They're only kids, but disrespecting them might be
just as fatal as disrespecting a full-blown Mafia don.
At six years old Karen Gravano found a gun under her parents'
bed. She figured it had something to do with her dad’s service in Vietnam,
and like most young kids she was quick to brag about it to her school friends.
After a teacher overheard though, he was quick to have a private conversation about it with
her parents. Arriving home from school, Karen was pulled aside by her father who warned her,
“What goes on in our family stays behind these walls. We don't ever talk about it to anyone else.
But Karen's father wasn't just a Vietnam vet or a home defense enthusiast. He was Sammy Gravano,
otherwise known as Sammy the Bull,
underboss of the Gambino crime family and killer of at least 19 men.
For young Karen though, life seemed perfectly normal. Her father worked in construction as
far as she was aware, though she knew that there was a certain importance to him. Everyone in the
neighborhood seemed to know him, and people would rush over to shake his hand or kiss his
cheek when he entered a room. Having no clue about her father's dark and evil deeds, Karen
assumed that her father was just a well-respected and kind man, seeing him lend money to others
freely and even buy struggling families groceries. Like most predators though, this was merely
a cover. Something to lull the locals into acceptance of mafia activity. Drug kingpin Pablo
Escobar did the same thing, hiding his desperate attempt to buy people over to his side as acts
of kindness, knowing that if his neighborhood turned against him that'd be the end of him.
For Karen though, the respect that her father commanded was hers as well,
and not just children- but adults- would treat her like the princess she was...
even if her father had just ordered one of their own family members killed.
At about 10 years old, Karen got sat down in the kitchen by her dad who warned her that
she was about to start hearing things about her father that might be confusing. Sammy's
double life playing the perfect doting father and ruthless mafia figure was being unraveled,
and he wanted to prepare her for the truth she was about to face about her personal hero. He
told her how many years ago back in Italy a group of men had formed a secret group
that vowed to always protect each other and their families- even if it meant stealing or
hurting other people. That group had moved to America and now he was a part of it.
For Karen it all sounded kind of nice, and she liked the idea of being protected. In reality,
it was everyone else that needed protection from her father and her 'extended family'.
Karen began to hear about the mafia and the gangster that her father was as she grew older,
but she couldn't quite picture her father playing the role the media and others painted
of him. She was well aware that he wasn't like the fathers of the other children
at the elite private school she went to. Her dad had tattoos and wore expensive jewelry,
the other fathers were mostly lawyers, doctors,
and businessmen and wore fancy suits. Karen just assumed her dad was cooler than most other dads.
In 1985 mafia boss Paul Castellano was murdered and Karen saw her dad vanish for about two weeks.
In her mind she knew that he had been involved,
but she couldn't quite reconcile that fact with the doting father Sammy the
Bull played when at home. Then at 19 the heroic image of her father disintegrated.
The FBI was closing its noose around the necks of various high ranking organized crime members,
including Sammy the Bull. In exchange for leniency in sentencing and going to jail
for only five years- versus life- Sammy agreed to testify against his fellow mafia associates.
This shocked Karen to the core- her father had always stressed that you never told on others,
specially not to the cops. Even as a kid if she and her brother would get into a
fight both of them would get punished, one for starting the fight and the other for telling.
Karen was so shocked by her father turning informant that she refused to join the family
in witness protection, striking out on her own. Despite her father being labeled a rat, Karen's
steadfast loyalty to the no snitching mafia code earned her a bit of respect, though she never
translated that into a crime career of her own- or maybe the cops simply never caught up to her...
But what's it like growing up as the son of one of the most violent mob hitmen in the world?
Frank DiMatteo was born into a mafia family. His father and godfather were
both hitmen for the Gallo brothers, and his uncle was a bodyguard for
Frank Costello as well as being a boss in the Genovese crime family. Like his father,
Frank decided school wasn't for him and he soon dropped out, preferring instead
to run the streets with a street gang affiliated with the Gallo crime family.
As young as eight Frank may not have known that his family was in the mob, or what the Mafia was
even about, but he was very aware that his family was different from other families.
The men of his family were always well dressed, and liked to travel and spend time in groups.
Any business talk was very hush hush though, and just like how young Frank noticed that his
family was different from others, he quickly noticed that they were also very secretive.
By age 12, Frank was figuring things out, and at age 13 he got his education on the
family profession. He began to learn how to drive,
running errands for the family around the local area. He drove his father,
uncles, and family friends around, and given that he was already 6 foot tall at 13 years old, he was
given the extra respect of being invited into the meetings they attended. Thus at just 13 Frank was
already hanging out in dance and strip clubs, and joining mafia associates for restaurant meetings.
