February 20 – A plea by
Carmine Persico, boss of the Colombo Family, for reduction of his 14-year sentence for hijacking is denied.
March 19 –
Lawrence Paladino, the godson of
Frank "Funzie" Tieri, is indicted for tax evasion. Paladino, who allegedly was in the shylock business with
Matthew Ianniello, had been indicted for extortion and bribery in 1975. With the death of Tieri, who would be succeeded by
Anthony Salerno, Ianniello would become the
underboss of the Genovese Family.
April 23 –
Bonanno crime family boss
Philip Rastelli is convicted of an antitrust violation and extortion, arising out of his efforts to create a monopoly in the mobile commissary business. Rastelli is sentenced on August 27, 1976, to 1 year on the antitrust count and to 3 concurrent 10-year terms on 3 counts of extortion.
May 28 –
Frank Diecidue, the Tampa Family underboss, is indicted with several associates and charged with conspiracy and multiple counts relating to their participation in a
RICO. Diecidue would be convicted on November 16, 1976, along with 4 members of the Tampa gang.
June 12 –
Vincent Governara is gunned down in
Brooklyn by Gambino soldier
Anthony Gaggi and Gambino associate
Roy DeMeo. The murder was retaliation for a physical altercation between Gaggi and Governara years earlier. Governara would succumb to his wounds the following week while hospitalized.
July 13 – Florida resident
George Byrum is found shot and stabbed to death in the bathroom of an oceanside motel. His murder would remain unsolved until the early 1980s, when information supplied by Gambino associate
Dominick Montiglio revealed that Byrum had been murdered by Gambino soldier
Anthony Gaggi and Gambino associate
Roy DeMeo for providing a tip to thieves that led to Gaggi's Florida home being robbed.
August 20 – Edward Cummiskey is shot to death at the Sunbrite Saloon. Recently paroled Irish criminal Joseph 'Mad Dog' Sullivan would be suspected in the crime after the saloon's barkeep identified Sullivan as the shooter from a photograph shown to him by associates of Cummiskey. Sullivan is never charged with the crime and the murder remains officially unsolved.
August 22 –
Leo "The Lips" Moceri, underboss of the
Cleveland crime family, and cousin of boss
James "Blackie" Licavoli, is murdered by the John Nardi-Danny Green alliance trying to take over the Cleveland rackets from Licavoli and his associates. A war that will eventually decimate the Cleveland La Cosa Nostra has started with the opening volley of Leo Moceri's disappearance.
September 5 –
John Cutrone, a Gallo loyalist who defected after the death of
Joe Gallo and formed an independent gang, is machinegunned to death in a luncheonette in Brooklyn, New York.
October 15 –
Carlo Gambino, founder of the
Gambino crime family, dies of a heart attack.[1] Following his death,
Paul Castellano assumes leadership of the criminal organization upsetting members that favored longtime underboss
Aniello Dellacroce such as
John Gotti and the so-called "Blue Collar" faction of the crime family. Despite the support displayed by the Gotti faction, Dellacroce is able to convince them to remain loyal to Castellano. However, anger for the aging mobster being passed over for leadership and resentment towards the increasingly unpopular Castellano continues for several years.
November 4 –
Bonanno crime family capo
Pietro Licata is murdered, allegedly on orders from
Sal Catalano. Licata, who oversaw criminal activities in the Brooklyn neighborhood of
Knickerbocker Avenue, was one of the few members running crime family operations opposed against the "
Zips", a faction of Sicilian mafiosi within the Bonanno family dealing heroin and taking over gambling operations in the Knickerbocker Ave., Brooklyn area.
December 15 – Undercover
FBI Agent
Walter Wayne Orrell is threatened and punched by a Bronx, New York carting company owner named
Joseph Gambino and his right-hand-man Carlo Conti. Gambino was described as a cousin of Don
Carlo Gambino. The FBI Agent was part of a Sting operation designed to combat the monopolistic control the New York LCN had on the carting industry.