Frank "Cheech" DeCicco (5 November 1935 – 13 April 1986) was the underboss of the Gambino crime family under Paul Castellano. In 1986, he was assassinated by The Commission, which was attempting to kill John Gotti for his unsanctioned murder of Castellano.
Biography[]
Frank DeCicco was born in Bath Beach, Brooklyn, New York City on 5 November 1935, and he grew up in Staten Island, New York. His father was a soldier in the Gambino crime family, and the joined the family during the late 1960s, soon becoming a soldier. In 1973, DeCicco and Anthony Casso began to rob diamond dealers and hijack trucks throughout New York state, and he became a protege of fellow Bath Beach native Paul Castellano. DeCicco was involved with labor racketeering with Teamsters Local 282, and he held a no-show union organizer position, installing many Gambino members in the local. In 1978, he ordered the murder of Nicholas Scibetta for insulting his cousin, and he organized the 1983 murder of Roy DeMeo. In 1985, DeCicco assisted John Gotti in assassinating Castellano, and this assassination infuriated Genovese crime family boss Vincent Gigante, as only The Commission had the authority to kill a boss. Gigante had the Lucchese crime family plot the assassinations of DeCicco and Gotti for breaking mob rules, and Herbert Pate was sent to kill the two of them.
Death[]
DeCicco's death
On 13 April 1986, Herbert Pate drove up to the Veterans & Friends Social Club in Dyker Heights, Brooklyn, where Gotti and DeCicco were supposed to be attending a meeting. Pate walked toward DeCicco's car carrying two grocery bags, and he dropped one of the bags near the car. As he squatted down to pick up the groceries, he planted a bomb on DeCicco's car. Pate detonated the bomb when he saw Lucchese soldier Frank Bellino approach the car, thinking that he was Gotti. DeCicco was killed instantly, with the explosion dismembering him and blowing most of the fluids out of his body, while Bellino lost a few toes. Gotti had opted to skip the meeting at the last minute, leading to him surviving.