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Vincent Gigante

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Vincent Louis Gigante (/dʒɪˈɡænti/ jig-AN-tee, Italian: [dʒiˈɡante]; March 29, 1928 – December 19, 2005), also known as "Chin", was an American mobster who was boss of the Genovese crime family in New York City from 1981 to 2005. Gigante started out as a professional boxer who fought in 25 matches between 1944 and 1947. He then started working as a Mafia enforcer for what was then the Luciano crime family, forerunner of the Genovese family. Gigante was one of five brothers. Three of them, Mario, Pasquale, and Ralph, followed him into the Mafia. Only one brother, Louis, stayed out of the crime family, instead becoming a Catholic priest.[1] Gigante was the shooter in the failed assassination of longtime Luciano boss Frank Costello in 1957. In 1959, he was sentenced to seven years in prison for drug trafficking, and after sharing a prison cell with Costello's rival, Vito Genovese, Gigante became a caporegime overseeing his own crew of Genovese soldiers and associates based in Greenwich Village.

Vincent Gigante
Gigante in 1957
Born
Vincent Louis Gigante

(1928-03-29)March 29, 1928
New York City, U.S.
DiedDecember 19, 2005(2005-12-19) (aged 77)
Springfield, Missouri, U.S.
Other names"Chin", "The Oddfather", "The Enigma in the Bathrobe", "The Robe", "The Real Boss of New York" and Vinny Gigante
OccupationCrime boss
PredecessorPhilip Lombardo
SuccessorLiborio Bellomo
Spouse
Olympia Grippa
​
(m. 1950)​
Children8
Parent(s)Salvatore Gigante
Yolonda Gigante
RelativesMario, Louis, Pasquale and Ralph Gigante (brothers)
AllegianceGenovese crime family
Conviction(s)
Criminal penalty
  • Seven years' imprisonment
  • 12 years' imprisonment and fined $1.25 million
  • Three years' imprisonment
Partner(s)Olympia Esposito
Boxing career
Other names"Chin" (not "The Chin") Gigante
Statistics
Weight(s)Light heavyweight
Boxing record
Total fights25
Wins21
Wins by KO1
Losses4

Gigante quickly rose to power during the 1960s and 1970s. In 1981 he became the family's boss, while Anthony "Fat Tony" Salerno served as front boss during the first half of the 1980s. He also ordered the failed murder attempt of Gambino crime family boss John Gotti in 1986. With the arrest and conviction of Gotti and various Gambino family members in 1992, Gigante was recognized as the most powerful crime boss in the United States. For about 30 years, Gigante feigned insanity in an effort to throw law enforcement off his trail.

Dubbed "The Oddfather" and "The Enigma in the Bathrobe" by the media, Gigante often wandered the streets of Greenwich Village in his bathrobe and slippers, mumbling incoherently to himself. He was indicted on federal racketeering charges in 1990, but was determined to be mentally unfit to stand trial. In 1997, he was tried and convicted of racketeering and conspiracy, and sentenced to 12 years in prison. Facing obstruction of justice charges in 2003, he pleaded guilty and admitted that his supposed insanity was an elaborate effort to avoid prosecution, as he was sentenced to an additional three years in prison. He died in the United States Medical Center for Federal Prisoners on December 19, 2005.

Early life and boxing career

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Gigante was born in New York City to Italian immigrants from Naples, Salvatore Gigante, a watchmaker, and Yolanda Gigante (née Scotto), a seamstress. He had four brothers, Mario, Pasquale, and Ralph, who followed him into a life of organized crime, and Louis, who became a Catholic priest at St. Athanasius Church in the South Bronx and city councilman.[2] According to his brother Louis, his nickname, "The Chin", stemmed from their mother affectionately calling him Chinzeeno as a boy, derived from the name Vincenzo, the Italian form of Vincent.[3] Gigante graduated from Public School 3 in West Village, Manhattan and later attended Textile High School, but dropped out.[1]

Gigante was a professional light heavyweight boxer between 1944 and 1947, who was known as "The Chin" Gigante. He fought 25 matches and lost four, boxing 117 rounds. His first professional boxing match was against Vic Chambers on July 18, 1944, in Union City, New Jersey, which he lost. He then fought Chambers a second time at the St. Nicholas Arena on October 6, 1944, and defeated him. He defeated him again on June 29, 1945, at Madison Square Garden. His last match was against Jimmy Slade on May 17, 1947, at Ridgewood Grove, Brooklyn, which he lost by technical knockout.[4]

