“Christopher Furnari”的意思、由来-开放百科全书

Christopher "Christie Tick"^[1] Furnari, Sr. (1924 – May 28, 2018) was a Lucchese crime family mobster.^[1] During the 1980s, Furnari served as the family consigliere until his 1986 racketeering conviction. He was sentenced to 100 years in prison before being released in 2014 after serving almost 28 years.

Early years

In 1924, Christopher Furnari was born in New York to first-generation Sicilian-Italian emigrants from Furnari, a commune in the Province of Messina in Sicily. By age 15, Furnari was managing his own loanshark operations in Brooklyn and Northern New Jersey. By 1943, the 19-year-old Furnari had already served two prison terms for armed robbery. Furnari was also sentenced to 15 to 30 years

after a trial where he and several other youths were arrested with 3 girls in a car and charged with rape.

In 1956, Furnari was released from prison on parole. Furnari became an associate of Gaetano "Tommy Three-Finger Brown" Lucchese's crime family through Furnari's connection with mobster Anthony Corallo. During the late 1950s, Furnari became involved in illegal gambling and loansharking.^[1] Furnari soon became an influential member of the Brooklyn faction of the family and was earning $25,000 a day. In 1962, at age 38, Furnari became a made man in the Lucchese family. In 1964, Furnari became a caporegime.

The Lucchese powerbase was traditionally in Manhattan and the Bronx, the family's birthplace; the family's first three bosses, Gaetano "Tom" Reina, Tommaso "Tommy" Gagliano, and Tommy Lucchese, were all from this area. In contrast, Furnari belonged to the less influential Brooklyn faction. Furnari operated his crew in Bensonhurst at the 19th Hole, a nondescript bar and mob social club. His crew was involved in illegal gambling,^[1] loansharking,^[1] extortion, burglary, narcotics dealing, occasional murder contracts, & union & construction rackets.^[1] At this time, Furnari's criminal record included convictions for assault and sex offenses.

Furnari controlled New York District Council 9, which represented 6,000 workers who painted and decorated hotels, bridges, and subway stations in New York. Furnari managed the Council through the union secretary and treasurer, James Bishop, and Bishop's associate, Frank Arnold. Bishop and Arnold would pick up cash payments from the contractors, who charged a 10 to 15 percent tax on all major commercial painting jobs, and passed the payments to Furnari.

The 19th Hole

The 19th Hole, Furnari's social club, was the hub of criminal activity in Bensonhurst. Mobsters from every New York crime family conducted business in the club and socialized over food and drink. In the mid 1960s, aspiring mobsters Vittorio "Vic" Amuso and Anthony "Gaspipe" Casso joined Furnari's crew. Furnari saw that both men could make money and were willing to use violence if needed. Furnari put Amuso and Casso in charge of a large bookmaking operation and debt collecting operation.

In 1967, family boss Tommy Lucchese died of a brain tumor, leaving the family to be run by an interim boss, Carmine "Mr. Gribbs" Tramunti.^[2] Lucchese's real successor Anthony "Tony Ducks" Corallo, was convicted of bribery in 1967 and sentenced in 1968 to prison for two years. Tramunti served as acting boss, even after Corallo was released from prison in 1970. In 1973, with Tramunti's imprisonment, Corallo finally became the official Lucchese boss.

In the early 1970s the Five Families of New York organized crime decided to "open the books', allowing a new generation of mob associates to become made men. Furnari immediately sponsored Amuso and Casso for family membership and then made them overseers of the "Bypass Gang", a highly successful burglary ring. During the 1970s and 1980s, the Bypass Gang reportedly stole hundreds of millions of dollars in cash, jewelry, and other merchandise.

The Pierre Hotel Robbery

In January 1972, Furnari backed and sanctioned the squad of armed robbers who took the famed Pierre Hotel in Manhattan under siege and stole approximately $3 million in jewels and cash. This crime stands as the largest unrecovered hotel robbery in history. None of the perpetrators ever confessed to the heist, and only a diamond necklace valued at $780,000 was recovered. The case was never solved. The eight brazen armed robbers were: Robert Comfort, Sammy Nalo, Donald 'Tony the Greek', Al Green, Ali Ben, Bobby Germain, and Al Visconti.

Consigliere

In 1980, Furnari was promoted to consigliere in the Lucchese family. He wanted Casso to take over as capo of the 19th Hole crew, but Casso declined and endorsed Amuso instead. Casso opted to become Furnari's aide; a consigliere is allowed to have one soldier work directly for him.

Furnari now enjoyed enormous influence both within his own family, the other New York families, and crime families from other US cities. Furnari continued to oversee his criminal interests from the 19th Hole, but spent much of his time providing advise and mediation for family members as well as settling disputes with the other families. Furnari reigned as one of New York's top Mafia bosses throughout the early 1980s until his 1985 racketeering indictment.

