This Blog of Ours

Joseph ‘Tin Ear’ Sclafani

Charles ‘Big Ears’ Majuri, Vincent Palermo (dark blue shirt) and an unknown associate(white shirt), photographed during the FBI investigation of the DeCavalcante in the late 1990s. In 1997, ‘Big Ears’ Majuri (son of former DeCavalcante Underboss Frank Majuri) was part of the ruling panel that was appointed to run the DeCavalcante family after the murder of John D’amato, along with Vincent ‘Vinny Ocean’ Palermo and Giralomo ‘Jimmy’ Palermo (not related to Vinny Ocean). However, Majuri grew discontented with this arrangement ordered the deaths of both Jimmy and Vincent Palermo. Majuri approached Jimmy Gallo to arrange the hits but Gallo betrayed Majuri and told Vinny Ocean and Jimmy Palermo about his plan. The two ruling panel members immediately ordered Jimmy Gallo and Anthony Capo to murder Majuri. However, the hit fell through when Gallo, Capo and Joey Masella, sitting outside Majuri’s house waiting for him to return home, realised a police car was sitting outside one of the neighbouring houses. This, coupled with Majuri’s failure to return home at a convenient time, led them to abandon their plan and leave. When the hit-men travelled to Florida to inform Vincent Palermo of their failure he decided to call off the hit.

The following are surveillance photographs of the New Jersey based DeCavalcante family taken in the 1980s and 90s, with descriptions of key members and events.

Philip Abramo, known as ‘The King of Wall Street’, was a capo of the DeCavalcante’s crew in Florida, and is known for his participation in widespread security fraud. In 1994 he was indicted for conning 300 people out of a total of $1,000,000 by selling fraudulent lines of credit. During another trial in 2000 he was quoted as saying “I have done many, many things in my life that I am ashamed of, but I have never, ever murdered another human being nor have I ever asked or ordered anyone to murder another human being.’ He was subsequently found guilty of, among other things, committing five murders (including that of homosexual boss, John D’amato.

Stefano Vitabile, Guiseppe ‘Pino’ Schifilliti and Philip Abramo

Stefano Vitabile, known as ‘Steve the Truck Driver’ is a former consigliere and acting boss of the DeCavalcante family who was responsible for re-organising the family leadership into the ruling panel after the death of acting boss Philip Amari of stomach cancer. He subsequently became acting boss as part of a new ruling panel  which consisted of himself, Vincent ‘Vinny Ocean’ Palermo and Joseph Miranda. When indictments were passed down for the arrest of several members of the DeCavalcante family, Vitabile absconded to Italy which led to his FBI not searching for him in New Jersey (for obvious reasons). This led to his fellow mafiosi putting out a hit on him which was eventually cancelled when he was eventually arrested by the FBI. Following the testimony of Vinny Ocean in 2003, he was convicted of the conspiracy to kill John D’amato, as well as other crimes, and was sentenced to life in prison in 2006. His conviction, however, was repealed and he will be released on the 24th of November, 2013.

Guiseppe Schifilliti was also a prominent member and caporegime of the DeCavalcante family and was sentenced to life imprisonment for taking part in the aforementioned conspiracy to kill John D’amato, among other things. 

Stefano Vitabile with Vincent ‘Vinny Ocean’ Palermo, who, in 2003, gave evidence against him and many other members of the DeCavalcante family which led to widespread convictions of murder, racketeering, stock fraud, extortion and many other crimes. Palermo is thought by some to be the inspiration for the character Tony Soprano.

Various members of the DeCavalcante Family