Ruggiero Boiardo (December 8, 1890 – October 29, 1984), also known as "Richard Boiardo," "the Boot," or "Diamond Ritchie," was an Italian-American organized crime figure who got his start as a bootlegger during Prohibition, then emerged as one of the foremost mobsters in the greater Newark area, acting as a caporegime in the New Jersey faction of the Genovese crime family for over three decades.
Early life Boiardo was born on December 8, That date may not have been his actual date of birth, as Catholic orphanages often chose important holy days, in this case the Feast of Immaculate Conception, as the birthdays for children whose birthdates were unknown. Id. at 12. 1890 in Naples, and was raised in the town of Marigliano. He was placed in an orphanage as a child. He later claimed that he was the illegitimate son of an Italian nobleman who was a descendant of Matteo Maria Boiardo.
He immigrated to the United States in 1901,New York, U.S., Arriving Passenger and Crew Lists (including Castle Garden and Ellis Island), 1820–1957. Boiardo first resided in Chicago, where he adopted the Americanized name of "Richard." He moved to Newark with his adoptive mother in either 1906Michael Immerso & Angelo Baglivo, Crime Bosses of Newark: A Panel Discussion about "Richie the Boot" Boiardo and Longie Zwillman, presented by The Newark History Society & The Newark Historical Society, September 15, 2008 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNMUtpeWL7Q. or 1910.
Criminal career The Prohibition era Bootlegging Prohibition began in the United States in 1920, presenting gangs with the opportunity to get rich through bootlegging, the production, importing, transportation and selling of illegal alcohol. Boiardo had already become involved in criminal activities by that point, as shown by his conviction in 1920 for operating a gambling house.In the Godfather Garden, p. 14.
Boiardo got his start in bootlegging early in that decade while working as a milkman, delivering to speakeasies in Newark's First Ward, commonly referred to as "Newark's Little Italy." Boiardo learned that many of the speakeasies served "hair-tonic booze", drinks made from the alcohol used in hair tonic and cologne, cut with prune juice and caramel to mimic the color and taste of whiskey and rye. Boiardo arranged to purchase hair-tonic alcohol from John Serpico, a barber who also came from Marigliano, and sold the alcohol to speakeasies throughout Newark's Little Italy.In the Godfather Garden, p. 17.
By 1925 Boiardo was overseeing a major bootlegging operation owned by Frank "Chichi" Mazzocchi, "Newark's Rum King," and his brothers, while also joining in robberies and other crimes committed by members of the Mazzocchi gang. Boiardo became known as "The Boot," a nickname which may have reflected his activities as a bootlegger.In the Godfather Garden, p. 2. As Linnett notes in In the Godfather Garden, other origins for his nickname have been proposed: some newspaper accounts claimed he acquired the name by brutally kicking and stomping on his foes, while Boiardo told the FBI that he got the name because he was frequently summoned to telephone booths in order to conduct business by shouts of "Hey Richie the booth," which sounded like "Richie da boot." Id; see also How Newark Became Newark, p. 100.
In 1928 Boiardo broke with the Mazzocchis and formed his own gang. By the end of the decade he controlled a number of illegal lottery games, an extensive extortion racket that shook down merchants for protection money, several speakeasies, and a network of illegal stills hidden in the First Ward and in the surrounding rural areas.How Newark Became Newark, pp. 100-102 As the Great Depression deepened, Boiardo acquired even more abandoned farms for his stills and was able to stay ahead of Prohibition enforcement agents by moving production from one site to another.In the Godfather Garden, pp. 17-18.
Turf wars The amount of money to be made in bootlegging led to violent competition for control of the business. Boiardo's chief rival was Abner "Longie" Zwillman, who was based in the Third Ward, where he controlled one of the largest bootlegging enterprises in New Jersey and the biggest numbers racket in Newark.In the Godfather Garden, p. 4. Zwillman also had strong connections with Charles "Lucky" Luciano and Frank Costello through his associate Willie Moretti, a boyhood friend of and later strong-arm man for Costello.In the Godfather Garden, p. 32.
In early 1930, Boiardo ordered his First Ward gang to expand into Zwillman's Third Ward territory and began demanding that saloon owners buy liquor from him, while hijacking trucks carrying beer trucks belonging to Zwillman, who retaliated in kind.In the Godfather Garden, pp. 36-37. This started the Newark bootleg war between Boiardo's First Ward gang and Zwillman's Third Ward gang.How Newark Became Newark p. 101. As the war escalated both Al Capone and Lucky Luciano intervened to try to hammer out a truce. Finally, after attempts to assassinate Boiardo and Zwillman failed, the two reached agreement on a truce in October 1930.
Boiardo celebrated his truce with Zwillman with a two-day banquet on October 5 and 6, 1930 at his Nuova Napoli restaurant, where more than a thousand local politicians, businessmen, current and retired law enforcement officers, gangsters and other invitees came in order to pay their respects to Boiardo, while also paying for the privilege.In the Godfather Garden, pp. 41-42. Zwillman showed up with his entourage on the second night, but declined to have his picture taken with Boiardo.
Zwillman was not Boiardo's only rival. Italian criminals in Newark were also divided for a time into two ethnic factions: the "Sicilians" and the "Neapolitans". The Sicilian Mafia faction was headed by Stefano "Don Steven" Badami, while the Neapolitan faction was led by Boiardo.
