Other names Louie Bagels | Name Louis Daidone | |
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Born February 23, 1946 (age 78) ( 1946-02-23 ) Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, New York, United States Occupation One-time acting boss of the Lucchese crime family Conviction(s) Racketeering and conspiracy to commit murder (2002) | ||
Criminal penalty Life imprisonment | ||
Louis "Louie Bagels" Daidone (born February 23, 1946) is a New York mobster and former acting boss of the Lucchese crime family.
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Early life
Daidone was born and raised in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn. In 1982, Daidone and Alphonse D'Arco were made into the Lucchese family.
Gilmore and Facciolo murders
In February 1989, Vic Amuso and Anthony Casso ordered Daidone to murder Lucchese soldier Thomas Gilmore, a car thief working for the Lucchese family. They had received information from New York Police Department (NYPD) detectives Louis Eppolito and Stephen Caracappa, who were both being bribed by Casso, that Gilmore was a government informant. Daidone and two associates hid inside Gilmore's Richmond Hill, Queens apartment to await his return. Under Daidone's supervision, the two associates ambushed Gilmore as he returned to his apartment and shot him three times in the head. There is no proof that Gilmore was ever working for a government agency.
In 1990, both Amuso and Casso became fugitives to avoid federal indictment for racketeering. During this period, they communicated orders to the Lucchese family using messengers. In August 1990, Amuso and Casso ordered Daidone to murder Lucchese mobster Bruno Facciolo. Eppolito and Caracappa had told Amuso that Facciolo was helping California authorities in an investigation of a Lucchese-linked homicide. Daidone asked Facciolo to formally introduce him to a member of another crime family at a garage in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn.
When Daidone and Facciolo arrived at the garage, Facciolo saw the men waiting for him and tried to run away. Daidone dragged Facciolo back to the garage, then held him down while the other mobsters stabbed and shot him in both eyes. One week later, Facciolo's body was recovered from the trunk of his car. The police found a dead canary in his mouth, the Cosa Nostra sign of an informant. In 1991, Amuso was finally captured and later that year convicted of racketeering charges and in 1992, was sentenced to life imprisonment.
On May 1, 1992, Daidone and Robert Molinelli, Raymond Argentina and Alan Taglianetti were convicted of conspiring to rob the Rapid Armored Truck Co. vehicle on March 25, 1988. Daidone was sentenced to five years in prison. The stolen $1.2 million was never recovered.
Consigliere to acting boss
During the 1990s, the Lucchese family underwent several leadership changes as more of the top leadership was sent to prison. In 1996, Daidone was released from prison. This is when Daidone took over as consigliere. In 2000, acting boss Steven Crea was indicted on charges of extortion and racketeering and sentenced to five years in prison. Amuso now promoted Daidone to acting boss.
Amuso soon began pressuring Daidone to murder DeFede after his release from prison. Amuso believed that DeFede had been underestimating the profits from his rackets to avoid paying more tribute to Amuso. DeFede found out about Amuso's plan and in February 2002, immediately after his release from prison, DeFede became a government witness. His information on labor racketeering, extortion activities, and unsolved murders allowed the government to build a strong racketeering case against Daidone.
Prison
On November 15, 2002, Daidone was indicted for racketeering and conspiracy to commit murder in the 1989 Gilmore and 1990 Facciolo murders. During a search of Daidone's home, authorities recovered mob-related business records, $70,000 in cash, and some marijuana. Testifying against Daidone were D'Arco, DeFede, and Frank Gioia, Jr., all of whom had become government witnesses.
In March 2003, Daidone was indicted again for racketeering, loan-sharking, gambling and other crimes. In one of the crimes, a Brooklyn landlord was assaulted on Daidone's orders because the landlord ignored a request by Daidone to lower the volume on his home music system.
On July 1, 2004, after being convicted on the 2002 charges of loansharking and conspiracy to murder in the Gilmore and Facciolo murders, Daidone was sentenced to life in prison.
As of February 2014, Daidone is incarcerated at the high-security United States Penitentiary (USP) in Allenwood, Pennsylvania. He is Life sentence in Federal Prison.