Carmine Galante

Carmine Galante (February 21, 1910 ? July 12, 1979) was the boss of the Bonanno crime family, a New York City Mafia crime organization. He was rarely seen without a cigar clenched in his teeth, which lead to his rather unimaginative nickname, "Cigar".

Related Topics:
February 21 - 1910 - July 12 - 1979 - Bonanno crime family - New York City - Mafia

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The son of a fisherman, Galante immigrated from Castellammare de Golfo, Sicily, in the late 1910s. His career in crime started when he was only eleven, forming a juvenile street gang on New York's Lower East Side. As a teenager Galante became an associate

Related Topics:
Castellammare de Golfo - Sicily - 1910s - Lower East Side

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mafiosi during Prohibition, becoming leading enforcer by the end of the decade. In 1930 Galante, with several others, were caught by New York police officer Joseph Meenahan while attempting to hijack a truck in the Bronx neighborhood of Williamsburg. In the resulting gun battle Galante wounded Meenahan in the leg as well as a six-year-old girl, who was hit by a stray bullet, and although both survived, Galante was sentenced to 12 1/2 years.

Related Topics:
Mafiosi - Prohibition - Bronx - Williamsburg

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Released on parole in 1939, by 1940 he was carrying out "hits" (murders) for Vito Genovese, one of the most powerful mobsters in New York. Galante went from being the chauffer to the boss of the Bonnano Family, Joseph Bonnano, to the underboss of the organization.

Related Topics:
1940 - Murders - Vito Genovese - Joseph Bonnano

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Galante's rise to power was halted temporarily in 1962 when he was sentenced to twenty years for drug offences. When Joseph Bonnano died of natural causes, Phillip Rastelli took over the Bonnano Family. However, when Galante was released on parole in 1972, he demanded Rastelli step down. Rastelli did so, although only after Galante had killed Rastelli's stepson.

Related Topics:
1962 - Phillip Rastelli - 1972

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During the 1970s, Galante is suspected of organizing the murders of at least eight members of the Gambino Family, with whom he had an intense rivalry, in order to take over a massive drug-trafficking operation. Galante was briefly jailed in 1978 for violating his parole by associating with known criminals, but he was released after being defended by the famous Mafia lawyer Roy Cohn.

Related Topics:
1970s - Gambino Family - 1978 - Roy Cohn

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On July 12, 1979, Carmine Galante was murdered just as he finished eating lunch in a restaurant in Bushwick, Brooklyn. Cigar in mouth, the 69-year-old mobster was blasted at point-blank range with a shotgun. It is suspected his death was arranged by the heads of the other major Mafia Families in New York, who had decided Galante's greed and ambition were a threat to all their interests, although it is possible Phillip Rastelli may have also been involved, as he became the new boss of the Bonnano Family once Galante was out of the way.

Related Topics:
July 12 - 1979 - Bushwick - Brooklyn - Shotgun - Phillip Rastelli

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The gunman who shot Galante was 23-year-old Anthony "Bruno" Indelicato, but it was not until 1986 that Indelicato was convicted of the murder. He served twelve years. Indelicato's father, Alphonse Indelicato, was murdered during the power struggle resulting from Galante's death.

Related Topics:
Anthony "Bruno" Indelicato - 1986 - Alphonse Indelicato

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In 1999, Galante's 23-year-old nephew (also called Carmine) stabbed to death a student during an argument and subsequently received eighteen years for second-degree murder. http://www.hypocrites.com/article6619.html

Related Topics:
1999 - Second-degree murder

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