See the article in its original context from. Al would repeat the Mafia mantra around Mafia social clubs, to the amusement of capos like Castellano and Neil Dellacroce. It was a role he was made for, and one that he executed (pardon my pun) with precision and unwavering dedication. For years, he listed employment as a salesman for the Royal Crown Bottling Co., of Newark, New Jersey and Hoffman Soda Bottling and Beverage Co., of College Point, Queens – two very popular soda brands in the greater New York metropolitan area during that era. It eventually was resolved with Rava's disappearance in 1958 and Dellacroce's subsequent elevation to the position of underboss. O’Neil was approximately 5-feet 10-inches tall and was solidly built at 190 pounds. Jun 17, 2018 - Image result for neil dellacroce daughter pictures In 1971, Mr. Dellacroce was sentenced to a year in prison for refusing to answer, despite being granted immunity from prosecution, questions of a New York State grand jury investigating organized crime. About  / Contact / Privacy Policy / Copyright Notice. In the 1960's the State Investigation Commission found Mr. Dellacroce inexplicably on the payroll of a Newark bottling company. In the late 1970s, Dellacroce got pulled into another major law enforcement investigation that was probing the July 7, 1974 murder of a Yonkers bookmaker-loanshark and Gambino associate named Charles (Charlie Bear) Calise, who was shot five times in the head and found in the trunk of his car in a Yonkers shopping center. Aniello (O’Neill) Dellacroce – aka “O’Neil”, “Mr. A brief biography of Carlo Gambino and Paul Costellano underboss Neil Dellacroce who was also mentor to John Gotti. Dellacroce and several others were eventually also charged with criminal contempt of court for refusing to testify before an empaneled grand jury investigating that restaurant meeting. Equally important was the fact that Neil was keeping the peace between everyone. It was there that he was arrested by Internal Revenue Service agents in 1984 on charges of evading an unspecified sum of taxes. Robert Morgantheu charged the men with stalling the probe by refusing to answer questions. He had pleaded guilty in 1985 to racketeering, having been indicted in the same case as his father, but failed to appear for sentencing on March 31, 1986, opting to go “on the lam” instead. Side Note: In time, Gotti would become one of Neil’s closest aides and minions, being groomed for greater things in the mob after Neil took a liking to Gotti and took the young, aspiring hoodlum under his wing. Dellacroce was accused of overseeing and directing the group. Aniello John "Neil" Dellacroce (March 15, 1914 – December 2, 1985), also known as "Mr. Neil," "Father O'Neil" and "The Tall Guy", was an Italian-American gangster and underboss of the Gambino crime family.wikipedia It was a merciful fall from grace for Biondo considering the alternative. Mob legend has it on good authority that a few short months later in August of 1979, John Gotti and Angelo Ruggiero were quickly dispatched on a jet flying out of JFK Airport in Queens down to Miami, Florida to spend an extended weekend, flying right back several days later. She worked many a night into the wee hours very long and hard on this one, and only launched it at like 3am this morning. The succession dispute likely was on the agenda at the ill-fated Apalachin convention in November 1957. The FBI once described Dellacroce as a notorious, very tough racketeer who had a “proclivity toward violence” and was “the heir apparent” to Carlo Gambino himself. Dellacroce was a mentor to Gambino crime family boss John Gotti. The indictments identified Mr. Dellacroce as the second-in-command to Paul Castellano, the reputed head of the crime organization named for the late Mafia ''boss of bosses'' Carlo Gambino, who died in 1976. In May 1979, after an intense murder probe a few years later, both Plate and Dellacroce were charged with a wide-ranging anti-racketeering case with many varied criminal counts, of which one overt act was the Calise homicide…it became a major headache and concern for the volatile underboss. To preserve these articles as they originally appeared, The Times does not alter, edit or update them. That’s gotta be a record. Side Note: In the Italian language his first and surname literally means “little lamb of the cross” – Aniello (lamb) – Della (of the) – Croce (cross)… hence Aniello Dellacroce. His death on December 2, 1985 changed all that. After this income-tax evasion conviction, while standing before the federal judge for sentencing in 1973, the jurist called Dellacroce “a top-level hoodlum, a danger to society, a menace to the community, and a parasite who lives off the lifeblood of honest people!”