"Big
Paul" Castellano
Leslie
K. Penny
Module
2 Research Assignment 1
Chancellor
University
Abstract
One particular mobster
that had pretty big shoes to fill, those of the boss of the Gambino Crime
Family (Medina, 2007), was Paul Castellano. The following essay will touch briefly on his
rise into organized crime, reasons for that rise, his crime family, the role in
the family he played, as well as any additional information that contributed to
his notoriety in organized crime.
"Big
Paul" Castellano
Some of the most famous names heard around the world in
our history came from organized crime groups, such as Al Capone, Bugsy Siegel,
Frank Costello, etc. The list is fairly
extensive considering there were so many mob figures that played influential
roles in the evolution of organized crime.
One particular mobster that had pretty big shoes to fill, those of the
boss of the Gambino Crime Family (Medina, 2007), was Paul Castellano. The following essay will touch briefly on his
rise into organized crime, reasons for that rise, his crime family, the role in
the family he played, as well as any additional information that contributed to
his notoriety in organized crime.
Big Paul was born in the hub of New York, Brooklyn, on
June 26, of 1915 (Paul Castellano, 2013). He went to school like everyone else but quit
while he was in the 8th grade to work in his father's butcher shop to cut meat
and help with his books running numbers for mob-controlled bookies (Paul
Castellano, 2013). That is a pretty rough beginning but not
unusual in that time period for kids to be of more value in their family
business instead of in school. Big Paul
was born into a Sicilian immigrant family as the youngest son and made his
place in the family business as was expected which led to more frequent and
more serious crimes as he aged (Paul Castellano, 2013).
By the time he was 19 years old, he was already doing
time in prison (Paul Castellano, 2013). Three months, to be exact, for armed robbery,
never once helping police with the identity of his co-conspirators which earned
him street credibility among his fellow neighborhood thugs (Paul Castellano, 2013). He was well known for not talking about his
associations even if it meant serving time and was quoted saying, "There are certain promises you make that are
more sacred than anything that happens in a court of law, I don't care how many
Bibles you put your hand on" (Paul Castellano, 2013).
Big Paul really got his feet wet once he married Nino
Manno, the sister in law to Mafia King Carlo Gambino in 1937 at the age of 22 (Paul
Castellano, 2013). Over the next several years he managed to
keep a low profile while involved in gambling and boot legging but that would
come to an end (Paul Castellano, 2013). Close to two decades later, Big Paul was
called to testify in a grand jury concerning his connections to organized crime (Paul
Castellano, 2013). Going back to his motto of not snitching on
his associates, "he refused to say a word and was sentenced to five years
in prison for contempt of court" but he actually only served seven months,
earning him the reputation for "bulletproof loyalty" (Paul
Castellano, 2013).
Once released from his short stint in prison, he started
up a wholesale enterprise meat business called Blue Ribbon Meats that made him
into a rather wealthy man (Paul Castellano, 2013). As a side job, he and his brother-in-law,
Gambino, developed "White Rackets" that involved construction bid
rigging, union infiltration and political corruption (Paul
Castellano, 2013). Because of Big Paul's trustworthy nature,
enterprises with Carlo Gambino and the family ties, he was made boss of the
Gambino Crime Family upon the death of Carlo Gambino which he "led with a
quiet hand, keeping a low profile and running operations from his Staten Island
mansion" (Paul Castellano, 2013).
At the age of 70, in 1985, the government had their sites
on Big Paul by enlisting the aid of his maid and his lover, Gloria Olarte, by
having them place a wire tap in his kitchen (Paul Castellano, 2013). 600 hours of evidence was gathered from those
recordings detailing Gambino crime family business which led to his arrest on
March 30, 1985 and charges of the sanctioning of 24 murders, released on a $2
million dollar bond (Paul Castellano, 2013). A year after that he was arrested again,
along with other crime family bosses, "in what became known as the
Commission Case, an investigation into mob control over the New York City
construction business" (Paul Castellano, 2013).
But Big Paul's rise to organized crime stardom was about
to come crashing to an end. His hold on
his family was weakening as his own men began mutinying against him and his
rival, John Gotti, took that advantage and ran with it, convincing Big Paul's
allies to change their allegiance over to him (Paul Castellano, 2013). What does the Mafia do when you're not
liked? You get whacked. Big Paul was gunned down outside his favorite
restaurant, Sparks Steak House in Manhattan on Dec 16, 1985 (Paul
Castellano, 2013)
in front of terrified and startled citizens.
To conclude, Big Paul started out as an 8th grade
dropout, slaving over meat in his father's meat store, to the boss of the
largest and most influential organized crime family in the US. He came a long way and met the end that many
gangsters did, being offed by a rival.
To me, the mafia was like a game of chess, the opportunity to outplay a
key player was the goal of the game while maintaining their foothold in
organized crime with the aspirations of ultimate power. It was a tumultuous time period and career
for organized crime members.
Works Cited
Medina, J. (2007, 10 24). The Day Big Paul
Castellano Got Whacked. Retrieved 07 13, 2013, from Yahoo Voices:
http://voices.yahoo.com/the-day-big-paul-castellano-got-whacked-611658.html?cat=7
Paul Castellano. (2013). Retrieved 07 13, 2013, from Bio.True Story:
http://www.biography.com/people/paul-castellano-329028
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