By MICHELE McPHEE,
New York Daily News Staff Writer

The death of John Gotti has prompted the reputed leader of the Mafia Commission to order all five New York city organized crime families to clean house, the Daily News has learned. Bonanno family head Joseph Massino, whom law enforcement sources say is the most powerful of all the city crime bosses, has spread the word that he wants a shakeup.

"Massino wants everyone to get their house in order," said an organized crime investigator. "Now that John's dead, he wants to set up a strong power structure."

Said organized crime expert Jerry Capeci, a spokesman for John Jay College, "Massino is the power right now. He's the only legitimate boss who is a free man. He is looking to assert his power over the rest of the families."

Family Trouble: John Jr. (c.) is no successor to the inimitable Dapper Don (l.)
Massino is said to be most concerned about the Colombo family, which currently is barred from a seat on the Commission because of an internal war that left 12 gangsters dead and 50 more imprisoned in the early 1990s, sources said.

Organized crime investigators, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said Massino wants the Colombos to permanently replace sometime acting boss Alphonse (Allie Boy) Persico — who took back a guilty plea on racketeering charges in Brooklyn Federal Court last month, claiming prosecutorial misconduct — with current acting boss Joel (Joe Waverly) Cacace.

"They want somebody new to take over," one investigator said. "Cacace still has to be approved by the acting bosses of all five families, but for now, he's in charge." Cacace made his bones in the Colombo family by showing loyalty to Victor (Little Vic) Orena during the war. Orena became acting boss when Perisco's father, Carmine, the boss at the time, was locked up.

Bonanno head Joseph Massino may be looking for a shakeup.
Carmine Persico was a rough-and-tumble boss who was once shot in the mouth, an associate said, only to spit out the bullet.

In 1986, during the commission trial of several Mafia leaders, the elder Persico was ridiculed for representing himself. At one point during the trial he blurted, "Without the Mafia, there wouldn't even be no case here."

He was sentenced to 139 years in jail on murder and conspiracy charges, but investigators believe he held a firm grasp on the family through his eldest son, the college-educated and charismatic Alphonse Persico.

Then, in December, Alphonse Persico came under fire from his brethren for admitting his leadership role in the Colombos.

Stood Silent

While entering a guilty plea in a racketeering indictment, Brooklyn Federal Judge Reena Raggi asked the younger Persico what "enterprise" he belonged to, and whether it was the Colombo family.

Persico at first stood silent. His lawyer, Barry Levin, told the judge that Persico would not answer the question.

But Raggi pressed.

"You were not an errand boy? You had a high-ranking role in the enterprise, you had the discretion of your own actions?"

"Yes," Persico answered. "I had discretion."

Some mobsters felt Persico's answer was a violation of La Cosa Nostra's code of silence, and investigators believe it may have prompted other families to want the Colombos to make a change at the top with Cacace.

But Cacace, who survived several assassination attempts, including a 1992 shooting that left him near death and minus a testicle, has his own problems.

Law enforcement sources said he is being eyed in the Aug. 25, 1997, slaying of off-duty cop Ralph Dols, who was ambushed by masked gunmen outside his home at E. 19th St. and Avenue U in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn.

Dols, 28, a four-year NYPD veteran was shot seven times and died of his wounds the following morning. Dols had married Cacace's ex-wife, Kim Kennaugh, and the couple had a child, facts that law enforcement sources believe enraged Cacace.

Kennaugh, 41, had also been married to two other Colombo crime family figures: Thomas Capelli and Enrico Carini, who was shot dead, gangland-style, in 1987.

"Cacace is not currently facing jail time, and he has so far been a real survivor, so he is standing in for Allie Boy," an investigator said.

Close to John Gotti

Organized crime experts are also waiting for the Gambino crime family to make a move. Massino was close to John Gotti and lives in Howard Beach, Queens, not far from the home of the the late crime boss. Massino did not attend Gotti's wake or funeral last month but did send his brother and other representatives of the family.

Massino was largely seen as the protector of the Gottis' control over the Gambino family, one investigator said. It is believed Massino would support the late don's brother Peter Gotti remaining at the helm — despite his upcoming trial on racketeering and money-laundering charges — with parolee Arnold (Zeke) Squitieri acting as underboss.

"You're probably going to see people come out of the woodwork to take over the helm of the Gambinos," the investigator said. "The only reason the Gottis were still in the mix was because of John."

