Michael Frank "Big Mike" DeSantis (born October 1, 1953) was an American mobster and the Acting Boss of the Lucchese Crime Family of New York City since 2017. He was a longtime member of the Family's Brooklyn faction who was known as an efficient and loyal hitman and moneymaker.
The former owner of an auto body shop in Bay Ridge, DeSantis joined the Lucchese Family through his personal friendship with Boss Victor Amuso, and participated in the murder of Angelo Sigona in December 1988 along with then-Associate Richard Pagliarulo, who would become his partner in future hits. He gained entry into the organization by burying union official John Morrissey in September 1989, becoming inducted two months later. His main illegal operations included cocaine trafficking, and in July 1991, the U.S. Coast Guard intercepted a boat filled with $800 million worth of Colombian cocaine in Long Island, which was apparently part of a network operated by DeSantis. When Amuso decided to kill Acting Boss Alphonse D'Arco in September 1991, DeSantis planted a gun in a bathroom at the Kimberly Hotel in Manhattan for another Family member to kill D'Arco, though he managed to escape suspecting he was being targeted for death. In April 1993, he was indicted along with various other Family mobsters for racketeering and the murders of Sigona and Morrissey, and he was sentenced to 21 years in prison in October 1994. He served 16 years, being released in June 2010 and re-establishing relations with the Family while still maintaining contact with Amuso, who was serving a life sentence. When Bronx-based Acting Boss Matthew Madonna was indicted in July 2017, the Brooklyn faction wrote a letter to Amuso recommending he name DeSantis as new leader to return the base of power to them, which he approved. Since his appointment as Acting Boss, DeSantis was investigated by law enforcement to build a racketeering case against him based partly on the crucial evidence of Government witness John Pennisi, who turned on the Family after DeSantis sanctioned efforts to have him killed when it was suspected he became a cooperator.
Early life[]
Michael Frank DeSantis was born on October 1, 1953 in Brooklyn, New York City, the son of Francis DeSantis and Treva Calvin. He had two siblings, Frank and Donna, and later married Nancy Donahue, fathering Ian and Anthony DeSantis and residing in the Bay Ridge section of Brooklyn. In his childhood, DeSantis was a friend of Victor Amuso. In his early adulthood, he opened an automobile repair shop in his area, and was initially a legitimate citizen. In addition, he had significant influence in several Brooklyn waste carting firms.
Lucchese Family[]
Entrance into the Family[]
DeSantis' longtime friend Victor Amuso, who introduced him to the Lucchese Crime Family.
In 1980, Victor Amuso became a Capo in the Lucchese Crime Family, and he swayed DeSantis to join his circle as well, with him beginning his mob career as an Associate in Capo Peter Chiodo's Brooklyn crew. He built a close relationship with future Consigliere Frank Lastorino, who was present at his induction ceremony. With his main illicit venues involving narcotics trafficking, DeSantis became a well-respected mobster, both for his moneymaking expertise as well as for his violent streak.
Sigona murder[]
In 1988, Angelo Sigona, a Brooklyn counterfeiter, was dating the daughter of Lucchese Family Consigliere Anthony Casso's neighbor, and he apparently mistreated her repeatedly, causing her to want to break off the relationship. As such, shortly before December 1988, the neighbor approached Casso and asked him to kill Sigona; Casso accepted, and he assigned the hit to DeSantis and fellow Associate Richard Pagliarulo. Sigona had recently been paroled after serving five years in prison on a counterfeiting conviction, and DeSantis and Pagliarulo lured him to his death. On December 7, 1988, his dead body was found in the driver's seat of a parked 1982 Chevrolet Camaro with stolen license plates and a false identification number on 15th Street in the Sunset Park neighborhood of Brooklyn. He had been shot once at close range in the back of the head.
Morrissey murder and induction[]
Ironworkers Union official and Lucchese Family Associate John Morrissey, whom DeSantis buried in a shallow grave in September 1989.
In September 1989, then-Boss Amuso and his Underboss Casso suspected Ironworkers Union official and Family Associate John Morrissey may have provided information to law enforcement regarding the ongoing "Windows Case" investigation, where they and the other New York Bosses took a cut out of every replacement window from most major enterprises in Manhattan. Deciding to have him killed, the hit was again designated to Chiodo's crew, and Chiodo lured Morrissey to an office at a New Jersey development site on September 17, 1989, where Pagliarulo and Associate Thomas Carew shot him to death. Afterwards, DeSantis dug Morrissey's burial spot in the same site where he was killed, enhancing his reputation with the Family. As such, in November 1989, DeSantis was inducted into the Lucchese Family in a ceremony presided by Amuso and Casso, where his partner Pagliarulo, Joseph DeFede, Frank Papagni and Frank Federico were brought in as well.
Soldier[]
After being inducted as a made man, DeSantis expanded his narcotics operation, smuggling hundreds of pounds of cocaine from Colombia by use of fishing boats that carried the drugs to motherships off the coast of Long Island. Despite the Mafia ruling forbidding its members from partaking in drug trafficking, DeSantis managed to skirt the potentially deadly repercussions of his actions by generating massive amounts of income for his superiors, thus excusing his activities. His reputation as a killer continued being cemented, as in May 1990, he and Pagliarulo plotted the murder of former Painters Union Secretary Treasurer James D. Bishop,