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GREG SCARPA SNR.
Part Three
In the August of 1986 Greg Scarpa had become ill. He had been bleeding internally due to bleeding ulcers. He was taken to the Victory Memorial hospital in Brooklyn where he was admitted. The ulcers had proven difficult to stop bleeding and as a result an emergency blood transfusion was necessary. Scarpa however, on hearing that he needed the transfusions refused to use any blood from the hospitals blood bank. Even although that by this time the testing of blood for the HIV virus was being implemented as a matter of course in all hospitals throughout the US to prevent the spread of the virus through blood transfusion. Scarpa was frightened that he could be given the blood of an African-American donor and did not want to run the risk of having what he termed "nigger" blood transfused into his body.
The diehard racist that Scarpa was could not allow that to happen, so he immediately ordered his long-term girlfriend Linda Schiro to bring his relatives and crew members to the hospital to give their blood for the transfusion. The FBI's deal with the devil would soon be coming to an end and it wouldn't be because of any heated arguments between Scarpa and a "higher up" within he FBI, no this time it would be due to a "higher power" the man upstairs, God.
Blood from the assembled family and crew was used for Scarpa's transfusions but some of the blood hadn't gone through the normal proceedures for testing for the AID's virus. Paul Mele, a Scarpa crew member gave blood for his boss the same way all of the members of Scarpa's crew did. Six months later Mele was dead, from complications associated with AID's. Apparently Mele had contracted HIV from using a dirty needle. In the meantime Greg Scarpa had undergone emergency surgery. At first it looked successful, but soon Scarpa began drifting in and out of conciousness and ran a high temperature. His girlfriend Linda Schiro was unhappy with the doctors at Victory Memorial and had Scarpa transferred to Mount Sinai hospital in Manhattan. Scarpa's stomach had now hemorraged profusely and was beyond repair. It was surgically removed. Scarpa's overall condition improved, but he had contracted the Aid's virus from the contaminated blood transfusion.
Greg Scarpa didn't let his illness stand in the way of him making money. His crew was responsible for distributing vast amounts of crack-cocaine all across the Brooklyn area for most of the 1980's and thus making Scarpa a very wealthy individual in the process. His son Greg Jr, and his stepson Joey were also involved as dealers. In 1987 Greg Jr. told some of his crew that he had been given ten names of drug dealrs, one of hom was himslef, who had been targeted by the DEA. He said the list had been given to him by "a friend" of his fathers - a friend in law enforcement. In relaity the friend in law enforcement was his father, Greg Scarpa. Greg Scarpa wnt into hiding and the other nine drug dealers on the list were charged and convicted. He was captured in August of 1988 and jailed for drug trafficking. Meantime the FBI had been making huge inroads in their fight against organized crime. A series of raids and arrests had resulted in the bosses of the five NewYork crime families being convicted and jailed. Carmine Persico the boss of the Colombo family was sentenced to 100 years in prison with no payrole option and also fined $240,000. Alphonse 'Allie Boy' Persico, Carmine's son was imprisoned also and wouldnt be released until 1993. With all the major leaders of the Colombo family convicted, Carmine had no option but to name a distant relative, Victor 'Little Vic' Orena acting boss of the family. Orena was a Capo before his ascension to the top spot in the family. With both Persico's in prison 'Little Vic' was paying little or no heed to the wishes of Carmine Persico and was running the family on his own terms. He had been refusing to share any profits and had also refused to hand over the reigns to Allie Boy Perisco once he got released from prison. Orena had talks with John Gotti boss of the Gambino family in which he cited a munber of LCN rules that in his opinion, Carmine Persico had broken. Orena wanted the commision to make him undisputed boss of the Colombo family. Orena had the backing of Gotti in this move. Many have speculated that Gotti wanted to Orena to be made boss of the Colombo family and had been playing Orena for some time because he himself wanted to sieze control of the Colombo family's operations and he told his Gambino crews to sever any ties to Colombo family operations that involved guys still loyal to Carmine Persico.
On June 1991 an attempt was made to hit Orena by guys still close to Persico, but Orena survived the hit. Everyone could see that the situation would turn into a full scale war and the other family's didnt want this, a mob war was bad for business, attracting unwanted attention by the feds and media. The two factions within the Colombo family were told to cool it and work things out. All was quiet for a few months and it seemed as though things had settled down. On the morning of November 18th 1991 Greg Scarpa left his home, got into his car and drove out of his driveway with his daughter and grand child in tow. As Scarpa's car drove along the street a van pulled out and across his path blocking his way. At that point three masked men jumped from the van and began firing automatic weapons at Scarpa's car. Scarpa evaded the gunfire by mounting the verge and driving around the van. His car was riddled with bullets but miraculously Scarpa nor his daughter nor grandchild were hit. Revenge and a war were now to the fore front of Scarpa's thoughts.
