Gaspar DiGregorio

Gaspar or Gaspare DiGregorio (October 4, 1905 – June 11, 1970) was an American mobster and a high-ranking member of the Bonanno crime family of New York City who was a key figure in the "Banana War".

Criminal career DiGregorio was born in Trapani, Sicily, and immigrated to the United States from Canada in 1921. He was first married to the sister of Buffalo crime family boss Stefano Magaddino, and later remarried after her death.

The Banana War In October 1964, during Joseph Bonanno's two-year absence, Bonanno soldier DiGregorio took advantage of family discontent over Joseph's son Bill Bonanno's role to claim family leadership. The Mafia Commission named DiGregorio as Bonanno family boss, and the DiGregorio revolt led to four years of strife in the Bonanno family, labeled by the media as the "Banana War". This led to a divide in the family between loyalists to Bill and loyalists to DiGregorio.

In 1968, DiGregorio was wounded by machine gun fire and later suffered a heart attack. The Commission eventually became dissatisfied with DiGregorio's efforts at quelling the family rebellion, and eventually dropped DiGregorio and swung their support to Paul Sciacca. In 1968, after a heart attack, Joseph ended the family warfare by agreeing to retire as boss and move to Arizona. As part of this peace agreement, Bill also stepped down as consigliere and moved out of New York with his father.

Death On June 15, 1970, Gaspar DiGregorio died of lung cancer at St. John's Episcopal Hospital in Smithtown, New York. He is buried in Saint Charles Cemetery in Farmingdale, New York Section 30, Row X, Grave #60.

He is portrayed by Richard D'Alessandro in Season 3 of TV Series Godfather of Harlem.