The Eugene Catena Regime Chart lists all known and suspected soldiers of his New Jersey-based crew as well as many of their more significant criminal “associates.” But to better understand the chart that follows, let’s delve into a bit of history about the brothers Catena.
The Rise of the Catena Brothers
Born in 1904 in New Jersey, Eugene (Gene) Catena was an early member of what became known as the Vito Genovese Family. Along with his more notorious brother Gerardo, called Jerry, the Catena brothers were recognized as important members of the New Jersey wing of the Family.
By the early-1960s, Jerry had risen from a “caporegime” to the Family’s new “acting boss” after boss Vito Genovese was convicted in a highly-publicized trial and received 15 years in prison for narcotics conspiracy. He soon elevated Catena to serve as his eyes and ears over the borgata. Two other key aides were Thomas (Tommy Ryan) Eboli and Michele (Mike) Miranda, who rounded out a triumvirate serving as the “acting underboss” and “consigliere” respectively.
Catena, Eboli, and Miranda became the caretakers for Vito as he served out his sentence. By the time Genovese died in jail in 1969, Catena was under assault by law enforcement authorities. He was jailed in 1970 for contempt of court after he repeatedly refused to testify before a New Jersey State grand jury probing the underworld. Jerry served over five years at Yardville State Prison for his silence. After his release in 1975, he relocated down to Boca Raton, Florida but continued to maintain control over the Family from “behind the scenes” for the next few years until capo Philip (Cockeyed Phil) Lombardo was eventually named the next “official” boss.
With Jerry’s ascension to the hierarchy, he elevated his brother Gene to serve as the new “capo di decina” over his former “crew.” From that point forward, Gene Catena ran one of the most important regimes in the Genovese Family. The crew was deeply enmeshed in bookmaking, floating dice games, the policy racket, shylocking, extortion, jukebox and coin-machine rackets, and many other criminal activities typical of the Mafia. But the Catena regime’s real strength came from their deep penetration and stranglehold over numerous labor unions operating throughout New Jersey and elsewhere.
The Most Corrupt State in the Union
Even more important than union control was their ability to infiltrate and corrupt New Jersey’s local and state governments. Through the years, Cosa Nostra had successfully infiltrated nearly every public office and branch of local government. By the mid-1960s, the FBI had uncovered troubling evidence of just how corrupt The Garden State actually was.
