Castellano lea rned at the feet of the greatest
organized crime er that ever existed. Paul Castellano
wasn't a real gangster. Paul was a business man. When Paul became the
boss of the Gambino family, there was a tremendous
rift from day 1. [camera clicking] This guy is sitting
there in his silk robe with his velvet slippers
in his big white house, and he's taking
every dollar we got. JOSEPH COFFEY: And
he was very greedy. When he took over the
family, he wanted everything. ERNEST VOLKMAN: John
Gotti said, he's useless. Let's get rid of him. [gunshots] He, in effect, wrote a
death warrant for himself. [theme music] [jazz music] NARRATOR: Long Island,
New York, January 1983. Roy DeMeo, a made member of
the Gambino crime family, said goodbye to his son and
left home in his Cadillac. I knew beforehand that my
father's days were numbered. I started bargaining with God,
saying please just let him come home tonight. NARRATOR: Roy DeMeo had
made a name for himself as the enforcer for Gambino
boss, Paul Castellano. DeMeo also earned huge profits
from pornography and auto theft rackets. But DeMeo had been subpoenaed to
testify about the Gambino auto theft ring, and Castellano
made an executive decision. DeMeo had to go. When DeMeo didn't
return home that night, Albert figured his
father was on the run. I had a plan set up with him. If he didn't show up at
home, it was the beginning of him going into the
wind, going on a lam. NARRATOR: Following the
plan, Albert waited patiently for his father to make contact. I didn't want to
report him missing, because I wanted to
give him lead time. So that was the plan. And then finally, I
reported him missing. We had an alert out
with the police department to look for that Cadillac. NARRATOR: Eight days later,
the cops finally tracked down DeMeo's Caddy in a
Brooklyn parking lot and discovered that DeMeo
hadn't made it into the wind. When we popped the trunk,
the first thing we saw was the curled-up body of Roy DeMeo. Castellano gave the
order to kill him. The next thing we know, Mr.
DeMeo was found in his trunk with bullet holes in his head. NARRATOR: It was a testament
to Castellano's clout as one of the mob's most
powerful bosses. [soft jazz music] Constantino Paul Castellano
was born in the Bensonhurst neighborhood of Brooklyn,
New York, in 1915. His parents, Giuseppe
and Concetta, had immigrated from Sicily
a few years earlier. Bensonhurst in those
days was the next rung on the immigration ladder
for the Italian immigrants. It was considered a
middle-class suburban community. NARRATOR: Giuseppe landed
a good job as a butcher, but the father of three also
joined a small-time side racket with mob ties, selling
illegal lottery tickets to Italian immigrants. The lottery, called
La Rosa Wheel, provided some of the
necessary capital for the mob to branch out
into more serious and violent rackets. Not much of a student,
Paul dropped out of school in the eighth grade and
started training as a butcher. But he also learned the ropes
of his father's side business. Paul's first flirtation
with organized crime was to help his
father on the lottery. NARRATOR: Running
around for his pop gave Castellano a glimpse
into criminal life. He liked what he saw. His father's blood-soaked
apron paled in comparison to the expensive suits
worn by gangsters. In Paul's young mind, his
career choice was obvious. In 1930s New York, old world
mobsters were dying out. [gunshots] And a new breed of
gangster was taking over. They were Americans. And in their view,
what would make organized crime work was a
combination of Sicilian mores with modern American
business methods. NARRATOR: And during the
height of prohibition, business was booming. One of Paul Castellano's cousins
was a made member in La Cosa Nostra named Carlo Gambino. Carlo Gambino was a
tough guy growing up. He was not afraid
to use his hands. As Paul began slowly to
drift into organized crime, he began to cross
paths with Carlo. Carlo was an up and comer
in the organization. NARRATOR: By 1934,
Paul Castellano was 19 and took to wearing
the sharp suits he admired. Working for his father both
as a butcher and a hustler allowed him to afford
the finer things in life. At 6 foot 2, Big Paul was ready
to make a name for himself. [fireworks popping] Over the July 4 weekend,
Castellano and two buddies drove to a party in Connecticut. Along the way, they stopped
off at a clothing store. But shopping was the last
thing on Paul's mind. He wanted to rob the joint. They told him, I mean,
this is going to be easy. It's like taking
candy from a baby. NARRATOR: Castellano pulled