Gigante lived in Old Tappan, New Jersey, with his wife Olympia Grippa, whom he married in 1950, and their five children, Andrew, Salvatore, Yolanda, Roseanne, and Rita.[1][5] He had a second family at a townhouse in the Upper East Side, Manhattan with his longtime mistress and common-law wife, Olympia Esposito and their three children, Vincent, Lucia and Carmella.[1][6] He often stayed at his mother's apartment in Greenwich Village.[1]

Criminal career

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Costello murder attempt and caporegime

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Mugshot of Gigante, 1960

As a teenager, Gigante became the protégé of future Genovese crime family patriarch Vito Genovese, who had helped pay for Gigante's mother's surgery. Between the ages of 17 and 25, he was arrested seven times on charges ranging from receiving stolen goods, possession of an unlicensed handgun, and illegal gambling and bookmaking. Most were dismissed or resolved by fines, except for a 60-day jail-stay for a gambling conviction. During this time, Gigante listed his occupation as a tailor.[1]

In the 1960s, Gigante took to walking around his neighborhood in a bathrobe, pajamas, and slippers while mumbling to himself, which law enforcement agents, prosecutors, and Mafia defectors would later describe as a staged performance intended to allow Gigante to avoid prosecution for his criminal activities.[7] This would come to be known as "The Bathrobe Defense", in which those accused of criminal wrongdoing would feign mental incompetence to avoid the legal consequence of such behavior.[8]

In early 1957, Genovese decided to move on Luciano family boss Frank Costello. Genovese ordered Gigante to murder Costello, and on May 2, 1957, Gigante shot and wounded Costello outside his apartment building.[9] Although the wound was superficial, it persuaded Costello to relinquish power to Genovese and retire. Genovese then controlled what is now called the Genovese crime family. A doorman identified Gigante as the gunman. In 1958, Costello testified that he was unable to recognize his assailant. Gigante was acquitted on charges of attempted murder.[1]

 
A FBI surveillance photo of Gigante (right) strolling through Greenwich Village, being led by his son Andrew

In 1959, Gigante was convicted, with Vito Genovese, of heroin trafficking and sentenced to seven years in prison. He was paroled after five years.[1] Not long afterward, he was promoted from soldier to captain, running the Greenwich Village Crew, and headquartered at the Triangle Civic Improvement Association.[1]

In 1969, Gigante was indicted in New Jersey for conspiracy to bribe the entire five-member Old Tappan, New Jersey police force to alert him to surveillance operations by law enforcement agencies. The charge was dropped after Gigante's lawyers presented reports from psychiatrists that he was mentally unfit to stand trial.[1]

Since 1969, Gigante had been treated 20 times for psychiatric disorders. Gigante's "primary treating psychiatrist", Eugene D'Adamo, noted:

"Vincent Gigante has been diagnosed since 1969 as suffering from schizophrenia, paranoid type with [periodic] acute exacerbations which result in hospitalization."

— Eugene D'Adamo[10]

Gigante's lawyers and relatives said that Gigante had been mentally disabled since the late 1960s, with a below-normal IQ of 69 to 72.[1]

 
FBI surveillance photo of Vincent Gigante (left) and Dominick Canterino

Genovese crime boss

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An FBI surveillance photo of Frank Condo (right) and Vincent Gigante (center)

In 1981, Genovese's successor, Philip "Benny Squint" Lombardo, stepped down as boss due to poor health.[1] With Lombardo's support, Gigante became boss of the Genovese family.[1] Anthony "Fat Tony" Salerno was made front boss of the Genovese family in order to fool law enforcement.[11]

Gigante built a vast network of bookmaking and loansharking rings and from extortions of garbage, shipping, trucking and construction companies seeking labor peace or contracts from carpenters', Teamsters and laborers' unions, including those at the Javits Center, as well as protection payoffs from merchants at the Fulton Fish Market.[1] Gigante also had influence in the Feast of San Gennaro in Little Italy, operating gambling games, extorting payoffs from vendors, and pocketing thousands of dollars donated to a neighborhood church—until a crackdown in 1995 by New York City officials.[1]