The Commission Case

On February 25, 1985, Furnari was indicted in the Mafia Commission case, the most comprehensive Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) leveled against the mob at the time.^[3] Furnari was indicted as a result of a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) probe that used undercover surveillance and bugging techniques against the mob leaders. The bug that snared Furnari had been placed in Salvatore Avellino's Jaguar car. FBI surveillance recorded Corallo conducting business with Furnari and other family leaders. Pleading not guilty to the charges, Furnari was released on $1.75 million bail pending trial.^[4]

The Russian Mafia

In early 1986, while Furnari was awaiting the Commission trial, the Lucchese family uncovered a new, protentially lucrative racket. A Russian-American crime family based in Brighton Beach in Brooklyn, run by Ukrainian immigrant Marat Balagula, had started to bootleg gasoline. By collecting gasoline taxes from customers and then not paying them to the government, Balagula was making very large profits. When Colombo crime family capo Michael Franzese started pressing Balagula for extortion payments, Balagula went to Furnari for help. Casso later reported on a meeting at the 19th Hole, in which Furnari told Balagula,

As a result of the 19th Hole meeting, the Five Families imposed a two cent per gallon "Family tax" on Balagula's bootlegging operation, which became their greatest moneymaker after drug trafficking.^[6] According to one former associate,

On June 12, 1986, one of Balagula's rivals, Russian gangster Vladimir Reznikov, entered Balagula's nightclub in Brighton Beach. Reznikov pushed a 9mm Beretta handgun against Balagula's skull and demanded $600,000 and a percentage of Balagula's rackets. After Balagula acceded to his demands, Reznikov told him, "Fuck with me and you're dead -- you and your whole fucking family; I swear I'll fuck and kill your wife as you watch -- you understand?"^[9]

After Reznikov left the nightclub, Balagula suffered a massive heart attack. He insisted, however, on being treated at his home in Brighton Beach, where he felt safer. At home, Balagula asked Casso to come help him. Casso gave these instructions to Balagula, "Send word to Vladimir that you have his money, that he should come to the club tomorrow. We'll take care of the rest."^[10] Casso also requested a photograph of Reznikov and a description of his car.

The next day, Reznikov arrived at Balagula's nightclub to pick up his money. Lucchese soldier Joseph Testa confronted Reznikov and fatally shot him. According to Casso, "After that, Marat didn't have any problems with other Russians."^[11]

Conviction and life sentence

In September 1986, Furnari went on trial in the famous New York Mafia Commission case along with Corallo and underboss Salvatore "Tom Mix" Santoro. The charges included extortion and labor racketeering within the labor unions and construction industry, and murder for hire of former Bonanno crime family boss Carmine "Lilo" Galante. Galante had been gunned down on July 12, 1979 allegedly on the orders of the Commission. Some have argued that Furnari wasn't on the Commission then and had no connection with the Galante hit. However, Furnari could not use this as a defense argument.

By the fall of 1986, Corallo realized that he, Santoro and Furnari would not only be convicted, but were facing sentences that would all but assure they would die in prison. Furnari persuaded Corallo that either Amuso or Casso should become the new boss. At a meeting in Furnari's home, Furnari, Amuso and Casso all agreed that Amuso should succeed Corallo as boss.

On November 19, 1986 Furnari was convicted on all counts, including the Galante murder.^[12] On January 13, 1987, Furnari was sentenced to 100 years in prison without parole. After the sentencing session, Furnari and the other defendants met with their lawyers in a back room of the courthouse for a final meal and a bottle of wine. Corallo gave the traditional Italian toast of Cent'anni (May we live 100 years), at which time Santoro stated, "I think it's time to get a new toast". Furnari and the other defendants just laughed.^[13]

With the imprisonment of Corallo and Furnari, Amuso became boss, and Casso became consigliere and later underboss. Peter "Fat Pete" Chiodo took over Furnari's Bensonhurst crew.

Aftermath

In 1990, Amuso and Casso became fugitives to avoid prosecution in the famous "Windows Case."^[14] In 1992, Amuso was captured and sentenced to life in prison. In 1993, Casso was also captured; however, in 1994 he struck a deal with the government to testify against Furnari and other family leaders.

In 1995, Furnari started challenging the "no parole" stipulation of his sentence in court. The government had previously revoked Casso's witness deal with prosecutors, and in 1996 Casso was sentenced to life in prison. Furnari's lawyers insisted that Casso's court testimony against Furnari was tainted.