Massino, a quiet, unassuming leader who has avoided prosecution since he was released from federal prison in November 1992 after a racketeering sentence, is said to have closed ranks in his family while increasing its membership.

Massino shuns the flashy ways of his pal Gotti, which has helped him remain the only old-time boss left on the streets.

At 58, he leads a fairly reclusive life, investigators said, splitting his time between a Maspeth eatery, Casablanca Restaurant, and his Long Island home.

Before Massino, the most powerful member of the Commission was reputed Genovese boss Vincent (Chin) Gigante, who is serving a 12-year sentence for racketeering and extortion conspiracy in a Fort Worth, Tex., prison hospital after avoiding prosecution for several years by claiming mental illness.

Filled the Void

Although organized crime investigators believe Gigante still controls the Genovese family by sending messages to underlings from prison, his power has waned.

Massino has filled that void. But, as the strongest member of the Commission, Massino has his work cut out for him.

Many wiseguys are reluctant to get bumped up to high-ranking positions within the Mafia structure because of the intense police scrutiny that comes with the promotions, investigators said.

"Massino does have the built-in advantage of being the only boss who is free and clear. He's got a big edge over the bosses of the other crime families," Capeci said.

"The Commission itself, with [Massino] in a major role, has cut down on the violence, cut down on the killings. There have only been a handful of mob hits, and in the few killings there were, the bodies have never been found."

When the Commission was created in 1931 by Genovese family founder Charles (Lucky) Luciano and Jewish underworld kingpin Meyer Lansky, mob bosses from around the country were called to conclaves.

But now, the Commission has essentially gone underground. Instead of a conglomeration of bosses — as in the the famous Apalachin conference in 1957 when New York State police raided Joseph Barbara's stone mansion near Binghamton and arrested 58 mobsters — now underbosses or even capos meet secretly to discuss the business of all five families.

"They are not doing it as a unified sitdown," said one law enforcement official. "There are so many bosses in jail, they have to use underlings to govern."

Sources say the last known Commission meeting occurred in early 2000 at Massino's behest. Also attending were Peter Gotti, as well as representatives for Carmine Persico, Gigante and Vittorio (Vic) Amuso, then the imprisoned head of the Luchese family.

But one law enforcement official cautioned that a Commission meeting is supposed to be the most safeguarded secret of La Cosa Nostra, and could be more influential than the FBI believes.

"There could have been a meeting last night in someone's basement, for all we know," said an investigator. "The Commission is still acting. They are still the governing body of organized crime. They still make the decisions."

The Five Mob Families of New York      

Gambino Crime Family Fewer than 200 members
Acting boss: Peter Gotti, the late Dapper Don's brother, who was arrested last month.
Acting underboss: Parolee Arnold (Zeke) Squitieri
Founding Father: Carlo Gambino, who orchestrated the Oct. 25, 1957, assassination of Albert Anastasia in a barbershop to take over the family that still bears his name.

Colombo Crime Family About 120 members, but without a seat on the Commission.
Acting Boss: Joel (Joe Waverly) Cacace, a charismatic old-timer who has survived several assassination attempts.
acting Underboss: Tommy (Tommy Bop) Gieoli
Founding father: Joseph Profaci was a charter member of the Commission.

Lucchese Crime Family
Fewer than 120 members
Acting boss: Louis (Louie Bagels) Daldone
Acting underboss: Steven Crea
Founding father: Gaetano Lucchese. With strongholds in East Harlem and the Bronx, Lucchese, aka Three Fingers Brown, died in 1967, when his family had about 200 members.

Genovese Crime Family
The largest family, with about 250 members.
Boss: Vincent (The Chin) Gigante, 73.
Acting underbosses: Ernie Muscarella, 79, who sits on family leadership panel along with Dominick (Quiet Dom) Cirillo.
Founding Father: Charles (Lucky) Luciano, who made millions as a bootlegger during the 1920s.

Bonanno Crime Family
The strongest family.
Boss: Joseph Massino, 58, lives in Howard Beach, Queens, and is the only original crime family boss to remain indictment-free.
Underboss: Sal Vitale, Massino's brother-in-law.
Founding father: Joseph (Joe Bananas) Bonanno, who had a role in the creation of the Commission.

Original Publication Date: 7/7/02