Jersey's mob history isn't just a Sopranos script. Honestly, if you grew up near Elizabeth or Newark, the name DeCavalcante wasn't some abstract concept. It was the reality of the docks, the construction sites, and the backrooms of social clubs that smelled like espresso and stale cigarettes. While the "Five Families" of New York City usually hog the spotlight, the DeCavalcante crime family carved out a brutal, enduring legacy right across the Hudson. They were the "Sixth Family." Or, as the FBI tapes famously revealed, they were the real-life inspiration for Tony Soprano’s crew.
People think the mob died in the 90s. It didn't.
Sure, the flashy suits are gone, replaced by tracksuits or nondescript North Face jackets, but the influence remains. The DeCavalcante crime family is a story of survival, betrayal, and a very specific kind of blue-collar grit that defines the Garden State's underworld. It’s a messy history. It’s a history of guys like "Sam the Plumber" and "John the Eagle" who ran North Jersey with an iron fist while the rest of the world was looking at Manhattan.
Who Were They, Really?
The roots go back way further than most realize. We're talking early 20th century, specifically around the 1920s in Newark and Elizabeth. It started with Sam Amari, but the family didn't really find its footing until Simone "Sam the Plumber" DeCavalcante took the reins in the 1960s. He was a diplomat. He sat on "The Commission"—the ruling body of the American Mafia—even though his family was technically smaller than the Gambinos or Genoveses.
Sam was interesting. He operated out of a plumbing supply store in Elizabeth. It’s so cliché it almost sounds fake, but that’s the Jersey mob for you. Under his leadership, the DeCavalcante crime family became a powerhouse in labor racketeering. They controlled the unions. If you wanted to build a skyscraper or move freight at the Port of Newark, you basically had to talk to Sam’s people.
Then came the bugs.
The FBI managed to plant a listening device in Sam’s office between 1964 and 1965. These weren't just any tapes; they were a goldmine. Thousands of pages of transcripts showed a family dealing with everything from high-level hits to petty internal squabbles about who was disrespecting whose cousin. It humanized them in a way that was actually terrifying. It showed that the "mafia" wasn't just a secret society; it was a business plagued by the same HR nightmares as a mid-sized paper company, just with more murder.
The Sopranos Connection
It's the elephant in the room. You can't talk about the DeCavalcante crime family without mentioning David Chase’s masterpiece. In 1999, the FBI caught the family on tape talking about the show.
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Think about that for a second.
Real-life mobsters were sitting in their cars, watching a show about mobsters, and wondering if they were the ones being mocked. Joseph "Tin Ear" Sclafani was heard on a wiretap asking, "Is that us? They mentioned Elizabeth." It was a surreal moment where art and reality didn't just imitate each other—they collided. The show’s "North Jersey" family was a direct mirror of the DeCavalcantes, from the strip club headquarters to the struggle for respect from the New York bosses.
The Fall of John "The Eagle" Riggi
When Sam the Plumber retired to Florida (the traditional mob retirement plan), John Riggi took over. Riggi was a different beast. He was a labor leader—specifically International Hod Carriers and Common Laborers Union Local 394. Under Riggi, the family’s wealth exploded. They were deeply embedded in the construction industry. If a contractor didn't play ball, the job site suddenly had "labor problems."
But Riggi's reign also brought the heat.
The 1980s and 90s were brutal for the American Cosa Nostra. The RICO Act, which allowed prosecutors to link leaders to the crimes of their underlings, started dismantling the hierarchy. Riggi ended up behind bars, but he tried to run the family from prison. That never works as well as they think it will. It led to a power vacuum. And in the mob, a vacuum is always filled with blood.
The Infamous Internal War
By the late 90s, the family was a mess. You had acting bosses like Giacomo "Jake" Amari dying of stomach cancer, leaving a bunch of captains vying for the top spot. Then came the "ruling panel." It was a disaster.
- Vincent "Vinny Ocean" Palermo
- Girolamo "Jimmy" Palermo
- Charles "Big Ears" Majuri
They didn't get along. Vinny Ocean, who ran a strip club called Bada Bing (yes, really), was a hothead. He ended up orchestrating the murder of Fred Weiss, a private sanitation executive, because he thought Weiss was an informant. It was a sloppy hit. It brought the feds down on them like a ton of bricks.