…he then sentenced O’Neil to the maximum 5-year jail term. This is a digitized version of an article from The Times’s print archive, before the start of online publication in 1996. With Neil Dellacroce's death on December 2, 1985, the final constraint on a move by Gotti or Castellano against the other was removed. (died before prosecution). Dellacroce was said to have served as a top Family enforcer and was suspected of many homicides in his career, including that of a top 1950s overly ambitious Anastasia capo Armand (Tommy) Rava, Little Italy hoodlum brothers Frank and Carmine Consalvo, a Yonkers-based shylock named Charles (Charlie Bear) Calise, Florida-based Gambino soldier Anthony (Tony Plate) Plata, and maverick Bonanno boss Carmine (Lilo) Galante, to name but a few. Gotti knew he had to make a quick move. Due to his square-shaped face, some Gam­bino mem­bers nick­named him "the Po­lack", a nick­name never used within his earshot. And then a few months later in March of 1985, he faced his most serious indictment to date. The jury deliberated for three days before returning a verdict of “not guilty”. Left to right: Neil Dellacroce, Michael Caiazza, Anthony DeLutro, and Frankie Dap under surveillance. Neil dellacroce supposedly ordered the hit. He left Calise in charge of his Bronx rackets, receiving his share monthly. (Dellacroce's affection for Rava possibly influenced the naming of his son Armond, born in 1955.) Basically, he provided them a “sweetheart contract” that favored management instead of the employees. Please enter your username or email address to reset your password. Although Mr. Dellacroce usually listed his address as 232 Mulberry Street in the Little Italy section of Manhattan, Federal officials said he actually lived at 597 West Fingerboard Road, Grasmere, S.I. In honor of the all-important celebration of Easter for the Roman Catholic people, his parents picked such a gentle, biblical name to give their son…But his name would become a strange, cruel twist of fate that O’Neil should by chance grow up to be one of the deadliest, and reportedly cruelest, mafioso to ever live and operate in America. In May 1979 Neil and Plate were indicted for the murder. He was 71 years old and had long been under treatment for cancer. Side Note: Although a staunch supporter of Albert Anastasia, O’Neil was also a pragmatist and understood the machinations of mafia life and mafia protocol. The highly-decorated NYCPD detective and resident organized crime expert Ralph Salerno once said he had met dozens and dozens of Mafia figures in his lifetime, but that there were only two mafiosi who actually shook him to the core, unnerving him, – Aniello Dellacroce and Carmine Galante. His co-defendants were Gambino soldier “Skinny Mike” Catalano, and mob associate Marty Goldman, who had each been previously sentenced to 1-year imprisonment for extortion and were already away serving their jail terms at the time of Dellacroce’s day for sentencing. MARCH 2--For the last week, the New York tabloids have been preoccupied with the question of whether the late gangster John Gotti fathered an out-of-wedlock daughter with a … It reflected at least 12 arrests on such charges as: 1930 – store burglary (sentenced to 2.5 years at Elmira Reformatory), 1956 – vagrancy, consorting with known criminals, and a Sullivan law violation, 1972 – income tax evasion (5 years in federal prison for not reporting $100,000 in a company stock he received in 1968), 1979 – * Rico conspiracy (racketeering, murder of Charles Calise, extortion, shylocking, obstruction of justice), 1985 – *RICO conspiracy, various racketeering charges including murder, gambling, usury, extortion, hijacking, fraud (died before coming to trial), 1985 – *RICO conspiracy and racketeering, obstruction of justice, Galante murder conspiracy, etc. Del­lacroce was born in New York City to Francesco and An­toinette Del­lacroce, first gen­er­a­tion im­mi­grants from Italy. Dellacroce certainly got his fair share of bad press over the years He operated one of the largest and most important regimes in the their borgata – the “Mulberry Street Crew”. Dellacroce also had a decades-long, much younger “comare” that he lived with in Staten Island and considered his second wife. Both followed Neil into the mob. Aniello Dellacroce was born on March 15, 1914, and raised at 232 Mulberry Street in Manhattan’s Little Italy section at a time when its Little Italy was truly Little Italy, and the mafia ruled that neighborhood with an iron hand. It was a neighborhood he would reside and operate in his entire life. Did you ever see ‘Children of the Dammed?’ His eyes were so blue that they weren’t even there. It was also there that law-enforcement agents in 1980 planted a bug that they say recorded discussions about the murder of Carmine Galante, another Mafia leader, who was slain in 1979. From this point forward, and all through the 1950s and 1960s era, O’Neil steadily rose in stature and power, until he commanded a small army of soldiers and associates and became one of the most capable and powerful of the Family’s recognized leaders. TimesMachine is an exclusive benefit for home delivery and digital subscribers. Originally operating out of the Bronx and Yonkers areas, years earlier, Plate had migrated down to the Sunshine State where he quickly established himself as an important loanshark and gambler, flying the Gambino flag. Dellacroce, the 31-year-old son of Aniello Dellacroce, the late underboss of the reputed Gambino crime family, pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy charges in … Also in December of 1985, he was accused of being one of 11 reputed members of “The Commission” – the regulatory body of Cosa Nostra in the United States. Dellacroce … Father O’Neil Dellacroce Neil Dellacroce, an old time Murder Inc. hitman, made his bones with Anastasia in the wild days of prohibition. Thomas Bilotti was a New York mobster with the Gambino crime family who served as underboss for just two weeks. There are some really interesting stories about how he set up shop in the Diplomat Hotel. He was buried in Saint John's Cemetery, Queens. Roy's boy was apparently a chip off the old block. Mr. Dellacroce was married to the former Lucille Riccardi. On December 2, 1985, Dellacroce died of cancer, aged 71, at Mary Immaculate Hospital (now closed) in Queens. Dellacroce was suffering from cancer and heart disease. Came up under Lenny D i think. In addition, Mr. Dellacroce, his 27-year-old son, Armand, and eight other defendants were indicted in Brooklyn in March on separate Federal … They were accused of conducting an 18-year-long racket enterprise operating two crews from Manhattan and Brooklyn that encompassed gambling, truck hijacking, shylocking, extortion and murder. Early on, before being elevated to underboss, his personal regime over the years boasted such men as: • and brothers Carmine and Frank Consalvo, among many others. The cause of death was “alcoholic cirrhosis”. Side Note: Two weeks after his death, his top protege, capo John Gotti would assassinate Family boss Paul Castellano and seize power, being named “boss” of the Gambinos. Copyright © 2021, The New York Mafia – A division of Button Guys Media Group. Not much was known about his early years, but by 1951, after the disappearance and presumed murder of boss Vincent Mangano, this borgata would be taken over and headed by the notorious underboss Albert (The Executioner) Anastasia, who quickly elevated Dellacroce to “capo di decina” of the Mulberry Street crew. He never mentioned the name of the girl or her mother. According to Federal prosecutors, Mr. Dellacroce ran the Manhattan operations of the powerful Gambino group and had an uneasy relationship with Mr. Castellano, who blocked his rise to the head of the organization. Armond Dellacroce, the son of a former top Mafia figure, died of a cerebral hemorrhage Monday in the Pocono Mountains area of Pennsylvania, where he … Occasionally the digitization process introduces transcription errors or other problems; we are continuing to work to improve these archived versions. Neil had very light blue eyes. In later years, it included younger generation mobsters such as his nephews Salvatore and Angelo (Quack Quack) Ruggiero, John and Eugene Gotti, the Carneglia brothers – Johnny and Charlie, and their followers from the East New York regime formerly headed by old-line capo Carmine (Charlie Wagon Wheels) Fatico and his brother, soldier Donato (Danny Wags) Fatico. Neil Dellacroce would serve unfailingly in that role for nearly 30 years. This local had a relatively small union membership of less than 1,500 dues-paying members. His nick­name was "Neil", an Amer­i­can­iza­tion of "Aniello". Dellacroce’s criminal record started as a juvenile when he was just 16 years old. Mr. Castellano, along