abstract
| - The first known capo of the Pittsburgh families Youngstown, Ohio rackets was Vincenzo "Jimmy" Prato, who had gained the upper edge in Youngstown when competing mobsters from the Cleveland crime family were jailed in the early 1980s after the murder of Danny Greene. Prato would retire in the same decade and died in 1988. He was succeeded by Joey Naples, who had become a member of the Pittsburgh family during the 1980s under Michael James Genovese. Naples originally operated in Tandem with fellow Pittsburgh mobster Lenny Strollo. His older brother Sandy Naples had been a notorious Youngstown, Ohio rackets boss who was shotgunned to death along with his girlfriend and was succeeded in his rackets by his younger brother Billy Naples who was murdered by a car bomb both during the 1960s. In Youngstown, Naples ran extensive gambling operations representing the Pittsburgh family. In 1980 Naples, along with other Pittsburgh Associates gave a bribe of $65,000 to James Traficant, a popular local former athlete who was running for County Sheriff to ensure Traficant did not interfere with his operations in Youngstown should he be elected Sheriff. In 1990, Lenny Strollo was convicted on gambling charges and sentenced to 14 months in prison. He feared that Naples would take over his rackets. On August 19, 1991, Naples was killed in a mob hit in Youngstown by a sniper shot from a long distance away with a high-powered rifle. The FBI suspected the hit was engineered by Lenny Strollo to take over the Pittsburgh families Youngstown rackets.
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