Santo "Sonny Boy" Ricchiettore

Santo "Sonny Boy" Ricchiettore (1905-1976) was a reputed Brooklyn loanshark, enforcer and legendary waterfront racketeer in what is now called the Gambino Crime Family going back to the early beginning of New York La Cosa Nostra. Sonny was once the dubbed "l'animale", Italian for animal for his personal involvement in Mafia homicides as the killer and as the set up man. Some of these killings were committed during his dual membership with [...] Incorporated, [...] Inc for short. It was once said by The Godfather director Francis Ford Coppola that the character, Luca Brasi, (Vito Corleone's chief bodyguard and assassin) was created in the movie to portray the real life Mob enforcer, The Gambino's Sonny Ricchiettore. Whether the Luca Brasi theory is true or not, Sonny Boy was a force to be reckoned with. He was also the father of current Gambino family Capo Salvatore Ricchiettore, known as Vinny Papa, and grandfather of Sal Jr. "Sally lips", Joe "Joey Meatloaf" and Vito "Frankie Blue eyes".

America

Sonny Boy Ricchiettore (Born Santo Umberto Ricchiettorelli) was born in Palermo, Sicily in 1905. Later that same year, his father, a castellammarese fisherman from the outskirts of Trapani and his mother brought their new infant son and his five year old older sister to America aboard the Agostina steamship. During their registration at Ellis Island, New York, The family surname was confused and spelled incorrectly. They eventually settled with their new shortened surname in the tough neighborhood of Red Hook, Brooklyn, staying with a close friend of Santo's father who would later become Santo's godfather.

Red Hook, Brooklyn

Red Hook was infamously riddled with crime during the early 1900's. The Brooklyn faction of The Famous Five Points Gang preyed on countless shops and small Brooklyn business owners for protection money. The Black Hand Gang or La Mano Nera were traditional extortionists and the Irish mob known as the White Hand Gang controlled the Red Hook water front, gambling and loan sharking. The Capones, Salvatore (known as Frankie), Vinny, Ralphy and Alphonse (later known as Scarface Al Capone) weren't even known to the general public then. Along with their cousins the Fischettis, Charley, Rocco and Joe (future Chicago Mobsters with Capone), they were still young punks running around Red Hook thieving, getting into brawls with other locals and playing dice on the street corners. Young Santo used to watch all types of criminal mischief from inside his mother's bakery shop, in joint venture with his godfather's neighborhood grocery shop and meat market. Many times, the grocery store known as Supremas was still targeted by neighborhood punks even after protection money was paid out. Santo saw his godfather get taken advantage of from time to time by the neighborhood thugs and felt that he had lost his honor as a man for not protecting or avenging himself and Santo's mother. Young Santo took it as a personal insult. He vowed when he became a little older, he would not let his godfather's actions become of him.

The Bronx Connection

In 1913, a young Santo would meet a young tough in his Red Hook neighborhood who would become his best friend and future crime partner. He was born Tommaso Spiltornata but went by the name Tommy Spiltore because it sounded more American. They both went to the same middle school together and would make a fast buck by hosting card and dice games. Tommy Spils first got involved with gambling due to his two Bronx cousins Donnie and Danny Sorrenti who would later become infamous mafia hoods of the Lucchese Crime Family. They were just petty street hoods in 1914 in their South Bronx neighborhood. They also formed a street crew together by 1915 that would later become the East Tremont Brawlers, E.T.B for short because of where they lived. They taught Tommy how to run card games, numbers and Italian lottery. Tommy then introduced these new activities to a young Santo who jumped at the opportunity to make ends meet. Life was not at all good for Santo Ricchiettore.

He didn't speak any English which didn't help his relationship with some of the non Italians in his neighborhood. His father who worked as a cargo shipper on the Brooklyn waterfront was always stressed out and drinking all his money away and his mother and godfather were still victims of the extortion gangs that preyed on neighboring Red Hook businesses. Besides, Santo did not enjoy coming home everyday to a small two-bedroom apartment shared by his father, mother, older sister, and his grandparents, as well as the apartment's owner, his godfather and his godcousin. Tommy's gambling rackets in their middle school became the start of his and Santo's beginning lust for power and respect. It answered all their prayers for a better life. Soon their gambling business in middle school became so big that they started hosting after-school games and games on their own street block, which was Five Points turf. Tommy employed some neighborhood boys as bodyguards while the games were ACTIVE, and he and Santo would spilt the profits 50/50 after paying off the game's security. Word would get back to the Five Points and they would soon be calling in for a sit down with the two newbies Tommy Spils and Santo Ricchiettore.

