Colombo Family Soldier Nicholas Mainello: Joe’s Trusty Aide

Nicky Mainello was a longtime Colombo Family soldier who served as a close aide to boss Joseph Colombo. In fact, Nicky was so close to the boss that the FBI took a keen interest in his activities and their relationship. Mainello had a long arrest record and was known to be very active as a Brooklyn gambler, numbers racketeer and bookmaker. But beyond being an avid gambler and the boss’ aide-de-camp, Nicky was a very diverse and ambitious hood, which eventually brought even more trouble his way. *Newly Revised and Expanded*

Nicholas (Nicky) Mainello – aka Thomas Marino, Leo Marino, Nicholas Maniello, Nick Manello, and Nicholas John Mainello (TN) – was born on November 21, 1922. He was one of two children, and the only son, born to Giovanni and Miriam (nee’ Cerniglia) Mainello. His sister’s name was Rose.

For many years, the Mainello family resided at 1624 West 10th Street, Brooklyn. Nicky and his family later moved one block over to 1793 West 11th Street. This is the area in Brooklyn where Nicky and his sister grew up and where Nicky would later first cut his teeth as a young hoodlum.

As a young man, he met and fell in love with a young Italian girl from the neighborhood by the name of Rita Crispo, who lived with her parents on the same block as Nicky’s family, at 2427 West 111th Street.

After a brief courtship, Nicky and Rita decided to officially tie the knot and get married. The young newlyweds first moved into Rita’s parents home to start their life together, while they saved some money, eventually hoping to buy a home of their own. Nicky’s in-laws, Mr. & Mrs. Vincent Crispo, welcomed their daughter and new son-in-law with open arms.

By 1950, Nicky was already a married man, a father, and reportedly a new home owner. He had also started working for a garment contracting factory that manufactured ladies' coats. Mainello listed his official occupation as a “sewing machine operator.”

During their marriage, Rita gave birth to two children, a son and daughter, that she and Nicky decided to name James and Maria, respectively.

In the coming years, Nicky, Rita and the kids moved several times, but always stayed within Kings County. The Mainellos resided at 26070 Colby Court, and some years later, moved to 2121 Shore Parkway.

Labeled by the FBI

Although no photograph of Mainello is currently available, he was described as standing 5 feet 8 inches tall and weighed approximately 142 pounds. He had light blue eyes, medium brown hair, and was light complected.

FBI # 2857006 NYCPD # B-192328 NY-(KG) # 4971

As far back as the late-1950s, Mainello had been identified by members of the New York Police Department as a local hoodlum loosely connected with members of Brooklyn’s old Joseph Profaci Family .

By the early-to-mid 1960s, Nicky was believed to have become a formal “on record” Family associate as well as an aide-de-camp to Joseph Colombo Sr. , who had only recently become the new boss of the Family.

By the late-1970s he was officially being carried by the FBI as a formally inducted member of the Colombo Family.

A few years later, during the 1983 United States Senate Investigation Hearings on organized crime, the FBI presented the committee a list of individuals they identified for the panel as the top hierarchy and entire formal rank-and-file membership of that particular Family. The list included dozens of names who they identified as inducted soldiers of the Colombo Family. Nicholas Mainello was named on that list.

A Notorious Gambler

As a young man, Nicky Mainello became active in Brooklyn’s illegal gambling rackets. He soon gained a reputation as a dependable bookmaker who ran a solid “office” that accepted wagers on horse races and sports and as a guy always paid his winning customers. As the years passed, Nicky expanded his gambling operation by accepting policy-numbers bets as well. He also became active in running “floating crap games” for the Family.

Subsequently, through the years, Mainello became a very well-known gambling figure in the Bay Ridge, Bensonhurst, and Dyker Heights sections of Kings County and gained a notorious reputation as a “KG” (known gambler) with the local police who did their best to track his activities.

To their credit, the cops successfully nabbed him a number of times, in fact, at least twenty-two times that we’re aware of.

According to New York Police Department files, Mainello had a criminal record that dated back to at least 1940. His rap sheet included arrests for accepting policy bets, vagrancy, disorderly conduct, assault, dice games, and bookmaking. Many of these charges were either dismissed outright, or in the alternative, when he was convicted, resulted in small fines, suspected sentences or probation.

