Ferdinand (Freddy Red) DeLucia: A Profaci Family Top Torpedo

Freddy Red DeLucia was a top torpedo , for the Colombo Family who earned his nickname during the Gallo-Profaci war .

Ferdinand (Freddy Red) DeLucia was born in 1929 in Brooklyn. He lived at 25 Atkins Avenue in Brooklyn’s East New York section.

His nickname was “Freddy No-Nose” because of a smashed boxer’s nose and a connecting hair lip. But his friends never called him that. They called him “Freddy Red.”

DeLucia was a member of capo John (Sonny) Franzese’s regime and was also a partner and close friend of Salvatore (Sally D) D’Ambrosio, another Profaci soldier and top killer for the Family.

NYCPD #B-288711

A Deadly Reputation

By the mid-1950s, law enforcement identified Freddy as an (inducted) Profaci Family “soldier” and top “torpedo, serving as an enforcer for Profaci. He was considered among the toughest in that Family.

An active participant in the Gallo-Profaci War of 1960-1963, many gangland executions came at the hands of Freddy Red. Thus, his nickname – for all the blood he spilled.

Freddy Red was active in gambling, extortion, shylock, theft, truck-hijacking, and murder.

He and counted among his associates Sonny Franzese, Carmine Persico, Salvatore (Sally D) D’Ambrosio, Alfonse (Funzi D) D’Ambrosio, Dominic Cataldo, Tommy Ocera, Joseph Brancato, John Matera, Anthony Augello , and most of the Franzese regime and Colombo Family.

Stolen Checks and Counterfeit Money

In 1962, police arrested De Lucia, Dominic Cataldo, and two others for robbing Vendome Table Delicacies Corp., an upscale grocer on the East Side of New York City.

Police accused them of stealing an $84,000 certified check and other items belonging to the grocer's owner, Antoine Dadone.

Freddy Red was accused of being the fence and held without bail. Police later charged him with receiving stolen property.

Police reported that the $84,000 check turned up when someone tried to cash it at a Las Vegas casino using the name Antoine Dadone of New York City.

This "Antoine Dadone" seemed suspicious to the casino staff. So, they called up the New York police department who told them they had a stolen check on their hands.

Spilling the Beans

After police arrived at the casino, the man trying to cash the check identified himself as Louis Amendola of New York. He specialized in forgery. He now was to specialize in ratting as he spilled the beans to the cops.

Amendola told police someone sent him to Vegas, though he couldn't remember who it was. But since he didn't want any more trouble, he agreed to cooperate. He worked with the police to set up a trap to catch De Lucia, Cataldo, and the others.

Because of this “sting,” police learned that both DeLucia and Cataldo were behind a previously unsolved $122,828 securities theft from a Wall Street brokerage the year before.

They also got charged for plotting to pass $2000 worth of counterfeit $20’s – all because of Louis Amendola.

The court set DeLucia's bail at $50,000. He posted $2,500 to get out. But the Secret Service was waiting and arrested him as he walked out of the Brooklyn Federal Courthouse.

Freddy Red Disappears

By 1968, with Franzese “away” serving 50 years for bank robbery and conspiracy, it seems D Lucia and D’Ambrosio fell out of favor with the Family administration. One day in 1969, both Freddy Red and Sally D disappeared. No one ever saw them again.

It was reported that they were slaughtered, dismembered, and buried so as to never be found. Colombo even disavowed any knowledge of their disappearance to the Family membership because they were so popular with the borgata.

At the time, many believed boss Joe Colombo feared their ambitions. He thought DeLucia and D'Ambrosio were planning a palace “coup" and ordered them both killed.

Ferdinand (Freddy Red) DeLucia: A Profaci Family Top Torpedo

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Ferdinand (Freddy Red) DeLucia: A Profaci Family Top Torpedo

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