a pistol from his glove compartment, and the three
young men entered the store. Paul brandished the
pistol to the owner, relieving him of the
$51 in his wallet. Castellano and his two partners
rifled through the cash register, but found nothing. It wasn't the big payday
Paul had hoped for. The men left the store
with only 17 dollars each. Witnesses reported the license
plate number to the police. When Paul returned home to
Brooklyn, he was arrested. During interrogation, Castellano
claimed the other two men were hitchhikers, and he
didn't know their names. Big Paul took the
fall alone and was sent to the slammer for a year. He went off to prison
uncomplainingly, got out after three months, and
discovered he was suddenly a hero in the neighborhood. NARRATOR: Local mob
leaders praised Castellano for not ratting on his friends. And his cousin, Carlo
Gambino, took notice. That's when
Carlo Gambino said, you belong in the organization. NARRATOR: Gambino had
established himself as a business-savvy earner for
one of the top five underworld crime families, the Manganos. Everything he touched
turned to gold. When he was promoted to
captain, he brought young Paul Castellano under his wing,
introducing him to the business side of organized crime. Carlo Gambino
wanted his cousin not to be involved in the
dirty work that, you know, the other guys could do for us. NARRATOR: The two
men worked together, expanding their gambling scheme. They were about to
forge even closer ties. In 1937, Paul married
his childhood sweetheart, Nina Mano, a pretty girl
from the neighborhood. She was also Carlo
Gambino's sister-in-law. By the 1950s, Castellano was
a hardworking father of four. He took what he learned
from his cousin, Gambino, and developed a successful meat
distribution company called Blue Ribbon Meats. ERNEST VOLKMAN: Paul thought
in terms of a business man because some of his loan shark
customers owned butcher shops, and they couldn't pay. Now the standard routine at
the time was you can't pay? [laughs] You're going to
need a new set of knees. But Paul said, well,
why would you do that? Instead, he would take
a piece of the business. NARRATOR: In the early '50s,
Paul's cousin, Carlo Gambino, was rewarded for his
shrewd business style. A capo named Albert Anastasia
had muscled his way to the top of the Mangano family
and eventually appointed Carlo Gambino his underboss. Gambino was now
second in command. He used his new position
to promote his cousin, Paul Castellano, to captain. But Gambino wasn't
happy being number 2, and he joined with
other mobsters to plan Anastasia's demise. So Carlo began
political maneuvering, and he began to undercut
Albert Anastasia. And before we knew it,
there was a murder plot. NARRATOR: On October 25, 1957,
Anastasia entered a Manhattan barbershop for a shave. While relaxing in
the chair, his head covered in towels, gunmen
burst in and shots rang out. [gunshots] Five bullets riddled
the mob chief's body. A dazed Anastasia lunged at
the assassins' reflections in the barbershop mirror
before falling to his death. It was the
assassination of Anastasia that led to Carlo Gambino
rising to the top of that crime family. NARRATOR: With Anastasia
out of the way, Gambino became the de
facto head of the Manganos, and his cousin, Paul,
was right by his side. Paul Castellano was
the right-hand man. So he prospered as
Carlo prospered, and he went wherever Carlo went. NARRATOR: Things were
looking up for Castellano. He had a happy family,
a successful business, and a spot near the top of
New York's most powerful crime family. But he would hit
a bump in the road when the cops crashed a
party of the mafia's elite. [jazz music] By October 1957, Carlo
Gambino was in position to become the next boss of New
York's Mangano crime family. His most trusted capo was
his cousin and friend, Paul Castellano. In November, nearly 100
elite mafiosi leaders gathered for a secret meeting
in upstate Apalachin, New York. Castellano attended as a
guest of Carlo Gambino. This was a signal of his
status in the organization. Because for Gambino
to bring him along was very, very,
very significant. NARRATOR: There was
a lot on the agenda, but number 1 for Gambino
was his official swearing in as the head of
his crime family. And there were issues on
top of issues, but mainly this whole succession business. We've got to
straighten this out. NARRATOR: At 42
years old, Castellano was one of the youngest
men at the meeting. Big Paul was honored
to rub elbows with such powerful mobsters. While the men conducted
their business inside, a local cop grew suspicious
of the numerous Cadillacs and Lincolns parked
