Mafia Prince: Inside America's Most Violent Crime Family (15 page)

             
See Caponigro thought that he had the okay to kill Ange. When he went to Funzi Tieri, Tieri told him that he had gotten the okay from the Commission, but Tieri never presented it to the Commission; they would have never sanctioned it.

             
For one, Ange was close with Paul Castellano, who had the top seat on the Commission, and two, our family was aligned with the
Gambinos. If Funzi Tieri, who is with the Genovese, comes to the Commission and says, “Tony Bananas wants to kill Angelo Bruno,” Castellano would have known it was designed to empower the Genovese, and Castellano wasn’t stupid.

             
So when Caponigro is talking to Funzi Tieri about killing Ange, he thinks he’s talking to the boss, because everyone thought that Tieri was the boss, but he wasn’t. The Chin was.

             
So Tieri strokes Caponigro along and all the while, Tieri, the Chin, and Bobby Manna are manipulating the whole thing. They want Ange dead so that my uncle gets the union, which benefits them. They also want Ange dead so that Philadelphia’s Commission vote now goes with the Genovese and not the Gambinos, which benefits them, and on top of it, they want Caponigro dead so they can take his gambling and loan sharking operation, which is worth several million, which also benefits them.

             
A few years before all this, there was a beef between Caponigro and Funzi Tieri over a North Jersey bookmaking operation that Caponigro controlled, but Tieri was trying to move in on.

             
They took the dispute to the Commission and Ange backed Caponigro and since the Gambinos had the votes and we were with the Gambinos, the Commission voted in favor of Caponigro instead of Tieri.

             
Bobby Manna told me and my uncle what happened next: So Caponigro is called in and he sits down in a chair and faces Fat Tony, Tieri, Bobby Manna, and the Chin, who are seated across from him behind a table. So the Chin says, “We’re here to find out who gave you permission to whack out your boss, Angelo Bruno. Can you tell us?” So Caponigro looks at Tieri, and Tieri looks back at him stone-faced. So Caponigro says, “Funzi told me I had the okay, that the Commission approved the hit.” So the Chin says, “Frank, what’s he talking about?” And Tieri looks at Caponigro and says, “I told you to straighten it out, not to kill him.”

             
The next day after they killed Caponigro in New York, Blackie Napoli comes down to Atlantic City and tells us, “Tony’s dead, his brother-in-law Freddie, too.” He then says to my uncle, “Bobby wants to see you and Phil Testa in New York tomorrow.”

             
Now with Caponigro dead, Blackie is the top guy in North Jersey. He was one of the guys in Yardville with my uncle and Bobby Manna. Blackie told me and my uncle that he is the one who gave Caponigro the shotgun that he used to kill Ange.

             
So my uncle calls for Salvie to come down from Philadelphia and he tells him, “Tell your dad, me and him gotta take a drive tomorrow.”

             
Now me, my uncle, and Lawrence are still restricted, meaning we can’t leave Atlantic County because of our bail in the Falcone case.

             
So my uncle says to me, “Find a way I can sneak out of here tomorrow through one of the back alleys and I will meet Phil Testa and Salvie a couple blocks away.” Salvie was gonna drive his dad and my uncle to New York.

             
My uncle says, “Park the car right in front of the office on Georgia Avenue and I want you to stay outside all day in front of the office.”

             
He’s saying this because he wants me to attract the attention of the detectives that would watch us, so that he could sneak away, and then sneak back without getting caught.

             
If you knew your way around back there, you could go a few blocks without anyone seeing you. It was perfect for us when we were trying to avoid the law.

             
So my uncle and Phil Testa go up to New York and meet the same group that killed Caponigro. It’s basically the same setup, except this time the Chin tells Phil Testa that the Commission has decided that he is now the boss of the Philadelphia mob and that the Commission wants him to name my uncle either underboss or consigliere, and that the Commission wants anyone and everyone involved in Ange’s death to be identified and killed. He also tells him that Blackie Napoli is to remain as boss of the family’s North Jersey operation.

             
Now what Phil Testa doesn’t know, but my uncle does, is that the main reason Ange is dead and now Caponigro, too, are the four guys sitting across from him in this room. They set it all up and now they want everyone who had a hand in it to be killed. That’s how treacherous they were. But to them this was all about money and power, it was business and nothing personal.

             
Now my uncle doesn’t say anything, but he was expecting to be underboss, not consigliere. Pete Casella was an old-time guy who was around Ange who had recently gotten out jail for dealing drugs. My uncle never fooled with drugs; the rules of
La Cosa Nostra
forbid it. Now we have a drug dealer as our underboss. The best way I can describe it is when John McCain picked, what’s her name, Sarah Palin, to be his running mate in the 2008 Presidential election. Pete Casella as underboss? It had everybody scratchin’ their heads, me and my uncle were stunned, but there was nothing we could do. In
La Cosa Nostra,
the boss is the boss.

             
Almost immediately after he becomes the boss, true to his word, Phil Testa sends word to my uncle that he wants to make me, Salvie, Chuckie, and Lawrence—formally induct us into
La Cosa Nostra.

