Mob FilesPublic-domain archive of American organized crime

Gregory Scarpa, Sr.

Designated an FBI informant in 1962 in the Bureau's Top Echelon program, according to the FBI's own memoranda, and found by a federal court in 1997 to have informed again from 1980 to 1992. After a 1990s Colombo family trial the government disclosed his informant role. He did not testify in these cases.

Family
Colombo, Persico faction ("Gregory Scarpa, Sr., a soldier in the Persico faction"), the Second Circuit's description in United States v. Persico, 164 F.3d 796 (1999), while summarizing the defense theory. A 1961 FBI memorandum calls him "a current member of the JOSEPH PROFACI group in Brooklyn."
Role
Soldier (same 1999 opinion, the court's description)
Source
CourtListener: Orena v. United States, 956 F. Supp. 1071 (E.D.N.Y. 1997)
Rights
Biography on this page is limited to what the cited federal records state. Sworn testimony is labelled as his own testimony; court statements as the court's; agency statements as the agency's.

On the record

  • 21 November 1961 — FBI memorandum of 3/20/62 (Vault, Scarpa Part 01): "He was designated a PC on 11/21/61, under the Top Echelon Criminal Informant Program."
  • 20 March 1962 — Same file, informant form: "Date designated informant 3/20/62"; "Informant is considered reliable."
  • 1980 — Orena v. United States (E.D.N.Y. 1997): FBI briefing synopses "indicate that he began providing the Bureau with information in 1980"; "Classified as "Top Echelon," Scarpa was a valuable informant."
  • November 1991 — United States v. Orena, 145 F.3d 551 (2d Cir. 1998): a truce in the Colombo family "broke down in November 1991 when members of the Orena faction attempted to kill Gregory Scarpa, Sr."
  • 3 March and 8 April 1992 — Orena v. United States: "Scarpa was closed as an informant on March 3, 1992 ... He was reopened on April 8, 1992."
  • After trial — United States v. Persico (2d Cir. 1999): "the Government acknowledged that for many years Scarpa had been an informant for the FBI," and that he "had lied about or misrepresented his own involvement in some of the murders."

The family and role lines are a federal appeals court’s description, labelled as such; the FBI’s 1961 wording is given beside it. Neither fills a seat on the Colombo family chart.

Scarpa was an informant, not a witness: he did not testify in the cases filed here. His record is the FBI’s own file and the litigation over the government’s failure to disclose his role. The 1997 opinion’s discussion of his FBI handler is hedged, and this page does not state those allegations. The FBI file prints a residence address and family members; they are not repeated.

Records

itemFBI Records: The Vault, "Gregory Scarpa, Sr. Part 01" (Top Echelon informant memoranda, 1961-1963)New York Division memoranda to the FBI Director under the heading "Top Echelon Criminal Informant Program." A memorandum of March 20, 1962 gives "Date designated informant 3/20/62" and describes Gregory Scarpa as a member of the Joseph Profaci group in Brooklyn.itemOrena v. United States, 956 F. Supp. 1071 (E.D.N.Y. 1997)Judge Weinstein denied motions to vacate Colombo family convictions over the government's nondisclosure of Gregory Scarpa Sr.'s role as an FBI informant. The opinion finds he began giving the Bureau information in 1980, was classified "Top Echelon," and was closed on March 3, 1992 and reopened on April 8, 1992. It also summarizes Salvatore Gravano's trial testimony.itemUnited States v. Orena, 145 F.3d 551 (2d Cir. 1998)The Second Circuit reversed a grant of new trials to three Colombo family defendants that had been based on undisclosed statements by Gregory Scarpa Sr. to the FBI. It recounts trial testimony that a truce broke down in November 1991 when members of the Orena faction attempted to kill Scarpa.itemUnited States v. Persico, 164 F.3d 796 (2d Cir. 1999)The Second Circuit affirmed convictions of Theodore Persico and others in the Colombo family war case. Under "The Scarpa disclosure," it records that after trial "the Government acknowledged that for many years Scarpa had been an informant for the FBI" and that Scarpa had lied about or misrepresented his involvement in some murders.