in the driveway. When the mobsters noticed the
officer writing down license plates, pandemonium broke out. The effect was something
like a young boy kicking over a hornet's nest. And there were guys, big-time
dons with their silk suits and their $500 Italian shoes
running through the fields. And among them was
Paul Castellano. NARRATOR: Police
reinforcements join the chase and set up roadblocks. One by one, they
rounded up 63 gangsters, including Castellano. The cops took
Castellano to jail, his suit torn and muddied. Two years later, Castellano
was brought before a grand jury to testify about the mobsters
conference in Apalachin. But he claimed that
he was simply there to visit a friend to talk
about a heart condition. Castellano refused
to cooperate, refused to testify
before a grand jury, and earned the respect
of other gangsters. NARRATOR: Castellano was
convicted of conspiracy and sentenced to
five years in prison. But after just seven
months, the conviction was overturned on appeal. Castellano was released and
returned home as a stand-up guy in the eyes of fellow mobsters. In the 1960s, Castellano's
cousin and close friend, Carlo Gambino, had
established himself as the well-respected patriarch
of one of the biggest crime families in the United States. The Manganos were now
known as the Gambinos, but Carlo ran the
family's illegal rackets with the same shrewd
business sense. Under his reign, the Gambino
family boasted about 250 made men and more than
twice as many associates. Carlo Gambino built that
organization into what is still regarded as the
premier criminal organization of all time. NARRATOR: His family was raking
in millions of dollars a year. His trusted capo
and brother-in-law, Paul Castellano, was
learning from the best and reaping the benefits. Meanwhile, Castellano's own
legitimate business dealings were also on the rise. Paul's big thing other than
the organized crime activity was the poultry business. NARRATOR: His moderately
successful Blue Ribbon Meats grew into an enterprise called
Dial Meat Purveyors Inc. The poultry business
was very competitive. It stopped being competitive
when Castellano got into it. NARRATOR: That's because
Castellano used the lessons he learned from the mob. He strong-armed local
butchers and supermarkets into stocking his products. Those who refused faced
harassment from mob soldiers and union leaders. By 1976, Carlo Gambino's
health was failing. So Castellano temporarily took
charge of the Gambino family's business. Gambino realized, I'm going to
have to decide on a successor. So he had to make a choice. NARRATOR: It came down to
two men, Gambino cousin and protege, Castellano,
or longtime street-smart underboss, Aniello Dellacroce. Rumors flew that the
loyal Dellacroce would be the next boss of the family. But on his deathbed,
Gambino shocked everyone and selected Paul
Castellano as his successor. Carlo very much wanted
somebody like himself-- a criminal capitalist who
subscribed to his theory of taking illegitimate
profits and piling them into legitimate operations. But Dellacroce was your
prototypical mafia street thug. NARRATOR: Gambino
members immediately split into two factions-- those who supported the
business-savvy Castellano and those who favored the
blue collar Dellacroce. Where the rub came with
the Dellacroce faction was that Paul Castellano
wasn't a real gangster. Paul was a business man. NARRATOR: The Gambinos
called a meeting to confirm Castellano's
appointment and gauge Dellacroce's
reaction to Carlo's controversial decision. Dellacroce had a big
sit-down with Paul. And Dellacroce didn't liked
that decision, obviously. But he was a fanatical
mafia loyalist. He said, if that's what Carlo
wants, I go along with this. NARRATOR: Castellano realized
he needed a happy Dellacroce to keep the Gambinos united, so
he asked Dellacroce to continue on as underboss. Dellacroce accepted the
offer, but the decision didn't please everyone. Among the disgruntled
in the Gambino family was a young
hothead named John Gotti. Gotti was a
Dellacroce loyalist. Gotti wanted Dellacroce to have
it because he was his mentor, so he resented
Castellano from day 1. NARRATOR: Though not everyone
favored the decision, war within the Gambino
crime family was averted. As boss, Castellano focused
on white collar crimes like bid rigging,
political corruption, and union infiltration. But he still needed muscle. Enter a thug named Roy DeMeo. Roy DeMeo looked
like a gangster. He was a thug. Roy DeMeo was a
homicidal maniac. NARRATOR: DeMeo served
Castellano well, running a gang of brutal
murderers called the DeMeo Crew. They were the most feared
