Chuck Zito

Charles Alfred Zito Jr. (born March 1, 1953) is an American actor, stuntman, celebrity bodyguard, and former outlaw biker. Zito was a member of the Hells Angels for 25 years and served as vice president of the New York City charter and president of the New York Nomads chapter. After entering Hollywood as a celebrity bodyguard, Zito was a film stuntman before finding a breakout acting role as mobster Chucky "the Enforcer" Pancamo on the HBO television series Oz (1997–2003), which he played for five seasons. He followed this up with numerous other "tough guy" roles, such as in Sons of Anarchy. Zito has also been a ringside boxing reporter, professional wrestling manager, and radio personality.

Early life Zito was born in the Bronx, New York City, the second of three children of Charles Zito Sr. and Gloria Frangione. His grandparents were Italian immigrants to the United States. Zito was raised in the Bronx and New Rochelle. The son of a professional welterweight boxer, Zito was taught at an early age how to fight and defend himself. His father boxed under the ring name Al LaBarba and fought in 228 professional matches. At the age of seventeen, Zito dropped out of New Rochelle High School and married his high school sweetheart, Kathy. He later received his high school equivalency diploma while imprisoned at the Federal Correctional Institution, Petersburg. His involvement with the Hells Angels motorcycle club eventually led to their divorce. Zito became a refrigerator mechanic. He also worked as a bouncer at Café Central on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. He trained out of the Southside Boys Club in New Rochelle and Cage Recreation in White Plains, and held an amateur boxing record of 36–5. Zito had his first boxing match aged 12. Zito then defeated Michael Nesbitt in the tournament's third round at the Audubon Ballroom on February 19, 1973, before losing to Orlando Nieves in the fourth round of the competition at the Felt Forum on February 23, 1973. He returned to the Golden Gloves on February 2, 1978, losing to Gaylord Bryant at the Felt Forum in the open division. Zito was later the boxing coach of Mickey Rourke.

Reflecting on his boxing career in 2003, Zito said: "I tried to follow in my father's footsteps... but didn't have the desire and willpower to train 100 percent for the fight game. I didn't take it serious enough... When I found out I was fighting I'd go to the gym like two days before the fight. I never trained. I never got out and did my roadwork. I had so many distractions in my life, growing up at the same time. I think I could have been champion if I stuck with boxing." He was seen with Cuba Gooding Jr. and Dwayne Johnson at the Lennox Lewis vs. Mike Tyson pre-fight party on June 8, 2002, at the Memphis Pyramid.

Zito owns a dojo, Chuck Zito's Street Survival School, in Pelham, New York.

Hells Angels A motorcycle enthusiast, Zito established the New Rochelle Motorcycle Club in 1974, which later merged with the Bronx-based Ching-a-Ling Nomads. As vice president of the Ching-a-Ling Nomads, Zito was arrested on June 14, 1975, along with club president Pedro Lamboy, on charges of harassment and possession of dangerous weapons relating to the alleged harassment of James Hunter, a tenant of a storefront near the Ching-a-Ling Nomads' clubhouse. On October 7, 1976, an apartment in New Rochelle which had been rented to Zito by landlord Arthur Jacobs was targeted in an arson attack two days after the lease was broken due to a dispute between Jacobs and Zito caused by Zito's membership in the biker club. Zito was also charged with assault after allegedly attacking a police officer with a bar stool during a bar brawl on June 12, 1977.

Zito met Sandy Alexander, a professional boxer who was the president of the New York City chapter of the Hells Angels, while they both trained at the Gramercy Gym on East 14th Street in Manhattan.

According to prosecutors, one membership requirement of the Hells Angels' New York City chapter was that prospective members must kill or attempt to kill a target selected by the club as part of an initiation process. Zito allegedly earned his membership in the Hells Angels by attempting to murder Robert Giangarra, a Queens pizzeria owner and low-level mobster who had previously shot and injured Hells Angels member Cortland "Chip" Candow in a Manhattan bar. According to testimony from John Joseph "Pirate" Miller, a Hells Angel-turned-government witness, Zito and another biker, Philip "Lightfoot" Kramer, used a remote-controlled device from a model airplane to detonate C-4 explosives attached to a vehicle belonging to Giangarra. On May 9, 1979, Giangarra survived without serious injury when a bomb attached to the undercarriage of a Cadillac Eldorado he was sitting in exploded in the driveway of his home in Elmhurst, Queens. Zito, along with Kramer, was voted in as a full member of the New York City Hells Angels on May 10, 1979. He pleaded guilty to third-degree criminal possession of a weapon and was sentenced in White Plains County Court on April 23, 1980, to five years on probation. Zito's other convictions included criminal possession of a controlled substance (Quaaludes), and disorderly conduct. The Nomads chapter, which is based in the Hudson Valley, Zito served as president of the Nomads chapter for ten years. The Hells Angels ultimately decided against granting a charter to the Japanese bikers. On May 2, 1985, 133 Hells Angels members and associates were arrested on racketeering and drug trafficking charges after a series of law enforcement raids in fourteen cities across the United States. The indictments were the culmination of Operation Roughrider, a three-year FBI investigation into the club. Fifteen of the arrests took place in the New York metropolitan area, where the New York City chapter headquarters on Manhattan's Lower East Side was raided, and at least one Uzi submachine gun and an undetermined quantity of drugs were seized. Zito's home in New Rochelle was also searched by agents of the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and local police.