And with the exception of one 20-day stint in the workhouse, Nicky doesn’t seem to have served any significant jail time, at least during the early part of his criminal career.

Although he had already acquired a yellow-sheet as long as his arm, generally speaking, Nicky was largely considered to be a professional organized crime-connected gambler.

But by the mid-1970s, he started graduating to more sophisticated rackets, which, over time, would eventually envelope him in several more serious federal investigations which will be discussed at greater length later in the story.

Joe Colombo's Trusty Aide-de-Camp

By the 1960s, Nicky allegedly held a partnership interest in a Manhattan-based garment firm called, Kleen Kut Company, Inc., located at 274 West 36th Street, in the heart of the Garment District. He listed himself as an employee of the company for a number of years as the source of his income on his tax returns.

But in truth, Nicky never actually did any work for the garment firm or worked at any other legitimate job for that matter. He was a devout hoodlum and mafioso through and through, and made no bones about it either.

Joe Colombo

What he did do was work the streets day after day, earning his living as a bookmaker and shylock and at whatever other nefarious activities he could get involved with.

And, according to local and federal law enforcement sources, Nicky was always at the disposal of the boss, ready to serve Joe Colombo’s needs as the occasion arose. The two men were close. So close, in fact, that Colombo was believed to have assigned Nicky to his personal crew, which included over a dozen soldiers and a number of associates.

Side Note: Although a Family boss rarely runs his own personal regime, preferring instead to assign the various members of the borgata to serve under designated capos, Colombo chose to maintain his own personal “palace guard” as it were. To that end, during the course of his tenure as boss he had a large crew (said to number at least several dozen men) under his direct command.

All the Boys in the Band

Although as a Brooklyn-based member of the borgata, Mainello would have most probably met and interacted many, if not most, of the Colombo Family’s membership through the years, his primary known criminal associates included the following men:

Joseph Colombo, Sr. – Family Boss and a close associate of Nicky’s for years in dice games and gambling.

Rocco (Rocky) Miraglia – Colombo’s personal bodyguard and driver, a key soldier and close aide to the boss.

Joseph (Joe Notch) Iannaci – A longtime soldier, gambler and garment rackets figure.

Vincent Vingo – A former professional boxer and soldier who relocated to Las Vegas after Joe Colombo’s shooting. Vingo later became a host for mafiosi who visited Las Vegas.

Peter Candarini and Joseph Candarini – Brooklyn-based brothers who were gamblers and Family associates.

Thomas Barbusca – A longtime soldier and son of an old-time soldier from the Profaci era. Later gunned down in the early 1970s during the turmoil following Colombo’s shooting.

Frank (The Beast) Falanga – A key, longtime associate of the Brooklyn regime who was a shylock, extortionist and Family enforcer.

Achille (Tommy) Lombardi – An early bookmaking partner of Mainello.

Philip Delagart – A “runner” in Nicky’s horse bookmaking business,

Michael (Mike) Savino – A longtime low-key Family soldier and shylock. Joe Colombo’s brother-in-law.

Gregory Scarpa, Sr. – A notorious soldier and family enforcer, who was later exposed as a 30-year long FBI informer.

Joseph (Joe Brewster) DeDomenico – Longtime member, prolific thief, active in credit card rackets. Later murdered by his “good friend” Greg Scarpa.

Louis (Fat Louie) Astuto – A Brooklyn hood later inducted into the Gambino Family who operated a major interstate auto-theft ring.

Louis (Louie the Butcher) Pergola – A Family associate and known “paper hanger” (stock fraud specialist),

Edmund L. Graifer – A conman and fraudster who would become a notorious name in the securities rackets.

Colombo Gambling Overseer

By the mid-1960s, Nicky Mainello’s reputation was such, and he was trusted enough by now, that Joe Colombo personally installed him to oversee a major Family gambling operation that was under the direct control of the boss himself.

Colombo also assigned Nicky two brothers named Peter and Joseph Cardarini who would help him run and oversee the large network of runners, sub-bookies, sheet writers, payoff-men, and other supporting staff who made up this massive gambling combine.

