Vincent Cafaro
Arrested with Anthony Salerno in March 1986, cooperated covertly with the FBI from October 1986, withdrew in October 1987, and testified to the Senate in April 1988, without immunity, that he had been a "made" member of the Genovese family since 1974.
- Aliases
- Fish
- Family
- Genovese ("I became a "made" member of the Genovese family"), his own testimony, 29 April 1988, printed page 223
- Role
- Soldier ("a soldier in the Genovese family"), his own testimony, 29 April 1988, printed page 224. The government's 1986 detention proffer, as the Second Circuit summarized it, called him a "captain" (794 F.2d 64).
- 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
- About 1958 — His own testimony, 1988 (printed page 223): Anthony Salerno asked him to work in a numbers office, and he stayed with Salerno "for the next 25 years."
- 1974 — His own testimony (printed page 223): "In 1974 I got "straightened out." In other words, I became a "made" member of the Genovese family."
- 21 March 1986 — United States v. Salerno, 481 U.S. 739 (1987): "Respondents Anthony Salerno and Vincent Cafaro were arrested on March 21, 1986, after being charged in a 29-count indictment." The district court ordered both detained (631 F. Supp. 1364).
- October 1986 — Senator Nunn's introduction, 1988 (printed page 220): Cafaro "in October 1986, began cooperating with Federal authorities" and secretly recorded conversations for several months. Justice Marshall's dissent in 481 U.S. 739 records that he "became a cooperating witness, assisting the Government's investigation 'by working in a covert capacity'" (quoting the government), and that "On October 9, 1986, respondent Cafaro was released."
- October 1987 — His own testimony (printed page 223): "In October 1987 ... I informed the prosecutor's office that I no longer wished to cooperate, and was placed in custody to await trial."
- 29 April 1988 — Testified before the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations while under indictment, "independently of any agreement" and without immunity (printed page 223).
The family and role lines are his own sworn testimony, labelled as such. The government’s 1986 proffer used a higher rank; the two are given side by side and neither is a court finding. Nothing here is copied onto the Genovese family chart.
His testimony and affidavit name many men in the numbers business, the unions and the concrete industry. Only those already in a record filed here are named on the testimony page. The FBI’s history page calls him “Vincent “Fish” Cafaro” and says that, by his sworn statement, Vincent Gigante feigned mental illness; that is the Bureau’s summary.
Records
itemTestimony of Vincent Cafaro (29 April 1988)Vincent "Fish" Cafaro, under federal indictment and testifying without immunity, told the Senate subcommittee he became a "made" member of the Genovese family in 1974, described its hierarchy, its rules on killings, his West Harlem numbers business and the concrete "2 percent club," and said Vincent Gigante's public behavior was a guise.itemExhibit No. 38: affidavit of Vincent Cafaro (S. Hrg. 100-906, pp. 866 ff.)Cafaro's signed statement to the subcommittee staff, printed as Exhibit 38. It covers his meeting Anthony Salerno after a narcotics arrest at 17, his work in Salerno's numbers office from about 1958, his 1986 indictment, five months wearing a wire, and his withdrawal from cooperation in October 1987.itemUnited States v. Salerno, 631 F. Supp. 1364 (S.D.N.Y. 1986)District Judge Walker's April 2, 1986 order detaining Anthony Salerno and Vincent Cafaro before trial on a Genovese Family racketeering indictment. It names the two Manhattan social clubs where the government's recordings were made, the Palma Boys Social Club and the club at 2244 First Avenue.itemUnited States v. Salerno, 794 F.2d 64 (2d Cir. 1986)Second Circuit opinion of July 3, 1986 holding the preventive-detention provision of the Bail Reform Act unconstitutional as applied to Anthony Salerno and Vincent Cafaro. The Supreme Court reversed it the next year.itemUnited States v. Salerno, 481 U.S. 739 (1987)Supreme Court decision of May 26, 1987 upholding pretrial detention on the ground of dangerousness under the Bail Reform Act of 1984, in the case of Anthony Salerno and Vincent Cafaro.itemLa Cosa Nostra (FBI history page)The FBI's history essay on the Genovese family. It says that Valachi survived three attempts on his life in prison and testified before the Senate subcommittee on September 27, 1963.itemOrganized Crime: 25 Years After Valachi (S. Hrg. 100-906, 1988)Hearings of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, April 1988, in which FBI officials compared the 1963 Valachi charts with the Bureau's 1987 charts of the families. FBI testimony about its own intelligence, not court findings.