{"id":64084,"date":"2025-12-08T11:38:20","date_gmt":"2025-12-08T11:38:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/64084\/"},"modified":"2025-12-08T11:38:20","modified_gmt":"2025-12-08T11:38:20","slug":"donnie-brasco-mob-boss-whacked-dumped-on-staten-island-in-1981-with-telltale-gangland-mutilation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/64084\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Donnie Brasco\u2019 mob boss whacked, dumped on Staten Island in 1981, with telltale gangland mutilation"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you\u2019re not careful, your gangland colleagues won\u2019t just kill you. They\u2019ll amputate parts of your body too. <\/p>\n

That was the fate of mob captain Dominick \u201cSonny Black\u201d Napolitano, who had to answer for FBI Special Agent Joe Pistone\u2019s infiltration into his Mafia crew in the famed \u201cDonnie Brasco\u201d case of the late 1970s and early 1980s. <\/p>\n

\"DominickBonanno crime family mobster Dominick “Sonny Black” Napolitano, who was killed in wake of “Donnie Brasco” infiltration of his crew by FBI Special Agent Joe Pistone.Federal Bureau of Investigation photo<\/p>\n

As detailed in the 1997 movie starring Johnny Depp and Al Pacino, Pistone posed as jewel thief Donnie Brasco in order to penetrate the Bonanno crime family crew led by Napolitano. <\/p>\n

Pistone, played by Depp in the film, was eventually accepted by the members of the Brooklyn-based gang, including mentor Benjamin \u201cLefty Guns\u201d Ruggiero, portrayed in the film by Pacino. <\/p>\n

\"nwsJohnny Depp, left, and Al Pacino starred in the 1997 organized crime drama “Donnie Brasco.” Parts of the film were shot on Staten Island. (Sony Pictures publicity photo)<\/p>\n

In the \u201cDonnie Brasco\u201d book that Pistone wrote with Richard Woodley, he lays out how he was able to feed the FBI information about the inner workings of the Napolitano crew as well as the Bonanno family and affiliated mob organizations. <\/p>\n

The agent\u2019s goodfella act was so convincing that Pistone was able to vouch for other FBI moles as they infiltrated mob families in various operations around the country. <\/p>\n

Napolitano, dubbed \u201cSonny Black\u201d for his voluminous mane of dark hair, became so enamored of Pistone in the agent\u2019s role that the skipper said he would sponsor Donnie Brasco to become a \u201cmade guy,\u201d a full-fledged member of the Mafia. <\/p>\n

The FBI had never had an agent so deeply embedded in a mob family. <\/p>\n

But Pistone was pulled from his undercover assignment in 1981 when he was assigned to \u201cmake his bones\u201d with the mob in the time-honored Cosa Nostra way: by killing a gangland rival. <\/p>\n

Once Pistone was safely out of the picture, the FBI let Napolitano know that \u201cDonnie Brasco\u201d was actually an FBI agent and gave Sonny Black a chance to turn informant.<\/p>\n

The boss rejected the offer out of hand. <\/p>\n

Napolitano, played in the film by Michael Madsen, disappeared shortly after Donnie Brasco\u2019s true identity was revealed to the mob. <\/p>\n

Details of Napolitano\u2019s fate are revealed in the book \u201cFive Families\u201d by Selwyn Raab.<\/p>\n

Napolitano in August 1981 was picked up in at the Hamilton House restaurant in Brooklyn and driven to a home in Eltingville where he was told a mob meeting was to take place in the basement. <\/p>\n

But Sonny Black was pushed down the stairs as he was led to the cellar and was shot by a waiting Bonanno gunman. <\/p>\n

But the button man couldn\u2019t finish the job because his gun jammed. Sprawled on his knees, Napolitano was said to have told his killer: \u201cHit me one more time and make it good.\u201d<\/p>\n

Napolitano\u2019s skeletal remains were found a year later in a swampy area at South Avenue and Bridge Street in Arlington, on the West Shore of Staten Island. <\/p>\n

Sonny Black\u2019s hands had been chopped off, Pistone wrote, a symbolic punishment for violating Mafia security. Napolitano\u2019s face was so badly disfigured that the onetime skipper had to be identified through dental records. <\/p>\n

Napolitano is said to have had an inkling that he wouldn\u2019t return from the Staten Island meeting, as he left jewelry, money and the keys to his apartment with a bartender at his crew\u2019s Brooklyn hangout, the Motion Lounge. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m going to a meeting and I don\u2019t know if I\u2019m coming back,\u201d Napolitano said.<\/p>\n

In his book, Pistone admits to feelings of affection and respect for Napolitano, writing, \u201cSonny was good at what he did. He wasn\u2019t a phony. He didn\u2019t throw his weight around. He was a standup guy. For reasons that are hard to explain, I liked him a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n

A key scene in the film, in which Brasco is \u201carrested\u201d by the FBI before he can fulfill the murder contract, was filmed at Staten Island Boat Sales at Great Kills Harbor.<\/p>\n

\"nwsAl Pacino, playing Benjamin “Lefty” Ruggiero in movie “Donnie Brasco” is photographed while filming a scene in Great Kills on Staten Island in 1996. (Michael McWeeney\/Staten Island Advance)Michael McWeeney\/Staten Island Advance<\/p>\n

Pacino celebrated his 56th birthday here while filming on April 25, 1996, a celebratory moment that was captured exclusively by the Advance\/SILive.com.<\/a><\/p>\n

\"nwsAl Pacino, on Staten Island to film “Donnie Brasco” in 1996, gets a cake from Staten Island Advance staffers Maureen Seaberg and Michael McWeeney to celebrate the iconic actor’s 56th birthday. (Michael McWeeney\/Staten Island Advance)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"If you\u2019re not careful, your gangland colleagues won\u2019t just kill you. They\u2019ll amputate parts of your body too.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":64085,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[9,24,63,134,136,135],"class_list":{"0":"post-64084","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-staten-island","8":"tag-new-york","9":"tag-new-york-city","10":"tag-nyc","11":"tag-staten-island","12":"tag-staten-island-headlines","13":"tag-staten-island-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64084","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=64084"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64084\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/64085"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64084"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64084"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64084"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}