Angela Raiola

Angela Joyce "Big Ang" Raiola (June 30, 1960 – February 18, 2016) was an American reality television personality. She was the niece of Salvatore "Sally Dogs" Lombardi (1941–2009), a caporegime ("capo") and drug dealer in the Genovese crime family. Raiola dated gangsters and lived an opulent lifestyle.

Raiola starred in the VH1 reality television series Mob Wives from its second to sixth and final season in 2016. She was featured in her own spin-off series Big Ang in 2012 and Miami Monkey in 2013. At age 55, Raiola died from complications of lung cancer and pneumonia on February 18, 2016.

Life and career Raiola was born in Brooklyn, New York. She had two children, Raquel and Anthony (AJ) Donofrio. She married Neil Murphy in 2009.

2001 arrest In May 2001, Raiola was one of fifteen defendants indicted—and later convicted—for their roles in a narcotics operation, which distributed crack cocaine, powdered cocaine, and marijuana in Brooklyn and Manhattan. Federal agents described Raiola as an associate of the drug ring's leader, who was sentenced to nearly thirteen years in prison. She was provided cocaine for "street level distribution," according to an affidavit sworn by a DEA agent and an NYPD detective.

The Drunken Monkey In 2007, Raiola opened a Staten Island bar, The Drunken Monkey, with her cousin SallyAnn Lombardi who held the license, but the bar was forced to shut down in 2015 due to Raiola's past as a convicted felon.

Reality television In 2011, Raiola was filmed in what would become her break into reality television, Mob Wives. She made her debut as a regular cast member in the show's second season, which premiered January 1, 2012. Raiola would remain as a series regular for the remaining duration of the show's run, and while she filmed one reunion episode on February 13, she was on set for only two hours due to her illness.

Illness and death Raiola was first diagnosed with cancer in March 2015, which her doctors said was "positively" caused by smoking cigarettes. Raiola, a smoker of 40 years, quit smoking the day she was diagnosed. She was then told she had a "lemon-sized" tumor in her throat, for which she underwent surgery in June. In August she revealed she was diagnosed with lung cancer. By December 2015, Raiola had been declared cancer-free twice, however, by January, Raiola was diagnosed with stage four brain and lung cancer.

Raiola died at 3:01 a.m. on February 18, 2016, at a hospital in New York City, due to excessive complications from the cancer. At the time of her death, she lived in Ward Hill, New York.

Raiola's funeral mass was held on February 22, 2016, at Basilica of Regina Pacis church in Brooklyn, New York, and attended by Mob Wives co-stars Karen Gravano, Drita D'Avanzo, Carla Facciolo and Renee Graziano.

Filmography