with Mr. Dellacroce and seven other men, were also charged with operating a commission said to govern the five crime families in New York City. At the time of his death, he was facing Federal charges of racketeering, evading taxes and participating in a ruling ''commission'' of organized crime. *Dellacroce had been charged on three separate occasions with RICO charges. As a young hood in the late-1930s, he had come to the attention of mafiosi in the old Mangano Family based in Brooklyn – the first “Mustache Petes” who came over from Sicily. He also had a brother named Carmine. Grillo's wife Rosemary had a long term affair with Neil Dellacroce which resulted in 2 or 3 children. Rudolph W. Giuliani, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said that he had been aware of Mr. Dellacroce's ill health for some time and that he had combined the tax-evasion and ''commission'' indictments, which were returned in February, for one proceeding in the event that Mr. Dellacroce would be able to stand trial. The “little lamb of the cross” he was not! IMG_0657, Clamming up before the grand jury, O’Neil gets slammed with contemptIMG_0655, 1969 - already being carried by the FBI as the new bossIMG_0649. He was fair-skinned with medium-brown hair that turned nearly all white by his early 50s. It was a message from the mafia to future “Rats” to shut the fuck up! They were indicted on various conspiracy and racketeering charges for settling disputes and controlling organized crime in America… but Neil would never serve a single day in prison on any of the 3 cases that were brought against him, back-to-back within 13 months of each other. Hence, this is how he acquired his other nickname of “The Pollack” because he didn’t have a typical Italian or Mediterranean look to him. He was one of 10 Gambino Family members charged with federal RICO conspiracy and related counts. He died at the age of 71 at Mary Immaculate Hospital, in Queens in the month of December in 1985. In 1966, Mr. Dellacroce was arrested in a police raid of the La Stella restaurant in Queens, where, the Joint Legislative Committee on Crime later charged, he and other Mafia leaders were plotting to depose Mr. Gambino. Mr. Castellano, brother-in-law of Mr. Gambino, is on trial with other defendants in Federal District Court in Manhattan on charges of car theft and murder-conspiracy. Always the loyal family man, Dellacroce pledged his loyalty to Castellano. ANIELLO DELLACROCE DIES AG 71; REPUTED CRIME-GROUP FIGURE. You looked at Dellacroce’s eyes and you could see how frightening they were, the frigid, cool glare of a stone killer.”, Joseph Coffey, a former top New York City mob investigator himself stated that “Dellacroce was one of the scariest individuals I’ve ever met in my life, and I’ve met them all. Aniello Dellacroce, who was recently charged as the underboss of the Gambino Mafia ''family,'' died Monday night at Mary Immaculate Hospital in Queens. Sammy Gravano - Wikipedia He would later portray Gambino family underboss Aniello Dellacroce in the 1996 HBO film Gotti as … According to people who met him, he had an ice-cold stare that unnerved all who met him. O’Neil”, “Neil Dellacroce”, “Father O’Neill”, “Timothy O’Neil”, “The Pollack”, “The Tall Guy”. Neil was also charged with “criminal consorting with known hoodlums” (each other) and illegal possession of a homemade 12” sap (blackjack). But the late Mafia boss left no doubt he was referring to a daughter he had with Shannon Connelly, the daughter of his mob mentor, longtime family underboss Aniello (Neil) Dellacroce, who died in 1985. Dellacroce was gravely ill and his arrest, indictment, and eventual arraignment by FBI agents, prosecutors and the judge beside his hospital bed was but a formality and “half a charade” for the public – and a media spectacle at that. In November 1984, he was indicted on income tax evasion charges. His lawyer, Barry Slotnick, had entered pleas of not guilty. In 1972, Dellacroce was indicted for not reporting 22,500 shares of stock in a Long Island company named Yankee Plastics that he extorted for his help in maintaining the “labor peace” of their workforce with a Teamsters Union local. The long-time secretary/treasurer was Anthony M. Zappi who was Ettore’s son. He controlled the “street” for Carlo with an iron fist, and all the “capos”, as well as the rank and file soldiers, held him in a reverence and high esteem reserved for few. His co-defendants included then capo John Gotti, Angelo Ruggiero, and several of their close