Dominick Napolitano
Dominick "Sonny Black" Napolitano (June 16, 1937 – August 17, 1982) was a capo in the Bonanno crime family, famous for having allowed FBI agent Joseph D. Pistone ("Donnie Brasco") to become an associate of the family and nearly "making" him (inducting him into the Mafia).
Sonny Black rose to prominence in the Mafia during the 1970s, following the murder he helped orchestrate of Bonanno boss Carmine Galante. After Galante's death, imprisoned mobster Phillip Rastelli took over the family, a move which caused the Bonanno family to break into two factions, one side loyal to Rastelli, the other attempting to overthrow him. Sonny Black, who remained loyal to Rastelli, was chiefly responsible for helping to end the struggle by killing most of the capos opposed to Rastelli, including the leader of the faction attempting to overthrow Rastelli, Alfonse "Sonny Red" Indelicato.
When Joe Pistone infiltrated the mafia, he became attached to the crew that Black ran, and the two developed a close relationship. Pistone was one of the few people that Black actually trusted and relied upon. Black regarded Pistone so highly that he planned to nominate him to be "made" (inducted into the Mafia), and began to use the formal introduction "A friend of ours" when introducing Pistone to other mafiosi, a code meaning that the "friend" is an inducted member of the Mafia. (Using such an introduction for a person who is not actually a mafioso is strictly forbidden; they must be introduced as "a friend of mine").
He is related to a pair of brothers, Aniello "Neil" and Rocco Napolitano who became partners with Frank Abbandando Jr. in Miami, Florida. They were seen together in Party Girls, a nude bar on Biscayne Boulevard. The authorities were convinced he was dealing steroids and two men who were arrested with him for dealing drugs suddenly vanished. Rocco murdered Abbadando after Aniello's body turned up in pieces, washed ashore on Miami Beach in September of 1996. Rocco thought Abbandando Jr. was his brother's killer. On December 11th 1995 the 60-year old Frank Abbadando Jr. was run over while crossing Biscayne Boulevard. Rocco who was all dressed in black and wearing a ski mask then exited the vehicle and shot Frank a number of times. After Rocco's arrest shortly afterwards, he supposedly told the police "I'm the one that shot him."
Pistone's undercover operation ended when Black requested that Pistone murder another mobster, Alfonse "Sonny Red" Indelicato's son, Anthony Indelicato. Two days later, FBI agents came to Sonny Black's social club and home, The Studio Lounge to inform him that Pistone was an FBI agent. Shortly thereafter, the order came down to kill Sonny Black for having allowed such a breach in mafia security. Rather than turn state's evidence and enter the witness protection program, Sonny Black accepted his fate; on August 17, 1981, Black was asked to come to the basement of Bonnano associate Ron Filocomo for a "meeting." Knowing he would be killed, Black gave his jewlery to his favorite bartender who worked below his apartment at The Studio Lounge, along with the keys to his apartment, so that his pet pigeons could be cared for. Black then went to Filocomo's basement, where he was ambushed by Filocomo and Bonnano Captain Frank "Curly" Lino, both of whom shot him to death with .38 revolvers. Shortly before his death, Black told his girlfriend Judy that he bore no ill will towards Pistone, knowing that Pistone was only doing his job, and that if anyone was going to be responsible for taking him down, he was glad that it was Pistone.
Death
On August 12, 1982 a body was found at South Avenue and Bridge Street on Staten Island; both of the body's hands had been removed and the face was so badly decomposed that dental records were required to verify the corpse's identity. The FBI officially announced that they had found the corpse of Sonny Black. However, in 2000, the FBI publicly revealed for the first time since 1982 that it had long been doubted whether or not the corpse found on Staten Island was in fact Sonny Black. Since Black's murderer, "Curly" Lino had turned state's evidence, providing authorities with the details of Black's murder. Although the FBI were reasonably sure that the body found in Staten Island was Sonny Black, one discrepancy existed: While Lino claimed that he and Filocomo had both shot Black with .38 caliber revolvers, and that he himself had fired more than one bullet, the corpse found on Staten Island only had a single bullet wound, which appeared to have been made by a .45 caliber pistol. [1]. He was buried in Calvary Cemetery, Queens.
Legacy
In early 2003, reputed Bonanno boss Joe Massino was arrested and charged with a variety of crimes, with the case centering around the murder of Sonny Black. At Massino's trial, prosecutors claimed that Napolitano was murdered by his associates for allowing his crew to become compromised, and that his hands had been removed as a warning to other mobsters to follow the rule about proper introductions (the hands being chosen as the appendage for removal because of the association of shaking hands with being introduced to someone). Massino was convicted in 2004.
Popular fiction
The 1997 film Donnie Brasco featured Sonny Black as a supporting character played by Michael Madsen. For dramatic purposes, many of Black's character traits, and most of his relationship with Pistone, was combined with another real life mobster, Benjamin Ruggiero, who in the film is played by Al Pacino.
External links
- Bio and Pictures
- An Archetypal Mob Trial: It's Just Like in the Movies, The New York Times, May 23, 2004.