For a number of years thereafter, the Colombo Family’s gambling ship sailed quietly and relatively smoothly. But as the years passed, Joe Colombo became more and more aggressive in his profile and activities and operating tactics, the end result of which was that, by the late 1960s, local and federal law enforcement started to ratchet-up the surveillance and pressure placed against Colombo and his known associates. Ultimately, the boss’ high profile would only serve to bring lots of heat and lots of arrests and convictions.

Subsequently, in April 1971, the FBI conducted a major gambling sweep that targeted Colombo, Mainello, the Candarini brothers, and dozens of other members of the Colombo Family for their operation of what one federal spokesman described as a $5,000,000-a-year sports bookmaking and policy ring operating in Kings County and other boroughs in New York City.

The case was brought in Brooklyn Federal Court. In all, forty suspects were nabbed.

Besides Colombo, Mainello, and the Candarini brothers, among others charged in the indictments included longtime Family soldiers and associates Joseph Iannaci, Frank Falanga, Thomas Barbusca, and Michael Savino.

Joseph Iannaci

New York detectives ,who had also maintained a steady surveillance during the course of the investigation, reported they considered Mainello and the Candarini brothers to be close aides of Joe Colombo, who served as his key functionaries and overseers for his gambling operations.

Federal authorities said that Colombo’s gambling operation also had been “protected” by paying off local patrolmen and police officers, which allowed the gambling ring to operate and thrive unimpeded for a number of years.

Authorities also reported that several secret police informants who aided the investigation stated that Mainello and the Candarinis were well aware of, and helped to facilitate, the bribery “pad” and payoffs to the cops.

Mob World Turns Upside Down

Less than two months after their arrests on gambling charges, more trouble came their way. And lots of it.

During a swelteringly hot summer afternoon on June 28, 1971, a shocking event would take place in broad daylight that was to become a ground-shaking, life-altering day for the entire Colombo Crime Family, the city’s four other crime Families, and other borgatas located all across the country too for that matter.

That was the day that Joe Colombo was shot and incapacitated at the second annual Italian-American Civil Rights Unity Day Rally held at Columbus Circle in Manhattan.

Although Colombo was technically only wounded and survived the attempted assassination, he was gravely injured and became totally incapacitated from his injuries. He was immediately replaced as Family boss and lived out the rest of his days in a coma, in a complete vegetated state.

Boss Joe Colombo marches at an IACRL rally.

In the aftermath of the shooting, the Colombo Family as a whole went through a tremendous period of inner turmoil. The leadership of the borgata went through several realignments and reorganizations, the results of which were very disruptive to their membership and operations.

For his part, Nicky quickly faded back — either through his own volition, or through direct orders from his Colombo superiors.

He had been very close to Joe Colombo. Everybody knew that. Maybe too close for his own good. So, for the next several years, Mainello made it his business to keep his head down and remain very low profile, staying out of view from both the authorities and any potential enemies lurking on the streets.

Nothing more was publicly heard from Mainello for several years. He seemed to have completely faded off the mob landscape.

Stock Fraud Schemes

But like they say, old habits die hard.

On June 7, 1974, he was charged in a massive indictment brought by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Newark, New Jersey as part of a multi-pronged major takedown of several interconnected stolen securities rings operating in the New York and New Jersey area.

Mainello was named in a series of major indictments filed by the Newark prosecutor’s office for the theft of over $500,000 in stolen stock certificates.

Authorities also charged Nicky and several of his mob associates with attempting to counterfeit another $4,000,000 in IBM Corporation stock certificates. In all, federal prosecutors named 13 men in three separate, but related indictments.

At a news conference held to announce the arrests, federal authorities said this had been an extensive, jointly run undercover operation by members of the FBI and the Securities Exchange Commission to investigate organized crime’s racket infiltration of the stocks and securities industry.

They said another facet of the Mafia’s stock theft and fraud rackets was the pledging of various counterfeit and stolen securities as collateral for legitimate loans totaling more than $1.5 million they defrauded from several banks in New York and New Jersey.

A third indictment accused Nicky Mainello and two mob associates of his named Louis (Louie the Butcher) Pergola and Charles Noia of stealing $220,000 in stock certificates of the United States Postal Service and the Standard Oil Corporation from the offices of a Manhattan brokerage firm.

