boss of bosses. Indeed, the New York Times, among others, so dubbed him. Galante was then rearrested for parole violation and the government looked very good again, knocking off yet another boss of bosses.
Next in line for the mythical crown was Tieri, which meant that he too would soon face a serious conviction. He was sentenced to 10 years for violating the Organized Crime Control Act of 1970 but died shortly thereafter in 1981.
After that came Paul Castellano, the head of the Gambino family. The fact that he headed a powerful family may not have been enough to dub him the boss of bosses, especially when one considers that he was taken down so easily by gangster elements within his own family headed by John Gotti. Clearly, Gotti then became the press's leading candidate for the title boss of bosses. The fact that under Gotti the Gambinos went into deep decline so that the Genovese family once more gained the distinction of becoming more powerful and prosperous was a clear fly in the ointment. Still the press was not ready to name that mob's leader, Chin Gigante, to the grandiose position. When both Gotti and Gigante went to prison, the mythical title remained vacant.
Boss's Annual Income: No limit for the man at the top It would be hard to estimate accurately the annual income of a Mafia don. In Chicago Tony Accardo's take was known to be enormous, as was that of his associate Sam Giancana. New York's Paul Castellano (and Carlo Gambino before him) and Tough Tony Salerno garnered fortunes, and it was said their annual payola could not be reckoned on just their 10 fingers, each one representing a million—and maybe not even if their 10 toes were counted as well.
Only in the recent case of John Gotti can some ballpark figures be established, thanks to informer Sammy ''the Bull" Gravano. Sammy disclosed his own income to show what size slice Gotti took. Rigged construction deals set up by the Bull with the Teamsters and other unions topped $1.2 million a year. The Bull also garnered a number of so-called legit construction contracts, and he and his wife paid $800,000 in taxes. After taxes at least $200,000 went to Gotti. Sammy's operations in nightclubs, discos, and after-hours joints produced another $600,000 a year and again Gotti took his share. The Bull insisted this made him Gotti's biggest producer, which might or might not have been true, as Gotti had numerous sources of money. Tommy Gambino's garment industry operations netted Gotti huge sums. Then there were cuts from hijackings, the carting industry, pier rackets and other rackets. And of course there was also drug money. One mob heroin dealer was good for handing Gotti $100,000 a payment. Officially there was a ban on drug activities, but Gotti took the money and asked no questions.
In Underboss, the Bull estimated that Gotti on the very low side was getting $5 million a year—"and probably more like ten or twelve."
It would take time to join the ranks of the wealthiest mob bosses, boasting at least a few hundred million as some dons had done, but Gotti never made it. He was cut off at the very prime of his money-making years.
Bourg, Frank (1890–1955):"Wrong man" Mafia victim In April 1955, 64-year-old New Orleans bank teller Frank Bourg suffered a heart attack and was hospitalized. One night as he lay in bed a visitor walked into his room and proceeded to smash his skull with a cleaver. It clearly appeared to be a gang hit although Bourg, evidently an innocent teller for some 30 years, had no record of any sort of criminal involvement.
Later it was concluded that Bourg had been the mistaken victim of a Mafia assassination attempt. It appeared the real target was Sheriff Frank Clancy who had occupied the next hospital room. According to a police report, "from the time Clancy ... entered the hospital, he ... had a guard outside of his door but the guard was removed—on the morning of the attack—by somebody representing themselves as the sheriff's wife."
Clancy, an old-style political boss, had been a reluctant witness at the Kefauver Hearings in 1950–1951. He revealed that he had allowed the underworld to place 5,000 slot machines in his parish. In addition, acting New Orleans boss Carlos Marcello opened three gambling casinos on the New Orleans side of the river; it was said that Clancy had a share in the profits. Clancy also maintained the right to hire all personnel below the management level. Clancy's testimony proved embarrassing to Marcello but had little effect on gambling operations.
There was some reason to believe that Clancy was talking to federal agents about Louisiana gambling right up to the time of the Bourg murder. Nothing bad came out of the Bourg murder for the Marcello family. A nurse's aide who had seen the killer and provided police with a detailed description three days later suddenly recalled she had no idea what the man looked like. And as David Leon Chandler noted in Brothers in Blood, "As for Sheriff Clancy, he ceased giving information to federal agents."
Brasco, Donnie (1939-): FBI agent who infiltrated the Mafia He was the greatest Mafia informer, far more productive than such informers as Sammy "the Bull" Gravano,