crew in New York City. NARRATOR: When
Castellano ordered a hit, Roy would lure the targets
to the Gemini Lounge, his bar in Brooklyn. DeMeo would murder the
victims, dismember the bodies, and dump them in a landfill. Once the body
got into the dump, it was impossible to find it. And the DeMeo Crew's philosophy
was no body, no crime. NARRATOR: Castellano was
willing to look past DeMeo's brutal methods and was all too
pleased at the cash he brought into the family. Castellano eventually agreed
to induct DeMeo into the family as a made member for his
ability to take care of problems and his potential to earn money
by working with an Irish gang known as the Westies. It was the beginning of a
very profitable relationship. Castellano's business
fortunes were on the rise, but personal problems would
soon threaten his empire. Paul Castellano 70, was raking in millions
from legitimate businesses and criminal rackets as boss
of New York's Gambino crime family. By infiltrating
construction unions, Castellano seemingly
controlled every drop of concrete used to build
the ever-changing Manhattan skyline. His presence made New
York construction costs the highest in the nation. [soft music] Castellano used
some of his earnings to build a $3.5 million
mansion on Staten Island. Hardly a modest man, he
called it the White House. While he and his wife,
Nina, lived in luxury, their marriage was strained. They were sleeping
in separate rooms. You could cut the
tension with a knife. NARRATOR: That year, Nina
hired a 30-year-old Colombian immigrant named Gloria
Olarte as a live-in maid. Big Paul was
immediately smitten. She wasn't. The two became lovers,
and 64-year-old Castellano started focusing more
attention on his young mistress than on family business. By the 1980s, he was
growing reclusive and rarely left his
Staten Island mansion. The captains of his crime family
regularly came to pay tribute, delivering envelopes
filled with cash. ERNEST VOLKMAN:
His capos would go through the beautiful
wrought iron gates. They'd go up to the
magnificent white columns in the front entrance. And there would be sitting Paul
Castellano in a beautiful silk dressing gown and
velvet slippers. They saw him as this very
obscure, high and mighty figure. And they didn't respect him. NARRATOR: It was
difficult for Castellano to keep an eye on his men
from his posh domicile. One of Castellano's
rules was carried over from Carlo Gambino's reign. Members were prohibited
from dealing drugs. Believing that drugs
were bad for business, Castellano issued two decrees-- individuals dealing drugs
could not become made members, and any family member
implicated in drug trafficking would be killed. Paul Castellano, if you
had asked him at the time, does your family deal
drugs, of course not. I know of no one in my
family who deals drugs. He suspects it. He takes their money.
Can he prove it? No. He doesn't want to prove it. NARRATOR: Castellano
regarded himself as more of a businessman
than a gangster, but he didn't
hesitate to do what he had to to protect his crime
family and his bloodline. Frank Amato, a street thug who
married Paul's only daughter Connie, found this
out the hard way. Frank Amato turned out to be
a philanderer and physically abusive. She had a miscarriage. Paul Castellano
instantly decided that miscarriage was because
his daughter had been abused. NARRATOR: Big Paul
was furious and turned to hitman, Roy DeMeo. Castellano went
directly to DeMeo to tell him to take Amato out. NARRATOR: DeMeo allegedly
invited Frank to join him in his Brooklyn hangout,
the Gemini Lounge. They killed him there
and cut his body up. He was never seen again. Frank Amato was killed
because Castellano blamed him for his daughter's
miscarriage, period. NARRATOR: Federal investigators
had developed a powerful tool in the fight against
organized crime and bosses like Paul Castellano. It was called the Racketeer
Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act or RICO. RICO enabled prosecutors
to charge leaders of corrupt organizations for
the crimes of their underlings. The FBI reorganized
its effort. They created a series of
task forces, each one aimed at a specific family. So there was a
so-called Gambino squad. And their sole function was
to put together a RICO case against the Gambino family. When Rudy Giuliani
became the US attorney-- and he decided to use the RICO
statute to go after the whole commission in general, the
whole five families which ran the organized crime
cartel in this country. NARRATOR: The
Department of Justice knew that bringing down
the mob would require a lot of manpower, so Giuliani
