Ralph Daniello
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ralph "The Barber" Daniello was a New York criminal involved in extortion and labor racketeering during the early 1900s. A member of the Navy St. Gang, he was involved in the Labor Slugger War and later the Mafia-Cammora War of 1916.
After the gangland murders of Nicholas Morello and Charles Ubriaco in November 1916, Daniello went into hiding for several months before being picked up by police in Nevada. Daniello, who had been present at several high level meetings with Alessandrio Vollero and others, agreed to testify with John "Johnny the Left" Esposito against the Brooklyn-based Cammora. After his extradition to New York in 1917, Vollaro and the others were indicted by a grand jury in Brooklyn charging them with the murders of Morello, Umbracio and Manhattan gambler George Verrazano (which Daniello later claimed he had participated in).
His testimony, along with several Navy St. and Coney Island gang members including Tony Notaro, would eventually lead to Vollaro's conviction ensuring the downfall of the Camorra and the domination of the Morello crime family.
He and Esopsito both received reduced sentences and, imprisoned at Sing Sing Prison until their parole, were both killed around a month after their release.
[edit] Further reading
- Eliot, Marc. Down 42nd Street: Sex, Money, Culture, and Politics at the Crossroads of the World. New York: Warner Books, 2001. ISBN 0-446-67993-3
- Nelli, Humbert. The Business of Crime: Italians and Syndicate Crime in the United States. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1981. ISBN 0-226-57132-7
[edit] References
- Asbury, Herbert. The Gangs of New York. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1928. ISBN 1-56025-275-8
- Tells Of New York "Murder Syndicate"; Daniello Confession Leads to 17 Indictments Alieged Gang Accused of 23 Killings--Controlled Italian Gambling. Boston Daily Globe 01 Dec 1917
- Last Of Old Gang Shot From An Auto; Ex-Convict Sole Survivor of Band Depleted by Killings and Electric Chair. New York Times 17 Jun 1929
