Frank Abbatemarco

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Francesco "Frankie Shots" Abbatemarco (July 4, 1899 – November 4, 1959) was a
New York captain in the Profaci-Colombo crime family, his murder is known for starting the
first Colombo mafia war which was on and off for 12 years.

Contents

 1Early Life
 2Criminal Career
 3Death
 4References

Early Life[edit]
Abbatemarco was born in 1899 in Red Hook, Brooklyn alongside 3 other siblings, his older
brother Michael "Mike Schatz" Abbatemarco (1894-1928) was also a Brooklyn gangster
and close associate of Frankie Yale. His brother would be gunned down in 1928.
[1]
 Abbatemarco was born to Italian immigrants from Salerno and they moved to the United
States around 15 years before he was born. He grew up with the Cardello brothers, who
would later join the Colombo and Bonanno crime family including future captain-turned
informant Michael "Mikey Bat" Cardello.[2] As a teenager his first job was at a local lumber
yard in Brooklyn and then several years later he was employed to work at Manhattan's
lower west side on a teamsters firm, he also worked as a truck driver. He married Lucy
Abbatemarco in 1921 and moved in together into the Park Slope neighborhood of
Brooklyn. He had a son a year after named Anthony "Tony Shots" (1922-2005), who later
became the underboss of the Colombo crime family in the 1970s.[3][4]

Criminal Career[edit]
His first prison sentence was in October 1922, which was several months after he had his
first son. He was sentenced to 2 years on a conspiracy to sell morphine charge alongside
4 other criminals and served his time at the Atlanta federal prison. Abbatemarco became
a soldier in the Profaci (Colombo) crime family shortly after Yale and his brother were
murdered; in 1928. He was arrested on August 27, 1931, for vagrancy however he was
acquitted of all charges two weeks later. Another arrest would occur in 1932 in New Jersey
on suspicion charges but was subsequently released. A year later in May 1934, he was
arrested on an unknown charge and only spent several days in police custody before they
released him. Abbatemarco became a high level earner for his crime family and began
operating several illegal gambling operations during the 1930s, including a
lucrative lottery in South Brooklyn. By the 1940s Abbatemarco was elevated to the rank of
caporegime (captain) and ran a crew that specialized in racketeering and burglary. [5] He
recruited teenager Carmine Persico in the early 50s; who was the imprisoned boss of the
Colombo crime family from 1973 till his death in 2019. On March 25, 1952, Abbatemarco
amongst his son, Joe Gallo, his brother Lawrence Gallo and 18-year old Persico were
arrested by the Special Rackets Squad of the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office for
racketeering related charges and the operation was alleged to have earned them $2.5
million. Abbatemarco and his son were charged with conspiracy to operate a lottery and
both plead guilty, however 7 of the other accused did not. He received a year in prison
at Riker's Island Penitentiary.

Death[edit]
On November 4, 1959, Abbatemarco was gunned down by assassins as he left a tavern
owned by his cousins, the Cardello brothers. Abbatemarco and his crew stopped paying
tribute to boss Joe Profaci and it was his downfall. He claimed he was in debt although he
owned two homes in New Jersey and Florida, and donated extravagantly to catholic
causes. The Gallo brothers have been suspected of killing him as they were allegedly
promised rackets by Profaci however he gave them to his own relatives. Abbatemarco's
murder would start the first Colombo war. He is buried at the Holy Cross Cemetery in
Brooklyn.[6] His son Anthony went into hiding for 2 years and sought revenge. He assisted
Profaci in killing Lawrence Gallo however he mistakenly shot a police officer and was
charged with attempted murder. A month after his cousin Joseph Magnasco would be
murdered. During the war Abbatemarco somewhat helped the Gallo brothers and changed
sides several times in order to stay alive. The war ended after Joe Gallo was assassinated
in 1971. Anthony Abbatemarco would later serve as underboss from 1973 to 1977.

References[edit]
1. ^ "Michael "Mike Schatz" Abbatemarco". American Mafia. Retrieved 4 October 2017.
2. ^ Raab, Selwyn (2006).  Five Families: The Rise, Decline and Resurgence of America's Most
Powerful Mafia Empires. Pavilion Books.  ISBN  9781861059529.
3. ^ "Abbatemarco, Anthony (1922-2005)".  American Mafia. Retrieved  4 October  2017.
4. ^ "1977 News Summary". The New York Times. Retrieved 4 October 2017.
5. ^ "Bios. of early Colombo members". American Mafia Charts. Retrieved 4 October 2017.
6. ^ "Frankie Abbatemarco is the opening casualty in the Profaci family civil war". The New York
Daily News. Retrieved  4 October  2017.