FAMILY BUSINESS VI

Rival Family Business Partners

In the organized crime game, specifically, the five New York crime families, each syndicate operates similarly to create its position of wealth and power.

Extortion, Racketeering, Gambling, Prostitution, Drugs, Money-Laundering, Theft. All do business in these and other types of crime, so it is natural that these families are rivals and see the others as competition, much like any other typical business enterprise.

The commonality between the families is they all work against law enforcement, the government, and the judicial system. While they are somewhat independent in their criminal activities, they sometimes share the human assets of crooked cops, dishonest judges, nefarious business people, and lawless media types.

They have their own set of rules. Their operations are territorial. When one family crosses into another's territory, one of two things will occur.

They either pay the rival family a percentage or fee for conducting business in their designated area or fight each other to maintain their dominance or control.

Sometimes the heads of the five families will meet to resolve any differences; other times, it is decided by blood. Revenge and Vendettas are a severe aspect of the organized crime business model.

Modern-Day Hatfields and McCoys

Bad blood had been slowly brewing between the Zizzo and Capriotti families for a few years now.

The more aggressive Santo Capriotti, the family Don, had always considered Don Guiseppe Zizzo weak, therefore willing to test him at every opportunity.

His animosity toward Don Zizzo also apparently stemmed from Zizzo's more significant position of power amongst the other families. Nevertheless, Capriotti felt he was more deserving of such high respect and consistently sought ways to obtain it by challenging the Zizzo territories and business enterprises.

The most recent infraction was the money stolen by Capriotti Associates at Auggie Palmisano's funeral and the subsequent retaliation killing of the responsible Capriotti crew members by the Zizzo's.

While the theft was resolved with the murder of Capriotti's men, the disrespect Zizzo felt with it taking place at a family member's funeral never dissipated.

Pay Up or Pay Dearly

Part of the Zizzo territory includes the Port of New York and New Jersey. It is the largest shipping container port on the east coast, and Don Zizzo had long ties with certain port authorities.

He would pay them to look the other way when shipments were targeted to profit from their stolen goods.

Naturally, the port was not off-limits to the other crime families. Still, there was the expectation that Zizzo be provided a percentage of the profits earned by the rival families.

Capriotti sources discovered that a substantial shipment of the newly popular Panasonic VCR Home Video Systems was en route from Japan to the Port of New York destination.

These new VCR systems were only developed two years earlier and were only available in North America for about one year.

The most sought-after consumer product at the time, the 60,000 unit cargo, would sell for a retail price of $180 each, giving this shipment a value of almost 11 million dollars.

Of course, Capriotti would only get street value for the stolen goods, but the end pay-off looked to be more than 5 million cash. With a windfall of that size, the expected Zizzo fee for access to the port would garner around 1.5 million.

The shipment arrived, and the Capriotti crew intercepted the entire contents before reaching its distribution location. In a matter of fewer than 6 hours, Santo Capriotti was sitting on a secret warehouse inventory of brand new home video units.

Nobody was aware of who the thieves were except Don Guiseppe Zizzo. Not much took place in this port without his knowledge, and his insiders provided detail of the amount and value of the heisted goods.

A Dog Eat Dog Existence

All organized crime members follow a specific hierarchy with the Don of each family at the top of the organizational chart. Ultimately when a Caporegime, Soldier, or even an Associate member takes action or makes a move in conflict with someone from another family, it has a direct effect and consequences.

With the VCR players being in such high demand, it was easy to fence all the units for quick cash. In less than ten days, the Capriotti crew had sold every unit. As estimated, the profit for the Capriotti family exceeded close to 5 million US dollars.

But Don Santo Capriotti's greed would be his undoing. Not satisfied enough with the quick payday, he decided it was his family that earned it, not Zizzo's. So instead of paying the appropriate standard fee, the Don chose to pay nothing, forcing Don Zizzo to make his move.

War and Peace

The news of Capriotti declining to pay outraged Don Zizzo. He still harbored bad feelings over the stolen funeral money. Now, Capriotti was going against the five family protocols and stiffed him on the VCR money he would not have been able to obtain without Zizzo's port authority contacts.

Convinced Santo Capriotti was moving toward a power grab, Zizzo realized that peacefully resolving this would not be likely. Instead, it appeared war between the families would be eminent.

