He Ran the Mafia from Prison HT

 

On September 11th, 1989, Fred Weiss left his girlfriend’s condo in New Springville, Staten Island, and walked to his car. Four vehicles carrying 12 men had followed him there. Vincent Polalmo and Anthony Capo approached and shot Weiss multiple times in the face. The killing had been ordered as a favor between crime bosses.

Giovani John the Eagle Rii who gave that order was already serving time in a federal penitentiary in North Carolina while directing the Deal Valkante family from his cell. Rii had built a criminal enterprise deeply embedded in New Jerseys construction industry. He told associates that not a nail went through a wall without the de cavalcante family getting a piece.

 He controlled labor unions, manipulated construction contracts, and moved millions of dollars through systems prosecutors later described as labor rakateeering elevated to an art form. His control from prison distinguished him from nearly every other mob boss of his generation. Giovani Rii graduated from Lynen High School in New Jersey in 1942 as class president.

 He enlisted in the United States Army the following year and became a staff sergeant in the air serving as a mechanic on airplane and truck engines during the invasion of Normandy through the Ardens and into the Rhineland. After the war, he followed his father, Emanuel Manny Rei, into the Laborers International Union of North America and the David Kabokcante Crime Family.

 His father understood how legitimate labor unions could be converted into instruments of criminal profit. Rii became a business agent for the International Association of Laborers and Hod Carriers in New Jersey. learning how money moved between contractors seeking to avoid labor disputes and union officials willing to provide security for a price.

 By the 1960s, he had established his own union branch, Local 1030, and founded a school that claimed to teach workers how to detect and remove asbestous. Anthony Capo later testified that he slept during classes and that Ri’s son took the licensing test for him. When a federal prosecutor asked Capo about his asbestous knowledge, Capo said he wouldn’t know it if he was sitting on it.

 The school created a credentiing system Reishi controlled entirely, allowing him to determine who could work on asbestous removal contracts throughout New Jersey. The Devalcante crime family operated from the Peterstown neighborhood of Elizabeth, New Jersey, where many residents traced their ancestry to Rivera, Sicily. The family was smaller than New York’s five families.

 They compensated through strategic alliances and dominance of specific industries. Under Sam the plumber, De Cavalcante, the family controlled major trade unions and used that leverage on contractors handling job staffing, demolition contracts, and concrete deliveries. Rei managed daily operations for roughly two decades.

 When Derry Kavoccante moved to Florida, Deavoccante experienced severe anxiety, had nightmares about law enforcement, and eventually served time for raketeering. After his release in the mid 1970s, he appointed Rii as acting boss. De Cavalcante stepped down officially in 1980 and Rii became the recognized boss around 1982. Rii refined the family’s labor rakateeering operations.

 He maintained traditional ceremonies and hierarchies that de kavocante had begun to view as outdated. Understanding that these structures provided discipline and loyalty, he profited from construction racketeering, lone sharking, illegal gambling, and extortion while maintaining legitimate income through union positions. The extortion system functioned through a straightforward formula.

Billy Crosby operated a construction contracting business and learned how it worked. In 1980, Crosby hired a part-time mechanic named Charlie Alfano, who introduced him to Salvator Tony. Tony visited the workplace to discuss getting work for Crosby. Crosby attended Alfano’s wedding and met Rii there. Rei said he could obtain substantial construction work for Crosby, but arrangements would go through Tony.

In late 1980, an agreement was reached. Crosby would pay a 5% commission to Tony and a 10% commission to Reishi for work directed to his company. Crosby put Tony on the payroll, though Tony didn’t work regular hours. Crosby was threatened indirectly multiple times. Tiffany told him that once he was in with them, there was no getting out.

 The only way out, Tiffany said, was to be dumped in the bay with his feet encased in concrete. Crosby performs construction work on the homes of Rii and his family without full compensation and in some cases without any payment. Rii and his associates gradually took control of Crosby’s business. In 1982, at Rii’s direction, Crosby explored placing a bid on a contracting job.

 When one of the architects demanded a new Cadillac from Crosby as a bribe, Crosby went to the FBI and agreed to wear a recording device and have one installed in his office. The architect wasn’t associated with Rii or Tany, but Crosby recorded his conversations with them as well. The recordings corroborated that Rii and Tony dominated him.

 Crosby continued making payoffs through 1985. The pattern repeated with other contractors. Leonard Title and Michael Castro formed Akran Construction Company to supplement their existing business Autotron Electric. They consulted Rii before forming the new company to avoid labor problems. At Rii’s direction, Title and Castro made Joseph Merllo a full partner in Akran Construction.

