NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Peter "The Crumb" Caprio is on the older side of the Bruno crime family's generation gap.
By pleading guilty Monday and agreeing to become a government informant, Caprio, 70, joins former boss Ralph Natale, 65, as prominent defectors from the Philadelphia family where younger men had seized power.
Deals cut by older reputed mobsters such as Natale and Caprio show that they do not recognize the younger men as true heirs to the Mafia brotherhood, said criminologist and historian Celeste A. Morello.
"They never felt this affinity with the younger group," said Morello, author of "Before Bruno: The History of the Philadelphia Mafia."
Caprio admitted he ran the northern New Jersey operations of the Bruno mob at the time of his arrest and had worked for the family since the early 1970s. He also said he plotted this year with other crime families to remove the new Bruno leadership.
As part of his plea bargain, Caprio also admitted to roles in three slayings, including the 1996 death of Joseph Sodano, a former capo of the Bruno organization.
He could still face a life term on his guilty plea to the single charge of racketeering conspiracy, which encompasses the killings as well as using extortion in loan shark and illegal gambling enterprises.
Caprio has been in federal custody since his arrest in March. His lawyer, Jean D. Barrett, declined to comment.
Federal prosecutors said Caprio may testify in the upcoming trial of Joseph "Skinny Joey" Merlino, 38, the reputed boss of the Bruno crime family, and 10 others.
Web site: www.njusao.org/break.html