Thomas Gambino

Thomas Gambino (b. 1929) aka. "Tommy" is a New York mobster and a longtime Caporegime of the Gambino crime family. He is the son of founder Carlo Gambino, the nephew of Paul Castellano and the son-in-law to Thomas Lucchese.

Early life & inducted

Thomas Gambino was born in 1929 and is the first-born son to Catherine and Carlo Gambino. His father was a known member of the Mangano crime family during the 1930s, holding the rank of Caporegime, later Underboss, and from 1957 to 1976, Carlo Gambino was the recognized Boss of the modern Gambino crime family. Thomas Gambino was reportedly inducted during the early 1950s, under the regime of Vincenzo "Vincent" Mangano. More in the financial side of the Mangano family, Gambino has finished college, as his official job is in finance, but was promoted to Caporegime of the Mangano crime family after his father Carlo "Don Carlo" Gambino took the reigns in the late 1950s.

Married with the Mob

In 1962, Thomas Gambino married the daughter of Gaetano "Tommy Brown" Lucchese, the head of the rival Lucchese crime family, which was openly recieved, as his father Carlo used this occasion to easer the relationship between the families. It was now two families who became close as friends and partners in years to come.

Death of Carlo Gambino

On October 15, 1976, Carlo Gambino died of natural causes, as he had been heading the crime family for almost 20 years. After his death, there were three people who were next in line, or were considered true followers of Gambino; His Underboss Aniello "Mr. Neil" Dellacroce, his brother-in-law Paul "Big Paul" Castellano and his son and Caporegime Thomas Gambino. It came clear that Castellano had been chosen by Gambino himself during his final days, which angered most of the followers ro Dellacroce, who saw him as a future Boss. Thomas Gambino would then become one of his uncle's closest, mainly as a financial advisor and underling with involvement in illegal gambling, loansharking and labor racketeering.

Garment trucking industry

After Paul Castellano became Boss of the Gambino crime family in 1976, Gambino was starting to influence trucking companies, as he bought stocks and legal shares in three different companies, eventually to become in full control over all three of them during the mid 1980s, as well as developing huge influence in the Queens and Manhattan areas with his legal industries. In the mid 1980s, Castellano secured Gambino in construction and labor racketeering with newly capos Salvatore "Sammy the Bull" Gravano and Louis DiBono. This assured a huge well financied economy to all three caporegimes, as well as to Castellano and the rest of the Gambino crime family. [1]

Death of Paul Castellano

In early 1986, Castellano and Dellacroce, as well as nine other top members of the Five Families were indicted in the infamous Mafia Commission Trial by Rudy Guiliani. The charges were RICO predicates such as construction and labor racketeering, extortion, loansharking, illegal gambling, conspiracy, narcotics and murder, but neither Paul Castellano or Aniello Dellacroce were ever to hear their sentence be brought, as Dellacroce died in late November of that same year, and with the selection of Castellano's driver Thomas "Tommy" Bilotti as the new Underboss, the Dellacroce loyalists had enough, as John Gotti and Frank DeCicco organized the shooting of Paul Castellano on December 16, 1986. Castellano and Bilotti died right at the spot, allegedly with Thomas Gambino waiting right inside the restaurant with DeCicco for meeting DeCicco had summoned.

Indictment with Gotti

With Castellano out of the way, Caporegime John Gotti stepped up as Boss of the Gambino crime family shortly after Castellano's murder, with Frank DeCicco as Underboss and Gambino's longtime partner Salvatore "Sammy the Bull" Gravano as Consigliere. Although his heydays were paying the bills, Gotti, Gravano, Frank "Frankie Loc" LoCascio and Gambino would be arrested and prosecuted in 1991 for racketeering, loansharking, extortion, illegal gambling and 11murder charges. Gravano eventually turned state's evidence, as he testifyed aganst both Gotti and LoCascio in 1992, handing them life imprisonment, but for some reason the charges against Gambino didn't held as much as the US government wanted, as he was released on bail, but sentenced to five years for loansharking, as well as pleading guilty to two counts of racketeering in the Garment District from the 1980s, receiving a $12-million-dollar fine during the year of 1991 and 1992.

Current Caporegime

But as of December, 2007, Thomas Gambino, at age 78, is still a reputed Caporegime of the Gambino crime family, as well as a recognized millionaire living in the Manhattan wing, as well as operating with alleged loansharking and illegal gambling operations in New Jersey, Queens, New York and Brooklyn, New York. Gambino is also to have been recognized as one of the top members in the Gambino crime family, although, according to Jerry Capeci as well as US law enforcement, Thomas Gambino has never been recognized as a tough-guy, as he has never been charged with a violent crime in his entire life. [2]

External links

• New York Times: Verdict Is Termed a Blow to The Mafia by Ralph Blumenthal
• http://ganglandnews.com/column164.htm
• http://ganglandnews.com/column24.htm
• http://www.mafianj.com/sci89/gambinogottinjops.shtml
• http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0CEED9113DF931A25756C0A965958260
• http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb4298/is_198911/ai_n14997496
• http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CEFDA133FF931A35751C1A964958260