Thomas Gioeli

Thomas Salvatore Gioeli (pronounced Jee-OH-lee), also known as "Tommy Shots" (born 1952), is a high-ranking member of the Colombo crime family.

In the mid-1980s, Gioeli was imprisoned for robbery, his first incarceration. After his release, Gioeli became a made member, or full member, of the Colombo family. In the late 1980s, Gioeli started working for capo Vittorio "Vic" Orena, leader of the Colombo Brooklyn faction and one of the family's top earners. Gioeli has a wife Maureen and owns a home in Farmingdale, New York. John Marzulli of New York Daily News discovered that Gioeli had a press pass from Long Island's Nightlife magazine that had been issued to him in the 1980s and expired in 1987. Nightlife magazine editor Michael Cutino explained Gioeli's press credentials as the magazine was doing a nightclub promotion in The Hamptons and Gioeli worked for a company that provided attractive "cigarette girls" for the event.

In 1982, Gioeli allegedly participated in the accidental killing of Veronica Zuraw, a former Catholic nun. Zuraw was killed by a stray bullet during the assassination of Colombo mobster Joseph Peraino. Government witness Dino Calabro claimed that Gioeli told him he was "going to hell" for killing a nun. However, Gioeli maintains his innocence and no charges in the Zuraw killing have been filed against him.

In 1997, Gioeli allegedly participated in the murder of Ralph Dols, a New York Police Department (NYPD) officer. Colombo consigliere Joel Cacace had ordered Dols' death because Dols had recently married Cacace's ex-wife, Kim Kennaugh. Gioeli allegedly took the order from Cacace and arranged for Calabro and Colombo mobster Dino Saracino to shoot Dols outside his Brooklyn house.

In 1989, the imprisoned Colombo boss Carmine Persico appointed Orena to be his temporary acting boss. By 1991 Orena, with the encouragement of Gambino crime family boss John Gotti, felt strong enough to challenge Persico for total control of the family. In response, Persico tried to assassinate Orena in 1991. This attack triggered a bloody internal conflict in the Colombo family between the Persico and Orena factions. Gioeli gave his support to Orena. Bloody shootouts between the two factions in 1991 resulted in murders of prominent Orena supporters. As the war progressed, many Orena loyalist switched sides to the Persico faction to avoid being killed. In 1991, Gioeli switched sides and became the top lieutenant and protégée of hitman Gregory Scarpa Sr..

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