A warrant was issued for Zito's arrest on charges of selling of methamphetamine in New York state in November 1984. He and Kittel surrendered to the United States Embassy in Tokyo on July 22, 1985, after they were the subject of a nationwide dragnet by Japanese police at the request of the FBI. On October 14, 1985, the Tokyo High Court approved an extradition request by U.S. authorities. The pair were then extradited on separate commercial flights to New York by U.S. Marshals Service personnel.

After being held at the Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC) in Manhattan for fourteen months, Zito accepted a plea deal from federal prosecutors in late 1986, pleading guilty to one felony count of drug conspiracy, for which he was sentenced to ten years' imprisonment. Zito has asserted that he was convicted solely on the FBI's claims of possessing a tape of a recorded telephone conversation between him and Kittel discussing a drug deal. He denies that such a conversation ever took place and maintains that he was bodyguarding actor Mickey Rourke on the set of Year of the Dragon in Vancouver at the time of the alleged phone call. On the stigma of being a Hells Angel, Zito has said: "I never did a drug in my life. It's ridiculous to judge a group on the actions of a few".

Zito was questioned by police in Rockford, Illinois in June 1994, over the shooting of a motorist who cut into a Hells Angels motorcycle procession the day before the funeral of Lamont "Monte" Mathias, the president of the Hell's Henchmen Motorcycle Club who was killed during a biker war with the Outlaws Motorcycle Club. On December 11, 1994, Zito was among a group of twenty Hells Angels arrested at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago by a task force composed of agents from the FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), the Illinois State Police, and the Chicago Police Department Intelligence Unit after an alleged high-speed car chase along the Northwest Tollway. The contingent, which included senior Hells Angels members from across the country, had been attending a meeting in Rockford to formally mark the club's merger of the Hell's Henchmen. The bikers were under surveillance by the task force as they traveled to O'Hare airport in three rented passenger vans at the conclusion of the trip, when the agents lost sight of one of the vans, resulting in what the task force alleged to be a chase. Zito and the two other drivers of the vans which were carrying the bikers were charged with speeding, while the passengers were charged with disorderly conduct. The case was dismissed by a judge, and the Hells Angels sued the Chicago police after hiring defense attorney Ron Kuby. The Hells Angels reached a $250,000 out-of-court settlement with the police, of which Zito received a share of $9,000.

On December 15, 2001, Zito was arrested by the Connecticut State Police and charged with first-degree criminal trespass after refusing to remove his Hells Angels "colors" at the request of security staff while attending the John Ruiz vs. Evander Holyfield III boxing match at the Foxwoods Resort Casino in Mashantucket, Connecticut. Zito stated his intention to sue the casino for discrimination, and said: "If a guy walks in here with a Yankees jacket, are you going to make him take it off? This is America, this isn't Russia".

On February 23, 2002, Zito was present at the Hellraiser Ball, a tattoo and motorcycle trade exposition in Plainview, New York, sponsored by the Long Island chapter of the Hells Angels, which was ambushed by dozens of members of the rival Pagan's Motorcycle Club, resulting in one biker being killed and at least ten injured. A Hells Angel was charged with second-degree murder and 73 Pagan members were indicted on federal racketeering charges in the aftermath of the incident.

Zito was a regular patron of the Scores strip club in Manhattan while the club was controlled by the Gambino crime family. According to the Justice Department, the New York Hells Angels have associated in criminality with the Gambino family. Zito attended the funeral of Gambino boss John Gotti in Maspeth, Queens on June 14, 2002. He declined to comment when he was approached by reporters after the wake. Zito had first met Gotti while they were incarcerated together at MCC in 1986.

