Albie Cianflone

Cianflone, 2006

**Albert** "**Albie**" **Cianflone** (born 1940) was an American mobster and the Consigliere of the Lupertazzi Crime Family of New York City since 2004. A close friend and confidant of Family Boss Phil Leotardo, Cianflone handled illicit business interests with the ally DiMeo Crime Family of New Jersey.

Born in Little Italy, Manhattan, Cianflone was childhood friend with Leotardo and became a Soldier in his crew during the 1980s. Following the arrest of Leotardo's predecessor Johnny Sacrimoni and his ascension to Acting Boss in December 2004, Cianflone was appointed Consigliere to replace the former Family counselor-turned-cooperator Jimmy Petrille. He served as a level-headed counterpart to the more rash and sometimes irrational Leotardo, though he never defied his Boss and went along with his decisions. In August 2006, he arranged the theft of a multivitamin truck, the proceeds of which would be split amongst the Lupertazzi and DiMeo families. Cianflone took a neutral stand on whether or not to have DiMeo Family Boss Tony Soprano killed in December 2006 in contrast to bloodthirsty Underboss Butch DeConcini, and a decision was not reached after Leotardo suffered a coronary stroke shortly thereafter. However, in December 2007, Cianflone reluctantly acquiesced with Leotardo's orders to dispatch the administration of the rival family, including Soprano, Silvio Dante and Bobby Baccalieri Jr. During the conflict, Baccalieri was killed and Dante was hospitalized, but when Leotardo went on the run and became more unreasonable over killing Soprano, Cianflone and DeConcini agreed to organize a truce by authorizing the DiMeo Family to track and kill Leotardo without repercussions.

## Early life and career

Albert Cianflone was born to an Italian-American family in Little Italy, Manhattan in 1940. At a young age, he met fellow neighborhood boy Phil Leotardo, who was a year younger than him, and they quickly became friends, committing petty crimes together. The two joined Carmine Lupertazzi Sr.'s Crime Family and became efficient enforcers, with Leotardo being promoted to Capo and Cianflone becoming inducted as a Soldier in his crew during the 1980s. When Leotardo was sentenced to 20 years in prison in March 1984, Cianflone took over some of his operations.

## Consigliere of the Lupertazzi Family

### Appointment

Leotardo was released from prison after serving 20 years in custody in March 2004, and Cianflone went back to working under him. In the aftermath of the Lupertazzi Family power struggle between former Underboss Johnny Sacrimoni and Capo Carmine Lupertazzi Jr., the son of the former Boss, Lupertazzi surrendered to Sacrimoni and he took control of the organization; his leadership would be cut short, however, as he was arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation on racketeering charges in December 2004 and named Leotardo as Acting Boss during his incarceration. Leotardo then appointed Cianflone as his Consigliere to replace Sacrimoni's counselor Jimmy Petrille, who was a confidential informant and incriminated his Boss.

### Activities

During his time as Consigliere, Cianflone was involved in several illegal operations, notably cooperating with the DiMeo Crime Family of New Jersey in illicit schemes, including money laundering through the Barone Sanitation waste management firm which was absorbed by the Lupertazzi Family's Cinelli Sanitation business, extorting food vendors at the Feast of Saint Gerard in Newark and stealing a multivitamin truck, the proceeds of which were split correspondingly amongst the two families.

### Tony Soprano murder conspiracy

In early November 2006, DiMeo Family Capo Vito Spatafore returned to New Jersey after hiding for some time in New Hampshire when he was outed as a homosexual, with Leotardo demanding his murder as Spatafore was married to his second cousin Marie and he considered his orientation a personal offense. New Jersey Boss Tony Soprano initially refused to meet Leotardo's demands as Spatafore's fate was up to Soprano himself, but realizing the pressure his New York counterpart would put on him, he ultimately decided to have Spatafore killed, assigning the contract to Capo Carlo Gervasi. However, Leotardo, unaware of Soprano's initiative, cornered Spatafore in his Fort Lee motel and had his underlings Gerry Torciano and Dominic Gamiello beat him to death as he watched. Soprano didn't intend to respond aggressively, but shortly after the murder, Gervasi and Soprano's Consigliere Silvio Dante got in a heated argument with Gamiello while he was visiting their Lodi pork store, Satriale's, and Gervasi stabbed him repeatedly until he died after the confrontation became physical. The two disposed of Gamiello's corpse and he was officially declared missing, but Leotardo's suspicions arose, especially when Soprano decided to firebomb his Sheepshead Bay wire room.

After a peace meeting held by Carmine Lupertazzi Jr. didn't go as intended when Lupertazzi brought up Leotardo's dead brother Billy who was murdered by Soprano's cousin Tony Blundetto, the New York Boss held a sitdown at the Averna Social Club in Brooklyn with Cianflone,