formed an Organized Crime Task Force. Rudy Giuliani's shop
had called and asked for FBI agents to be
assigned to his task force. NARRATOR: FBI agents
turned up the heat. Undercover officers
took to the streets to rub elbows with
Gambino members and get inside their heads. They would simply
walk into a mob hangout, and they'd pick a
couple at random. Tony, how are you, babe? And give them a
kiss on both cheeks. Couple doesn't know
this guy from Adam. Meanwhile, all the other
guys, they're looking. You know this FBI agent? NARRATOR: One FBI
agent even befriended Castellano's mistress,
Gloria Olarte. The two developed a relationship
and occasionally met for coffee to discuss Big Paul's
home life, but it would prove to be a loose-lipped
mobster that would finally open the doors to
Castellano's White House. By the 1980s, Paul
Castellano was firmly in control of the
Gambino crime family. As his power expanded, Big
Paul started to get greedy. Castellano has the rule,
from now on I get 15%, as everybody said,
wait a minute, this guy is making money
like it's going out of style. Why does he got to chisel
another couple of dollars? [tense music] NARRATOR: Paul's unilateral
raise infuriated John Gotti, a flashy thug loyal to
underboss Aniello Dellacroce. But Dellacroce kept the
volatile Gotti under control. Aniello Dellacroce
kept everything calm. And he insisted on
loyalty to Castellano, even though Castellano
was grabbing everything with both hands. Dellacroce resented it, and
Gotti certainly resented it. But Dellacroce kept
a lid on things. NARRATOR: Castellano's home life
wasn't going smoothly either. His battle with diabetes left
him impotent so he could not please his mistress,
Gloria Olarte. Big Paul's selected
remedy to the situation would turn heads, especially
those of his macho underlings. ERNEST VOLKMAN: Castellano
made the mistake of telling some people that he
had suddenly become impassioned again and, as a result,
had had a penile implant. That was a big mistake. That got around and
people said it, what? Oh, my god. You add that to the anger they
felt about the way he treated them like dirt, his foundation
was crumbling underneath him. NARRATOR: For Big
Paul, there was trouble brewing in
his crime family and more within the
walls of his home. But up to this point,
the FBI's Gambino Squad hadn't been able to crack
Castellano's Staten Island mansion. Then in March 1982,
the feds found a dent in the Gambino armor, lowly
soldier and drug trafficker, Angelo "Quack Quack" Ruggiero. ERNEST VOLKMAN: Ruggiero
was known as "Quack Quack." Because since the time he was a
childhood friend of John Gotti, he could never shut up. So he was dealing heroin. That was bad enough. But he couldn't stop
talking about it. NARRATOR: After bugging
Ruggiero's Long Island home, FBI agents overheard him admit
to breaking a cardinal family rule. On those tapes, they
talked about heroin, but they also talked
about how much they hated Paul Castellano. He's a greedy [bleep]. He wants this. He wants that. NARRATOR: By November,
the Ruggiero tapes provided enough
evidence for the feds to get a judge's approval
for a second bug, this one in Castellano's home. But breaking into the
heavily-guarded White House wouldn't be an easy task. First, they had to determine
where Castellano conducted his meetings. Paul's lover, Gloria Olarte,
unwittingly provided the answer over a cup of coffee
with the FBI agent who had befriended her. ERNEST VOLKMAN: Castellano's
chief place of business was a huge table at one of those
classic Italian dining room tables that look like it could
survive an atomic attack, that was planted right in the
middle of the kitchen. NARRATOR: FBI agents scoped
out the neighborhood. There was no
alarm system issue. There was no dog issue. There was just a people issue. NARRATOR: As it turned
out, someone always seemed to be home. While the FBI tried to figure
out how to bug the White House, they started looking into
Roy DeMeo's car theft ring and how Castellano
benefited from it. Castellano was very impressed
when Roy DeMeo showed up and, you know, gave him all
these envelopes full of cash. The problem is, of course,
that made him a co-conspirator. NARRATOR: When a car thief for
the DeMeo crew was arrested, Roy informed Paul. Castellano grew
paranoid that he would be linked to DeMeo's
criminal activities and worried that the
unpredictable Roy DeMeo would crumble under the FBI's
pressure and rat him out. Paul Castellano
said, wait a minute. There's only one witness that
could testify against me, and his name is Roy DeMeo. NARRATOR: Castellano summoned
