Louis Daidone
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Louis "Louie Bagels" Daidone (b. February 23, 1946), is a New York mobster and former Acting boss of the Lucchese crime family.
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[edit] Sidewalk soldier
In the early 1980s, Daidone was recognized by US law enforcement as a made man or soldier in the Lucchese crime family, as he started operating out of the Brooklyn faction of the family. He is a paternal blood relative of Philadelphia crime family mobster Albert Daidone. As a notorious enforcer and "sidewalk soldier", Daidone was involved in loansharking, extortion and drug trafficking activities, under the reputed Consigliere, Christopher "Christie Tick" Furnari, and was heavily associated with Furnari's proteges and future family leaders Vittorio "Vic" Amuso and Anthony "Gaspipe" Casso, who at the time, dominated the powerful Brooklyn faction of the family. [1]
[edit] Mafia trial
After the Commission Case began in 1985, and put all heads of the Five Families on trial, including Lucchese boss Anthony "Tony Ducks" Corallo, reputed Underboss Salvatore "Tom Mix" Santoro and even Furnari, Amuso and Casso took advantage of the situation and brutally murdered Corallo's Acting boss, Anthony "Buddy" Luongo, in an attempt to gain the complete control of the Lucchese crime family. With the backing of Furnari, Corallo made Amuso the new Boss of the family in 1986, after he was sentenced to life imprisonment along with all his co-defendants. Around this time, Casso was promoted Underboss and Daidone was promoted to Captain in the Queens wing.
[edit] Capo in Queens
Besides being a violent mobster, Daidone was the proprietor of Bagels on the Bay, located in Howard Beach, Queens, where his crew was originally based, and was reportedly involved in loansharking, extortion, racketeering, narcotics and especially murder. As a former associate of Amuso and Casso, two of the most notorious leaders of the family, Daidone became a trustee of Amuso and reputedly one of his top aides during the mid 1980s, but as Daidone was a high-ranking member, he still committed orders personally. In 1989, Amuso and Casso suspected Lucchese soldier Thomas Gilmore of being an informant, as they had received the information from two NYPD police detectives Louis Eppolito and Stephen Caracappa, who were on Casso's payroll, and Daidone was reportedly given the assignment. Later during that year, Daidone and two of his associates reputedly followed Gilmore to his home in Queens, New York, and brutally shot him in the head and neck. As massive indictments came up during the next year against Amuso and Casso, both decided to flee New York and become fugitives. But as they used messengers and kept running the Lucchese crime family from afar, they ordered Daidone to organize the murder of Bruno Facciolo in 1990, as Eppolito and Caracappa once again identifyed one of their members as an informant. Daidone lured Facciolo to a garage in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, then stabbed and shot him to death, as well as stuffing a dead canary in Facciolo's mouth. [2]
[edit] Brooklyn rivalry
In 1991, US government captured Amuso in Pennsylvania after being a year on the run from the racketeering, extortion and murder charges against him. After a failed assassination-attempt on prominent capo Peter "Fat Pete" Chiodo, leading Chiodo becoming a government informant, as well as Amuso's Acting boss Alphonse "Little Al" D'Arco and New Jersey faction leader Anthony Accetturo turning state's evidence, proved to be devastating to Amuso's case. In 1992, he was sentenced to life imprisonment.
This would cause great rivalry when the incarcerated Amuso chose Joseph "Little Joe" DeFede as new Acting boss, Steven "Wonderboy" Crea as Underboss and Frank "Big Frank" Lastorino as Consigliere, especially when Lastorino acted on the exiled Casso's orders and aligned himself with Brooklyn faction leaders Frank "Bones" Papagni, George Zappola and Frank Gioia, Jr., who together conspired to kill Crea and DeFede, as well as to take full control of the Lucchese crime family. Daidone, a strong Queens faction leader and much of Amuso's reign, aligned himself with powerful Bronx faction leaders Steven "Wonderboy" Crea, Aniello "Neil" Migliore, Joseph "Joey Dee" DiNapoli and Joseph "Joe C." Caridi of the Long Island faction. Daidone and Caridi had long been in loansharking and extortion operations together, and as war closed up, massive indictments were put on each of the Brooklyn members, who were put on trial in 1993, including the fierce Anthony "Gaspipe" Casso, who was apprehended later that year. After the incarceration of Consigliere Frank Lastorino, Amuso promoted Daidone in charge of his position for his loyal service, next to DeFede and Crea of Manhattan and The Bronx. [3] [4]
[edit] Family Consigliere
As Amuso kept running the Lucchese crime family from his prison cell, Joseph "Little Joe" DeFede kept on as Acting boss and supervisor of the racketeering operations in the Garment District, as well as Steven "Wonderboy" Crea kept running the Bronx faction and controlled all labor and construction racketeering with captains Dominic "Crazy Dom" Truscello and Joseph "Joey Flowers" Tangorra. Daidone on the other hand, reportedly supervised all "muscle" within the family, including the extortion, loansharking, drug trafficking and murder activities he ran from the Queens faction of the family. Daidone then began to cooperate with Joseph "Joe C." Caridi of Long Island in large extortion operations around New York City. DeFede's reign as acting boss eventually stopped in 1998 when he was indicted on nine cunts of racketeering charges, stemming from his supervising of the Garment District, and received a total of five years after pleading guilty to the charges. After DeFede's conviction, Steven "Wonderboy" Crea stepped up as new family leader, and kept operating from The Bronx with former Amuso rivals Aniello "Neil" Migliore, Joseph "Joey Dee" DiNapoli and Matthew "Matt" Madonna, as well as Joseph Caridi and Daidone, who now practically ran the entire Queens faction. Unfortunately for Crea, he would be indicted of extortion and racketeering which ended with the result of a five year sentence. After Crea's incarceration in 2001, Amuso promoted the last member of his old regime, as Daidone was promoted Acting boss of the Lucchese crime family in 2001.
[edit] Acting boss
As Daidone stepped up as the head of the Lucchese crime family, he promoted the fierce and violent regime of Vittorio "Vic" Amuso back at the top. One of Daidone's first assignments was to follow up a lost murder 'contract' ordered by Amuso on former Acting boss Joseph "Little Joe" DeFede, who was believed to have been withholding payments and stealing from the family profit, as Crea had raised the profits enormously while he was in charge. However, as DeFede released from prison in February, 2002, he immediately turned an informant and provided the government everything from labor racketeering to extortion to murder, and it wouldn't take long before US law enforcement started building a large case against Daidone, who had promoted Joseph "Joe C." Caridi as acting Consigliere of the Lucchese crime family under his regime. [5] However, as Amuso had earlier, Daidone would meet his downfall.
[edit] Downfall
In November, 2002, the Suffolk County, New York District Attorney's Office indicted Daidone, Caridi, and captain John Cerrella, charging them with labor racketeering, extortion, bookmaking, loansharking, and other organized crime activities in Long Island, Queens and Brooklyn. During a search of Daidone's home, authorities recovered $70,000 in cash, some marijuana, and some business records. In March 2003, Daidone was indicted by the federal government for two racketeering murders and conspiracy, the victims being Bruno Facciolo and Thomas Gilmore. Testifying against Daidone were Alphonse "Little Al" D'Arco, who had ordered Facciolo's murder, Joseph "Little Joe" DeFede, and Frank Gioia, Jr.. Daidone was convicted of all charges and sentenced to life imprisonment in 2004. [6] [7] [8]
As of February, 2008, Daidone is incarcerated at the high-security United States Penitentiary (USP) in Allenwood, Pennsylvania. [9]