Though neither of them knew Merllo, Merllo was paid a salary for the only job Akran Construction performed. His only work was to show up at the job site four or five times. The check paid to Merllo was endorsed to a pizzeria that Ri’s wife and Merllo’s son owned. Tidle also performed unpaid work for Rii, his friends, and associates.

 Moser brothers mechanical contractors used Rii’s influence to obtain a sweetheart contract with the union. The principal benefit was that Moser could use nonUN laborers for $5.50 an hour instead of the prevailing wage of $12.50 an hour. Rii was videotaped accepting payment from Moser. JP Sasso Inc.

 was a construction contractor that employed members of Rishi’s local union. Though Rishi didn’t formally own any interest in Sasso, conversations recorded at a cafe Rishi frequented revealed that he controlled the business. Rii told Joseph Sasso, “From now on, anything you do comes through me.” Over time, Sasau made large and unexplained gifts to Ri’s daughter and son-in-law and inexplicably assigned valuable interests in various partnerships to them as well.

 A 2004 state commission of investigation report identified 15 to 20 day cavalcante members and associates holding no-show jobs at local 394. One witness testified that he received overtime for a job where he never appeared. Rii placed associates throughout the union structure and extracted money from welfare and pension funds.

 He ran loan sharking and illegal gambling operations, fenced stolen goods, and organized financial fraud schemes where associates sold worthless stock to investors over the phone. Lawyer Peter Vayra testified at a hearing that any contractor who refused to work with the Deavocante family faced violence or threats of violence and job sites could be shut down or picketed.

Union members who caused problems were beaten with iron pipes. Rei maintained a public image of respectability. He donated to charities, including the police athletic league and helped build little league baseball fields in Lynen. Robert Bochino, a former deputy chief of the state organized crime bureau, said people in Elizabeth admired Rii and refused to cooperate with law enforcement.

 When officers arrived to arrest Rii early one morning during a sweep of mob figures, Rii asked politely if he could shower and put on a suit first. Other arrestes wore sweats and sneakers. When Rii entered the holding cell in his suit, everyone stood. Violence enforced the system. On October 17th, 1980, Billy Man, a 44year-old De Cavalcante associate, met with Charles Beep Stango, a Day Cavalcante soldier at the Sherin Hotel in Elizabeth, New Jersey.

 Man was in debt to De Kabakante’s administrators and had allegedly scammed a member of Geneovves family capo Tino Fumara’s crew in a drug deal. man believed he was heading to a meeting to resolve his problems. He climbed into the backseat of a Cadillac. As the car pulled away, gunfire erupted. Man was shot multiple times in the back seat, then stumbled into the street trying to flee. He died in the parking lot.

Stango was convicted for the murder, remained silent, and served 20 years. In the mid 1980s, Rii developed a relationship with John Gotti, the leader of the Gambino crime family in New York. This alliance led directly to the Weiss murder that opened this account. He and two associates with Mob Connections purchased vacant property in Staten Island and began illegally dumping medical waste there.

 When local authorities discovered the scheme in 1989 and began investigating the Gambino and Devalcante families worried Weiss might cooperate with prosecutors. Gotti asked Rii to have Weiss killed. Rii agreed and ordered the hit. In 1989, Rii and other family members were charged with labor raketeering. The following year, he was indicted on state and federal extortion and labor charges in a 33count indictment.

Federal authorities used surveillance records from FBI cameras hidden inside Daphne’s restaurant in the Sheran Newark Airport Hotel in Elizabeth. The trial began on May 21st, 1990 and lasted approximately 8 weeks. Rishi was tried alongside Salvatore Tony and three others. The government’s case relied on testimony from cooperating witnesses, surveillance recordings, and the contractors Rei had extorted.

Ronald Feno emerged as a key prosecution witness. Feno was cleancut, college educated, and had no criminal record. His father had been acting boss of the Buffalo crime family. Feno had cooperated with the FBI almost since taking union office. Feno testified that he met with Rishi to gain his support for a position as vice president and regional manager of the laborers international union.

Joseph Tadaro Jr. the under boss in the Buffalo family wanted him to see Rii for his support. Feno told Rii that Chicago, New England, Cleveland, and Buffalo were all supporting him. Rii agreed to support Feno, but said those areas didn’t have any say in what happened in New York and New Jersey, that those territories were controlled by the families in those areas, and that Cleveland and other families already had to answer to New York anyway.

