Anthony Corallo

Anthony "Tony Ducks" Corallo (February 12, 1913 – August 23, 2000) was an American mobster and boss of the Lucchese crime family in New York City.

Corallo exercised tremendous control over trucking and construction unions in New York.

Corallo was born in New York City on February 12, 1913, and grew up in the Italian neighborhood of East Harlem.

Corallo was a quiet, unassuming man who enjoyed gardening, opera, and pasta.

In his later years, Corallo owned a luxurious home in Oyster Bay Cove, New York.

Corallo was married and had a son and a daughter.

In the 1920s, Corallo joined the 107th Street Gang in East Harlem.

His first arrest in 1929, for grand larceny, was at age 16.

He was not convicted.

By 1935, Corallo had become a member of the Gagliano crime family, the forerunner of the Lucchese family.

Underboss Tommy Lucchese recruited Corallo to work with mobster Johnny Dio, the leader of labor racketeering operations in the Manhattan Garment District.

In 1941, Corallo was arrested after police found him in possession of a narcotics cache valued at $150,000.

He was later convicted of narcotics violations and sent to the city jail on Rikers Island for six months.

From 1941 to 1960, Corallo was arrested at least 12 times for various crimes.

However, none of the cases even made it to trial.

Lucchese was amazed at Corallo's ability to avoid, or "duck", convictions.

After one of these many dismissals, Lucchese mused, "Tony ducks again."

From then onward, Corallo was known as "Tony Ducks".

In 1943, Corallo was appointed as a caporegime of his own crew, an accomplishment for a man in his early 30s.

He then moved his base of operations from East Harlem to Queens.

Corallo and Dio eventually controlled five local chapters of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.

The two gangsters used these paper locals to set up favorable deals with trucking companies and exploit the rank and file chapter members.

Corallo and Dio also controlled local chapters of the Conduit Workers Union (now called the Communication Workers' Union), the United Textile Workers Union (now called UNITE HERE), and the Brotherhood of Painters and Decorators (now called the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades).

These labor racketeering activities generated millions of dollars for the Gagliano family.

In 1951, longtime boss Tommy Gagliano died of natural causes and Lucchese took over the family.

On August 15, 1959, Corallo testified before the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Improper Activities in Labor and Management.

The senators wanted Corallo to explain the theft of $70,000 from Teamsters Union local 239 by using names of dead mob members.

Like many other mobsters, Corallo refused to answer any questions; he pleaded the Fifth Amendment 120 times during his two-hour interrogation.

On December 7, 1961, Corallo was indicted on charges of trying to bribe New York Supreme Court Justice J. Vincent Keogh and former U.S. Attorney Elliot Kanaher.

Corallo wanted them to drop a bankruptcy fraud case against one of his associates.

On June 17, 1962, Corallo was convicted of bribery.

On August 2, 1962, Corallo was sentenced to two years in state prison.

On July 13, 1967, Lucchese died of a brain tumor.

By nearly all accounts, Corallo was Lucchese's choice to succeed him.

However, on December 18, 1967, Corallo was indicted on charges of receiving a kickback payment from a contractor for the renovation of the Jerome Park Reservoir in the Bronx.

Also indicted was James L. Marcus, the former city water commissioner, who had started dealing with Corallo due to loanshark debts.

On June 19, 1968, Corallo was convicted in the Marcus bribery case.

On July 26, 1968, Corallo was sentenced to three years in federal prison.

With Corallo in prison, the Commission designated Carmine Tramunti as interim Lucchese boss.

Some historians have speculated that Corallo became boss immediately upon his 1970 release from prison, and that Tramunti was only an "acting" or "front" boss for the next three years.