In Atlantic City, the Pena’s cornered the market on bootlegging, gambling and prostitution, using the lights and glitz of the tourist location to line their pockets. The Pena’s had their hands in the cash register of every business venture that set up shop on the Boardwalk.
Up in Boston, the Fiore’s had infiltrated several unions including the Longshoreman’s Unions and the Teamsters, making it easy for them to get their hands on merchandise that had “fallen off the boat,” and get their choice of politician into office. On the North Shore, the Fiore’s had a direct import line from Belfast, trading drugs for illegal guns.
In Chicago, the Morena’s had infiltrated the banking industry, lifting millions off of American and international investors.
In Miami, the Castellanos were up to their eyeballs in drug trafficking with connections in Cuba, Columbia, and the Dominican Republic.
In Philadelphia, the Capadonno’s were running protection orders for everyone from local Mom & Pop stores straight up to major sports franchises and politicians. Former mayor of Philadelphia Jeremiah Vincent paid off Sonny and Michael Capadonno just to keep them out of his office on a daily basis.
Meanwhile, up in New York City, the Rigatti’s were the reason the term white collar crime was even coined in the first place with embezzlement, Ponzi schemes, corruption and money laundering. It is estimated that the Rigatti’s profited over 7.6 million dollars in schemes in the 1960s alone.
“The Six” brought organized crime to unparalleled heights. Pooling funds together, the Coalition took their respective cuts and fanned the cash out to all the members of their families. A member’s standing in the hierarchy of their family dictated the amount of their cut, with Capos and Consiglieres earning more than a soldier or an associate. This proved to be an effective model for the Coalition until the summer of 1967.
Relatives of made men enjoyed a protected status, namely the women and the children. No connected member of the six could actively pursue a daughter, sister or mother of a commanding member of the crime family without that member’s consent. Whether it was a capo, a consigliere, underboss or a boss, if you wanted to date his daughter, sister or mother, you had to get his blessing. The Capadonno’s were never exactly known for following the rules, though.
In 1967, when Sonny Capadonno was just promoted to Capo, he made the mistake of getting romantically involved with Gino Rigatti’s daughter Stephanie on the sly. Sonny broke a cardinal rule when he got the daughter of a NY mob boss pregnant. Although Sonny did right by Stephanie by marrying her, providing her housing and giving her money to prepare for the baby, it wasn’t enough to undo the damage that was done. Gino Rigatti was mortified, and worse yet, enraged. Sonny Capadonno and Stephanie Rigatti had brought shame to the Rigatti’s family name.
It was the dawn of a new age. The game was changing, and the Capadonno’s weren’t playing by the old rules. They were flashy and brazen. It appeared to the other coalition members that the Capadonno’s were egging the feds on—daring them to make a move.
On April 17, 1968, Leon F. Capadonno was born to Sonny and Stephanie. It was a birth that should have brought the two families together, but instead it caused a great divide. The baby that came of that union would go on to become the mayor of an as of yet undeveloped town—Carrion, New Jersey. Although in 1968, Carrion, New Jersey was nothing more than a sleepy resort town in the Pine Barrens, it would soon become a hub for organized crime.
On August 24, 1971, as Sonny Capadonno was walking out of the Federal Court House in Center City Philadelphia with his brother Michael at his side, he was ambushed. As he stepped off the curb, three shots rang out. In the middle of broad daylight, Gino Rigatti opened fire upon Sonny, in retribution for bringing such shame upon his family name. Sonny clutched his chest in shock. None of the shots hit Sonny, but as he was blinded by the light of the sun, he couldn’t see where his attacker was coming from. His brother Michael did, though, and as the last blast was fired, Michael reached for his gun and shot Gino Rigatti dead on the spot. His body fell limp and crashed to the street. Michael Capadonno was arrested and served a term of 372 days after winning an appeal that he killed Gino Rigatti in self-defense.