29 Facts About Wilfred Johnson

Wilfred "Willie Boy" Johnson was a reputed American mobster.

Wilfred Johnson was shot and killed as he walked to his car in Brooklyn.

Wilfred Johnson's father John Johnson was part Native American and was an International Association of Bridge, Structural, Ornamental and Reinforcing Iron Workers construction worker.

Wilfred Johnson's parents had settled in Red Hook, Brooklyn, where Wilfred Johnson was raised with his brothers and sisters.

At age 12, Wilfred Johnson either fell or was pushed off the school roof during a fight.

Wilfred Johnson was real stocky, about five feet nine inches and well over two hundred pounds, looked like a professional wrestler.

Wilfred Johnson was the type of guy who, if he got shot, he would almost try to rip the bullets out of his own chest and then get really pissed off.

In 1957, Wilfred Johnson met John Gotti for the first time.

Gotti was a 17-year-old high school dropout and Wilfred Johnson was a street thug perpetually in trouble with the law.

When Gotti joined the Gambino family, Wilfred Johnson came with him.

Wilfred Johnson became known as the "terminator" because of his skill with strong-arm work.

The FBI's codename for Wilfred Johnson was "Wahoo" because of his Native American heritage.

In 1966, Wilfred Johnson purportedly turned against the Gambino family, when he was imprisoned for armed robbery.

Wilfred Johnson rarely volunteered information but would answer direct questions asked by law enforcement officials.

Reluctant at first, Wilfred Johnson finally agreed to talk in return for the government's dropping some counterfeiting charges.

Wilfred Johnson wanted to pay back the Gambinos for their dishonesty.

In 1978, Wilfred Johnson informed Boland about the whereabouts of Lucchese crime family capo, Paul Vario's, hijacking headquarters, which at the time was operating out of a scrapyard owned by Clyde Brooks.

Wilfred Johnson had a curious relationship with Gotti, and at one point remarked to Boland, "Sometimes I love him, and sometimes I hate him".

Wilfred Johnson did not provide much elaboration except for occasional hints, among them complaints about Gotti's gambling addiction, which often involved, Wilfred Johnson said, bets of up to $100,000 a week.

Some of that action, Wilfred Johnson complained, would be laid off at his modest bookmaking operation, forcing Wilfred Johnson to absorb the loss.

Wilfred Johnson resented how Fatico and Gotti always treated him like a peon: "They still see me as a gofer and make me handle swag".

Except for $100 Wilfred Johnson once borrowed from Boland as an "emergency personal loan" which was promptly paid back and on which Boland declined an offer of "vig", Wilfred Johnson did not receive any financial compensation from the FBI.

Wilfred Johnson did make some profit; his information solved a number of major hijackings for the FBI, and in cases where insurance companies offered large rewards for recovery of stolen goods, the FBI provided confidential affidavits attesting that Johnson was directly responsible for recovery of hijacked goods.

Wilfred Johnson collected the rewards, in one case $30,000 for the recovery of a large shipment.

However, as his FBI handler, Special Agent Martin Boland, noticed, Wilfred Johnson refused to discuss his background or childhood in any detail.

One of the most significant pieces of information provided by Wilfred Johnson was how The Vario Crew was avoiding FBI wiretaps and bugs.

Wilfred Johnson provided the FBI with information on a largescale narcotics ring, run by John Gotti and others, called the "Pleasant Avenue Connection"; revealed that Gotti and Angelo Ruggiero had murdered Florida mobster Anthony Plate; and gave details on the murder of James McBratney, the man who kidnapped Emanuel Gambino.

Wilfred Johnson was hit once in each thigh, twice in the back, and at least six times in the head.

Wilfred Johnson is interred at St John Cemetery in Middle Village, Queens, New York.