Pasquale Conte

Pasquale "Patsy" Conte (born March 12, 1925) was a Sicilian-American mobster who became a caporegime with the Gambino crime family. He also owned several Key Food supermarkets.

Early life

Born in Sicily, Conte was a resident of Roslyn, New York. He was a businessman/capo in the Gambino crime family area in the City.[1] Conte had 23.9 percent stake in Tapps Supermarkets, described as a "family-owned" business.[2] Conte's son Pasquale Jr. is Tapps' vice president and treasurer.[2]

Alfano shooting

On February 18, 1987, Conte was indicted on charges of ordering the shooting of Sicilian mobster Pietro Alfano in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan. Authorities arrested Conte at Kennedy International Airport as he was preparing to fly to Puerto Rico.[3] Conte was holding $7,000 cash. On May 20, 1987, the government dropped the charges against him without any explanation.[4]

DiBono murder

In 1990, Gambino boss John Gotti ordered the murder of mobster Louis DiBono, DiBono had allegedly been disrespectful to Gotti, who decided to eliminate him, and sent Bobby Boriello to attend to DiBono. In October 1990, DiBono's bullet-ridden body was discovered in the front seat of a Cadillac sedan in the underground garage at the New York World Trade Center.[1]

In February 1993, Conte was charged with the DiBono murder.[5] However, in January 1994 a mistrial was declared due to a hung jury.[6] In June 1994, Conte was reindicted on the DiBono murder. In lieu of a retrial, Conte decided to accept a plea bargain deal from the government.[1]

On June 21, 1994, Conte and two others pleaded guilty to conspiracy to murder DiBono.[1] In 1994, Conte was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison. In 2001, he was sentenced to another three and a half years in prison on a racketeering charge.[2] Conte was released from federal prison on September 26, 2003.[7]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Fried, Joseph P (June 21, 1994). "Guilty Plea In a Killing In a Mob Case". New York Times. Retrieved 12 July 2015.
  2. ^ a b c "Brooklyn supermarket with mob ties seeks $4M in tax breaks to build condo tower". nydailynews.com. February 8, 2018.
  3. ^ "BAIL IS DENIED 2 IN SHOOTING IN 'PIZZA CONNECTION' CASE" New York Times February 19, 1987
  4. ^ "Prosecutors Withdraw Pizza Shooting Charge". New York Times. May 21, 1987. Retrieved 12 July 2015.
  5. ^ "3 Reputed Gotti Associates Charged With Murder" by JOSEPH P. FRIED New York Times February 6, 1993
  6. ^ "Mistrial Is Declared in Mafia Murder Case" New York Times January 6, 1994
  7. ^ "Bureau of Prisons Inmate Locator". Archived from the original on 2011-05-25. Retrieved 2009-01-11.