A New York City Mafia captain who went from mob killer to epic fink
before disappearing with his family into witness protection has popped up once again —
in yet another new life. Richard Cantarella has had a few lives
One was a powerful mobster, another as a rat; one in witness protection, another on reality TV.
And today? Well, today he is president of an American-Italian club in suburban Arizona running
bingo, bocce, dancing and charity rummage sales, all of it without shedding any of his mobster vibes
The Mob Reporter here with the strange evolution of Richard Cantarella — once nicknamed Shellackhead
although apparently never to his face — who was one of the most important cooperating
witnesses against the notorious Five Families of the New York Mafia. Let me tell you about it
Meet Richard Cantarella, the Mafia member, capo, and killer with the Bonanno crime family. And meet
Richard Cantarella, the former star of a schlocky reality TV show that was quickly cancelled. "I'm
watching you on the camera, you threw the plastic bottle in the wrong barrel, it belongs in the blue
barrel. Why would you want to throw it in the green barrel, aren't you concerned about the environment?"
An interesting story was published recently in the Arizona Republic newspaper and online
at azcentral.com reporter Joseph Duhownik sat down with Cantarella and his family in the
social club where he finally gets to be the boss. The story was accompanied by these great photos
To his credit, Cantarella doesn't hide who he is. "Everyone makes an excuse why they cooperated"
Cantarella said. "I have no excuse. I didn't want to spend the rest of my life in jail."
Duhownik's article took me back. I've reported on Cantarella's mobster past and his star turn
as government witness over the years. When he became a rat in 2002, I was struck by the irony:
All of the victims in Cantarella's mob murders were for men revealing mob secrets. And yet there
he was, talking up a storm with the FBI and federal prosecutors. Cantarella went on to testify on the
stand against two bosses of the Bonanno family: Joe Massino and Massino's replacement, Vincent
Basciano, known as Vinnie Gorgeous. Prosecutors said that in total, the Cantarella family ratted
on more than 30 mobsters from all five for the New York Mafia families, and one from New Jersey. They
helped secure two dozen convictions. Cantarella told the feds about the demise of mobsters who
introduced "Donnie Brasco" into the Bonanno family, as a man they thought was a clever gangster but was
really undercover FBI agent Joe Pistone. That's the story told in the mob movie Donnie Brasco
starring Al Pacino and Johnny Depp. You'll recall them recreating two strong characters, as seen
here. "If I said that this is a 'friend of ours' that would mean you were a made man, capiche?"
Cantarella was a part of the real-life world that movie depicts. Some of the mobsters who
brought Brasco into the family were killed for it. One of them was Anthony Mirra in 1982
Cantarella drove the getaway car. "There was a rat in Florida Donnie. 'You know what to do when you
find that rat, right Left?'" A year later, Cantarella feared his friend and business partner Enrico
Mazzeo, a corrupt city official, might talk to the FBI. So Cantarella shot him twice in the head
Cantarella told Duhownik that Mazzeo was the only one of his victims he truly regrets killing
His third hit was in 1992. The shooting of Robert Perrino. Perrino was a Mafia
associate who was superintendent of deliveries at the New York Post
That's right, the tabloid newspaper splashing mob business across its front page had a delivery
department in the hands of the mob. As long as they make a buck, they didn't seem to care
Richard Cantarella became a made man of the Bonanno Family in the early 1990s when the family's boss
Joe Massino, was in prison. Cantarella's Uncle Al, a Bonanno captain didn't want his nephew inducted
into the family. Cantarella was later caught on a wiretap recounting how he joined the Mafia
Quote: "The guy who did it was Joe," he told a mob buddy. He was in jail... Joe sent word, he said
'I want justification why Al was holding Richie back.' Because someone sent a whisper
in Joe's ear," Cantarella said. Having the boss's support put him in a good place
Cantarella's father was in the union and Cantarella was too — he got a job as a
unionized newspaper delivery driver at the age of 19. As the FBI started cracking down on the
mob's infiltration of the union at the Post, Perrino started carrying a prayer card in his shirt pocket
That made the mobsters nervous and after a hidden microphone was found at Perrino's office
Cantarella helped whack him. Joe Massino assigned Cantarella to collect the family's 10 tax from
each of the captains who ran video poker machines. It looks like Massino was grooming Cantarella to
be his next underboss. He never got that chance — the rug was pulled out from him in 2002
When Cantarella was arrested that year, facing life in prison, the FBI also indicted his wife, who was
a front for some of his crooked businesses, and his son, Paul, who was also a Mafia member
It became another family affair — mom, pop, and son; three for one. Inside the Bonanno Family, it
was like dominoes falling — Cantarella's testimony pushed other mobsters to flip. The Bonanno Family
suffered an embarrassing parade of rats. Eventually even the underboss and the boss became informants
Cantarella finished his five years of prison time in Arizona, where his son and family had
relocated. They tried to disappear for a bit and ran a couple of car washes in Phoenix and Scottsdale
Then they had a bizarre coming out party: a reality TV show. "My father's role? Well
he's the chief, he's like the head honcho. He's my king. I'm the boss of the family..."
Called Unprotected, it was pitched as a docu-comedy of the wacky life of a mob family
from New York leaving witness protection and adjusting to new life in the suburbs
"I'll take that dog and tie it to my bumper and I'll drag him." It was released by Oxygen in 2017
Let's just say it wasn't a hit. While it was billed as reality TV, Cantarella said
that too was really a sham. He told Duhownik the family told producers stories from their past
and then re-enacted the ones the producers liked. After seven episodes and poor reviews
it was dropped and then deleted from Oxygen's website. Cantarella then remade himself again
The Arizona American-Italian Club has been around for 65 years. Although the Arizona newspaper
recently brought Cantarella back into the public's eye, his involvement with the club wasn't really a
secret. It's just that nobody thought to look. According to the club's regular newsletter
Cantarella's been around for a few years. He's been in charge of the club's decorations, property
maintenance, and as kitchen manager. He became the club's treasurer in 2018, before he was
picked by the nominating committee to serve as president. In November 2020, Cantarella's
tenure as boss started under a Covid cloud. Here's Cantarella promoting the club in a video published
on social media by a local city councilor: "Hi everyone, my name is Richard Cantarella
I am the president, the current president, of the American uh Italian club in Phoenix, Arizona. You
don't have to be Italian to be a member, we welcome anybody to come and be a member, and let me turn
over to you everything that has to be said to my vice president..." Cantarella's involvement there
concerned the Arizona liquor authority, according to Duhownik. Some members don't trust him either
Cantarella said. But he insists he has, quote, "nothing illegitimate going on," unquote. He told
Duhownik: "The club has been very good to me. This became my life." The Arizona American- Italian Club
celebrates Italian language, cars, music, movies, and old pastimes, such as bocce ball and food. The food
does look really good. Cantarella, though, he says that's all fine but he just wants to run a hopping
joint. He wants people through the door and butts in seats. He even runs drag queen bingo night
Like a good mobster, he said, quote: "Everybody's money is green." Thanks for watching and please
subscribe. "Aren't you concerned about the environment? Put it in the right barrel or I'll stick it up in the ass...