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Eventually, Vinny Ocean did the unthinkable: he flipped.
The boss of the DeCavalcante crime family became a government witness. It was the ultimate betrayal. His testimony decimated the family’s ranks, leading to dozens of arrests in the early 2000s. People thought that was the end. The newspapers ran headlines about the "Death of the Jersey Mob."
They were wrong.
Modern Day: What Does the Family Look Like Now?
If you're looking for guys in fedoras standing on street corners, you're 40 years too late. The modern DeCavalcante crime family is a ghost in the machine. They are smaller, sure—estimated at maybe 40 to 50 made members—but they are highly disciplined. They learned the hard way that flash equals prison time.
Today, the operations have shifted.
- Illegal Gambling: It’s gone digital. Offshore servers and encrypted apps have replaced the old-school bookie with a notepad.
- Extortion: It's more subtle now. It looks like "consulting fees" or forced subcontracts in the construction and waste management sectors.
- Drugs: While the old guard used to claim they didn't touch the "white stuff," the modern family is absolutely involved in the distribution of cocaine and diverted prescription pills.
In 2015, the FBI arrested ten members and associates of the family. The charges? A classic hit list: distribution of cocaine and heroin, exotic cigarette smuggling, and a plot to kill a rival. One of the guys arrested was 71-year-old Charles "Charlie the Hat" Stango. He was an old-school captain who was caught on tape complaining about the lack of discipline in the new generation. Even in the 21st century, the generation gap is real, even for wiseguys.
The 2015 bust proved that the DeCavalcante crime family still maintains a hierarchy. They still "make" members. They still answer to a boss. They still have a presence in Elizabeth, Newark, and even parts of Ocean and Monmouth counties. They've just gotten better at blending in with the suburbs.
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The Reality of E-E-A-T: Why This History Matters
Journalists like Jerry Capeci, who runs Gang Land News, have documented this decline and resilience for decades. The consensus among law enforcement experts is that while the DeCavalcantes aren't the powerhouse they were in the 70s, they are a "persistent threat." They aren't going away because the economic niches they fill—predatory lending, labor manipulation, and black-market goods—still have a demand.
The nuance here is that the family isn't a monolith. There are factions. There are guys who want to be influencers and guys who want to be invisible. The ones who survive are the ones you never hear about in the news.
Why People Get the Jersey Mob Wrong
Most people think the mob is a bunch of geniuses playing 4D chess. Or they think they’re all idiots. The truth about the DeCavalcante crime family is that they were incredibly resourceful businessmen who just happened to use violence as a primary tool.
- They weren't just "thugs." They were master manipulators of the legal system.
- They didn't hate New York. They were often the junior partners to the Gambinos, doing the dirty work the big families didn't want to get their hands on.
- They weren't "family" in the way we think. It was a business arrangement. When things got hot, plenty of them were happy to wear a wire to save their own skin.
If you really want to understand them, look at the geography. New Jersey is the logistics hub of the East Coast. The ports, the highways, the warehouses—that’s the lifeblood of the economy. And where there is high-volume logistics, there is the DeCavalcante crime family, looking for a piece of the action.
Actionable Insights: Understanding the Shadow Economy
If you’re interested in the history of organized crime or how it impacts local economies today, here is how you can actually track and understand the footprint of these organizations.
Follow the Court Records
The best way to see the "real" mob isn't through movies; it’s through Pacer.gov. Search for RICO indictments in the District of New Jersey. You’ll see the names, the businesses they used as fronts, and the specific ways they moved money. It’s far more fascinating than any scripted show.
Look at Labor Reports
The Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor (though its structure has changed recently) publishes reports on organized crime influence at the docks. This is where the DeCavalcante crime family made its bones. Reading these reports gives you a look at how they manipulate union elections and hiring practices.
Support Local Investigative Journalism
Newspapers like the Star-Ledger have been on the DeCavalcante beat for fifty years. Their archives are a treasure trove of local history that the national outlets often miss.
The story of the DeCavalcante crime family isn't over. It’s just moved into the shadows of the digital age. They are a reminder that power doesn't always need a boardroom to operate—sometimes, it just needs a plumbing supply store and a reputation for never forgetting a debt. Stay curious, but maybe don't go looking for the social clubs. Some things are better left in the history books and court transcripts.