Call to Counsel

In the days that followed, Don Zizzo contacted the heads of the other four families to arrange a meet. These types of gatherings did not occur often, but it was usually quite serious when they did.

The meeting would take place in the old barn on the Palmisano farm in upstate New York. Attending would be Don Guiseppe Zizzo, Don Michael Guiliani, of the Guiliani family, Don Anton Fugarino, of the Fugarino family, Don Vincent Barrone of the Piccolo family, and of course, Don Santo Capriotti.

Keeping the peace amongst the five families was the sole premise for the meeting. A rightful settlement from Capriotti to Zizzo would be at issue, along with any penalty to Capriotti for his refusal.

In an unexpected twist, Don Santo Capriotti did not attend the meeting.

Such indifference toward the five family structures was the ultimate show of disrespect and a clear indication that Santo Capriotti had determined war against Zizzo was his preferred choice of action.

With only the four families represented, Don Zizzo asked the other Dons for permission to resolve the problem with Capriotti on his own. He explained that this was not the first time Capriotti had moved against his family, reminding them all of the stolen funeral money not long before.

With unanimous blessing from the other family heads, Don Zizzo was given the green light go-ahead to deal with Santo Capriotti in whichever way he deemed appropriate.

Permission Granted, Outcome Determined

For organized crime syndicates, violence often follows when practical reasoning fails. Unfortunately, the bad blood between Zizzo and Capriotti had reached such a crossroad.

A Don or even a Caporegime rarely is targeted for demise.

Capriotti knew the position he had put himself in, so in the days and weeks after the meeting, he took extra precautions fortifying his estate, increasing his available weaponry, and enlisting additional men for when the inevitable war would breakout.

Then, thinking he was more intelligent and better prepared, he welcomed the opportunity to bring down the Zizzo family and finally stepping in to absorb his territory like a giant sponge. He was indeed ready for a fight.

Don Zizzo had other plans. Aware of the stance Capriotti would take, Zizzo, waited and watched. The goal was to make his move when Capriotti least expected it.

He instructed his scouts to monitor Capriotti from a distance. Then, sooner or later, he would slip or leave his guard down, and Zizzo would be ready.

It took some time. The holidays passed, but public appearances were few. Valentine's day, his wedding anniversary, funerals, those passed too without any opportunity for revenge.

Zizzo had now learned something. Capriotti had expected immediate retaliation, but it never came. Weeks and even months passed by without even a threat from Zizzo.

Capriotti knew he was the hunted one.

A year had passed since the five family meeting. No war, no attempts on Capriotti's life. He anticipated a gangland-style shootout with him being the victor. Perhaps Zizzo feared him and would not seek revenge after all.

Of course, that may have possibly been just the way Zizzo wanted him thinking.

It took almost 18 months, but finally, Zizzo got his chance. On the eve of Capriotti's 28th wedding anniversary, Zizzo informants learned that Capriotti and his wife were secretly heading to a tiny resort spot in Bangor, Maine, to celebrate.

Assuming he could get out of New York City, Capriotti felt he would be safe in a secluded area like Bangor.

Zizzo's men knew his destination, so it was not necessary to follow behind. They also knew that Capriotti would have bodyguards nearby to ensure their safe travels.

Once in Bangor, Capriotti felt they had successfully made the trip without notice. The couple checked into a quaint Bed and Breakfast, and a little while later, walked a half block to a Lobster Shack restaurant known for its secluded, intimate setting and romantic ambiance.

Zizzo's men waited for the sun to set and for the Capriotti's to finish their dinner. As they left the restaurant, they were both shot multiple times in the head and body and instantly killed.

For the first time in over thirty years, a Don of one of the five New York crime families had been gunned down and murdered. But, despite a green light of approval from the other families, this murder of a Don most certainly will incite further death. Just a matter of who.

Look for more in the ongoing Family business series describing stories and reports of this unique crime family and the Don Zizzo justice system.

About the Author

Thomas Doyle is a professional career chef, entrepreneur, restaurant consultant, writer for the food industry, storyteller, and humorist. A Green Bay, Wisconsin resident, avid Green Bay Packers fan, and lifelong Packer season-ticket holder, Doyle now can be found as a feature writer for Packerstalk.com.