US News

MOB WANTS YOU; RECRUITING DRIVE SENDS WISEGUY TALLY TO 651

The city’s embattled Mafia families recruited 94 new wiseguys – pushing the number of made men in the Big Apple to more than 600 for the first time in years, confidential FBI reports show.

And the mob has come up with new strategies to evade lawmen that include recruiting Sicilians and picking leaders from other states.

The Gambino crime family and the all-but-invisible Bonannos recently beefed up their ranks, swelling the Mafia’s roster to 651, the reports show. Defections and deaths had whittled the wiseguy ranks to a low of 570 by January 2001.

The Gambinos, reeling from the June 2002 death of John “Dapper Don” Gotti and the conviction of his brother, Peter, inducted 38 soldiers to become the city’s most powerful clan.

In a new tactic to dodge law enforcement, the Gambinos chose leaders from other states, sources said.

“The move is to put in leaders from outside of New York,” a veteran federal agent said. “Their acting boss is from New Jersey, and their new underboss comes from Connecticut. Nice idea, but it’s not going to work.”

Arnold “The Beast” Squitieri, who hails from the Garden State, now serves as acting boss, while underboss Anthony “Tony Connecticut” Megale is from the Nutmeg State.

The Bonannos, long ignored by authorities and their fellow Mafia families, shot from 85 made men in 2001 to 146 by the end of last year, the FBI reports show.

“They were on shelf for while, and were under the radar screen,” said Matt Heron, new head of the FBI’s New York organized crime bureau. “They used that time to bring people over from Sicily to re-energize themselves.”

Recruiting goodfellas from Sicily gave the crime ring an edge by having thugs who could operate in anonymity, Heron said.

“They are an unknown entity over here,” Heron said.

As the other four families struggled with racketeering charges and damaging defections, the Bonannos surpassed the Colombo and Luchese clans in manpower.

Since 2001, the Colombos dwindled from 90 to 65 members. And despite an earlier recruiting drive, the Lucheses lost 22 members over the past three years, leaving then with 91 hoods.

THE MAFIA’S LINEUP FOR 2004

GENOVESE: 142 soldiers, 22 capos. Boss: Vincent “Chin” Gigante (left). Acting Boss: Liborio “Barney” Bellomo.

Underboss: Michele “Mickey Dimino” Generoso and Lawrence Dentico. COnsigliere: James “Jimmy” Ida

GAMBINO: 168 soldiers, 17 capos. Boss: Peter Gotti (right). Acting Boss: Arnold “The Beast” Squitieri. Underboss: Anthony “Tony Connecticut” Megale. Consigliere: Joseph “JoJo” Corozzo

LUCHESE: 82 soldiers, 9 capos. Boss: Vittorio “Vic” Amuso (above). Acting Boss: Louis “Cross Bay” Daidone. Underboss: Steven Crea. Consigliere: Joseph Caridi

BONNANO: 131 soldiers, 15 capos. Boss: Joseph Massino (above). Underboss: Salvatore Vitale. Consigliere: Anthony Spero

COLOMBO: 60 soldiers, 5 capos. Boss: Alphonse “Allie Boy” Persico (above). Acting Boss: Joel “Joe Waverly” Cacace. Underboss: Thomas Gieoli. Consigliere: Ralph Lombardo