Frank Cali

Francesco Paolo Augusto Calì (New York, March 26, 1965), known as Frank or Franky Boy is a reputed acting captain of the Gambino crime family in the Staten Island faction. Law enforcement authorities consider him to be the "ambassador to Sicilian mobsters" and linked him to the Inzerillo Mafia family from Palermo. [http://www.repubblica.it/2008/01/sezioni/cronaca/operazione-palermo-ny/franky-boy-english/franky-boy-english.html Franky Boy, the invisible boss who wanted to have Palermo back] , La Repubblica, February 8, 2008] [http://mob-news.blogspot.com/2008/06/two-more-gambino-guilty-pleas.html Two more Gambino guilty pleas] , Mob News, June 4, 2008] "Cali is seen as a man of influence and power by organized crime members in Italy," according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Joey Lipton. [http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2008/02/20/2008-02-20_reputed_gambino_crime_capos_house_bought-1.html Reputed Gambino crime capo's house bought with mob cash?] , New York Daily News, February 20, 2008]

Biography

Early years

Frank Cali was born in New York. His father is a native of Palermo (Sicily) running a household goods store in Palermo and a video store in Brooklyn, New York. He shuttled between the two cities. His father has a clean record, even though he has been mentioned in investigations into the Pizza Connection when police discovered that he was a partner of Domenico Adamita, allied to Sicilian Mafia boss Gaetano Badalamenti.

As a little boy Cali bonds with Jackie D'Amico – the late John Gotti's aide-de-camp – at the time the boss of the "decina" (ten man squad) of the Gambino family on 18th street. Cali ascent begins as D'Amico rose to be the action boss of the Gambino family. In January 1997, the FBI reported to Italian authorities that Cali had been "combined" into the Gambino family. He was promoted to acting capo when D'Amico became acting boss. Accordingly, around 2005, Cali began acting as a liaison between D'Amico, reputed co-acting boss Nicholas "Little Nick" Corozzo and their Sicilian Mafia connections to the Inzerillo crime family. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7233477.stm 'Mafiosi' held in US and Sicily] , BBC News, February 7, 2008] Officially, he administers a few import-export companies in Brooklyn the best known of which is 'Circus Fruits Wholesale'.

icilian Mafia ties

Meanwhile, he also kept ties with the Sicilian Mafia. He married Rosaria Inzerrilo, a sister of Pietro Inzerillo and a relative of Gambino associate Frank Inzerillo, [http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2008/02/28/2008-02-28_sicilian_mobsters_may_become_new_yorks_l.html Sicilian mobsters may become New York's latest big Italian import] , New York Daily News, February 28, 2008] a member of the Palermitan Inzerillo Mafia family forced into exile after they lost the power struggle against the Corleonesi of Totò Riina in the Second Mafia War in Sicily at the onset of the 1980s. [http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1711241,00.html The Case of the Exiled Mobsters] , Time, February 7, 2008]

According to the Italian National Police, Cali is also a member of the Sicilian Cosa Nostra. [http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2008/02/08/2008-02-08_feds_bust_gambino_bigs-1.html Feds bust Gambino bigs] , New York Daily News, February 8, 2008] He was the contact for Sicilian Mafiosi who travelled to the New York to meet him, to do business, and to keep Cali up to date on Sicilian affairs. "He's our friend and he is everything over there," confided Sicilian Mafia young upstart Gianni Nicchi to his boss Antonio Rotolo, after a trip in 2003. Nicchi is one of the Sicilian 'men of honour' who went back and forth between Palermo and the US for drug trafficking. [http://www.repubblica.it/2008/01/sezioni/cronaca/operazione-palermo-ny/palermo-ny-english/palermo-ny-english.html Dozens Arrested in Italy and US in Major Mafia-busting Operation] , La Repubblica, February 7, 2008]

Cali and and the old Palermo boss Filippo Casamento supported the return of the Inzerillos to Palermo, according to Italian authorities. [http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2008/02/08/2008-02-08_feds_bust_gambino_bigs-1.html Feds bust Gambino bigs] , New York Daily News, February 8, 2008]

Arrest

Cali and fellow captain Leonard "Lenny" DiMaria began extorting 'mob taxes' from an associate named Joseph Vollero and his trucking/contracting company on Staten Island, called "Andrews Trucking". The exact amount of money is estimated to be tens of thousands of dollars, which Vollero was eventually forced to pay as tribute to the Gambino family bosses. Accordingly, Vollero began cooperating with federal authorities around that time.

As a result Cali and 61 other Mafia associates of the Gambino, Bonanno and Genovese crime families were arrested on February 8, 2008, and charged with federal racketeering charges. [http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2008/02/08/2008-02-08_feds_bust_gambino_bigs-1.html Feds bust Gambino bigs] , New York Daily News, February 8, 2008] The round-up, known as Operation Old Bridge, was a collaberation of federal, state and local law enforcement and resulted in an 80-count RICO indictment towards the alleged Mafia associates. The operation went on to terminate the drug trafficking between the Sicilian Mafia and the Gambino crime family in New York, in which federal authorities claimed Cali was acting as a Gambino "ambassador to the Sicilian mobsters". [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7233477.stm 'Mafiosi' held in US and Sicily] , BBC News, February 7, 2008]

Cali was charged with racketeering, extortion, and conspiracy along with Leonard DiMaria and acting boss Jackie D'Amico. On June 4, 2008, Cali pleaded guilty to conspiring to extort money from the trucker Joseph Vollero, who was working at a Staten Island NASCAR construction site. Cali is facing up to 24 months in prison when sentenced in September. As of September, 2008, Cali is incarcerated at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York. His projected release-date is May 30, 2009. [ [http://www.bop.gov/iloc2/InmateFinderServlet?Transaction=NameSearch&needingMoreList=false&FirstName=Frank&Middle=&LastName=Cali&Race=U&Sex=U&Age=&x=0&y=0 Federal Bureau of Prisons] ]

References

External links

* [http://www.repubblica.it/2008/01/sezioni/cronaca/operazione-palermo-ny/carte-english-version/carte-english-version.html Cosa Nostra-Lcn Connections: The Documents from Palermo Antimafia] , La Repubblica, February 7, 2008]