associates. O’Neil had a deadly reputation and was considered a no-nonsense underboss and taskmaster over all who dealt with him, both within and outside the Family. It did not take O’Neil long to figure out that his chances at beating the case would be greatly improved if he was tried alone, especially since Plate was the pivotal link and common denominator between Calise and Dellacroce in the case. He was said to have a menacing stare. The methods and technology she used took longer than either one of us expected. Gotti was speaking Dellacroce’s language and knowing Neil to be a stickler for Cosa Nostra rules, he appeased him. Dellacroce’s eyes were like he didn’t have any eyes. Side Note: The medical examiner said Calise had been shot in both eyes, each ear, and directly in the mouth…a clear mafia sign that he heard too much, saw too much, and certainly talked too much! Headache solved!…it’s nice to have good “friends of ours” sometimes. Aniello (O'Neill) Dellacroce - The Little Lamb of the Cross There came a time when Plate no longer trusted Calise, fearing he had possibly turned “rat”. He rose to the position of underboss when Carlo Gambino moved Joseph Biondo aside. Since the 1960's, Mr. Dellacroce was said to operate out of the Ravenite Social Club at 247 Mulberry Street. The principal officer of Hoffman was Martin Goldman of Roslyn, described by authorities as a mob associate and convicted swindler who once “busted out” Progressive Drug Co., of $580,000 in a complex bankruptcy fraud scheme, and in concert with O’Neill and soldier Mike Catalano, also shook down a platinum dealer for $100,000. Coincidentally, Tony Plate and a longtime friend disappeared while running an errand in the friend’s car about that same date and were never seen again…ever! When offered an “olive branch” by Gambino, Dellacroce was smart and astute enough to accept the position graciously…and all indications are that whatever his previous loyalties or personal feelings may have been, O’Neil served Carlo very, very loyally through the years. Most of those listed above were hoods from the Mulberry Street area, and fully “inducted” mafia soldiers. His death inadvertently paved the way for the most unstable period the Gambino Family ever experienced. Lisa worked very hard creating a comprehensive and very worthwhile video of my biography on Aniello (O'Neil) Dellacroce. Dellacroce was an extremely loyal, honorable, and traditional La Cosa Nostra mobster; he believed in following the La Cosa Nostra traditions of respect, honor, loyalty, integrity, dignity, and in being fiercely l… Officials said Mr. Dellacroce, nicknamed Neil, had entered the hospital about two weeks ago under the alias Timothy O'Neil. ''This will have no material impact on the rest of the case,'' said Raymond J. Dearie, the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said of Mr. Dellacroce's death. By the early-1970s, he had also purchased a private home at 597 W. Fingerboard Road on Staten Island that he alternated back and forth from to his Little Italy apartment. All Rights Reserved. He was arrested in 1956 along with two of his men, DiPaola and Orio, after police trailed Neil to the Ravenite Club and nabbed the three of them as they exited the club on vagrancy charges despite the fact that Neil had $2,115 in his pocket at the time he was picked up. Aniello John "Mr. Neil" Dellacroce (March 15, 1914 – December 2, 1985), also known as "Father O'Neil" and "The Tall Guy", was an Italian-American gangster and underboss of the Gambino crime family.He rose to the position of underboss when Carlo Gambino moved Joseph Biondo aside. Mr. Dellacroce had previously served time in prison for tax-evasion and contempt of court. They represented three of the five New York Families; Gambino, Genovese, and Colombo; the New Orleans Family of Louisiana; and the Tampa Family of Florida…It was a major law enforcement coup. In addition, Mr. Dellacroce, his 27-year-old son, Armand, and eight other defendants were indicted in Brooklyn in March on separate Federal racketeering charges involving homicides, loan-sharking, gambling and hijackings. As for the Grillo affair, Dellacroce – who was not Sandy Grillo’s biological father – nevertheless strongly disapproved of her relationship with Gotti, the source said. Jun 22, 2016 - Neil Dellacroce, Mike Caiazzo, Charles Delutro, Frank Dapolito. Aniello John Neil Dellacroce, was an American mobster and underboss of the Gambino crime family. Del­lacroce had one brother, Carmine, and mar­ried Lu­cille Ricc… Father