Luciano Leggio is once again captured and brought to trial by prosecutor
Cesare Terranova, only this time on 9 counts of murder. Leggio is once again acquitted of all charges.
Donato "Danny the Head" Fatico, brother of Gambino crime family Capo
Carmine "Wagon Wheels" Fatico and an early sponsor of future Gambino leader
John Gotti, is convicted of hijacking charges.
March 16 –
Gambino crime family captain
Angelo Mele and 4 associates were convicted for conspiracy to sell 2 kilos of heroin. Mele was sentenced to 30 years in prison.
March 28 - Killeen enforcer Billy O'Sullivan is killed near his
Savin Hill home[1] by Mullin member
Paulie McGonagle. O'Sullivan had previously killed his twin brother Donnie, who had mistaken him for his brother.
May 12 –
Bonanno crime family boss
Paul Sciacca and captain
Michael Casale were arrested for conspiring to sell heroin to an undercover agent during "Operation Flanker", which netted various New York mafiosi for narcotics infractions, but eventually all defendants went free as all charges were dropped for various reasons. Sciacca was not imprisoned, but like his predecessor
Gaspar DiGregorio, Sciacca was replaced by the Commission, who promoted
underbossNatale Evola as the new boss.
June 28 –
Joe Colombo is seriously wounded by gunman Jerome Johnson during
Italian-American Unity Day, ending his involvement in the
Italian-American Civil Rights League. Although surviving the attempt on his life, Colombo would remain
comatose until his death in
1978. Initially suspected to have been ordered by rival mobster
Joe Gallo, later evidence would indicate the involvement of former Colombo ally
Carlo Gambino for the attempted assassination. Colombo Capo
Thomas DiBello negotiates a truce with the Gallo Brothers soon after the shooting, ending the long running Gallo-Colombo gang war.
July –
A gang war begins in Boston's underworld between the
Killeens and the
Mullen gang after Mickey Dwyer's nose is bitten off and then shot three times by
Kenneth Killeen, during an altercation at the Transit, a local Southie bar.
Several weeks following the Transit incident, Kileen enforcers
Billy O'Sullivan and
Whitey Bulger encounter Dennis "Buddy" Roache a member of the Mullins and brother of future Boston Police Commissioner
Francis "Mickey" Roache in a Broadway bar. After a heated argument, Roache is shot and was paralyzed for the remainder of his life.
September 17 –
Lucchese crime family captain
James Plumeri was found strangled to death less than 6 months after his conviction on charges of violating the Welfare and Pension Plans Disclosure Act.
September 25 –
Chicago Outfit executioner
Felix "Milwaukee Phil" Alderisio died of natural causes while serving a term for extortion in the United States Penitentiary at Marion, Illinois.
October 23 –
Meyer Lansky is indicted by a federal grand jury of skimming money from the syndicate casino, the
Flamingo Hotel, charging that Lansky and three others planned to conceal and distribute over $36 million in unreported income.
November 9 – Milwaukee mob boss
Frank Balistrieri (already imprisoned on other charges) and five associates are slapped with a 10-count federal indictment for concealing the ownership of a restaurant, income tax fraud and other charges.
November 26 –
Joe Adonis, a former captain under
Frank Costello, dies of natural causes in Italy.
December 24 – New York mobster Bruno Latini is shot and killed in his car by
Richard Kuklinski.