On a late summer afternoon in Brooklyn, the life of 30-year-old Carmine Varriale was brought to a violent end. On September 3, 1987, Varriale, a male member of the Lucchese crime family, was gunned down in the Bath Beach neighborhood. The brazen attack also claimed the life of 51-year-old Frank Santora, an associate of the Bonanno crime family, who was walking with Varriale at the time.
The shooting was rooted in the violent internal politics of organized crime.
Varriale was reportedly seeking to avenge the murder of his brother, Pasquale 'Paddy Bulldog' Varriale, who had been killed earlier the same year. This quest for vengeance is believed to have made him a target. The hit team responsible for the deaths of Varriale and Santora was comprised of three individuals: Frank Smith Jr. acted as the shooter, his father, Frank Smith Sr., served as a backup, and Michael Cilone was the getaway driver.
In the aftermath of the killings, the wheels of justice turned in a manner often seen in organized crime cases, with cooperation and testimony becoming key factors in the legal outcomes. Michael Cilone, the driver, chose to become a government informant. In exchange for his testimony against his former associates, he received a remarkably lenient sentence of a single day in prison. His cooperation was crucial in implicating the others involved in the Varriale and Santora murders.
Frank Smith Jr., the man who pulled the trigger, also eventually decided to cooperate with law enforcement. After being incarcerated on unrelated drug charges, he became a government witness in 2001. His testimony provided inside information on numerous criminal activities, including his role in the murders of Varriale and Santora. As a result of his extensive cooperation, he was sentenced to one year of house arrest and five years of probation. The legal fate of Frank Smith Sr., the backup shooter, is less publicly documented.