Mainello and the other defendants in the case were charged variously with multiple counts of criminal conspiracy, stock theft, interstate transportation of stolen securities, fraud, and counterfeiting securities.

Authorities said they identified a large number of suspects as being directly linked to the Colombo Family, including Mainello, Gregory Scarpa Sr., Joseph (Joe Brewster) DeDomenico, Louis (The Butcher) Pergola, Robert A. (Bobby Zam) Zambardi, and Robert Stasio.

Others mob-connected suspected charged were Edward L. Graifer, Carlo A. (Charlie) Noia, Salvatore T. Cardinali, Luke Spani, Edward Pace, and Edward J. Colelli Jr.

Side Note: At the time this series of indictments were announced, Nicky was already 51-years old and away at “college” busy serving out a prison term for a previous conviction in another case.

Federal officials stated that among the legitimate securities firms victimized in the scheme were two of the largest stock brokerage houses in New York — Shearson Hammill, and F.I. Dupont.

Among the securities stolen were $210,000 in bonds from the Metropolitan Water Works of Southern California, and another $301,000 in U.S. Postal and Standard Oil of California bonds.

Mainello was indicted on charges relating to two of the three indictments filed.

In the first case, he was among eight men charged with conspiracy to print counterfeit IBM stock certificates, transporting them in interstate commerce, and then using the phony stock as collateral for bank loans. The FBI said the stock had a face value of over $4 million. Named along with Mainello in this case was Graifer, Scarpa, Cardinale, DeDomenico, and Pergola.

In the second indictment, Mainello was one of three men charged with transporting stolen securities, conspiracy to transport the securities interstate, and receiving and possessing stolen securities, which included three $100,000 U.S. Postal Service bonds and a $1,000 bond from Standard Oil of California. Mainello’s codefendants were identified as Pergola and Noia.

Between both cases, if convicted on all counts, Nicky was facing a total of more than 90 years behind bars and fines in excess of $120,000.

A Fight to the Finish

Nick decided to fight the case all the way and go to trial. After all, by that point in time, he’d been banged around pretty good, constantly buried under various investigations and indictments by both the locals and feds for years already.

He was currently serving jail time. He was getting on in years, and he just didn’t wanna do any more time, especially another long bid.

So, he decided to fight for his freedom. At his age, Nicky figured he had nothing to lose. Who could blame him?

One of his buddies and codefendants, Louie Pergola, also refused to cop a plea deal. So, he and Nicky made the fateful decision they’d stick together and take it all the way.

But Nick and Louie knew they had an uphill battle because at least two of their codefendants had already turned informant and had testified for the prosecution against their coconspirators in other cases. And they damn well knew that both of these rats would be getting up on the witness stand to point their fingers at them, too.

And Nicky also knew that the feds wanted him bad…real bad. Between his prior criminal record and his reputation as a known organized crime figure, he knew any plea offer they’d accept would run close to 10-to-20 years, and he definitely wasn’t gonna end up doing double-digits in the joint. Not if he could help it anyway. That was unacceptable.

The jury trial was held at the U.S. Federal District Courthouse in Newark, New Jersey. And just as predicted, a bevy of rats took the stand against the defendants, including Edmond Graifer and Salvatore Cardinale.

But the main witness against Mainello and Pergola was their former accomplice, Graifer. A former millionaire, the owner of a New Jersey car-leasing service, and a master conman, Graifer had previously been convicted in New York of a series of major securities swindles and quickly decided to get out from under his prison sentence by ratting out his former buddies.

Nicky and Louie’s trial would just be one in a long line of continuing court appearances Graifer was expected to make on the witness stand in the future.

In the meantime, until he was completely finished testifying for the government, a team of FBI agents was holding Graifer in protective custody at an undisclosed location for his own safety.

For his part, Ed Graifer got up on the witness stand and told the jury that Mainello and Pergola had been his accomplices in the theft and sale of $300,000 in U.S. Postal Service bonds that had been stolen from a Wall Street brokerage firm back in 1972.

But try and they might, despite all the damning testimony by Graifer and several other informants, as well as all the other evidence the prosecution presented to the jury, the case ended in a mistrial after an FBI agent testified on the stand that Graifer was in protective custody.