On April 13, 1986, Gambino crime family underboss Frank DeCicco was killed when his car was bombed following a visit to Paul Castellano loyalist James Failla. The bombing was carried out by Victor Amuso and Anthony Casso of the Lucchese crime family, under orders of Gigante and Lucchese boss Anthony Corallo, to avenge Castellano and Thomas Bilotti by killing their successors. John Gotti planned to visit Failla that day, but canceled, and the bomb was detonated after a soldier who rode with DeCicco was mistaken for the boss.[12]

In January 1987, Salerno was sentenced to 100 years in prison for racketeering, along with top members of the other New York families, as part of the Mafia Commission Trial.[13] Salerno had initially been billed as the boss of the Genovese family. However, shortly after the trial, Salerno's longtime right-hand man, Vincent "The Fish" Cafaro, turned informant and told the FBI that Salerno had been a front for the real boss, Gigante. Cafaro revealed that the Genovese family had been keeping up this ruse since 1969.[14][15] FBI bugs had captured a conversation in which Salerno and capo Matthew "Matty the Horse" Ianniello were reviewing a list of prospective candidates to become made members in another family. Frustrated that the nicknames of the potential inductees had not been included, Salerno shrugged and said, "I'll leave this up to the boss."[16]

Gigante was reclusive, and almost impossible to capture on wiretaps, speaking softly, eschewing the phone and even at times whistling into the receiver.[17] He almost never left his home unoccupied because he knew FBI agents would sneak in and plant a bug.[17] Genovese members were not allowed to mention Gigante's name in conversations or phone calls. When they had to mention him, members pointed to their chins or made the letter "C" with their fingers.[1][18]

During Gigante's tenure as boss of the Genovese family, after the imprisonment of John Gotti in 1992, Gigante came to be known as the figurehead capo di tutti capi, the "Boss of All Bosses", despite the position being abolished in 1931 with the murder of Salvatore Maranzano.[19]

Trials and conviction

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FBI mugshot of Gigante

From 1978 to 1990, four of the five crime families of New York, including the Genovese family, rigged bids for 75 percent of $191 million, or about $142 million, of the window contracts awarded by the New York City Housing Authority. Installation companies were required to make union payoffs between $1 and $2 for each window installed.[20][21]

In 1988, Gigante had open-heart surgery.[1] On May 30, 1990, Gigante was indicted along with other members of four of the New York crime families for conspiring to rig bids and extort payoffs from contractors on multimillion-dollar contracts with the New York City Housing Authority to install windows.[22] Gigante attended his arraignment in pajamas and bathrobe. Due to his defense stating that he was mentally and physically impaired, legal battles ensued for seven years over his competence to stand trial.[1]

In June 1993, Gigante was under indictment again, charged with sanctioning the murders of six mobsters and conspiring to kill three others, including Gambino boss John Gotti.[23][1] At sanity hearings in March 1996, Sammy "The Bull" Gravano, former underboss of the Gambino crime family, who became a cooperating witness in 1991,[24] and Alphonse "Little Al" D'Arco, former acting boss of the Lucchese family, testified that Gigante was lucid at top-level Mafia meetings and that he had told other gangsters that his eccentric behavior was a pretense.[1] Gigante's lawyers got testimony and reports from psychiatrists that from 1969 to 1995 Gigante had been confined 28 times in hospitals for treatment of hallucinations and that he suffered from "dementia rooted in organic brain damage".[1]

In August 1996, senior judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, Eugene Nickerson, ruled that Gigante was mentally competent to stand trial. He pleaded not guilty and had been free for years on $1 million bail.[1] Gigante had another cardiac operation in December 1996.[1] On June 25, 1997, Gigante's trial started. Gigante stood trial in a wheelchair.[25] On July 25, 1997, after almost three days of deliberations, the jury convicted Gigante of conspiring in plots to kill other mobsters and of running rackets as head of the Genovese family.[26] Prosecutors stated that the verdict finally established that Gigante was not mentally ill, as his lawyers and relatives had long maintained.[26]

On December 18, 1997, Gigante was sentenced to 12 years in prison and fined $1.25 million by judge Jack B. Weinstein, a lenient sentence due to Gigante's "age and frailty", who declared that Gigante had been "... finally brought to bay in his declining years after decades of vicious criminal tyranny".[27] While in prison, he maintained his role as boss of the Genovese family, while other mobsters were entrusted to run the day-to-day activities of the family. Gigante relayed orders to the crime family through his son, Andrew, who visited him in prison.[28][29][1]

