Dominick Cirillo

Dominick "Quiet Dom" Cirillo (July 4, 1929 – January 14, 2024) was a longtime high-ranking member of the Genovese crime family. Long holding allegiance to the family's Manhattan faction, Cirillo rose in power to caporegime, then briefly served as acting boss for imprisoned boss Vincent "Chin" Gigante, before stepping down to serve as consigliere.

Early life Cirillo was born in East Harlem on July 4, 1929, to Colombo crime family caporegime of Neapolitan-Italian Alphonse Cirillo who served as a made man under Joseph Magliocco when it was the Profaci crime family. Alphonse was a first generation Italian-American immigrant from Potenza, Basilicata, Italy. In 1961, his father Alphonse was implicated in the attempted murder of Lawrence Gallo, a brother of fellow Profaci crime family soldier Joseph Gallo. Alphonse, Carmine Persico and Salvatore D'Ambrosio were the suspected attempted murderers, but Gallo refused to cooperate and no one was charged in the attack. His father died of unknown causes sometime before 1963 but was later made infamous after he was one of the hundreds of organized crime figures named in the testimony of mob turncoat Joseph Valachi. His father Alphonse through his lifetime had succeeded in never being arrested for a single criminal act except for "criminally receiving" as an early 1960s era organized crime mob family chart had stated. He is the brother of Gaetano "Wheeg" Cirillo and the father-in-law to mob associate John Caggiano. Dominick grew up on East 117th Street in East Harlem and as a teenager dropped out of Benjamin Franklin High School. In subsequent years, he grew closer to Gigante, who was seen, in the mid-1980s, as the de facto boss of the Genovese crime family.

Gigante's acting boss After Gigante was imprisoned in 1997 for racketeering and conspiracy charges, the leadership of the Genovese crime family passed to a committee/ruling panel, known as the "Administration," ostensibly led by Cirillo. In this capacity, Cirillo represented the Genoveses in their dealings with the other Mafia families of New York City, though Gigante remained in overall charge of the family. In this way, Cirillo served as "acting boss" and was seen by US authorities as the most powerful member of the Genovese family. However, in 1998 Cirillo stepped down as acting boss because of a heart attack, and recovered his position as caporegime in the Genovese crime family that same year.

Nick Cirillo missing Cirillo's son, Nicholas, who was not believed to be a made man, disappeared on May 9, 2004. Three weeks later his abandoned car was discovered, but Nicholas Cirillo has never been found. It remains unclear whether this would have been allowed to happen without the explicit permission of Dominick Cirillo. Sources in 2010 say that Dom ordered the death of Nicholas on Mothers Day of 2004. On December 4, 2004, Randolph Pizzolo, who allegedly bragged about his role in the murder and disappearance of Nicholas, was found shot to death.

Trial and guilty plea On October 18, 2005, Cirillo, who again was recognized as "acting boss" for Gigante, and four Genovese capos, Lawrence "Little Larry" Dentico, John "Johnny Sausage" Barbato and Anthony "Tico" Antico, pleaded guilty on charges of racketeering and racketeering conspiracy. Cirillo was sentenced to 48 months in prison and forced to pay $75,000 restitution.

Consigliere On August 22, 2008, the 79-year-old Cirillo was released from federal prison after serving more than three years.