Frank Lino a.k.a. Curly born (Gravesend, Brooklyn c. 1938) is a Sicilian-American capo in the Bonanno crime family who later became an informant. He is the cousin of Gambino crime family capo Edward Lino and father of two sons, one Joseph Lino who became a made member of the Bonanno crime family.
Frank "Curly" Lino | |
|---|---|
| Born | Expression error: Unrecognized punctuation character "{"., 1938 |
Biography
Lino did not have the characteristics of an Italian or personify the image of the stereotypical gangster among his colleagues having the appearance of an Irish-American. Frank had curly, ginger hair, which earned him the nickname "Curly" and had a round face with a ruddy complexion and later a bald head that "looked like a dirty tennis ball". In his younger years to his mob associates he closely resembled the comedian, Curly Howard of The Three Stooges. He had a toothy smile and droopy eyes that were set too close together. One of his eyes blinked uncontrollably which was the results of injuries that occurred from a 1962 police beating at the hands of the New York City Police Department police. He became a "made man" of the Bonanno crime family on October 30, 1977, on Elizabeth Street in Little Italy, Manhattan at his capo Alphonse Indelicato's apartment. As he grew older Frank became more and more obese. Almost every male member of his family was involved in La Cosa Nostra. He gained a tremendous amount of weight and began to suffer from high blood pressure. During his forty year career in organized crime he joined the Genovese crime family in 1956, switched to the Colombo crime family in 1962 and switched to the Gambino crime family in 1969 before in 1977 his friend Frank Coppa helped him join the Bonnano crime family. After dropping out of high school in the 1950's he joined a violent street gang called the "Avenue U Boys". As a member of the "Avenue U Boys" was involved in robberies. Lino first became associated with the La Cosa Nostra at the age of seventeen, and operated the local floating card games controlled by a Genovese crime family made soldier. In 1962 he was arrested for the shootings of two Brooklyn police detectives. The detectives, aged twenty-eight and fifty-six, were shot dead during the holdup of a tobacco store, where Lino and the robbers netted $5,000. See [1] Lino was charged in the murders after he supplied a getaway vehicle for one of the stickup men so he could flee to Chicago, and was one of the five men charged after being taken to the 66th Precinct for an interrogation. During the interrogation Lino claimed the police drove staples into his hands and a broomstick up his rectum. He was left with a broken leg and arm. Lino was let off with three years probation after he threatened to sue the city for police brutality. By the 1990's he had fathered three daughters and twelve grandchildren.
Involvement in the Mob
Frank had done everything from selling illegal pornography to running pump and dump schemes on Wall Street. Over the years he had been a loanshark, bookmaker, drug trafficker and contract killer for which he took part in the gangland slayings of six men including the notorious killings of Alphonse Indelicato, Dominick Trinchera and Phillip Giaccone. Lino's one legitimate business venture was a school bus company he started with his son Joseph in the late 1970's after winning a contract from the New York City Department of Education. Lino hardly knew anything about buses, but was listed as an "advisor" on the company tax records. By the late 1990's after being promoted as a capo, he was taking home earnings of more than $200,000. Between his children and grandchildren, and his own lavish lifestyle he would often be in debt of $50,000 by the end of each year, but somehow he always managed to come up on top. In September 1999 he began serving a 57th month sentence in Prision. In 2006 Frank became an informant after he was faced with a racketeering conviction and testified against Bonanno crime family don Joseph Massino.
Involvement in the Three Capos Murder
Frank Lino on May 5, 1981 drove Dominick Trinchera in his car to The Sage Diner located at 80-26 Queens Boulevard in Elmhurst, Queens which was the first designated meeting spot. Frank ran from the car that was parked outside as Trinchera, Giaccone and Indelicato were gunned down. After Lino disappeared Joseph Massino and Dominick Napolitano discussed what was to happen to Lino. Salvatore Vitale had let Lino flee the scene and Benjamin Ruggiero who waited in a car outside on the street was not able to stop him. Lino had the option of going to the police, or he could inform the rest of Alphonse Indelicato's crew which would endanger Dominick Napolitano and Joe Massino. They couldn't even think of disposing of the bodies before the figured out what to do with Lino. After a meeting with Aniello Dellacroce who explained that the only reason Lino was not told about the hit was because Alphonse Indelicato might have found out. Lino in the same conversation lied about knowing the whereabouts of Alphonse Indelicato's son, Anthony Indelicato who was also an intended victim who had not been present because he was high on cocaine. The Gambino crime family was willing to offer Frank an ironclad insurance policy on his own life. They had a lone job for the only survivor of "The Red Team" and the only person Anthony Indelicato trusted. They wanted Lino to murder Anthony Indelicato. Frank would lie and say he did not. The contract killing would later be handed down to Joseph Pistone a.k.a. Donnie Brasco.
References
- Crittle, Simon, The Last Godfather: The Rise and Fall of Joey Massino Berkley (March 7, 2006) ISBN 0425209393