Profile of Lucchese crime family boss Steven Crea


By David Amoruso

Steven "Stevie Wonder" Crea is one of the leading members of the troubled Lucchese Crime Family. Crea is a powerhouse in labor racketeering. Using the reputation of the Lucchese Family and, when needed to prove that reputation, its muscle, he had gained a position in which he could put in place a mob tax of five percent on every job. By paying that mob tax the contractors did not run into any labor problems. The Luccheses used Local 608 for this racket. Its president Michael Forde (who's father, who had already been convicted of Taft-Hartley crimes in the 1980s, was the previous president of Local 608) was under total control of Crea.

When Lucchese bosses Vic Amuso and "Gaspipe" Casso went on the lam Crea was put on a panel of Lucchese mobsters who would run the family in their absence. This newfound power did not mean Crea was safe. Crea's crew was located in The Bronx and several mobsters started worrying when two other ruling panel mobsters were imprisoned. Capos George Zappola and Frank Papagni and soldier Frank Gioia Jr. were concerned that the power in the family would shift from Brooklyn to The Bronx as Crea was the last member of the ruling panel who was not in prison. The three men discussed killing Crea. The hit had to be a "sneak job" they said, meaning the bosses could not know, this was because they knew the bosses would not OK the hit. In the end the plan never came to fruition because the Lucchese Family had a lot bigger problems than where their boss was located when several of its members became witnesses for the government.

On August 24, 2006 Crea was released from prison after doing time on a labor racketeering conviction. He had plead guilty to price fixing, bid rigging, and constraint of trade in connection with three large construction projects. And also to "enterprise corruption." Back on the streets Crea can not associate with any known mobsters for a year due to parole restrictions. Will he manage to stay out of trouble and seize control of the Lucchese Crime Family? Or will he violate his parole and go back to prison? Or will a Lucchese rat implicate him in some old murder? We will wait and see. One thing is for sure, the Lucchese Crime Family desperately needs the expertise and leadership of a good boss. Is Steven Crea that boss?

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