Nicky and Louie’s defense attorneys both immediately jumped to their feet asking Judge Lawrence A. Whipple for a mistrial because the agent’s testimony was prejudicial to their clients, suggesting to the jury that these were dangerous men that should be feared.

In light of what had taken place before the jurors, the judge had no choice but to agree with the defense motion. The jurist declared a mistrial in the case. Mainello and Pergola just smiled and walked out of court free men.

But they weren’t out of the woods yet because the prosecutor immediately asked for a retrial on the charges.

And once again, the court agreed, with Judge Whipple stating for the court record the government would get a second bite of the apple.

Mainello remained locked up serving out his previous sentence, while Pergola was allowed to remind free on bail.

Side Note: Edmond Graifer was a son-in-law to Michael (Mike Scandy) Scandifia, Sr., a longtime soldier of the Carlo Gambino Family who primarily operated in Brooklyn and served in the regime of legendary capo Carmine (The Doctor) Lombardozzi .

Michael (Mike Scandy) Scandifia

Graifer himself was a known mob associate and prolific conman and swindler who had once been indicted with notorious Lucchese Family soldier John (Johnny Dio) Dioguardi and Colombo Family acting boss Vincent Aloi in a major stock manipulation case involving Graifer’s “At Your Service Leasing Corp.” Graifer ended up pleading guilty and testifed against Dioguardi and Aloi at their 1973 trial. Both were convicted.

Round Two

The second trial started just a few months later, with the same judge presiding over the proceedings. Judge Whipple made sure testimony got under way promptly, but midway through the trial, the judge fell ill and was forced to stop down and recuse himself.

Not to allow another mistrial to take place, Senior U.S. District Court Judge James A. Coolahan stepped in so the trial could continue unimpeded.

As it turned out, Judge Coolahan’s decision may have been a fortuitous blessing for the defense.

In what became a major blow to the prosecution, after all the testimony ended, Judge Coolahan charged the jurors according to the letter of the law as he saw it and then ordered them to start deliberating the merits of the prosecution’s case.

After only two days of deliberation, on November 11, 1976, the Newark grand jury brought back a non-guilty verdict, acquitting both defendants of all counts filed in the indictment.

Needless to say, Nicky and Louie probably jumped for joy, while the prosecutors no doubt hung their heads and cried in their beer.

Judge Coolahan formally declared the defendants acquitted and dismissed all charges. He then ordered court officers to immediately release Louie from custody, while Nicky was detained and then remanded back to prison to finish up his federal sentence.

Home Free...Finally!

When Nicky finally got out of the joint once and for all, he returned home to Brooklyn but eventually realized that things had changed an awful lot while he was gone. Brooklyn just wasn’t the same anymore. New York didn’t feel the same anymore. There were too many new players emerging on the streets, guys he either didn’t know, or didn’t care for.

Either way, Nicky quickly decided that he had had enough. He had done a lot of time already, and he knew he’d only narrowly missed doing a helluva lot more time if he’d been convicted in that stock theft case.

He had gotten lucky, very lucky, and he knew it. So, he decided to leave New York for good and relocate over the bridge to New Jersey.

He moved to Toms River, a quiet community on the Jersey shore that seemed light years away from Brooklyn and the gritty inner-city life he was used to, not to mention that bland prison cell in the Grey Bar Hotel he had previously resided in — courtesy of the feds.

Located in Ocean County, the green suburban pastures of Toms River with its quiet community life was a refreshing change for him.

That Big Crap Game in the Sky

Nicky lived in Toms River for the rest of his life, until the big guy upstairs summoned him to play in that big floating crap game in the sky.

Nicholas John Mainello passed away on July 2, 1995. Nick was 72 years old.

He was waked locally and then buried at Holmdel Cemetery & Mausoleum, in Holmdel, Monmouth County, New Jersey.

Postscript: I wonder if Nicky ever tried convincing God to let him run the game. If so, no doubt Nicky’s cuttin’ his usual five-percent from every pot.

Until next time…”The Other Guy!”

Colombo Family Soldier Nicholas Mainello: Joe’s Trusty Aide

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Colombo Family Soldier Nicholas Mainello: Joe’s Trusty Aide

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You May Also Enjoy

Salvatore (Charlie Lemons) Mineo

Capo Frank (Papa Dick) Fusco

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