Jonathan "Jon" Angelo Gravelli (7 February 1923-April 2008) was the boss of the Gambetti crime family of the American Mafia, and the most powerful criminal boss in New York City at the time of his death. Gravelli was indicted several times for criminal activities, but he was never convicted of a serious crime, and he worked with the CIA during the 1990s and 2000s before dying in 2008.
Biography[]
Jon Gravelli was born in Forest Hills, Queens, New York City in 1923 to a family of Italian Roman Catholic descent, and he became a member of the Gambetti crime family as a young man. In 1940, he was arrested for possession of gambling records, in 1942 for promoting gambling and for assault, in 1944 for grand theft auto, in 1946 for attempted murder, and in 1949 for bribery, developing quite a reputation for himself during the 1940s. Gravelli rose through the ranks of the family, and he chose to spare Giovanni Ancelotti's uncle in 1972 during the war between the Gambettis and the Ancelotti crime family, a decision that he regretted when the Ancelottis continued to fight against the Gambettis.
In 1978, Gravelli succeeded his uncle Sonny Cangelosi as boss of the Gambetti family, and the Gambettis became the strongest of New York's five families. In 1990, he was acquitted of racketeering and murder, and he was also acquitted of obstruction of justice in 1992. His last indictment occurred in 2006, when he was charged with racketeering; he was hospitalized for a serious illness, and he could not be charged. Gravelli would form a friendship with CIA agent Bernard Fortune around this time, and Fortune introduced criminal Niko Bellic to Gravelli, who needed Bellic to work for him. Gravelli promised to get rid of the NYPD's inch-thick file on Bellic and to bring Darko Brevic to America if Bellic helped him out, and Gravelli had Bellic escort Bobby Jefferson to the Civic Center, kill Kim Young-guk, and destroy three Ancelotti crime family drug vans that were protected by Faustin crime family hitmen. After this, Gravelli and the CIA arranged for Brevic to be delivered to Bellic for execution. Gravelli, who felt proud about saving his country from some national security risks, died peacefully in his sleep soon after.