John Mazzolla
John Mazzolla (March 28th, 1925 East New York, Brooklyn - October 1990 Bensonhurst, Brooklyn) was an Sicilian-American mob associate of the Lucchese crime family from Bensonhurst, Brooklyn.
Biography
John P. (Paul) Mazzolla a.k.a. "Johnny" was a Italian-American quarter horse and later a thoroughbred horse racing jockey from East New York, Brooklyn. He was named after Saint John the Baptist.
Horse Jockey Career
He started in the horse racing business at a tender, young age performing riding work for jockeys. He eventually entered horse racing as an apprentice jockey. Two of the more shady figures he became associated with was Jimmy Burke, Richard Percival, Ralph Atlas and Paul Vario. It is suspected he retired after succuming to concussions and fractures caused by falls from riding his horse during races which is common among horse jockeys. The extreme pressure to stay at a light weight drove him to become addicted to [...]. He spent some time in a substance abuse clinic for his addiction but was unsuccessful. John retired from horse racing and moved from OZONE Park, Queens to Bensonhurst, Brooklyn.
Life after Horse Racing
He lived on Pitkin Avenue across from the Euclid Avenue Taxi Cab and Limousine Service with his wife and son Riccardo. The taxi stand in the 1940s and 1950s was used as the criminal headquarters of Paul Vario. He became affiliated with the Vario Crew after his forced retirement from being a horse jockey. While affiliated with the Lucchese crime family in East New York he was as employed as a taxi cab driver, and worked with the Taxi Cab Driver's Union in New York City, the Local 777 of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. Paul Vario got him involved in dealing counterfiet money. He became a close friend of J.R. Russo who was a fellow mob associate and taxi driver who worked for Theodoro Vario. John became a role model and surrogate father figure of future mob associate Henry Hill as an adolescent when they first met in 1957. John would drive Henry Hill around to the different stores in the neighborhood cashing the counterfiet currency on the days leading to Christmas or Easter instead of Henry attending school. He also taught Henry to put the counterfeit bills in a dryer to give them a worn look. As a full-fledged [...] addict he was looked down upon and disliked by many of the Vario Crew, although no one was outspoken AbOUT it. Instead, possibly because of his relationship with their capo, they took pity on him and gave him the odd errand to do for the crew.
A Troubled Fatherhood
John Mazzolla is known to have been the father of one son Riccardo Mazzolla a.k.a "Ricky" born c.a. 1960 East New York, Brooklyn-1969 was a hedonistic and catachresis-prone juvenile delinquent who was always getting himself in trouble with the police and was truant in school. It was his father John's bad influence, coupled by laziness and teenaged rebellion that propelled him into a brief and ignominous career in organized crime. Riccardo Mazzolla became a close friend of fellow mobster child Frank James Burke, Gregg Hill, Rosario Stabile, the son of Anthony Stabile and Michael "Spider" Gianco. Riccardo became involved in theft, armed robbery and grand theft auto.
The Riccardo Mazzolla Situation
Inspired by the glamour and prosperity that went with organized crime he was set to follow in his father's footsteps. He became estranged from his father and became an "independent hoodlum". Riccardo became a stick-up man and started sticking up neighborhood illegal sports book operations being operated out of Robert's Lounge and the Presto Pizzeria. These illicit rackets were being overlooked by Lawrence "Larry" Bilello, Theodoro Vario and Steven DePasquale. The Vario Crew warned Riccardo, but he was rebellious and did not pay attention to their warnings. Because John Mazzolla was a close associate and friend of Paul Vario, the Lucchese crime family postponed the execution, giving him a "pass" until Riccardo reached the age of nineteen. The family felt that if John could not deal with his rampuncious and rebellious son that they were going to have to. Initially unwilling to hand Riccardo Mazzolla over for retribution at the hands of the mob family, Paul Vario capitulated to pressure both inside and outside his crew to give up Riccardo, as well as the possibility as a rival family possibly carrying a revenge attack out on one of his sons, most likely Leonardo, to appease relations with the angered rival mob family and to give John's son a swift and painless death. With many members of the Lucchese crime family calling for Riccardo's head, Paul knew he had to go. It is suggested by Henry Hill that Paul dispatched one of his trusted contract killers, most likely Jimmy Burke, who was known to have murdered a dozen or so children himself, or Peter "The Killer" Abbandante to execute Riccardo with three shots to the heart at close range [...] him instantly. This way John could have an open-casket funeral for his only son. Paul arranged to have the body left in the open, unlike many mob hit victims, allowing for it to be discovered by a pedestrian and be given a proper burial by his parents. Henry Hill showed up for Riccardo's wake on behalf of his past relationship with John, but their capo and the remainder of the Vario Crew did not Appear. After the [...] of his son Riccardo in the early 1960's the Vario Crew severed all ties with John. The distraught father would fortunately survive his life in organized crime. He later died at his home in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn at the age of sixty-five in October of 1990. John Mazzolla and his son are excluded from Goodfellas. This is most likely due to time, character and plot constraints. Henry Hill later expressed sadness and remorse for his former friend in his book Wiseguy: My Life In A Mafia Family. No one was ever implicated in the gang land execution of Riccardo Mazzolla. Riccardo is thought to share character traits with the fictional character Jackie Aprile, Jr. from HBO's The Sopranos.
Influence and Inspiration in The Sopranos
In The Sopranos a similar situation between Tony Soprano and his cousin Tony Blundetto arise. Phil Leotardo and his brother Billy Leotardo kill Angelo to avenge Joey, driving Tony Blundetto into a rage. Tony tracks down the Leotardo brothers and shoots at both of them, [...] Billy. Blundetto's out-of-control behavior sparked the fire of Johnny Sack's crew and threats of revenge; in particular Phil Leotardo demands a bloody and extremely painful vengeance for what had happened to his brother. Initially unwilling to hand Blundetto over for 'justice' at the hands of Phil and Johnny Sack (and still affected by his own guilt), Tony Soprano eventually capitulated to pressure both inside and outside his crew to give up Blundetto, as well as the strong possibility of Phil carrying out a revenge attack on Tony's nephew Christopher Moltisanti. To appease relations with Johnny and to give his cousin a quick death, Tony Soprano kills Blundetto personally with a shotgun blast to the head, having traced his cousin to an old family home where he was hiding out. Unlike the execution of Riccardo Mazzolla, Tony later dispatches to dispose of his cousin's body. It is suggested that the American screenwriter, director, and producer of the show The Sopranos built upon the Riccardo Mazzolla crisis mentioned in Nicholas Pileggi's book Wiseguy: My Life In A Mafia Family. It is presumed that David has read Pileggi's book after stating in an interview that the Martin Scorsese gangster film Goodfellas (on which the book is based upon) was a source of inspiration for him, calling the 1990 movie his "Koran."
References
- Pileggi, Nicholas, Wiseguy: Life In A Mafia Family, Corgi (1987) ISBN 055213094X
- US Social Security Death Index