The DeCavalcante Organized Crime Family

I was just having a conversation about the FBI using deep undercover agents like Donnie Brasco and Jack Falcone.  The people I was discussing the subject were wondering why the FBI would spend so much time and money on the Cosa Nostra.  They felt that it was no longer a threat.  I explained to them that the Cosa Nostra was still International in scope and much more dangerous than the flavor-of-the-moment crime group.  

Lets go back to the 80s.  Jamaican Posse, Medellín Cartel and many Mexican groups along the border, but they have no staying power. The Cosa Nostra is like a cancer that you can't get rid of, even with aggressive treatment.  They are able to bounce back because of their structure and because they are a secret group.  When the FBI takes down a crew or the administration, others, known and unknown, can step up and keep running the organization.  

I was surprised when I heard the FBI took down a crew in the DeCavalcante family of New Jersey.  The other families in New York have such a foothold in New Jersey that I forget that the state has its own family.  The FBI had an agent undercover for 3 years in the DeCavalcante family and they were active.  Charles Stango lived in Henderson, Nevada just outside of Las Vegas, but he was still a Capo in the DeCavalcante family.  Anthony Stango, his son, lived in Brick Township, New Jersey and handled his father’s day-to-day operations in New Jersey.  Charles Stango, also known as “Beeps,” took money from the undercover FBI Agent who has been under since 2012.  The Agent had become close to Beeps and last year, just before Christmas, Beeps shared his plans to murder a member of the family.  

Beeps had given the contract to the FBI undercover and told him to kill or maim the other man known as the “Pet” because he had disrespected an older member of the family.  He wanted him shot or blown up in his business in Elizabeth, NJ.  

The order was given in Las Vegas in a meeting between Beeps and the FBI agent and it was recorded by the agent.  Beeps had assured the agent that the DeCavalcante Administration was on board with the murder.  The FBI had the proof because they had intercepted calls between Frank Nigro the family Consigliere and Paul Colella who was the go-between to higher ups in the administration. They all sought and were given permission to murder the wayward member.

Beep’s son and other crew members also distributed cocaine on a large scale in New Jersey and were caught by the FBI.

They were looking to expand into Toms River, New Jersey, where they were going to open a nightclub as cover for a high-end escort business that would cater to businessmen in the area.

Sex sells, and the amount of money that a high end escort business can bring in is staggering.

When I told the FBI and IRS about Nici’s Girls and Exotica 2000 they could not believe the amount of money they made.

In all, the FBI was able to take down 10 members and associates of the DeCavalcante Family from two crews. This was a different bust than other recent ones, because they didn't take down a gambling or shylock operation, which is the staple of Mafia.  They did bust them for selling large amounts of cigarettes.

This quote from U.S. Attorney Fisherman sums it up well, “Though its ranks have been thinned by countless convictions and its own internal bloodletting, traditional organized crime remains a real problem.”