DeCavalcante crime family
North Jersey Mafia family considered the 'Sixth Family' of the American Mafia.
The DeCavalcante crime family, sometimes called the North Jersey crime family or the North Jersey Mafia, is an Italian American Mafia group based in North Jersey. Its main areas of operation include Elizabeth, Newark, Linden, West New York, and nearby communities. It belongs to the broader American Mafia network. Located just across the Hudson River from New York City’s Five Families, it keeps close ties with each of them—especially the Gambino family—as well as with the Philadelphia crime family and the Patriarca crime family of New England. Some observers refer to it as the “Sixth Family.”
The family’s criminal activities include bookmaking, corruption, drug trafficking, extortion, fencing, fraud, hijacking, illegal gambling, money laundering, murder, prostitution, and racketeering in the cement, construction, and waste management industries.
**History**
**Early Newark family**
In Newark, New Jersey, Italian criminals split into two ethnic factions: the Sicilians, led by Stefano “Don Steven” Badami, and the Neapolitans, led by Ruggiero “the Boot” Boiardo.
When Prohibition began in 1920, gangs seized the chance to profit from bootlegging—the production, import, transport, and sale of illegal alcohol. Violence erupted across New Jersey as criminals fought for control of these rackets. The two most powerful bosses in Newark were Boiardo and Jewish gangster Abner “Longie” Zwillman.
By the early 1920s, Boiardo controlled several lottery games, a large extortion racket that shook down merchants for protection money, and a major bootlegging operation. He was very overweight but dressed flashily, often wearing a belt buckle studded with 150 diamonds worth an estimated $20,000, a five-carat diamond ring, and a fifteen-diamond tie pin.
Boiardo took control of the First Ward, Newark’s Little Italy, and ran a wide bootlegging operation in Newark and across New Jersey. Zwillman, based in the Third Ward, controlled one of the largest bootlegging enterprises in the state.
In early 1930, Boiardo ordered his First Ward gang to move into Third Ward territory, demanding that saloon owners buy liquor from him. This sparked the Newark bootleg wars, which lasted several weeks as Boiardo’s gang fought Zwillman’s. Both men ended the war in late 1930 after multiple failed assassination attempts against each other.
Quick Facts
- Founded
- 1900s
- Founder
- Phil Amari
- Named After
- Simone DeCavalcante
- Founding Location
- Elizabeth and Newark, New Jersey, United States
- Years Active
- c. 1900spresent
- Territory
- Primarily North Jersey, with additional territory in Central Jersey, New York City and Waterbury, as well as Las Vegas, South Florida and Ribera
- Ethnicity
- Italians as "made men" and other ethnicities as associates
- Allies
- Bonanno crime family / Cleveland crime family / Colombo crime family / Gambino crime family / Genovese crime family / Lucchese crime family / Patriarca crime family / Philadelphia crime family
- Rivals
- Various gangs in New Jersey, including their allies
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
The family's origins trace to early Italian criminal factions in Newark, New Jersey, where Sicilian and Neapolitan groups operated separately. The Sicilian faction was headed by Stefano 'Don Steven' Badami, while the Neapolitan faction was led by Ruggiero 'the Boot' Boiardo. During Prohibition, Boiardo controlled bootlegging, extortion, and lottery games in Newark's First Ward, while Jewish gangster Abner Zwillman controlled the Third Ward. A bootleg war erupted in early 1930 when Boiardo's gang expanded into Zwillman's territory, ending after several weeks and failed assassination attempts. Further violence occurred in November 1930 when Boiardo survived a shotgun attack, and he was later sentenced to two and a half years in prison for gun possession.
In Elizabeth, New Jersey, a Mafia faction composed mostly of immigrants from Ribera, Sicily, was based in the Peterstown section. The earliest known boss was Filippo 'Big Phil' Amari, who recruited Emmanuel Riggi, Louis 'Fat Lou' LaRasso, and Frank Majuri. After Amari retired and moved back to Sicily in 1956, Nicholas 'Nick' Delmore became boss. Delmore attended the 1957 Apalachin Convention with his underboss Frank Majuri and capo Louis LaRasso. In 1964, Delmore died and his nephew Sam DeCavalcante was installed as boss. Under DeCavalcante, the Commission recognized the Elizabeth family as an autonomous crime family, officially naming it the DeCavalcante crime family.
Reader's Guide
The DeCavalcante crime family holds a unique position in American Mafia history as the organization considered by some to be the 'Sixth Family', operating alongside the Five Families of New York City. Its significance lies in its long-standing presence in North Jersey, a region that served as a battleground for various ethnic gangs and Mafia factions during Prohibition and the subsequent decades. The family's illicit activities—including bookmaking, corruption, drug trafficking, extortion, fencing, fraud, hijacking, illegal gambling, money laundering, murder, prostitution, and racketeering in cement, construction, and waste management—demonstrate its diversified criminal portfolio. The family's evolution from the early Newark and Elizabeth factions, through periods of internal conflict and external pressure from New York families, illustrates the complex dynamics of Mafia power structures. Its recognition by the Commission as an autonomous entity under Sam DeCavalcante marked a formal acknowledgment of its influence. The family's legacy is tied to its ability to maintain operations across North Jersey while navigating relationships with more powerful New York organizations, the Philadelphia crime family, and the Patriarca crime family of New England.
Did You Know?
- The DeCavalcante family is considered by some to be the 'Sixth Family' of the American Mafia.
- Stefano 'Don Steven' Badami was murdered in a Newark restaurant in 1955, stabbed 40 times.
- Sam DeCavalcante, known as 'Sam the Plumber' and 'The Count', became boss in 1964 after his uncle Nicholas Delmore died.
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