Rii told Feno that even though people looked at him as a boss, he had to answer to New York as well, making a gesture with his chin toward the city. Feno testified that his gesture referred to a powerful mafia figure in the Genevese crime family. On redirect examination, Feno testified he was aware of Rishi’s position in organized crime during the time he knew him.

When asked how he knew, Feno said he learned from his father or from Sampier, a capo in the Buffalo family during conversations about organized crime. Feno testified Rii was discussed in those conversations and that he was initially told Rii was a soldier or a capo. Later he was told that Rii was the boss or acting boss of the De Kavakante family.

 Jesse Heyman also testified about Rei’s ties to organized crime. Heyman admitted to having committed perjury and had been convicted of numerous criminal offenses over the years. He had only recently decided to cooperate after being sentenced to a lengthy prison term. Hyman testified that Sam de Cavalcante was the boss of the crime family and that John Rei was his under boss.

Heyman was thoroughly impeached during cross-examination. Veno, by contrast, appeared reliable and believable. Though Ri’s initial conviction was overturned by a federal appeals court on the grounds that the trial court had improperly restricted recross examination of witnesses. Rei ultimately pleaded guilty to state and federal extortion and labor charges.

In 1992, he was sentenced to 12 years in federal prison at Butner, North Carolina. He was convicted of Taft Hartley and Hobbs Act violations based on his conduct with Crosby’s Heating Service, Akran Construction Corp., Moser Brothers Mechanical Contractors, and JP Saso, Inc. He was acquitted on RICO charges that alleged he was acting boss of the day cavalcante crime family.

 From prison, Rii appointed a ruling panel to control the de kavakante family until his release. The acting boss on the panel, Guyatano Corki Vasola, was arrested and jailed. Rii then appointed John Damato as acting boss. Damato had been recruited by the Gambino crime family and was conspiring to murder Fasto. In late 1991, Damato argued with his girlfriend who was involved with Anthony Rotando, a day cavalcante captain.

 She told Rotando that when she and Damato went to clubs, Damato engaged in sexual activity with other men. Rotando shared this information with Jakomao Amari the under boss and Stfano Vabille the coniglier. They decided to kill Damato after informing Rii. Tapo later testified that nobody would respect the family if they had a homosexual boss disgusting Lacosa Nostra business.

 In January 1992, John Damato disappeared. His body has never been found. Vincent Polalmo and Rudy Ferrron buried him at a property in Newberg, New York. On November 11th, 1991, 64year-old Lewis Fatlu Laraso a day Kabakante Capo was killed on orders from Rii and Conigulier Stefano Vabille. The family administration had voted to kill Laraso after deeming him a threat to imprisoned boss Rii and acting boss Damato.

 Laraso was lured by Guspe Shifaliti to the home of a soldier where he was killed by members of Philip Abramo’s crew. His body was disposed of and his car was left in a JFK airport parking lot to give the impression he had fled. Two de Cavocante members, Lewis Louie Egs Consalvo and Gregory Rajo, later pleaded guilty to their roles in Loraso’s murder, moments before their federal trial was set to begin.

 They avoided potential life sentences and faced maximum sentences of 15 years. After Damato’s murder, Rii appointed Jacomao Jake Omari as acting boss. Amari died of stomach cancer in 1997. In 1998, Rii organized a three-man ruling panel consisting of Gerro Lammo Polarmo, Vincent Palmo, and Charles Majuri with Stfano Vabil as consiliary.

The panel structure prevented any single person from accumulating enough power to challenge Ri’s authority. Charles Majoui had worked for the family since his teenage years and believed he should have been named sole acting boss. To gain control, Majoui decided to kill Vincent Polarmo and contracted soldier James Gallow to carry out the murder.

Gallow was loyal to Vincent Polalmo and informed him of the plot. Vincent Polarmo planned to retaliate by killing Missouri, but the murder was called off. In January 1998, Ralph Guino became an FBI informant to avoid a long prison sentence for his role in masterminding a heist at the World Trade Center.

 Guano was a career criminal in his mid-40s with an extensive record of fraud, lararseny, and felonious behavior. He knew Vincent Polarmo, a Day Kavakante member married to Sam David Kavakante’s niece. Polalmo assigned Guino to work with his driver and longtime friend, Joseph Joey Misella, a bookmaker deeply in debt to members of various Kosanosa families.

Guino recorded Joey O talking about private matters, mafia dealings, and schemes to make the money he desperately needed to pay off his debts. By October 1998, Joey O’s creditors had grown tired of his excuses and had him killed. A week after the murder, Guino was reassigned to Joseph Tinerclafani, a 54year-old gangster whose favorite topic was the fact that he had been passed over for promotion to Capo.

