Who was Francesco Cali, the head of the Gambino family who was killed in New York

According to the US authorities, it was forbidden for other members of the organization to call him on the phone, as he almost always tried to avoid this means of communication as much as possible. Most of the meetings took place in person.

Attorney Joey Lipton said all his operations were headed from above and that he had almost never gotten his hands dirty. "It was basically a ghost. It was not seen in social clubs or boxing fights that were very popular with other Italian gangsters. "

Sicilian parents, originally from Palermo, Cali was born in New York in 1965 and Since a young age, he has been involved in the New York Mafia.

His rise in one of the families that make up the Sicilian mafia in New York has been swift. According to Lipton attorney, in less than 10 years, he became "captain" of the organization.

Cali began when John D'Amico, also known as "Jackie", was the acting head of the family in 2005.

His predecessor was John J. Gotti, a former leader who ran the company until the late 1980s, before being imprisoned and died of cancer in 2002.

However, the rapid evolution of Francesco in the Gambino clan has not pleased everyone. In 2008, US police managed to intercept a phone call between two Mafia members in which one Joey Orlando complained of being promoted to captain. "It's a 30-year-old boy who still does not know how to clean his nose. "he said to his interlocutor.

Prosecutors said Cali had several connections in Italy, where he was considered a "man of influence and power" by other organized crime figures. He took control of the organization in 2015.

Several experts agree that from the 21st century, Italian mafias have put more emphasis on the export of members born in Europe to work in the countries of Europe. North America. The reason was a simple question of values, because the Mafiosi considered that people born in the United States did not have the same principles that characterized the old school.

The American and Italian authorities considered him a member of the Cosa Nostra and an ambbadador to New York families from Sicily.

Only once was he arrested for an extortion case involving an unsuccessful attempt to build a NASCAR racetrack on Staten Island. He spent only 16 months in prison.

"As a customer, Frank was smart, well mannered and discreet. I feel very bad for his wife and children, that he loved very much"said his lawyer Harlan J. Protbad.

A woman interviewed by the New York Times, who claimed to ignore Cali's true occupation, describes him as a good neighbor. "He always greeted me, he was a very kind man ".

His murder took place at Hilltop Terrace, a residential area with strong purchasing power. The autopsy revealed that he had received 16 shots and, according to some information, he would also have been hit by the van driven by his alleged killers.

The badbadination of Cali is the first in decades of a mafia leader in New York and the most prominent in the Gambino family since John Gotti ordered in 1985 to kill the ruler. then, Paul Castellano, to take the power of the organization.