Salvatore “Sammy the Bull” Gravano confessed to 19 murders committed during his two decades in the Gambino crime family, and he served five years in federal prison for them. The Sammy the Bull murders became the centerpiece of the most consequential mob cooperation deal in American history: in exchange for testimony that convicted John Gotti and dozens of other organized crime figures, prosecutors agreed to a sentence that still angers victims’ families more than three decades later.
Who Sammy the Bull Killed
The 19 killings Gravano admitted to in his federal plea trace his climb through the Gambino ranks. Some were ordered by bosses, some he ordered himself as underboss, and one involved a teenager who happened to be on the wrong street.
Joe Colucci, 1970
Gravano’s first known murder. He shot 26-year-old Joe Colucci in the back of the head in what was described as a love-triangle dispute. Colucci is generally identified as the first of the 19 victims. Gravano has said he was drawn to organized crime after watching The Godfather.
Alan Kaiser, 1977
One of the most disturbing killings had nothing to do with mob business. Gravano and associate Louis Milito were on Kings Highway in Brooklyn looking for a man named Aldo Candido over a prior altercation. They encountered 16-year-old Alan Kaiser instead, who was simply walking down the street. According to Gravano’s federal confession, Milito shot Kaiser in the chest with a sawed-off shotgun and then fired a second round into the boy’s face at point-blank range. Kaiser’s family did not learn who killed him for twenty years, until the FBI informed them of Gravano’s confession in 1997.
Nick Scibetta, 1978
Scibetta was Gravano’s own brother-in-law, the younger brother of his wife Debbie and a low-level Gambino associate who had reportedly insulted the daughter of a family captain. Then-boss Paul Castellano ordered the killing. Scibetta was dismembered, and only an arm was ever recovered. Gravano attended the funeral, where the casket held just his victim’s hand. His wife was initially unaware he had played a role in her brother’s death.
Frank Fiala, 1982
A business dispute at the Plaza Suite discotheque in Bensonhurst turned deadly. Gravano had arranged to sell the nightclub to Fiala, a local drug dealer, but Fiala began unauthorized renovations before the sale closed, knocking out a wall in Gravano’s office. When Gravano confronted him, Fiala brandished an Uzi and threatened to kill him. Gravano retreated outside, and as Fiala exited the building a member of Gravano’s crew shot him in the head. The hit had not been sanctioned by the Gambino leadership and created friction with Castellano, though Gravano avoided punishment for it.
Robert DiBernardo, 1986
Gambino associate Robert DiBernardo was lured to a meeting at Gravano’s office in Coney Island on June 5, 1986. Gravano testified that Gotti ordered the killing because he believed DiBernardo “was talking too much.” During the meeting Gravano signaled an associate by casually asking someone to get a cup of coffee. The associate returned with a silenced gun and shot DiBernardo twice in the back of the head. His body was placed in a car trunk and never recovered. Gravano later said of his role, “What I did was an order.”
Louis Milito
Milito, the same man who had been at Gravano’s side during the Kaiser shooting, was later killed on Gravano’s own order. Gravano called Milito his “best friend” and acknowledged the personal weight of the decision. “Oh, I absolutely felt something, tore me up,” he told Diane Sawyer in 1997. “I knew the wife. I knew the children. It killed me inside.”
Michael DeBatt
Another Gravano associate, DeBatt was shot five times in the head inside the Brooklyn bar he owned. The killing was carried out on Gravano’s orders and was included among the 19 murders in his federal plea. DeBatt’s sister, Rosanne Massa, later publicly criticized the leniency Gravano received.
Louis DiBono, 1990
Gambino soldier Louis “Jelly Belly” DiBono, a 63-year-old construction contractor, was shot three times in the head in October 1990 in an underground parking garage at the World Trade Center. His body was pulled into the front seat of his Cadillac and went undiscovered for three days. Gravano testified that Gotti ordered the killing because DiBono had repeatedly ignored summons to attend meetings, a defiance Gotti considered a capital offense.
Eddie Garofalo, 1990
Demolition contractor Edward “Eddie” Garofalo was gunned down in front of his Brooklyn home on August 8, 1990. Gravano, then underboss, ordered the killing because Garofalo was believed to be cooperating with a law enforcement investigation into the Gambino family.
