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| 1963 |
Frank Bonino was a member of the Gambino Family.
Born Francesco Bonino on February 25, 1917 in Manhattan to Nicola (21y) and Susie Galgano (18y). Father's family from Province of Genoa, Liguria. Mother's family believed from Naples, Campania.
The family resided at 226 West Houston St in Manhattan's Greenwich Village neighborhood, where Nicola worked in a factory as a pattern cutter.
By 1930 the Boninos moved to an address on Sand Lane in Arrochar, Staten Island.
Within five years the family switched boroughs again, living at 1752 West 13th St in Gravesend, Brooklyn. Frank, more commonly known by nickname Hank, worked as a checker in a fruit market.
Early the following year he moved a few doors down to 1740 West 13th St and obtained employment as longshoreman with the New York Cuban Mail Line on Pier 14 in Manhattan.
On the night of February 15, 1941 Bonino participated in a botched armed robbery resulting in the fatal shooting of thirty-two-year-old Murray Hameroff. The victim was accosted outside his Coney Island residence by Carlo Noia who, armed with a revolver, demanded money and attempted to coerce him into the backseat of his own automobile. As Bonino stood by, a struggle between Noia and Hameroff ensued, ending when Noia fired a shot into the victim's back. The pair fled the scene in a Sedan driven by Santo 'Sammy Shields' Caminito. Hameroff was taken to Harbor Hospital where he died three days later.
Three months later the NYPD successfully tracked down the Sedan and took its occupant, Santo Caminito, into custody. Noia and Bonino were soon brought in as well. The indictment for 1st degree murder was handed down against the trio in June.
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| Hameroff Defendants (L to R): Noia, Caminito, Bonino Source: New York Daily News |
Convicted after a brief trial in mid-February 1942, the defendants were each given life sentences by County Court Judge Brancato. Carlo Noia, who faced the electric chair for his role as shooter, was spared death only at the request of Brancato's wife.
Bonino was received at Sing Sing Prison on March 2, 1942. By Summer 1944 he had been transferred to Attica, where staff classified him an 'agitator'. He spent the next fourteen years behind bars.
In late April 1956 the New York State Court of Appeals reversed Bonino's murder conviction. Co-defendant Santo Caminito was freed the previous year. Carlo Noia, press reported, chose not to fight his conviction.
Bonino was out of prison by May. In September he was picked up on a gambling charge in Manhattan. A second gambling arrest occurred the following January, both cases quickly being dismissed.
Within two years of his release he was inducted into the Gambino Family.
In May 1959 he was briefly held for consorting in Brooklyn. At the time he listed employment with Ron-Ric Auto Sales at 9815 4th Ave in Bay Ridge.
By 1960 he was living at 434 Ave W in Gravesend and claimed employment with All Boro Lathing Corporation at 45 Bay 19th St in Bath Beach.
That September he was among 11 arrested for consorting in an NYPD raid of a social club at 8811 18th Ave in Bath Beach. Others held in addition to Bonino were Gambino Members John Chiarello, Vincent DeCicco and Paul Zaccaria along with Bonanno Associates Anthony Bonacci and Pasquale Cosoleto. The next day Bay Ridge Court Judge Malbin dismissed charges.
In May 1962 he was arrested in Brooklyn for possessing burglary tools. Later that month this case was also thrown out.
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| Eppolito Brothers (L to R): Alfred, James Source (Alfred): FBN Mafia Book |
By this point Frank Bonino was in the crew headed by Gambino Capodecina Alfred 'Freddy' Eppolito. Additional crew members included Alfred's brothers, James aka 'Jimmy the Clam' and Ralph aka 'Fats', as well as Andrew 'Boston' Parillo, David 'Fat Dave' Iacovetti, Peter 'Petey 17' Piacenti and Arnold 'Allie' Romano. Associates included James 'Jimmy Dano' Androlini who, an FBI source later reported, lost his chance at being made under Freddy's sponsorship for being 'too wild'.
Closely associated with the Eppolitos, James in particular, Bonino was an almost daily visitor at the Eppolito residence in Flatlands, Brooklyn. It was likely James or one of his brothers who proposed Bonino for membership.
In early 1963 CI Alfred Santantonio, a Gambino Soldier, identified Alfred Eppolito as a Captain with approximately thirty men underneath him, including someone he knew only as Hank. Soon afterwards a mugshot of Frank Bonino was shown to Santantonio and he confirmed a match.
Alfred Eppolito died in late May 1963. Alfred's brother James and Andrew Parillo were both named by informants as possible successors. By 1964 James was confirmed to hold the position.
Bonino maintained a close association with his new captain, and in June 1964 the two were picked up for consorting at crew member David Iacovetti's Crab Joint Restaurant in Sutton Place, Manhattan. When Eppolito left New York for Florida in the wake of legal trouble, he entrusted Bonino with looking after his family. Bonino was also observed at Eppolito's Miami Beach residence on multiple occasions through the following years.
On November 23, 1966 an NYPD raid on the Ravenite Social Club in Little Italy, Manhattan netted Bonino and eleven others. Those arrested in addition to Bonino included Family Captains Paul Castellano and Aniello Dellacroce, Acting Captain Joseph N. Gallo and Soldiers Michael 'Mike Tali' Caiazzo, Anthony 'Fat Andy' Ruggiano and Peter Tortorella.
Described by one informant as 'relatively inactive in Gambino Family matters', Bonino worked for a Clinton Hill pizzeria operated by a friend of the Eppolitos, and continued to frequent the crew's social club at St. Marks and Grand Aves in Prospect Heights.
It's not clear when James Eppolito, who didn't return to Brooklyn until about 1975, was demoted or stepped down. As late as 1977 the FBI listed him as Capodecina. By the late 1970s he and his son James Jr. were under Anthony 'Nino' Gaggi.
As a longtime Eppolito associate, Bonino was likely with Gaggi's crew as well.
On October 1, 1979 both Eppolitos were murdered by Gaggi and Roy DeMeo. Former Eppolito crew member Peter Piacenti, also under Gaggi, was present as an unwitting accomplice.
No CI information is available on Bonino's activity past the 1970s, and his reaction to the Eppolito murders is unknown. He died March 29, 1989 in El Dorado, California.
