Alphonse "Little Al" D'Arco (July 28, 1932 – March 28, 2019) was an American mobster who became the acting boss of the Lucchese crime family in New York City. He was the first boss, acting or otherwise, of a New York crime family to become a government witness.
Biography
Born in Brooklyn, New York, D'Arco grew up in Williamsburg, Brooklyn near the Brooklyn Navy Yard and attended a Catholic grammar school. At age 15, he dropped out of high school. In 1951, during the Korean War, D'Arco served two years as a volunteer in the U.S. Army. After an honorable discharge from the army, D'Arco returned to Brooklyn and got married. He and his wife had five children. One of his sons, Joseph D'Arco, became a member of the Lucchese family.
During the 1950s, D'Arco became an associate in the Vario Crew, a Lucchese crew led by longtime caporegime Paul Vario and based in the Canarsie neighborhood. In 1959, D'Arco met future Lucchese boss Victor Amuso. In the 1960s, D'Arco was convicted on drug-related charges and spent several years in prison. After his release, D'Arco returned to the Lucchese family, which was then run by boss Anthony "Tony Ducks" Corallo. Even allowing for the longstanding freeze on new members dating back to 1957, D'Arco had a long wait to become a made man. He finally received his "button" on August 23, 1982, just a month after his 50th birthday.
In the 1980s, D'Arco opened an Italian restaurant, La Donna Rosa, in Little Italy, Manhattan. It would serve as a frequent Lucchese meeting place.
D'Arco became involved in bookmaking, loansharking, occasional drug deals and other criminal activities. During his criminal career, D'Arco would be involved in ten murders. His criminal record would include extortion, murder, murder conspiracy, robbery, arson, tax evasion, counterfeiting, narcotics trafficking, burglary, hijacking and assault. In 1983, D'Arco was convicted of heroin trafficking and was sentenced to four years in prison. He was paroled in 1986.
Caporegime
In 1986, Victor Amuso took control of the Lucchese family. Two years later, Anthony "Gaspipe" Casso became underboss. In 1988, Vario died in prison whilst serving a life sentence for the infamous Lufthansa Heist, as a result, Amuso promoted D'Arco to capo of the old Vario Crew. In 1990, Amuso selected D'Arco to organize a "Lucchese construction panel". A committee of Lucchese family members, the panel would oversee the Lucchese-controlled unions and construction companies and co-ordinate joint business ventures with the other Five Families of the New York Cosa Nostra.
By the mid-1980s, D'Arco was becoming a rich man due to the earnings from his crew and from his own loansharking portfolio. Soon D'Arco would collect tribute from the Lucchese crews for Amuso and Casso. On one Christmas, D'Arco put together a $100,000 holiday gift for the two leaders from all the capos.
In August 1990, D'Arco facilitated the murder of Lucchese mobster Bruno Facciola. Amuso suspected Facciola of being an informant and ordered his death. Facciola tried to run away when he found out he was about to be set up, but he was tackled and dragged back into the garage, where he was stabbed and shot. On Amuso's instructions, the hitmen placed a dead canary, the sign of an informant, in Facciola's mouth after they killed him.
Amuso and Casso
In January 1991, Amuso and Casso received an early warning about an upcoming federal indictment and went into hiding, leaving D'Arco as the acting boss. D'Arco would meet with them twice in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and several times at safe houses in Brooklyn. In the summer of 1991, D'Arco met with warring factions in the Colombo crime family to mediate a peace agreement. However, Casso sent him on this mission in hopes that the Luccheses could grab some Colombo rackets.
Through their ruthlessness and brutality, Amuso and Casso generated many internal conflicts in the Lucchese family and broke down the unity and loyalty of its members. Family members felt the two bosses were greedy and paranoid, ordering too many murders to make themselves feel secure.
In early 1991, Amuso became falsely convinced that Lucchese capo Peter "Fat Pete" Chiodo had become a government witness and ordered D'Arco to kill him. In May 1991, Chiodo was shot 12 times, but survived the attack because his girth kept any bullets from severing critical arteries. Chiodo then became a government witness, and testified in June 1991 at a Lucchese trial.