Salvatore Vieri Leone (15 April 1935 – 1 November 2001) was the don of the Leone crime family of New York City.
Biography[]
Salvatore Leone was born in Palermo, Sicily, Italy in 1935. Leone immigrated to the United States as a child and became the boss of the powerful Leone crime family in New York City, being based in Brooklyn. He had to fight his uncle, "Uncle" Leone, to maintain his power in the mid-1980s, and the two of them eventually settled for an uneasy peace. Leone was a powerful and old-fashioned, and he had a hot temper. He was angered at the Sindacco crime family for their killing of his cousin, but he decided to agree to give Johnny Sindacco a $5,000,000 investment when the Mafia decided to open the Caligula's Palace in Las Vegas.
Business in Las Vegas[]
Don Leone in 1992
Leone decided to make "neutral" lawyer Ken Rosenberg a fourth owner, but he exercised his control over him in order to have greater influence over the casino. In 1992, the partnership fell apart when Sindacco was injured by the Mountain Cloud Boys triad, and Leone fought against the rival Forelli crime family when they tried to kill the hospitalized Sindacco. Leone hired Carl Johnson to whack the Forelli boss Marco Forelli after taking out a group of Forelli hitmen disguised as a string quartet, and Johnson gained his trust, as he was friends with Salvatore's son Joey Leone. However, Johnson would use this trust to rob Caligula's Palace, angering Leone.
Return to New York[]
Leone in 2001
After the events of 1992, Don Leone returned to New York City, and he fought against the rival Sindacco family. He took mobster Toni Cipriani under his wing, and Cipriani wrested control of the streets from the Sindaccos, whacking Don Paulie in 1998. Cipriani became Don Leone's favorite underling, and he helped Leone out with fighting against rival gangs. Leone was later arrested after the mayor blamed him for all crime in the city, but he was released from prison after Uncle Leone's henchman Massimo Torini attempted to kill him. He was tried four more times, but he won all cases, and his only conviction was importing tomato sauce from Sicily without a license.
Downfall and death[]
Don Leone's death
By October 2001, Leone's rivalry with the Kasen Yakuza had become a major issue, and he also fought against the Brooklyn Triads. He was introduced to the hitman Claude Speed by his son Joey Leone and his capo Toni Cipriani, and he sent Speed to perform many tasks for him. Eventually, he became paranoid due to Speed's successes and the rise of the Colombian drug cartel to power, and Leone decided to send Speed to his death at the hands of the Colombians, ostensibly sending him to take a car to a crusher. However, Leone's trophy wife Maria Latore warned him, and Latore took Claude to her friend Asuka Kasen, who decided to recruit Claude to assassinate Leone. Leone was shot dead with a sniper rifle by Claude, proving that he was done with the Mafia.