James Falco (Lucchese)

 

J. Falco

 

James 'Jimmy Black' Falco was a member of the Lucchese family.

Born March 19, 1912 in NYC to Michele Fulco (36y) and Maria SanFilippo (34y). Parents emigrated from Nicosia commune of Enna province, Sicily in 1904. Father worked as a bricklayer. Family used both names Fulco/Falco.

By 1930 resided at 171 East 111th Street in East Harlem.

Older brothers Felice Falco (1906-1976) and Philip Falco (1908-1993) were made members of the Lucchese Family. His brothers Frank Fulco (1902-1965), John Falco (1914-1976) and Anthony Falco, and nephew Louis Falco were associates of the Lucchese Family. Falco's niece, Rose Falco married Gaetano 'Corky' Vastola in 1952, at the time an associate of the Genovese Family and later a member of the DeCavalcante Family.

John Falco was named in 1935 newspaper reports as a lieutenant of Dutch Schultz and active in the lottery racket. The Falco brothers would be associated with the illegal lottery and operated numbers banks in East Harlem and the Bronx, and later on Long Island.

By the late 1930s the Falco brothers were associated with the East Harlem crew of the Lucchese Family.

In 1942 resided at 168 East 117th Street. Listing his occupation as 'unemployed'.

On June 4, 1945 textile executive Albet Langford, manager of a shirt manufacturer in the Garment District, was shoot in the head and killed in the doorway of his suite at Hotel Marguery on Park Avenue in NYC.The case became tabloid fodder. The killers were described as two "short dark men", who disappeared without any trace through the courtyard. The murder of Albert Langford occurred at a time when the mob, and the Lucchese family in particular, expanded its influence in the Garment District following the trial and execution of Lepke Buchalter in 1944. According to press accounts Langford and his wife had recently been the victims of extortion attempts. An anonymous tip named Felice Falco as one of the killers, but he was released from custody following questioning. The Falco brothers were short in stature; James was 5'1", Felice was 5'4" and Philip was 5'4".

The murder of Albert Langford remains unsolved.

Langford in 1937

 

Arrested on November 12, 1947 with Ettore 'Eddie' Coco (possibly already the Capodecina of the Family's East Harlem crew), Frank Carbo, James Plumeri, Frank Marino and Sam Richman for disorderly conduct. The group had arrived shortly after midnight at the Markwell bar on 220 W St in Manhattan. When the owner Anthony D'Amico tried to close the bar at 4 a.m., the group, according to press accounts, traded hot words with the owner and a number of bar stools were overturned and glasses broken, but no blows were struck.

Fight manager Frank Carbo was a member of the Genovese Family and had spent the previous day being questioned by District Attorney Hogan over the much suspicious boxing match between middleweights Billy Fox and Jake LaMotta. Like Carbo, Coco was involved in boxing and at the time manager of boxer Rocky Graziano.

D'Amico retracted the charges hours later.

On January 31, 1951 plainclothes police men raided an upper West Side hotel room and arrested James, Felice and Louis Falco together with three others. Cash and 11,000 lottery slips were confiscated. The lottery, according to police, operated mainly in East Harlem.

The next day Coco shot and killed a man outside his Normandy Isles, Miami apartment. He was subsequently sentenced to life in prison. During his imprisonment Coco married Carmella Falco, sister of the Falco brothers.

Eddie Coco 1950s.

It's not known specifically when Falco was inducted into the Lucchese Family. He was likely a made member by 1958.

By 1963 resided at 7 Oldfield Road, Greenlawn, Huntington, LI. Felice and Philip also resided in Huntington and the brothers owned Falcon Vending, a company that distributed vending machines on Long Island.

On September 24, 1963 arrested with Gambino Family Soldier Frank Pasqua, Sr. on unspecified charge. Falco refused to answer any questions and was released shortly afterwards.

On August 17, 1965 Ettore Coco was released from prison. FBI reports from 1967 identify him as a Lucchese Family Capodecina based in Florida. As a condition for parole he was required to live in Florida, ruling him out as a possible successor to Family Boss Tommy Lucchese who died in 1967.

By 1967 James Falco resided at 6905 Willow Lane in Miami Lake, Florida.

Owned the “The Den” lounge, Biscayne Boulevard, North Miami Beach. Philip Falco was employed as the manager. The Den enjoyed brief success as a “hoodlum hangout” as a FBI CI advised:

”That on the night of April 10, 1967, [Genovese family member] Pasquale Erra visited DEN Lounge, Biscayne Boulevard, and bought drinks for everyone in the house.”

On August 31, 1967 Coco made small talk with FBI agents:

“He stated that as Special Agents (SA) PETER C. CLEMENTE undoubtedly know, his brother-in-law, had been refused a liquor license and the control of the lounge had reverted to the control of JACK HULL, the original owner of liquor license...He stated that the place is now a "graveyard" but that if his brother-in-law had been permitted to operate it would become very popular. Coco said that he believed his brother-in-laws, JAMES and PHILIP FALCO, referred to as the BLACK BROTHERS, continue to operate Falcon Vending Machine Company in New York. He said that they no longer have any interest in the numbers operation in the Harlem area.”

1972 Loan-sharking Case

On June 13, 1972 indicted with Coco and Louis 'Louis Nash' Nakaladski. The trio operated a loan-sharking business that charged 400 percent interest and used threats to collect debts. While Coco and Nakaladski were arrested and went on trial, Falco avoided capture and became a fugitive. The subsequent trail described the operation as following:

"the evidence introduced at the trial established that Coco, Nash, and one James Michael Falco  were in the loan sharking business together as early as 1966. During that year they began to transact some of their business in the offices of one Harvey Goodman, a mortgage and insurance broker. Goodman testified that he heard discussions concerning the making of loans and collections. When Nash or Falco arranged to make a loan in Coco's absence they would telephone Coco to obtain his approval. On one occasion, Falco objected to a loan that Nash wanted to make on the ground that there had been difficulties in collecting a previous loan from the prospective borrower, but when Coco said that Nash would be responsible for collecting the new loan, it was approved"

"In June or July of 1966, Joel Whitice procured his first loan from Falco. Whitice made most of his payments to Falco, who was accompanied by Nash and Coco on a number of occasions when he came to collect from Whitice. At other times Whitice also made payments to Nash or Coco. During this time Whitice operated a retail grocery business, Food Palace, Inc., in partnership with another man, selling items manufactured in various parts of the country. His initial loan was for $10,000, which he paid back in approximately one year with weekly payments of $300. In December of 1967, Whitice borrowed another $4,000, and in June he increased his total debt to $12,000. He paid interest on these loans at the rate of $25 per $1,000 per week, and by June of 1968 his total interest payment was $300 per week. By September of 1969, Whitice had paid approximately $27,600 in interest, and still owed the full $12,000 principal."

Captured on August 8, 1973 in New York after 14 months on the run. Later that year sentenced to ten years in prison for three counts of conspiracy to extort and six counts of loan-shark extortion. Louis Nakaladski was later discovered to have been an FBI CI. Coco was sentenced to fifteen years and Nakaladski to ten years.

Believed to have been released July 1, 1986.

Falco is included in both the 1983 and 1988 Senate Charts of Lucchese Family membership.

He died January 15, 1987 in New York.