For the Italian professional football player and coach, see
Francesco Calì.
Francesco Paolo Augusto Calì (March 26, 1965 – March 13, 2019),[1] known as "Frank" or "Franky Boy", was an American crime boss of the Gambino crime family.[2] Law enforcement considered Cali to have been the Gambinos' "ambassador to Sicilian mobsters" and had linked him to the Inzerillo Mafia familyfrom Palermo. According to Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Lipton, he was "seen as a man of influence and power by organized crime members in Italy".[3] Cali was shot and killed outside his home in Staten Island on March 13, 2019.[4] At the time of his death, most outlets identified him as a "reputed" boss of the Gambino crime family.[5][6]
Early years[edit]
Frank Cali was born in New York City[1] to Augusto and Agata Cesare, both natives ofPalermo, Sicily. His father ran a household goods store in Palermo and a video store inBensonhurst, Brooklyn. He had a clean police record in the United States, even though he was mentioned in the Pizza Connection investigation, when police discovered that he was a partner of Domenico Adamita, allied to Sicilian Mafia boss Gaetano Badalamenti.[1]
Frank Cali was the nephew-in-law of Sicilian mobster John Gambino, and had close ties to the once powerful Sicilian Mafia family led by Salvatore Inzerillo. Cali was also a great-nephew of Bonanno crime family mobsters Giovanni Bonventre and Vito Bonventre.[citation needed]
As a young man, Cali bonded with Gambino mobster Jackie D'Amico, a lieutenant of Gambino boss John Gotti who operated a crew on 18th Avenue in Brooklyn. In January 1997, the FBI reported to Italian authorities that Cali had been "combined" into the Gambino family.[1] Cali was promoted to acting capo when D'Amico became acting boss.[7] Cali ran several import-export companies in Brooklyn, including Circus Fruits Wholesale in Fort Hamilton, Brooklyn.[1]
Sicilian Mafia ties[edit]
Cali also maintained ties with the Sicilian Mafia. He married Rosaria Inzerillo, a sister of Pietro Inzerillo and a relative of Gambino associate Frank Inzerillo,[8][9] a member of the Palermitan Inzerillo family.
In the early 1980s, after losing the Second Mafia War against the Corleonesi of Totò Riina, the Inzerillo family was forced to flee Sicily.[10] Cali and old Palermo boss Filippo Casamento supported the return of the Inzerillos to Palermo, according to Italian authorities.[7][11]
According to the Italian Polizia di Stato (State Police), Cali was also a member of the Sicilian Cosa Nostra.[7] He was the contact for Sicilian mafiosi who traveled to New York to meet him, do business, and update him on Sicilian affairs. "He's our friend and he is everything over there", confided Sicilian mobster Gianni Nicchi to his boss Antonio Rotolo, after a trip in 2003. Nicchi is known to be one of Cali's 'men of honour' who went back and forth between Palermo and the US for drug trafficking. Nicchi finally settled in Daytona, Florida, where he was known to employ high school students as drug runners. [1][12]
In early 2003, Cali and fellow captain Leonard "Lenny" DiMaria began extorting 'mob taxes' from Joseph Vollaro, the owner of a trucking and contracting company that was involved in building a NASCAR speedway on Staten Island. Vollaro was eventually forced to pay tens of thousands of dollars as tribute to D'Amico and Gambino boss Nicholas Corozzo. In 2004, to avoid prison time for a cocaine conviction, Vollaro began working with federal authorities as an informant. Vollaro's undercover work led to a massive indictment four years later.
On February 8, 2008, Cali and 61 other New York Cosa Nostra associates were arrested and charged with federal racketeering charges.[7] as part of Operation Old Bridge. Old Bridge terminated the drug trafficking between the Sicilian Mafia and the Gambino family. Prosecutors claimed that Cali acted as the Gambino "ambassador to the Sicilian mobsters" and as a liaison between D'Amico and the Sicilian connections to the Inzerillo family.[13] Cali was charged with racketeering, extortion, and conspiracy along with D'Amico and DiMaria.
On June 4, 2008, Cali pleaded guilty to conspiring to extort money from Vollaro. Cali was incarcerated at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York. On April 6, 2009, he was released from prison.[14]
Around 2009, Cali's uncle John Gambino was elevated to the family's ruling panel, according to court papers filed in Brooklyn Federal Court. The U.S. Justice Departmentdemanded that Cali avoid all contact with Gambino, except for weddings or holiday celebrations approved in advance by Cali's probation officer.[15]
Underboss[edit]
In October 2012, Cali was identified by New York crime reporter Jerry Capeci as the new underboss of the Gambino crime family.[16] Capeci has previously identified Domenico Cefalu, a member of the same Sicilian faction as Cali, as the current boss of the group. Though his status remains unclear, the promotion of both men follows a period in which John Gambino was a street boss within the family, showing that the Sicilian group has remained dominant in recent years. In July 2013, it was reported that Cali turned down the position of boss of the family.[17][18]
In August 2015, Daily News reported Cali had taken over as acting boss of the Gambino family.[19] A September 29, 2018, report stated that Cali "infused the family with 'zips' — hoodlums from the old country — and bulked up its heroin and OxyContin business". A gangster in Italy was quoted as having stated that Cali "is everything over there" (New York).[20]
In March 2019, police investigating Cali's death confirmed that he was "the acting boss" of the Gambino organized crime family.[21]
Cali died on March 13, 2019, at the age of 53 at Staten Island University Hospital after being taken there following a violent incident in front of his home on Hilltop Terrace in Dongan Hills, in the Todt Hill area, at about 9:20pm.[22] Surveillance video shows a pickup truck striking his parked Cadillac, a subsequent altercation between the driver and Cali, and then the shooting; Cali had tried to evade the killer by using his vehicle as a shield. He was hit ten times with bullets from a 9mm handgun.[23] As of March 16, 2019, the motive was under investigation.[24][25]
On March 16, 2019, a 24 year old man was arrested in Brick, New Jersey by US Marshals, and will face "murder charges" on Staten Island. A pickup truck was also recovered at another location. [26] The shooter is reported to be 24 year old Anthony Comello.[27] The investigation was continuing as to motive and whether other parties were involved.[21]
