Salvatore Vitale
| Salvatore Vitale | |
|---|---|
FBI mugshot
|
|
| Born |
September 22, 1947 Maspeth, Queens |
| Other names | Handsome Sal, Good Looking Sal |
| Occupation | Former underboss of the Bonanno crime family |
Salvatore "Handsome Sal" Vitale (born September 22, 1947 Maspeth, Queens) was a New York City caterer and former underboss of the Bonanno crime family of the American Mafia before becoming a government informant.
Salvatore Vitale was born on September 22, 1947 in Maspeth, Queens in New York City. He was the son of Giuseppe and Lilli Vitale, who had emigrated from the village of San Giuseppe Jato in Sicily after World War II; the couple had already had three daughters, but Salvatore was their only son to survive childbirth. Salvatore was described by his family as emotionally distant as a child.
Vitale first met Joseph Massino, future boss of the Bonanno family, as a child. Massino had begun dating Vitale's sister Josephine in 1956, and the couple married in 1960. Massino also befriended Salvatore Vitale, becoming a surrogate "big brother" to his future brother-in-law.
Unlike Massino, Vitale graduated from Grover Cleaveland High School. He also attempted to have a legitimate career; Vitale entered the U.S. Military and had been trained as a paratrooper. Discharged in 1968, he went on to work briefly as a corrections officer, working in Queens with drug offenders.
He and his wife Diana moved to Long Island, a safe distance from mob-entrenched Maspeth, Queens, to have a better life for themselves. Salvatore managed his own social club in Maspeth, Queens not far from Joseph Massino's CasaBlanca Restaurant and Catering Service where he would meet with his underlings. His son Anthony would later work for mob associate Robert Perrino at The New York Post after he dropped out of college.
When he quit that job, Vitale approached Joseph Massino for criminal work. He soon became involved in burglaries and transport truck hijacking. He was given a no-show job as a food consultant for King Caterer's. Despite his close relationship with Massino, who had been operating head of the family for most of the 1980s, Vitale had to wait until 1984 to become a made man in his own right. Under normal circumstances, his one year as a corrections officer should have barred him from ever becoming a "friend of ours," but Massino claimed it was only a rumor.
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