Biagio (Big Angelo) Angelica

Biagio Angelica was a lesser-known, yet active mafioso, who hailed from Galveston, Texas. A devout hoodlum and major drug trafficker, he was considered a prominent and powerful "senior member" of the Joseph Civello Family of Dallas, Texas.

Biagio (Big Angelo) Angelica - aka Biaggio Angelico and Blasco Moscato - was born in New York City on May 18, 1907. He grew up and resided with his parents, Vincenzo and Teresa, in NYC throughout his teenage years. By the late 1920s, he had reportedly moved south to Texas. This is where Angelica would live and operate for the rest of his life.

Big Angelo stood 5 feet 7 inches tall and weighed a stocky 200 pounds. He had dark brown eyes and typically wore eyeglasses. His hair was black, but by his mid-thirties, he was already balding as is evidenced through mugshots.

FBI #541336, Houston-PD #16323

Angelica's criminal arrest record starts in 1930 in Texas, logging arrests for such serious offenses as armed robbery (twice), shooting a police officer, assault, first-degree homicide, extortion, kidnapping, arson conspiracy, and violating federal narcotics laws.

Around that same time, Angelica got married. He and his wife had a son they named Vincent after his father, as is the Italian custom. The Angelica family resided for years at 3925 Avenue R in Galveston, Texas.

Angelica operated two jukebox and vending machine businesses called M & M Music Company and the H & M Music Company, both located at 2114 Market Street in Galveston.

He partnered in these particular ventures with a fellow Civello crime family member named Louie Marino. Although technically based in Galveston, Angelica also conducted his criminal activities in nearby Houston.

Large Scale Narcotics - Texas Style

Big Angelo was considered by law enforcement to have been an influential and feared member of the Mafia operating in the southeast area of Texas. He was suspected by the FBI of being a soldier in the Civello Family, headed by Joseph Civello.

Aside from gambling, which was a mainstay, Angelica was known as a top member of a large-scale narcotics importation ring. This ring smuggled heroin into the southeastern U.S. for redistribution within the state of Texas as well as to other southern states such as Florida and Louisiana.

Among his closest underworld associates were many top members of the Civello family. These included boss Joe Civello himself and such known mafiosi like the aforementioned Louis Marino; family underboss Frank Ianni and his son soldier Joe Ianni; Sam Maceo; and soldiers Victor Maddi , Vincent Vallone, Pietro (Pete) Duca, Joseph Lucca, Isidoro (Roy) Cavaretta, and Vincent D’Ingianni.

He was also allegedly affiliated and in league with New York-based narcotics merchant Alfonso (Al) Attardi, with whom he later figured into a federal narcotics indictment. The infamous mafioso Nicola Gentile, who was later deported back to Italy, was also close to Angelica in narcotics trafficking.

In particular, both Vic Maddi and Louie Marino were considered to be very close to Big Angelo. Both men were known as drug distributors who also served as strong-arm men and enforcers for Angelica as the need arose.

Distributing Heroin Far and Wide

In 1937, Biagio Angelica became one of 88 defendants, including over a dozen very important mafia members, to get indicted by a Federal Grand Jury sitting in the Southern District of New York.

The indictment was the result of an extensive undercover investigation by the Federal Bureau of Narcotics for operating what was described at the time as a far-flung heroin importation and wholesale distribution network spanning over a half-dozen states.

Among the more notable mafia members charged in the case were Nick Gentile, Calogero (Charlie) LaGaipa, Sam Maceo, and Alfonso Attardi. The ring was headed by Gentile which shipped large amounts of both heroin and cocaine from New York to Texas for redistribution to various southern states.

Some of the cities and states where the drugs were shipped included New Orleans, Louisiana; Houston, Galveston, Waco, and San Antonio, Texas; and Kansas City, Missouri.

No further information was available on the outcome of this case and no DOD for Angelica was available at the time of this writing.

Until next time..."The Other Guy"

Biagio (Big Angelo) Angelica

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