The Castellano Assassination
The killing that reshaped the American Mafia took place on December 16, 1985, outside Sparks Steak House in midtown Manhattan. Gravano, along with John Gotti and Frank DeCicco, plotted the assassination of Gambino boss Paul Castellano. Gravano later testified that the hit team consisted of 11 men, including shooters, backup gunmen, and getaway drivers. He said he concluded that supporting the hit was “the most realistic way to protect his own crew and future within the family,” and he helped gauge whether the other crime families would accept the unsanctioned move.
On the night of the killing, Gravano and Gotti parked across the street from the restaurant, visually confirmed that Castellano and underboss Tommy Bilotti had arrived, and radioed the team to move in. Both men were gunned down. Gotti took over the Gambino family, and Gravano became his underboss.
Why He Cooperated
The relationship between Gotti and Gravano deteriorated as the boss became increasingly critical of his underboss’s aggressive business dealings and greed. FBI bugs captured a December 12, 1989 conversation in which Gotti complained about Gravano’s behavior. By the fall of 1991, facing government evidence linking him to multiple murders, Gravano decided to cooperate. He broke the oath of omertà he had sworn during his 1976 induction, an oath in which he had promised his “soul should burn” if he ever divulged the organization’s secrets.
In March 1992, Gravano took the stand at Gotti’s federal trial and testified for five days. He laid out the planning and execution of the Castellano assassination, the monthly kickbacks of up to $100,000 he funneled to Gotti from construction industry rackets, and a $60,000 bribe he had personally handled for a juror during Gotti’s 1987 trial. Defense attorney Albert Krieger attacked him as a “traitorous opportunist,” but the testimony held. Gotti was convicted of racketeering, gambling, tax fraud, and murder, and sentenced to life in prison.
Gravano’s cooperation reached far beyond the Gotti case. Prosecutors said his testimony helped convict 36 other Mafia figures and triggered a “domino effect” of cooperation from other organized crime members. He also testified at the 1997 trial of Genovese boss Vincent “The Chin” Gigante, telling jurors that Gigante “always had his wits about him” and undercutting Gigante’s longstanding attempt to feign mental illness. Gigante was convicted on July 25, 1997. Former FBI handler George Gabriel later called Gravano’s cooperation “crucial” and said it “arguably led to the demise of organized crime in New York.”
How He Got Five Years for 19 Murders
In September 1994, federal Judge I. Leo Glasser sentenced Gravano to five years in prison. Gravano had pleaded guilty to racketeering charges that carried a maximum of 20 years and a $250,000 fine, but prosecutors argued for extraordinary leniency, calling him “the most significant witness in the history of organized crime in the United States.” The judge noted that Gravano would face the threat of mob retribution for the rest of his life.
The deal provoked lasting anger from victims’ families. Laura Garofalo, daughter of Eddie Garofalo, became one of the most vocal critics, pointing to the disparity between 19 confessed murders and a five-year sentence. Rosanne Massa, sister of Michael DeBatt, joined those publicly objecting to the leniency. Alan Kaiser’s family, meanwhile, learned only in 1997, through the FBI, that the teenager’s killer had confessed as part of the same deal.
Prison Again: The Arizona Ecstasy Case
After his release, Gravano entered the federal Witness Protection Program and lived in Arizona under the alias “Jimmy Moran,” eventually leaving the program voluntarily in the late 1990s. In February 2000, he was arrested as the mastermind of what authorities called Arizona’s largest ecstasy distribution ring. Working with associate Michael Papa, the operation was distributing 20,000 to 30,000 pills per week at $20 to $30 each, generating up to $500,000 in weekly revenue. Wiretaps intercepted roughly 16,000 calls, and 46 defendants were indicted, including Gravano’s son Gerard, his wife Debra, and his daughter Karen.
In June 2001, Gravano pleaded guilty to 10 felony counts in Arizona state court, including drug dealing, money laundering, participation in a criminal syndicate, and weapons violations. He also pleaded guilty to a separate federal conspiracy charge in New York. The sentences ran concurrently, totaling 20 years without parole.
Where He Is Now
Gravano was released from prison in 2017 after serving approximately 17 and a half years on the ecstasy case. He settled in the Scottsdale area of Arizona, where he lives today and hosts a podcast called “Our Thing” about his life in the Mafia. No public reporting indicates any current legal proceedings against him.