Capo John Gotti to his mansion and ordered the hit on DeMeo. But like most
gangsters, Gotti was afraid of DeMeo and his crew. You never refuse
an order of the boss, but he basically ducked and
expressed his reservations about it. And Castellano had to go
elsewhere when he wanted to take care of Roy DeMeo. NARRATOR: Castellano
let Gotti off the hook. Another trusted Gambino
captain, Nino Gaggi, was assigned the hit. Nino was a shadowy figure,
very smooth, and didn't talk much. I know that my father
respected him and felt a deep sense of duty to him. NARRATOR: On January 10, 1983,
DeMeo left his Long Island home, knowing he had
to be back that night to celebrate his
daughter's 22nd birthday. My father was the kind of man
that didn't miss Sunday dinner, was always home on the weekends,
didn't miss his children's parties. NARRATOR: Although the
details are unclear, many investigators believe
Nino Gaggi summoned DeMeo to an auto body shop owned
by a fellow crew member. My father knew that he
was going to be killed. He sat me down. And he said, I'm sorry that
you had to deal with all this. NARRATOR: As soon as DeMeo
walked into the shop, Gaggi pulled out a
handgun and shot him repeatedly in the head. [gunshots] Eight days later, police
found DeMeo's dead body in the trunk of his Cadillac. When we popped the trunk,
he was in a fetal position. And his hands were blocking
each side of his head, because they had
shot him in the head. NARRATOR: Roy
DeMeo's son, Albert, learned the hard way what
happens to those who cross Paul Castellano. They found him I-- [clears throat] On my birthday. And then I went and
identified his body in the morgue with my uncle. And it's just-- it was a
very surreal situation. You can't suppress that
kind of stuff, you know, when you see your
father shot seven times and his head blown off. Nobody can. NARRATOR: The feds suspected
that Castellano had ordered the hit on DeMeo, but they
didn't have any hard evidence. However, a new opportunity
to nab Castellano would soon present itself. The FBI had finally
figured out a way to plant electronic bugs
inside the White House. ] By 1983, Paul Castellano's
personal life was a mess. His wife of 46 years,
Nina, moved out of the family mansion. The feds, meantime,
were about to move in. By spring, the FBI
finally figured out a way to plant a critical bug. They decided to scramble
Castellano's cable television signal and wait for him
to call a repairman. Cable television was
a relatively new concept at this particular timeframe. So cable television
lent itself quite easily to one of the many scenarios. NARRATOR: When Castellano began
having reception problems, he told his favorite capo, Tommy
Bilotti, to call the repairman. FBI Special Agent Joe
Cantamessa intercepted the call. Sometime thereafter,
a technician shows up. And as often was the
case, I'm the technician. I'm in an undercover capacity. I am properly attired. I am properly equipped. NARRATOR: Castellano gave
Bilotti strict orders to keep a close eye
on the technician. Bilotti escorted the agent
to every TV in the house. They eventually made
their way to the kitchen, where Castellano held
his top secret meetings. I enter the kitchen. I know from the case squad
that the business is conducted at the table. NARRATOR: After
surveying the area, Cantamessa said he
had located the issue. Wires in the kitchen cabinets
were causing the bad reception. Someone would have to remove
the cabinets to fix the problem. Cantamessa played up his role
of a cranky, uncooperative repairman. He was so convincing that
Bilotti bought it hook, line, and sinker. I said, I'm not doing this. You're going to have
to call your kitchen guy or the carpenter. And then they were
really pissed. NARRATOR: The grumpy
repairman finally relented. JOE CANTAMESSA: Three of us
had disassembled a major part of the kitchen cabinetry so
I could replace this cabling. I complained the whole way. I looked at my watch. I made this to be
a big production. NARRATOR: Cantamessa planted
the bug near the kitchen table. After the agent
left, Castellano's mysterious reception
problem cleared up. Agents set up a listening
post in a nearby building and started rolling tape on
the nation's most powerful mob boss. In just five months, the
FBI captured 600 hours of conversations between
Castellano and fellow Gambinos. It was unbelievable. You had not only Castellano,
the leader of the organization, but also all these capos talking
about organized crime day after day, hour after hour,
all these mafia problems. NARRATOR: The
recorded conversations proved that Castellano was the