On January 23, 2002, Gigante was indicted with several other mobsters, including his son Andrew, on racketeering and obstruction of justice charges. Prosecutors accused him of continuing to rule his family from prison, and that he used Andrew to funnel messages to the family. They also wanted him held responsible for causing a seven-year delay in his previous trial by feigning insanity.[30][31] Several days later, Andrew was released on $2.5 million bail.[32] Federal prosecutor Roslynn R. Mauskopf had planned to play tapes showing him "fully coherent, careful and intelligent," running crime operations from prison. Faced with this evidence, Gigante pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice on April 7, 2003, just hours before the trial was to start.[33][34] Judge I. Leo Glasser sentenced him to an additional three years in prison.[1][35] Mauskopf stated, "The jig is up ... Vincent Gigante was a cunning faker, and those of us in law enforcement always knew that this was an act ... The act ran for decades, but today it's over."[33]

On July 25, 2003, Gigante's son Andrew was sentenced to two years in prison and fined $2.5 million for racketeering and extortion.[36] The New York Times organized-crime reporter and mob historian Selwyn Raab described Gigante's plea deal as an "unprecedented capitulation" for a Mafia boss. It was almost unheard of for a boss to even consider pleading guilty. Gigante agreed to the deal to ease the burden on his relatives. For instance, Andrew faced up to 20 years in prison had he gone to trial. Another provision of the plea agreement stipulated that any relatives who helped in his deception, including his wife, mistress and Father Louis, would not be charged with obstruction of justice.[35]

Death

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Gigante died on December 19, 2005, at the Medical Center for Federal Prisoners in Springfield, Missouri.[1] His funeral and burial were held four days later, on December 23, at Saint Anthony of Padua Church in Greenwich Village, largely in anonymity.[17]

Since Gigante's death, his family has continued to live well. According to a 2011 report by Jerry Capeci, Gigante's relatives earn nearly $2 million a year as employees of companies on the New Jersey waterfront.[37]

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Films and television

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Documentaries

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  • The story of the FBI investigation into Gigante was depicted in season 1, episode 2 of The FBI Files documentary show, titled "The Crazy Don" (which first aired on December 8, 1998).
  • National Geographic aired a six-part documentary series, Inside the American Mob, where Gigante features prominently in episode 5, "The Rise and Fall of Gotti", while actions attributed to him are discussed in episode 3, "New York–Philly War".

