 1980s
• Jimmy Burke in 1979
  Jimmy Burke in 1979
• 
  Henry Hill in 1980
• Tommy DeSimone in 1978
  Tommy DeSimone in 1978

References

• Nicholas Pillegi, Wiseguy
• Gus Russo and Henry Hill, Gangsters and GoodFellas
• Greg and Gina Hill, On the Run: A Mafia Childhood