Philip Abramo
Philip Abramo (born 1945), also known as "The King of Wall Street" and "Lou Metzer", is a caporegime in the New Jersey DeCavalcante crime family who was allegedly involved in security fraud and murder. He was a capo of the DeCavalcante family's crew in Miami, Florida, United States.
Early years
Born in New York, Abramo graduated from Cardinal Hayes High School in the Bronx. One of the few Cosa Nostra mobsters to attend college, he graduated from Pace University with a degree in accounting. In 1971, he was convicted of possessing stolen property. In 1973, he was convicted of conspiracy to distribute heroin and sentenced to seven years in federal prison.
White collar crime
At some point, Abramo joined the DeCavalcante family and eventually became a made man, or full member, of the family. He became involved in extortion, loansharking, and microcap stock fraud schemes. Abramo was the hidden control person behind Sovereign, a prominent microcap stock company and its sister trading firm, Falcon Trading. He also controlled two penny stock firms, Toluca Pacific Securities and Greenway Capital. He allegedly controlled other small-cap stock dealers through brokers and traders owing allegiance to him.[1]
Murder
In addition to white collar crime, Abramo also allegedly committed murder. In 1989, he and other DeCavalcante family members allegedly murdered Frederick Weiss, a recycling executive and former city editor of the Staten Island Advance newspapers. The murder was a favor to Gambino crime family boss John Gotti, who feared that Weiss was cooperating with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on a waste company investigation. In 1992, Abramo allegedly participated in the killing of DeCavalcante boss John D'Amato, suspected of homosexual acts.[2]
As Abramo's status rose in the DeCavalcante family, he frequently served as a liaison between the DeCavalcantes and the five crime families of New York.[1] The FBI identified him as a frequent visitor to Gotti prior to his imprisonment in 1992. Abramo is also the brother-in-law of Alan Longo, a member of the Genovese crime family.
Conviction and prison
In 1994, Abramo was indicted in New Jersey for allegedly swindling 300 people nationwide out of $1 million by selling them fraudulent lines of credit. In October 2000, he was indicted on charges of racketeering, conspiracy to murder, and securities fraud.[3] During his trial, he made the following statement:
I have done many, many things in my life that I am ashamed of, but I have never, ever murdered another human being nor have I ever asked or ordered anyone to murder another human being.
On July 4, 2003, Abramo was convicted of five murders, including those of D'Amato and Weiss, as well as racketeering and loan sharking charges. In 2006, he was sentenced to life in prison. In September 2008, a federal appeals court reversed his racketeering conviction and ordered a new trial.[4] According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons, Abramo was released on January 21, 2018.[5]
References
- ^ a b "The Mob On Wall Street". Bloomberg. December 15, 1996.
- ^ "Mob Boss 'Hit' Over Gay Encounters". www.cbsnews.com. Retrieved 2019-04-18.
- ^ Lehmann, John (2003-05-14). "WALL ST. WISEGUYS – MOB WITNESS TELLS OF BROKERS PACKING HEAT". New York Post. Retrieved 2019-04-18.
- ^ Eligon, John (2008-09-04). "Racketeering Convictions Rejected for 3 in Mob Case". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-04-18.
- ^ "Inmate Locator". www.bop.gov. Retrieved 2019-04-18.
External links
- Testimony Concerning The Involvement of Organized Crime on Wall Street by Richard H. Walker (September 13, 2000)
- Crime Family Dealt a Blow, Police Say by William K. Rashbaum (October 20, 2000)
- United States v. Giovanni Riggi, Philip Abramo, etc.
- United States of America v. Giovanni Riggi, Philip Abramo, etc., United States District Court of Southern District of New York
- DeCavalcante Verdict
- Racketeering Convictions Rejected for 3 in Mob Case By JOHN ELIGON