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z Vincent Gigante, Mob Boss Who Feigned Incompetence to Avoid Jail, Dies at 77 Archived December 20, 2019, at the Wayback Machine, by Selwyn Raab, The New York Times, December 19, 2005
  2. ^ Village Voice Archived October 9, 2007, at the Wayback Machine January 23, 2007.
  3. ^ "Why Vincent Gigante Is Known as the Chin". The New York Times. June 1, 1990. Archived from the original on August 15, 2016.
  4. ^ "Vince Gigante". BoxRec. Archived from the original on November 17, 2017. Retrieved November 17, 2017.
  5. ^ "Vincent Gigante". The Independent. December 21, 2005. Archived from the original on April 16, 2012. Retrieved April 25, 2020.
  6. ^ Bekiempis, Victoria; McShane, Larry (January 10, 2018). "'Chin' Gigante's son among five mobsters cuffed in union extortion racket". nydailynews.com. Archived from the original on May 18, 2019. Retrieved April 25, 2020.
  7. ^ Raab, Selwyn (December 20, 2005). "Vincent Gigante, Mob Boss Who Feigned Incompetence to Avoid Jail, Dies at 77". The New York Times. Archived from the original on July 25, 2023. Retrieved March 11, 2023.
  8. ^ Ediorial Board (February 8, 2024). "Biden's Doddering Document Defense: Special counsel Robert Hur says a jury might not convict the elderly, forgetful President". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on February 9, 2024. Retrieved March 11, 2024.
  9. ^ "Costello is Shot Entering Home; Gunman Escapes Wound" (PDF). The New York Times. May 3, 1957. Retrieved December 31, 2011.
  10. ^ "Family Asks Judge to Find Mafia Boss Mentally Ill – NYTimes.com". The New York Times. May 25, 2015. Archived from the original on May 25, 2015.
  11. ^ Raab 2005, pp. 556
  12. ^ Raab 2005, pp. 473–476
  13. ^ Lubasch, Arnold H. (January 14, 1987). "Judge Sentences 8 Mafia Leaders to Prison Terms". The New York Times. Archived from the original on April 20, 2012. Retrieved October 13, 2011.
  14. ^ Raab 2005, pp. 556–557
  15. ^ "MAJOR MAFIA LEADER TURNS INFORMER, SECRETLY RECORDING MEETINGS OF MOB" Archived March 4, 2016, at the Wayback Machine By ARNOLD H. LUBASCH The New York Times, March 21, 1987
  16. ^ Raab 2005, pp. 555
  17. ^ a b c Rashbaum, William K. (December 24, 2005). "Gigante, Mafia Boss, Is Mourned and Buried With Little Fanfare". The New York Times. Retrieved April 29, 2012.
  18. ^ Raab 2005
  19. ^ Raab, Selwyn (September 3, 1995). "With Gotti Away, the Genoveses Succeed the Leaderless Gambinos". The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 22, 2013. Retrieved June 29, 2013.
  20. ^ Lubasch, Arnold H. (October 19, 1991). "Windows Jury Finds 3 Guilty And Acquits 5". The New York Times. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved April 29, 2012.
  21. ^ "2 Men Sentenced In 'Windows Trial'". The New York Times. March 28, 1993. Archived from the original on April 3, 2015. Retrieved April 29, 2012.
  22. ^ Suspected New York Mob Leaders Are Indicted in Contract Rigging Archived March 5, 2016, at the Wayback Machine (May 31, 1990) The New York Times
  23. ^ "Mob Inquiry Focuses on Reputed Boss Who Eludes Trial – NYTimes.com". The New York Times. May 26, 2015. Archived from the original on May 26, 2015.
  24. ^ Raab, Selwyn (November 12, 1991). "U.S. Says Top Gotti Aide Will Testify Against Boss". The New York Times. Archived from the original on January 23, 2011. Retrieved April 24, 2012.
  25. ^ Fried, Joseph P. (July 26, 1997). "Jurors Find Gigante Guilty Of Racketeering, Not Murder". The New York Times. Archived from the original on December 29, 2017. Retrieved April 25, 2020.
  26. ^ a b "Jurors Find Gigante Guilty Of Racketeering, Not Murder – NYTimes.com". The New York Times. May 27, 2015. Archived from the original on May 27, 2015.
  27. ^ "Gigante Sentenced to 12 Years And Is Fined $1.25 Million – NYTimes.com". The New York Times. January 27, 2011. Archived from the original on January 27, 2011.
  28. ^ Claffey, Mike (January 28, 2002). "SNITCH STOLE 3 YEARS OF MOB SECRETS". Daily News. Archived from the original on May 14, 2012. Retrieved April 17, 2012.
  29. ^ Smith, Greg B. (August 12, 2001). "GENOVESE FAMILY KEEPS ITS CHIN UP Gigante becomes top don as Gotti fades". Daily News. Archived from the original on May 15, 2012. Retrieved April 17, 2012.
  30. ^ "Gigante Is Sane And Runs Mob, U.S. Charges – NYTimes.com". The New York Times. November 9, 2012. Archived from the original on November 9, 2012.
  31. ^ Raab 2005, pp. 597–599
  32. ^ Saulny, Susan (January 27, 2002). "Gigante's Son Released on Bail". The New York Times.
  33. ^ a b Newman, Andy (April 7, 2003). "Gigante Pleads Guilty to Obstructing Justice". The New York Times.
  34. ^ Mob boss admits insanity an act, pleads guilty Archived June 18, 2012, at the Wayback Machine, The New York Times, April 8, 2003
  35. ^ a b Raab 2005, pp. 598
  36. ^ Smith, Kati Cornell (July 26, 2003). "MOB SON FOLLOWS 'CHIN' TO PRISON". Archived from the original on February 6, 2019. Retrieved April 25, 2020.
  37. ^ "Jerry Capeci: Gigante Family Earns Nearly $2 Million a Year on the Waterfront". Huffingtonpost.com. January 16, 2011. Archived from the original on November 12, 2012. Retrieved March 14, 2012.

Further reading

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Vincent Gigante.
American Mafia
Preceded by Genovese crime family
Underboss
1980–1981 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Genovese crime family
Boss
1981–2005 		Succeeded by
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