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| - Giacomo Michael Aprile, Jr. (commonly referred to as Jackie, Jr.), played by Jason Cerbone, is a fictional character on the HBO TV series The Sopranos. In the episode "...To Save Us All From Satan's Power", Cerbone's younger brother Matt played a younger Jackie Jr. in a flashback sequence. Jackie Aprile, Jr. was born into North Jersey mafia royalty. His father, Jackie Aprile, Sr., was once the acting boss of the DiMeo crime family, and his uncle Richie Aprile was a capo first under Ercoli "Eckley" DiMeo, and then later under Tony Soprano. However, despite his lineage, Jackie, Jr. himself was kept away from the family business by his father and when he did get involved proved a lightweight. He only began getting involved with the criminal aspects of his family in 2000--season 2 of The Sopranos--after the death of his father and the release of his uncle from prison. Despite attempts to succeed at Rutgers, Jackie, Jr. drifted towards a life of crime as he began helping his uncle Richie with his waste management business and drug distribution. However, Richie was killed by his fiancee Janice Soprano and for a time thereafter, Jackie was back on the straight and narrow. He went back to school and tried to work hard, but was unable to do well. At this point, his mother Rosalie Aprile began a romantic relationship with Soprano capo Ralph Cifaretto. Ralph was more of a transient character in his life than a parent who was actively involved with his life or development as a young man. It was Ralph's bad influence, coupled with laziness and a sense of entitlement due to his family name, that propelled Jackie, Jr. into a brief and ignominious career in organized crime. Working alongside his friend Dino Zerilli he began small by selling ecstasy and molly to college kids and they made a good amount of money out of that. They often hung out at the Ooh Fa pizza restaurant which brought them into contact with Christopher Moltisanti. He was a linebacker for his football team at Boonton High School and was All-State by the end of his semester. Jackie planned the robbery of a Jewel concert at Rutgers and drove the getaway car for Christopher and Benny Fazio. Later Jackie tried to use his 'influence' with Christopher to help a drug dealer associate from college named Matush sell ecstasy at the Crazy Horse club, owned by Christopher and Furio Giunta and fronted by Adriana La Cerva. Matush had been thrown out of the club by Giunta once already and Jackie met with him at a "sit-down" and agreed to take his case up with Chris; Chris refused to grant any favors but Jackie told Matush it would be alright to work outside the club anyway - resulting in a severe beating for Matush. Jackie, Jr.'s budding relationship with Meadow Soprano put him at odds with her father and DiMeo family street boss Tony Soprano, and as a result, he tried to maintain the appearance of a respectable college student while drifting further and further into the family business. Tony's interest was further increased because he had been a close friend of Jackie's father and had promised Jackie, Sr. that he would keep Jackie, Jr. away from their way of life. Tony began to see through Jackie's facade when he caught him at the casino on Bloomfield Ave and then later at a strip club (a rival to the Bada Bing). Tony was furious because he had tried so hard to keep Jackie straight, eventually beating him up in the bathroom of the club after catching him there getting a lap dance while he was supposed to be dating Meadow, Tony's daughter. Tony was even more disappointed when Jackie Jr. wouldn't even put his hands up like a man to fight him, and Tony found a snub-nose .38 on Jackie Jr. that Ralph had given to him. Tony then told Jackie Jr. that he had bottomed out on their agreement. Things came to a head after Jackie, Jr. flunked out of Rutgers University. Jackie was subsequently dumped by Meadow after she found him cheating on her with a hooker. Resentful of two generations of the Sopranos--the Royal Family, as Ralph mockingly called them--Jackie began working directly for Ralph, forming his own minor crew in the process. Upon hearing Ralph tell the story of when Jackie Aprile, Sr. and Tony took down a card game held by Feech La Manna, Jackie became inspired to follow in his father's footsteps. Using his dim-witted crew of Carlo Renzi, Dino Zerilli and Matush, Jackie attempted to hold up a card game run by Aprile soldier Eugene Pontecorvo. The young, would-be stick-up men got high on "crank" (Crystal meth) and Jackie almost decided not to go through with it. Once inside things went horribly awry because Jackie had to talk, and realized Christopher knew who he was - Jackie panicked and killed "Sunshine" the dealer, Renzi was killed at the scene by Christopher, made man Furio Giunta was shot in the leg by Jackie Jr, and Matush fled in the getaway car on hearing the gunshots. Jackie, Jr. barely escaped with his life by performing a quick carjacking on a woman in a Honda Accord. He drove straight past Dino Zerilli leaving him to perish at the hands of Chrissy and Albert Barese. Jackie, by then hiding out in the Boonton Projects, telephoned the Soprano household and begged Tony for his life. However, with the rank and file of the DiMeo Family baying for Jackie's blood, Tony refused to intervene. Tony suggested giving Jackie a pass for the failed robbery, largely due to his feelings towards Jackie, Sr. Ralph was not about to let Tony know of his role as a catalyst for the attempted robbery, owing to Tony's distrust of Ralph and Tony's friendship with Jackie's father, but mostly because such knowledge could potentially alter Tony's complicity in any action Ralph might take. At a meeting between Tony and Ralph about what to do about Jackie, Tony stated that the important thing is that action is taken "in a timely fashion." Ralph of course had to maintain stability and more importantly, his stature, so he gave Aprile crew soldier (and Jackie's cousin) Vito Spatafore the order to take out Jackie. Outside the Boonton Projects, Vito shot Jackie, Jr. in the back of the head, jolting Jackie's body forward and face down in the snow.
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