Joseph Tangorra
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Joseph "Joey Flowers" Tangorra (b. 1950) is a New York mobster who became a caporegime, or captain, in the Lucchese crime family active in labor racketeering and murder.
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[edit] Family member
Born in New York, Tangorra grew up in Little Italy, Manhattan. As a young man, he quickly gravitated to a life of violence and crime. His nickname, "Joey Flowers" reportedly came from him selling drugs out of a floral shop. In 1992, Tangorra was accidentally shot in the back by Lester Ellis while trying to collect a gambling debt. The shooting injury reportedly caused Tangorra to suffer from several chronic ailments. In 1996, Tangorra and Eugene Castelle took over the Brooklyn/Bensonhurst faction of the Lucchese family. This faction had previously been operated by close associates of Vittorio Amuso and Anthony Casso, who represented the Bronx faction of the family. Alongside mafiosos Steven Crea and Dominic Truscello, Tangorra was a member of the Lucchese construction group, which was active in labor racketeering and extortion activities in the Carpenters and Laborers Unions. In 1999, one of Tangorra's crew members, Carmine Galante, the godson of the former Bonanno crime family boss Carmine Galante, killed 18-year old Bill Manolis inside a Bay Ridge, Brooklyn bar because Manolis was talking to his girlfriend. In May 1999, Tangorra was indicted in Brooklyn on loan sharking charges.
[edit] Indictment
On November 28, 2000, Tangorra and soldier Joseph Truncale were indicted for the 1988 murder of Victor Filocamo. Amuso and Casso had ordered Filocamo killed because they thought he was cooperating with the government. Truncale and George Conte lured Filocamo to Tangorra's social club in Brooklyn. Conte shot Filocamo with a silencer-equipped submachine gun, killing him instantly. Truncale and Tangorra loaded the body into the trunk of Filocamo's BMW, and dropped the car off in a parking lot. After the hit, Tangorra reportedly scrubbed the club's tile floor on his hands and knees, trying to clean off the blood; he eventually replaced the floor. Tangorra was also charged with the 1992 shooting of Henry Motta over a debt. Tangorra would eventually agree to a plea deal on these charges and receive a 16-year sentence prison sentence
[edit] Mental illness
Shortly after his indictment, Tangorra's behavior became increasingly erratic; in one reported incident, he was observed a block away from his home in Brooklyn waving a copy of his indictment. By 2001, while in federal custody awaiting trial, Tangorra complained to prison psychiatrists and medical staff that he was suffering from depression and severe panic attacks. His lawyers claimed that Tangorra's mental condition was deteriorating and he was in need of a psychiatric evaluation. Moved to the New York Metropolitan Detention Center, Tangorra was continually harassed by inmates who called him a "rat". For his safety, Tangorra was later put in isolation. Guards observed Tangorra covering himself with fecal matter. It was reported in court that Tangorra had lost 100 pounds, was hearing voices, and had been placed on suicide watch.
Prosecutors claimed in court that Tangorra was faking mental illness to avoid prosecution. Nevertheless, the judge granted Tangorra additional time to recover. As of April 2008, Tangorra is still incarcerated at the Federal Medical Center in Rochester, Minnesota. His projected release date is December 9, 2014.
[edit] References
- Sifakis, Carl. The Mafia Encyclopedia. New York: Da Capo Press, 2005. ISBN 0-8160-5694-3
- Sifakis, Carl. The Encyclopedia of American Crime. New York: Facts on File Inc., 2005. ISBN 0-8160-4040-0