Boiardo had also come into conflict with Willie Moretti on several occasions, first by preventing Moretti from establishing a prostitution ring in the First Ward, then by attempting to expand his bootlegging and hijacking operations into Passaic County, which was in Moretti's territory, and hijacking trucks owned by Moretti's allies, Lepke Buchalter and Jacob "Gurrah" Shapiro.
Boiardo also had longstanding differences with his former boss, Frank Mazzocchi, which intensified after Mazzocchi allied himself with Zwillman's Third Ward gang. That conflict turned into open warfare in 1929 when Mazzocchi began encroaching on Boiardo's territory.In the Godfather Garden, pp. 22-26. Frank Mazzocchi was shot in front of the Victory Political Association, a club formerly known as the American Victory Café and owned by his brother, Dominick, on May 5, 1930; he died the following night.
During Thanksgiving week of November 1930, Boiardo survived an attempt on his life when a gunman fired a shotgun into his car, hitting him in the neck, mouth, chest and arm.Bringing Down the Mob, p. 128. In his hospital room the police gave Boiardo descriptions of the men who had shot at him, but Boiardo shrugged and told them that he "had no enemies that he knew of". When the police suggested to him it was in his own self-interest to identify his assailants, he told them "If they want to finish me off, what can I do about it? I'm no crybaby, I can take my medicine."In the Godfather Garden, pp. 45-46. No one was arrested for this attempted murder.
At the time, the press suspected Zwillman. Other likely suspects included Willie Moretti and even his friend Al Capone. The assailants might have even come from his own crew, or from others with more personal agendas. "None of Ritchie's gang is above suspicion of planning the murder of their leader," the Newark Evening News reported. "There are also said to be men who would like to see Ritchie out of the way because of certain women who favored him with their regard."In the Godfather Garden, p. 26.
The evidence pointed, however, to Frank Mazzocchi's surviving brothers. Several members of the Mazzocchi crew, including both Dominick and John Mazzocchi, were killed in the year and a half after the November attempt on Boiardo's life. Other members of the crew, including Angelo "Gyp" DeCarlo, defected to join Boiardo's gang.
When Boiardo was released from the hospital in early December 1930 he was arrested for having a gun in his possession during the assassination attempt on him; he was later sentenced to two and a half years in prison for that crime.How Newark Became Newark, p. 102. Boiardo resumed control of his gang after he was paroled on November 23, 1932. He then proceeded to systematically eliminate his associates who had run his gang during his incarceration.In the Godfather Garden, pp. 53-54.
Meanwhile, Boiardo's other rival for control of Newark's rackets, Stefano Badami, saw his position weaken with the killing of Salvatore Maranzano in 1931 following the end of the Castellammarese War, followed a few days later by the murder of two of Badami's key supporters. Badami fled Newark, leaving the family without leadership.
The Commission, established after the Castellammarese War to manage disputes between organized crime outfits, decided to disband the Newark crime family after first Stefano Badami and then Gaspare D'Amico were driven out of the city. The Commission then declared Newark an open city and divided the Newark crime family's territory among the Five Families of New York.
Post-Prohibition years Boiardo's ascent within organized crime Boiardo's stature increased after Badami and D'Amico left the city, based on his ties to the Luciano crime family and his now-cooperative relationship with Longie Zwillman. When the Commission decided in 1935 to eliminate Dutch Schultz, the erratic Bronx mobster who had threatened to kill murder Special Prosecutor Thomas E. Dewey, Luciano gave the job to Zwillman, who asked Boiardo to provide additional members of the hit squad.In the Godfather Garden, pp. 55-56. The Luciano-Genovese family's New Jersey faction grew in power as well as Boiardo became the family's caporegime of the Newark crew and powerful New Jersey mobster Willie Moretti became the family's underboss, while also controlling operations in Bergen county.
Boiardo became a made man, or full member of the Luciano crime family in 1946, according to conversations between other New Jersey mobsters taped by the FBI.In the Godfather Garden, p. 63. With Abner Zwillman's death in 1959, Boiardo became the undisputed mob boss of Newark.
While Boiardo continued to engage in bootlegging, even after the end of Prohibition,Boiardo was indicted, but acquitted, on charges of operating illegal stills in 1937. In the Godfather Garden, pp. 60-61. he devoted most of his energy to gambling, loansharking and labor racketeering. He prohibited his crew and other gangsters from engaging in prostitution in the First WardIn the Godfather Garden, pp. 19, 33. or drug trafficking.Boiardo's biographer suggests that this supposed policy against dealing drugs may be revisionist history, inspired by the plot of The Godfather. In the Godfather Garden, p. 11. In the 1950s Boiardo and members of his crew began expanding their domain to include casinos in Las Vegas, Havana, and the British West Indies, as well as gambling operations in Florida.In the Godfather Garden, pp. 80-81, 88, 144, 147.
Boiardo's public profile Boiardo was already a highly respected figure early in his career, due in large part to his bravery in rescuing the lifeless body of the godmother of one of his daughters when a fire broke out in her house during her wake. When he was shot in 1930, a thousand people crowded into St. Lucy's Church to pray for his recovery.In the Godfather Garden, p. 113.