Santino "Sonny" Forelli (29 December 1946 – 2 November 1986) was the boss of the Forelli crime family from New York City. Forelli was a sinister man who was willing to betray anyone in his organization who threatened him, and he attempted to have his best enforcer, Tommy Vercetti, killed. However, Vercetti instead set up an operation in Miami without giving Forelli a cut, and Forelli and several of his men were killed in a shootout with Vercetti at his Miami mansion in 1986.
Biography[]
Boss of the Forellis[]
Santino Forelli was born in New York City, New York on December 29th 1946 to an Italian immigrant family, and he came to power as the head of the Forelli crime family at a young age. Forelli had major influence in racketeering, gambling, union trouble, corruption, and prostitution in NYC, and he was thought to have ordered several mob killings. One of his most valuable associates was Tommy Vercetti, who was loyal and hard-working. Forelli decided to have Vercetti arrested by the police after taking part in a massacre of rival mobsters in 1971, hoping that he would be executed for his crimes. However, he was instead sentenced to fifteen years in prison, and Forelli had to use Vercetti for something else.
Operations in Miami[]
Forelli at Tommy Vercetti's mansion, 1986
Forelli was interested in entering the narcotics trade in Miami, Florida by 1986, so he sent Vercetti to Miami, ostensibly to set up a base of operations for the family, but really to have him killed at a drug deal with Victor Vance. Forelli and Ricardo Diaz worked together to ambush the deal, but Vercetti survived. Eventually, Forelli lost control of Vercetti, who took over Miami for himself without paying and money to the Forellis. An angry Forelli headed down to Miami with several enforcers, and he was joined by the treacherous Lance Vance, formerly Vercetti's right-hand man. Forelli was killed in the ensuing shootout with Vercetti, and his death destroyed the power of the Forelli family, which would remain in decline in the following decades.