Stefano Vitabile
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Stefano Vitabile (b. 1935) aka. "Steve the Truck Driver" is a New Jersey mobster and former Consigliere of the DeCavalcante crime family.
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[edit] Steve Vitabile's promotion
As a soldier in the crew of John Riggi in the early 1970s, the infamous Mob boss, Simone "Sam the Plumber" DeCavalcante left the family and was considered semi-retired by US law enforcement. As his successor, was John Riggi soon promoted to run the family in the late 1970s unofficially. Vitabile, then still a soldier, rose through the ranks and became Consigliere to Riggi, along with Girolamo "Jimmy Dumps" Palermo as Underboss. This was the current administration of the DeCavalcante crime family toward the 1990s.
[edit] John Riggi's conviction
When in the 1980s, Riggi was in full power of the DeCavalcante crime family, but as he grew power, he became a bigger target, as US law enforcement put Riggi and Palermo on trial for extortion, racketeering and conspiracy in the late 1980s. Vitabile on the other hand, avoided the charges, and kept operating from Elizabeth, New Jersey with Gaetano "Corky" Vastola in labor racketeering and illegal gambling operations. Vastola, then alleged acting boss to Riggi, would be convicted for extortion charges a year after Riggi received 15 years for racketeering. Palermo was acquitted, along with several other members of the DeCavalcante family.
[edit] DeCavalcante consigliere
Toward the 1990s, Vitabile conspired to kill several members of the DeCavalcante crime family, as former Underboss Louis "Fat Lou" LaRasso suddenly disappeared in 1991, and the current acting boss John "Johnny Boy" D'Amato was discovered murdered after rumours went around, saying D'Amato was gay. After Jake Amari took over as acting boss, Vitabile ducked law enforcement for years, as he was recognized as the official Consigliere of the DeCavalcante crime family in the 1990s, and was involved in almost every decision in the family. Especially when it looked to break out a war between two prominent factions of the family, when Vitabile, a John Riggi loyalist, allegedly re-structured the entire formation, and put three Capos or street bosses to run the DeCavalcante crime family, in the family's Ruling Committee/Panel, as Amari suffered from cancer in the mid 1990s. These street bosses were Vincent "Vinny Ocean" Palermo, Charles "Big Ears" Majuri, and Girolamo "Jimmy" Palermo and ran the family throughout the 1990s, with Vitabile still as officialConsigliere, under their incarcerated boss, John Riggi.
[edit] Indictments on Vitabile
Vitabile was soon picked up by law enforcement after Vincent "Vinny Ocean" Palermo was arrested and turned state's evidence in 2000, as he and 50 other associates were put on trial as a result of federal undercover operations in North Jersey. Vitabile was convicted on murder and conspiracy charges from the 1991 murders of LaRasso, D'Amato, and several others throughout the 1990s. Vitabile is believed to have been made acting boss of the DeCavalcante crime family along with Joseph Miranda and Girolamo "Jimmy Dumps" Palermo by John Riggi after 2000. Vitabile was convicted of murder, conspiracy to commit murder, extortion and racketeering in 2006, along with Capos Philip Abramo and Giuseppe "Pino" Schifilliti and received a life sentence that same year. As of December, 2007, Stefano Vitabile is still serving life sentence at the United States Penitentiary (USP), a part of the Allenwood Federal Correctional Complex (FCC), in Allenwood, Pennsylvania. [1]
[edit] External links
- This Week in Gangland: Respected, But Still Dead by Jerry Capeci
- This Week in Gangland: New Jersey Family Is Second Class by Jerry Capeci
- Organized Crime: DeCavalcante Family
- Organized Crime Syndicates: New Jersey LCN Family
- American Mafia: The 'Sopranos' Trial Part One: New Jersey Mob Boss Whacked for Gay Behavior by James Ridgway de Szigethy
- UNITED STATES OF AMERICA vs. Riggi, et. al.