The FBI traced the van to a Queens based rental company, Scarpa got hold of this information and knew by making his own enquiries that the hit was ordered by William ' Wild Bill' Cutelo, the acting under-boss of the Colombo crime family. A few days later Hank 'The Bank' Smurra a Persico loyalist was 'whacked', shot through the head, this hit was also ordered by Cutelo. On November 29th Larry Sessa another loyal to Persico was the passenger in a car that knocked down three pedestrians, when the friend who was driving the car took a bullet in the arm which led to him losing control of the vehicle in an attempt to avoid further gunfire.
Scarpa still seething at the attempt made on his life and what could have been the fatal involvement of his daughter and grandchild went into action. The fact that he was weak from years of illness did nothing to lessen his desire for payback, neither did the fact that his once bull like 16 stone physique had shrivelled to a thin, almost skeletal 10 stone shadow of the strong forceful figure of a man he once was. He was about to take the war to the Orena faction almost single-handedly. First to drop was Thomas Amato, a genovese soldier who was unfortunate enough to be in the company of Joseph Tolino an Orena soldier who Scarpa had targeted as his first victim in his retaliation plans. Luck was with Tolino on that day though, because he was only wounded and not killed. Two days later Rosario Natasa, a Persico loyalist was shot dead and his girlfriend wounded. Things now really began to heat up. Twenty-four hours later another Persico soldier lay dead the result of a hit. Scarpa had an underling whack Orena mobster Vincent Fusaro, Fusaro had been hanging christmas decorations outside his family home again this was in retaliation. On December 8th, James Malpiso was shot in the chest, he too had been an Orena mobster.
During this bloody chapter in the Clombo family's history Scarpa had been receiving information on the rebel Orena faction from a source whom Scarpa had often been heard to refer to as 'The Girlfriend'. The person known as 'The Girlfriend' was undoubtedly a man and a man whom Scarpa trusted 100%. This source had given Scarpa information on January 1992 that a mobster named Joel 'Joe Waverly' Cacace was out to do him some harm. A few days later on a Brooklyn street, Cacace's car screeched close to Scarpa's. Cacace shot out Scarpa's windshield and Scarpa got off a few shots in return before his automatic weapon jammed frcing him to speed off leaving him to fight another day. A month or so later Scarpa met Cacace face to face.
The result of this encounter was that Cacace was left with a bullet in his abdomen. Scarpa was the scourge of the Orena faction at this time. In a meeting with Persico loyalists, Carmine Sessa made his feelings known to the rest of the asembled wiseguys that "Scarpa was the only one getting anything done!"
Responding to Sessa's jibe, a crew of Persico loyalists took out another Orena sldier, John Minerva and an Orena associate outside Minerva's Long Island home.
While this Colombo family war raged Scarpa still took time to feed DeVecchio information keping him updated on the situation. At one time he even made a point of telling DeVecchio that the Persico faction were planning a hit. He then blew out the brains of Capo Nicholas 'Nicky Black' Grancio and told DeVecchio that another capo (who was completely blameless) carried out the hit. Other FBI agents were gathering evidence that linked Scarpa to several killings and were incensed that someone within their own dept was leaking key information to the Mafia. As a result of this unrest DeVecchio's superior Donald North ordered Scarpa's link to the FBI be terminated and that the relationship between DeVecchio and Greg Scarpa end along with it.
It was the spring of 1992 and the war was now beginning to die down. Both Vic Orena and Capo Pasquale 'Patty' Amato had been indicted on murder and racketeering charges. In August Scarpa had taken out a mal-practice civil law suit against the Memorial Hospital. The action ended with Scarpa settling for a $300,000 payout. He planned to take a long hliday to florida to celebrate and rest up. He first had to hand himself in to police in NewYork City on a gun charge. He had been spotted tossing a gun from his car window. He had made an agreement with the cops that he would hand himself in, on the understanding he would be arraigned and released. This didn't happen, instead he was arrested by two FBI agents on charges of conspiracy to commit murder. DeVecchio had been kept totally unaware of this move and was 'visably upset' when he was informed what had transpired. Due to Scarpa's terminal illness he was placed under house arrest with the stipulation that he wear an electronic bracelet that would alert the authorities if he ventured outside his home.
It was the spring of 1992 and the war was now beginning to die down. Both Vic Orena and Capo Pasquale 'Patty' Amato had been indicted on murder and racketeering charges. In August Scarpa had taken out a mal-practice civil law suit against the Memorial Hospital. The action ended with Scarpa settling for a $300,000 payout. He planned to take a long hliday to florida to celebrate and rest up. He first had to hand himself in to police in NewYork City on a gun charge. He had been spotted tossing a gun from his car window. He had made an agreement with the cops that he would hand himself in, on the understanding he would be arraigned and released. This didn't happen, instead he was arrested by two FBI agents on charges of conspiracy to commit murder. DeVecchio had been kept totally unaware of this move and was 'visably upset' when he was informed what had transpired. Due to Scarpa's terminal illness he was placed under house arrest with the stipulation that he wear an electronic bracelet that would alert the authorities if he ventured outside his home.
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