 |
| 1980s |
1980s FBI photos of Bonanno Soldier Joseph 'J.B. / Joey Red' Indelicato.
Born 1931 in Manhattan to parents from Sciacca comune of Agrigento, Sicily, Indelicato was inducted into the Bonanno Family on June 14, 1977.
Others made in the same ceremony included Future Boss Joseph Massino and Future Consigliere Anthony Spero.
By the end of the year J.B. was reporting to his older brother Alfonse aka 'Sonny Red', a Family Captain inducted as part of the Family's first wave in February 1976.
J.B.'s nephew Anthony 'Bruno' Indelicato, Alfonse's son, was made around the same time as his father.
Several other relatives were also members:
In 1972 CW and Former Colombo Associate Joseph 'Joe Fish' Luparelli named J.B. and his brother as participants in the February 20, 1970 murder of Joseph 'Wagon Wheel' Vescovi.
Born 1931 in Manhattan to parents from Sciacca comune of Agrigento, Sicily, Indelicato was inducted into the Bonanno Family on June 14, 1977.
Others made in the same ceremony included Future Boss Joseph Massino and Future Consigliere Anthony Spero.
By the end of the year J.B. was reporting to his older brother Alfonse aka 'Sonny Red', a Family Captain inducted as part of the Family's first wave in February 1976.
J.B.'s nephew Anthony 'Bruno' Indelicato, Alfonse's son, was made around the same time as his father.
Several other relatives were also members:
- Antonino 'Zu Nino' Indelicato (1890-1971) : Early Gambino member headquartered on Elizabeth St in Manhattan's Little Italy, served as Captain during the late 1940s and early 1950s
- Anthony 'Scootchie' Indelicato (c. 1900-1933) : Gambino member and Zu Nino's nephew, shot to death in New Jersey in 1933
- Joseph 'Joe Scootch' Indelicato (1910-1988) : Gambino Soldier and younger brother of the murdered Anthony, active in Florida
- Louis Guiga : J.B.'s cousin, Gambino Soldier involved in shylocking and other crimes as part of the Franco-Lombardozzi (former Nino Indelicato) crew
- Charles 'Charlie Prunes' Ruvolo (1900-1988) : Lucchese Soldier and father-in-law of J.B.'s brother Alfonse; described by an informant as one of LCN's 'number one hit men during the Maranzano wars'
In 1972 CW and Former Colombo Associate Joseph 'Joe Fish' Luparelli named J.B. and his brother as participants in the February 20, 1970 murder of Joseph 'Wagon Wheel' Vescovi.
 |
| J. Yacovelli (1970s) |
Vescovi lured to apartment on Elizabeth St where stabbed and strangled to death by group that also included Colombo Consigliere Joseph 'Joe Yak' Yacovelli, Colombo Captain Carmine 'Junior' Persico as well as Future Bonanno Members John 'Big Head' Arcaro and Anthony 'Blackie' Calabro.
 |
| J. DiPalermo (L) and V. Papa |
Multiple reports in the early-to-mid 1970s described the Indelicato brothers as selling narcotics on behalf of Lucchese Captain Joseph 'Joe Beck' DiPalermo. Partners included Colombo Associate Dominic 'Little Dom' Cataldo. Group reportedly supplied by Lucchese Soldier Vincent Papa. (Cataldo was inducted into the Colombo Family in April 1977. Papa was stabbed to death at USP Atlanta in July of the same year.)
 |
| At Toyland Social Club (1977) |
During the first half of 1977 surveilled multiple times at various Bonanno clubs in the company of Bonanno Acting Boss Carmine 'Lilo' Galante and others.
Galante presided over Indelicato's induction ceremony held in the back of a Maspeth, Queens bar.
Others present were Underboss Nicholas Marangello, Consigliere Stefano 'Stevie Beef' Cannone and Soldier Alfred 'Al Walker' Embarrato.
Those inducted were:
Following J.B.'s induction he and Alfonse formed Elizabeth Car Service Inc. using same address as their social club at 219 Grand St in Little Italy.
The following year they partnered in Joe and Al's Paints located across the street at 218 Grand.
An FBI report from that May noted: "[Joseph Indelicato] is heavily involved in a number of illegal activities, including gambling, shylocking, and narcotics. Any illegal activity in which subject is engaged is probably jointly engaged in with his brother, Alfonse Indelicato."
By 1979 made members of Alfonse Indelicato's crew included Anthony Calabro, Joseph Indelicato, Russell Mauro and Dominick 'Trin' Trinchera.
Mauro, Trinchera and Alfonse's son Bruno were among the participants in the July 12, 1979 murders of Bonanno Acting Boss Carmine Galante, Soldier Giuseppe 'Joe' Turano and Suspected Member Leonardo 'Nardo' Coppola.
