Loyal to Castellano, even in death.
Few Mafia bosses had careers as short as Thomas Bilotti did. The unfortunate Bilotti spent two paltry weeks as a key underboss in the Gambino Family, only to be gunned down execution style in one of the last big Mafia wars of the 20th Century. Bilotti fell victim to bad luck as a mafia leader more than anything else; he was aligned with the wrong members of the Gambino family at the wrong time, as multiple Gambino factions were engaged in a lethal power struggle. However, in his death, Bilotti ironically ended up having a greater impact on organized crime in New York than he did as a short-lived underboss.
The Early Years
Thomas Bilotti was born to Italian immigrants on Staten Island in 1940. Staten Island has long been a hotbed for Mafia activity, and as a young man Bilotti was soon drawn into a life of organized crime. Bilotti went to work for Michael D’Alessio, a Staten Island mobster and member of the Gambino Crime family. The D’Alessios were a mob fixture on Staten Island, running illegal gambling and other rackets for the Gambinos across the borough, and Bilotti soon became an integral member of their crew.
Bilotti often served as an enforcer and muscle for the D’Alessios; he was known to the cops and mob alike for his willingness to use violence to get things done. The D’Alessios allegedly used him to carry out hits, including a failed hit on the boyfriend of John D’Alessio’s daughter. In 1970, he was arrested for a shooting of a teenager in New Jersey, a likely attempted murder for some slight, but never faced any serious charges for it. Bilotti’s propensity for violence, along with his intense loyalty, helped get the attention of higher-ups in the Gambino Crime family, who soon pulled him in to their circle.
Rising Star in the Gambino Family
Bilotti soon endeared himself to key members of the Gambino family, particularly Paul Castellano. The powerful capo saw potential in the younger, ambitious Bilotti, and took the young mafioso on as a protégé. The two men eventually became quite close friends, and Castellano frequently hosted Bilotti as a guest at dinners and parties at his home. When Carlo Gambino died of a heart attack in 1976, Castellano was elevated to boss of the Gambino Family. Bilotti received a promotion as well and was given a crew to run.
Bilotti’s fortunes were clearly tied to his relationship to Paul Castellano. However, while those ties elevated him within Gambinos, they eventually put him at risk as well. By the 1980s, Paul Castellano was a contentious figure in the Gambino Family. Ambitious Gambino underboss John Gotti chafed at his leadership and feared that secret FBI recordings of him disparaging Gambino would make him a target for a hit. Castellano had also upset the rank and file within the family when he opted to skip the funeral of the highly respected Gambino underboss Aniello Dellacroce, in what was considered a major sign of disrespect. In a final misstep, Castellano appointed Thomas Bilotti to replace Dellacroce as underboss, passing several irate members of the deceased mobster’s crew who were deemed more appropriate successors. Gotti decided to make a move against both men.
Death and Aftermath
On December 16, 1985, loyal lieutenant Bilotti chauffeured Castellano to the Sparks Steak House for a meeting with other family members in Manhattan. As Castellano exited the vehicle, a gunman immediately opened fire on him; one of the rounds entered his head, killing him. As Bilotti exited the vehicle, he too was fatally shot as well. In a matter of seconds, the leader of the Gambino crime family and his key lieutenant were dead on the streets of Manhattan, erased.
In later years, key Gambino underboss turned FBI witness Sammy “the Bull” Gravano would testify that John Gotti ordered the hit, and that he and Gotti were located a block away from the restaurant when the murders occurred; Gravano also testified that Gotti radioed the hit team to alert them when Bilotti and Castellano passed by in their car. While Bilotti’s murder beside his boss and friend may have enabled Gotti to take control of the Gambino crime family, it also helped seal his fate as well; the Teflon don was convicted of ordering Bilotti’s murder and several other crimes and spent the rest of his life in prison. With Gotti behind bars, the Gambino Crime family began a precipitous decline from which they have never recovered.
Parting Thoughts – A Violent Life, Short Reign, and Loyalty to the End
Thomas Bilotti was an ambitious gangster who made a name for himself with fierce loyalty and a penchant for violence. He leveraged his relationships with key figures on Staten Island and within the Gambinos to rise fast and far within the Mafia. However, while his close ties to Castellano proved to be his undoing – two weeks after his promotion to underboss – even in death his loyalty to his boss and friend remains resolute; Bilotti is buried in the Moravian Cemetery in Staten Island, fifty yards from Paul Castellanos’ own grave.