Albert Mugnolo – Colombo Soldier

Albert Mugnolo was a Colombo Family soldier involved in gambling and other rackets as well as strong-arm work.

He was one of the younger mobsters arrested at the 1961 White Turkey Restaurant raid in Midtown Manhattan where top underworld gangsters such as Jiggs Forlano , Ruby Stein, and Carmine Perisco were meeting.

Mugnolo had also previously been a member of Persico's gambling ring which operated under the control of Forlano.

Albert Mugnolo - Early Life

Albert J. Mugnolo - aka “Al Mugnolo” and “Al the Mug” - was born in 1933 and grew up in South Brooklyn around the Red Hook docks.

Identified by at least 1960 as a criminal “associate” of the Joseph Profaci family of Brooklyn, Albert Mugnolo was once a member of a gambling ring operated by soldier Carmine Persico under the control of capo Nicholas (Jiggs) Forlano.

By the mid-1960s, he had moved out of Brooklyn with his wife and kids and was now living on Long Island. He purchased a home at 24 West Maple Street in Valley Stream.

By the early 1970a, after receiving intense law enforcement scrutiny from Nassau District Attorney William Cahn’s Racket Squad, Mugnolo had relocated back to Brooklyn.

Albert Mugnolo as a young buck under arrest.

As a young hoodlum, Albert Mugnolo was used by the South Brooklyn crew for strong-arm work and intimidation.

In fact, he was once one of six young local hoods arrested for crashing their vehicle into a picket line of union workers who were protesting unfair working conditions in front of a local company.

At the time of his arrest, local police didn’t realize that it was part of a larger underworld effort to “break” the strike and to disrupt union efforts to “organize” that company.

The White Turkey Restaurant Bust

In 1961, Albert Mugnolo was one of fourteen gamblers picked up in a highly-publicized raid on The White Turkey Restaurant in Midtown Manhattan after police vice squad detectives had surveilled the group for weeks.

The 27-year-old Mugnolo was among the younger and lesser-known hoods arrested.

Such top underworld gamblers as Forlano and his partner Charles (Ruby) Stein , Milton (Milty) Wekar, Solomon (Solly Pork Chop) Margolies , Albert (Kid Blast) Gallo, and a young Carmine (The Snake) Persico were also nabbed in the raid.

At the time, NYC Police Intelligence called the arrests the breakup of the “cream of the crop” of NYC’s gambling fraternity. Mugnolo and the others were all charged with bookmaking and consorting with known criminals.

Dating to the 1950s, Albert Mugnolo had a long arrest record for assault, gambling, and other offenses.

In the mid-1960s, he and another hood were charged with hijacking counterfeiters and robbing them of over $100,000 in bogus currency.

He listed at least eight arrests for bookmaking (four times), disorderly conduct (twice), assault with a car, consorting with criminals, and possession of counterfeit money. Mugnolo was convicted of bookmaking (thrice), disorderly conduct, and counterfeiting.

He served eight years in federal prison for the counterfeiting conviction.

Federal authorities also described Albert Mugnolo as a one-time chauffeur-bodyguard for longtime family boss Joe Colombo .

It is believed that Albert Mugnolo was closely associated with members of the Gallo Gang but most likely later served as a member under the Carmine Persico faction of the family.

Albert Mugnolo – Colombo Soldier

You May Also Enjoy

Anthony Guidice – “Funny Money Wasn’t So Funny”

Anthony (Tony Long) Ricciardi – “Kid Chocolate”

Enrico Fontana – “One of the Originals”

Welcome Back!

Create New Account!

Retrieve your password

Are you sure want to unlock this post?

Are you sure want to cancel subscription?

Albert Mugnolo – Colombo Soldier

Unlock The Door to the Underworld

Take the Journey!

You May Also Enjoy

Anthony Guidice – “Funny Money Wasn’t So Funny”

Anthony (Tony Long) Ricciardi – “Kid Chocolate”

Enrico Fontana – “One of the Originals”

Welcome Back!

Create New Account!

Retrieve your password

Are you sure want to unlock this post?

Are you sure want to cancel subscription?