             
He knows that we have the Falcone trial coming up in a couple of months and he tells my uncle, “If, God forbid, you don’t win, I want these kids”—meaning me and Lawrence—“to be able to go to jail as men,” meaning as made members.

             
It was June 8, 1980, a few months after Ange got killed and Phil Testa became the boss. The Falcone trial was less than two months away. One day my uncle takes me, Chuckie, and Lawrence to Scannicchio’s for lunch.

             
While we were eating he tells us, “Tomorrow’s gonna be your day for this,” and he rubs his index finger and his thumb together, meaning the button. He tells us, “Don’t be nervous, everything’s
gonna go nice and smooth.”

             
So the next morning we were up early, showered and shaved and wearing our best suits. The night before I had borrowed a car from a friend and parked it a few blocks away. We left the Cadillac in front of the office on Georgia Avenue. So me, my uncle, and Lawrence sneak out the back of Georgia Avenue through the alleys and we make it to the car that I had parked on Texas Avenue.

             
As we’re driving, my uncle tells us the ceremony is going to be at a house in South Philadelphia belonging to Pete Casella’s brother-in-law Johnny Cappello. I’m driving, my uncle’s in the passenger’s seat and Lawrence is in the back. We had to pick up Chuckie, and then head to Johnny Cappello’s house. As we’re driving, my uncle is telling us all about the ceremony and what to expect. Because this was a clean car, we felt comfortable talking in it.

             
Now it’s summertime and it’s scorching hot out and my uncle doesn’t like air conditioning because it bothers his allergies. So we’re driving, and me and Lawrence are dying with the heat while he’s talking. He’s as cool as a cucumber, but we are melting. I catch Lawrence’s eyes a few times in the backseat and we gave each other the look, but we can’t say nothing.

             
So we pick up Chuckie and we head over to Johnny Cappello’s house. People were arriving as we were. Blackie Napoli and Patty “Specs” Martirano were there from North Jersey. Sindone was there with Chick Ciancaglini. Pete Casella was there. Santo Idone was there. Freddie Iezzi, Chickie Narducci, and his son Frank were there. Coo Coo Johnny Grande was there with his son Salvatore, whom we all called Wayne. Frank Monte was there. The Blonde Babe was there. Even my great uncles, the Piccolo Brothers. I can’t even remember everyone else, but the house was packed. The whole organization was there, the whole mob. When we walk in everyone is hugging and kissing us—me, my uncle, Chuckie, and Lawrence. Then Phil Testa and Salvie arrived, and the ceremony begins.

             
Phil Testa starts off by introducing the guys who were getting made to everyone in the room. It was me, Chuckie, Lawrence, Salvie, Frankie Narducci Jr., Wayne Grande, Pete Casella’s brother Anthony, Bobby Lumio, and the Blonde Babe, old man Pungitore who were getting made that day.

             
They then put all of us into a room in the house away from the
group and a few minutes later the person who is sponsoring you comes to the room and gets you and brings you back to the group.

             
Now before the ceremony started, the house was like a big party: everyone was carrying on and it was very loud. But now you can hear a pin drop.

             
When it was my turn, my uncle came back and got me and walked me into the room. Everyone was standing around a big table and Philip Testa was at the head of the table. On the table was a knife and a gun. On one side of Phil Testa was Pete Casella, the underboss, and on the other was my uncle, the consigliere.

             
Phil Testa said, “Philip, do you know why you are here?” And I said, “No I don’t,” and the whole room erupts in laughter. Of course, I knew why I was there, but you were supposed to say that you didn’t. It was like a running joke. He said, “These men at this table, do you know who they are and why they are here?” I said, “Yes, I do.” He said, “Do you have any problems with any of the men in this room, or know of any reason why you should not be here today?” I said, “No I do not.” He said, “Would you like to join this thing of ours?” I said, “Yes, I would.” And he asked me to step forward, closer to the table.

             
He pointed to the knife and the gun and he said, “Would you use these to protect your friends?” and I said, “Yes, I would.” He said, “Would you place this brotherhood before everything that you love in your life?” I said, “Yes, I would.” He said, “If you had a wife or a child and they were on their deathbed and we needed you, would you leave them and join us?” I said, “Yes I would.”

             
Phil Testa then said something in Italian and the men in the room formed a circle and held hands. He instructed me to go around the room and greet everyone. So I went around the table and shook hands and kissed each man on both cheeks. When I got to the head of the table, I kissed my uncle, and then I kissed Phil Testa. My uncle used the pin from a small gold tie clip to prick my trigger finger, and then he told me to cup my hands. He had a small piece of paper with a picture of a saint on it, and he lit the paper on fire and placed it in my hands.

             
Phil Testa told me to repeat after him, and he said, “May I burn like this saint if I betray my friends,” and he told me to keep saying it and saying it until the flame burned out.

             
Then he told me to go back around the room and greet the men like I did earlier, only this time when I made it around the table and got back to Phil Testa, the circle broke and Phil Testa said something in Italian with the words
amici
and
La Cosa Nostra,
which meant “friend” and “this thing of ours,” and then he took my hand and the circle was formed again, but now I was a part of it. I was a made man.