The Five Points

In 1917, Tommy Spils and Santo were both approached by two future leading Mafiosi. A Young Pasquale"Patsy Ciccone", Then a lieutenant with the Five Points Junior gang and Patsy's boss Massimo Dapolito known as Maxie Nose because of his Roman hook nose were giving word on the streets AbOUT the unsanctioned games ran by the two newbies. They also heard from their boss, the young leading hood of the Five Points gang Brooklyn faction, Frankie Yale that these same two Turks were making large sums of profits and already commanded a huge audience. Yale wanted Maxy Nose and Patsy to go over and meet with these two new Turks and give them an offer they wouldn't be so crazy to refuse. They were to be told to either cut Yale in on the action, continue operating but pay weekly protection and some back taxes for operating without five points consent or the last option, become a memory, plain and simple. The first time, Patsy did explain that a choice had to be made by the next day so Santo speaking for Tommy Spils who was presumbly absent during the first meeting, told Patsy that they would think about it and have an answer for him the next day, afternoon. There was a lot to think about. Santo had an emergency meeting with Tommy spils who in turn contacted his bronx connection and explained the matter. Tommy and Santo now had a slight problem. They both were by 1917 active new members and the only two brooklynites of the East Tremont Brawlers, a vicious street crew of young ambitious Italian hoods from the south bronx started by brothers and cousin to Tommy Spils, Donnie and Danny Sorrenti. They were [...] in the brawlers about 10 percent. The E.T.B as they were called for short weren't a big enough match to rivial the infamous five points, who out weighed them tremendously in size, man power, gun powder and politically power. The E.B.T were making a nice some of profit due to loan sharking,----------. Thanks to Tommy and Santo, they now had gambling in brooklyn. but for how long? Tommy and santo would have to make a decision and fast or they would the following day face the heat of Patsy Ciccone, who at the tender age of 21 was already a vicious killer. Tommy had an idea. Him and Santo both agreed on their solution. They would turn around and make Patsy Ciccone an offer that he wouldn't be so crazy to refuse. Tommy's Cousin Donnie Sorenti handed him over two pistols and told him if those five points come down with any bad intentions, shoot them dead then hide out in the bronx. The following evening, Patsy Showed back up, this time with three other young toughs. The three others were future mobsters and killers Aldo "Bully" Corrolo, Angelo "Dot" Dorio and Willie "Two-Knife" Altieri, a future personal bodyguard and assassin for Frankie Yale in future Mob business. They wanted there answer and Dot and two knife Altierri both were concealing pistols. This made Santo furious and reminded him about how many times his godfather had been taken advantage of and Santo begin mouthing off to Dot and Altierri. He wouldn’t let the fact of them carrying guns scare him the way it did with many others. Altierri annoyed begin to pull out when Patsy told him to put it away. Tommy begin to explain that he didn’t care about the games and could easily start up another. It was all natural to him. What he really wanted was to become apart of something like Patsy was. What Tommy was getting at was to not only to join patsy but to work for him, hand over the whole gambling operation to patsy but control the day to day operation. What Tommy asks for in return was a 20 percent cut of the action, 15 percent cut for patsy if Tommy created and operated new games and formal induction into the 5 points for both himself and Santo. Tommy knew what he was doing and it seemed to work. Patsy was left with a blank expression on his face. He knew right there that he had hit the jack pot with this Tommy Spiltore. He told Tommy and Santo that he had to think it over with his boss. The following day, Patsy came back this time with only Dot Dorio. Tommy and Santo were their with three of their closes Goombata and infamous future Mafiosi, Giacomo Bosco "Jimmy Bosco" known as Jimmy Shortlegs, Lorenzo Androzzi "Larry Andone" known as Larry the ear because of its large size and Peter Marangello later known as Pistol Pete. They were there to back up santo and Tommy just in case Patsy came back with bad intention. Pasty accepted Tommy’s offer. He was amazed on how Tommy put his offer all on the table and renegotiated without being afraid. Santo would become Tommy’s right hand, his number two because what Santo did lack was smarts to be the number one at that time. He was more of the enforcer type and because he was starting to become the dog that bite then bark, Patsy saw him as a needed access to his brutality and muscle. Tommy and Santo were both inducted into the Five Points Juniors by Frankie Yale under Maxie Polito in Yale's Coney Island night club. There was no turning back now especially with their new kind of respect now taking place.