In July 2000, the Third Circuit Federal Court of Appeals ruled that the parole board officials had been denying Mr. Furnari's parole eligibility on the tainted assertions of mob turncoat Casso. However, in 2001, the Bureau of Prisons National Appeal Board ruled that Furnari was a multiple murderer and was not eligible for parole, based on what some people considered to be Casso's discredited testimony. On February 15, 2006, Furnari filed a habeas corpus petition in District Court claiming that the United States parole commission improperly had denied him parole. On June 20, 2007, the court denied his petition.

Furnari was imprisoned in the Allenwood Medium Federal Correctional Institution (FCI) in Allenwood, Pennsylvania.^[15] His projected release date was November 24, 2044, effectively a life sentence. However, since he was convicted before Congress eliminated parole for federal prisoners, he and his co-defendants became eligible for parole in 1996. Furnari was the only defendant to be granted early release by the U.S. Parole Commission, most likely relating to the weak evidence behind his murder conviction. Furnari was released from a prison hospital in Minnesota on September 19, 2014 after serving 28 years. On May 28, 2018, Furnari died at his home in Staten Island New York after his release.^[16]

References

1. ^¹²³⁴⁵⁶https://web.archive.org/web/20060103112838/http://www.geocities.com/mafia_genius2004/1986mobsters.html
2. ^Clines, Francis X. [https://www.nytimes.com/1967/07/16/archives/li-police-record-a-mafia-funeral-mourners-at-services-for-luchese-a.html&scp=2&sq=Joseph%20%22Joe%20Palisades%22%20Rosato&st=cse L.I. Police Record A Mafia Funeral - Mourners at Services for Luchese Are Photographed] (July 16, 1967) New York Times
3. ^{{cite news|last=Lubasch|first=Arnold H|title=Reputed Crime Bosses Arraigned|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/03/01/nyregion/reputed-crime-bosses-arraigned.html|accessdate=2 December 2011|newspaper=New York Times|date=March 1, 1985}}
4. ^{{cite news|title=11 PLEAD NOT GUILTY TO RULING ORGANIZED CRIME IN NEW YORK|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/07/02/nyregion/11-plead-not-guilty-to-ruling-organized-crime-in-new-york.html?scp=2&sq=%22Christopher%20Furnari%22&st=cse|accessdate=19 November 2011|newspaper=New York Times|date=July 2, 1985}}
5. ^{{Harvnb|Carlo|2008|p=120}}
6. ^{{Harvnb|Friedman|2000|p=53}}
7. ^Robert Friedman, "Red Mafiya: How the Russian Mob has Invaded America," 2000. Pages 53-54.
8. ^Philip Carlo, "Gaspipe: Confessions of a Mafia Boss," 2008, page 152.
9. ^{{Harvnb|Carlo|2008|p=153}}
10. ^Philip Carlo, "Gaspipe: The Confessions of a Mafia Boss," 2008, page 154.
11. ^{{Harvnb|Friedman|2000|p=55}}
12. ^{{cite news|last=Lubasch|first=Arnold H.|title=U.S. JURY CONVICTS EIGHT AS MEMBERS OF MOB COMMISSION|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/11/20/nyregion/us-jury-convicts-eight-as-members-of-mob-commission.html?scp=1&sq=%22Mafia%20Commission%22%20trial&st=cse|accessdate=2 December 2011|newspaper=New York Times|date=November 20, 1986}}
13. ^[https://www.nytimes.com/1987/01/14/nyregion/judge-sentences-8-mafia-leaders-to-prison-terms.html?scp=11&sq=Christopher%20Furnari&st=cse "JUDGE SENTENCES 8 MAFIA LEADERS TO PRISON TERMS"] By ARNOLD H. LUBASCH New York Times January 14, 1987
14. ^{{cite news|last=Raab|first=Selwyn|title='Most Ruthless Mafia Leader Left; Leader on the Lam Runs the Lucchese Family, Agents Say|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/11/28/nyregion/most-ruthless-mafia-leader-left-leader-lam-runs-lucchese-family-agents-say.html?scp=4&sq=%22Christopher%20Furnari%22&st=cse|accessdate=19 November 2011|newspaper=New York Times|date=November 28, 1992}}
15. ^{{cite web|title=Christopher Furnari|url=http://www.bop.gov/iloc2/InmateFinderServlet?Transaction=NameSearch&needingMoreList=false&FirstName=Christopher+&Middle=&LastName=Furnari&Race=U&Sex=U&Age=&x=20&y=12|work=Bureau of Prisons inmate Locator|accessdate=19 November 2011}}
16. ^{{cite web |title=Christopher Furnari |url=https://obits.silive.com/obituaries/siadvance/obituary.aspx?n=christopher-furnari&pid=189143175&fhid=38488 |publisher=Staten Island Advance |accessdate=11 August 2018}}