Paul Vario

Paul Vario (July 10, 1914 – May 3, 1988) was an American mobster and made man in the Lucchese crime family. Vario was a caporegime and had his own crew of mobsters in Brooklyn, New York. Following the testimony of Henry Hill, Vario was convicted in 1984 of fraud and was sentenced to four years in prison, followed by a conviction for extortion in 1985 and an additional sentence of 10 years in prison. He died on May 3, 1988, of respiratory failure in prison.

He was portrayed as Paul Cicero by Paul Sorvino in the Martin Scorsese film Goodfellas.

Early life Paul Vario was born on July 10, 1914, in New York City to Pietro "Peter" Vario (1881-1957) and Mary Vario (1886-1982), immigrants from Erice in Sicily. He grew up in Brooklyn's Mill Basin section. In 1925, at age 11, Vario was sentenced to seven months in juvenile detention for truancy.

In 1937, Vario along with Anthony Romano were identified by a sixteen-year-old girl from Howard Beach who said Vario and Romano sexually assaulted her a year prior.

Vario's four brothers Lenny, Tommy, Vito "Tuddy", and Salvatore "Babe" all joined him in organized crime. His older brother Lenny Vario was a construction union official and ex-bootlegger who had been arrested with Lucky Luciano, he served as Paul's main contact to building contractors and construction companies, he collected tribute paid in cash and no-show jobs to avoid union strikes and fires.

Rise to power After Vario was released from prison he became a member of the Lucchese crime family. He conducted most of his criminal business from an old German bar known as Geffken's at 9508 Flatlands Avenue in central Canarsie and a junkyard at 5702 Avenue D in the vicinity of the East Flatbush/Canarsie border. During this period, Vario also served as an unofficial consigliere to Lucchese boss Carmine Tramunti.

Vario allegedly had a very violent temper. One night, Vario took his wife, Phyllis, out to dinner. While they were sitting at the table, the maître d'hôtel accidentally poured wine on Phyllis' dress, then tried to dry it with a dirty rag. An enraged Vario hit the maitre d'hôtel twice. Later that night, Vario sent two carloads of men armed with pipes and baseball bats to assault the waiters after the restaurant had closed.

Prosecution and prison In 1970, Vario was cited for contempt of court and was sent to the Nassau County Correctional Facility on Long Island for seven months.

In 1971, the Geffken family sold the Geffken's bar and property to Paul Vario's friend Peter Abinanti for $40,000. In addition, a police detective wearing a listening device started visiting the trailer. Vario was convinced the policeman was corrupt and soon started offering him bribes. The entire surveillance operation lasted about six months.

In October 1972, police raided the Brooklyn junkyard. On December 7, 1972, Vario was indicted on charges that included attempting to bribe the officer at the trailer. Also in December 1972, Vario pleaded guilty to drunken driving and received probation. However, Vario violated probation in early 1973 and was in jail by February 1973.

On February 9, 1973, Vario was convicted on tax evasion charges. On April 6, 1973, Vario was sentenced to six years in federal prison for the tax evasion conviction.

Vario was sent to the federal prison located in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. While in prison, Vario was part of the infamous "Mafia row" of prisoners.

On July 20, 1973, Paul Vario’s son, Leonard Vario, died of severe burns at Wyckoff Heights Medical Center in Brooklyn. The cause of his injuries was never discovered. At his funeral, two television cameramen and a police detective were beaten by the mourners.

Release from prison In 1975, Vario was released from federal prison. He had served as underboss in the Lucchese crime family until the new boss Anthony Corallo had replaced Vario with Salvatore Santoro. On parole, Vario moved to a residence near Miami, Florida.

In 1978, Vario approved his crew's participation in the infamous Lufthansa heist at JFK airport. The idea was presented to Vario by phone while he was in Florida. Vario quickly gave his approval, but insisted that Jimmy Burke, then in prison, supervise it. In December 1978, the crew successfully looted an estimated $5 million in cash and $875,000 in jewelry (equivalent to $ million in ). Vario was convicted and on April 3, 1984, he was sentenced to four years in federal prison and fined $10,000.

On February 21, 1985, while serving his prison sentence, Vario was indicted in a racketeering conspiracy that involved extortion. He and co-conspirators were charged with extorting over $350,000 from air cargo companies at JFK airport, threatening them with labor problems if they did not pay. Convicted again with the help of Hill's testimony, he was sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment for extortion. He is buried at St. John Cemetery, Middle Village, Queens, New York.

Cultural depictions of Vario Vario has been portrayed in several media productions. In director Martin Scorsese's 1990 film Goodfellas, Paul Vario Sr. is depicted as the character Paul Cicero, portrayed by actor Paul Sorvino. In the 2001 Canada-American TV movie The Big Heist, Paul Vario is portrayed by actor Gino Marrocco.