1. Matthew Joseph "Matty the Horse" Ianniello was an American mobster with the Genovese crime family of New York City, of which he was once the acting boss.
25 Facts About Matthew Ianniello
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Matthew Ianniello was convicted of bid rigging in construction, skimming union dues, and extorting protection money from bar owners, pornography peddlers, and topless dancers as Times Square became filled with peep shows.
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Matthew Ianniello was born in 1920 in Little Italy, Manhattan and was one of eight children of his Italian immigrant parents.
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Matthew Ianniello allegedly got his nickname "Matty The Horse" in a youth baseball game.
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Matthew Ianniello worked as a waiter in a restaurant owned by his uncle in the Brooklyn dockyards, and then as a longshoreman in the Brooklyn Navy Yard, then joined the United States Army in 1943.
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Matthew Ianniello received a Purple Heart and a bronze star for valor in combat in the Asiatic-Pacific Theater.
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In 1951, Matthew Ianniello was arrested on charges of possessing heroin, but the charges were dropped.
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In 1960, Ianniello became partners with Edward L DeCurtis, a longtime associate, in running private after-hours drinking clubs for gay men.
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Matthew Ianniello's sponsor was mobster and future acting boss Frank "Funzi" Tieri.
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Matthew Ianniello eventually controlled Amalgamated Transit Union, bus drivers Local 1181, giving him the power to extort payments from school bus companies in New York City as well as the union drivers.
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On February 2,1965, Matthew Ianniello was indicted on contempt of grand jury charges for refusal to testify.
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Matthew Ianniello was in the kitchen at the time and missed the entire attack.
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Matthew Ianniello later claimed no prior knowledge of the attack and was not charged.
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On February 28,1985, Matthew Ianniello was indicted in federal court in New York on charges of racketeering involving the operation of several restaurants, bars and carting companies.
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On December 30,1985, Matthew Ianniello was convicted on numerous counts and on February 16,1986, Judge Weinfeld sentenced Matthew Ianniello to six years in federal prison.
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On May 13,1986, Matthew Ianniello was acquitted on all charges in the 1986 indictment on racketeering in the garbage industry.
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On May 18,1988, Matthew Ianniello was indicted again in Newark, New Jersey on racketeering charges involving the 1984 Genovese takeover of a gravel company in Edgewater, New Jersey.
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On October 13,1988, Matthew Ianniello was sentenced to 13 years in federal prison after being convicted of the 1986 bid rigging racketeering charges.
19.
When Genovese boss Vincent "Chin" Gigante went to prison in 1997, Matthew Ianniello became acting boss.
20.
Between 2001 and 2005, Matthew Ianniello received protection fees of more than $800,000 from Connecticut waste management businesses owned by James Galante.
21.
On July 27,2005, Matthew Ianniello was indicted on racketeering charges in New York involving extortion and loansharking.
22.
On June 10,2006, Matthew Ianniello was indicted in federal court in New Haven on charges of racketeering involving trash hauling in Southwestern Connecticut.
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Matthew Ianniello pleaded guilty to the New York racketeering charges and received an 18-month prison sentence and he pleaded guilty in Connecticut and was sentenced to two years in federal prison to run concurrent with the 18 month New York sentence.
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Matthew Ianniello's attorney had asked for leniency, saying Matthew Ianniello had cancer and was in generally poor health.
25.
Matthew Ianniello is portrayed by actor Garry Pastore in the 2017 HBO series The Deuce.