O’Neil Dellacroce Neil Dellacroce, an old time Murder Inc. hitman, made his bones with Anastasia in the wild days of prohibition. Federal prosecutors lost the Calise murder trial against Aniello Dellacroce shortly thereafter. Mr. Slotnick's office said there would be no public funeral service. Dellacroce was a 5ft 10 inch tall, broad-shouldered man who was usually seen with Carlo Gambino, and associated with other prominent mob figures like Tommy Lucchese and Albert Anastasia. He soon became affiliated with them and was eventually formally inducted as a swore “soldier” in the early 1940s. He got married young to Lucille (nee Riccardi) and raised a son by the name of Armand. Among his co-defendants were such Mafia luminaries as the bosses of five separate borgatas – Carlo Gambino, Joseph Colombo, Thomas Eboli, Carlos Marcello and Santo Trafficante Jr…Underbosses – Joseph Marcello Jr., and Frank Gagliano… Consiglieri – Joseph N. Gallo and Michele Miranda… and Capos and key Soldiers – Dominick Alongi and Anthony Carillo. In 1974 he murdered Charles "Charlie Bear" Calise after dispute from loansharking and because they thought he was an informer. Dubbed “The Little Apalachin Meeting”, they were charged with criminal conspiracy and consorting with known criminals. Over the next five years Gotti’s showboat style of operating, his lack of restraint and poor leadership skills would quickly corrode the borgata from within. Dellacroce had been given the spot previously held by Gambino’s longtime underboss, the iconic Joseph (Joe Bandy) Biondo, after Biondo became an outcast and was “broken” by Gambino and “shelved” rather than killed, which had been a distinct possibility. Side Note: Indeed, Calise was, in fact, a cooperating federal informant. He headquartered for decades out of the Ravenite Social Club located at 242 Mulberry Street and became the most important Gambino member in Little Italy and one of the most important mafiosi in the entire neighborhood of the Five Families. Calise was found shot to death shortly thereafter. After flying up to NYC to conference with his direct superior O’Neil, the decision was made to eliminate their Yonkers “problem”. He grew up in the Lit­tle Italy sec­tion of Man­hat­tan. Each time, one of the overt charged offenses was homicide. The leaders of the other four New York Families greatly respected him as well.There are underbosses, and then there are “underbosses” in the Mafia… THIS was an underboss! Manhattan D.A. Calise was an active subordinate of a Family soldier named Anthony Plata, better known as “Tony Plate” or “TP”. Del­lacroce was a tall, broad-shoul­dered man who was usu­ally chomp­ing on a cigar. With Anastasia’s very public and infamous execution in the barber’s chair at the Park Sheraton Hotel in 1957, O’Neil was elevated to serve as new boss Carlo Gambino’s trusted underboss. Side Note: In a sad postscript, Neil’s son Armand died at the age of 32 of a cerebral hemorrhage after he was found dead in the Pocono Mountains in Pennsylvania where he had been living as a fugitive from justice for two years. Dellacroce was a mentor to Gambino boss John Gotti. In 1966, he was one of 13 top mafiosi across the eastern seaboard that were arrested after the NYC Police Intelligence Squad raided a top-level “Commission Meeting” held at the famous La Stella Restaurant on Queens Boulevard in Forest Hills, Queens. In 1973, he was sentenced to five years in prison and fined $15,000 upon his conviction for evading taxes on $123,000 in stock that he had received for arranging labor peace for a Long Island maker of plastic coat hangers. According to Federal and state law enforcement records, Mr. Dellacroce was born in New York on March 15, 1914, to Francesco and Antoinette Dellacroce. Ernest Grillo Jr. is the son of Gambino crime family mob associate and DeMeo crew associate, Danny Grillo." Neil, real name Aniello John Dellacroce, was an underboss of the infamous Gambino family. It was like looking right through him.”. Connelly, 49, revealed how she first met Gotti through “my stepfather” – the late Gambino underboss Aniello Dellacroce, who was a mentor to the future Mafia don. In March 1980, he was one of eight Gambino and Bonanno mobsters indicted for contempt of a grand jury probing the “execution-style” murder of mob czar Carmine Galante. He had a brother, Carmine, who died in 1969. Dellacroce was held on $5,000 bail. He stated that “They had bad eyes, I mean they had the eyes of killers.
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