head of a criminal enterprise and revealed that the Gambinos
were connected to the other New York crime families through
a garment industry racket. In August 1983, agents were
ready to move on information recorded by the bug placed
in the home of Angelo "Quack Quack" Ruggiero. And the FBI could
hear him on tape. Angelo was telling them
hour after hour after hour of everything they wanted
to know about the Gambino organization and more. NARRATOR: On August 8, the
feds arrested Ruggiero and four others on heroin
trafficking charges. As captain of the
drug dealing crew, John Gotti's back was
suddenly against the wall. He knew if Castellano ever
heard the Ruggiero tapes, he'd be dead. Not only did they talk
about dealing drugs, breaking Castellano's
golden rule, they didn't have many kind
words to say about Big Paul. And those tapes were so
incriminating against Ruggiero. And they were talking about
the heroin trafficking. I mean, they had a list of
beefs against Paul Castellano-- that he was greedy, that he was
distant, that he was a scumbag. NARRATOR: Castellano wasn't a
fan of Ruggiero's capo, John Gotti. When he heard about the
arrests, the mobster in him wanted to demote Gotti
and disband his crew. But the business
side of Castellano knew he needed to avoid
a Gambino civil war. The question was,
how do we handle it? If we start killing
each other, it's just going to simply
destroy the organization. NARRATOR: Underboss
Aniello Dellacroce tried to keep the peace. He recommended that Castellano
wait until prosecutors released the tapes before making
any rash decisions. Big Paul agreed. Dellacroce took
up for John Gotti, knowing that Gotti
was wrong, but he had to stick his neck
out because of loyalty to the faction. NARRATOR: While Castellano
waited for information on the Ruggiero tapes, the feds
beefed up their racketeering case against him. In March 1984, they were
ready to make their move. Federal agents arrested
Castellano and nine others in connection with crimes
committed by Roy DeMeo's car theft ring. Everything was
suddenly in a mess. Indictments had come
down against Castellano for his alleged role in
the DeMeo auto theft ring. NARRATOR: Castellano now faced
charges for murder, car theft, drug trafficking, extortion,
prostitution, and racketeering. Big Paul posted
a $2 million bond and was released the next day. He may have been out of
jail, but his problems were far from over. In May 1984, Paul
Castellano was free on bail and still raking in millions
as head of the Gambino crime family. The FBI was in the process
of gathering evidence when they received a hot tip-- a meeting of the five
New York crime bosses known as the Commission. JERRY CAPECI: There was a
Commission meeting on Staten Island that Paul Castellano and
other members of the Commission were involved in basically
to discuss the construction industry and ways of ensuring
that they would make top dollar and would not be
discovered by the law. NARRATOR: The FBI knew
this could be a big break for their investigation. From a rusty van
parked on the street, an FBI surveillance crew kept
an eye on the Staten Island meeting place. One by one, the bosses
filed out of the house, each caught by FBI cameras. The photos provided ammunition
for the government's ongoing RICO case against
New York organized crime. On February 25, 1985, prosecutor
Rudy Giuliani made his move. Federal agents and
members of the NYPD fanned out across the city and
arrested Castellano, as well as top mobsters from all five
of New York's crime families. Everything is coming apart. You've got the auto case. You've got the Commission case. People are getting indicted
all over the place. NARRATOR: That
night, Paul learned the evidence that
got him locked up came in part from bugs
planted in his own home. And when Castellano found
out about it, he went crazy. NARRATOR: But it was
another short stay in the slammer for Castellano. He posted the $4 million bail
and was released after one night. Castellano demanded his
underboss, Aniello Dellacroce, share the tapes from the
Angelo Ruggiero case, which prosecutors had finally
released to defense attorneys. But Della Croce stalled. There was no way
he wanted those tapes in the hands of Castellano. Being the underboss,
he was in a position where he could stall and
could get away with it. But Castellano never missed
a beat demanding them. NARRATOR: Dellacroce
knew if Castellano got a hold of the tapes,
with their discussion of drug trafficking and trash
talking of Castellano, it would be the end of Captain
John Gotti and his crew. Dellacroce kept stalling until
the day he died, literally. In December 1985, he
