Louis Telese

Louis Telese was a Colombo Family associate who later joined the DeCavalcante Family of New Jersey and engaged in high-profile robberies.

Louis Telese was born in 1927 on Third Avenue in the Red Hook section of Brooklyn. By the late 1970s, Telese was identified by the FBI as an (inducted) “soldier” in the DeCavalcante Family’s “New York faction.”

FBI # 369276A

He had started out as a Profaci/Colombo Family associate as did many future DeCavalcante members based around the South Brooklyn area.

Since a young man, Telese was known for pulling armed robberies and various heists. He had a reputation for violence and was suspected by law enforcement of being involved in several mob killings.

His associates over the years included Frank (Big Frankie) Cocchiaro , Jimmy Rotondo, Gaetano (Toddo) Marino, Umberto Gallo , Angelo Gallo, Rudy Farone, and Vincent DePippo, Nicholas Decio, Arthur Decio, and Vincent Coladonato (all South Brooklyn hoods,) and Joseph DeSimone and Michael Connelly of Philadelphia

As a young hood, Telese’s cousin, another young street hood by the name of Bove, had a running hatred for the Persico brothers – Allie Boy and Carmine.

After several violent confrontations with the Persicos, Bove was set up one night and murdered off Nevins Street in the waterfront/dock neighborhood of Red Hook.

Interstate Robbery Gang

In 1957, Telese was highlighted in a newspaper series about a somewhat sophisticated seven-man interstate robbery gang that pulled high-profile robberies and heists across New York City, Upstate NY, NJ, Maryland, and Pennsylvania.

They were tracked for months until arrested. Six pleaded out, including Telese, who received a 5 to 15-year jail term.

A seventh gang member, Frank Gentile, who was known for his “big mouth” and not trusted, was shot to death gangland-style by Coladonato months before in Brooklyn.

Some of the thefts they pulled were the $18,000 armed robbery of the Finegold Check Cashing Agency of Philadelphia and the attempted armed robbery of the payroll of the Mighty Good Baking Co., of Camden, NJ., and various payroll thefts, burglaries, and truck hijackings.

As the years passed, Telese became friendly with several members of the DeCavalcante crew of NJ and switched affiliations.

In later years, he participated in several murders on behalf of the Family including that of mob associate Joseph Garofano and a Staten Island businessman named Fred Weiss, who mob higher-ups felt might turn informant.

Those cases brought a lot of law enforcement heat on Telese and other crew members

In later years, he seems to have kept a somewhat lower profile. Louis Telese died in 2001. He was 74 years old.

Louis Telese

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Louis Telese

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