The city’s leading organized-crime figures gathered yesterday in the penthouse suite of the downtown Hilton to select the hit men they hope will someday elevate themselves to legendary, John Gotti-like status. Every year the contract killer draft (CKD) provides hope for those outfits at odds with certain politicians or judges, police officers or executives, or simply dreaded rivals. Thanks to the CKD, Crime families whose recent travails are more like the Joads than the Rockefellers can reverse their fortunes. One recent example is that of the brothers Fong, who before tapping Thelonius “Hammerhead” Johnson
with the first pick three years ago and beginning their citywide
reign of terror, were little known outside of Chinatown.
This time, as expected, Big Al Gianni invited competition at
the buffet table. He welcomed Jumbo Jack Muaulu, of Samoan descent,
into his “family,” marking the first-time a Pacific Islander has gone number one overall. Under six feet, but well over three-hundred pounds and with massive hands, Muaulu is known for his trademark “split coconut,” where he literally breaks two heads together simultaneously, an adroit “two-fer” that
will save the crime organization time and money.
Taken next by the Pavlovic syndicate was another killer from
the state penitentiary (Pen State), Izzy “Tattoo” Moreno. So named, rumor has it, for the vast array of crime scene outlines inked up and down his body, each representing one of his victims, It is hoped Moreno will raise the profile of the Serbian gang and bring pride to the city’s
immigrant population who originally hail from the former Yugoslav
republic. Originally not projected to go until 2012, Moreno became
fortuitously eligible recently when a probationary board granted
his early release on the basis of good behavior.
Selected third by the Cardosa clan, straight from the School
of Hard Knocks, was teenager Raymond Sutherland, a gifted, athletic
young talent, skilled with a knife, who, as Raymond “Carver,” goes by the namesake of his favorite dead writer. Then the first Euro was chosen, Salvatore Luciano, from the island of Sicily. Luciano possesses a relatively raw resume in the art of contract killing, with only a disputed drive-by last summer in Palermo and a questionable role in the drowning of a wealthy and feeble octogenarian to his name, but the Spinnuza family—who’ve never really abandoned their Sicilian roots—decided to take a chance on the Frankenstein-sized newcomer with the long jaw and pockmarked face. He comes from fine stock—his great-great-great grandfather was the iconic Lucky Luciano—and is said to have limitless “upside.”
In all, thirty-three lucky assassins were selected in the three
rounds of the draft and will receive guaranteed “contracts.” And while it often takes years for draftees to impact the broader picture of the city’s organized crime power structure, immediate results are often seen on a tactical level. It’s been suggested that last year’s CKD picks were responsible for 9 city-wide assassinations within their first month of hire, and may be involved in more than 200 killings since, most within the city limits, but some in Freehold, Westley and Port Thomas. Most however, feel that this year’s
crop of draftees is even stronger, and could topple that figure
by mid-season.
By the Numbers:
66—Contract killings attributed to first
overall CKD selections since 1993.
91—Pen State grads drafted in past five
years.
7—Foreign nationals selected in this year’s
draft: Russia (2); Italy/Sicily (2); Japan (1); Brazil (1);
Sierra Leone (1).
24—Contract killer draftees since 1996
now murdered but who still count against the organized crime
salary cap.