In 2004, Zito left the Hells Angels, after 25 years of membership in the club, to focus on his acting career. He resigned from the club "in good standing", an option reportedly extended only to the Hells Angels' most respected members. The actress recommended Zito's service to her plethora of celebrity acquaintances, allowing Zito to quickly develop contacts throughout Hollywood. His other clients included Muhammad Ali,

In 1997, Zito allegedly knocked gossip columnist A. J. Benza unconscious at the Scores strip club in New York after Benza attributed a false rumor to him in his column in the Daily News. Recounting the incident in his autobiography, Zito claims that he suffered a broken hand as a result of striking Van Damme numerous times after Van Damme had told a bouncer at the club that Zito had "no heart" and the bouncer relayed Van Damme's comments to Zito. He reportedly stood over a prone Van Damme shouting: "This ain't the movies! This is the street, and I own the street!". In 2002, Zito released his autobiography, Street Justice, co-authored with Joe Layden.

In 2010, Zito filed a $5 million lawsuit against the cable network FX, alleging that he had a development meeting with them in 2006, in which he pitched the idea of an outlaw motorcycle group. He alleges that FX blew him off and then stole his idea, which became the FX show Sons of Anarchy. On December 11, 2011, a court judgment was ruled against Zito. Zito appeared in Sons of Anarchy season 5, as Frankie Diamonds. He also appeared in SOA creator Kurt Sutter's Discovery Channel documentary series, Outlaw Empires.

Personal life Zito has a daughter, Lisa, (who is an entertainment lawyer for Condé Nast in Manhattan)

Filmography

Film Year Title Role Notes 1982 Dead Ringer Biker 1990: The Bronx Warriors Outlaw Biker Uncredited 1984 Streets of Fire Bombers Gang Member Uncredited 1985 Year of the Dragon Cab Driver/Cop Uncredited 1991 Neon City Bus Attacker 1993 Nowhere to Run Prisoner New York Cop Mafia Leader Carlito's Way Club Bouncer Love, Cheat & Steal Jake 1994 Jimmy Hollywood Gangster Bad Blood "Toots" Sensation The Bartender Love is a Gun Cop 1995 Red Line Dick 1996 The Juror Frankie Heaven's Prisoners Tony The Funeral Zito Squanderers Jerry 1998 Gia Biker Scar City Guard No Code of Conduct Guard 1999 Black & White Chuck Me and Will Biker Man on the Moon Tony Clifton / Biker 2000 Table One The Chef 2001 Street Justice The Host 2003 This Thing of Ours DeGrazio Soldier 2004 Brooklyn Bound Anthony Coalition Vinnie 2005 Remedy Captain Sallie Searching for Bobby D Freddy "Knuckles" The Signs of the Cross Tony Esposito Carlito's Way: Rise to Power "Buck" Tinsel Town Rubenstein 2009 Under New Management Don DeRossi 2010 13 Ted 2011 The Grasslands Matty 2013 Homefront Danny "Danny T" Turrie 2014 Collection Joe 2015 The Martial Arts Kid Frank Street Level Carmine 2016 Saturday in the Park Danny "Danny V" Female Fight Club Zeke 2017 Cops and Robbers Randy Blood Circus Dominick 2018 Fury of the Fist and the Golden Fleece FDA Special Agent Black Wake Sheriff Williams King of Newark 2 Big Al Treasure Hunter: Legend of the White Witch Jorge Honor Amongst Men Frank LaCarver Father and Father Udo Short film 2019 Vault Joey Bruno 2020 Mott Haven Ray Pizzalongo 2022 Demon Pit Biker 2023 The Weapon Lemmy Phoenix Bullet

Television

Year Title Role Notes 1997 New York Undercover Unknown Episode: "Hubris" 1998–2003 Oz Chucky "The Enforcer" Pancamo 45 episodes 1999 WCW Monday Nitro Himself Episode: January 11, 1999 2000 V.I.P. Mikey 2 episodes 2006 The Young and the Restless Rudy 2 episodes Law & Order: Criminal Intent Major Case Squad Detective Episode: "Tru Love" 2007 Entourage Himself Episode: "Malibooty" Days of Our Lives Harry Jenks 1 episode 2010 How to Make It in America Deli Man Episode: "Crisp" 2012 Sons of Anarchy Frankie "Diamonds" 8 episodes 2018 Paper Empire "Big D" Espozito Jersey: The Series "Big Al" 2021 Gravesend Carmine Episode: "Miami Nights"