Prohibition

When Prohibition begun in January of 1920, Most of the notorious street crews and local gangs started to emerge with bigger crime syndicates. The infamous Five points gang were slowly dissolving away as the roaring twenties came in. The Ban on Whisky was a huge money maker. Most would say that it was just like the 1960's big boom with Narcotics. It was the top narcotic of the twenties. It simply made every one involved extremely rich and within a short time span. By the very beginning of prohibition, Frankie Yale, the boss of what was left of the Five points Brooklyn Faction became a self appointed gangland leader. He also took what was left of the old Johnny Torrio Brooklyn Rackets and Jump started it back into perfection. His premier racket was extortion. From then on, He became known as the Black Hand. His Chief Lutienant was Maxie Nose, Chief Enforcer was Patsy Ciccone and Yale's main body guard and assassin was two knife Altieri. Yale also employed a future famous names of organize crime by the start of Prohibition. Vincent Mangano, Joe Adonis, Little Augie Pisano, Albert Anastasia and future Chicago Capone gun men Vincenzo Gibaldi who went by the infamous name of Machine Gun Jack McGurn are some of the few. Together, along with Al Capone and Johnny Torrio who were officially involved with the Chicago rackets, the quote on quote "Prince of Pals” became a force to be reckoned with. By 1921, Yale started to work directly with the Torrio-Capone gang in building a pipe line from Chicago to New York to distribute illegal Canadian Scotch whisky. Yale would protect Torrio-Capone trucks from being high jacked in New York. It was a match made in heaven after Yale handed Torrio and Capone Chicago on a silver platter by Murdering Big Jim Colosimo in 1920, Chicago's first mob boss. This made Yale extremely more powerful especially now that his alliance with the Chicago Outfit was set in motion. Now under the Yale flag and reporting directly to Patsy Ciccone, Santo became the dog that bite and Tommy became the dog that barked. Even after Prohibition, Tommy didn't get involved with the bootlegging rackets. Sonny didn't as well and so didn't patsy. He was making big money just of Tommy Spils gambling rackets alone. Tommy maintained his open house gambling games in red hook and Santo made sure that the game was protected. Tommy also employed his crew and let one of them, Larry "the ear" Andone run one of his neighborhood lucrative dice games. The Bosco brothers, Jimmy and Big Vic would enforce law and order there under Tommy's flag. Santo and Peter Marangello now going by the nick name Pistol Pete were always with Tommy Spils when he was hosting huge open house games. Pistol Pete who got that nickname for always concealing a gun was to make sure that players played the games smoothly and paid when they lost. The result of not paying was broken limbs. Worse could happen but a broken arm or leg usually did the trick and it also was the start of Santo's infamous 60 year loan sharking career. Santo and Pistol Pete both had the same title protecting Tommy's games. Santo studied it to perfection and realized that he could make big money if he set up a loan sharking operation in all of Tommy's gambling spots instead of freelance sharks operating and collecting with out permission. Tommy agreed to the idea and started a development system of open line credits. Lots of Players would start the game bowering from the new established credit line starting any where from $200 and up. If they lost the money, they simply owed the house. Since they couldn't pay, they would be introduced to Santo. Santo would then give them a choice to either borrow from him at 25 percent weekly until the whole loan was paid including 25 percent interest or never walk again. The player would then borrow from Santo, Pay off the house, and then leave right away but not before giving up their personal information to Santo. Every week, Santo would go see the player with Pistol Pete and collect the 25 percent. Because business was very good with Tommy's gambling rackets, it brought in more and more addicts to Santo. By 1921, he became one the youngest up coming gangsters to have more than twenty customers on his owe list each at 25 percent weekly. It became so big that he needed some help just to pick up the money. He employed neighborhood Gangster Salvatore Innonio alias Sally boots as his book keeper and partnered up with Pistol Pete to collect the depts. It brought in a cash flow of about two to three hundred dollars a week and the same players kept coming back to Tommy's spots to gamble. Tommy and Santo didn’t jump on the band wagon like every other gangster did when Prohibition started. Gambling was their bread and butter and everyone around them made money. But those good times would soon turn into a very dangerous situation as the on going beef between Frankie Yale's black hand and the infamous White hand heats up and turns into an all out war on the streets of Brooklyn. This is how Santo made his bones and became famous and known for his [...] skills.