Another triple homicide occurred on May 5, 1981, when Alfonse himself, along with fellow Captains Philip 'Philly Lucky' Giaccone and Dominick Trinchera, was lured to a Brooklyn club and shot to death in another intra-Family conflict.
Around August 1981 Commission meeting held to allow J.B. and his nephew Bruno, both having gone into hiding to avoid a similar fate, to safely return to the Family. The pair were allowed to choose which Captain they would report to and chose Joseph Massino. Massino, who defected in 2004, later testified: "[The Indelicatos] wanted to come in [but] they wanted a guarantee they wouldn't get hurt. So, we told them, 'We guarantee you mind your business, you won't get hurt. We had a list of captains, maybe 12 or 13 captains at that time. You have your choice, the both of yous, to go where yous both want to go,' and they both agreed to [be with me]." (Massino was one of the key participants in Alfonse Indelicato's murder.)
Galante presided over Indelicato's induction ceremony held in the back of a Maspeth, Queens bar.
Others present were Underboss Nicholas Marangello, Consigliere Stefano 'Stevie Beef' Cannone and Soldier Alfred 'Al Walker' Embarrato.
Those inducted were:
- Joseph 'Junior' Chilli (43y)
- Emanuel 'Manny from the Bronx' Guaragna (44y)
- Joseph Indelicato (46y)
- Joseph 'Big Joey' Massino (34y) [Future Boss]
- Anthony Spero (48y) [Future Consigliere]
Following J.B.'s induction he and Alfonse formed Elizabeth Car Service Inc. using same address as their social club at 219 Grand St in Little Italy.
The following year they partnered in Joe and Al's Paints located across the street at 218 Grand.
An FBI report from that May noted: "[Joseph Indelicato] is heavily involved in a number of illegal activities, including gambling, shylocking, and narcotics. Any illegal activity in which subject is engaged is probably jointly engaged in with his brother, Alfonse Indelicato."
By 1979 made members of Alfonse Indelicato's crew included Anthony Calabro, Joseph Indelicato, Russell Mauro and Dominick 'Trin' Trinchera.
Mauro, Trinchera and Alfonse's son Bruno were among the participants in the July 12, 1979 murders of Bonanno Acting Boss Carmine Galante, Soldier Giuseppe 'Joe' Turano and Suspected Member Leonardo 'Nardo' Coppola.
Another triple homicide occurred on May 5, 1981, when Alfonse himself, along with fellow Captains Philip 'Philly Lucky' Giaccone and Dominick Trinchera, was lured to a Brooklyn club and shot to death in another intra-Family conflict.
Around August 1981 Commission meeting held to allow J.B. and his nephew Bruno, both having gone into hiding to avoid a similar fate, to safely return to the Family. The pair were allowed to choose which Captain they would report to and chose Joseph Massino. Massino, who defected in 2004, later testified: "[The Indelicatos] wanted to come in [but] they wanted a guarantee they wouldn't get hurt. So, we told them, 'We guarantee you mind your business, you won't get hurt. We had a list of captains, maybe 12 or 13 captains at that time. You have your choice, the both of yous, to go where yous both want to go,' and they both agreed to [be with me]." (Massino was one of the key participants in Alfonse Indelicato's murder.)
  |
| Top: J. Chilli (L) and J. Indelicato at 176 Elizabeth St (Sep. 1981) Bottom: Indelicato during same surveillance |
During the mid-1980s informants spoke of another intra-Family dispute, noting that Indelicato sided with Captains / Acting Captains Gabriel Infanti, Russell Mauro and 'Little Charlie' Musillo against individuals whose names are redacted but probably included imprisoned Boss Philip 'Rusty' Rastelli and Joseph Massino, who had by then risen to Underboss. Whatever plot existed was likely sidelined in the wake of Gabriel Infanti's disappearance in late 1987. (The reports also describe J.B. himself as a Captain. In December 1988 an informant claimed that one reason for Infanti's murder was that he refused to 'set up' J.B. for a hit.)
On January 11, 1991 released after serving another Federal prison term.
 |
| R. Cantarella Gang Land News |
Made members of Cantarella's crew included his son Paul Cantarella, Joseph D'Amico, Joseph Indelicato, Anthony 'J.J.' Palmiotto and Joseph Torre.
Following Cantarella and D'Amico's defections in 2002-2003, Indelicato and other crew members began reporting to Captain Vincent Basciano and later to Dominick Cicale, who took over Basciano's crew after he assumed the position of Acting Boss.
Indelicato continued to show up in Family surveillance as recently as 2012, when FBI agents recorded a get-together with Acting Boss Thomas DiFiore and others at the Z-Two Restaurant & Lounge in Staten Island.
In November 2014 among 129 included in Bonanno Organized Crime Family List compiled by Federal government.
More Bonanno Family posts can be found in the Index.
