The Mob History Story of Mobster Angelo “Gyp” DeCarlo, a prominent Genovese crime family caporegime
DeCarlo and Daniel “Red” Cecere were convicted in 1970 of federal offenses involving extortionate credit transactions. DeCarlo received a 12-year sentence, and the appeals court upheld the convictions in 1972. Some biographies describe this as a murder-conspiracy conviction, but the appellate decision identifies the convictions as loansharking and extortion-related offenses; it does not establish that DeCarlo was convicted of poisoning Saperstein. Nixon’s commutation and DeCarlo’s death On December 20, 1972, President Richard Nixon commuted DeCarlo’s sentence, allowing his early release amid reports that he was seriously ill with cancer. This was a commutation, rather than a pardon: it shortened his punishment without erasing his conviction. DeCarlo died in Mountainside on October 20, 1973, at age 71. Many people now recognize his name from Jersey Boys, in which Christopher Walken portrayed him in the 2014 film. For understanding the historical DeCarlo, however, the FBI recordings and federal court record provide the strongest picture of how he exercised power and enforced debts. October 20, 1973, marked the death of Angelo “Gyp” DeCarlo, a prominent Genovese crime family caporegime whose influence over New Jersey’s underworld had extended into loansharking, illegal bookmaking, extortion, and murder for hire. He was 71 years old when cancer claimed his life in Mountainside, New Jersey, bringing an end to a criminal career that had placed him at the intersection of organized crime, political power, and federal investigations. DeCarlo had once exercised considerable authority over criminal operations throughout the state, but by the time of his death, his name had become associated with secret FBI wiretaps, a murder-conspiracy conviction, and a controversial presidential commutation that had allowed him to leave prison before completing his 12-year sentence. Born in Hoboken, New Jersey, on September 2, 1902, DeCarlo was the son of Giuseppe DeCarlo and Annatonia Pantoliano, both immigrants from Monte San Giacomo, in the province of Salerno, Campania, Italy. He eventually established himself as a representative of Genovese crime family interests in New Jersey, developing associations with influential underworld figures Abner “Longey” Zwillman and Gerardo Catena. His rise was built on his ability to generate money, maintain alliances, and use violence when necessary to protect his position. During the late 1950s, DeCarlo systematically eliminated rival mobsters, strengthening his hold on the criminal enterprises that supported his growing authority. As a caporegime, or captain, he supervised his own crew and controlled lucrative operations involving the “juice” racket, the underworld term for loansharking, illegal gambling, and murder for hire.
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