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| L to R: J. Gotti, S. Gravano, P. Conte |
Around the Summer of 1990 Gambino Boss John Gotti dispatched Underboss Salvatore 'Sammy Bull' Gravano to meet with longtime Family Captain Pasquale 'Patsy' Conte.
The purpose of the meeting was to encourage Conte to resume kicking up proceeds from his narcotics interests.
Gravano later testified:
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The purpose of the meeting was to encourage Conte to resume kicking up proceeds from his narcotics interests.
Gravano later testified:
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It was known to [Gotti and myself] that Patsy Conte gave Paul Castellano, our previous Boss, large sums of money. At one point, he had given him a [Mercedes Benz] as a gift. [Gotti] said that since we took over, he wasn't earning with him, in this capacity. He told me to approach him, talk to him off the record, give him some sort of tacit approval, get some money off of him. What he was doing with Paul, he should be doing with him.
...I told [Conte] I didn't want to know the details of his business. All I wanted was money for John. I told him not to approach the boss with any conversations. Just talk to me, and he accepted the conversation and left...[Conte later] told me a fellow in his crew named Cheech, who was a friend of ours, a made member in our Family, would have to go and make a trip to Italy, to resume the operations, to start them up.
...I told [Conte] I didn't want to know the details of his business. All I wanted was money for John. I told him not to approach the boss with any conversations. Just talk to me, and he accepted the conversation and left...[Conte later] told me a fellow in his crew named Cheech, who was a friend of ours, a made member in our Family, would have to go and make a trip to Italy, to resume the operations, to start them up.
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| F. Versaglio (1990s) |
'Cheech' was Gambino Soldier Francesco Versaglio (1925-2008).
Versaglio immigrated to the United States from Palermo in 1954. He owned property in Italy and made frequent trips back and forth.
On July 27, 1990 Versaglio arrived in Rome.
Around September 4, 1990 he either arrived to or departed from Palermo.
A couple of weeks later, during Manhattan's Feast of San Gennaro, Conte and Versaglio visited the Ravenite Social Club and met with Gravano: "[Versaglio] explained to me that he had gone to Italy. He spoke with a boss in Italy. Right now they were having their troubles in Italy between a war and the police. It was about to [resume]. They needed a little more time...Before he got into heavy conversations, talking about drugs, I took Patsy on the side. I told him I didn't want to talk to anybody and I didn't want to talk about drugs and I didn't want to go into the drug business. I just wanted money. Patsy basically accepted [and] that was the end of that. It never happened. It never materialized...[We] got pinched after that [and] I don't know if [Conte] succeeded starting the business or not."
Conte and Versaglio both served time in the wake of Gravano's cooperation in November 1991.
Not long after Versaglio's release in February 1998, the pair was caught up in an international money laundering and narcotics investigation that recovered nearly $2,000,000 buried on a farm in Lugano, Switzerland. CW Salvatore Cancemi, a Sicilian Mafia member, claimed the money was from a 1980s heroin deal involving Conte, Versaglio and Corleone Boss Salvatore 'Toto' Riina.
Versaglio immigrated to the United States from Palermo in 1954. He owned property in Italy and made frequent trips back and forth.
On July 27, 1990 Versaglio arrived in Rome.
Around September 4, 1990 he either arrived to or departed from Palermo.
A couple of weeks later, during Manhattan's Feast of San Gennaro, Conte and Versaglio visited the Ravenite Social Club and met with Gravano: "[Versaglio] explained to me that he had gone to Italy. He spoke with a boss in Italy. Right now they were having their troubles in Italy between a war and the police. It was about to [resume]. They needed a little more time...Before he got into heavy conversations, talking about drugs, I took Patsy on the side. I told him I didn't want to talk to anybody and I didn't want to talk about drugs and I didn't want to go into the drug business. I just wanted money. Patsy basically accepted [and] that was the end of that. It never happened. It never materialized...[We] got pinched after that [and] I don't know if [Conte] succeeded starting the business or not."
Conte and Versaglio both served time in the wake of Gravano's cooperation in November 1991.
Not long after Versaglio's release in February 1998, the pair was caught up in an international money laundering and narcotics investigation that recovered nearly $2,000,000 buried on a farm in Lugano, Switzerland. CW Salvatore Cancemi, a Sicilian Mafia member, claimed the money was from a 1980s heroin deal involving Conte, Versaglio and Corleone Boss Salvatore 'Toto' Riina.