One of Gallo crime family's assassins became Frank's godfather, and took the young boy
under his wing. Frank became his personal driver, and earned the same respect on the street as his
new godfather did. Frank insisted that he wasn't comitting any violence at the time yet, but was
well aware of the reputation that his godfather had for being an extremely violent man. For Frank
though, his godfather was a big time jokester, always ready to crack a joke or poke fun.
Working as a driver for a mafia hitman might have let Frank in on some of the family business, but
generally he was kept in the dark about any actual details of ongoing operations. Frank was well
aware of what his family did for a living, but it was mafia code not to share details if you didn't
have a need to know. Thus, with Frank working as a driver he was often in the 'don't need to know'
category, and would have to rely on rumors and other people to find out what exactly went on
at some of the jobs that he drove mafia associates to. But being a driver for some of the most feared
men in the criminal underground had its perks, even if Frank may not have been privy to the full
lifestyle yet Frank was treated with much of the same respect commanded by the men he chauffeured.
But slowly Frank got more direct involvement in the mafia life. This was before the mafia was
making money hand over fist, and a lot of Frank and his associate's time was spent figuring out
new ways to shake people down. All the old rackets were fair game, from protection scams
to straight up theft and robbery. Cigarette runs were a favorite job for the mafia at the time,
with cigarettes being imported illegally and sold on the streets directly to consumers,
thus evading many taxes and driving a high profit margin. This however is also a
favorite money making scheme for many terrorist organizations, and mafia cigarette runs could
often overlap with terror networks- even if the mafia may not have necessarily known about it.
At 16 or 17 Frank finally got to meet the infamous Crazy Joey Gallo. A mafia hitman,
Gallo was diagnosed with schizophrenia after being arrested as a teenager,
earning him the nickname of Crazy Joey. His actions were directly responsible for the
first Colombo war after he kidnapped several high ranking members of the same crime family
he had been working for. Inevitably, Gallo would end up going to jail for ten years.
According to Frank, Joey was a very dangerous man, and not someone to joke around with. If
you weren't in on the crew, Joey could be your worst nightmare, but if you were part
of the crew you had nothing to worry about. Immediately upon coming home,
Joey launched himself full-force into the crime world, and made up for lost time by going out
drinking and partying. Unlike the rest of the crew though, Joey would go conduct business in
New York City itself, while the rest of the crew stuck to their stomping grounds in Brooklyn.
Joey and Frank's godfather worked together in the city, and Frank got to see Joey about
once a week. While the rest of the men may have joked around, they mostly kept their composure-
but Joey Gallo had earned his nickname of Crazy Joey for a reason. He had no fear
and acted much like the old time gangsters from the 1920s, not bothering to hide his activities
or even lay low after an operation. He was his own man, and believed nobody
would dare touch him for anything he did or said, making him a dangerous loose cannon.
But his previous role in starting the first Colombo war would catch up to him quick.
On April 7th, 1972 at 4:30 AM, Joey and members of his family
went to a restaurant in Little Italy to celebrate his 43rd birthday. There,
four gunmen rushed into the restaurant through a back door, believing a contract to be out on
Joey's life by the Colombos. They filled Joey with 20 bullets and left him to die.
Frank's mafia education continued after the murder, and he quickly found out that the
old codes of behavior and the respect that the mafia had previously been known for were all
but forgotten by the younger generations. The strict code of ethics was now a joke to the new
generation of mafiosos, who hadn't grown up poor like the old mobsters from the 1920s. These men,
now in their sixties and seventies were relics as far as the new generation was concerned.
Then, everybody started getting pinched and turned rat. The mafia code of no snitching was well and
truly over, but luckily for Frank he managed to avoid getting directly tied to any of the numerous
crimes he was involved in. Numerous bosses also flipped, and with the family essentially tearing
itself apart, Frank and many others took the opportunity to simply leave the lifestyle behind.
Growing up in the mafia can be both a blessing and a curse. You can be groomed from an early
age for a prominent role in the profession if your father is in the right position-
let alone if he's a capo. But your father's sins can often be your own, and your advancement in the
ranks of the mafia can be very limited or cut off completely if your father or godfather turns rat.
But if you're in the right position, or born to the right violent mob hitman or crime boss,
a lot of that respect is by default yours as well.
After all, nobody wants to cross a made man by disrespecting his kids,
and in the old days the strict code of mafia ethics meant that a man's family was to be
respected as much as the made man himself. But that lifestyle is disintegrating, as the
modern mafia tries to pull itself back together after decades of being dismantled by the FBI
and other law enforcement. While in the past being a mafia kid may have afforded you great respect,
today you're likely to just be another hood who was to cut his teeth no different than the rest.
Now go check out What Does The Mafia Even Do Anymore? Or click this other video instead!