passed away from cancer. Castellano didn't
attend any services for his loyal underboss. He felt that appearing at
a mafia funeral surrounded by other mobsters wouldn't
help his legal troubles. JOSEPH COFFEY: Castellano had
communicated to the family that he didn't want to bring
any attention to the wake by his presence, but
they took offense to it. NARRATOR: Castellano's refusal
infuriated the rank and file, especially John Gotti. Gotti goes around and
says, look at this guy. He don't even come to his
own underboss' funeral? This is an absolute gross
violation of the most sacred of all mafia protocols. NARRATOR: Gotti was even more
upset when Castellano appointed his dimwitted sidekick,
Tommy Bilotti, as the family's new underboss. Gotti felt that he deserved
the promotion and Castellano's disrespect was a sign
of danger to come. Once the Gotti crew learned
that Bilotti was going to be brought into the
inner circle, it was a kill or be killed situation for them. NARRATOR: Gotti wanted
Castellano gone, but needed approval
from the other members of the Commission. If you do a hit without
permission, particularly of a big boss, you're next. NARRATOR: Gotti put out feelers. And it seemed that only
the Genovese crime family, longtime friends of
Castellano, would have a problem with the hit. Gotti made his move anyway. The decision is made by Gotti
that he will kill Castellano. NARRATOR: Gotti and Angelo
Ruggiero recruited members from within the Gambino
family to hit Castellano. A soldier named Sammy "The
Bull" Gravano and several others agreed to take part. On December 16,
1985, Castellano was scheduled to meet with fellow
Gambino family members. At 5:00 PM, rush hour
traffic filled the streets of midtown Manhattan outside
Sparks, an upscale steakhouse. It's Christmas time. The streets were
crowded, shopping. Hotels were all full. So it was a busy time. NARRATOR: By 5:00 PM, Gotti
and his crew of assassins were in position. Four gunmen stood at various
points near the entrance to Sparks. Two shooters were
located on the same side of the street as Sparks. And you had two gunmen
also on the opposite side of the street. NARRATOR: One back-up shooter
was placed just down the street from the restaurant,
another across the way. Gotti and Gravano
used walkie talkies to communicate with the troops. But John Gotti
and Sammy Gravano were also parked in a vehicle
on the opposite side of Third Avenue on the Sparks
side of the street. NARRATOR: At 5:30, Tommy Bilotti
pulled up in front of Sparks in a Lincoln sedan. Big Paul was on
the passenger side. As Paul opened his door,
four men in trench coats descended upon the vehicle. Two gunmen opened fire
on Paul Castellano-- [gunshots] --shooting him six times
in the head and torso. The other two assassins
fired on Bilotti. Pedestrians began
screaming and scattered. Castellano's head was resting
in the doorjamb of the Lincoln. Tommy Bilotti's body
was lying on the street in a pool of blood. The gunman escaped into the
thick crowd of pedestrians. Mr. Gotti and
Gravano drove down the street, road around
Mr. Bilotti's body and just to make sure that
the two of them were, in fact, shot and dead. NARRATOR: Paul Castellano was
pronounced dead at the scene, the victim of the type of hit
he'd ordered countless times before. Following the assassination,
Gotti took over as boss of the Gambinos, but
legal issues plagued his reign. After years of deflecting
prosecution in 1992, the so-called Teflon Don was
convicted of multiple murders, including Castellano's. He was sent away for life. Gotti wound up in a
maximum security facility where he was penned
up 23 hours a day. The fact that he was John Gotti
don't mean anything there. NARRATOR: Gotti died of
cancer 10 years later. Immediately following
Castellano's death, his mistress, Gloria
Olarte, returned to her native Colombia. His wife, Nina, moved
back into the White House. She shared the family home
with her daughter, Connie, until selling it for
$5 million in 1992. Though today the Gambino
crime family still exists, Paul Castellano's
downfall signaled the end of a very prosperous era. Paul ran the Gambinos with
the cunning of Wall Street, but failed to understand the
life of the traditional street gangster. This ultimately
led to his demise. Paul Castellano will
always be remembered as the guy who forgot
where he came from, forgot that he was a gangster. ERNEST VOLKMAN: Paul Castellano,
in terms of mafia history, will be remembered as a very
imperfect boss who learned at the feet of the greatest
organized crime leader that ever existed and
somehow didn't get it.