When Vincent Polarmo gave the order to kill veteran Capo Frank Damato, FBI informant Ralph Guino was asked to participate. Though the murder plot failed, Sclafani proposed Guino for membership in the De Cavocante family. Before Guino could be inducted, he was pulled off the street and placed in witness protection program along with his wife and two children.

The move became necessary because of a leak inside the police that could have compromised his status. Guino spent 10 years working undercover for the FBI, wearing a hidden microphone and recording conversations about murders, extortion, lone sharking, and gambling. On December 2nd, 1999, law enforcement arrested more than 40 Day Cabalcante members and associates using information from Guino.

New York FBI chief Barry Man stated that the De Cavocante family had plotted and committed killings on the streets of New York while attempting to make money on Wall Street. Vincent Polarmo decided to cooperate with the FBI in exchange for reduced sentence leading to the arrest of 12 more men within a year.

 Anthony Rotundo and Anthony Capo also became government witnesses. In 2001, 20 mobsters were charged with racketeering, seven murders, 14 murder conspiracies, attempted murder, extortion in the construction industry, and stock fraud. This was the fourth major indictment of the family since 1999. The tape recordings made by Ralph Guino set off a chain reaction that resulted in 70 arrests and 10 informants.

 Between 1999 and 2005, approximately 45 men were imprisoned, including the family’s condier and seven capos. Federal authorities wanted to charge Rishi with five murders. In September 2003, just before his scheduled release, Rii was sentenced to an additional 10 years after pleading guilty to ordering the Fred Weiss murder.

 Rii was 78 years old and suffering from heart disease and prostate cancer. At his plea hearing, Rei stated, “We agreed that he should be murdered. Pursuant to the agreement, Fred Weiss was murdered. That’s it. In 2006, Philip Abramo, Guspe Shifaliti, and Stefano VBle were sentenced to life imprisonment for their roles in the Weiss murder and other crimes.

 Vitale who had acted as the family’s consiligier for 35 years was the most senior de kabalcante member to be tried since the FBI had arrested the ruling hierarchy. He was charged with two murder counts and six murder conspiracies. Rei remained in federal prison hospitals as his health deteriorated. On November 27th, 2012, he was released from the Federal Medical Center in Devons, Massachusetts.

 He was 87 years old. He moved to a small house in Edison, New Jersey, where he lived with a nurse. Lee Seglum, assistant director of the state commission of investigation, said Rii might be the last of the oldtime bosses for the region. Giovani John the Eagle Rei died at his home in Edison on August 3rd, 2015 at the age of 90.

 His children, Emanuel, Vincent, John, Francis, Tony, Theres, and Maria survived him. His wife of 50 years, Sarah Rei had died before him. Rishi’s life in the de kabalcante family reportedly inspired elements of HBO’s series the sopranos the show’s creator drew on the anxiety of bosses like Simone de Cavalcante and the operational methods of leaders like Giovani Rii members of the family discussed whether the television series was modeled after them asking each other is that supposed to be us in many instances the activity depicted

on television was remarkably similar to the activity of the real life mafia. Activity no member of the public had ever been privy to. The day Cavalcante crime family never recovered from the prosecutions of the late 1990s and early 2000s. Rii’s additional sentence in 2003 coincided with the successful indictments of more than 40 associates and the family’s crime operations largely ceased.

 The no-show jobs, kickback schemes, and plundered pension funds collapsed under federal scrutiny and testimony from former members who traded their oaths for reduced sentences. In March 2015, shortly before Ri’s death, the FBI arrested 10 family members and associates on charges of conspiracy to commit murder and drug distribution.

In 2016, Charles Big Ears Majoui became the official boss. By late 2025, Majoui began shifting power to Dominico Memo Marzulo, who is expected to become the new boss. Giovani Rii ran the Davalante family from prison through careful management of ruling panel structures, strategic appointment of acting bosses, and the cultivation of fear and respect that allowed his instructions to carry weight when transmitted through prison phones and visiting rooms.

 He had built a system that functioned in his absence, a structure based on fear, loyalty, and the certainty that his orders would be carried out regardless of where he was held. A decorated war veteran who applied military organizational skills to organized crime. Rii proved that incarceration couldn’t break the hold he maintained over his subordinates.

He was the last of the old-time mob bosses for his region, outliving his contemporaries, his enemies, and most of the men he had sent to prison were ordered killed.