GAMBINO FAMILY BOSS SWISS-CHEESED

'He was the good wise guy that went after bad wise guys': Mafia heir pays tribute to Gambino crime boss Frank Cali, 53, after he was slain outside his home and warns 'nobody gets away with anything'

Daily Mail
March 14, 2019

Giovanni Gambino told DailyMail.com that 53-year-old 'Franky Boy' was a constant feature in the New York charity scene and was someone he looked up to growing up.

The head of the notorious family was shot and killed in a hail of bullets in Staten Island, New York, on Wednesday night in a slaying that shattered a 30-year peace between the Five Families in the Big Apple and could lead to more bloodshed.

'He was the good wise guy that went after bad wise guys', he said. 'The wise guy that showed class. He was the one that had the "it" factor'.

Giovanni's cousin Carlo founded the Gambino crime family in 1957 when he immigrated from Italy and his father Francesco 'Ciccio' Gambino was one of the leading members. Francesco died in federal prison in 2012 while serving a 30-year sentence for trafficking heroin from Sicily to the United States.

Cali maintained a 'low-key' lifestyle, was a good friend to his family and always supported his passion to become a writer, Giovanni says. Cali is the basis for the protagonist in his novel, The Prince of Omerta.

Cali's murder on Wednesday night was the first hit on a Mafia boss since John Gotti arranged the assassination of then-Gambino head Paul Castellano in 1985.
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THE BOYS STILL PLAY FOR KEEPS

by Bob Walsh

Francesco Cali, 53, the alleged head of the Gambino crime family, died Wednesday night in front of his home in Staten Island of a sudden and acute case of lead poisoning. The poisoning was administered by somebody in a blue pickup truck. Six shots probably means a revolver. How quaint. Cali had been the alleged HMFIC for about four years.

In an interesting and possibly related aside the alleged head of the Colombo crime family, Carmine Persico, died of natural causes at age 85 one week ago.