Joaquin Jack Garcia - Making Jack Falcone: An Undercover FBI Agent Takes Down a Mafia Family

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Petey Chops wasnt kicking up.

And if he didnt start soon, he was going to get whacked.

In the Mafia, kicking up means sharing with those above you in your crime family the money you make in loan sharking, construction scams, gambling, numbers rackets, prostitution, drugs, stolen jewelry, sports memorabilia, Internet pornography, or any other criminal enterprise. Peter Petey Chops Vicini ran a highly successful gambling and numbers operation in the Bronx that netted him millions of dollars. As a made member of the Gambino crime family, he was responsible for sharing some of that wealth with his capo, the individual to whom he reported, along with the administration of the familythe boss, the underboss, and the consigliere.

Nobody can touch a Gambino, or a Lucchese, or a member of any of the other families that make up La Cosa Nostra in New York. No one can move into his territory, steal his shakedown victims, or interfere with his moneymaking activities. But operating under the protection of a crime family comes at a price. The Mafia soldier must kick up. He must share what he makes with those above him. A Mafia soldier must also report to his superiors regularly. Some capos insist on meetings every day. And the soldier had better come with money to kick up the line. Failure to do so is a capital crime in the Mafi a, and for months now Petey Chops had been avoiding his responsibilities. He wasnt kicking up. He was in hiding from the rest of the Mafia.

Making Jack Falcone

AN UNDERCOVER FBI AGENT TAKES DOWN A MAFIA FAMILY

JOAQUIN JACK GARCIA

WITH MICHAEL LEVIN

Copyright 2008 by Jack Garcia

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information address Touchstone Subsidiary Rights Department, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020

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First Pocket Star Books paperback edition October 2009

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ISBN 978-1-4391-4991-1

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For my loving wife and precious daughter,

my wonderful parents, family, and friends

I thank you for your encouragement, support, inspiration,

and understanding through the years.

For all the men and women in law enforcement

who risk their lives daily while working undercover

may God watch over you and keep you safe.

Nessun dorma! Nessun dorma!

Ma il mio mistero chiuso in me,

Il nome mio nessun sapr!

No, no, sulla tua bocca lo dir,

Quando la luce splender!

Ed il mio bacio scioglier.

Il silenzio che ti fa mio!

No one shall sleep! No one shall sleep!

But my secret lies hidden within me,

No one shall discover my name!

Oh no, I will reveal it only on your lips

When daylight shines forth!

And my kiss shall break

The silence that makes you mine!

Nessun Dorma, Turandot, Puccini

PART ONE

Insertion

Petey Chops wasnt kicking up.

And if he didnt start soon, he was going to get whacked.

In the Mafia, kicking up means sharing with those above you in your crime family the money you make in loan sharking, construction scams, gambling, numbers rackets, prostitution, drugs, stolen jewelry, sports memorabilia, Internet pornography, or any other criminal enterprise. Peter Petey Chops Vicini ran a highly successful gambling and numbers operation in the Bronx that netted him millions of dollars. As a made member of the Gambino crime family, he was responsible for sharing some of that wealth with his capo, the individual to whom he reported, along with the administration of the familythe boss, the underboss, and the consigliere.

Nobody can touch a Gambino, or a Lucchese, or a member of any of the other families that make up La Cosa Nostra in New York. No one can move into his territory, steal his shakedown victims, or interfere with his moneymaking activities. But operating under the protection of a crime family comes at a price. The Mafia soldier must kick up. He must share what he makes with those above him. A Mafia soldier must also report to his superiors regularly. Some capos insist on meetings every day. And the soldier had better come with money to kick up the line. Failure to do so is a capital crime in the Mafia, and for months now Petey Chops had been avoiding his responsibilities. He wasnt kicking up. He was in hiding from the rest of the Mafia.

The Gambino boss was Arnold Zeke Squitieri, an old-style Mafioso who avoided the limelight the way his illustrious predecessor, John Gotti, had sought it. Squitieri was a convicted felon due to his involvement in the narcotics trade; so much for the Mafias code that forbade dealing drugs. Squitieri had assigned Petey Chops to Greg DePalma, another old-school Mafia guy who had been a Gambino capo, or captain, since the 1990s and a made man in the family since 1977. Greg was in his early seventies when he emerged from prison after serving time for shaking down Scores, the Manhattan strip club made famous by radio shock jock Howard Stern.

The Mafia and the FBI both considered Greg a relic, a washed-up has-been or, in the colorful language of the Mafia, a brokester, a broken-down valise. Yet Greg was anything but a broken-down man. Within months of his release, he was riding high once again among the Gambinos. So high that the boss of the family, Squitieri, assigned Greg, among many other tasks, the responsibility of meeting with and collecting from the prize Gambino soldier and cash cow, Petey Chops.

Petey Chops had become a thorn in Gregs side. He simply wouldnt report. Petey Chops always made excuses. Hed say things like Greg, I cant meet you. Im being watched. Im under investigation. I dont want to take a pinch.

Meaning he didnt want to be arrested.

Hey, Greg would respond, were all being watched! Now get over here with the money!

Still no Petey.

Months went by. DePalma grew tired of Peteys whining. And then he had an idea.

He heard that Petey Chops and his girlfriend went to eat at the restaurant buffet in the Bloomingdales department store in White Plains every Monday night at six. On February 21, which happened to be the Presidents Day holiday, the Old Man, as Greg was called, decided that he, his Gambino soldier Robert Vaccaro, and I would find Petey at Blooming dales and straighten him out.

Who am I? An FBI undercover agent who had managed to infiltrate Greg DePalmas crew. Greg thought I was Jack Falcone, a big-time jewel thief from South Florida, and he had made me part of his crime crew. He had no idea that I was only the second FBI agent in history to deeply infiltrate the Mafia on a long-term basis. Joe Pistone, playing the role of Donnie Brasco, was the first.

I knew that the matter had been festering with Greg, because money was important to him. It was also the principle of the thingto benefit from your privileged position in an organized crime family and not share the wealth its a fatal mistake.