Book Review: Deep Water: Joseph P. Macheca and the Birth of the American Mafia

Contrary to popular belief, New York City was not the birthplace of the American Mafia. As students of organized crime history know, the real birthplace was New Orleans; but while the prevailing literature about the mob in the Big Easy has concentrated on the late 19th century, Deep Water takes the origin back to the Civil War. As such, this is one of the more foundational organized crime books ever written. The book wraps the definitive era of American history in with the emergence of a new kind of criminal. Deep Water is ostensibly the story of the origins of the Mafia in America told through the trials of the Macheca family, fruit merchants in New Orleans. The main character is J.P. Macheca, stepson of the Macheca patriarch and an intriguing figure from both a business and political sense - he spent nine months in the Confederate Army.

Thomas Hunt brings the story alive through his rich attention to details. You can practically smell the fetid air of the New Orleans waterfront. The one thread that ties the elements together is the rich familial history intertwined with the background history. I think in teaming with Martha Macheca Sheldon, Hunt made a smart move. Anecdotal family stories brings a dimension to the Macheca saga that you rarely get from a general Mafia book. Not wanting to lavish too much praise on the author, but it’s always exciting to find a new way to approach a subject.

The opening half of the book takes the reader through mid 19th century New Orleans. The Civil War, as seen through the eyes of this Southern melting pot, comes alive. From there, Hunt expertly parses out the Reconstruction policies and the ensuing political fallout in post-war New Orleans. The last part of the book deals with the assassination of Police Chief David Hennessey and the ensuing legal proceedings and eventual vigilante killings of a number of Sicilians, including J.P. Macheca. This section, having been written about before, takes a new life here, with an explanation that makes the lynching of the Sicilians more a calculated hit than a random act of mob violence.

If there is any criticism, it’s the lack of notes. It’s evident from the references that Hunt dug deep for the story. I would have liked to have seen where some specific pieces came from.

Deep Water is a worthy addition to the organized crime canon and the greater body of books on Civil War-era America.

Thanks to Blog Critic's Scott Deitche.
Scott M. Deitche is an environmental scientist by profession. He also writes on the Mafia, including the books Cigar City Mafia: A Complete History of the Tampa Underworld, and The Silent Don: The Criminal Underworld of Santo Trafficante Jr.

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Gambino Wire Tap Led to Crooked NBA Ref, Threats Now from Mobsters?

Friends of ours: Gambino Crime Family

The allegedly dirty NBA referee who's set to sing in a mob point-shaving scandal sought police protection yesterday -- after receiving threats that he could be whacked, cops said.

Three Manatee County Sheriff's squad cars screeched up to the Bradenton, Fla., home of terrified former NBA official Tim Donaghy to investigate menacing telephone calls against him. "Our concern is for his safety and his family's safety," said Sheriff's Lt. Robert Mealy. "We are definitely going to share any information we get with the FBI."

The rogue ref's family is even urging him to enter the federal witness-protection program, one friend said. "They think he will be killed if he goes to prison, or even if he doesn't, just because he's probably talking, cooperating, and that's ratting on the mob," the pal said. "I don't think [the Mafia] would take that very well.

"[Relatives] are very concerned for his safety," the friend added. "I think they knew something serious was going on, but not like this, not this big, whole life-or-death issue with the Mafia. I mean, it's the Gambinos."

Mealy declined to reveal more details of the threats against Donaghy, who is being investigated by federal authorities for allegedly working with mobsters tied to the Gambino crime family to fix the scores of NBA games to pay off his gambling debts.

The disgraced ref is said to be set to spill all - threatening to bring down anyone and everyone with him, sources said. He'll be naming names of other refs, coaches, players and game "validators," who sit unobtrusively in the stands to review calls on the court, the source said.

"There are other allegations of gambling that the FBI will run down," based on Donaghy's talk so far, one source said. "Everybody's pointing a finger at everyone else."

Donaghy's name came to the attention of feds during wiretap probes of Gambino mobsters. Yesterday, "he received some threatening phone calls, and he wanted them documented," Mealy said. "I know Mr. Donaghy was concerned."

Donaghy, 40, resigned from the NBA shortly after this past season amid then-undisclosed allegations that he bet on games he officiated. Feds have not yet revealed which games they are probing.

Several friends in Cape May, N.J., where his parents summer, said Donaghy's co-workers grew suspicious of his behavior about three years ago, when he would offer to trade free tickets to certain games with some refs in exchange for others - and then suddenly renege.

"He just started screwing them," one friend said. "Tickets started going missing, misplaced . . . It was no longer, 'Hey, Tim's kind of an a- - hole.' It became, 'Tim is f- - - ing with the NBA.' And that's when they stopped trusting him completely."

Retired dentist John Minutella of West Chester, Pa., where Donaghy grew up and worked at a golf course, recounted a horrific prank Donaghy pulled on him 10 years ago, when the embattled ref put a dead bird in his golf bag. Minutella found the maggot-infested carcass 24 hours later. "Nobody wanted to play golf with him," said Minutella, 64. " I can't say one nice thing about him. I believe this guy was almost soulless."

Thanks to James Fanelli

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Mafia Cop to Remain in Vegs Jail Until Tax Charges Trial

Friends of ours: Ralph Eppolito, James Eppolito, Gambino Crime Family
Friends of mine: Louis Eppolito, Stephen Caracappa

A former New York police detective dubbed the "mafia cop" must remain in custody pending his trial in Las Vegas on tax charges, a judge ruled Thursday.

Louis Eppolito, 57, stood before U.S. Magistrate Judge Peggy Leen in a black-and-white-striped inmate uniform as she declared him a danger to the community and a flight risk. Eppolito's wife, two daughters and son attended the Las Vegas hearing but declined to comment afterward.

Eppolito and another former New York detective, 64-year-old Stephen Caracappa, are accused of working for the Luchese crime family while serving as officers with the New York City Police Department.

Last year, a New York jury found the pair guilty of participating in at least eight mob-related killings, but a federal judge later dismissed the racketeering case after determining that the statute of limitations had run out. However, Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Johnson said Thursday, the judge also found that prosecutors had an "overwhelming case" against the pair.

Detention for both defendants already has been ordered in the New York case pending a government appeal of the dismissal. Johnson said he expects the state of New York to prosecute Eppolito and Caracappa on murder charges if the federal government fails with its appeal.

The two detectives retired in the early 1990s and moved to Las Vegas, where they were arrested in March 2005.

A federal grand jury in Las Vegas indicted Eppolito and his wife, Frances, in January 2006 on three counts of filing a false income tax return. Their trial is scheduled to begin Sept. 24 before U.S. District Judge Roger Hunt.

The couple's son, Anthony, has been charged with distributing methamphetamine. His trial is scheduled to begin Sept. 24 before U.S. District judge Philip Pro.

Prosecutors have said Louis Eppolito, who appeared briefly in a dozen movies, grew up in a family closely linked with organized crime.

His father, Ralph, was a Gambino family soldier, and his uncle, Jimmy, was a Gambino captain.

Louis Eppolito's 1992 autobiography, "Mafia Cop: the Story of an Honest Cop Whose Family Was the Mob," details his police career and his Mafia connections.

Thanks to Carri Geer Thevenot

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