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Paul Castellano, a.k.a. Big Paulie, The Banker
Years as Boss: 1976-1985
While Don Carlo Gambino lay on his
deathbed, he gave control of the Family to his cousin Paul "Big
Paulie" Castellano. From 1976 until his assassination by John
Gotti in 1985, Castellano would come to be known as the "Boss of
Bosses".
Big Paulie Castellano was never a mobster in the classic sense, but
rather a racketeer. He didn't even hang out with other gangsters,
preferring the company of businessmen, and other "important"
individuals. Perhaps one of the reasons he and Don Carlo were so
close was that the Castellanos of Sicily had been instrumental in
Carlo Gambino come to America. Another reason is that Castellano
was a diplomat, a negotiator, and he would always try to solve problems
through discussion rather than violence. When violence was the
only recourse, he would sometimes assign the killings to Roy
Demeo, a ruthless hit man whose techniques weren't that different
from those of serial killers. Castellano had few enemies, but John
Gotti believed Aniello
Dellacroce should
have been made boss, and he had often
been chastised by Castellano for dealing drugs and conducting operations
without prior consultation. When Big Paulie was arrested by the FBI
after bugs planted in the mobsters home had provided several hours of
recorded evidence, rumors began to circulate as to whether he would rat
out fellow Gambino Family members, Gotti, now acting in lieu of
Dellacroce who had recently died of brain cancer, decided it was
time to plan Big Paulie's retirement. The set up was simple, since
he had not been able to attend Aniello Dellacroce's funeral, Castellano
was invited to Spark's Steakhouse, a regular hangout of his, where he
was to meet with Dellacroce's son, and pay his respects. Little
did he know it would be gunned down by two
men, while John Gotti and Sammy Gravano watched from a nearby parked
car.
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