James Gallo
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James "Jimmy" Gallo (b. 1944) is a convicted felon and "soldier" in the DeCavalcante crime family.
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[edit] DeCavalcante family
According to US law enforcement as well as Mob expert Jerry Capeci, during the mid 1970s, Gallo was 'made' into the DeCavalcante crime family in New Jersey. At the time, Gallo's criminal record included convictions of extortion, conspiracy to commit extortion, loansharking and even attempted murder. [1]
During the 1980s as a soldier for the DeCavalcante family, Gallo would reportedly work with Elizabeth faction leaders Giacomo "Jake" Amari and Girolamo "Jimmy" Palermo, who worked under the reputed Mafia boss Giovanni "John the Eagle" Riggi.
[edit] Shooting Fred Weiss
As Gallo continued as a soldier for the DeCavalcante crime family during the 1980s, he would reportedly work with Elizabeth faction leaders Giacomo "Jake" Amari and Girolamo "Jimmy" Palermo, who worked under the reputed boss of North Jersey, Giovanni "John the Eagle" Riggi. At this time, Gallo became heavily involved in labor racketeering, illegal gambling, loansharking, extortion and especially murder activities around New Jersey. One instance is in 1989, when New York Gambino crime family boss John Gotti asked the DeCavalcante family for a favor; the execution of Fred Weiss, a private sanitation magnate considered a candidate for becoming an informant. Riggi instructed captain Anthony Rotondo into organize Weiss's murder, and hire Gallo and another associate named Vincent "Vinny Ocean" Palermo to perform the task. On September 11, 1989, one day after Rotondo spotted Gambino family mobsters on the prowl near Weiss’s Staten Island home, the DeCavalcante hitmen Gallo and Palermo moved into high gear, climbed into his car and shot Weiss repeatedly, killing him instantly.
[edit] John D'Amato
After Riggi was indicted and convicted in 1990 on racketeering and extortion charges, Elizabeth faction leader and captain John "Johnny Boy" D'Amato was tapped to succeed him as Acting boss, however, after D'Amato was recruited by John Gotti into take over the DeCavalcante family, as well as Underboss Giacomo "Jake" Amari and Consigliere Stefano "Steve the Truck Driver" Vitabile heard from captain Anthony Rotondo that D'Amato was homosexual, Gallo and Palermo, including soldier Anthony Capo were ordered by Rotondo to kill him. John D'Amato disappeared in early 1992, and his body has never been recovered. [2]
[edit] Two Attempted Murders
After Amari died of cancer in 1997, as well as the 'Ruling Panel' was created to continue to run the DeCavalcante crime family and avoid a longtime war, Newark faction leader and "Panel" member Charles "Big Ears" Majuri reached out to Gallo in order to murder Majuri's rival of the Elizabeth faction, Vincent "Vinny Ocean" Palermo. However, Gallo, a strong ally and friend of Palermo, told him about Majuri's plans of taking over the DeCavalcante family, and was ordered by Palermo to murder Majuri instead along with soldiers Joseph Masella and Anthony Capo. However, as they waited for hours in front of Majuri's home, ready to take him down, they decided that the environment and time of shooting Majuri was not good enough and drove away. Masella reported to Palermo, who was hiding in Florida at the time, that the attempt failed.
[edit] Indictment
But in 1999, US law enforcement arrested and indicted over 40 members of the DeCavalcante crime family, including Gallo, who was charged with labor racketeering, extortion, loansharking, illegal gambling and even two counts of murder and three counts of conspiracy to attempt murder. Gallo's associate and fellow soldier, Anthony Capo, was the first who agreed to become state's evidence, however, his captain Anthony Rotondo, who helped organize two of Gallo's murders, also turned an informant in 2001, eventually leading Gallo's mentor and Acting boss, Vincent Palermo, turning state's evidence, and testify against all of his associates. Gallo was denied bail, and implicated as a cold-blooded murder throughout his 30-year-membership with the DeCavalante family, by United State's prosecutors. Gallo was even charged with helping to hide the fierce Underboss of the New York based Lucchese crime family, Anthony "Gaspipe" Casso, in the early 1990s in New Jersey, where he was caught in 1994. [3] [4]
In 2002, Gallo was convicted of various charges and sentenced to 25-30 years in federal prison. As of March, 2008, Gallo is imprisoned at the Federal Correctional Institution (FCI) Gilmer in Glenville, West Virginia. His projected release-date is December 22, 2021. [5]
