Arnold Squitieri

On August 18, 1970, Squitieri shot garment cutter Desiderio Caban five times on a street in East Harlem. Two New York Police Department (NYPD) officers heard the shots, chased Squitieri by car for six blocks, until Squitieri finally stopped. Getting out of his car, Squitieri approached the officers and told them:

Don't worry about it, he's only shot in the arm. Let me go; the boys will take care of you.

A week later mobster Alphonse Sisca met with one of the officers and offered a $5,000 bribe to the policemen. They accepted the deal and removed Squitieri's name from the crime report for the Caban killing. Later on, after the bribery was discovered, the officers were indicted and Squitieri became a fugitive from justice.{{cite news|last=Fosburgh|first=Lacey|title=3 Police Indicted In A Bribery Case|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1972/01/13/83885647.pdf|access-date=26 December 2011|newspaper=New York Times|date=January 13, 1972}} In January 1972, Squitieri surrendered to authorities.

In 1973, while awaiting trial for the Caban murder, Squitieri and his wife Marie were charged with failing to file U.S. federal income tax returns for three years. The couple had concealed $200,000 in income in bank accounts under false names. For the tax charges, Squitieri would serve four years in prison.

On March 14, 1973, Squitieri pleaded guilty to first degree manslaughter in the 1970 Caban murder. Squitieri was later sentenced to eight years in state prison.{{cite news|last=Chambers|first=Marcia|title=Bribe Jury Told of Freed Suspect|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1974/10/06/101022511.pdf|access-date=26 December 2011|newspaper=New York Times|date=October 6, 1974}}

In May 1981, Squitieri was released from prison and soon began selling narcotics for the Gotti crew in New Jersey. In 1982, Squitieri was being supplied with heroin by Angelo Ruggiero and Gene Gotti. In 1986, after John Gotti replaced Paul Castellano as Gambino boss, Squitieri was inducted into the family.

In 1988, Squitieri was convicted in Camden, New Jersey of conspiring to distribute heroin and was sentenced to more than 11 years in prison. In 1999, boss John Gotti promoted Squitieri to underboss. On March 13, 1999, Squitieri was released from prison. In 2002, after the arrest of Gambino acting boss Peter Gotti, Squitieri became the new acting boss.

While on parole from prison, Squitieri received a flat panel television as a gift from undercover FBI agent Joaquín "Jack" García. One evening, Squitieri was watching the TV series about the Cosa Nostra, The Sopranos (All Happy Families...). On the show, family boss Anthony Soprano wants to have a troublesome family member returned to prison. To do this, he sends the mobster a stolen TV set. Soprano then arranges for a parole officer to visit the man and arrest him for possessing stolen property. When the show was over, a frightened Squitieri gave away the TV{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/21/nyregion/21mob.html?fta=y&pagewanted=print | work=The New York Times | first=Julia | last=Preston | title=Guilty Plea Is New Blow to the Once-Feared Gambinos | date=April 21, 2006}} and purchased his own.

During the early and mid 2000s Squitieri had to contend with ethnic Albanian gangs’ involvement with the gambling rackets in Queens. One particular threat was with the Rudaj Organization (or "The Corporation"), run by mobster Alex Rudaj. At first, Gregory DePalma was able to solve minor disputes, but the Corporation became less cooperative over time.

In September 2005, Squitieri arranged a meeting with Rudaj at a gas station in New Jersey. When the Corporation mobsters arrived, 20 armed Gambino men confronted them.{{cite book |last1=Garcia |first1=Joaquin |author-link1=Joaquín "Jack" García |last2=Levin |first2=Michael |title=Making Jack Falcone: An Undercover FBI Agent Takes Down a Mafia Family |year=2008 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |isbn=978-1-4165-5163-8 |page=[https://archive.org/details/makingjackfalcon00garc/page/174 174] |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/makingjackfalcon00garc/page/174 }} FBI undercover agent known as Jack Falcone stated in his book that Squitieri told the Corporation mobsters, "You took what you took and that's it or there's gonna be a problem." The Gambinos outnumbered the Corporation 20 to 6. Rudaj ordered one of his men to shoot a gas tank if a gunfight ensued.{{cite news|last=Fahim|first=Kareem|title=Beating Them at Their Own Game|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/03/nyregion/03albanian.html?scp=15&sq=%22Arnold%20Squitieri%22&st=cse|access-date=26 December 2011|newspaper=New York Times|date=January 3, 2006}} Rudaj eventually listened to advice and stopped interfering with Gambino operations.

On March 9, 2005, Squitieri was arrested on charges of extorting money from construction companies in Westchester County, New York, Mineola, New York, and New Jersey.{{cite news|last=Preston|first=Julia|title=FBI mole cracks open Mafia crime family|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/10/world/americas/10iht-mob.html?scp=14&sq=%22Arnold%20Squitieri%22&st=cse|access-date=26 December 2011|newspaper=New York Times|date=March 11, 2005}} On June 15, a tearful Squitieri pleaded guilty to conducting an illegal gambling operation and to tax evasion.Son of former Acting Gambino Crime Boss Pleads Guilty to Illegal Gambling, Press Release June 15, 2005 On June 28, 2006 Squitieri was sentenced to just over seven years in federal prison.

Squitieri was incarcerated at the Devens Federal Medical Center (FMC) in Massachusetts. He was released on December 7, 2012.{{cite web|title=Arnold Squitieri|url=http://www.bop.gov/iloc2/InmateFinderServlet?Transaction=NameSearch&needingMoreList=false&FirstName=Arnold&Middle=&LastName=Squitieri&Race=U&Sex=U&Age=&x=0&y=0|work=Bureau of Prisons Inmate Locator|access-date=26 December 2011|archive-date=29 June 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629174811/http://www.bop.gov/iloc2/InmateFinderServlet?Transaction=NameSearch&needingMoreList=false&FirstName=Arnold&Middle=&LastName=Squitieri&Race=U&Sex=U&Age=&x=0&y=0|url-status=dead}}

Squitieri died on January 27, 2022, aged 85.{{cite web | url=https://www.akmacagnafuneralhome.com/obituary/arnold-squitieri | title=Obituary for Arnold Squitieri at A.K. Macagna Funeral Home }}

{{reflist}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20070731052213/http://newyork.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/pressrel06/organizedcrime072806.htm July 28 2006 Dept. of Justice Press Release]

{{s-start}}

{{s-other|American Mafia}}

{{s-bef|before=Salvatore "Sammy the Bull" Gravano}}

{{s-ttl|title=Gambino crime family
Underboss|years=1999–2012}}

{{s-aft|after=Frank Cali}}

{{s-bef|before=Peter Gotti}}

{{s-ttl|title=Gambino crime family
Acting boss|years=2002–2005}}

{{s-aft|after=Nicholas "Little Nick" Corozzo}}

{{end}}

{{Gambino crime family}}{{American Mafia}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Squitieri, Arnold}}

Category:1936 births

Category:2022 deaths

Category:Bosses of the Gambino crime family

Category:American gangsters of Italian descent

Category:People from Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey

Category:American people convicted of manslaughter

Category:Prisoners and detainees of the United States federal government

Category:Prisoners and detainees of New Jersey

Category:American people convicted of tax crimes

Category:American drug traffickers